Grey Nomads back in Aus.

Whilst Sue and I had a great time visiting with Kelly and traveling UK, Ireland, France, Spain and Hong Kong it is great to be back home. Every time I go overseas it reminds me again what a great place home is, more so since we have been experiencing the beauty of Aus in the caravan. We arrived at 6.30 am on Friday seeing the tops or the Sydney city buildings and Anzac bridge poking up through the fog as we landed. Then we had 1.5 hours to get through customs with the other 700 or so passengers who arrived on 3 flights at the same time as us. The shuttle got us back to Dot and Strobe’s Elanora Heights holiday park and the morning was beautiful. Went to bed early that night after having had no sleep in the previous 36 hours.

The trip was great with, of course, the high point spending time with Kelly. She is having a great time in the UK and is organized, comfortable and in control of her life there. It was very comforting to see her doing so well. We met many of the friends she has made through her work, house sharing, Contiki and Nicole’s work. We had a couple of big nights (and day) at the Anchor hotel with some of them and they are a great bunch. Their desire to meet Sue and I showed how much they thought of and enjoyed Kelly’s company. The night we spent with her work colleagues at the “Fame” performance was great and again we met many of her work associates and managers who made Sue and I feel like “stars” on the night as well. It was a great fun night that we all enjoyed greatly, and thanks to the many of you who helped Kelly raise over 700 pounds for the charity.

We had a mix of weather while we were away with it being colder than we expected especially in France. It even snowed on us one day, although we had no rain in the six weeks and we had great weather in London for our first and last weeks there. We caught ten flights, one ferry and three rental cars during our visit without any major problems, and only getting lost once, in Paris a bad place to get lost. During our last week we drove down to Cornwall staying in an old pub at Padstow for two nights. Padstow is the home of Rick Stein the TV chef who I really enjoy. We had a nice dinner at one of his restaurants and visited Newquay, Truro, Falmouth and Penzance as well as many narrow streeted villages. We spoiled ourselves with a luxury night in a 11th century coaching hotel on the way home. The hotel called “The Bear” in Hungerford as at various times been used by royalty, been the holiday home of two of Henry the VIII wives as well as being a military headquarters during the civil war.

The final week end in London was spent with Kelly to say our good byes. Kel took us to a “fancy” restaurant before we left and we said goodbye over lunch on Monday with not too many tears. It helped that it looks like she will be back for quick visit to Aus in June, can’t wait. I have attached one photo(as the stupid blog does not let me attach photos, this one took three days of trying)of the trip that I hope you enjoy.

Lastly I would like to thank all of you who blogged and commented after Mum’s funeral. The words were very comforting for Sue and I to read when we were away and sad about missing you all at the funeral. They made us feel closer to you all.

Love to all, Chris, Sue & Olly.