Day 64 Sunday 24 July 2016

We were gently woken around 4am Sydney time for breakfast, another great meal, more than you want for breakfast. However, it was only 2am Hong Kong time, so that meant only 4 hours sleep on the flight. As we descended into Sydney the first faint tinge of sunrise appeared as we turned to line the runway up. We touched down at 6.05am & by the time we taxi to the terminal & disembark it is 6.20am, we pass through Passports fairly quickly & our bags are some of the first on the luggage carousal & then we pass through Quarantine after a lengthy queue, the flight that landed just before us is lined up. We are out of Sydney Airport at 6.50am & walk the short distance to the bus terminal to see if we can catch the earlier Murrays Coach to Canberra, we are booked on the 8.15am coach. It is 7C & a slight wind so we are a bit cold. Thankfully there is space & since I had purchased a flexible ticket we are on the 7.15am coach. As we wait 3 busloads of Japanese schoolkids appear from the terminal & board the other buses next to us. Our trip to Canberra is cold, the outside temperature is around zero as we travel through the southern highlands around Mittagong. There is lots of water pooled on the ground & all the rivers & creeks are running strongly, there must have been a huge amount of rain recently. There is ice on the edges of the pools of still water. Lake George near Canberra has a lot of water in it & still has lots running into it, when we left it was dry.

We arrive in Canberra at 10.30am on schedule & our son James is there to pick us up, it is so good to see him after 2 months away. James takes us to his new house, they moved in while we have been away & Tereza has not seen the house yet. James picks up some pizzas on the way & we have a grand tour of his new house before lunch. Our grandson River is a little hesitant about us to start with but soon warms to us. He has grown so much since we have been away & now has no problem standing unaided, he is nearly 10 months old. We spend a few hours with James, Venetia & River before driving ourselves home, exhausted but pleased to be home after 64 days away. Our house is freezing cold. There is a pile of mail awaiting us & Tereza busies herself with opening that while I bring the bags in.

What a trip, we have visited 11 countries, Hong Kong, United Kingdom (including each of Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, England), France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Germany, Holland, Republic of Ireland, Hungary & Serbia. We have ticked some amazing sites off our bucket list including the Eiffel Tower & Stonehenge. We have sat next to each other for so many days on the coach, experienced so much together, enjoyed so many breakfasts, lunches & dinners, laughed a lot & enjoyed being together. We had such a good time catching up with family again in Hungary & Serbia. Now back to reality, we have to cook our own meals, make our own beds, but also look forward to catching up with family & friends we haven’t seen for 2 months or more.

No more blog posts until our next big trip, it is such a good diary for us to remember our travels.