Tuesday, 23rd December

As I did not actually have Monday 22nd December , I will leave it out- let it suffice to say that we changed planes in Los Angeles with only a few minutes to spare , as a result of our delay getting out of Chicago. Sadly, I was reduced to 'cattle class' on this leg of the journey, but it wasn't too bad as I had the nice Greek/Canadian gentleman who had been in my row on the previous leg ,and a young Iranian/American girl seated next to me. They were coming for a short holiday. I slept a lot and caught glimpses of 'Mama Mia ' for the fourth time and woke up in time for breakfast and daylight as we came over the Australian continent.
Imagine my excitement as we flew over Botany Bay and into Sydney , which looked magnificent, despite a little bit of cloud. We landed just afte 8a.m.
Had no trouble with collecting luggage (although US customs , in their wisdom, had targetted my suitcase for inspection and broken the number locks , which renders them unusable- beware of this- I kept my suitcase unlocked on the way there as I had been warned, however I did not expect them to do this on the way out !) and Customs etc and was out of the airport and home before 9.30a.m. It all felt very strange after so long away, but I donned my warm weather clothes and headed off into the city to meet my friend and travel agent , Rose, for lunch and a glass of champagne (Aussie of course - they don't sell bubbly by the glass in the UK )
A fitting end to an incredible journey .
Thanks again to all those who helped to make my time away , especially in regard to my research project, such a success. It was lovely seeing all my friends again, too , but I won't be coming in winter again, as I am soooo over snow and luggage.
Now it is down to writing the report , but waiting till after the Christmas festivities and a break in Newcastle with my sister and her family before tackling anything too hard.
Back to work on January 5th , which is where I am now and have settled back into the routine of Glebe Library, and Glebe Village life, very happily. (However, my winter clothes are still in my suitcase , the clean ones i.e. -can't bear to look at them)
So this is the end of my blog for now ... hope to write all my thank you letters this weekend and then start writing my report.
Cheers everyone.