Food trolleys wheeled down aisles -  the smell of airline food, portions of roast beef and braised chicken and pastas and potatoes. The tinkle of the miniatures drinks bottles and then the film. The projector is set up in our section  the reels clattering away and the sound arriving at our ears via audio pipes , not electronics- real sound piped into our seats!.

The child does not sleep and sees mysterious towers of flame, first one then another and soon a small constellation of flames illuminating there surrounds – later discovering these are oil wells in the gulf of Arabia. Sun comes around again too quick, now from the window seat behind the engine the inquisitive child asks why black bits keep flying our out the engine. Later to discover this is normal. But mother is slightly scared witless by this discovery – confirmed as ‘normal’ by the big brother aeronautical engineer.

Kuala Lumpur, flat bedded busses rush out like a herd of elephants to capture us as we alight into pressing humidity, unknown humidity. Whisked to the terminal where a bazaar of sellers purloin their goods. Sandalwood elephants are bought for ‘two kangaroo dollars’. Their tusks later to drop out and be lost in the swamp of time.  Elephants in a beautiful shade of polished sandstone. Back to the jet in the flat bed busses, jet fuel in the air so thick you could start a petrol station. Resume the window seat. Watching the ground drop away and becoming weightless. Sucking on a sweet barley sugar to make your ears pop. Only another 8 hours to Australia now, not long to go.