We’re here. In Thailand. Hooray! Day one – yesterday – was a travel day.
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We flew Jetstar, because it worked out so much cheaper for a family of four, but boy you get what you pay for. Last time I flew overseas it was with Garuda to Bali, and the service there was exemplary. Jetstar definitely is a budget airline. My husband pointed out that the planes aren’t even painted on the outside – they just have the Jetstar log plastered on the outside! But the main thing is that the flight went smoothly and safely.
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We’d paid for movies etc for the girls for the flight, and after a couple of hours the staff managed to get them working (!). Stella happily watched three movies over her time in the air. My husband was sitting across the aisle from the girls and me and I think he was very happy with his magazines and books.
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I ended up in a window seat and quite enjoyed watching the landscape and clouds passing beneath. It was also great to have some uninterrupted time to just read. I managed a magazine, some of a guide book, a novel (The Natural Way of Things) and started on another novel. Hooray for the kindle! The toughest part is deciding which book to read.
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Clare tends to get motion sickness (as I did when I was a kid) and yes, she did vomit upon landing. Really took the shine off the trip for her! The flight time was about eight and a half hours, and the time difference between Thailand and Melbourne is currently 4 hours. This meant that although we cleared immigration and customs by about 9.30pm, to the kids it felt like 1.30am. The poor things were exhausted! And unfortunately once we were at the hotel we discovered that we’d left some belongings on the plane – including Stella’s favourite toy. Devastation! By the time we contacted the airline to report the items left behind, it was incredibly late and we were very happy to be in our comfortable beds in our very quiet room.
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But since my body is still on Australian time, I was awake bright and early taking peeks at the view outside our window. We’ve now had breakfast and are ready to launch into the day’s activities. Onwards and upwards!