Monday 22 January 2018.
Highlights: Qantas Business Class experience, Returning home.

The last day of the trip was here and started with boarding the QF064 Johannesburg to Sydney for the 11 hour flight home. I flipped over my Fitbit watch back to Australian time and according to my watch it was now Monday 22 January 2018 not Sunday 21 January 2018 as the Johannesburg TV screens stated 🙂

Boarding was done first for business class passengers and high status frequent flyers. This meant I was one of the first on the plane. My seat 5B was both a window and an aisle seat, unfortunately that is rare on Qantas international flights right now but hopefully in the future all seats will have direct aisle access without having to step over a fellow business class passenger. My seat was an exit row seat so I had the business class entry door right in front of me.

The moment I step on a Qantas International flight home I already feel like I’m home. You hear Australian accents, your see Australian movies and hear Australian songs on the Inflight entertainment system and you know that you will be home very soon. I enjoyed this flight very much, whether this was due to the amazing leg space or turning the seat into a flat ‘bed’ or just going home it’s hard to tell. Full flight review is located here.

We landed in Sydney just over 30 minutes early. I was handed an ExpressPath entry which I ended up having to use as the Immigration Kiosk didn’t like my answers that I had been in Africa in the last 7 days and had been in National Parks. This just meant I had to officially enter the country via the old fashion method of a a face to face encounter with an Immigration Officer. A quick couple of questions and I was back in Australia. My bag was one of the first off the plane which meant the Cape Town to Johannesburg to Sydney transfer worked well.

At Sydney International Terminal you work outside and a short distance to the Qantas Domestic transfer area and checkin again for my flight back to Melbourne. From here it’s a bus ride across the tarmac to the Domestic Terminal 3 which is always a nice ride even if you are dead tired. From here it was a visit to the Qantas Domestic Business Class lounge and a much enjoyed shower and change of clothes while waiting for my final flight home.

After 2 hours in the lounge it was not QF459 the Sydney to Melbourne flight home. Once again I was in Business Class and had window seat 1F with a vacant seat next to me. The flight back home was very uneventful. I tried to eat a little of the meal but was extremely full after all the meals previously and not having moved much in the past 24 hours.

Once in Melbourne I texted my mother who lives near the airport and volunteered to pick me up and take me home. My bag was one of the first off the plane. Luckily the weather was fine for the open air walk to the pick up area, I saw my mum and brother just as they were about to go around the block again so great timing. The trip back home was a chance to catch up on what everyone had being doing, I was dead tired but you make an effort to talk.

I got home around 9 pm local time. My nephew’s cat, or really my cat in my mind, Indie didn’t know what to do when I walked in the door. She is extremely timid having been abandoned as a tiny kitten. Indie had one leg pointed towards me and one leg ready to run but in the end she decided to trot between me into my room. I was tired, I was exhausted, I was home.