We left for the airport about 1400 and arrived in good time, we went to the cling film man and got both my bags wrapped as we had been advised to do for Johannesburg.
I then went to check in which was fun. Both my bags were half a kilo over the limit but she didn't mention it. The second issue was that I don't have a return ticket (I'm on a year course with a year long visa and you can't book flights this far in advance), she checked with a different man and they just had to make a note of why I don't have a return flight and it's not a problem. The third issue was that she wanted to charge me for the second bag, I told her that when I booked the flight that I could have two bags (one sports bag for my diving stuff) for no extra charge, she checked and I could because I booked the flight before their policy changes. The final issue was my name, when the company I booked the flight with sent the details to Virgin they transferred my first name, middle name and title as one name, so not only was my name too long, it didn't match my passport, she fixed this quickly and then I was free to go. Such a lovely lady.
I went with mum and dad to departures and we had a little wander, then off I went through security and found a nice spot to wait for a couple of hours.
After waiting a while the gate number was shown and I went to my gate, boarding started pretty much immediately and then we took off nearly on time too.
They brought hot towels and drinks around straight away and then a but later it was time for dinner - chicken curry, with a bread roll, salad and a yummy chocolate pot for pudding. I watched 'Alice Through The Looking Glass', 'Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children' and 'Me Before You'.
Then it was time to try and sleep, the headrest was the most uncomfortable thing in the world, it pushed you forward way too much! The plane didn't have shutters, but a little button to control the amount of dimming on the window!
Breakfast was brought at about 0600 (South African time) and I chose the Belgian waffles with vanilla cream with orange juice. The flight landed more or less on time and then it was time to go through security, there was a but of a wait but not much. Having left the airport I can now see that the man has written my exit date down wrong so I will have to sort that!
I went and collected my bags and then headed through to find a pay phone. One of the 'airport taxi service' men asked if I needed help so I asked him where I could find a pay phone, he went and bought some credit for his phone and then let me use that. I had to give him a 'little tip' but I got through and spoke to the hostel and they said to wait for them. I found where I had to wait for a little while for the man to arrive.
He arrived and off we went, we had been driving about five minutes when his phone rang to tell him there were more people waiting at the airport for him, so we turned round and off we went to get them too - two Canadian girls spending a month travelling around.
We arrived at the hostel and I checked into my dorm, it's simple but nice enough. I checked my emails and read for a while and then ordered a lunch of a cheese toastie which was very yummy. I also explored the hostel a bit, found the swimming pool and admire the view.
Then I decided to go for a walk to try and find the Eastgate Shopping Mall, one of the biggest in Africa apparently. I didn't find it but I had a nice walk, and even ended up in China Town and upon returning to the hostel and checking my map I realised that I was going the right way I just hadn't gone far enough! Ah well, I can go another day! I read for a while and then succumbed to a brief nap!
I went downstairs to use the Internet and book a trip for tomorrow to the 'Cradle Of Humankind' and then took up the two Canadian girls on their offer to join them going to the mall. They had asked the hostel to drive them. They wanted to buy flip flops, snacks and an adaptor and I planned to get my SIM card. We did all of these things and had something to eat in 'Lattelicious' (chicken pasta with pesto sauce and a mango smoothie). Paging was interesting, we sorted out the bI'll and then ttried to work out a tip. None of us have got our head around the local currency yet, I don't know Canadian dollars and they don't know pounds. The staff were laughing at us but we got there! Then we phoned the hostel to ask for the man to come and get us. We were told that he was at the airport picking up some other people and to just wait. We waited and waited and after about an hour phoned the hostel again, he was still at the airport, we phoned a couple more times and after about two hours of waiting she told us 'he's still at the airport can you please just take a taxi' (she wasn't too nice about it), we weren't sure if the taxis hanging around outside were legitimate so we called for an uber taxi. The guy arrived after a few minutes and off we went straight back to the hostel, arriving just before it got dark.
After using the internet for a while I decided it was time for bed ready for my trip tomorrow.
I have enjoyed my day today but there is definitely a different vibe in South Africa, or maybe it's just Johannesburg. There's definitely a difference in the way people look at you. I haven't even taken any pictures because I just don't feel too happy with the idea of getting my camera out!