Thursday, 19 February 2026
When we woke up this morning we realised that we probably could have flown at 01:30 this morning. Sure enough, I checked Cathay Pacific’s website and we could have been in Hong Kong already rather than staring down the barrel of a loooooong, boring day in a hotel room in Delhi. WTF? What was the travel agent who made our booking thinking?? Not thinking I think might be the answer to that. Oh well, we’ll live but now feeling even more frustrated and annoyed realizing that we could be one third of the way home by now. We suspect that this decision may have been based around the fact that breakfast is included this morning with our tour concluding after breakfast. Oh yay, so happy to be exchanging two slices of toast and a cup of tea for an earlier and much more efficient flight home.
This morning the Brisbane couple were collected at 9.00am to fly home via KL early this afternoon. Their only issue being that they are rather weirdly travelling via Adelaide and have a four hour wait there. We didn’t manage to make it downstairs quite earlier enough to see them off.
The Sydney girls and the Perth girls are being picked up at 5.00pm for flights around 22:30 tonight. At breakfast Margot told us she managed to arrange late checkout at 17:00 for 2,900 Rupees. Right, RIGHT, surely we should be able to organise something similar rather than pay about AU$500?
We went to the desk after breakfast, but the best they could offer us was 7,500 Rupees (+taxes) to have our room until 21:00. Still, much better than 33,000 Rupees for a full night … without breakfast!! We will be taking this up with TripADeal on our return and trying to be reimbursed for the 7,500 Rupees. If they had flown us at any time today we probably would have worn it but we just don’t feel that it’s reasonable that we’re flying home tomorrow.
Back in our room, we emptied our left luggage out onto the bed and completely re-packed our bags. Rather than have dirty laundry bundled in our laundry bags we re-folded and re-packed everything into our packing cubes so that our bags will be almost as neat as when we left home rather than bulging out of our laundry bags. We usually wash everything that has been away with us, worn or not, so it doesn’t matter if we mix dirty clothes with clean ones. Having our bags reorganized felt good, even it we had been a bit OCD doing it so early. Eleven hours to go until we are picked up.
At lunch time we headed down to the restaurant for a bite to eat. We had noticed the dim sum items on the menu last night and decided that sharing some steamer baskets filled with dumplings would do for a light lunch. The sisters were in the restaurant at the same time so we chatted with them a bit more. We all agreed that the answer to everyone’s question ‘What was the highlight of your holiday’ is easy for this trip – The Taj Mahal. We all came mainly for the Taj Mahal and it was, indeed, the highlight. The girls were also thrilled have found face products that they use at home really cheap in the supermarket under the hotel, so they stocked up on some of those.
After lunch we checked out the pool area and then took a walk around to the supermarket. We think that usually it can be accessed from inside the hotel but there are some refurbishment works taking place at the moment so the three levels under the lobby aren’t currently accessible via the lift. The ‘supermarket’ was an interesting mix of supermarket, hardware (especially cookware) and clothing. All we purchased was two Kit-Kats … for less than one Aussie dollar.
Next, we decided to break out our bathers. We’ve carried our bathers all trip without using them, so we decided to return to the pool and actually make use of it, even though it means packing damp bathers. It was really quiet at the pool. With it still being winter here, I guess most people think it’s far too cold to swim. It was a balmy 25°C but the water was cold. Oh well, it filled in some time and we justified bringing our togs along, ha, ha.
Just before 5.00pm we headed to the lobby to see the girls off. The TripADeal driver arrived right on time at 5.00pm and they were on their way to the airport. Lucky things. Having so long to wait for our flight I was starting to feel really anxious. Way too long to think about the long haul flight home rather than just being able to get on with it!
We headed back upstairs where I decided to walk laps of the floor again to try to walk off my anxiety … and get at least part way to my Move and Exercise goals. I didn’t complete them but, hopefully, I can walk around a bit more at the airport before we get squeezed into the sardine tin to fly to Hong Kong. I like the doing part of holidays much more than the getting there and getting home again bits! I just have to keep reminding myself that the long flights are a necessary means to an end.
One last biriyani to share for a light dinner in the restaurant. It was a bit chaotic in the restaurant. All of a sudden there was an almighty crashing of falling crockery. Someone had added one item too many or inexpertly stacked the used crockery cart and off it slid. Then I had my bottle of soda water delivered, the exact same brand I’ve been drinking every night without a problem but, tonight, tonight it was volatile. I twisted the lid only to have soda water squirting out all over me, all over the floor, all over the table. An Indian gentleman in a very dashing cream ensemble rushed over from the next table with a napkin to help me mop up. The staff were all very concerned but I kept assuring them it was OK, it was only water. Rather than mop up our table they moved us to the next one over … where I had another go at getting the soda water in my glass.
