21st September 2017

WE ARRIVED….YAY

I now honestly hate flying. Though Qatar Airlines were amazing some things weren’t and not all of it was due to them.  As I posted on the 18th, Auckland Airport has a Oil Line Burst meaning an earlier flight for us so we could stop over in Melbourne.

Great take off, good flight…The plane was like a ruddy sauna, talk about dehydration and a 19 hour headache. It was horrible, the entertainment, steward/ess were great, food ok.  Next time I fly will be in short bursts.  I feel sorry for my daughters.

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A skyline image of the city of Doha in the day time. Cleare blue sky with skyscrapers of various shapes and sizes in the centre of the image…Grass at the front.

Once we finally hit Doha we worked out it was a large airport. There was no tunnel to get off, it was walk down the steps and get on a bus to the terminal.  Outside the airplane for even 1 minute at 11.15 pm and 32 c   OMG Slammed with ‘superheat’ as Claudia called it and ‘soupy’ as Belle said.  It was horrible.  Anyway, the airport was huge and pretty cool, not that we stopped to look or take photos, the girls weren’t feeling to great and nor was I.  This place had a train..wow

The second part of the flight to Manchester was much better. Newer plane, seats still uncomfortable, meals good. One steward apparently thought I was Belles sister…LOL. Belle corrected him.  Great kids movies to watch (typical me) sleep, and we all swapped seats for landing.  I have never seen such excitement on Belles face as she saw the lights for Manchester, especially considering she is scared of heights. It was delightful to see.  Then it was ENGLAND...we had arrived. Next we had to tackle getting out, which once again was a positive experience.  We werent’ sure about a couple of things re- delcaring so checked them out on a phone (I was surprised that there were no declaration forms to fill in anymore on the plane) to find all was fine and we walked out to find Mr Anders (our driver) who was wonderful.

So much has changed, even though so little has…A weird experience jounrying though countryside and towns, old and new houses…noticing some differences. Mr Anders was great.  The fresh air was most welcome, well until they the girls smelt the cow manure and rapidly shut their car windows making me laugh.

“Not as bad as sulphur,” I said.

I’m not sure they were amused.

Arrived at my parents….Looks like they lost control of their garden a bit…even though they do have a gardener every other week. It is weird being back in my childhood home.

Photos to be added once I remember to download them. Meanwhile here is an image of Little Morton Hall – a majestic black and white tudor building in Cheshire which I hope to show to my children on day.

18th September 2017

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Most people are scurrying to and fro when they are in the last 24 hrs before they fly anywhere, making sure they have packed everything, got their visas and passports, and transport to the airport.  With my family something always goes …sideways. It has been one frantic day with sorting last minute details, working with clients, packing, having coffee and saying goodbyes … well for now.

Awake at 7.15 am this morning, having a cuppa char (tea) and my hsuband tells me that there are flight delays at Auckland Airport due to a burst oil line. Would it delay our flight at 14.55 tomorrow. We didn’t know at that stage.  Being me I started working with clients, and mobi files decided to be frustrating (oh I’d better tell you I’m an author and publisher) I will more than likely be in the mid-air when the email comes through to say if things have worked or now.  By 10 am, my friend arrives, gives me a beautiful gift of a necklace and earrings (thanks Joanne x) and we go out for coffee at McCafe.  Once we sat down for a gossip i noticed a newspaper and grabbed one.  Yep delays, cancellations etc at Auckland Airport.  I decided to drop into ‘Flight Centre’ to see my travel agent (Jade) who had been fantastic.  Before this materialised Jade rang me letting me know there could be issues, though still to go up to Auckland etc and she was still waiting on further news.

Saying my goodbyes to Joanne (loves you) we returned home and the research began along with messages to answer online from clients and family.  I looked up the flight on the Auckland Airport website and it wasn’t there…anywhere. Panic stations, I left a message with Jade, and went to look at the Qatar Airways, finally finding our flight and OMG.  Due to the fuel issue the flight had been moved forward to 12.55pm…Two hours earlier.  I quickly emailed Jade with a print screen shot.  A new panic in motion, we needed a hire car tonight rather than in the morning due to an earlier start.

Jade rang back and issued new tickets which we printed off later in the afternoon, meanwhile my darling husband went and reorganised a car. A bloody holden…(another story there). Qatar Airways also rang us to confirm the change.  I totally love this trip already, never had so much information passed on and so gratefully accepted. I nearly forgot to say we have a short stop in Melbourne to refuel due to the burst pipeline at Auckland Airport which could take up to 10 days to repair.

Thank you to Karen and her sons for taking a mandarine tree off our hands and some jackets and to Nicola for dropping in.  Going to miss you all. Be good and stay safe.

Now we are set. New tickets, a holden, bags packed, a few more goodbyes and an early morning tomorrow, so early we won’t get to say goodbye to my son. All that will happen this evening.  

On a small note…Hubby and son are joining us later in the year so we can all have a family christmas for the first time ever.  My parents haven’t seen my children (young adults) for 14 years. Here’s hoping it will be a blast.