It's hard to believe that our year long adventure has reached the final chapter. India seems such a long time ago, and yet we're really not ready to stop.
The last leg of our amazing journey which took us to Brisbane, Australia came to an end all too quickly with 17 days of beautiful blue skies, a reunion with Susie & Peter from our last trip, and the arrival of Master Oscar Hugo Chapman. The only dark cloud which somewhat dampened our spirits was the readmitting of Oscar's mum Kelly to the confines of the hospital with a mystery infection a couple of days before we were due to leave. It was difficult to say goodbye with the new family still getting to grips with the challenges of parenthood and postnatal complications, but with a flight beckoning we had to do it.

With our backpacks filled to the zippers for the last time we headed to the airport- thankful that Pam our AirBnb host had offered to take us there by car, turning a potential 90 minute bus and train journey into a comfortable 25minute drive through the Brisbane suburbs. On arrival we just had to drop off our check in luggage so we were pleased to find a short queue for our Philippine airways flight. Many of those in front seemed to be unpacking and rearranging the contents of bags as they struggled to meet the enforced weight limits. We were tempted to offer one Filipino woman our remaining Australian dollars to relieve her of five trays of prime Australian Beefsteak. The absence of airside BBQ facilities convincing us this may not be our best move with two four hour flights, an overnight stay in Manila and a 14hour flight leg from there to the U.K.
Eventually it was our turn at the desk, and confident we were well within the international 23 kg limit as both bags generally hover between 18 & 20 kg each, we handed over our passports. Then things went pear shaped as we were told to weigh our carry on bags too. Having never been asked to do this before we hadn't worried too much about the weight of the bags, being more concerned they were the right size and bereft of any banned items. John's face was a picture as his carry on bag exceeded the permitted limit of 7 kg by a further 7 kg. The check in clerk advised us our quota of 23kg each could be spread across four check in bags if desired, but the carry on had to be 7kg because it was a small plane! Despatched to an area away from the desk we set about reshuffling the contents of the carry on bags, identifying journey essentials and transferring non essentials to John's carry on bag until just one of our carry ons was within the 7kg limit. Returning to the line we only waited for a couple of minutes before the clerk spotted us and moved us back to the front of the queue to finish the processing of our bags that she'd started earlier. Waving goodbye to three of our four bags, which were checked in all the way through to London we both hoped they would arrive safely and together at the other end of our journey.
Now with just one bag we made went through the automatic passport scanners (so no passport stamp) to register our departure from Australia and headed towards security. I always have to remind myself that people may not be regular flyers, but to carry large bottles of mouthwash and aerosols of deodorant and shaving foam is just asking to be stopped. I did however feel sorry for the friendly New Zealand family who had to forfeit the blade section of their liquidiser- unaware that this would be considered a potential weapon. As they had carried it in their hand baggage on the way into Australia they assumed they could carry it out the same way. I guess New Zealand security have different ideas of what can travel onboard. Having safely negotiated the security ourselves we made our way into the departure lounge in search of some breakfast goodies. It came as something of a surprise to find that metal forks which were on the list of Non-permitted items were being handed out with our breakfast, along with a very sturdy metal knife. As there were no further security checks before boarding the plane we could only hope none of our fellow diners had terrorist tendencies.

The first leg of our flight took us across Australia to Darwin airport in Australia's Northern Territories, where we disembarked four hours after the initial takeoff to enable ground-staff to refuel the plane. The airport was deserted except for a surfeit of staff keen to offer discount vouchers for the duty free. The 60 minute interlude did however enable everyone to recharge the batteries of both themselves and their electronic devices before climbing back onboard for the flight to Manila.
We soon back in the air again, and with Ipad Scrabble and jigsaws to keep me busy, and John glued to the film on the screen which was hanging from the ceiling we were happy as sand boys.
As we approached Manila all we could see was a sea of lights and what looked like long snakes of light weaving their way across the City. On arrival security and immigration processing was smooth and efficient. We had to check in with the transit desk before getting our arrival stamp and heading out of the airport. One of the potential headaches when you arrive on a new place is finding your way to the hotel. According to Google we would still have a 14 minute walk if we used public transport so in view of the stifling clammy air we opted to take a taxi. Not our favourite mode of transport due to the generally higher costs, but we'd managed to avoid being overcharged previously by using prepaid taxi stands at the transport hub. With the in mind we headed outside the arrivais hall in search of a taxi desk. The young guy at the desk checked the address of our hotel and informed us the price to zone1, apparently the location of our hotel-the Nichols Airport hotel, would be 1370Pesos. I asked him for a US dollar conversion as we had decided not to draw out local currency for our overnight stay. Using a conversion of 45 to the dollar he informed us we would need to pay 27$. Nine O'clock at night, in a steamy Manila is not the best place to start arguing the toss, so although we both knew this to be excessive we bit the bullet, handed over the cash and were taken to a waiting cab. On getting to the taxi rank we discovered a stand for metered taxis but by then it was too late, so if you're planning to go to Manila we'd suggest you use that instead, as the return trip provided by our hotel was just 300peso (about 7$).

Although our stay was brief we had an opportunity to glimpse some of the differences and similarities between countries we've already visited on this trip. Around the hotel and airport there were many shiny chrome Jeepneys carrying people minibus style though the streets. We'd seem similar "buses" across Asia but nothing so elaborately designed and decorated. These were surely in a class of their own. There were also lots of bicycles with sidecars for transporting goods and passengers around town. Whatever the mode of transport there seemed to be the usual disregard for using lights, or observing basic road rules such as driving on the correct side. The chaotic feel of the roads and the shanty style shelters reminiscent of India, whilst the sweaty sweet air had all the hallmarks of cities across South East Asia. It was enough for both of us to comment that it felt like we were on the backpacker trip, rather than on holiday, as we had started to feel in the relative comfort of Australia. I guess the Philippines has just secured its place on the next itinerary!

We'd left the hotel in plenty of time and without bags to check in we were heading into the departure lounge with about five hours to spare. Usually not a problem but the limited range of shops in Terminal 2 promised a drawn out wait. There was a noticeable absence of information boards so identifying boarding gates and times proved something of a challenge, only resolved by tracking down a member of ground staff, and then loitering with intent in the vicinity of the relevant gate until we were called for boarding. The one bonus turned out to be free wifi, and ample recharging facilities.

Now we are in the air......heading in the direction of London so I guess this us where this adventure comes to an end and we say goodbye for now. We hope you'll join us on our next adventure, wherever that is. In the meantime if you are passing through the UK let us know, and if you are looking for help planning your next trip get in touch.