After over two years of not travelling overseas, I am finally back ‘on the road’.
The date of my departure from Australia was determined by important wedding. I was able to secure a flight from Sydney to London two days after that momentous occasion using QANTAS Frequent Flyer points. In fact, the fare using points and some cash was the cheapest long-distance flight I have ever taken.
Albeit it was a QANTAS fare, the flights were with Japan Airlines (JAL) via Tokyo Haneda.
Leading up to the trip, I received numerous emails from JAL informing me of changes to the timing of the Tokyo to London leg.
The flight from Sydney to Tokyo was uneventful except the requirement to be at the airport four hours before departure was a pain. As it turned out there were no delays checking in or passing through immigration at all.
Deserted Airport
The transit in Haneda was somewhat surreal. The terminal was very quiet as a result of the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions that are still in operation in Japan.
The majority of flights to Japan are still being cancelled. As a result, virtually all of the shops and cafes in the terminal are closed. In fact, there was only one food outlet was open when I was there.
The connecting flight to London Heathrow turned out to be leaving 3 hours early than originally scheduled. The reason for that was that it had been rerouted over the North Pole, rather than across Russia, as a result of the war in the Ukraine.
When we left Tokyo we headed North, steering clear of Russian airspace over Siberia.
Fortunately, the flight was only about 60 percent full and I was able to lie down across four seats and get some much needed sleep.
When I awoke, we still had about four hours to go be arriving in London.
Flying over the Artic
I was very glad to be awake. Out of the window I was presented with a great view of the Arctic not far from the North Pole. This was a first for me.
As we headed South, we passed over Greenland and Iceland before crossing over the Shetland and Orkney Isles before flying over mainland Scotland. We passed over Glasgow before flying down the middle of England into London Heathrow.
Smoothly through the Airport and into London
When we landed, we were advised that there could be problems getting into central London as a result of disruption to the rail system, including the Tube.
I was also expecting problems getting the luggage and getting through immigration. There had been a lot in the media about ‘chaos’ at Heathrow Airport.
As it turned out, the luggage arrived on the carrousel within minutes of me completing the very long walk from the plane.
The next step through immigration also went very smoothly. The automated passport control system works very well.
Surprisingly, the trip into Central London was also a breeze. The Piccadilly Line wasn’t going to operate until after 8.30 am, however the Airport Express and new Elizabeth Line trains were operating as normal.
I decided to take the Elizabeth Line which costs only GDP 11 as opposed to GDP 25 on the Airport Express. The only difference is that there are a few stops on the way to Paddington.
In Paddington, I took the Circle Line to Edgeware Road where I caught the District Line to Wimbledon. This turned out to be remarkably easy even with my fully laden Brompton. The Tube was very quiet. I can only assume people were staying away in the expectation that services were still being disrupted.
In Wimbledon, I stopped off at an EE Mobile Shop to get yet another UK mobile SIM.
Staying awake and No Jetlag
I then headed down to SW18 where I was greeted by my hosts. It was great to be back in very familiar surroundings.
My hosts had a very good plan for the day. They were going to keep me awake. This included a lunch in an excellent pub on the Thames with a friend and her extraordinarily likeable dog.
After lunch we went for a walk along a canal. The walk was mainly for the dog’s benefit, but it also assisted in keeping me awake.
I finally succumbed to the urge to sleep around 9 pm. I woke up in the morning fully synchronised to UK Summertime and free of jet lag.
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