Slowly repatriating myself

When people say “oh, I had the flu but was better after a day or two”, those people do not, in fact, have the flu. I discovered this the hard way. By Monday, my fever was controlled by a combination of Panadol and ibuprofen, so I decided to take a run for it and start the trip home. I had considered just flying back to Melbourne, but all the flights direct left between midnight and 2 am and were overnight flights. I did not have the energy for that. Instead, I decided to leave the heat and humidity of Darwin and fly to Adelaide instead.

I’d tentatively booked this in on Saturday as being the Easter long weekend, flights were booking out and were already expensive. On Monday, I checked out of my hotel and headed the 15 mins to the airport. The Darwin Qantas lounge was much bigger than I had imagined, and I took up a seat near the windows that looked over the apron. Still feeling rubbish, I just had a coke and a bread roll as I really didn’t have an appetite. I also chucked on my jumper as the air con was set to Antarctic levels. Why is it that hot climates always seem to overcompensate with excessive air conditioning? 🥶 ❄️

My points upgrade came through, which gave me a solo seat on the E190. I appreciated this as it kept me away from others and meant I didn’t feel bad stretching out and napping awkwardly all the way to Adelaide. The meal on board was the most I’ve eaten in days and started with an orange juice and nuts, followed by a chicken curry with rice, bread, and the usual cheese and crackers and chocolate. Obviously, alcohol was offered, but there was no way I was up for that. I stuck with juice and Coca-Cola.

I napped most of the way, waking occasionally and taking a photo out the window of the landscape below. I find it amazing how Aboriginal paintings from pre-colonialism show scenes similar to the landscape view you get from 35,000 ft. The view of central Australia is stunning from up here, even if I would have preferred to be down below, well and on the Ghan, seeing it at a more micro level. Oh well.

Arriving in Adelaide, it was a quick 15-min ride from the airport to my CBD hotel, where I would ensconce myself for two nights to recover before taking my original flight home again.Read more