Goodbye Melbourne, Hello Istanbul

Two o'clock in the morning is certainly an early start to a long trip, but that was when our group of 19 was gathered at the departure gate for our flight to Dubai. Our final destination was Istanbul, but that was still a long, long way away.

Because of the mysteries of time zones, although we would be in transit for almost 24 hours, somehow we were due to touchdown in Istanbul about 6 pm the same afternoon.

I had been planning this trip for almost 2 years, and it is always a fantastic feeling of anticipation, knowing that all those plans are finally about to start coming to fruition.Read more