Getting to Australia

I have been writing down most of what happened as I was travelling to Australia by hand, so I thought I’d just type it in for you instead of working it into one long story. I will also write when it was originally written as that might make some of it a bit easier to understand.

04.07.11 5pm-ish Oslo time (GMT +1). On the plane from Oslo to Brussels

I’m a bit more awake now than I was when I got up this morning at 3 am. Although I did nearly fall asleep when I arrived at Oslo airport Gardermoen.

There were two planes leaving from Molde airport this morning to Oslo, I think there used to be an early afternoon plane before as well, but now the next plane isn’t until 4 or 5pm. My mother and I was surprised at how buy it was, it might be partly because of the next plane not leaving until a lot later, partly because it’s Monday and there might be some commuters, and partly because it’s the summer holidays, but I’ve never seen it so busy before.

The flight from Molde to Oslo takes less than an hour. You take off, you’re in the air for 5-10 minutes, then you’re landing. That’s how it feels at least.

When I got to Gardermoen I had a 9 hour wait to look forward to. Yay... I couldn’t check in until 2 hours before the flight either, so I had to lug my suitcase around the small area in Gardermoen I was allowed in before checking in. And there’s not many seats. At least I got to read a book while I waited.

Anyway, I’m sat on the plane towards Brussels now, and I’ve actually got legroom!! I’ve also been fed, which I’m kind of surprised about since it was only a 2hour flight. It did say on my ticket that we got snacks, but I thought it would be the kind you had to buy.... Probably wouldn’t have said anything on the ticket then. The food was nice as well. Pasta with vegetables. The company is Brussels airlines.

I’ve got a window seat!! I love the window seat. I had to sit in the aisle seat for the first time I can remember from Molde, and I did not like it. But that might have something to do with the person sitting next to me and the one sitting in front of me. The person next to me seemed to think you were ment to take up as much space as possible, and he read a newspaper, without folding it to make it smaller. Who does that?! How can you have so little consideration for the people sitting next to you? The person sitting in front of me slammed her seat back. She didn’t look like she needed to or anything, and on a flight lasting less than an hour I don’t really see the point of doing that!

04.07.11 9pm-ish Brussels time (GMT +1). Brussels airport.

I wonder if they got tired of talking in 4 different languages on the plane? Norwegian, Dutch, English and French, quite impressive really.

Had to walk about 50 miles to get to the terminal where the plane to Abu Dhabi is leaving from, oh well. You’re supposed to move around when you’re flying aren’t you?

It’s really warm here.

When we were closing in on the airport I could see all these castles and mansions. I guess there are some rich people in Belgium. I wouldn’t have minded to stop for a few days and have a look around.

05.07.11 8am-ish Abu Dhabi time (GMT+4). Abu Dhabi airport.

Got a 5-star plane down here! Great food, there was even a few options to chose from on a menu. And a screen on each seat-back where I could watch a film or play a game etc. It’s Ethiad airlines, so it’s probably what I’ll get on the next plane as well. Not much legroom though, but I guess for a flight that long (6+ hours) I can’t really complain too much when the person in front puts their seat back.

Sat next to another Norwegian, turns out we had takes the same plane from Oslo as well. He was going to visit his brother where his family is from... Bangladesh or something other starting with a B. He seemed like a nice guy, but he was a bit.... annoyingly friendly, talk-active and touchy for my liking.

I still can’t really conceive that I’m actually going to Australia. Feels like I’m just going on holiday or that I’m taking the plane straight back again.

I got off the plane at around 6.30 or 7am, and it was REALLY warm!! It will probably be even worse later today. I was looking out the window on the way here (beautiful sunrise!) and I don’t think I’ve ever been anywhere with so little green!! It was just sand everywhere! Sand and HUGE houses, lots of rich people I guess. This is another place I would love to stop for a few days and see some more of, but I think it would be best to come while it’s winter.

I feel like I’m going to get kicked out of the airport any minute. It’s far too posh. Only high-street stores; prada, gucchi, louboutin (not sure if that’s how it’s spelled)

I’m starting to get really tired now, but I’m going to try and not try to get any sleep until the second half of the flight. Since it’s around 6-7am when I land in Sydney I might be able to stay awake all day that way, just kind of force myself into the “rhythm”.

Just saw a girl in a knee length woolly-coat! How does she do that? I put my jacket in my suitcase before checking it in in Oslo so that I wouldn’t have to carry it around.

Feels like a really long day. In a way I can’t believe that I just flew through the night. Just not used to travelling for so long. The hard bit will be trying NOT to go to sleep for the first 5- hours. And then trying to get to sleep after. I’ve never slept on a plane before. I’ve nodded off for a couple of seconds, but never properly slept. At least we’ll be flying through the night again, so the lights will be of. And I’ve got a window-seat again (YAY) so I have a wall to lean on, so the chance of falling asleep on the person next to me is slightly smaller.

I write this next part now as I haven't gotten the time before.

On the flight to Sydney I was sitting next to a French girl... Who didn't know where Norway was... She also asked if I could move seats with her friend, I don't mind so much doing that on short flights and when it's a family with small children that asks, but I didn't swap with her... She didn't have a window seat either.

After a couple of hours on the plane I got some really bad abdominal pains. Not good. After a couple of hours of it not getting better (I don't like to make a fuss), I asked the crew for a painkiller. Which of course they couldn't just give me. So I had to answer a whole bunch of questions before they gave me some pills. They also said that if I didn't feel better by the time we landed, then I might have to be put in quarantine!! Luckily I soon felt better, I think it was just because I'm not used to travelling for so long. It was about 40 hours. But unfortunately I didn't get any sleep at all, except for the occasional seconds of nodding off.

When I got to Sydney I pretty much sailed through customs. It did take a while, but only because of all the different things you need to go through.

When I was through and was going to find the bus I need to take into Sydney to get to the hostel, I found out that I forgot to print out the voucher for the hostel where it said what bus it was and all that information... Only thing I forgot to print of! I couldn't open it on my phone either. In the end I couldn't be bothered anymore so I just hopped in a taxi.

So that's how I got to Sydney, since it was still morning I didn actually get a lot of other things done as well, I will write about those later.