Change of Plans,,,

Well, what started out badly, ended nicely,,, In a nutshell: Our trip over to MUC Airport was uneventful, we left the house at 10:30 am on Tuesday and it took us 2.5 hours, as always. Our BA plane to London was supposed to start at 3:50 pm, but, because of a manipulated smoke detector on the way to MUC, we had to wait in Munich until 6 pm. Then, deicing became necessary because of a minor snowstorm in the evening, and, therefore only about 3 hours later we flew out towards London Heathrow, at almost 7 pm. Touchdown in London, local time: 8 pm, bus transfer from the plane to the Terminal. Our connecting flight with Qantas to Sydney would have departed at 8:15 pm with a minimum of 45 min. transfer time to the other terminal. This one was history!

 

Communication on the plane about missed connections was non-existant, but we found the Customer Service desks quickly and they rebooked us rather uncomplicated on a Cathay Pacific flight departing at 10 pm. Crossing the airport again by bus and walking and passed security once more.  Luckily, with some sweet talking at the gate, we got booked on a 3-seat-row at the back of the plane. At least, one empty seat inbetween us, we thought. On the plane, a B777-300ER it showed that most rows were only occupied by one person and that the (last) row, the one behind us, wasn't taken at all. So, we had two rows, one 3- the other 2-seats, and could stretch out for the next 12 hours. Lucky us (the Qantas plane was almost fully booked!)!. But, I have to assess, that names don't play a big role in Economy (cattle) Class. Seating is cramped, narrow and not too comfy, no matter what company you choose.

 

With three pillows and blankets I slept at least in intervalls for a bit. The first half of the flight was really bumpy, lots of turbulences, real heavy ones. Haven't had that for a long time on U.S. flights! Is that always like this on flights to the East? At this time of the year? Is it worse on the back of the plane? Don't know,,,

 

Looking down over 10,000 ft (right photo): mostly desert, vast empty sand areas, some mountain chaines inbetween, almost frightening and impressive at the same time! The entertainment system had maps to follow, though, I didn't know most "city" names, and, country names were missing.

 

Arrived to Hongkong on time - a huge airport (photos below), very fancy and super-clean, with stores of all the big brand fashion names. To burn the 2,5 hours inbetween flights we walked around, many decorations still for the Chinese New Year of the Wild Horse.

 

 

 

 

Tired,,, rude awakening on the connection flight: The plane (again, a B777-300 ER) was fully booked because of the ending of Chinese New Year's celebration, and we were squeezed in a 3-seat-row, window and center. Horrible! A Chinese guy, sitting with us, slept most of the time, and, it was hard to get up to go to the bathrooms. No space at all, knees under the chin, and the mere thought of stretching and sleeping became vain. Got really  grumpy on this 8 hour-flight to Sydney. Never again window-center seats on flights longer than 3-4 hours!!! Food was pretty much okay, Asian inspired and tasty, service was very friendly as well.

 

 

 

 

We made it, nevertheless!!! 36 hours after we left home on Tuesday, we arrived in Sydney on Thursday, at 9:45 am local time, with cloudy skies. Immigration was easy (though they didn't tell us on the plane about a customs form we had to fill out,,,) and our  luggage did arrive despite our doubts. After a quick clean-up and re-packing at the airport, we took the train (only 10 min) to the beautiful main Central (railroad) Station and went on by lightrail (streetcar) to Glebe, a student/gay neighborhood, where we are staying in an AirBnB for the next four nights. 

 

It's a bloody long way!!! See new cap!

We dropped  our luggage, and went out again, for a full day of sightseeing. Are we crazy or what? Yes!!! The sun came out in the afternoon, but not "burning hot", rather humid-warm. More on our adventures and first impressions of Sydney tomorrow, too exhausted now to get photos ready and to post on that. Don't know how long I haven't slept anymore.