Mishaps, mayhem and turtles - but we're here - bring it on!

This may turn out to be a longer than normal blog, but it does cover 2 days of travel and one day of mooching....

We started with a mishap - an email from the car rental company asking how the pick up went for the car....I was still in bed in the UK, I had only booked it for the wrong day :(. Quick call and rearranged things - disaster averted, but I did feel like it was an omen...

Thanks to the rail strikes, we had to get to Manchester Airport mega early (we really appreciated the lift Dave). As we were flying via Zurich and Singapore, the first leg was classed as a short haul flight and bag drop did not open until 3 hours before - we had booked a lounge and I was miffed that we would not get the full value from it - need not have worried as the flight was delayed 45 minutes. Good job we were in the lounge actually - the free mimosas (prosecco on tap, but was not great, so we made it drinkable with OJ) left us rather chilled about the delay........ mind you, were were not so chilled when we arrived at Zurich with only 10 minutes to spare. It is the first time I have run across an airport in my life - I say run.....Emily ran, I trotted). We made the flight, but I knew our luggage wouldn't.

Why my backpack ends up being so heavy I do not know - every year I say I am going to travel light, but

a laptop/camera/general crap ends up on my back - sometimes you just gotta stretch it out - I have no idea why this made Emily laugh so much, but maybe I will learn for the return journey?

The 2nd flight was with Swiss air and they were excellent! Comfy, roomy seats, and we were 2 in a row of 3 so room to spread out - this is where the Trtles come in and they are a game changer!! Santa brought us them for Christmas, and they are essentially a neck brace so you can sleep without getting a crick in your neck. A Trtle, an eye mask and a Nytol and I was out. I never sleep on a plane - mainly as I am too nosey (Miss Marple, needs to know what is going on), but with my trusty trtle I just dropped right off, and the Nytol made sure I got at least 7 hours.

Em slept well too -she gave me permission to post this pic - honestly...

We had 4 hours layover in Singapore, which is a beautiful airport. They have really thought about how to entertain people who have a couple of hours to wait there.

We visited the Butterfly garden,

the Cactus garden which was outside and so hot (10 mins standing under the air con when we left it) but the Lilly garden was having work done so we gave it a miss.

You could also see a free movie, and there were lots of Nap Zones where you could stetch out and kip.

We wanted to see the famous waterfall but would have had to go through immigration, and we did not have time by the time we figured it out.

There is lots of art too - this one is called Mother and Daughter

We grabbed a bite to eat and met Wendy, the 'bus boy'. She was no ordinary human, she was a little robot that manoeuvred the restaurant advising patrons to deposit their trays and plates on her shelves.

The last flight was with Qantas - not as comfy, surly cabin crew, but we did learn that NO Australians drink Fosters! They went to great pains to tell us that - as well as how to order a beer.

Emily had an intimate encounter with the chap in front of her - to be fair, she is quite lanky and had her legs fully stretched out under his seat, but at one point the guy just took hold of her foot and kept hold.... he needs to learn that if it has a pulse you should really let it go.

The flight landed 40 minutes early at 6am. We went to stand by the luggage carousel knowing full well that our suitcases could not have made the transfer - but those Swiss are not known for their superb organisational skills for nothing! Our bags were amongst the first off - yeah! Luggage collected and through customs all in half an hour. Picked up the car hire and, as we could not get into our accommodation until 3, we decided on our first adventure and were off to visit the cannibal Glow-worms at Tambourine Mountain. They are at Cedar Creek Vineyards (what3words: grudge.drilling.strollers)

I tried to take some pics but it was just too dark in the man made cave which is home to the only glow-

worms in the world that glow green (the rest are blue). I should clarify that they are cannibals as they eat their siblings when they are young and not mature enough to make the light that attracts their food.

I have never seen glow worms before and the effect of them is stunning - just like a starry night.

Emily got chased by this guy and I was so tired I could not articulate that she should watch out for him and all she got was an eeek! He was bigger than he looks in this pic...

and this water dragon made an appearance - we thought all we had to be wary of were spiders and snakes!

We encountered out first translation hurdle - I asked for ketchup with some chips and the staff went into a bit of a tizz not knowing what ketchup was - the chef had to tell them I meant tomato sauce

Next stop was at the Skywalk, which was a lush wander through a rain forest (what3words: rivalry.triffles.shrivel). We timed it perfectly as it poured down, but we stayed dry under the canopy

We are all checked in now at our swanky apartment,(what3words: book.honest.joke) and were planning to shower and go out to eat - but actually it has just caught up with us now and we are ordering in, to eat on the balcony and watch the world go by before an early night and the adventure continues tomorrow..