Sunrise over Eastern Europe
The flight to Singapore was approx 8 hours. After the meal service we tried to settle James down for some sleep. He was snuggled into Merrilyn but had difficulty getting to sleep. He was down for only an hour when the cabin lights were turned up for the final meal service. This startled James and, coupled with his lack of sleep (now only 1 hour out of 17) this pushed him over the edge. Merrilyn and I took turns walking him up and down and comforting him. After about 30 mins he was settled and we buckled him in for landing at about midnight AEST time.
This was a short stop - made even more so by the delay in Melbourne. So with only about 45 minutes we made a quick visit to the Qantas lounge for a change, a drink and a nibble. Unfortunately no time for the shower I was so looking forward to.
We re-boarded and took off about an 1:15 mins later. Once in the air we again focused on getting James off to sleep. We had decided back in Melbourne that we would try to keep James on his local time and worry about the adjustment once we arrived in the UK. Poor little one was very tired by this time. So following another meal (!) James finally fell sound asleep stretched across two seats; his feet on my lap and his head up against Merrilyn. We all managed about four hours sleep.
We awoke somewhere over Eastern Europe with the start of sunrise. James could look out the window (we were at 38000 feet) and see the faint glow. Above he pointed out the moon and a few stars.
Whilst we waited for the breakfast service James played with the headset pretending it was a coffee machine. He pressed the buttons on the armrest controller as he made boiling noises. I think he made Merrilyn and I a dozen cups of coffee!
Following breakfast and a change from his pyjamas, James looked out the window to see England. Merrilyn pointed out the patchwork fields and towns. Soon the Thames came into view. This was the "big river" Merrilyn told James about before we left.
At 5:30am we landed at Heathrow. It was a strange feeling. On the one hand you feel like (and realy are) a tourist. On the other you realise that this is to be your new home.
This was a short stop - made even more so by the delay in Melbourne. So with only about 45 minutes we made a quick visit to the Qantas lounge for a change, a drink and a nibble. Unfortunately no time for the shower I was so looking forward to.
We re-boarded and took off about an 1:15 mins later. Once in the air we again focused on getting James off to sleep. We had decided back in Melbourne that we would try to keep James on his local time and worry about the adjustment once we arrived in the UK. Poor little one was very tired by this time. So following another meal (!) James finally fell sound asleep stretched across two seats; his feet on my lap and his head up against Merrilyn. We all managed about four hours sleep.
We awoke somewhere over Eastern Europe with the start of sunrise. James could look out the window (we were at 38000 feet) and see the faint glow. Above he pointed out the moon and a few stars.
Whilst we waited for the breakfast service James played with the headset pretending it was a coffee machine. He pressed the buttons on the armrest controller as he made boiling noises. I think he made Merrilyn and I a dozen cups of coffee!
Following breakfast and a change from his pyjamas, James looked out the window to see England. Merrilyn pointed out the patchwork fields and towns. Soon the Thames came into view. This was the "big river" Merrilyn told James about before we left.
At 5:30am we landed at Heathrow. It was a strange feeling. On the one hand you feel like (and realy are) a tourist. On the other you realise that this is to be your new home.
posted by Marty at
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
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