Rampart Village

After the stressful tight transit at San Francisco, by the time we landed in LA I was finally starting to believe that I really was on my way home. All that remained was one final 2 hour transit and I would be winging my way towards Melbourne.

The short flight from San Francisco was soon over and I was finding my way to the final departure gate for my 16 hour marathon flight. Any hopes of another empty plane were soon dashed when I saw the huge crowd of passengers that were already waiting to depart. It was comforting to hear the unmistakable sounds of the Australian accents that were all around me. It almost felt that I was among friends already.

Over the past few days borders were being closed all over the world at a frightening rate. Governments were scrambling to show their citizens that firm action was being taken. In the back of my mind I was still worried that the plane may not actually lift off from LA after all. I knew I would not really relax until we were off the runway.

At least flight UA98 started boarding on time. The huge throng of passengers started snaking aboard. Clearly every seat was going to be taken, but I was just happy to be starting the final leg of what had been a true marathon of a journey. I found myself seated by the bulkhead, next to a young couple with a tiny infant. By that time I would not really have cared if I had been seated on the floor - I just wanted to be home with my family.

When boarding had finished we sat and waited. I wondered what the delay was. Finally the pilot came on with an announcement and I felt my stomach clenching again. "We are waiting for latest updates from the Australian Government", he said. "Both Melbourne and Sydney are currently in gate lock". I wondered what the hell was gate lock. Surely it did not mean that the plane had been refused permission to take off ?

After what I had been through, the thought of being stopped at that late moment would have been too cruel to bear. We sat and waited some more, until eventually the plane started to move. A few minutes later we were in the air and heading westwards. All that remained was another 16 hourrs of flying time and I would be home in Melbourne.

Almost immediately the tiredness was overwhelming and I felt myself dropping off into blissful sleep. If only I could sleep the next 16 hours.....Read more