The last week has really dragged by. We have done everything we needed to do to prepare for our trip and this week has just been waiting to depart. We have spent the days, and some of the nights, watching the Commonwealth Games on TV; a bit strange really since the games are here on the Gold Coast and we could easily have attended in person.

Kerrie has been packed for a few days and Greg started packing his suitcase at 9:15 this morning and finished at 9:30! Stacey, our daughter, picked us up nice and early to drive us to Brisbane for our 5pm flight - you never know what the M1 traffic will be like. Today, there was no traffic so we now have a 4 hour wait for our flight to Melbourne. We then wait another 2 hours before departing for Doha and then spend another 2 hours on the ground before heading to London. We don't really mind the waits between flights as it gives you a good chance to stretch your legs, catch up on facebook and even start this blog entry.

First flight to Melbourne was with Virgin Australia - very comfortable and treated to a great sunset as we approached Melbourne.

Our two flights from Melbourne to Doha and then Doha to London were with Qatar Airways and both on Airbus A380 - 800's. Both flights had a full compliment of 517 passengers plus crew - we wondered how such a big plane ever gets off the ground! Our stop-over in Doha was just under 2 hours so after a few quick photos we caught the shuttle train to our departure gate; we hope to get a little more time at this airport on the way home as it is very modern and features many interesting sculptures we would like to check out - not to mention a huge Duty Free shopping area! This is the first time we have flown with Qatar Airways and would not hesitate to fly with them again.

We arrived in London on time at 1:30pm on Tuesday 10th April as scheduled. Clearing border control took another 90 minutes! It took so long for us to get through, all the luggage from our flight had been removed from the carousel and lined up in the baggage area - this had never happened to us before.

Next stop was the shuttle bus to collect our hire car - a white Renault Captur. We are on our way!