No real problems once I had entered the "International Travel machine". Both me and my luggage ultimately arrived at Heathrow Airport safely. I had stop-overs in Sydney, Melbourne and Changi Airports and I would not necessarily recommend this strategy. It does break-up a long flight, so you can get out and walk around, but effectively makes the process even longer! I found I really needed the Qantas Club Lounge facilities for sanity and computer time.
Despite the tight-fitting socks, walking during stop-overs, and in-flight exercises, my feet/ankles swelled noticeably. The joys of being trapped in an economy class seat for 24 hours. A necessary evil but pressure related ear problems (a legacy of SCUBA diving when young and brave) and the possibility of DVT need to be managed. As usual I met a couple of interesting passengers, and some helpful airline/airport staff. The Qantas Club again was a haven.
I got to Heathrow AP and faced the usual long lines for everything. After getting through all of the bureaucratic processing I had the bitter-sweet experience of the luggage conveyor-belt lottery; will it arrive! I won and there was my roller-case in good condition! Then as an added challenge I headed off to find the Underground and to purchase an "Oyster card" for London Transport. My web-searching and advice from friends paid-off with a relatively easy ticket/card order,so much so that the next couple in the "Information" line at the station simply repeated my purchase! They knew the "Tube" to London from Heathrow was a good idea but had not found out about the "Oyster card". Karma!
Only problem for me was working in a mild jet-lagged fog, with a slight tummy-bug picked up during the journey. I was very pleased to make it through the three train/line changes to get from Heathrow to Fulham-Broadway Underground Stations, then walk the final 10 minutes to Orient House (Imperial College) where I had booked my one-bedroom Flat for two weeks. The hot shower (and clean/working toilet) really felt good; simple basic pleasures!
I did a little exploring around my accommodation, used the Oyster card on a local Bus and "recharged" it with 5 pounds at the Underground station. Simple process that worked well. After forcing myself to stay awake most of the daylight hours, with only a couple of disturbing mini-sleeps, I finally crashed at about 7.30pm London Time. Unfortunately I was awake again at midnight (equivalent of 5am in Cairns) so I do not think I fooled my internal clocks at all.
Tomorrow is the start of the serious work of locating and viewing the original artwork from the Mathew Flinders voyage!
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