We're Home!

The trip itself was quite an adventure.

We drove from Eindhoven to Paris.... arriving early (I didn't want to risk traffic, or not being able to find the car rental return place again) and having some time to kill.  Where can you go with clean bathrooms, cheap food and plenty of parking?  Ikea!!  We put "Ikea" into the TomTom and 20 minutes later were happily eating swedish meatballs for lunch.  I know, I know, it's not very Parisienne, but I was feeling shattered and quite ill and didn't have the energy to drive or navigate or even THINK about anywhere else to go!

Then our plane was delayed.  By almost 2 hours.  My cold was in full swing by then and all I wanted to do was to curl up in a ball on the cold hard floor.  I didn't appreciate having to go through security for a second time (when they changed our departure gate) and the unrelenting waiting.

Still..... with a racing pulse and 6 fast legs...... we made our London flight.  It was touch and go.... especially as my sinuses were completely blocked and my ears hadn't popped during the flight.  I was in absolute agony and raced for a pharmacy to buy some cold medicine to dry up my head.  

Finally we arrived in Sydney...... pretty much exactly 36 hours after we'd left Wikke's ..... and waited at the luggage carousel for luggage that didn't arrive!  One of our bags had been left in London.  I can't believe that that only happened once during our entire trip!  And I'm pleased that it was at on the final leg rather than the beginning, or anywhere in the middle.  All that we really need our luggage for now is to unpack and wash.  And (I know you'll find this hard to believe) I'm not really looking forward to that part.

Finally FINALLY we walked through the arrival gates to see my Mummy and Ewan and this Monkey waiting for us!!  It is COLD here!  Yesterday it reached a wopping 10 degrees celsius and today feels like about 5 degrees.  

Two things happened last night while I was trying to catch up on my posts.

First thing, my sturdy, trusty, beloved MacBook finally died completely.  The wonderful thing actually waited until I returned all the way home before giving in to its' injuries (some of which were sustained months before our trip).  I tried to turn it on at Bangkok airport, unsuccessfully, but it managed to turn on and boot up last night, for an hour or so.  It then lost it's ability to connect to the internet before freezing and hanging every 5 minutes or less. 

The second thing was that I feel asleep.  I slept for 13 hours.  F is STILL asleep (16 or so hours and counting) and H has been awake for 4 hours already.  We all stayed up until Sydney bedtime last night and will hopefully be okay for school tomorrow.

SO.... we're home!!!  And that brings both happiness and sadness.  It is both an ending and a beginning.  

And I'm just so grateful for every minute of our journey here.