(Ladies and) Gentlemen; Start Your Engines!

I am sitting here on the plane to Tokyo, listening to Pink Floyd, Green Day, Muse and a whole load of other fine rock artists on the  'Rock on Q' in-flight music channel while writing this article.

We were really busy for the entire of today; packing our backpacks, helping my Dad get all of our stuff into the storage shed (I swear I haven’t seen him so in his element in years, he was like a pig in shit!), seeing Anth and Sharon for lunch, packing our suitcases to get sent over to the UK to meet us when we get there and trying to get to the airport in time.

As per usual, Eileen, Stewart and Claire arrived at the airport before us. When we got to the airport there was no line at the check in desk, so we managed to get our bags checked in nice and quick. Jen and I have packed as light as possible so our total weight shared between us was only 21kgs.

The last hour or so before the flight was spent in the airport's ale house, sharing a few drinks with Eileen, Stewart, Claire, Matt, Catherine and my dad Pat. Mum couldn't make it to the airport because she had tickets to go and hear the silky smooth tunes of Tom Jones, so we said our goodbyes before we left for the airport. (Mum: If you are reading this, Jen and I both hope that you enjoyed the concert and that you weren't too upset to enjoy it).

When it came time for departure Jen and I said our goodbyes which were very emotional for everyone. (Eileen: If you are reading this, don't worry, I'll make sure that I take good care of your girl and bring her back home safe to you).

Once in the departure lounge, Jen and I got to utilize her Platinum QANTAS Frequent Flyer membership to get us both into the fancy pants QANTAS Lounge (thank-you Rio Tinto!). There we treated ourselves to a couple of free glasses of Chandon, along with cheese and biscuits while watching the soccer on TV.

Before we knew it, it was time to board and we were in the plane.

As per usual, the in-flight facilities on the QANTAS plane are non-existent. Let me say to everyone that I've talked to about this that 'I TOLD YOU SO!'. As you can see from the attached photos, there is little to no in-flight entertainment :(

Fortunately, due to such a busy day, both of us feel asleep shortly after takeoff. I awoke about 6 hours later thanks to the snoring sounds of the guy sitting behind me that sounded like he was hocking up the world’s biggest ball of phlegm.... Yuk!

Anyway, we will be arriving in Tokyo very soon and I still need to fill out my customs declaration form. Tune in during the next couple of days to see what we get up to in Tokyo!