Home again
So we arrived back home today. Somewhat delayed, we were supposed to get back yesterday but there was something of a cock up in the flight booking. It transpired that we did not in fact have a flight from Heathrow to Schipol but a flight from Schipol to Heathrow. British Airways couldn’t (or wouldn’t) help us change the ticket into something we could use so we we wen to the KLM desk to get a ticket a comedy of other things went wrong leaving us with no other option but to stay a night a Heathrow and fly out to Amsterdam this morning. We stayed at the Hilton… which was nice. A fantastic night’s sleep, we slept 11 hours straight.
On returning home I found that the house felt really unfamiliar. It has been over a month since I was here last so I’ve been taking a while to get reacquainted. Strange feeling.
The trip was fantastic and although I have enjoyed it thoroughly I’m really glad to be home now and not living out of a suitcase and using single serving soaps in a bathroom that (however nice) is not quite right. There are a lot of impressions to take in many of which have been shared on this blog.
Back to work tomorrow. I’m quite looking forward to it, if only I can remember what it is that I do…
Last night we ate out in a restaurant that boasted 5 different styles of cuisine and 5 different chefs. You could choose any combination of dish from any of the different menus. The food was very special but the restaurant itself was the ground floor of a shopping centre. 
So the final leg of the trip starts. We have arrived in KL and are staying in a very swanky hotel called the Grand Millenium. I’m sitting in the lobby as I type this admiring their 10 metre high chandelier and gold fountain. It is like bling was invented here. Although I don’t reckon much to their wine.
So we are back in Sydney for a couple of nights. We are staying at the Radisson Plaza, a very nice hotel indeed. 
Yesterday we walked to Bondi beach. It didn’t look very far on the map. Funny that. However, it took a good hour and 3/4 to get there. It was in fact a nice walk, in beautiful weather; it just longer than I was expecting. 
We slept in a bit this morning. However, we managed to make breakfast. I had the slightly surreal experience of having an Irish breakfast in a Turkish cafe at 1pm.
Today (Friday 18th) we wandered from our hotel down to the Circular Quay. We had a poke around the Opera House. The place is amazing. What is weird is that the building is not as white as it appears in pictures. The way that light reflects off the surface is quite magical and unpredictable. It was quite wonderful. 
Yesterday we went on a tour down the Great Ocean Road. Travelling in a small six seater coach we went from Melbourne to Torquay and then along the coast road until we got to Port Campbell. Sadly we didn’t get as far round as Peterborough. It would have been cool to visit the place named after my hometown.