Homeward Bound

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Geo: 51.5002, -0.126236

And so the holiday comes to an end, as all good things must.

The weather seemed to sense our dismay at having to end this "trip of a lifetime" – proper English weather with cold, dark grey skies threatening to rain. What a contrast to the beautiful sunny days we have been having in London! We packed up the unit, and took numerous trips down the 4 flights of winding stairs to the offices of the apartment managers, where we had arranged to leave our bags for the day until our flight home. Then, the day was ours, to explore a little bit more of London!

We headed off to the Tube station, realising as we saw the floral tributes in Russell Square and in the Russell Square Tube station that it was the anniversary of the London bombings. A sobering thought as you join the rush of people descending into the station! We jumped off at Leicester Square, to show the kids (and Rita and Elio) the famous theatre area, and then walked to Trafalgar Square, in front of the National Art Gallery. Unfortunately, Trafalgar Square is under renovations at the moment, and didn't look as impressive as it should. We were very keen to take a ride in a double decker bus (a Routemaster if we could find one) and had googled that the Routemasters still travel along the Strand – we didn't get a Routemaster but the kids were thrilled to be on a double decker London bus, and we just took a short trip down to Australia House (Gringott's Bank, for the Harry Potter fans) then changed buses and went back to Green Park and the Ritz.

After racing through Green Park (I think this is where we finally pushed Rita's hip too far!), we made it for the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace. Steven had seen it many times before when we lived in London, but I'd never seen it – unfortunately, he is right and it is overrated, but at least we have seen it now. We walked down past St James Park to Westminster, where we had our last pub meal for lunch – the kids never seem to tire of fish and chips, though have also discovered the pies and the sausage and mash options!

We then spent a couple of hours exploring Westminster Abbey. It is just a fabulous place (cannot explain why we have been to the Abbey twice now, and never to St Pauls!) and the audio tour was very good, though a little too detailed for the kids. Matthew has loved audio tours – he just keeps pressing buttons and numbers and soaks it all in! The Abbey was just lovely, but by this stage, I think we were all starting to think of the long flight home (or at least, how nice it would be to sit down for a few hours!)

We went back to Russell Square to meet our minicabs – it was meant to be one big one, but we ended up being split into two cabs, and farewelled London. The boys made me laugh with their deep discussions on religion in the car going to the airport – cannot imagine what the taxi driver thought! The driver was very nice and took us on a scenic trip, through Hyde Park and past the Albert Memorial and Albert Hall. I was relieved when the two cabs arrived almost simultaneously at Heathrow, despite taking different routes, as Steven was in the other cab, with all the money!

Heathrow (when you're not at Terminal 5) is horrible! We checked in and made our way to the QANTAS club, only to be told that because it was a partner club with BA, Steven (the member) was entitled to take only one guest into the club, and the three kids counted as a guest each! Poor old Steven was left to select one of us to enter the luxury of the club, whilst the rest of us waited outside in the crowded cramped food court. (Lucky Georgia!) But they quickly re-emerged, with drinks and snacks for all, and we headed off to the gate for our flight. The walk down to the gate was very long, and Nonna's hip was really hurting – to the extent that a man driving an electric cart picked us up and drove us to the gate. Nonno kept saying that it was strange that the plane wasn't at the gate yet, when we were boarding in less than 30 minutes, but the hostess at the gate kept insisting it was the correct gate. Then, with less than 5 minutes to departure, there was an announcement to say that the plane was now leaving from a gate on the other side of the airport – about 1 kilometre away! I thought Rita was going to cry! Steven, Elio and the kids shot off to new gate, whilst Rita and I tried to organise an electric cart or wheelchair to get her to the plane….when BA couldn't do anything, I found the room where they stored wheelchairs, loaded Mum and then sprinted through the airport! What an aerobic workout!

Finally, we were on the plane and on our way home!

The flight to Singapore was easy – Matthew was so tired he fell asleep with his headphones on and his dinner in front of him! At Singapore airport, we were all welcomed into the QANTAS club (so much nicer) and we all took it very easy relaxing and reading. It was strange to be back somewhere that had felt “foreign” 4 months ago, but now felt like a big step on the way to home!

Back on the plane, and I think we were all very excited to see dawn breaking over Brisbane! Georgia was just about dancing in the aisles!

How do I summarise and conclude this tale of our trip? It was a wonderful trip, but wonderful to be home! All I can say is thank God for making such a beautiful world and allowing us to share some of it, and this time, with our lovely family, and for bringing us home safely again.

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