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My dad used to work for BOAC, as it was then, and when he’d left had been given some free standby flights. It was a bit risky trying to go to Australia with them because there was a very good chance we’d be waiting several days before we could get on a flight, and when we went to Heathrow we weren’t sure whether we’d be going to Australia, just as far as Singapore, or back home again that evening. Just 20 minutes before the flight was due to go, someone came up and said “You’re booked on all the way to Perth – go go go!”. We sprinted through the terminal and boarded the plane pretty much at the last possible moment, unable to believe our luck.

London to Singapore is a huge long flight but it went very very quickly for me. Thunderstorms lit up the skies over eastern Europe, and as we flew over central Asia we saw Tashkent glowing far below. We got to Singapore at 6am, and it was already 26°C. Soon we were off again, and into the southern hemisphere.

Our first stop was beautiful, sunny, laid back Perth. For the first day or so I had the odd sensation that I was still on a turbulent plane, a memory of the long flight here. We spent a few days looking around Perth, and I thought it was amazing. Free buses ran around the city centre, people were friendly, the city skyscrapers looked awesome, and the Southern Cross shone overhead at night.