Oops!

It wasn't a bad flight at all, really.  Made it to Hong Kong in good time and having had quite a good sleep on the way (the advantage of catching at flight that leaves at nearly midnight!!).  Waved vaguely in Simon's direction when we got there - at least in the direction of the city, which is where Simon is.  We saw Ross from time to time - entirely coincidentally he was flying on the same flight.  We made it back to London in equally good time, though I could have done without spending 20 minutes circling around high over London at the end of the flight. And I am extremely confused about where I am.  I kept looking for Melbourne landmarks as we circled.  And of course, they weren't there!

I have to say that Qantas premium economy is a very pleasant way to fly. It's quite pricey, but there was more than enough leg room for The Builder to feel comfortable.  The seats were roomy and comfy.  The food was quite nice.  The wine was plentiful.   It is, of course, not as luxurious as business class but if finances don't stretch to business class then premium economy is a good way to do long haul.

And here we are, back where we started, at the Jury's Inn in Hatton Cross.  The food hasn't improved any in the last three weeks.  You wouldn't think that there would be much you could get wrong with a plate of new potatoes and green vegetables, but the kitchen here managed!

We were very early to bed last  night.  Which meant, of course, that we were very early awake this morning.  This, in hindsight, was rather fortunate.  I was moved to sort out my document wallet and was looking at the train tickets checking that I had the time right for the service we were booked on, and which seat numbers we had.  I had the right time.  I know what the seat numbers were.  It is just slightly unfortunate that the seats were booked for 10:50 on the 3rd of March.  Today is the 4th!!!!!!!

Buying tickets today was going to cost nearly £190 :-S

The coach options were tickets for £40 at either 8:30 or 11:30 from Victoria.  We'll do that then.  And aim for the 8:30.  Doesn't really matter if we miss it.  There's always the later coach and we don't have reservations.  Just lots more sitting around might be necessary.  Right.  Let's plan timings.

Then I thought. How much will it cost to hire a car and return it to to Sheffield?  £85.  Pick up at the airport. No sitting around required.  We can sit here instead.  Let's do that then.  I have booked us a small car for the day, to be picked up in a couple of hours.  All we need to do now is figure out where to pick it up.  I'm sure that can't be beyond us.  People hire cars from airports all the time.  We can have breakfast while we work it out - and see just what horrors they can inflict on toast and eggs and things in the kitchen here.

But it's just as well I was moved to check the train tickets.  What has been a minor irritation and inconvenience would have been an expensive calamity had we not noticed until we got on the train and it had left the station.  Our tickets were extremely cheap and were for the train we were booked on only.  We would have had to have bought standard tickets on the train with a penalty included.  Easily £250 I'd have thought!!  Not sure quite how I managed to book the wrong date.  Ordinarily I am absolutely obsessive about checking and double checking and triple checking these things.  And the cost of making a mistake and not noticing until you are aboard is the main reason why!!

LATER:  They must have a different chef or perhaps even a different kitchen on breakfast duties.  The breakfast we've just had wasn't too bad at all.  Positively palatable :-)  Now we just need to sort out the car, which isn't due to be picked up for another 3 hours.  But maybe they'll let us collect it early