Today was the day. All the planning, all the excitement and a large part of the cost was to be represented firstly by 29 hours and 55 minutes followed closely by 7 hours and 20 minutes on United Arab Emirates flights. I’d downloaded movies, charged my phone and headphones, and was as prepared as I thought I could be. The first glitch came when I put my bag in for the plane. My bag went on the scales, passport was scanned, and I waited for its return along with my boarding pass. And I waited, and I waited. There was something wrong, and the supervisor came to check. I got my clearance for the flight to Dubai, but there was a hitch with the flight to Barcelona. I was assured it would be okay and to carry on. Unfortunately, I’d left my headphones on the charger at my cousins house, so there was my first duty-free purchase!

The flight to Sydney was uneventful, and time passed quickly enough. We had just over an hour in Sydney and had to disembark. Not long before we were called to board, my sister, Sam, arrived. It was so good to see her and feel like we were really on our way!

The flight to Dubai was long, Sleep was awkward, and time passed at times slowly and other times quickly. I watched a good Doco series that Laurie had recommended and listened to music. It was interesting watching the planes’ journey on the map and seeing the countries that we traveled over.

Tired and a bit weary, we arrived in Dubai and caught a bus to terminal C. There was time for a walk and a coffee, then a new plane and the last leg. We got onto the tarmac, and there the plane stopped.We waited for almost an hour as the Captian periodically announced there was something wrong with the plane and the engineers were looking at it. It was very warm as the air conditioning wasn’t working. Eventually a decision was made. Back to the terminal and we were informed our flight was to be delayed by 5 hours! The airport terminal  was nice and cool – my phone says it was 42 degrees outside! We went for a walk inside the terminal, had lunch and rested.

I managed to sleep for a couple of hours on the flight to Barcelona, watch a movie and look forward to seeing our family. Eventually, we landed in Barcelona and got off the plane. Customs was easy and when we walked out the gate …. there was Sam, waving…..

I’d arrived!