What would be the perfect preparation for a long haul flight to Australia with a toddler? Certainly not a sleepless night and 38 degrees fever in the morning! But what do you do? When asked “where do you have pain?” Piet pointed at his mouth…sigh…those bloody teeth. The last molars must be coming through, what a timing to be teething. But you gotta roll with the punches, thank God for ibuprofen juice!
After an emotional goodbye we checked in our luggage at Berlin Brandenburg airport. Two big backpacks with all our clothes and a baby carrier were checked through all the way to Perth. Two carry on bags full of toys and food for Piet, Ireen’s handbag and the pram came with us on the plane. That’s basically all we have with us for the next 5 months. We’re officially backpackers again!
When we booked our flights we had a choice between taking our time between flights or getting there with quick connections. We chose to fly at night to allow Piet to sleep for the majority of the 13 hour flight to Singapore. And we chose to have quick lay over connections in Frankfurt and Singapore to arrive in Perth at midnight local time. We reasoned this would allow us to settle into a new rhythm a bit easier, as we would be tired and could sleep at night, waking up in the morning local time. In retrospect we should have instead taken plenty of time between our flights…
The flight from Berlin to Frankfurt was over before we knew it. We got Piet changed into his PJ’s, after which he entertained the whole gate in Frankfurt by enthusiastically yelling “Taaatuuu Taaataaa” at every car with a set of lights on top (at an airport that’s every 2nd car…) It was hilarious, but it also became immediately clear that some people were not amused. We assumed they were not (grand) parents. But also, travelling with a two year old is a bit tricky. See a baby tends to want to sleep (like in those cots you see at the front of the plane sections). You can explain an older kid what is happening, but a 2 year old? Piet’s favorite word is “Nee!” (Dutch for no)… I’ll just leave it at that for now.
Our seats to Singapore were all the way at the back left side of the plane, where the fusulage tapers down to two seats on the window side. Luck had it that the last row of seats was left empty so we confiscated them. We soon figured out why they were empty, because the seats hardly reclined and the armrest between the seats couldn’t be put up, leaving it standing up between the seats at a 45 degree angle, a bit like a (… I’ll let you use your imagination). Anyway… Piet soon fell asleep, taking up two seats by himself like a king, whilst we tried our best to get some form of rest sitting upright and fighting with the naughty armrest.
He didn’t sleep for very long, so we took turns and let him sleep on top of us, whilst the other tried to get some shuteye. Sleep deprived and slightly sore we touched down in Singapore. “Only one more flight to go, 5 more hours and we’re through” we told ourselves. But the combination of hunger, tiredness and the teething had gotten to Piet. Needless to say the first part of our flight to Perth was uncomfortable, not only for Piet and us, but also the other passengers. The flight attendants saved the day by allowing us space, staying calm and providing us some milk for a big bowl of muesli.
Never happier to hear “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Perth” we disembarked the plane, feeling about 5 years older but mostly relieved. We passed immigration and the biosecurity checks without a hickup and took a taxi to our accomodation, where we hopped in bed around 3am local time.
Enjoy this episode with some AnnenMayKantereit – Jenny Jenny, in appreciation for the Singapore Airlines crew!
Ik heb jouw blog vertaald voorgelezen aan oma vanmiddag, oma heeft meegereisd en bericht jullie: fijn dat jullie goed geland zijn, geniet met elkaar van het mooie weer daar samen met kleine Piet, kan hij daar ook fietsen?