Departure day - 13 February 2008

Oh it hurts waking at 3 am – not been a great night – but as we wake the kids the excitement begins to kick in, even if we are all tired. The cab arrives – and the driver looks a touch worried over the bags – we manage to get in – albeit with stuff on our laps – and off he goes. No sure about speed limits this guy – definitely thinks he should be driving F1 instead of Lewis Hamilton! In no time (sorry couldn't look at my watch as my head was in my hands most of the way!) we arrive at King George V reservoir – where we are all being collected – well apart from Roger who apparently lives next door to Alice – sorry the coach company! (this is not the last time that Roger will get a mention – although this one is reasonably pleasant!). We are first to arrive (no surprise there!) and soon we are one of many as the whole compliment arrives before the coach. It is quite chilly – especially for Andy who had put his sandals on – I think he was being a bit hopeful here. Must admit it was bloody cold – and I was wearing trainers and socks!

Once the coach arrives and the bags are packed (with a certain amount of precision I might add (if that comment surprises you wait till I talk of the return journey!)), we are on our way – the kids begin singing "wheels on the bus" and others – but after about half an hour it goes quiet – well apart from the odd "are we there yet!". The kids think they are sooooo funny – oh sorry it wasn't them it was me!

Soon Gatwick is close – and everyone seems to get a second wind – well the "wheels on the bus" are going again. It is still dark as we pull up – and disembark – not for the first time this day – or the next!

Luggage off – into the terminal – hey that always worries me – why is it called a terminal when you start – look at the meaning of the word! We enter the terminal – and go straight to the Qatar Airlines Desk – only to be told we had to go down (careful!) where the sign-in desk is.

We descend – to find a whole large room with just Qatar Airlines in it – and no queue! We (the Starlings) approach the first desk and get signed in – luggage away – and we are off. When Nanny and Granddad are done we go through into the embarkation area and join a very very long queue. Seems to stretch for miles – but funnily enough it doesn't take very long. We get to the metal detector doors – removing our shoes – and then our hand luggage is placed on a conveyor belt. The laptop is Ok but my portable hard drive causes some fun – well I have to wait an extra few minutes, and then we are in duty free area – with almost two hours to kill. No surprise to say that the kids were hungry and Nanny and Granddad gasping for a tea. Andy gets Macdonalds – but Lauren and Anita go off and find something else – primarily as they hated the Mac breakfasts that we had had on the way to Florida last year. Nanny and Granddad get a tea each too.

I'm off to buy myself an Arsenal shirt – the Dennis the Menace (Yo Berkamp!) one that I had almost bought when we flew to Florida. A good deal – and I am back with the group, which has now swelled with the arrival of Su and John, and Mandy and her boys, Matt and Ben, both of whom loved my shirt (come on you Gunners!). Anita and I go off and buy some duty free alcohol – well it's going to make a change in that she is not driving during the holiday – so will be able to enjoy a few drinks without worry – and as we are not sure we get a scotch for me and a Baccardi for her. Lauren goes off and spends some money – and we buy some magazines and drinks. I also disappear off and grab a quick beer – well it has to be done – even if it is before 8 am – lol.

Whilst chatting with Mandy it seems that there has been a cock-up on the checking-in front – as it would appear that Carole's Matt and her Matt had got mixed up by Qatar Airlines. She had managed to sort it out – or so we thought.

All too soon (or maybe not depending on who you are) they are calling our flight QR 076 – and we off we go towards the gate. Everyone is now very excited – and rightfully so! Only seven hours in the air and we will be in Doha for our stopover. John dives off for a final cigarette, and to whack a patch on – needs to keep up his nicotine levels!

Walk down and find the plane - it was a big metal thing at the end of the walkway! – a reasonably new Airbus 340 – with a surprising amount of leg room! We all settle down – Anita and I together (woo hoo I get a window seat – ok actually a window seat on a wing! So visibility is some what limited – but I can still see out). We decided on this because Anita is more likely to move around – well gives her a chance to exercise the mouth muscles! (oops I might regret that one..ouch! I already do).

Andy and Lauren are in front of us – but the whole group is quite close. After take off, and the first of many meals to come arrives – here's a thought why is most aircraft food very stodgy – filling you up – so you feel you need to have a pooh most of the journey – which in itself is a pain (no I don't have problems just that it can be difficult, that kind of pain not physical) – cos there is always a queue – and yes I know its natural – but some smells aren't! hehehehe – shame for the person following – although its quite embarrassing for some of us. With the choice I settle for the sausages – and they are really good – but Lauren doesn't seem to like hers at all!

