Long flights home

Our flights from Brisbane to Paris via Dubai were long but at least they were on time. When we checked in at CDG for our flights home the flight from Paris to Dubai was listed as ‘on time’ but that soon changed.

We settled ourselves at the listed gate to wait but it was not long before there was an announcement about a delay of an hour because the incoming flight was late. Time passed and there was an announcement about a gate change. People moved and queued in anticipation of boarding.

We joined the queue but it was soon apparent that it was not moving. We found seats and waited as further announcements about delays followed.

Eventually boarding began almost 2 hours late. On the plane there was a further announcement about our scheduled time slot for departure having been lost and waiting for another. By the time we were in the air we were a bit more than 2 hours late and it was well after midnight.

During the flight there were announcements about arrangements for connecting flights. Passengers who had been expecting short wait times in Dubai would have to adjust their plans.

A meal was served early in the flight and another near the end, with pizza slices some time between. I missed the pizza. Majella skipped the first meal. Callum managed to sleep and was oblivious to the early offerings but did manage to eat some breakfast.

Our scheduled layover in Dubai had been more than three hours but with the delayed departure, even after making up some time in the air, our actual layover was substantially less than 2 hours. A sizeable chunk of that was occupied in passing security, moving from one terminal to another by train, and going up several levels in the new terminal and then down again to reach our gate where there were more checks.

The long leg from Dubai to Brisbane was on time at both ends and the flight passed smoothly. We slept and watched movies or otherwise amused ourselves. Arrival into Brisbane was around sunrise on Friday. It was late Wednesday evening when we boarded at CDG and Thursday morning when we arrived at Dubai. What we saw of a truncated Thursday was spent entirely in planes and airport terminals.

In Brisbane we passed through passport control easily and found our bags quickly but then had to queue for the biosecurity checks. Majella and Callum had Congolese pepper gifted by Roland and Marie-Françoise to declare. The species named on the label was not approved for import so the pepper was lost but the containers retained as souvenirs.

Once through the final checks I called Andrews and we walked out to wait a few minutes for the bus to collect our car. That process was smooth and I drove us home as quickly as possible.

Hannah was waiting out front as we drove up their driveway. She and Callum were pleased to be reunited.