Day 44. Home and final thoughts

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So the final day of our holiday has arrived and with it the final entry of my blog, written on the long flight home.

Day started with a leisurely breakfast on the rocks, I have lost count of how many eggs Benedict I have had! The sun was shining so we decided to spend our last hour walking around the harbour and past the opera house, reminiscing about our trip. We always felt this would be our one and only trip to Australia and New Zealand and although we have loved every minute (apart from the gallstones) I think we still feel the same.

Our final trip to the airport on the train and I left Ian with the cases and travelled on the top deck as a treat. Shame that most of the stations and trips in between are underground! But I did get a couple of stops with a view.

No Virgin upper class lounge at Sydney so we were given access to the Air New Zealand one which wasn't really the same standard. We are getting a bit fussy! It's been a long flight home, doing it directly but I have to say that doing it in business class was definitely a lovely way to do it. And that's probably something else I won't get to experience (although we have got lots of virgin reward points now which I am planning to persuade Ian to use on upgrades!)

So in conclusion I think I could say:

It was definitely a once in a lifetime experience. We have done some amazing things and had a fantastic experience. If we had to do it again I think the only thing we would change would be to give ourselves longer in New Zealand. Maybe an extra week. Yet again we thought that 6 weeks away would be enough so who knows?

We agreed that we wont be able to answer the question 'which was your favourite place/bit' as there is no real way to compare the places we have been or more importantly the things we have seen. How do you compare Uluru with Sydney or even Milford Sound?

Ian and I have managed to spend 6 weeks in each other's company with only two minor rows so that was an accomplishment in itself! And that's even more impressive when you have no TV!

Someone asked if we'd made any life changing decisions during this trip. Well we have made one. Based on our hotel stays, if we can fit one in, then we will invest in a six foot bed!!!

Finally this was also my first blog. Someone warned me it would become a bit obsessive and quite a commitment and they were right! It meant that I had to become an expert on phone picture taking as well and, as you can see, blog photos are very different to proper holiday photos! I did it as a record of our trip and I'm glad I did as we have already started to forget things. I reckon if I count up the words I have written then it's like a short dissertation during my holiday!

For those that have read them then I hope you have not been too bored.



Signing off x



Post script: As we descend to land, there is a thick thick blanket of fog over London. All you can see are a few lit up tops of skyscrapers in Canary Wharf, the City and, all on its own, the Shard. The final beautiful sight of our holiday. No photo unfortunately as,by then, all electrical equipment had been switched off.....

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Comments

[Rose Matthews]

welcome home!
I have loved reading your blog- I almost feel as though I have done the trip with you! I saw a photo on the news of the skyscrapers sticking out through the fog, it must have been a wonderful sight. See you soon.x