Back to our HUGE room one last time to freshen up. We showered, cleaned our teeth and put on fresh clothes to travel in. We are so glad to be able to start our journey clean and fresh rather than already a bit stale from a day of waiting around.
Just before 9.00pm we headed downstairs to check out and then wait for our ride to the airport. A driver duly arrive to collect us. Not Mohit. Of course it wasn’t Mohit. However, our driver rang Mohit and then handed his phone to Bernie so that Mohit could make his excuses. What Ever! I, for one, never really thought that Mohit was actually going to drive us to the airport himself. All that really mattered was that someone had arrived to transfer us to the airport. And, at 9.00pm at night, it was the least busy driving conditions we have experienced anywhere in India.
On the way we saw garbage trucks! Prior to tonight, the only other garbage collection we had seen was in Varanasi, where one of the old city streets we walked along had garbage swept neatly into little piles, with a man and a wooden cart coming along to collect the piles. Despite efforts to deal with pollution and make the country ‘greener’ – mainly with solar power and electric vehicle initiatives – their fundamental garbage problem remains an issue. We often observed individuals sweeping and tidying their little piece of India, but this waste was generally only being swept to the curb. Occasionally in villages we saw larger amounts of garbage collected into, I guess, the town dump? But, what seems to be needed is the removal of garbage to official land fill or, better still, an ultra-high temperature incinerating waste-to-energy plant?? Even Australia needs to follow Sweden’s example on that one.
Until our last two days here, we wondered if there was ANY municipal garbage collection, but at least we did see some evidence in the last couple of days. On the positive side, the Ganges River, and other bodies of water, were much, much cleaner than we thought they might be. There are certainly enough people in India to help with cleaning up but I suppose they need to be organised and mobilized by someone like Ian Kiernan to Clean Up India?
We were at the airport by 9.30pm, which was not too bad for an 11-kilometre drive?! We checked our bags in, then found our way to Security. All electronics out of our bags and into a tray, then each of us through the gendered metal detectors. They still pass the paddle over you as a matter of course, even if you haven’t set the metal detectors off and, in Bernie’s case, that included a close check of the groin!!
Arriving at the other end of the hand luggage X-Ray machine, we found that both our bags had been targeted for extra attention. The operators didn’t like our cameras so they had to be removed for the bags to go through again. Tcht, they didn’t say at the other end to remove our cameras, along with our laptop, tablets and phones. After a second pass through the machine, my bag was cleared, so I started re-packing it. Bernie had to take even more items out of his bag, needing to explain the mouse he uses with his laptop and the corded remote control that he uses with his camera. Finally, they were satisfied and Bernie was able to get his bag re-packed too. Funnily it wasn’t the torch this time that caused the problem. No idea why different security personnel get concerned about different items that show up on the X-Ray??
Next stop, Immigration with strict instructions to have our boarding cards in hand and passports open to the page on which they had recorded our e-Visas. No problems with this aspect of our departure formalities. On our way to the Duty-Free shops an airline pilot strode past us saying – Oh, I really love your haircut, it’s such a cute haircut. She then went on to say that she wants to go short and nearly took to her own hair with a pair of scissors recently. Thank you, I said. That was a lovely distraction from the tedium of completing the departure processes.
We resisted doing any last minute shopping at the and made our way out to Gate 11 to settle in to wait for our flight. Departure is not until after midnight, so we don’t get underway until tomorrow, ha, ha!
Steps: 12,380 (8.08kms)
Friday, 20 February 2026
After a very long day yesterday, we were still going after midnight waiting for our very (VERY!) early flight from Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi, India to Hong Kong. When we were looking at the information for Thursday’s flight we noted that it left an hour late, but arrived in Hong Kong on time. Still so frustrated that we didn’t fly yesterday. We’d be home by now! Anyhow, we were certainly hoping that we would be landing on time in Hong Kong with only one hour and thirty-five minutes between our arrival and our flight to Melbourne at 11.00am.
