Beep … beep … beep … beep …beep … Crash!! Bang!!! Wallop!!!!!

It was 7am when we were rudely awakened by the sounds of a truck being backed up the laneway, followed shortly thereafter by the din of besa bricks being dumped unceremoniously into the skip which was now parked right outside our bedroom window.  We know tradies start early, and normally we would just put up with it – but not today of all days.  Today was the day we’d be staying up for 30 hours straight.  Yep – it was Flight Day.  And with a 9pm departure, we had no plans to be awake before lunchtime.  Until …

Ian went outside to Have Words with the skip driver.  “I’m a shift worker and I’m trying to sleep” he mumbled.  “Sorry mate, we’ll turn the radio off” offered the driver. Radio?? If there was one, it was inaudible above the repeated cacophony of concrete meeting metal. We did detect a teensy weensy effort to slide each load into the skip more gently. Or was that wishful thinking?

Needless to say, our well laid plans were abandoned.  The rest of the day was spent doing all those tedious last minute things that an overseas trip necessitates.  An uneventful drive to the airport was followed by two uneventful flights.  We duly landed in Newcastle (the one in the UK) at midday local time.  My Garmin told me it was 9pm but the bright sunshine told me otherwise, so I went with the chronological flow (at least until I could sync my watch).

Easiest transfer ever – through passport control, collect suitcases, and straight on to the airport metro.  Master the ticket machine – it’s not our first rodeo – and wait 4 minutes for a train.  Alight six stops later, then a 2 minute walk to the apartment complex. We have a comfy bed, a comfy couch, a hot shower, plenty of space, and a supermarket straight across the road. What more could we want after flying to the other side of the world, in Economy?

“Do you hear that?” said Ian.  I looked out of the window at the nearby construction site.  “Beep … beep … beep … beep … beep …”  I think I’ll sleep through any crash-bang-wallops. Goodnight. Or Good Morning.