Getting airborne

WEDNESDAY 11^th

Just before 10am we left for Heathrow on a lovely warm sunny morning. As we approached the far side of Driffield we saw a very unusual cloud formation. From ground level a large cloud ‘mushroomed’ out into the atmosphere cutting through horizontal cloud. Hoping to get a better picture as we approached the Market Weighton roundabout down towards Howden we encountered thick fog and a temperature in places of only 4c! We didn’t have it for very long thank goodness, but no photo. Joining the A1 as planned we were greatly surprised to find a change in the system with many of the roundabouts being replaced by slip roads. (We saw our first wagon full of Christmas trees heading south.) So we were down in the London area before 2pm. A little panic attack as we encountered signs regarding ‘Entering Green Zone’. We had not given a thought about the congestion charge when planning our route to the ‘Purple Parking’ depot where we have arranged to leave our car. This part of the journey was a mistake as the ‘A’ roads took us through a busy built up area. We saw no sign of cameras so hope there will not be a ticket waiting for us on our return. Still we smiled at the ‘Smart Car’, with ‘Metropolitan Police’ plastered all over it being driven by a rather large policeman who appeared to fill the inside. One can only wonder if this is the new mode of transport for the Met Office’s current chief of police.

We duly arrived at the Airport far too early for check in so spent the next 3 hours in the bar! At least the atmosphere is better than Manchester, but the same old problem about lack of seating if you don’t use the refreshment areas. When we checked our luggage in and passed through all the security and passport controls we continued on our way to the BA lounge to have a light snack. We were joined by the West Indies Cricket Team who are on their way to Australia and were travelling with us looking very smart in the maroon blazers. Boarding was delayed for 25 minutes as the car towing the plane from the hangar had broken down and a replacement had to be found. As the lounge emptied and the cleaning staff arrived we were still waiting to go to our departure gate. One we were on board a fault in the air conditioning meant engineers being called out. They did their best but iIt was not good enough for us as the delay lasted 2 hours – just the amount of time we had to change planes in Bangkok.