Day 1, October 19th 2007

I arrived at Belfast City Airport George Best place (don't you just love it when they mention old Georgie's name and then have to explain where it is!) at 1pm; we'd been told to be there no later than 1.30pm as we had to get our tickets and a photo had to be taken of the group, and of each participant and the charity rep.

Of course after dad had dropped me off and I entered the terminal there was no one else there. As the time wore on the doubts crept in. Maybe it was the International? No. But why is no one else here? Hmmm. Should I ring someone? Thankfully my personal dilemma was interruped by Aideen Reilly, fellow participant. Before you could shake a big stick at something everyone else, including Kelly from Action Cancer, and Neil Lavery, our charity rep on the cycle had arrived. Donning our Action Cancer t-shirts we certainly gave the flying public something to look at, although like some of my colleagues in the law, they seemed to have deep pockets and short arms. No one volunteered any dosh.

We flew to Heathrow at 3.30pm, where Shaun McCord and myself were apprehended by Dr. Sophie, our trip doctor from Classic Tours. She turned out to be a great sport; really enthusiastic, torturing us about drinking lots of water, applying heaps of sun cream and being a great doc when Rashida has an accident on day two.

Then it was the wonderful overnight flight to Johannesburg. Always a joy. At least I wasn't sitting beside the bloke who snored the whole way, the person who passed wind at regular intervals or the bloke who kicked off his shoes and let those around him enjoy his smelly feet! Ah, the joys of the traveller.