From the Shire to Middle Earth and back

We apologise dear readers for the delay in posting this blog. The first draft got lost in Bagkok. The Captain of BA9 must have uttered words very similar to the heading as we flew somewhere over eastern Europe en-route to Sydney. But I get ahead of myself – let's start at the beginning. On the morning we were due to depart, we had to make a quick detour to Ellesmere to pick up something that should have already arrived. Not to worry , we had left plenty of time - Heathrow will normally take about 3.5 hours from Cockshutt, 4.5 hours on a bad day and we were leaving at midday for a 7pm deadline for checkin. It started raining as I was packing the car and got steadily worse as we progressed along the M54. It was so bad that traffic was seized up on the M6 and it took us an hour 15 mins to do what would normally have taken 45 minutes. The M6 toll was running freely but the rain was so bad that we had to keep the speed down to 60 or less at times. We kept hearing reports of problems on our intended route down the M40, so against my better judgement I was persuaded to re-route down the M1. I was convinced that the M25 would be static by the time we got there on a Friday. It must be said that the navigator was right and I was wrong. (It must also be noted that the only reason I agreed is that experience has shown this is usually the case). We duly rolled into Heathrow car park just after 6 and quickly notified the family of our status. (We discovered we had got off lightly – Ben had had to abandon his car and taken 2 hours to get home while poor Ellie we discovered later didn't make it 'till 9:30.) Having been clever and checked in on-line the night before, apparently all we had to do was drop our bags at the fast bag drop and we could get through the checks and settled in for a quiet wait in the departure lounge. We hadn't recognised that this is the busiest Friday of the year and Heathrow was heaving. The fast baggage drop was we discovered a relative term. We had a long queue to negotiate, first for the baggage drop then for the security checks then for the passport control. We finally made it to the departure lounge at about 8pm. Not to worry we said to each other, we're on holiday – what's a little hold up. We were about to begin to discover.............
At ticket collection we had been told that the gate number hadn't been allocated – we should watch the screens. We had a meal then settled down to wait for the 10pm flight- and wait. By 9:55 we were getting a bit anxious as we had heard absolutely nothing over the announcement system and there was nothing on the screen. I approached one of the counters at a gate and asked if they had any idea – they checked their screen – apparently the aircraft was being towed to its departure gate but would need provisioning and loading. A delay of some 45 minutes was likely; we thought OK what's a little delay, after all we were due to have a stopover of almost 3 hours at Bangkok, perhaps this could be reduced? We settled down by the gate expected until we were called at around midnight and actually took off about 45 minutes later. The Captain apologised profusely for the delays which were caused by the flight being 'lost in the system' and the poor crew had been stranded without a pick-up bus for the same reason. After our evening meal had been served at 2:00 we settled down for a bit of kip before Bangkok. The Captain had taken on extra fuel and would be aiming to make up some time. I noticed we were flying at about 700mph, which I think is just under the speed of sound.
We duly touched down at the stylish new Bangkok International Airport about 2 hours late at 6pm local time;at which point the Captain apologised that we hadn't made up any time – 'as you may have noticed' one engine had developed problems and been cut 2 hours into our flight so we were not able to fly as quickly. He warned us that the engine would need attention and repair before we would be able to continue. Never mind we thought, we're on holiday, getting to Sydney a few hours late will not matter. We had to disembark from the aircraft anyway but although we would be boarding from the same gate, the Authorities presumably take the view that there is no point in having a new airport if people don't enjoy it. So off we walked from the extremes of the airport to the centre and back to the gate, passing through the security screens, bag checks etc to get to the departure gate. We watched as engineers peered at the engine; the new crew tried to keep us informed of progress but information was at best sporadic. Finally the decision was made that the onward trip to Sydney was cancelled. We would be put up in the Airport Novotel overnight until onward transport could be arranged. Tired, depressed and dispirited we made our way back again to the central hub but this time to check out. We had to wait some time for this as the Thai authorities refused to let us into the hall until a new team was assembled specifically to deal with us. We then had to queue for some time to get through the customs controls – none of us had visas, so the Thai authorities insisted on holding on to our passports if we wanted to leave the airport building. No-one was happy about this but we had no choice; 100 years ago this would probably have resulted in a gunboat being dispatched! When we got to the hotel, there was the inevitable queue with 300 people checking in at once. We finally made it to our room at 10:50pm local; 10 minutes before the restaurant was due to close – and we were hungry. But the hotel kept the restaurant open for us. Crawled into bed and crashed out. We were told that there would be a meeting at 1pm to tell us what was going to be done.

