There is not much that can be said about a long haul flight except it is just that – a long haul. You start off bright eyed and bushy tailed in great excitement about your trip and emerge after 22 hours of flying bleary eyed and with cockatoo hair. I am in awe of women who emerge from long distance economy flights looking composed and alert, hair unruffled and no sign of food on their clothing. The Singapore Airlines hostesses take it one step further looking like goddesses with wheelie bags as they finish their little 13 hour stint.
It still amazes me that horses fly around the world and usually seem to recover so quickly. Being able to sleep standing up is obviously an advantage horses have over us; if airlines could find a way to emulate this in humans they would be on a winner.
There was a flavour of Olympic fever in the passengers on the plane. One fellow next to us had tickets to see 30 events; he was from Camden, NSW and, despite the fact he knew little about eventing he was really looking forward to his allocated day of equestrian competition and was completely up to date with the news of Shane sadly not competing. Another guy was reading Mark Todd’s latest autobiography but again was not a real fan of eventing, just interested as he had ended up with tickets in the ballot. There was a couple in front who looked quite ‘official’; he had an IOC lanyard around his neck and they headed to the bright pink London 2012 registration desks as they emerged from the plane.
To be honest, I don’t think they could have been whisked through customs, baggage etc any quicker than we were. With only three days to the Opening Ceremony and the threat of a baggage handlers strike, we were expecting lengthy waits and minor chaos at the airport. We were wrong. We landed at 5:30am, last off as always (what’s the rush?) and were through customs with our baggage in hand and heading out of the airport at 6:30am. Impressively smooth.
Our chatty cab driver filled us in on the fact that this was the first day of the dedicated Olympic traffic lanes, which only cars ferrying Olympic competitors and officials around can use between 6am and midnight. Apparently it’s a bit embarrassing if athletes miss out of a gold medal because they’re stuck in traffic. No doubt the 130 pound fine for those who don’t abide by the regulation helps replenish the Olympic coffers too. Despite not being too happy about the Olympic traffic lane, the cabbie was still pretty happy about the Olympics being in London, saying that it‘s one of the few things that everybody pulls together for. There were plenty of friendly Olympic volunteers milling around at Heathrow and Paddington Station which brought back memories of all those smiling Sydney 2000 volunteers so maybe the Olympics do bring out the best in people all around the world.
The other thing that certainly helps is that the weather is FABULOUS! About 32 degrees today and sunny all the way. London is looking its best. The forecast is the same for tomorrow (Thursday), still warm on Friday but possible showers then cooling and some wet weather to come. The heat and humidity isn’t likely to cause the Aussie eventers too much of a problem and may even be an advantage (hmmm.... even if Megan is the only one who really competes in Australian conditions). Talking of Megan, I had a quick chat with her by phone before I left Australia. She was obviously sad for Shane, having been in a similar situation herself in Kentucky but she sounded very composed, happy and ready to make the most of the opportunity she has. Her hubby-to-be James Deacon had already arrived in the UK and her Dad, Peter was heading over although unfortunately the owners of her horse Kirby Park Allofasudden (Floyd) , Alan and Stephanie Poulson weren’t going to be able to get there to watch Floyd and Megan.
The strangest London bus you will ever see by Czech sculptor David Cerny - it is fitted it out with gigantic working mechanical arms and when switched on it performs press-ups. But look at that blue sky!
But the sun is shining now and we’re going to take advantage of it with a dip in the pool and a Pimms at the Hurlingham Club (Paul is spitting chips he didn’t bring his tennis gear) with a dear friend who is a member.
Tomorrow Rosemarie and Vaughan Ellis arrive and we head south of the river to our rented house in Lewisham, a 20 minute walk from Greenwich Park to join the rest of our house mates.............
Here's the welcome we've organised at Heathrow for them
