Getting Home
THURSDAY, 20 JUL 2023 AT 5:07 AM • THE CIRCLE 1, KLOTEN • 17°C CLOUDY
I sleep quite well. The bed is huge and comfortable with an assortment of pillows and it’s nice and cool in the room. All the same, from midnight it’s an hourly wake up. At 4:30 I try to get back to sleep but my mind is already engaged and I decide that an early wake up won’t be so bad for adjusting to home timezone anyway. I make a coffee and drink more water to rehydrate from yesterday.
THURSDAY, 20 JUL 2023 AT 6:32 AM • THE CIRCLE 1, KLOTEN • 17°C CLOUDY
I head down to breakfast.
THURSDAY, 20 JUL 2023 AT 6:41 AM • THE CIRCLE 1, KLOTEN • 17°C CLOUDY
Usual restaurant anxiety but it’s all very smooth and easy. Though the enthusiastic greeting I get when I arrive is a little over the top. Ends up being a very relaxed breakfast.
THURSDAY, 20 JUL 2023 AT 7:18 AM • THE CIRCLE 1, KLOTEN • 18°C MOSTLY CLOUDY
Back in my room, getting ready to leave. Staying at the airport has made for such a relaxed morning. I know I only have to wander across the courtyard to get to the airport. And this airport is so close to the city that I could have still travelled into central Zurich to spend time there yesterday had I wanted to. It also means I can wait in my room here for longer and spend less time in the airport.
THURSDAY, 20 JUL 2023 AT 7:50 AM • THE CIRCLE 1, KLOTEN • 18°C MOSTLY CLOUDY
All packed and ready to go.
THURSDAY, 20 JUL 2023 AT 8:38 AM • TERMINAL 2, KLOTEN • 18°C MOSTLY CLOUDY
Checked in to flight. Suitcase was only 24kg. Camera bag was 5kg and other black carry on bag 4kg. In total, that’s less than I was expecting. I pause to cool down before heading through security.
THURSDAY, 20 JUL 2023 AT 9:41 AM • TERMINAL 2, KLOTEN • 20°C PARTLY CLOUDY
Get to the gate just as last boarding call. That took much longer than I had expected. For a start there was a really long queue for passport control. And then it turns out that the gate was miles away at the other end of the airport and had to use a transit train to get there. All good now. I can relax.
THURSDAY, 20 JUL 2023 AT 9:43 AM • TERMINAL 2, KLOTEN • 20°C PARTLY CLOUDY
This flight is an A350-900, which I particularly like because they are one of the few long haul planes that still have air vents that you can control. Helps me to cool off.
THURSDAY, 20 JUL 2023 AT 9:49 AM • TERMINAL 2, KLOTEN • 20°C PARTLY CLOUDY
A glass of rose champagne before departure.
THURSDAY, 20 JUL 2023 AT 9:57 AM • TERMINAL 2, KLOTEN
Side note: At the start of this trip I was using OneNote (which is my primary note taking app) as my journal tool. I had pre-populated pages for each day of my trip but I still found myself scrolling around a lot. And I had to manually insert times when I remembered. Near the end of my stay in St. Moritz I figured there must be apps that are optimized for this kind of use. So, since then I have been using Day One. What I like about it is that I can just add entries without thinking about which notebook page I am on and it will automatically stamp each entry with date, time, location and weather. I can tag entires also, though I’m not sure if I would make use of that. I can export the notes in a variety of ways for converting to blog entries or a book.
THURSDAY, 20 JUL 2023 AT 10:33 AM • ZURICH AIRPORT, KLOTEN
Depart. Nearly 1/2 hour late but I assume they will make that up. Plenty of time before my next flight anyway.
THURSDAY, 20 JUL 2023 AT 10:47 AM
Great views of Zurich as we depart.
THURSDAY, 20 JUL 2023 AT 11:12 AM
I watch some episodes of The Repair Shop.
THURSDAY, 20 JUL 2023 AT 12:03 PM
Well, that’s a first. The forward loo on this aircraft has a window!
THURSDAY, 20 JUL 2023 AT 12:06 PM
Time for some lunch. I had decided to wait for a couple of hours after take off. The Arabic mezze plate is delicious. Don’t know why I haven’t tried it before. For main, I have the veal. It’s INCREDIBLY tender.
