Day Zero (Sat 1 Sep 2018)

Departure day came about on Saturday 1 Sep.  We had managed to be in a fairly panic-free mode with just the final few things to be done.  Ten minutes before H-hr, our neighbours turned up on the front lawn, freshly returned from a ten-week odyssey in Europe, having flown in from Dubai that morning.  Ironically, Dubai is to be our first stop outward.  We returned their key and gave them ours in the ten minutes of our paths crossing.  After Uncle Ken dropped us at the station, we boarded the Melbourne train for an uneventful journey with the last leg converted to a coach.  The Skybus journey to Tullamarine would have been totally unremarkable if it hadn’t been for one deranged passenger (ice?) who vigorously encouraged the rest of us not to notice him.

Trip was progressing well, with sufficient time before check-in to enjoy some sushi, well washed down.

Check in with Emirates was ‘smooth’ and ‘pleasant’ – regrettably, two words which would not apply to the rest of the departure process once we got into the hands of airport security and passport control.  Exactly when Australia was overtaken in this regard by those who we used to refer to as the ‘third world’ is hard to say, but the  third world is now some years ahead of us, at least in civility and respect.  By comparison, the people at Dubai Airport on our arrival were less numerous, less despotic, more helpful and, thus, more effective.  People involved in our subsequent transfer, and the check-in at the hotel, were also very helpful and courteous.