Home sweet home

Sunday 23^rd February

How good it is to be home!  Erin (John’s daughter) had the place clean and tidy and put a vase of flowers on the table to welcome us home.

We had a very long tiring day.  Contrary to my usual habit, I actually managed to get a few hours sleep on the plane.  I was particularly surprised as I’m still a bit sore from my mishap in the swimming pool, so I didn’t expect to sleep at all.

 

Sunrise over Oz

We were met at the Melbourne Airport by John’s sister, Lindsay and went back to her place for lunch with the family.  It was great to catch up with everyone and to see some highlights of the Winter Olympics.  We couldn’t find the Olympics on TV while we were away, so missed both the opening and closing ceremonies as well as all the action.

Later in the day, Lindsay dropped us back at the airport for the seventh and final leg of the journey.  The flight was uneventful, but we later heard that a Tiger Airways plane had to turn back after taking off from Adelaide.  That could so easily have happened to us and I’m not sure that my weary bones would have appreciated any delays.

My brother Steve picked us up at Adelaide Airport as my Barina was at his place.  We’d lent it to my visiting Aunt and Uncle who visited from England while we were away.  Nice of Adelaide to put on the longest hottest heatwave ever for their visit.

We had dinner with Steve and his family and I could feel myself teetering on the edge of a coma while I tried to maintain a degree of sociability.

John drove us home and I made sure I kept chatting so he didn’t nod off.  When we got home, we had plenty to chat about with Erin but didn’t last too long.  I don’t remember the last time I slept so well.

Overall, the trip was fantastic but you won't ever see me in Phuket again.  The highlights for me were definitely the temples of Cambodia and the stay at Lonely Beach on Koh Chang.  The cooking class in Cambodia was also a memorable event - now I just need time to reproduce the wonderful dishes that we've discovered.  It’s so tempting, with the cheap Air Asia flights, to take off again in the near future, but we both want to try to avoid the temptation and aim for an ‘around-the-world’ trip for our next adventure.