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I didn't get much sleep, as I ended up falling asleep at around 7pm and the woke at midnight. Every hour or so I would again wake up and struggle to sleep. I had planned to get up around 8.00am have a shower, and go to breakfast however I ended up waking up around 5.30am and getting up. I do what I need to do, and the its finally time when I am able to go down and get something to eat. Im not really hungry however I know ive got a long day ahead of me, so I have to eat something. I have a small breakfast where I then feel too sick and head back to my room. I do odd bits to pass time, and even though I don't have to be in the airport till 11.30am I get on the Hoppa Bus to T4 at around 9am.
I have a mountain of things to do today including;
· Check bags are allowed and aren't over weight
· Exchange money
· Get bag wrapped
· Check in
· Get through security (not that I'm a dangerous person or anything).
I have a bit of a trouble getting on the bus as where the last bus driver tore the ticket off, it apparently made it invalid. I was not going to pay another £8 to get back to terminal 4 and plead with the bus driver. A kind man sticks up for me and the driver informs me that he shouldn't do this, as he will lose his job (however who is going to know?!?).
I get into Terminal 4 and I am shocked at how big it is! I don't even know where to go, but soon realise I have to go up stairs to check in etc.
I'm really early and get there around 9.15 am and I'm not able to check in till 11.30am, and my flight doesn't leave till 3.15pm.
I start off by getting my bag wrapped which cost me £9, £2 more than I was told it would cost me. I also realise that I havn't bought a travel plug for South Africa, and I am able to get one from the bag wrapping area for £5.99. I then head off to exchange some money for South Africa, which is another thing I had not done. I speak to a lady who informs me that I can buy a travelex card, which is perfect for those who may do a lot of travelling. You can find information on here, www.cashpassport.com/travelex. You can have up to 10 different currencies on the card, and it doesn't cost you a thing. I start of by exchanging £50 which is around R734. Rand is the South African currency. I don't want to put too much on as I'm not entirely sure how much I will need, and don't want to put loads on there and not need it. You get given two cards and they are both chip and pin.
Once this is done, I head off to find some scales to see if my bags are overweight. Thankfully my hold luggage only weights 15kg, my limit is 23kg, and my hold luggage is around 5kg where my limit is 7kg. Panic over I no longer have to worry about paying extra money because I have packed too much. I did have a bit of a panic in the hotel room, and decided to ditch some clothes and shoes in the bin because I thought it was overweight. I wish I had never done this! The cleaner ladies are going to have a field day!
I am finally allowed to check in, however the man on the desk cant understand where my final destination is. I am flying from London to Doha, Doha to Joburg, Joburg to Nelspruit. He finally understood that I was flying to airport MQP which is the airport in Nelspruit and my luggage would fly straight there. A gent takes my bag away which I'm a bit to confused to ask what is happening. Another gent comes and informs me that my bags won't be taken straight there, but when I get to Joburg I will have to collect my luggage and check it all back in again. I don't really care, I just want to get on this flight.
I am finally checked in, and have got through security and I am unsure what to do with myself. I do a bit of window shopping and have a bit of lunch in Costa. I am able to sit and watch the planes take off and land which is pretty cool, there is literally one after the other.
At 2.05pm the gates for my flight are opened and I quickly give a quick call to mum, dad has no signal and a quick text message to the girls. When boarding its clear that the flight which is quite quiet and its rather nice as I only have one person sat on the row im sat on. This gives me loads of room to relax.
The flight finally takes off 30 minutes late, and that's it I'm leaving the UK.
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