THURSDAY, 20 JUL 2023 AT 12:41 PM
Lunch was delicious and I’m full now. No room for dessert at the moment. So far, the flight has been smooth with good views of the ground below.
THURSDAY, 20 JUL 2023 AT 2:31 PM
As we fly over Iraq I’m actually feeling quite dozy. But only and hour and a quarter left, so no point trying to have a nap.
THURSDAY, 20 JUL 2023 AT 3:04 PM
It will be 43 degrees in Doha!
THURSDAY, 20 JUL 2023 AT 3:16 PM
Coming into Doha there are two other planes flying in parallel with us.
THURSDAY, 20 JUL 2023 AT 4:45 PM • HAMAD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, DOHA • 40°C WINDY
Landed in Doha.
THURSDAY, 20 JUL 2023 AT 4:50 PM • HAMAD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, DOHA • 40°C WINDY
Looks like we’ll be disembarking onto bus. In this heat? Yuk! Ends up being OK as I’m so cool from the plane and the bus is nicely air conditioned.
THURSDAY, 20 JUL 2023 AT 5:16 PM • TERMINAL, DOHA • 40°C WINDY
In the lounge. 3 hours until the next flight.
THURSDAY, 20 JUL 2023 AT 5:22 PM • TERMINAL, DOHA • 40°C WINDY
I spend some time sorting through photos from yesterday’s train journey.
THURSDAY, 20 JUL 2023 AT 7:15 PM • TERMINAL, DOHA • 38°C MOSTLY CLEAR
Feeling surprisingly fresh.
THURSDAY, 20 JUL 2023 AT 7:34 PM • HAMAD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, DOHA • 38°C MOSTLY CLEAR
At boarding gate. A bit early but should only have a few minutes to wait.
THURSDAY, 20 JUL 2023 AT 8:00 PM • HAMAD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, DOHA • 37°C MOSTLY CLEAR
On board. It’s a B777-300ER and it has air vents too! That’s surprising. Though the temperature is definitely not as nice and cool as the last flight. Flight should be about 12 hours which is a little shorter than scheduled.
THURSDAY, 20 JUL 2023 AT 8:57 PM • HAMAD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, DOHA
Depart Doha.
THURSDAY, 20 JUL 2023 AT 10:04 PM
Dinner. I’ve chosen the salmon, pasta and orange mousse.
THURSDAY, 20 JUL 2023 AT 8:11 PM • PERSIAN GULF
Unfortunately, this plane doesn’t have The Repair Shop on the entertainment. I try out Everyone Else Burns.
THURSDAY, 20 JUL 2023 AT 9:20 PM • ARABIAN SEA
Finished dinner. That was nice. Think I’ll watch a couple more episodes then try to get some sleep. It’s nice and cool in the cabin. Just the start of some slight turbulence.
THURSDAY, 20 JUL 2023 AT 11:25 PM
Here goes. I try to grab some sleep.
FRIDAY, 21 JUL 2023 AT 12:22 AM
Very bumpy.
FRIDAY, 21 JUL 2023 AT 2:55 AM • INDIAN OCEAN
A bit better now. I check the time. Still so far to go!
FRIDAY, 21 JUL 2023 AT 3:10 AM • INDIAN OCEAN
My jaws hurt. I think I’ve been clenching with all of the turbulence.
FRIDAY, 21 JUL 2023 AT 3:29 AM
I did get probably an hour of sleep to begin with and then maybe an hour or two of dozing since then. But it’s daylight now and I don’t think I can sleep anymore. Besides, it would be better for my body clock to start syncing with the daylight again. I’d love a coffee but the seatbelt sign is currently on and I’ll have to wait. I continue watching the TV series. Currently flying over the East Indian Ocean. I try to check remaining time on the flight map but this one is only displaying in Arabic and it’s hard to word out which numbers are which.
FRIDAY, 21 JUL 2023 AT 4:29 AM
Seatbelt sign is off so I can get that coffee.
FRIDAY, 21 JUL 2023 AT 5:03 AM • INDIAN OCEAN
I start another series, Nolly, staring Helen Bonham Carter
FRIDAY, 21 JUL 2023 AT 6:43 AM • INDIAN OCEAN
Breakfast time. The omelette.
FRIDAY, 21 JUL 2023 AT 3:30 PM • ADELAIDE AIRPORT, NETLEY • 14°C MOSTLY CLOUDY
Landed Adelaide.
