29th 30th 31st December 2025

Bergheim to Frankfurt to Seoul to Sydney 

Well as old Blue Eyes would say ‘and now the end is near..’.

Up for an early breakfast on another brisk morning with temperature hovering around 2. Enjoyed the ‘cash only’ cafe yesterday so replicated the walk and the order in my case. Jane couldn’t resist her last eggs and smoked salmon.

Packed up and lugged our cases to the station and caught an earlier train to our connection point at Manaheim. Thankfully we did because the originally scheduled train would have missed the Frankfurt train.

It was pretty fitting that our last memory of Bethheim and Getmany generally was another weird statue and a parking lot of bikes- thankfully none needing to be avoided.

Jumped on an 18 carriage train already full of travellers, but tthankfully had a booked seat. Luggage space was at a premium and some not very cooperative passengers insisted we didn’t stack our luggage on top of theirs, despite Frankfurt being the next stop.

Train stopped inside the airport but at other end of the terminal. The walk could only do us good.

Arriving earlier had its benefits as there was nobody at check in counter.

Went through the now obligatory body pat down for Jane in security before a bit of time in the lounge before heading on board for our 11 hour flight to Seoul.

Again the food and wine was excellent, as was the service and with the luxury of 7 hours sleep there was minimal need for the entertainment facilities.

Seoul airport was a dream, but the 6 hours in the lounge was a bit tiresome, no matter how much free food and alcohol was available.

The second leg to Sydney was just on 10 hours and it was an emulation of the first leg. 

Arrived at 800, but a 30 minute wait on tarmac because of gate unavailability delayed touching feet on home soil.

Customs was a breeze and we were soon home. Got a pleasant surprise when I had a walk over to Golf Club in a bid to fight the jet lag when told I won the Xmas raffle – a bottle of 2018 Grange Hetmitage.

That will be drunk quicker than the 1984 one I kept 47 years.

Celebration of my my birthday was circumspect as was NYE, probably because I fell asleep on the lounge at 830 only to be woken by the local fireworks.

So after 34 days we again have an album full of photos, a blog and some wonderful memories of an absolutely fantastic holiday. 

All that’s left to do is work on the next one.