The trip is finally here! For us Tassie girls (Erica and Gabby) the travel started earlier than everyone else, with us leaving Hobart at 1230 on October 6th (a slight delay, but we made it to Melbourne). Once we got there, we eventually met up with the Melbourne girls, Heidi, Abha, and Athina, and we checked in. We were 15kg over our weight limit, but the lovely man just let it slide.
After a bit of a nervous moment where Erica lost her ticket and had to get a new one printed, we were off! We were very impressed with our new airline, Singapore Air, and Heidi and I spent the trip watching Outlander!
On arrival in Singapore we checked into an airport hotel, as we had a 16hr wait for our next flight and to meet up with the other half of our group. After breakfast, and seeing the sunflower garden, Erica, Abha, and Athina went to explore the airports many gardens, and used their free airport dollars for lunch. Heidi and I were already very tired, so went in search of the lounge, but on the way found the massage chairs, and ended up having a 2.5hr leg and foot massage in the massage machine!
We waited for the girls from Cairns (Caz, Rach, Di, Alex, and Bianca) to arrive, and shortly after them getting off the plane, we were back on the same plane and heading for Phnom Penh. As we were descended into Phnom Penh, we could see how wet it was. There was a lot of water lying in the fields. I hope we can still get to all the places we intend to go... maybe we'll need a boat!!!
After collecting all our bags (5 trolleys worth) we were greated by members of our lovely extended Cambodian family! Once all the bags were in the van (thanks to Korn and his magnificent packing skills), we headed for the hotel, where we only dropped our bags off before grabbing a bite to eat for dinner. Of course we went to our favourite local place just down the road, where the food is still very good! After a quick meeting and some well needed showers, we were in bed!
So nice to be back in this beautiful country!