By the time boarding commenced at 1.00am we were struggling to keep our eyes open. We made our way onto flight CX694 and proceeded to our seats. OMG, a family of three who were really confused about where they should be sitting. They THOUGHT they should be sitting together in the group of three in the middle of the plane. A flight attendant was already trying to get them into the right seats – one only in the middle group of three, with the other two seats across the aisle on the OTHER side of the plane – but they were just standing around looking stupid. But our bags are already in the locker above that aisle they said plaintively. Mr usually unflappable ended up telling them pretty rudely to get out of our seats so that we could get out of the aisle to allow other passengers through. Groan, why do people get so confused about getting themselves in the correct seats?
With boarding of the sardine tin (otherwise known as an Airbus A359 Jet) complete, the doors were closed and we were taxiing out to the runway pretty much right on time for our 5-hour 25-minute flight to Hong Kong. Looking good for our 9.25am ETA. With our body clocks in sync with it being the middle of the night we promptly fell asleep, only waking with the breakfast service about an hour out of Hong Kong where it was mid-morning and … already lunchtime in Oz.
Ugh! We disembarked and then we did the Security thing AGAIN. More sophisticated in Hong Kong not having to take anything out of our carry-on bags before they went through the X-Ray machine. We walked out to Gate 23, with the walk welcome after being seated for the last five hours or so. We settled in at the gate to wait for boarding.
After a one and a half hour stopover, we boarded flight CX163 for our nine hour flight to Melbourne, Australia. Boarding was a bit chaotic with no PA announcements being made to say which group was being invited to board. With no guidance from the ground staff, nearly everyone was milling around the Group 4/6 and Group 5/7 signs. This meant that Group 5 and 7 people were in the way of Group 4 and 6 people who took priority over them. Lots of shuffling about to let people closer to the pointy end of the plane through.
Yay, no-one in our seats this time and the other two seats in the middle four (three – four – three configuration) remained empty when the doors were closed. I immediately shuffled across to one of the other seats figuring that, if I didn’t, someone else would. We might as well take advantage of a spare couple of seats for the long leg to Melbourne. Looking around there were quite a few spare seats with the flight being undersubscribed.
Our flights continued to proceed as hoped for, with our Boeing 777-300ER Jet pushing back within minutes of its scheduled 11.00am departure time. Ahem, the only problem was that the ‘entitled’ man sitting in front of us was only of those people who reclines their seat AS SOON AS THE SEATBELT SIGN GOES OFF. The flight attendants came through offering beverages and peanuts and he was asked to put his seat up for food service. I had my paper cup of soda water in the holder on the back of the seat and that went all over my tray table as he jerked his seat up. I’m having a good run with spilt soda water, ha, ha. Once again, glad it was water and not sticky soft drink. The flight attendants were quick with some paper napkins to mop up.
I really wanted to stay awake on this leg so that I would want to sleep for the rest of the night after arriving home around midnight. There were no movies that interested me, but I did find a TV Mini Series from last year – ‘All Her Fault’ – that ran to eight episodes. Starring Sarah Snook, Dakota Fanning and Michael Peña, it involved the kidnap of a child and the investigation to find him with lots of dysfunctional family and business secrets being revealed along the way. At about an hour each, that just about filled nine hours of flight time perfectly. But then they served another meal so that was a distraction for the last hour of the journey.
We arrived at Tullamarine pretty much on-time at 11.00pm this evening. Even after all the travel we have done, I’m never sure if ‘arrival’ should be considered the landing time or the docking at the air-bridge time? Anyhow, about when we expected to be back in Melbourne so, we were happy with that. We tackled the Immigration kiosks with ease, used the flash new facilities that have been opened on that corridor, negotiated the Duty Free shops without making a purchase and then out through the e-Gates without any trouble. Both of us were recognized by the technology and the gates opened to let us back into Australia.
We made our way to the baggage carousel with Bernie’s bag out first tonight. But … we had to wait and wait … and wait for my bag to be spat out onto the belt. Luggage collected, we headed for Customs with nothing to declare. The queue wasn’t as chaotic as it has been the last two times we have come though early in the morning but, it was still busy at midnight. Fortunately, they opened another channel and we were right near where they removed the tape barrier so we could abandon the queue we were in to be one of the first through the newly opened counter. Out into the Arrivals Hall where I called Kerry to say that we were ready to meet her in front of the Park Royal Hotel.
Kerry arrived at the pick-up zone and we loaded our bags and ourselves into her car for the short ride along Bell Street to home. Technically we arrived tomorrow (it was after midnight now) but it’s not worth starting a new day in the travel diary!
Steps: 4,448 (2.98 kms)
We’ll only be home for around five weeks before we head off on another Aussie adventure. Still working on seeing more of Australia in our retirement while we continue to tick off more overseas destinations too.
