#902530 by honey lamb
04 May 2015, 23:31
Well that was a lovely week! My niece and I had concocted a plan whereby she would bring her parents away for the birthday weekend and I would surprise him. There was a slight glitch when he changed his mind about going away but we managed a plan B which worked like a dream and rendered him speechless for an hour!! ): Some of you may well have seen the video of it on Facebook. :o) From there we spent a lovely weekend in the Drakensberg Mountains where the scenery was stunning
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especially from a helicopter!
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I then spent the rest of the time at my brother’s home before flying back after an all-too-short visit.

My brother and sister-in-law dropped me off at King Shaka Airport and I made my way to the BA check-in area where there was small queue at the desks for Club but I didn’t have to wait long. I requested my bags to be checked through to Cork and also asked for a seat near the front of the aircraft on the LHR-ORK leg as I had not been able to do OLCI for that leg. The bags were through-checked but try as he might, the agent could not check me through to Cork. v( I had had something similar happen in Las Vegas but they had finally managed to check me through. However on this occasion, it was not to be and I was advised to try in JNB. n(

Slightly miffed I made my way to the SLOW lounge which looked like a haven of tranquillity from the outside but inside it was absolutely jointed! :0 With difficulty I found a spare seat just as the guy in the seat opposite decided to knock over his large glass of orange juice. Fortunately I was able to move out of the way in time as I really didn’t want to spend the next several hours redolent of oranges and sticky to boot! Once it had been cleared up, I settled down and went in search of sustenance. There was a good selection of canapés, cheese and biscuits as well as a couple of hot dishes - although I can’t remember what as I wasn’t really interested. I helped myself to some cheese and biccies and a glass of white wine. The place was noisy! Nearly everyone was on a laptop and/or a mobile phone and behind me a couple of elderly gentlemen were watching a video on a phone! A bit ironic when you realise that the wifi password was “silence”!! ?| Things eased off a tad with the call for a Cape Town flight which was followed shortly by an announcement of a delay to the JNB flight. Thankfully it was only a short one of about 15 minutes.

At the gate I was directed to join the line on the right hand side on the ramp leading down to the jet bridge while another line formed on the left. I wondered if it was for priority boarding but when the doors were opened both lines surged forward! This time I was in 2F in Club which had a 2-3 configuration, although no-one ended up in any of the middle seats. Champagne was offered before take off and gratefully accepted. y) We pushed back about 30 minutes late but I had plenty of time before my onward flight and soon we were soaring over the Valley of the 1000 Hills
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and the Drakensberg Mountains
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which I had visited so recently. A drinks round followed shortly after take-off and soon I was in possession of a G&T
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and a bag of nuts with a rather obvious warning!!
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I can’t remember what the food offering was but it obviously something I wasn’t interested in - and nor, it seems, were others as there were very few, if any takers! I was offered (and accepted) another G&T before we landed in JNB where a line of international carriers were waiting to be towed to their gates ready for the journey home.
In summary, it was a very good flight - in fact compared to others of comparable length taken in Club Europe, it was excellent. ^) :? My only crib was that, unlike my recent flights on EI and BA, you are still required to power off tablets and phones for take-off and landing.
#902532 by Bretty
05 May 2015, 00:02
Those photos look amazing HL, and I'm glad the surprise worked out, your brother must have been very happy if somewhat dumbstruck for an hour! Thanks for posting.
#902537 by pjh
05 May 2015, 08:24
Great pictures - those of the mountains aren't too shabby either.

Glad Plan B worked, and as you say the short video showed a man totally (and rather wonderfully) dumbstruck.
#902539 by ScoobySu
05 May 2015, 08:49
Thanks Honeylamb - what a wonderful surprise for your brother and fantastic photos

ScoobySu
#902549 by hiljil
05 May 2015, 11:44
Thank you for another disaster free TR ( though a close run with the Orange juice).
Beautiful photos, thank you.
#902559 by Jacki
05 May 2015, 12:10
Great TR and yes it was a lovely video, your brother looked completely shell shocked to see you! y)
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