The Swarts Family Blog

We're here! The kids and I arrived in Ulsan, South Korea, on Sunday at 11am.  Waiting for us was a very excited and relieved Aran.  The kids were so excited to see him. Little Ivy doesn't leave him alone when he is home, it is so adorable.

We had the most amazing trip, the kids were absolutely perfect. They seriously couldn't have been any better and it certainly made it easy for me.

Perth to KL
OUr first leg was from Perth to Kuala Lumpur.  We left some sad family members, went through customs and arrived at our gate.  Lovely Jo had arranged with her former colleagues that I was able to bring my double pram right to the plane door rather than checking it in, so that I could have it rightaway when I landed. So the staff took it off me as we were boarding, and we went to our seats. Jo had also organised that we had a seat with a bassinet for Ivy.  The plane wasn't very full so we had a spare seat next to us. After we took off I put Ivy there so I could get organised.  2 minutes later she was fast asleep - she sleft for about 2 and a half hours.  That was great, as I could give Zac a lot of attention (him being old enough to be excited etc) and we could also have our dinner in peace.  Ivy woke up and was very docile, she just sat there with her blankie and dummy watching some kids alongside of us.  After about an hour Zac fell asleep and slept til the end of the flight.  The total flight time was about 5.5 hours.  What a great start!

KL to Seoul (Incheon)
When we exited the plane our pram was waiting there for us, so I loaded up the kids and off we went. We had about an hour until the next boarding.  I followed the signs, hopped on the aero rail to go to a different part of the airport.  We got to our gate with 20 minutes til boarding. I put the kids pjs on.  Once again they allowed me to bring the pram to the gate. The flight left at 11.00.  Once again I had a bassinet. Isaac fell asleep straight away and slept until about half an hour before landing. (the flight was 7 hours). Ivy woudlnt go in the bassinet right away, so she fell asleep in my arms pretty soon after takeoff.  Everytime I woudl try put in her in the bassinet she would cry (she had a pretty bad cold and was quite stuffy). So I would hold her again until she fell asleep. She was fast asleep by about 1am so I put her in the bassinet and she slept the whole time. I had to wake her for landing.  I got about 2 hours sleep (it took me a while to fall asleep initially because I was aware that Ivy might wake). and At about 4am they served breakfast so that was the end of that!

Incheon to Gimpo (international to domestic)
When we arrived at Incheon they very kindly had organised a meet and assist person to help me through customs and immigration. AFter getting my pram that is.  This was extremely fortunate, she took me through immigration in the disability line (it still took about 15 minutes and I was the only one), the normal line was HUGE so I would definitely have missed my next flight. We then went on the aerorail afterwhich she then took me to the part of the airport where all the transport options are to get to Gimpo.  She tried to get me to go on a bus (that must be what most people do, there is also a subway option and taxis), but I soon realised that wouldnt work, what with 2 kids, a 32kg bag, cabin bag and I would have had to collpse the pram. So I said my goodbyes and went off to find the subway. I bought a ticket and hopped on, half an hour later we arrived att he Gimpo Station. We checked in (again they let me take the pram) and an hour later we arrived in Ulsan where Aran was waiting.  What a trip! I was very drained by the end of it.

Here are some pictures of our trip.