The flight from Sydney to Doha is very long, but quite bearable in business class. After takeoff we met our friends Tess and Rob in the business class lounge which is located between the economy and business class sections in the A380. It's a great space to chat with friends stretch out.

Fed and relaxed with some very nice wines we rejoined Tess and Rob in the lounge and toasted our travels with a lovely glass of Billiecart-Salmon followed by a not as nice Piper Heidsieck. I was surprised that there weren't more passengers in the lounge enjoying the space and taking advantage of a nice place to meet their fellow travellers.

Tess and I stayed with the men folk until about 11:00 pm (Sydney time) and then retired to our beds and our Qatar pyjamas and promptly went to sleep. Greg and Rob continued to enjoy the amenity of the lounge finishing of the night with a Port.

The bar is reminiscent of a disco lounge, but in a nice way, with many non-alcoholic drinks and cocktails as well as a good selection of wines and spirits. Greg sampled the pineapple mocktail and it received the Greg tick of approval. Qatar Airways promotes the Arab culture in a subtle way - everyone is friendly and obliging but there is a whole channel dedicated to Mecca - but why not its their religion; Greg and I where seated together but there was a large barrier between us - obviously no hanky-panky on Qatar!

We all slept well. I woke around 6:00 (Sydney time) and watched a movie. They have a good selection of classic films and I chose "It Happened One Night", directed by Frank Capra in 1935. Its a movie that still resinates today; a road movie "Romcom" with witty quick fire quips and double entendre. Capra, the son of Italian immigrants, celebrated the the "Average Joe". The people who where honest and and took you at your word. During the Second World War Capra joined the military for five years to support the war effort. He saw a lot of action and when the war was over really thought that his career was at an end. After the war he went on to direct "Its a Wonderful Life" one of the most popular Christmas films ever made (though it wasn't a big success at the time). Another interesting thing about this film is that the James Stewart, who plays George Bailey, was also a returned serviceman who saw active service in the US Airforce in fights over Europe. Watching the film I can see there are scenes where James Stewart was suffering from PTSD. In some scenes his raw emotions are there and I think Capra could see what was happening and understood that there were other "Average Joes" like James Stewart that probably needed to see these scenes and say "so its not only me who is struggling". Anyway back to the trip.

Greg woke and decided to watch "Cool Hand Luke" a 1964 prison escape film with Paul Newman. He was watching one scene where there is a violent fight between the inmates. A nice old Lebanese grandmother came over and said that it looked like a very violent film, Greg agreed but also said it was a good film as well. Those of you who know Greg will attest to his ability to strike up a conversation with anyone and of course Greg then went on to have a conversation with the lovely old lady. He found out she had nine children, dozens of grandchildren and had lived in Australia for over 40 years in Lidcombe and loved it.

Now both awake we retired to the lounge to watch the sunrise. Our conversations ranged widely on our journey together over 35 years; we both agreed we are happier and more content now in spite of the challenges of the last years. Seeing the sun rise over the Arabian Sea and talking about the good fortune of having a beautiful and happy daughter who is starting her life with her husband made me feel completely content. Then Greg took me through the design of the wing on this enormous plane, what each element does and how it differs from his little Cessna but the physics are still the same. We don't get much time to ourselves these days but what a treasure to sit and enjoy such conversation with this interesting man.

We were approaching Doha and instructed to return to our seats for landing. The inflight entertainment has an option to view plane from external cameras so Greg watch keenly as the plane changed vectors on the approach to land.

Now follows Greg's will report on the landing.

The landing in nil wind conditions seemed high and the airplane touched down heavily well pass the piano keys, reminiscent of some landings I have done. Doha airport appears to be an architectural masterpiece with a layout which I found quite difficult to navigate (luckily I as on-hand to chart our successful journey to the business class lounge).

It was a short layover of only and hour but enough to stretch our legs before the next sector to Berlin. See you then.