DAY 23

Sunday 13th July 2008 7:30am London

It will be another clear blue summer’s day for London with a forecast of 22°C. Breakfast in the hotel restaurant was busy as there appeared to be another tour group starting out. The road is not as busy as it has been probably because it is Sunday morning.

On TV we saw the Pope arrive in Sydney and was welcomed by Prime Minister Rudd. He had a 20 hour flight but has a bed made especially for him and he looked fresh as he alighted from the plane. Our flying conditions will be cramped and restricted.

DAY 24

Monday 14th July 2008 7:56am Hong Kong

We have had a good flight from London to Hong Kong, taking just 11 hours and flying over China. Our seats are at the very back – the actual last seats -  so we have a window seat and an aisle seat, as well as more leg room and space around us. I tried to sleep but only managed about 20 minutes. I watched movies: Married Life, 21, Horton Hears a Who, and Drilbit Taylor. I will watch some more on the trip to Melbourne.

We saw wind farms in the water near Sweden, and Hong Kong city as we landed here in Hong Kong. It is a calm, mild day and was already 27°C at 6:30am. The passengers for Melbourne have queued to get off, herded into the right place then queued again through security. We are waiting to queue again to get back on to the plane, and are due to leave at 9am.

14/7/08 9:15pm Melbourne

Finally we are in our car and on our way home. The trip across Australia was clear and whilst most people on board slept I peered out my window looking down on the green waters of the Arafura Sea waiting for my first glimpse of Australia. Hours later the rippled sand dunes of the desert beside the Great Artesian Basin draw squiggly lines as the sun slipped around the globe.

We arrived right on time then queued for toilets, queued to buy our duty-free alcohol, queued to pass through customs, then jumped the queue to exit, thanks to some helpful airport officials.

In the cold night air of the Melbourne Winter we hunted for our cat in the never-ending car park, then had to present our flight details in order to pay our parking fee as I never did find that ticket that mysteriously disappeared somewhere between Melbourne, London, Italy and France.

It feels good to be home in the lucky country.