We tried to sleep late again and got a little bit further into the day. We went for breakfast on the hotel, came back, worked on our laptops and then, with an hour left to spare, decided to get some sunshine and fresh air. Taste, a free food festival, was happening a couple of streets away (we could see it from our window) so we figured we’d check it out.

Now when I say ‘free’ I mean that entry was free. Everything else inside had to be paid for. We went through the security lines with their big signs saying, ‘No guns!’ then got patted down. Bit confronting to think that guns are in such supply that they need to tell people not to bring then to a public event. Strange.

We didn’t stay long. We didn’t want to buy the food tickets. We walked up a ways then turned around, returned to the hotel, checked out and jumped in a cab. The ride was quicker than expected so we arrived with plenty of time to spare. This meant we could hang out in the business class lounge!

Check-in was pleasant and quick. Security didn’t take long either. We then went into the loung, ate some food, drank some drinks, listened to some terrible tv show where men suspected of cheating on their girlfriends undergo a lie detector test (all while screaming and shouting at each other). Ugh. It was dreadful. Eventually I asked for it to be switched to anything else. We got baseball. That was heaven in comparison. Meanwhile a couple were having an argument in the corner about how much money they’d saved on a taxi ride and why the husband disregards the wife so often. He sounded like a dickhead.

Eventually it was time to board. Our seats were in a group of eight separated from everybody else, and there were only two other people in our area so it was like it was all ours. How decadent! We settled in. We had some drinks. The lunch service was extensive. I finished reading my book then started watching movies.

First was The Avengers 2: Age of Ultron. It was terrible. Lazy plot and writing, filled with explosions and fight scenes that got boring after a while. Even James Spader’s voice wasn’t enough to save this film. The second film was much better: Woman in Gold with Helen Mirren and Ryan Reynolds. It was about the true story of an Austrian woman’s fight to have Klimt’s Woman in Gold returned rightfully to her after the Nazi’s stole it. Excellent film. I had tears. The third film was a French film called Une heure de Tranquillitė. Typical comedy, light-hearted and fun.

After the movies, I slept on and off for five hours. It’s such heaven to be able to lie flat on a flight. Then it was breakfast (or rather dinner) before we landed in Hong Kong. Our 16 hour trip had come to an end…though we still had farther to go.

We went to the loung briefly as our stopover was only short and then boarded our flight to Perth a little late due to bad weather around Hong Kong. Business class was a lot more full this time around. We got fed and wanted. We slept for a few hours but due to the ‘short’ 7.5 hour flight and two meals (couldn’t miss eating), we didn’t get long.

We arrived in Perth at 5:30am, about half an hour earlier than expected. Passport control was a breeze thanks to the ePassport thing. Our luggage was waiting for us. There was a bit of a queue at Customs and Glen was expecting big trouble over the wood ornaments we had in luggage but they waved us through. I think we were waiting outside by 6am and because everyone knows international passengers always take so long to come through, no family were there waiting for us.

They eventually arrived. We had a coffee/tea and then got in separate cars because we had so much luggage and then went back to our house in Maylands. We’d had everything moved from my grandmother’s and dumped in our place a few days before. I couldn’t believe how much stuff we had and dreaded the unpacking. But we could do that later. We closed up the house and went back to Dad’s.

And did I mention how bloody cold it is here? By no means is it Canadian winter cold but the houses are not built for winter and we’re not wearing seven layers. It’s horrendous!