The bus for airport was to leave at 3 am. We woke up at 1.30 am after an hour or so of deep sleep. There was no sleepiness, adrenalin was high. Everything, every fibre of our beingness was ready to go. We tried to get a taxi, but it was to no avail. No wonder – it was a summer solstice night and taxi drivers are human beings after all. I had a 100 litre-backpack; Tiina’s thing had wheels. Up and go! We made it to the bus station in about 15 minutes instead of usual 20.
Bus, breaking dawn, a bit of drizzle out there. Everyone sleeps. I’m sitting there, looking at sleeping people and thinking about nothing. Minute after minute. Eventually I had a brief nap as well.
Airport. 6 am. We have our backpack wrapped in plastic. Check-in, security control. We are in the international zone and looking at our plane. The thought about flying through two days and landing tomorrow at 9 pm is utterly unreal and has no content, no substance. Duty free shop opens. I’m thinking about buying 6-pack of beer to Michael, yet he warned me the day before over the phone that in Australia they would not allow to take any bottle over 100 ml into cabin. I’m hesitant, Tiina is firm – take it! To hell with it! If Aussie security personnel is going to have beer, so be it! Boarding, getting ready for flight. Off we go into cloudy sky. It has began!
Nothing really happens in our flight to Frankfurt. Adrenalin eases a bit, I read a book. It is ‘The Last Legion’, a fiction about how the last Roman legionnaires took their 16-year emperor under the guidance of an old druid to British isles. Rome was controlled by barbarians, empire was no more. It was time for a new beginning. They ran from barbarians fighting their way through collapsing pieces of what used to be a world-state.
Frankfurt. Two hours pass like 20 minutes. We board a Boeing 747. Christ, it is huge! 10 rows of seats! We sit in the centre. Blankets, pillows, head phones, socks, tooth brush and paste. LCD screen shows expected flight time: 11 hours 15 minutes. There is a map: we’ll fly over Germany, Poland, Belorussia, Russia, Kazakhstan, and China. It is bloody half the globe! Utterly surreal thought. Will this plane be really in the air for 11 hours?
We prepare for take-off. The plane is truly monumental, I wonder if it’s pre-take off run is longer than that of other planes. It begins – yes, it takes a bit longer to reach the lift-off speed. We are airborne. We are heading east.
I wake up in the middle of the night. Or is it a day? What time is it? Clock shows some numbers, but their relevance is questionable, as I cannot see what’s outside, except that there is dark. Right. I watch another movie. We still have 5 hours to go (damn! fly!) and Tiina sleeps deeply.
Dawn. We are approaching Hong Kong. Utter disbelief. Is it really Hong Kong? The place of Jackie Chan and martial arts movies? The legendary colony of Britain? There are mountains below. Houses like towers, bay full of all sorts of vessels. We land on a narrow strip. Pilot tells us that there are 31 degrees Celsius outside. Yes, while exiting, one can feel it. Our steps are unsure. We’ve sat for way too long! The overall feeling is that of numbness – it is supposed to be morning, but the body is not quite sure about it. I wash and shave and then lay down with my legs up. It feels good!!! Tiina walks around and then chooses also a more comfortable position. Pre-boarding security check did not mind the beer. Cool! At least it’ll reach Australia!
Another boarding. Flight to Sydney. Dream is coming true. During the flight I tell Tiina several times – we are flying to Sydney! We are flying to Australia! She smiles and laughs. We are flying to a continent I used to look at on the small model of globe I had at home when I was a kid. I used to read about Australia, I used to wonder how different Aboriginals were from Negroes in Africa. The land of kangaroos. I can’t get over that feeling of being unable to grasp reality. I never thought I’d reach that land.
I finish the book. The last Roman emperor reaches England. There is a decisive battle with chasing barbarians and by the end of it a new state is born on these isles. Empire is through, but the life goes on. A new king or former emperor strikes his sword into a big rock in the middle of a lake after the battle, and leaves it there for next generations to awe.
We reach Australia near Darwin. Indeed, the colours of Australia are primal. Scorched brown and green. I relax and go into half-dreaming. I feel warmth and comfort. Is it coming from that land? Is it talking to me already? We fly by not that far from where Michael lives. I’m thinking that we might be no further than a few hundred kilometres from him. Another boost of that surreal feeling of being disconnected from reality. Yet my senses are sharp and register precisely what’s happening around us. It is getting dark. It is dark. Sydney below! What a beauty! The lights on the coastline. Landing. Our steps are even more shaky than in Hong Kong. Customs officers are friendly. They inquire about the box of chocolates in our bags. We are through!
Taxi driver greets us with what came to be a frequently heard phrase: ‘No worries, mate!’ and drove us to our hotel at a lightning speed. We get our key and sit on the bed. Australian bed! I ring Michael and tell that we are in Sydney and will be flying to Ballina next morning. He is jolly…and maybe even surprised that we really are in Australia? We have a chat and I duly inform Michael that we’ve managed to fly beers half way around the globe. Laughs! We do a short walk on our moderately shaky feet and make sure we know where to go tomorrow to begin our adventure. I’m gobsmacked: it is a European city, but the nature!…the nature has nothing in common with Europe. There is a weird feeling of inappropriateness of that city in that nature. We sleep a dreamless and heavy sleep.
