31 May – 2 June, 2016 – Dubrovnik to Munich to Hong Kong to Melbourne
Weather: Great.
It is time to start the long journey home. Our first flight is not until the late afternoon so there is no need to hurry. We go to the local breakfast place where we have been a number of times. As we are not sure when we will get our next meal, we have a big breakfast – omelette for me. We don’t have to exit the apartment until Noon so move slowly, especially with the packing of the suitcases. Eventually the apartment owner comes down the stairs to help us move out as we had asked him to carry our bags down the two levels of tricky stairs.
We trudge our suitcases all the way across the old town and out the gate.
We are not sure when our ride will come pick us up but we do know it will not be for at least 90 minutes. So we stop at a coffee shop for some drinks, it is a warm day and we get some shade.
Our boat captain from the other day is sitting at the table next to us. When Julie comes back from the loo, he tries to get her to go Kayaking but she obviously cannot. Then behind us, and I did not personally see it, a guy falls and hits his head. There was apparently blood everywhere. The waiter staff were right on the ball, calling an ambulance, helping to stop the bleeding, cleaning him up and then cleaning up the stones after he was taken away.
We are not sure when the Driver will come so we head down to opposite the Hilton and sit on a ledge waiting. Eventually he turns up and we load up his van and hop in. Turns out that he is a college student driving as a side job. Seemed to be a nice guy. It is around a 30 minute drive to the airport. Unload and check-in – easy enough although there was no one serving the Business Class line when we first got there. There is a bit of a delay getting through security, what else is new? We go to the Business Class lounge. It is not the worst ever but not that great.
The flight is called and we go out to the gate. It is a bus ride out onto the tarmac to board the plane. The take off was OK, it is a small airport. The meal was OK, some interesting cold cuts including a piece of Smoked Duck. We land OK at Munich Airport but when we exit the plane, the gate to get out into the airport is locked with no one around. Eventually some one opens it. All transition passengers have to go through another security screening. It is very slow but it does not really matter as we have nearly a 4 hours stopover.
Munich Airport is large and modern. We take a shuttle across to the other terminal. We find the lounge, it is very modern but the food selection is ordinary. When we finally board the plane, Lufthansa Flight, we find that business class is six seats across, not great for two reasons:
(1) The seats are naturally more narrow.
(2) The two window seats have to climb over a passenger to go to the loo.
We have middle two seats so the latter is not a problem for us. I am greeted by a Stewardess who starts speaking German to me. Whereas I mostly understood what she said, I pointed out that we were Australian. She apologised but we were good friends for the rest of the flight and the service was good. The meals were interesting and well laid out but mostly tasteless. I had a sliced beef starter and curried chicken, whereas for brunch had Chinese noodles – all bland.
We finally land in Hong Kong after a 10+ hours flight. Air traffic control added another 15 minutes to the flight. Again it does not matter as there is another 3 hour layover in Hong Kong. The airport is also modern but it is difficult to find the lounge. Once inside, it is great – I do like the Asian airlines the best. There is nice dim sum and a very good Thai Green Curry. I could have eaten all day but I know there will be more food coming on the flight.
When we board the plane, the seat layout in business class is much better with 4 across seating with much wider seats and all patrons have direct access to the aisle. The Asian staff are great too and it just feels more like home. Not for the first time, maybe the 50th, I fall asleep on the taxi out and wake up when we are in the air and the seat belt sign is off.
The airline meals were good, I cannot recall what I had for dinner but there was a nice Dim Sum collection for breakfast. The flight is 9+ hours and when we land at about 6:15 AM, the Pilot announces that it is 4 degrees – Yuk. We pick up the duty free, OK even though the receipts were locked in the suitcase. Our bags come off relatively quickly and it is straight out of immigration and customs through the priority queue. I put on extra layers of clothing but it is still quite cold outside. No wait for a taxi which we take to Gary’s place where my car has been the last 5 weeks. We say hello to Gary, who has warmed the car up a bit and drive home, arriving some 32 hours after leaving the apartment in Dubrovnik.. When inside, it is damn cold. The heaters take a while to get going. I wished that I was back in the sun at Dubrovnik. Unload the suitcases and do 5 loads of washing. I guess we are home.
So, loyal readers, that is it for that trip. I hope you enjoyed sharing some of the trip with us. If I find any mistakes or get more input e.g. from Jan or Boris, I may do updates in place. But for now it is so long!
