Tuesday 24th August.

I woke up at 3.30 am and struggled to go back to sleep.  My mind was busy thinking about the flights and running scenarios.  So I was only dozing when the alarm went off at 5 am.

At least that gave me plenty of time to finish my final packing, squeezing items into my cabin bag or rucksack, as I didn’t want to add anything further to the big suitcases seeing as they were already on the 20kg mark.

Pam and Gordon, I presumed, were still asleep, so I was as quiet as I could be.  After showering and dressing in comfortable clothes, I stepped outside the back of their house to be able to put my final rubbish in the bin and found that although it was supposed to be cold overnight, the cool morning air was refreshing.  The moon was very bright in the sky and the magpies were spreading the news to the other birds.  There were no human sounds, except mine.

My TBus, Adelaide Transport shuttle bus was spot on time at 6.15 am.  Pam and Gordon had got up early to see me off at the door.  They helped with moving my luggage down to the bus, which was lovely of them.  It was also very lucky as somehow my phone had fallen out of the side pocket of my handbag onto the drive.  Pam found it, which is great, as I hadn’t heard it fall and couldn’t do without it.

It was sad to say goodbye and thanks to Pam and Gordon, who have been great hosts.  I am so thankful for their offer to have me stay with them for three weeks.

The journey down to the airport was comfortable, despite the roads being busy with trucks and traffic.  Even the driver said it was more busy than usual.  We arrived at the airport and there were only two other cars there dropping off people.  The last time we travelled pre-COVID-19, the drop-off area would normally be bumper to bumper with taxis and the drivers would play one out, one in, to get to the curbside.

My luggage was a bit too much for the trolley to carry, so I pushed the rolling walker alongside the trolley. Once inside the terminal, I immediately was approached by a staff member offering help, which I was grateful for. The check-in area was empty, except for about 5 passengers waiting at the check-in counter and a lot more staff milling around, trying to be helpful to the passengers and other staff.

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Check-in was more time consuming than previous times I have been at Adelaide airport, that is because of all the requirements for flying with COVID-19.  I had to show my negative COVID-19 test result, my Passenger Travel History forms, for Singapore Airline and entering the UK.  Luckily, I had printed them off, so it was easy to provide them with their requirements.  It is all about being able to track where I have been and where I am going.

Due to COVID-19, the business lounges are closed, so there was an offer of a $10 voucher to use at a couple of food outlets after security.  Muffin Break, Boost Juice and a coffee place were honoring the vouchers.

I decided to check in the small suitcase I use for a cabin bag in, as the assistant at check-in said that they were not very strict on the luggage allowance for business class.  I didn’t need anything out of that bag on either flight, so I was happy to not have to lug it around in Changi airport.  But as I looked over at a printed sheet about what you can have in checked luggage, I realized that the small case had the lithium batteries for the cameras in it.  Airlines don’t want them in the hold of the plane, as they can explode.  Oops, the bag had already trundled away on the conveyor belt out of sight.

I apologized and explained that I was only thinking about whether I needed anything from the case, not remembering that it contained batteries.  The staff were fine with it.  They just radioed down to the luggage team and have the bag brought back up, so I could take the batteries out of it and put them into the bags I was taking as carry on.  It wasn’t an issue, the lady explained, it was not like they were in a rush.  Looking down the check-in area, there was about 3 staff to each passenger.

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I am taking John’s rolling walker, not that I need it to walk, but it is a great bag carrier, as it can support 250kg of weight and is quite light.  So, it might come in handy for me to use in the UK and provides a portable seat that is fairly comfy.  Might be ideal for park time with Alex or grabbing groceries at Tesco.  I could have tried to sell it, but with many people who may benefit from a good-sized walker on either NDIS or MyAgeCare, it would be harder to sell as their funding is for new equipment.

At the airport, the walker was very handy for carrying the carry-on bags, which includes the container of John’s ashes.  That is pretty heavy, as you can imagine.

So boarding pass in hand, it was time to go through security.  Again, about 5 people were in front of me, so it was the x-ray machine operator that apologized for the delay because he couldn’t review our bags any quicker.  But there was no rush.  International departures weren’t going to open until 8 am. Time to have the drug scan done. But even that was done while I was seated.  They were very happy to not rush.  I passed through fine.

The airport is going through some major changes and once through security, you can see them straight away.  Gone is Hudson’s coffee place, to be replaced with what looked like a showcase shop of wines and luxury items.  Maybe it is a new showcase shop.  The Hungry Jacks has gone and has been replaced by a long wide corridor of advertising boards.

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These walls are hiding renovations and led me to a large lounge area with plenty of tables and chairs and USB charging stations. 

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Soul Origin has a café the prime location, right in the middle of the area and were the only place open and serving food.  None of the outlets honoring the $10 voucher were present or open.  So I paid for my hot chocolate myself and sat in the empty hall until 7.45 am.

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I took the lift down to the International Departures, which is now on the ground floor.  But that wasn’t open yet.  So I went back upstairs and waited again in the lounge area.  A few more people were seated in the area now.  So instead of 5 of us, there was probably 20. At 8 am, I went downstairs and went through security again.

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  Next was passport check and then I had to take a different lift up to the 2^nd floor again where gate 18 was.  There was the Singapore airplane waiting for us. 

The gate was pretty empty.  So the staff, who had moved from the check-in counters, were now in charge of getting us ready to board the plane. I was boarded early, because of being in business class and also because of using the walker.  At the door of the plane, they took the walker and I had helpers with my bag. 

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Instead of entering the plane and turning towards the tail to walk down to Economy, I went towards the nose where 15K is my seat on the right side of the plane.  Tucked in by the window I have three cabin staff who are available to assist me in any way I need.

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So, I made it to the start of my journey to the UK with a really good experience.  Everyone has been really helpful and friendly.  It is such a different experience to flying pre-COVID-19.