Commonwealth Games Melbourne 2006 pt 2

And so it is that the first part of the journey to Melbourne is about to begin. It is 10:00am on Monday morning the 6th of March and we are sitting on the BA flight at Manchester waiting to take off for London. Looking out of the window it is snowing at Manchester Airport and the Captain tells us that there will be a delay as the aircraft needs to be de-iced.

As we taxi to our take off point I see one of the saddest things I have seen for a while. Concord, one of the greatest aircraft ever invented being snowed and rained upon. Can we not get an indoor location for one of the greatest icons of the 20th Century?

Finally we are in the air on the way to London. No sooner are we up to our optimum altitude then we begin our descent to Heathrow. The Captain tells us that there will be a delay getting into Heathrow as we will have to queue.

We make a couple of passes of the City of London and I recognise nothing until… there it is large as life… the fabulous new Wembley Stadium. When it is eventually finished it will be glorious. Then we see the Arsenal stadium almost equally impressive, the London Eye, the Houses of Parliament and numerous other landmarks.

Finally we get the clearance to land and after an extremely smooth flight we touch down at Heathrow. So begins the trip of a lifetime.

It is a gloriously sunny day in London. It is 11:30am and I have a long wait at Heathrow as my flight to Singapore does not depart until 9:00pm tonight. I suppose I could use some of the time to start writing my diary. So far so good.

With about three hours to go to take off I am making my 5th or is it my 6th tour of Terminal 4 at Heathrow when I see a group of people all dressed the same. Could it be? Yes it is a team going to the Commonwealth Games. I get as close as I could without drawing attention to myself and I see it is the Barbados team. I am beside myself with joy and quickly strike up a conversation with them. Half of their team had gone via Los Angeles while this half were making the trip via London

Soon the team from Guyana arrives as do Antigua and Barbuda. There is a truly special atmosphere in Terminal 4 and finally the gate is opened and we get on to the British Airways flight to Singapore – just 12 hours flight time away. 12 Hours!

I am sitting next to one of the assistant coaches from the Barbados track & Field team and the Doctor from the Antigua team. It is a glorious trip as we discuss all aspects of the Commonwealth Games.

I manage to cure their insomnia by going on and on about how great Manchester was.

Mind you it was correct!

One of the most impressive things about the trip is the interactivity that is offered by our 747. There are 17 channels of film and television plus numerous radio and music channels. However the most impressive is on channel 18. This offers you the chance to track your flight right across the world.

Information is included on the speed of the plane, altitude, miles into the flight and miles to go. It also includes time already in the air and time to your destination. You also see it pass all the cities along the route. I spend more time looking at this channel than any of the others, although I did manage to see the gorgeous Jennifer Aniston in Derailed. Not the best film ever made but she looks great and there is an interesting twist at the end.

Finally, we arrive in Singapore. As we leave the plane the crew say goodbye as they are staying here. A new crew will take us to Melbourne.

My mind begins to wonder…Does one pilot say to the other it’s pulling a bit to the left. Does the new pilot have to adjust the seats in the cockpit? I think these are questions that should be answered.

Singapore! What a fantastic airport. Awesomely clean, and very very efficient. Free internet access is available, allowing you to send e-mails home saying arrived Singapore what a fabulous Airport!

After more security checks we board the flight again and head for Melbourne, only 7 more hours to go. There are fewer than 8 days to the start of the 18th Commonwealth Games. The teams are on the way and there is definitely no turning back now.

Mike S