Flying to the United Kingdom

10 May 2011

The Lonely Motorcyclist, Travel


I can't stand flying, it's really an awful experience, being locked inside a metal tube whizzing through the sky at (usually) around 800-900 km/hr, at an altitude of a few kilometres - there's really nothing civilised about it at all, in fact, it's plain shithouse.

My first leg was a cruisy 14 hours from Melbourne to Abu Dhabi. We left Melbourne almost 2 hours late in thermals, which meant that we arrived in Abu Dhabi with enough time to sprint from one terminal to another. Naturally, I was still in thermals (as the plane was bloody cold) and arrived on my connecting flight looking like I'd just climbed out of a pool. I did enjoy the run however, as it was my first chance to stretch my legs since climbing aboard the Airbus Machine 'O Death.

Every hour we flew added to just how north and west I'd been. Flying in over the desert was amazing, some simply astonishing country side, somewhere that I must definitely visit in due course.

The next leg was a much shorter ride, 8 hours in all. This trip was much more interesting, and although I didn't get a window seat (again), I made extensive use of the forward and landscape facing cameras mounted on the plane, so I didn't really miss out much on the scenery. This was a good thing, as my entertainment unit was broken.

And what scenery I saw! My first mountains, snow, and my first real life glimpse at a lot of the valleys I'd be carving it up through on my motorcycle as soon as I hit the mainland. By this stage my palms were tingling with anticipation - I just wanted to get out of the plane and get moving.

Ellen greeted me at Heathrow, after a thorough grilling by the customs officials, who were extremely non-plussed with the measly $5 in Aussie cash I was carrying. We set a course for Woking, and then to the nearest boozer.

The most important question here is: how does one overcome jetlag? No one really had any tips or hints for me on this front, and I didn't seem to suffer at all. I found myself waking up early each morning, but that's nothing new for someone who is accustomed to 0530 starts daily anyway.

That aside, I arrived on the 10th of May, and I made sure I was in the gym slogging it out by the 12th, in preparation to pick up my new bike on the 13th.

You can't really get much further away from London than Melbourne, so be warned those who are making the trip, it's long, and boring.


 

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