3.15am and the alarm trilled in the darkness but we were already wide awake. Little sleep had been achieved by either of us during, what had seemed to be, the long and never-ending night before.

Our big day had actually arrived and our enthusiastic anticipation was now filling the pre-dawn air with an exciting and magical quality.

Today was the day! We were leaving our home on the ever beautiful Gold Coast (in Queensland, Australia – aka God’s Own Country as can truly be seen in the photos both above and below.)

We were heading off on our extended four-and-a-half week adventure through Europe to visit the historical, culture-rich, northern hemisphere. Our minds were alive with all of the coming adventures….Germany, Austria, The Netherlands, Keukenhof, Slovakia, Hungary and, of course, our grand 15 days of river cruising along the Rhine, the Main and the Danube.

Within 20 minutes we were locking our doors and heading off to the Brisbane Airport  for our long-awaited departure. First stop would be the multi-award winning, Changi Airport in Singapore.

Sad to say, it wasn’t long before we found out that we had way too much luggage. As always, trying to juggle it though the airport and customs was the usual agitating and nerve wringing experience…. Surely this part of a journey has much room for improvement in these modern times! With all of our 21st century technologies and scientific advancements, the airport experience and, particularly customs experiences, could be greatly refined and improved I believe. Perhaps someone just needs to give it a little thought and then give it all a major overhaul.

Anyway, before long we were up in the big blue vastness and being totally spoiled by our gracious air hostesses. We were catching up on movies we’d missed, discussing places we could visit, enjoying just having our meals brought to us for a change and trying to catch a little shut-eye whenever possible. The later, I must say, proved to be a bit difficult to achieve with all of that was going on.

Nevertheless, time passed quickly and soon we were landing at Changi.

So many beautiful orchid displays, water features and even goldfish. Changi is always a delight to visit. There were new technologies to explore and entertain us, along with the many bright and bountiful shops and Duty Free Outlets.

But after yet another tasty meal, and a brief sticky beak around to see what was new, it was certainly time to head for our transit hotel which was right within Changi airport itself. There were no windows at all in our room, but what a delight it was! And even more so, as it had only cost us just one Aussie dollar each for the next six sleep filled hours! There was a comfy bed, clean soft towels, in-room amenities for showering and glorious fresh sheets and soft pillows. At last it was time for a little bit of shut-eye!