“Here I go again on my own”. The radio in the taxi seems to know I’m headed to the airport. The weather doesn’t. It’s pouring with rain, thunderstorm raging overhead. It hasn’t put off the throng of people in McDonalds, getting their post-clubbing sustenance at 7am. Out of the steamy taxi windows I spot statues of heroes past, glistening with rain. I cross my fingers that the storm doesn’t disrupt my flight, and that it clears up for sailing tomorrow. I have sea sickness tablets but I was hoping Drake’s Passage would be kind to us. This weather doesn’t make that prospect look promising.
Delays: some planes scheduled to leave at 7am still hadn’t left by 9. Mine leaves only 50 minutes after it was supposed to. Finally the roar I hear is the engine at take off, and not the thunder up above. A smattering of applause as we head down the runway.
Beyond the clouds it’s pure blue sky all the way to Ushuaia. I’m intrigued to see what it looks like as we land. Approaching BA the suburbs looked like towns created on the Sims. Individual houses, all with pools and surrounding land. It made me want to play The Sims again.
The last half hour of the flight, a woman a few rows in front started playing a Countdown trivia game on her iPad. With the sound on. It was counting down my patience, and then the turbulence began as we started our descent and she put it away.
It was eerily quiet inside the clouds, until suddenly we were skimming above the ocean. Not really skimming but suddenly it was so close.
A proper round of applause went up when we landed, and we drew up to a very small terminal in the rain. One baggage carousel. A plane full of people. My bag was wet, of course, but I had had the foresight to put the rain cover on it so at least it wasn’t soaked.
I walk outside and there’s a woman with blue hair and blue Uggs with my name on a sign. I was not expecting this. I get in her car, she gives me a map, and she takes me to my hotel. I still don’t know who she is or where she came from.
My rental gear is here. My room is comfy, warm and has a double bed and an ensuite. One night of luxury before 10 days of claustrophobia below deck.
Tomorrow, I sail.
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