Novotel Bangkok Airport lobby

By early Sunday morning, one or two people who had not been satisfied with waiting had got seats and the rest were getting restless, so the Hotel management asked the airline to send someone to address a hastily arranged conference at 10am. We were put in the picture; the aircraft was to be repatriated for repair. We would be found flights with anyone else that could give us a seat in the priority according to the price we paid. We were warned that it may take a day or two as this was a busy weekend; there were no spare 747's to take us on, few airlines operated direct to Sydney from Bangkok and if anyone were prepared to choose an alternative destination, it would alleviate the situation. The meeting was repeated at 1pm to make sure everyone had the information. We let them know that if we couldn't get a flight to Sydney in good time, we would prefer to go direct to Christchurch where we were due to meet up with Ollie and Ang on Wednesday. Some people who were not under any time pressures accepted an offer of transport to a resort on the coast for a couple of days. The rest of us were told that we would need to be ready to be available to rush for a flight at 45 minutes notice.

The pool outside the room

So we chilled as much as we could. In fact the cage in which we were trapped was quite a spectacularly gilded one even if it was not where we wanted to be. By the following morning, there was an apparent discrepancy between what we were being told by the airline and what people were able to achieve themselves on the net; the manager was duly summoned for a 1pm meeting to face the music with many people extremely angry. Poor guy took a terrible verbal hammering and his protests that facing us was taking him away from helping us fell on deaf ears; this was our second day and we had already been overtaken by people on the flight the day after us – we were taking no prisoners. After some time he was interrupted – there were 4 seats on Singapore Airlines to Sydney via Christchurch. We were apparently already booked on it and had to be at the airport immediately for a check-in by 3. Although we hadn't unpacked, we still had to get our things together hurriedly and raced to catch the shuttle bus with a mother and daughter, escorted by airline staff to collect our passports and get to the check-in desk. We arrived 2 minutes after it had closed. Thwarted at every turn! We were then whisked round to the airline desk and were checked in to the same flight that we would have been on 2 days ago! When our boarding passes were issued, we were escorted to the customs formalities by a girl who admitted she was on her first day! We had a grand tour of the airport before we got to the departure lounge. As the time of the flight drew near more and more of our friends from the stricken flight arrived and it was clear that a decision had been made to move us all without further delay.

The flight from London landed to great cheers and after it had been reprovisioned and loaded we were invited to board to even more cheers. But it wasn't over yet. The cold hand of fate had more in store for us. After initial boarding checks, the Captain told us he was having problems starting an engine; the 'plane was taken off the stand to be started on the apron. This didn't work, the cabin systems were shut down to divert energy to the start, so the cabin got hot and a lady fainted. We were taken back to the gate and when the lady was recovered, the engine was started at the gate. We were towed back to the apron ready for permission to fly and while we were waiting, one of the passengers became very sick; we had to wait for a decision from the airline medical team about what to do. He was to be medivaced. We returned to the gate to disembark the poor unfortunate, get on some cleaners and take off his baggage. We also took on some more fuel! Because of Australian concern about importation of unwanted insect life, each time the doors were opened, the crew had to walk up and down the aircraft with insecticide to fumigate it! I couldn't help hoping that none had stowed away in my case while it was open at the hotel or Australia could be in for trouble. Finally we made it past the apron and out onto the runway ready for take-off, two days and two hours late. As we finally made it into the air, the prisoners of the gilded cage raised another shout; we had been beginning to think we would have to return to the tender ministrations of Louis again. But what is a little delay when you're on holiday? As we settled down for the flight to Sydney we thought it would be good to watch 'Amazing Grace' with the inflight video on demand, needless to say it didn't work. So we mused on the effect for our truncated time in Sydney on our never-to-be-repeated-holiday-of-a-lifetime. Our 3 days of sightseeing would have to be condensed into one; we decided on just 4 things we would do: see the Opera House, see Sydney Harbour Bridge and do a harbour tour. We would have our anniversary dinner, as originally planned in Guillaumes in one of the Opera House shells, overlooking the harbour and the bridge. We should have known better........................

written by

rickandsuejohnson on July 31, 2007 from Christchurch, New Zealand

from the travel blog: From the Shire to Middle Earth and back

Send a Compliment

2 comments...

