I had fish and chips in the neighbourhood plaza and fed the leftovers to the mynahs before catching the bus to the city. There was a fair amount of Friday evening traffic so it took 50 minutes. A pity to leave while the city was so lively. At the airport it was quiet.
As expected there were many Dutch passengers. Those with Amsterdam duty free bags were returning (the first outgoing leg was also the last incoming leg). My neighbour was a retired naval inspector from Canberra visiting his cousins and old schoolmates. He had 3 children; a son worked for a Canadian software firm and was a globetrotter. He had traced his family history back to the 1400s. On my left was a Hungarian granny visiting her daughter and 20 something granddaughter in Melbourne. She only spoke Hungarian, Russian and German only the last of which I could understand. She was excited and kept asking whether we were there already. The woman behind had plump cheeks and short brown hair. She was eager to get off; took her hand luggage out before the plane halted. She wore a neck scarf like the Dutch but also had an Australian accent.
The departure from Melbourne was delayed an hour; and we were the last plane for the night. Some prankster had reprogrammed the electronic signboard to read Have a shit trip from FAC. I read Laurie Lee's As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning up to the point where he departs England for Spain. I wasn't intending to use this as a travel guide. Laurie set out in 1934 and the clouds of civil war were gathering then. The flight had a copy of the daily El Pais, good for language practice.
The crew changed in Melbourne. The granny was replaced by a young man who read all the safety instructions and watched the demo on the TV. First time to Europe perhaps? We headed into the night skies for Bangkok and made up for the lost time.
As expected there were many Dutch passengers. Those with Amsterdam duty free bags were returning (the first outgoing leg was also the last incoming leg). My neighbour was a retired naval inspector from Canberra visiting his cousins and old schoolmates. He had 3 children; a son worked for a Canadian software firm and was a globetrotter. He had traced his family history back to the 1400s. On my left was a Hungarian granny visiting her daughter and 20 something granddaughter in Melbourne. She only spoke Hungarian, Russian and German only the last of which I could understand. She was excited and kept asking whether we were there already. The woman behind had plump cheeks and short brown hair. She was eager to get off; took her hand luggage out before the plane halted. She wore a neck scarf like the Dutch but also had an Australian accent.
The departure from Melbourne was delayed an hour; and we were the last plane for the night. Some prankster had reprogrammed the electronic signboard to read Have a shit trip from FAC. I read Laurie Lee's As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning up to the point where he departs England for Spain. I wasn't intending to use this as a travel guide. Laurie set out in 1934 and the clouds of civil war were gathering then. The flight had a copy of the daily El Pais, good for language practice.
The crew changed in Melbourne. The granny was replaced by a young man who read all the safety instructions and watched the demo on the TV. First time to Europe perhaps? We headed into the night skies for Bangkok and made up for the lost time.
No comments:
Post a Comment