FLIGHT 3 - MANCHESTER - EDINBURGH

Having unchecked our bags we rechecked with a low cost carrier - 'FlyBe' for the last leg. Felt like Jetstar so we were a bit nervous that our 100kg of booty was again at risk of being censured. The man at the desk was lovely but wanted to check everything. I had been trying to lug the bag with 2 laptops and a swag of power supplies, and the bag with cameras, thick books and electrical stuff as if they were light little sub-7kg cabin bags. Then at each desk we would do the Ray shuffle - Lucas looking cute with the stuffed lion, bags behind trolleys etc. But this guy was onto us. He politely hid his strain as he lifted each and tagged each of them with 'approved cabin baggage'.. Yes! Then we're on to a cute little twin propeller Dash 8 - a great little 'bare bones' plane. Lucas and I are becoming plane boffins. Every so often up in the air you can look at the wing, and all that sky, and let yourself freak out - seemingly sitting up there in the clouds. Very cool. The landscape all the way was stunning. More dramatic and less genteel than i expected. We made it into Edinburgh. (The landings are rather funkier in the smaller planes) We were the last off and wandered across the tarmac quite on our own. With a slight feeling of 'what are we doing here'.

FLIGHT 2 - ABU DHABI - MANCHESTER

We made it on to flight number 2 without too many hitches - Etihad are much stricter in Sydney than on home turf. We got bottles of water and all sorts through security. Having rested, the 7 hour flight was a pretty light proposition compared to the 14hr. The flight wasn't full so there was room to move about, lie down etc. I had a Scotch - just to prepare for what's ahead. Manchester airport was a bit of a muddle (we were primed to leave bags checked all the way to Edinburgh but the Etihad girl wasn't up for that, so we checked them out and back in. The Border Security attendant was not going to let us in on grounds of insanity for leaving Sydney to come here. We said we are heading up to Edinburgh. She relented - just.

FLIGHT 1 - SYDNEY - ABU DHABI

They pack us in and we're away. With Kath being pregnant and my run in with DVT's earlier this year, we are all set with compression stockings and talk of walking the aisles, drinking lots of water and stretching. Which we pretty much do. Kath had ordered vegetarian meals in advance and the attendant would bring these out before the regular service - much to the chagrin of the people ahead and behind. The women in front wondered why Kath was getting served before them and the woman behind kept trying to order vegetarian meals too, not grasping that 2 hours into the flight was not early enough to do this. Eventually we reach Abu Dhabi. A wild taxi ride later we arrive at Le Meridien - a beautifully decked out place where we are recuperating in bed, in the pool and over nice local food before 'the final push.'

BAG DROP

Sun 25 - Rob van Dalen dropped us at Sydney airport in fully loaded Ford Focus (which is still for sale on carsales) and we join the Emirates queue.
Bags weights were tuned down to the gram to get our worldly possessions under 23kg each. The less closely scrutinised cabin baggage is maxed out in number of pieces, and the weight is… well think lugging bars of gold bullion. Because a cabin bag is never weighed. And having been told by out travel agent that we can take a buggy swell, that is with us too - wrapped up and perched on the trolley.
We watch as the people in front of us in the queue are pulling things out of bags and rearranging as a stern middle eastern man looks on. Then the unthinkable happens: the couple in front of us are told 'you can't have 2 cabin bags - can I weigh your backpack?' She's not gonna be able to lift either of my cabin bags to put them on her scales… (The 'one bag plus laptop bag/1 bag plus handbag' cabin allowance is interpreted most liberally in our monads 'It is not literally 1 bag, It is more the idea of 7kg, that size is just a guide etc…)
Then it's our turn. We place the bags to be checked in onto the scales in turn. 22.4kg.. 22.2kg (why didn't we fill that one up?!!) 24… no 22.. no 22.9kg. Nice. Next the buggy. Which we can check on - sure - but the weight comes off our allocated lot. We're 13kg over. After our man has a chat to his supervisor… we're on - buggy and all!