Ray Sizer's blog
Flying high and making my tee time
Well I'm at gate 8 of international departures at Melbourne Airport waiting to get on the plane heading for Kuala Lumpur, the first leg of the trip to Royal Liverpool to cover Jarrod Lyle playing in the 135th British Open.
The fun started earlier when I went to the customs public office to fill out the forms to allow me to take my camera gear out and back into the country without paying duty on my return. She informed me that I should have had some other form but after some discussion she allowed me to use a tourist form and not the professional working abroad form. I wish the lady on the customs 1800 number had told me this instead of telling me to go to the office at the airport. And for the record she was a golf fan who had moved from England and knew who Jarrod Lyle was from his national media coverage in the Heineken Classic.
From customs to the check in desk where there is already a long line. There are passengers having trouble with excess baggage some heading to India are 16 KG over and it going to cost them $25 per kilo to get the excess home.
It's my turn, I put on my biggest smile and walk to the desk to be greeted by Amanda. My check in bag and big lens are just over the limit and go through OK. A sigh of relief. Amanda asks if I only have the one carry on bag which I say yes. Then she asks to weigh it. Oops its 12 KG and the limit is 7. I actually knew this but thought I would try and get away with it.
Amanda asks if there was anything I could repack. I actually had another small back pack in my big bag which I got out and spread the weight. She wasn't really concerned about the total weight but the weight per bag.
Obviously a 7 kg bag is much softer than a 12 kg bag when it falls out of the overhead locker and hits you in the head during turbulence. I say good buy with another big smile to the beautiful Amanda who let me get by with a few extra kilos.
I say my goodbyes to my partner Dianne with plenty of hugs and kisses and walk through the doors to the customs and security stations. It is like entering another world with the previous world left behind the closing doors. Security is easier at the airport than it was at the Commonwealth Games.
My flight leaves at 3pm and takes 8 hours 10 minutes, then a 2 hour stopover, change planes for another 12 hours 25 minutes to Amsterdam. Then a short hop of 1 hour and 25 minutes to Manchester. Total flying time of 21 hrs and 31 mins, total trip time from Melbourne to Manchester of just over 25 hrs.
Have just seen the pilots walk past and by the way they are handling their trolley bags it looks like they should be able fly a Boeing 777.
The departure lounge is starting to fill. It is a great place for watching people. Who are they and where are they all going. There are people on their mobile phones, on their computers, reading books, playing Sodoku and listening to ipods (some people actually call them earpods). There is even an old lady coughing loudly and passing wind louder than the sound of the landing planes, what an effort. I would just be my luck to end up sitting next to her.
The plane out of Melbourne is a Malaysian Airlines flight even though I'm flying with KLM. I catch a KLM flight out of Kuala Lumpur and on to Manchester.
We board the plane and I am directed to the back. If my seat was any further back I would be sitting in the toilet. The good news the old lady coughing and passing wind is not sighted at the back of the plane.
We take off on time and I get straight into the onboard entertainment and during the trip I watch a Harrison Ford movie listen to music by Jack Johnson, Elton John, Bic Runga and a bit of Malaysian pop. No idea why but it sounded OK.
The in flight entertainment has come a long way since the last time I flew international. The individual screens are great and because there was no one sitting next to me I was able to watch two at a time. Who said men cant do two things at once.
Dinner was served and I chose the veal with potato and pumpkin. It had a Malaysian/Indian taste which bought back memories of the Flora Indian Restaurant and Café that my friend Baby Thomas runs in Flinders St Melbourne. I swear it could have been cooked by his brother. I chose to have the Chilean white wine with dinner and after eating decided to knock back a few beers (the first being a Carlsburg made in Malaysia on licence from the Danish and the second a Coopers Pale ale).
It is amazing what you can do on a plane these days. There is a phone at your seat to make international calls. You can text and email from the entertainment system. It all costs and is quiet expensive but what a service.
The only down side of the trip was the two young guys one seat back on the side decided to see how many times they could say the f word on the trip. It is a wonder they did not get a granny slap from the two older ladies sitting in front of them. The trip was 6591 Km at an average speed of approx 900 km/hr travelling at an altitude of approx 10 km.
It is 12.41 am Aussie time Monday morning (10.41 KL time) and we are about to board the Boeing 747 Jumbo for Amsterdam.
It was a long trip from Kl to Amsterdam. Arrival time was 5.03 am their time and 1.03 pm Aussie time. It was an uneventful flight except the captain sounded like James Bond. Not sue if that was a good or a bad thing.
Had an hour sleep on the flight. It got dark about 8pm aussie time last night and the sun only rose at 5.45 am here ( 1.45 (aussie) meaning that there was an 18 hours of night. It feels like we have flown overnight and probably feel better for it.
Sat next to an Indonesian guy that was that was heading to Rotterdam to build ships. We had trouble communicating so we left it at that.
The KLM jumbo didn't have the personal entertainment system so it was hard to track where the plane was and how long to go. They showed a couple of movies but the screen was a bit far away for easy viewing.
The one thing I noticed flying in to Schiphol International airport at Amsterdam was the number of hot houses you could see the lights glowing from the air. You can tell why when Holland is the biggest producer of flowers in the world.
Of course on the flight I had to continue my beer tour of the world and had a Heineken (probable spelt wrong but it tasted OK). This put me to sleep for an hour only to wake up busting and stuck on a window seat with the two guys fast a sleep. Do I wake the Indonesian ship builder and his mate or do I hang on. After our pilot hit a couple of speed bumps I was busting even more and thank goodness they turned the lights on and served breakfast allowing my escape to the toilet.
The walk between my two flights at Schiphol has to be at least three km. I'm due for my morning walk anyway (or is it my nightly walk).
Might go and buy some duty free to take and share with my hosts now.
Leave Amsterdam for Manchester and find out im sitting next to one of the 60 referees for the Open. Paul Wilson is his name and he is a golf pro from Michigan in the USA. He has refereed all the big names and is on the USPGA rules committee. He thinks he prefers the US masters at Augusta as his favourite tournament.
Land at Manchester at 7.15am, through immigration and out through customs without any hassles to find Peter Haigh the family I'm staying with in Greasby which is not far from the course.
45 minute ride back to their place. On the way get a text message from John Lyle that Jarrod is teeing off at 10.20am. I squeeze in a shower and then Peter drops me at the bus station for the trip to Royal Liverpool. Once there go straight to the media centre and get my accreditation and go to the first tee and find Jarrod about to hit off. What amazing timing. Travel around the world and get there right on time.
The practise round was really layed back. Jarrod played with Robert Allenby, Adam Bland and Ben Bunny who are all Aussies. The guys hit several balls on some holes. There was a reasonable crowd for a practice day and Jarrod signed lots of autographs.
It is amazing to see the course. It is so hard on the fairways and the rough is very long. The Lyle family is so proud of Jarrod and of Leighton for being his caddy.
Jarrod seemed to hit the ball OK and believes he can have a top 10 finish which would be absolutely amazing.
It is getting late here and I have had 1 hour sleep in the last 48 hours and need to go home to bed.
Will send more tomorrow. |
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