Mission Australia 2013 - Day 01

Delhi – Singapore – Perth 

The morning started quite early at 2 AM with travel bugs biting my stomach and one by one, all three of us got ready and were ready to leave at 5.30 AM. As usual I felt hungry and after a quick breakfast of aloo-parantha (which we’ll be craving for the next 18 days) with yogurt and family blessings, we reached the Airport before our target time 7 AM. Check-in was smooth at the comfortable T3 and so was the following immigration followed by the security check. We traveled the Jet Airways 9W 18 to Singapore and were pleasantly treated to care & courtesy – thanks to our baby. On feeling sleepy, she was even provided a bassinet which was a first for us. The food was really good, as is with 9W usually. On arrival, my primary concern, of course was to reach the Departure Gate as soon as possible. It took us 2 round trips of the connecting train to figure that we had to get out once and re-board another train to reach our terminal. This, in my opinion, was cumbersome and I recalled US Airports where a single train connects all the terminals/concourses in a loop of sorts.

Ayana with her "pose" aboard 9W 18 (DEL-SIN)

Anyhow, after security check, we were getting really concerned & elated about our food and drinks which had not been thrown by any security team yet. However, at the thought that it would be disposed at Perth Airport and the food in the connecting Qantas would not be Indian, we reluctantly decided to just stuff our tummies with home food and finish off most of it (offering another Indian couple also).

Once aboard Qantas, again on the front seat, we were offered Indian food (on enquiry) which had been specially reserved for us and we had a gala time wiping off the dishes in our tray. Neha, of course, kept aside some fruit & desserts for later. After a quick dinner, everybody slept and soon we saw the first glimpses of Perth city lights in the dark. Arrival Immigration was a breeze & DAFF, according to our declaration, got our bags opened to which we enthusiastically responded by showing our “veggie” meals (with list of ingredients) and they let us off really soon without keeping any of our stuff for quarantine.

Perth Airport was an excellent example of “ended right after it started” and I was surprised to see Vineet & Shilpa in the arrivals lounge. I was guided, thence, to the Budget Counter and with the formalities done, we found our way to our Hyundai i45 outside where it was surprisingly quite cold (First sign of our un-preparedness for any cold weather). Struggling much with the baby seat, we started following Vineet with his address fed into the GPS Navigator. Upon reaching home, we chatted for a long while – we ate (even after having eaten a lot all the day) – and after much argument with the hosts, we were guided towards the only master bed by them – much to our comfort yet chagrin.

Ayana elated at her separate Seat

Perth Airport - Budget Pickup