Wow has this been the longest New Years ever! I got to the airport the usual 3 hours early and checked into my Air Austral flight to Reunion Island. I had a nice chat the guy at check in and asked if I could have a pre flight tour of the plane as I am a travel agent. This was all said in the hopes of getting a sneaky upgrade to business class but I don't think anyone there got the hint.

I hung around the airport until boarding time and went up to the gate. Once there the business class manager found me and took me onboard for my private tour of the aircraft. Once the tour had finished I was shown back to the waiting area and then got back on the plane with everyone else. The flight went ok, it was very long 11.5 hours and the middle seat next to me was empty. The aisle seat was taken by this random old French guy, quest to a who kept looking at me with huge eyes through his glasses and grinning every time the drinks cart came round and I ordered a Johnny Walker. (No Jack Daniels)

The plane landed in Reunion around 645pm and I went straight though customs with my British Passport, while most others had to wait in line and be questioned. I love my EU passport! I went out and collected my baggage and got a cab to my hotel which came in at a steep 30 Euros! I drove out of the airport and through the town, which seemed to go up the cliff face of the nearby mountains. The city buildings were all white and lit up reminding me of Santorini in Greece. There was a gap between two of the green mountains and mist hung about between them. It looked pretty wild. I arrived at the hotel and checked in and got a bit organized and went out adventuring immediately.

The hotel is on a huge hill and I remember walking down it and thinking, oh no I have to walk back up this. I got to the bottom and managed to navigate to the centre of town and all the way out to the waterfront. I starred out at the complete nothingness of the Indian Ocean. There were some old cannons on the waterfront so I had my picture taken with those.

The architecture here is a bit what I would have expected Cuba to be like. Its also slightly European and everyone speaks French. In fact, you might actually think you were in France, apart from the swaying palm trees and tropical heat. The weather was quite nice, it was very humid but just raining enough to cool me off and not completely soak me.

It was nearly 930pm so I decided to go back to the hotel as nothing seemed to be open. I'd walked about 5km down to the water and what a walk it was back, especially not really knowing where I was going. I'm lucky I remembered all the landmarks from on the way down. I got to the start of the hill and after walking about for most of the night and the 11.5 hour flight I was exhausted. I put some loud music on my iphone to get me to the top. When I finally reached the hotel I had a quick shower, got myself a drink and sat on my balcony overlooking the beautiful town all lit up to watch the New Years fireworks over the island. Happy New Years K!