After spending the Friday afternoon in the Halifax bank in Croydon attempting to get my bank account un-suspended after they found something suspicious in the previous days ‘Looking at Gorillas’ money transfer, I finally at 4 o’clock with a working bank card I set off through the pouring rain to East Croydon station to meet Kevin and Sally who were already on a train bound for Victoria.

After Victoria the fun really started as we had to make our way through the rush hour madness to the tube station laden with luggage and cricket bags for the trip. Much swearing and some apologising later we were on the Piccadilly line heading to the airport, at least a sighting of a perma tanned Paul Weller helped to lighten the mood and provided the second celebrity spot of the project after spying Sally Gunnell eating pizza in Brighton, will the celebs keep on coming I wonder?

The rest of the group was already waiting outside Terminal 3 with the exception of Ian who soon returned from the long stay car park and so on we went to the weigh in. The 23kg limit per bag caused a minor headache with much swapping around needed but at least we didn’t incur any excess luggage fees. A change of money for some in the group and a harmless check through security had us in the bar for a drink at around 8pm. As often happens in bars time flew and we ended up with a bit of a dash to the gate for our 9.05 flight, we needn’t have rushed as it was just before 10 when the plane finally left the tarmac.

The 7 hour Ethiopian airlines flight to Addis Ababa passed without incident with everyone trying to get some sleep, although another highlight was the film choice the James Bond classic ‘The spy who loved me’ – ‘Just keeping the British end up sir’.