Part 5 - Back to JERSEY.
23 Dec 18.
We had managed to secure a late checkout from the hotel at 1200, and left our luggage in their capable hands as our taxi was booked for 1500 (not Adriaan, who was otherwise tasked, but he organised a substitute). A couple of drinks at Steam were followed by a nostalgic wander around town before departing for CPT airport. Everything went incredibly smoothly - having left the hotel at 1500, by 1600 we were airside at CPT! Bag-drop was quick and painless, Security was done in an instant and Immigration was just as quick … enhanced by a charming and cheerful Officer, who made jolly comments such as “Come back soon” and “I can give you a 3-month Visa so you can come straight back in.”
We were obviously going to have to hang around for over 3 hours, but at least there is a good BA Lounge at one end of the Gate area and a Smoking Lounge at the other end! Time passed quite comfortably and pleasantly, with a good range of food and wine on offer. Our only concern was the number of babies and small children destined to join us on the flight … with parents who spread their baby-stuff everywhere and thus occupied at least 6 seats in the process. Fortunately there’s plenty of seating available, and ample for both BA’s LHR and LGW departures in the early evening.
BA2040, CPT-LGW, 2010-0615, B772, CW Seats 5A/B
At 1910 we made our way to Gate A5, which is a long thin arrangement of seating and Tensa barriers and metal poles separating ‘us’ from Gate A6 which is further along.
We slid past the pack and found a couple of seats near where the action would presumably take place, and wondered how boarding was going to be managed with this layout and a 777-load of pax! At 1920 the pre-boarding began, and following some completely inedible announcement from the desk in the distance we just self-managed boarding as Group 1, SEQ 001/002.
Oh, joy, the baby-couple are in 5E/F … and the proud father is stowing their gear [including folding buggy] in several overhead lockers around Row 4. Fortunately, the flight is very lightly loaded and I would estimate our 5 rows of CW had about 50% occupancy. However, to our intense relief, once airborne they remained static and silent - not a sound from the baby!
A very charming young lady was our CC for this sector, and having managed to stow our bedding packs and carry-ons in one overhead she delivered our well-chilled PDB. We were addressed by name, which was something of a novelty! We pushed back at 2007, and we were soon sadly on our way home.
To my slight surprise, there were 2 rounds of drinks while the male CSD took dinner orders. As we both chose the fish, I enquired in the ‘Tiki’ NZ Sauv Blanc was nicely chilled, and I was assured it was. When it arrived, it was at room temperature!! I took the glass to the galley, handed it to the CSD and had a mini-rant about BA’s inability to present properly chilled white wine. I asked for a large Vodka on the rocks instead!
The meal was surprisingly edible, and the Hake just survived the cooking process, and with the assistance of a large glass of port, I attempted to sleep - and generally failed. The pillow was nice, the heavier blanket a bit too warm, and the mattress topper was left untouched. At least I was lying flat!! Poor iWife got no sleep at all - she just can’t sleep on a BA 777 for some reason.
On being wakened, we ate the BA breakfasts … I had the Continental breakfast bowl of meat and cheese, while iWife chose the Mozzarella cheese omelette. Both were fine!
We arrived at LGW at 0600, just as the curfew time ended, and after the expected quick disembarkation we made our way through unknown corridors to the empty UK Border where the e-passport gates were working fine! This was all good, as our next sector was due to start boarding at 0655. No time for a land-side cigarette this time! Having ‘Arrived’, we immediately ‘Departed’ via Security and headed for the holding pen at Gate 12.
BA2770, LGW-JER, 0735-0830, A319, CE Seats 1A/C
Perfectly straightforward boarding started a few minutes after we arrived - I didn’t have the
c-w-s stopwatch to time things precisely, but we certainly didn’t have to wait long. And there we were for the last leg of the journey. A nice CSD, looking after the 4 rows of CE, who also addressed us by name and had clearly looked at his iPad to enable him to comment on our trip to South Africa. We declined another breakfast … and finally we broke cloud at around 500 ft to arrive back in Jersey, where it was predictably cold and damp!
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