The 4 musketeers

Up at 5am!! Packed, loaded car and at the 4WD hire place for a briefing at 06:30. The briefing was quite terrifying in pointing out the hazards of

Lovely people in an exquisite location

speeding on the beach and the dangers of excessive speed on the inland tracks as well as pointing out the need for self-reliance. There were graphic images of overturned vehicles and bent bits. There was also much helpful info on how to deal with the differing terrain and what to do if you got stuck. Off to catch the barge at 08:15, the Toyota hilux was a different drive - for one thing, the brakes were unimpressive, although they worked well enough once you got used to them. Later we discovered that the handbrake had a mind of its own about whether to release or not and the gear ratio selector could be a bit awkward about co-operating with requests. Suitably concerned, we disembarked on Frazer Island. I suppose I had begun to suspect that this would not be the mildly testing dirt track encounter I had been expecting. I was not let down! The 12km drive across the island to our accommodation took just over 1 hour and was full of drama with soft sand, high clearance drops over roots and ruts. It was at times very bumpy and I was concerned for Sue's back. The whole trip would not have been so bad if we could just do it at our own speed but it was like the M1 on a Friday afternoon and 4WD tour coaches were haring across from the ferries and with tour parties and if you didn't pull over quickly, they were driving on your tail pipe. If you did pull over, you risked getting bogged, so you waited for an easier looking candidate. At one point, I saw oncoming traffic and an obviously difficult passage just after I passed a passing place, so I dutifully reversed in and let half a dozen vehicles past in the opposite direction. Once I got going again, I didn't get the momentum I needed and so got stuck. After a couple of attempts at unsticking we decided to dig out. Shifting sand from the front of the wheels was enough to give us the momentum we needed to extract and we managed to reach the resort without too much more drama. After booking into our very nice apartment, freshening up and having lunch, we were off again, this time with Ollie driving. He had blown up the cushion that Zoe gave him for his travels and Sue found it gave her back additional support. As we drove onto the beach, someone decided to use the same route off the beach as we were using to get on, despite us choosing the left hand side and being on before they started their exit. Ollie had to stop; the guy then decided to reverse out but we couldn't get going again. We started to dig out then some French students who were also digging out their bus came over and gave us a push so that we were away and onto firm sand. We went back to help the French contingent and a pilot got himself stranded; we started to dig him out and he tried to get going. It seemed strange that all the action was taking place at the rear wheels. I thought that as a pilot, he would have the technical knowledge to have the car in 4WD and suggested so to Ollie. But it took a French student to actually point it out to him! He got free soon after. Then the student bus managed to get free and we started our journey up the beach. The briefing had warned us of washouts and so we were looking for any evidence of these as we approached creeks running across the beach. Poor Olly who was driving got much additional warning from the back seat. But when we approached the wreck of the Maheno, we discovered that the real problem is really not expecting them. Ollie approached a creek with care thinking there would be a small drop into it but found it to be bigger than expected, though thankfully it wasn't too bad. The Maheno is an interesting wreck, decomposing at the tide line, you can see she was once a mighty ship and some of her timber planking is still in place.

After playng Pooh sticks with Ollie's flip flops, Eli Creek, (note the tour buses)

We drove back down to Eli Creek and parked up. Ollie and Ang decided to wade down the creek and played pooh sticks with Ollie's flip flops under a bridge. Apart from the odd noisy tourist, it was a pleasantly quiet and peaceful spot. The creek was beautifully clear. Getting back from here was a bit hairy with many people travelling very rapidly along the beach and with the rising tide leaving very little room on the left for me! We had one little and fairly uncomfortable detour when we turned off the beach too early for a rock detour but we were lucky enough to find a place to turn round and make it back out. Back at the apartment Sue had to have 5 pieces of chocolate before her nerves were quietened. We were all quite bushed by the day and by the time we had made supper and tidied away we were ready for bed. We made an early night of it.
Next morning we had a family conference and decided that we wouldn't attempt the Champagne pools at the northern end of the island but concentrate on the lakes. Sue was feeling much more positive and although the trip across the island through the lakes was extremely bumpy at times it was marked by maniacal laughter as she hung on to the strop above the door and bounced around on her seat. The great thing about this trip was the lack of tour buses along the way until we reached central station. The lakes were crystal clear with white sandy beaches.

Ollie enjoys the clear cool waters of Lake Birrabeen

Lake Birramin was absolutely delightful and Ollie and Angela had a nice swim there. Afterwards we had lunch at a picnic table in the forest. After lunch we went on to Lake Mackenzie and from central station on were competing with tour buses once more.

Lake McKenzie

The trip across had been quite testing with some very difficult passages but Ollie managed to cope very well (he later said that he had been told that the best way to cope was to drive fairly fast over bumps and thereby miss out on a few) and I found when I was driving that I had a better insight into reading the terrain and how to deal with it as well as having more confidence that both the vehicle and I could deal with it. Lake Mackenzie was spectacularly lovely if a little crowded. We were under a little bit of time pressure as we arrived at 2:30 and had to leave at 3:00 to be sure of being at the dock by 3:45 for the 4:00 sailing. We actually left at 3:10 and I was concerned not to misread the trail and get bogged while at the same time not being too cautious and slow.

