Takeoff

Today is the day that all of us year 10 students have been waiting for. The anticipation in the buildup to this day has resulted in many sleepless nights as the excitement was kicking in. We all met up at the departures gate at Sydney airport. After checking in all 160 of us, we gathered in a group to say our final goodbyes to our families. All in unison, we recited the Australian national anthem and Hatikva for the first time as a year group. As we sang it with pride I realised it was a great way to be farewelling our parents and leaving them behind in Australia as we embarked upon our once in a lifetime journey. The closer we got to boarding the plane, the wider the smiles got on everyone's faces. This is the beginning of a journey of a lifetime.

The whole year group was finally on board Thai airlines as we started our journey from Sydney to our first stopover, Bangkok.  Throughout the plane ride, while many of us should have been sleeping, we were all going crazy, running and jumping around.  The delicious, homemade, pre-cooked plane food really did the job and ensured we had enough energy to last us for the rest of the day. The flight ended with joy as there was cheering and clapping as if we had just landed in Israel.

The whole year split up into two groups, one flying from Bangkok to Frankfurt and the other going to Paris. By this flight, everyone was dead and fell asleep straight away for most of the flight. This flight was quiet for most of the time as everyone was catching up on lost sleep and internally preparing for Poland.

Jake Lees