Bound for Oz

Tuesday 20^th March to Sunday 25^th March 2012
No boat travel this week

Banjo was following everyone around with a familiar nervous look in his eye – the sight of suitcases coming out and being packed has the only connotation for him – we are leaving and its off to the kennels for him.

And so it was on that Tuesday morning – well the packing at least was finalised and I had everything that I needed to take with me back to Australia.

Diane had booked a taxi for 1:30 and we would have a nice leisurely lunch at Wetherspoons before it was up to the station and our goodbyes – she back to the boat, me to Manchester and a flight home.

Change at Stoke and then Manchester Piccadilly and arrived at the airport a bit later than my customary 5 hours early – the virtues of on-line check-in the night before cannot be stressed enough – the avoidance of a long queue to drop-off bags is the outcome.

Through the usual passport controls and procedures with passengers readying to fly out – and it was a relatively short wait for boarding and then a 40-minute wait for departure as a family decided to arrive late and disrupt people in their attempts to find space for a ridiculous amount of carry-on luggage.

Finally back in Melbourne after 22 hours in transit including a 2 and ½ hour stop in Dubai – time enough for a shower and change of clothes – gotta love a nice hot shower between flights.

Cleared customs in near-record time – I was out in under 30 minutes after touch down in Terra Australis – and Sam was there dutifully waiting for me (her favourite Dad) – she was there straight after her night shift had finished.

One of the joys of living not too far from the airport is the short drive back there after the flight and so it was that we were home in les than an hour after landing.

Both of the children are well – Sam and Mitch – and they have been pretty good at looking after the place.

No matter how many times you fly, you never know how the flight will affect you until you have landed and been back for a few hours – after initially feeling fine I realised that I was tired when I kept reading the same thing over and over again without really understanding it.

Coming home is then about catching up with everyone – neighbours, friends and relatives – and it is just the same again.

A day at work on Friday helped – I needed to get back into the routine and actually going into work defined the start and end of the day better than another day at home trying to work.

So now the weekend arrives and I am off to Mortlake (western Victoria) to visit my favourite aunt – Brenda.

In between all of this there has been catching up with emails as well; a doctors visit; starting on the list of things that Diane wants me bring back for her.