Day 1

The adventure started like most do, at the beginning. With family and well-wishers congregated at the airport, it was eventually through customs past McDonalds (momentarily) and onto a 2 hour wait for the plane to finally take off. Over a year of planning, fundraising and what seemed like an eternity of waiting had finally got us to this point and now we were a plane trip away from our destination.

Sydney to Singapore

A full plane and 8 hours of flying time was what faced us on the first leg. After the first meal on board, people started to move around and become more acclimatised to their surrounds. We weren’t the only school group on board (St Paul’s Greystanes were on their way to Italy) so the boys gained a certain amount of comfort with the normality that brought. Some watched a variety of movies or TV shows while others sat at the back of plane playing cards. The two things that you come to terms with on a long-haul flight is period of time you are in the air and the relatively small space you are confined to. So, as the flight wore on, everyone moved around doing a variety of things (including those who found a space at the back of the plane to play cards) in attempt to enjoy the moment and to cope with the restrictions “plane life” brings.

The stopover in Changi Airport was made that little bit better when Ed Ford informed the group of the $20 voucher available to all people in transit. Along with the free Wi-Fi and massage chairs, Dunkin’ Donuts and a variety of coffee shops received a workout. Needless to say, sugar deficiency wasn’t a condition suffered by many after the 3-hour sojourn.

The 13-hour flight from Singapore to Paris was the time to get as much sleep as one could. The realisation that our bodies had moved into Saturday but the clock still had us firmly anchored in Friday was something that we all had to deal with. Next stop was Paris and everything that French culture had to throw at us in the time we were going to be there for.

Highlights to date: Hacksaw Ridge, 8^th place on the onboard Tetris comp (Sydney-Singapore) & $20 voucher