It struck him as typically Soviet that a relatively new international airport should have such a small waiting area. Much the same size as a basketball court, there were very few seats and, as far as he could see, only one food-and-drink kiosk. There was a single tourist outlet, with two shop assistants talking animatedly to each other, while travellers browsed shelves of matryoshka dolls and embroidered peasant shawls. On his left, so incongruous at this international airport, was a babushka seated on the floor surrounded by bundles; and huddled together on a single seat, was a young couple who looked so dazed they might have been on Mars. Apart from a large family who had spread themselves across an entire row of seats, the rest of the people in the waiting area appeared to be foreign businesspeople, predominately male and mostly European. He was the only traveller with a backpack.

Ten minutes later he had recovered sufficiently to move. He collected his luggage and approached the check-in counter. His pack was heavy, certainly heavier than when he arrived. Would he be liable for excess baggage? And what would they do to him if he couldn’t pay the fee? He put his backpack and shoulder bag on the scales, lowering each as gently as possible — as if that might lighten the load. He watched the needle swing vigorously across the dial and stop at twenty-four kilograms.

The woman at the counter looked at him, she held his gaze. He was four kilograms over the luggage allowance, but something in her expression, together with a just-perceptible shrug, suggested there might be room for negotiation. In his pocket was a small purse shaped as a map of Australia which contained the last of his American dollars — enough to buy a meal in the transit lounge in Vienna, but would, he decided, be put to better use here. He reached for the purse and offered it as a gift to the woman. He pointed to the word ‘Australia’ on his passport, and told her in Russian he was Australian. She took the purse, had a quick look inside, and indicated he was to remove his shoulder bag from the scales. The dial now indicated nineteen kilograms. She wrote nineteen on his form, pocketed the purse, and waved him through. Two hours later Andrew was in the air, two hours after that he was in transit in Vienna, and another twenty-four hours saw him arrive at Melbourne airport.