Quarter to 5 in the morning and Occy and Griffin (the horses) seem to think it’s quite normal for me to visit this time of day (or night). The carrots probably helped. With the car waiting for me there was no time to linger.
Back to the house, glass of water, bags in the car and it’s off. An entirely uneventful 1 ½ hours later we arrive at the Airport. Early actually. Need to loiter before check-in, security and customs.
The Qantas flight to Hong Kong passed in a blur of Champagne, Scotch and Coke, sumptuous lunch and spectacular scenery. We passed directly over Cameron’s Corner, the meeting place of the borders of Queensland, New South Wales and the South Australia. The ochre red of the rolling sand dunes contrasted with the stark white of the salt encrusted clay pans.
Then onwards over Northern Australia and the coast of Western Arnhem Land. Then onward towards Hong Kong where I arrived in a rainy twilight to try to navigate the intricacies of multiple levels and more security to get to the departure section to meet a friend who happened to be traveling back to Melbourne. 20 minutes later she was gone and I headed to the nearest Cathay Pacific Lounge for some snacks and a couple of G&Ts.
In the following hours while waiting for my Frankfurt flight I managed to strike up a conversation with a lovely lady called Chris from the New South Wales Hawkesbury area. A fellow horse person, although mainly racing. It did help to pass the hours before boarding
Regards
Walter