Reversing on to the 'barge' at Wanggoolba creek

In the event, we made it to the dock with about 5 mins to spare and the barge nowhere in sight! There were some huge pelicans on the sand of the estuary. The barge arrived late and then had to wait for one of the tour buses to arrive and discharge its human cargo. We finally left about 3/4 hr late.

Pelicans enjoying the receding tide at Wanggoolba Creek

We filled up with fuel before returning the Toyota and were pleased when they did their check of the vehicle and found no need to charge us. Loaded up the car and went to our accommodation only to find Mrs Crazy had double-booked us despite our pre-payment – got this refunded. We made enquiries and found another studio apartment not far away; we made our way there and were delighted to find it was a delightful place, unfortunately only one room with a double and 2 singles that dropped down from apparent wardrobes Ollie found his feet wet in the middle of the night and we found that the air conditioning unit was the culprit. We went back to the Wheelhouse restaurant for dinner and had fish (Barramundi) and chips which was excellent but the service certainly wasn't.

Breakfast at our apartment (not Crazy Woman's)

The next day we made a reasonably early start and set out for the glass house mountains. As time went on it became clear that this was going to be a bigger ask than we had thought. We had to limit our excursion to the main route and while this was a lovely drive through the mountains, it was not as spectacular as we had been led to believe and there was no sign of the waterfalls and only a small amount of viewing of the mountains themselves. This route left us a bit short of time to visit the Koala sanctuary outside Brisbane and the town traffic didn't help. We decided to go for it and had a lightening tour of the sanctuary lasting 15 mins.

Koala Mum & Baby - Lonely Pine Sanctuary

Then off at a brisk pace to the airport; it must be said that if we had taken as long to reach the airport as it did the sanctuary, we would have missed our flight but fortunately Ollie navigated us through the town centre bypass which worked very well and we actually arrived with 5 mins to spare but only by not re-fuelling and had to pay a penalty for this. After checking in, a hurried re-distribution of load left an airport bin the beneficiary of some interesting food items. The Virgin Blue flight left on time and actually arrived early; the flight was most notable for the fact that the cabin crew were led by a bright spark who clearly really enjoyed her job hugely and made it enjoyable for everyone else too. We picked up the new hire car - I was lucky enough to get another Toyota Aurion – though not the Sportivo this time which then transported us to our apartment in Yorkey's Knob. Just as I was approaching the village, a Kangaroo hopped into the road necessitating an emergency stop to avoid a collision., Due to the lateness of the hour we went down to the Boat Club for supper of Pizza and arrived with 2 minutes to spare before they closed for meals. Fortunately, they agreed to serve us. The pizzas were first class.

The View from our apartment @ Villa Marine

The next day was a Sunday and Ollie and I were up fairly early to pop out to the supermarket for breakfast, not having had the time to do any shopping after we arrived. We were a bit concerned that it wouldn't be open. Not to fear – it opens at 6:15 7 days a week! I noticed a key scratch along the side of the car that I hadn't seen before and rang Hertz to say that I hadn't noticed it last night when picking it up. They seemed OK with this and said that it had now been noted on their records, so not to worry. After a nice breakfast which we ate in the apartment it being a little fresh to eat outside, despite being in the tropics, we spent a most relaxing day in Cairns. I was prepared for a rather seedy, touristy place but although undeniably set out for tourists, had a charm about it. We parked up on the seafront a little way out of the town and walked in to the centre. We had a nice lunch overlooking the bay and spent a bit of time in an internet cafe before heading back, doing some shopping and booking our tours to the Great Barrier Reef and Kuranda. Ollie was going to give some instructions on how to snorkel with a borrowed kit from the manager, in the pool outside the apartment but when we tried the water it was freezing and we decided not to bother. We then thought that it may be better on the beach, seeing as it was late afternoon and trotted down to the sea some 50m away. As we got to the beach, it was quite windy and chilly and at least for me made it a no-no. Ollie braved the cool and managed a paddle but even he didn't go for a swim.

From the Shire to Middle Earth and back

a travel blog by rickandsuejohnson

Houston.............we got a problem...............

Christchurch, New Zealand

Sydney in 12 hours and off to New Zealand

Te Anau, New Zealand

Fur Seals off Doubtful Sound

Christchurch, New Zealand

New Zealand North Island - Farewell to Minnie

Auckland, New Zealand

Whales in the bay

Brisbane, Australia

Frazer Island

Brisbane, Australia

A birthday to remember on The Great Barrier Reef

Cairns, Australia

High up in the Canopy

Cairns, Australia

A Blue Haze and a Swiss Chalet

Katoomba, Australia

Afterthoughts - questions I have been asked

Shrewsbury, United Kingdom