The Great Trek

I find it's best, if you're travelling overseas, to be at the airport around 15 hours prior to departure.
This allows you to:

1. Go back home to fetch the ticket/passport/suitcase you left at the front door
2. Have sufficient time to find your way around the duty-free shopping zone

And thus it was that Walter and I got to the Gautrain station at around 15h45 so that I wouldn't miss my flight to London at 20h20
Scientist no 1 called to say she could be there by 16h00 (yes, we do use the military time words, it's a Zambian thing) When she wasn't there by 16h01 I obviously called to see where she was.The first time she ignored my call so I called back 5 minutes later.

S#1: I said I'd see you at 17h00
Me: You definitely said 16h00
S#1: I'll be there in 10 minutes

Walter practised doing the splits on the shiny tiles while I tried to figure out where the bus stops were from the hazy map and stop dodgy tourists who clearly wanted to steal the suitcase. (Did I remember to bring the suitcase key?)

She finally got there and we all hugged multiple times and then I did the very cosmopolitan thing of waving goodbye to my family at a train station in Johannesburg. (Scientist No2 didn't come to the station, he's going through an extremely independent phase and doesn't get the whole big farewell thing. I think he thinks we are all nuts anyway)

The thing with the Gautrain is that it runs 97 kilometres underground. You have to take 52 different escalators to get to the platform (well, at least 4) and then try and look as if this is an everyday thing when you finally get there.

The trip was uneventful apart from all the locals saying "Where exactly is Rhodesfield anyway, I've never even heard of it" and before you know it you're at the airport.

There was a group of people doing the diski dance at OR Tambo, I almost joined in I was so excited. Then I remembered I'm a Woman of the World and clearly such childishness would be beneath me.

Off to the duty-free....