Farewell Whitby, hello Singapore

All journeys begin with one small step. We piled our (much-reduced) luggage into our helpful son-in-law’s car boot in Whitby under a setting sun on 14 May. Wellington-Auckland, then a brisk walk to the International Terminal (swimming fish and flying bird ceiling sculptures new since last time), then we filed onto our Air New Zealand plane just before midnight.

We flew into Singapore 10 hours later as the sun rose (super dramatic shots of the fishing fleet returning to base). Then landing at Changi, my favourite airport: super-modern, spacious, intelligently thought out, with none of the claustrophobia of older, shabbier places like Los Angeles.
Changi is a gateway to adventure. Just reading the destinations on the Departures board gives you a thrill. The shops are spacious and shiny (I loved the Bacha Marrakech Coffee shop, all glittering lights and North African arches.
A shower - bliss! And what other airport would be clever enough to include a Butterfly Garden to lift your spirits? and then to follw - COFFEE! And every time you look out a window, there’s another huge plane to bear you off, like Aladdin’s Flying Carpet, to a new destination.
Each comfortable sofa chair has a personal recharging dock (modern travel is much more device-dependent than it used to be). Once again, the clever touch of giant golden carp swimming in their own little river, to delight the eye and relax the spirit.

Then bye-bye Singapore as we look off (Singapore Air this time) for our next 13-hour leg to Europe. My travel discovery on this leg was The Sleepy Bookshelf, a series of audio books produced by Elizabeth Grace in London. She reads the full text of a book (adults and children) in a soothing voice, in 50-60-minute parts. Each is introduced with yoga gentle breathing exercises, and backgrounded with relaxing music.
I chose Virginia Woolf’s The Lighthouse, which I hadn’t read before. Because you’re concentrating on the story, and tired with all the Travel Rush, after 10-15 minutes you drift off into a deep sleep. When you wake up again she gives a summary of the previous section. I had several periods of deep sleep. Recommended for insomniacs as well as weary travellers. Google The Sleepy Bookshelf if you’re interested:Læs mere