12,500 miles later, I am home safe and sound, swept up by Rob at Heathrow and sped back to to where I belong. Even as, for the last time, I collected my bag from the carousel and reeled and swayed through customs, I had a huge grin on my face, knowing that any moment I'd see him waiting patiently 'on the other side'. Now I'm not a great one for purple prose and sentimentality, but the simple truth is that I couldn't have done this trip, couldn't have achieved everything I have without him, his support, his patience and love. A combination of sleep deprivation and seeing his happy face in the waiting crowds, and I felt quite wobbly. Neither of us are really the type of person who goes in for extravagent displays of public affection (to be honest, I rather disapprove of it as a rule) but yesterday we made a very happy exception! It was wonderful to see him again.
Now whoever's idea it was to design and launch the Boeing 777 and put it into very long haul service has never travelled in 'coach' in their lives. My tenacity at Perth International (getting there at 12,30am for a 6.00am flight) paid off and I was assigned emergency exit row seats for both parts of the journey home. Might have been the glimpse of menace in my face when I was checking in, but the cheery woman at the check-in desk had me where I wanted to be in next to no time. It's 11 hours from Perth to Dubai, and frankly I just don't think 777s are adequate for the job at hand. Fortunately for me, the guy I was sitting next to was a good-humoured sort, because the fundamental draw back of said planes is the complete lack of elbow room. If you put your arms out as if you are going to be hand-cuffed, that'll give you some idea of how much space you are afforded on either side - and I was fortunate to have an aisle seat! Emirates cabin crew are very good though, and I was able to nap i.e. loll and dribble, for much of the flight.
I vaguely remember changing at Dubai - the terminal was a maelstrom of activity, and the light outside sort of bleached everything out, as if the whole place had been over-exposed, but this may also have been something to do with my foggy head! Very fast connection, and I was suddenly boarding one of those Airbus A380s, the vast double-decker planes only recently coming into service. Extraordinary sense of space, like the very first time I ever boarded a 747 but more so. Huge seats in economy, enormous overhead lockers, and even though it was pretty full, only a vague sense of 'the battery chicken'. These planes are so big, they don't hurtle down the runway, but rather amble along to the point where you don't even notice the wheels leaving the tarmac. Emirates also have a camera under the nose of the plane so you get to see what the pilots see when taxiing, accelerating down the runway and taking off - very exciting!
A profound sense of time suspended, many trays of miniature food and no doubt too many miniature bottles of wine, more movies watched - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy was especially good - more wailing babies tolerated, and then 'suddenly', after 24 hours we bumped onto British soil and I was back, five weeks to the day since I flew out of Birmingham, the world completely circumnavigated.
So let the jet-lag commence, the boiling of bio-harazardous laundry, the terrified peak at credit card statements, the restoration of broken IT equipment, the cataloguing of research materials and the slow, gentle adjustment of the traveller returned.
Looks like spring has arrived in England. Am so looking forward to catching up with friends and family.
It's great to be back.
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