It's always hard to end a fantastic holiday and get back to the reality of every day life. As we drove away from the Dawn Princess this morning, Gary & I commented that it only seemed like yesterday that we had travelled this journey in the reverse and were embarking on this epic adventure – the time went so fast. But as with most aspects of life...all good things must come to an end...and so, for us, the journey was over.
I happened to be up at 4.20am and saw us steam through the “heads” into Sydney Harbour. I can imagine we must have presented somewhat of a ghost-like figure in the pre-dawn light to the many people located at South Head who were observing our passage. Hot on our heals was the Sun Princess who also arrived in Sydney today, making our arrival news-worthy...in Sydney anyway. So by 5.30am we were sidling into our berth at Circular Quay as the sun rose behind the Sydney Opera House – it really doesn't get any better than this.
So having packed our suitcases for collection last night, it was just a matter of a quick shower, breakfast and then arriving at the designated time (7am) to wait for our call to disembark. I thought it was all very well organised – we had been allotted a colour and number which told us when to disembark and where our luggage would be located. Customs had been predominately taken care of during the voyage after we left Bali, so we moved through the various stages pretty quickly and had collected our substantial baggage, grabbed a cab to Star City, rented a car, and were on our way to Newcastle all by 9am. Pretty good going I reckon.
There was a lot of traffic on the freeway heading north due to the long weekend yet we had a really good run and were home by 11.20am with a stop along the way. Tahnee had done a great job of house-sitting and Oska was here to greet us enthusiastically, though I'm beginning to suspect he may prefer Tahnee – I heard rumours that she spoilt him rotten! After offloading the luggage, we returned the rental car and then it was back home to face the daunting task of...unpacking. I'm sure you can imagine the mayhem (and the subsequent five loads of washing) that followed.
We have also caught up with my Mum, Alison, Danny and the grandkids this afternoon – little Olivia is really cute though she is giving poor Alison lots of sleepless nights. It's OK, Grandma's here to whip her into shape! The boys were happy with their little souvenirs and seemed particularly happy to see Grumps (and Grandma...but mainly Grumps) who I think they had missed very much.
James & Carly also called in for dinner – it doesn't take long, does it? - and we all watched the famous video of the Warners Bay Div J Grand Final triumph. I also discovered I had been awarded a trophy at the presentation night – my first ever soccer trophy...yay me (though I may be the first 49 year old in history to be awarded “Most Improved”).
So, here we are, back to reality – work next Tuesday for me – and nothing exciting likely to happen in the near future. Thanks for taking this journey with us through my blog – it is my travel diary of sorts and I'm sure will serve as a ready reminder of our adventures – and I have greatly appreciated your interest and encouragement. Until next time...
PS - I'll be putting some photos on the older blogs where I had trouble while I was away...check them out!