So the next job is to select the films that I will probably sleep through – though I must admit for once the choice might make that a bit difficult – well at the moment anyway. There is the second of the brilliant Elizabeth films, a good thriller starring Mr ER himself – George Clooney, and a Disney comedy with the Rock in it! (NB it is about American football so I might get round to watching it.)

The Journey to Doha is not too bad – well about 7 hours long – but time soon flies (ouch can't believe that I slipped that one in), with good food (yeah I know what I said about stodge – but it was quite good for airplane food) – and good staff. Andy is getting on like a house on fire with one of the stewards (mmmm maybe there is something in the rumours that John keeps on trying to spread), who thought he was a film star to which Andy replied "would I be sitting here in economy if I was a film star?" – Good point. I was also thinking what kind of film star – or was that wishful thinking by the steward, who seemed a touch light on his loafers.

We arrive in Doha – and have to disembark the plane, take a long bus ride around the whole airport, and join a queue to get into the lounges. Once in John is off like a shot – and finds the smoking room exceptionally quickly. He seems to have a homing instinct – that or a really good nose. He smokes about three cigarettes real quick, and then joins us. We have taken over a large area and a few of us are watching the bags while the others go off and do duty free shopping or fill up on more food! It is here that we find out that the journey to Denpasar in Bali, will be interrupted with a stopover in Kuala Lumpur – where we have to remain in the aircraft! The stopover should not be too long – but it puts about another hour on the journey! (or so they said!)

While we are sitting and waiting during the stopover in Doha, Andy advises us that we cannot charge the video camera. It is American – and the adapter was too large to bring with us. Now he tells me! He and I go down to the duty free area – and find the electronics bit, and buy an adapter that does just about everything! You can charge any type of plug, with any type of adapter, it even has two USB terminals! It also didn't cost the earth (or live or neutral either – sorry)! Less than £10. It would be no good for Nanny and Granddad cos it cant make a cup of tea – but hey!

Soon we are queuing getting ready to go to the airplane. When Carole gets to the front of the queue she is informed that she was not on the outward flight – she is still back in London! (so how the heck did she get here????) – Maybe we should have called the QI team – or maybe Ghostbusters. I thought there was going to be tears, but Anita calmly led her over to the information desk, where everything was quickly sorted. It actually goes back to the mix-up with the Matt's (and Mandy's) tickets in London. Even the best airlines can make mistakes, and I think that Qatar is a good airline. I think the more worrying thing about this is that there is one more passenger on board than on the list. Mmm let's hope that no terrorists ever get to read this..Mind you being Qatar Airlines is this likely to happen I ask myself?

Again we have to get a bus to take us around the airport to the new aircraft – which is a slightly smaller version of the previous one. As we look for our seats – trying to find our seat numbers, Mandy and her littlest – Ben, find two people sitting in their seats. "John said we could sit wherever we wanted and we were separated so we are sitting here" said a very obnoxious Australian women (I use the term woman very loosely here ). Unfortunately she is a member of our group – though not actually a member of WFSAC. They would not move – so virtually everyone else moves around – and we manage to fit everyone in. I don't know if it's me – but I would have asked – not demanded! But then again - Aussies and manners? – Nah! Definitely no culture – well only apart from what is found in their yoghurts at breakfast – hehehe

Off we go again – and a meal virtually as we get on the plane. From the choice I have the peppered beef – and again it is very good – but a touch stodgy – well no surprise there then!. That meal - a couple of drinks - and we are almost at Kuala Lumpur. The plane stops – everyone that has to get off gets off – and the crew politely ask everyone to sit down so that they can take a headcount. The aircraft is also sprayed with an insect killer – as are we all! In some cases a de-odorant spray might have been better – but hey! Well after seven hours in the air – the legs are a bit stiff so some people stand in the aisles, others walk around, and some do as they have been asked (like us four!). Four attempts later and the crew are getting annoyed – and on the fifth attempt they get their figures right. We then have to confirm that the bags in the over-head lockers belong to us, and once everyone is happy the new passengers board.

Approximately one and a half hours after arrival we depart (mmm what was that about it only adding an hour to journey!) we are on the final leg – and guess what more stodge – having said that we had been in the air almost 20 hours and when you add on the time difference it isn't the 13th anymore – it's the 14th – well actually it has been for quite a while.