Saturday 16 May 2015
Highlights: Returning home.

QANTAS flight 22 (QF22) boarded on time but my plan to have a spare seat next to me failed.  Instead I had a Japanese gentleman on the window seat who throughout the 9 hour flight kept getting up meaning I had to get up to let him out and therefore no real sleep on this overnight flight.  Still the shower I had in the QANTAS lounge just before boarding meant I was feeling pretty fresh when we landed in Sydney.

There was a mass of planes landing at Sydney airport at 7 am however the ePassport system meant in only 10 minutes I has though Immigration.  My bag however took quite some time to arrive so it took about 30 minutes to clear Customs.

At Sydney airport you have to pick up you bag and check in again and transfer to another terminal which you can’t actually walk to.  Luckily QANTAS has a domestic transfer service just outside the terminal.  After you clear security again this allows you to catch a bus on the tarmac between the planes which is always fun.

At the domestic terminal I accessed the QANTAS domestic lounge and once again had a shower and changed from shorts into jeans and enjoyed the nice free breakfast.

I really have to see if I can extend my QANTAS club work membership which expires in a few months.  Work paid for a 2 year membership about 8 years ago but QANTAS but because I travelled so much I got complimentary membership which for a while was at their top tier so I accessed other Oneworld lounges, including First Class even when in economy, which has a great peak.  However the prior paid membership that was on hold finally got restarted due to lack of flying and runs out soon.  Long flights are much easier with lounge access providing free food and a shower.

The flight to Melbourne was easy enough I had picked a exit row seat so appreciated the legroom, however I could barely stay awake.  My bag showed up and my fantastic mum picked me up from the airport and we had lunch at her house on a beautiful Melbourne day before she drove me home.

It was 30 days since I had left Australia and 31 days since I left my home in Southbank.  My bed looked appealing as it always does after an overseas trip.  It seem unreal when you return when you think what you were doing just 24 hours earlier, for me enjoying a nerd heaven in the Tokyo electronic district.

Home Sweet Home

Now the planing begins for next year’s holiday.