Norway – Day 1

Thursday, 6 February 2025

With a civilised mid-afternoon flight at 4.40pm this afternoon we didn’t have to rush this morning to get to the airport. We were out of bed about our usual retired persons time and had a leisurely breakfast then took a walk before the day warmed up too much. It’s always nice to have time for some exercise before undertaking a long-haul flight to Europe! I even had time to water the garden while Bernie mowed the lawn before we showered.

By noon it was warming up and it was a bit uncomfortable dressing in clothes that will be (sort of?) suitable for Bergen in February. Kerry arrived about 12.30pm and drove us to Tullamarine in air-conditioned comfort dropping us within a couple of metres of the doors to the air-conditioned International Terminal. Thank goodness we didn’t have to be out in the heat too much in long pants and shoes and socks. Our travel ensembles were completed with T-shirts along with fleece jackets in our carry-on bags.

As always we arrived at the airport even earlier than the three hours required before an international flight. Although the check-in desks were not open we were able to use a kiosk to confirm our on-line check and print our boarding passes and luggage tags. With our luggage tags in hand we found some seats to undertake the challenging task of attaching the tags to our suitcases. We both managed to get the tags on without too many wrinkles.

We’d only been sitting for about quarter of an hour when check-in opened although in our case it was only a matter of doing a bag drop. Weirdly the queues were longer for First and Business Class where the travellers were being attended to by check-in staff. We had only a very short wait before we were able to do our automated bag drop at another kiosk. For the first time on an international flight we checked-in at Melbourne Airport … untouched by human hands! Our baggage tags say they’re checked through all the way to Bergen so let’s hope they arrive in the same place that we do on Friday.

With our bags dropped we headed for the departure gates for security screening and immigration. Today I decided that I would not wear a belt. I just can’t stand the hassle of taking it off to go through screening, even if it has no metal parts! At least Melbourne Airport’s screening is relatively easy with no need to take electronic devices out of your carry-on bag. However, to go through the body scanner you now have to take EVERYTHING out of your pockets, even hankies and tissues not just keys and coins!

So, I step onto the feet in the base of the scanner and hold my arms out from my body and get called through to be questioned about what is showing up in the region of my right hip. I lifted my T-shirt to reveal some zips on the pockets on right hand side of my pants and the staff member was satisfied that I was not concealing anything more sinister than that and waved me through. Even without a belt it was still a hassle. Meanwhile Bernie had to take his hankie out of his pocket and add it to his tray before he could enter the scanner! Surprisingly though, neither of our carry-on bags were shunted off the conveyor belt for further inspection. THAT has got to be a first?!

We ate toasted sandwiches at Brunetti’s then proceeded to Gate Lounge 14. Slumming it today with no Qantas Club for us because we are flying with Singapore Airlines. That’s the airline chosen by Trip a Deal to take us to Europe on our 2 for 1 deal aboard the Hurtigruten. With this trip being our first experience with Trip a Deal I guess it’s something to consider if we are tempted with more deals in the future? What airline will we be flying with? Is it an airline we feel happy to fly with? That’s the things with tours and deals – a lack of choice!

As we walked along one of the corridors on the way to our gate lounge we passed a parade of painted pandas or should that be a pandemonium of pandas? Hmmn, totally should check out what the collective noun is for pandas! There were lots of signs exhorting us NOT to climb on the pandas but no information about the artists who painted the pandas or why. We suspect it was probably part of Lunar New Year decorations BUT it might be something to so with celebrating the arrival of a new pair of pandas at Adelaide Zoo??

Waiting comfortably in the gate lounge with the outside temperature at 35°C we checked the forecast for Bergen on Friday. Yup, still only 2°C! That’s what you get when you travel from an Australian Summer to a European Winter. Really need our suitcases to land in Bergen with us so that we can access our ski jackets, hats and gloves. T-shirts and a fleece jacket are not going to be enough.

Boarding commenced on time and went smoothly. We had high expectations of Singapore Airlines and we were a bit underwhelmed. The seats seemed smaller and the leg room less than we have been accustomed to flying with Qantas/Emirates to Europe and the cabin just seemed really tired and in need of a refresh. I think part of the problem is that this was a Melbourne to Singapore leg and was being operated on a smaller aircraft than Qantas/Emirates use for the long haul to Dubai. With everyone loaded efficiently we even pushed back from the terminal a few minutes early. We taxied out to the runway and took off before 5.00pm. Today there didn’t seem to be a queue of aircraft waiting to get onto the runway.

We arrived at Terminal 1, Changi Airport about 25 minutes early holding boarding passes for our next leg from Singapore to Copenhagen saying we would be departing from Terminal 3. Before catching the Sky Train to Terminal 3 we checked the departures board in Terminal 1 to find that our flight would, in fact, be leaving from Gate C22 in Terminal 1. Phew, glad we checked that before taking the Sky Train to Terminal 3.

We stretched our legs wandering around Terminal 1 then found seats with a charging point at Gate C23. We were increasingly concerned about our departure terminal and gate with neither the Singapore Airlines App or the Changi Airport App agreeing with the departures boards in Terminal 1. Eventually Bernie found an actual person at an information booth to confirm who was able to confirm that we are definitely departing from Gate C22, Terminal 1. That was reassuring.

All too soon it was time to do security screening again to enter Gate C22 for our on-bound flight to Copenhagen. At Changi we did have to take all our electronic items out of our bags and put them separately in a tray. Bernie had to take off his belt AND his shoes. By the time I juggled my phone, Kindle, tablet and liquids into a tray I had to be reminded that I still had my small bag slung across my torso. D’Oh! Too much to keep track of. And despite being sans belt I set off the scanner and had to wait for the female staff member to run the wand over me. That didn’t react at all and she decided it must have been my watch that set off the scanner.

Bernie had quite a chat with one of the security screening staff admiring his Merrell hiking boots and bemoaning the fact that he can’t by Merrell shoes or boots in Singapore anymore. Finally Bernie was re-dressed and we sat down AGAIN, this time on the seats inside the gate lounge to await boarding.

Steps: 12, 402 (8.38km)