Sure enough, the children found 8 hours of flying a piece of cake. They got increasingly excited the closer we got. All in all, it was a very good journey home, the hardest bit being the 5 hours in Sydney. (How easily I have forgotten my childrens faces, stricken with fatigue, Meg hanging over a sick bag which she had identified early on and laid out - presumabley in case she did turn out to be allergic to the anti-histamine.)
It was lovely to be met by both sets of grandparents. It was a little traumatic to also be met by the the same number of people as the population of the entire south Island, at the 10 mins pick up point. The peace and quiet of the south was quite special.
After lunch at Mum and Dad's we set off North with the children looking forward to savouring every part of the journey. The only CD we could find in my fathers car was Mozart. After listening to Pink swearing at me in the Subaru since Christmas, this was light relief. Finn thought it was awful and both children were sound asleep within half an hour. Then I was able to enjoy the journey on my own. It was very green and lush on Loch Lomondside, but after Tyndrum, the burnt orange grass reminded me it was October. That was when I started to feel excited. We have the whole of October ahead of us and along with the spring, that is my favourite time. Past Bridge of Orchy and over Rannoch Moor was awe-inspiring and Glencoe was dark and brooding as the clouds closed in a little. I was always excited by this journey, so nothing really changed there, but good to know that the beauty of New Zealand's South Island and Central Otago, hasn't diminished the beauty here. Our Kiwi cousins would be impressed.
The homecoming at Frazer and Aileens house, who are sheltering us until our house is free tomorrow, was more than the children could have hoped for. Grieg and Kier waiting at the top of the road and jumping the hieght of themselves when they saw Finn, Connor appearing 5mins later when he got the call that 'he' had arrived, and Angus 5 mins after that. Then the girls appeared, with Ailsa bringing Alice and Holly +gifts for Meg, followed by Morven bringing Amy. Aileen ran around and made coffee, pizza' and dinner for all and sundry. When I took the girls home, I had to drop Meg off at Maisies and when I returned to pick her up, it was like she had never left. It is truly very good to be home. I have loved my year in NZ and the people there who have helped to make it a success and am truly grateful to them for that. But yes, it actually is good to be back.............phew! And gratitude to those here, who spontaneoulsy made me feel that way. Wonder what it will be like to be back in our house. I have been thinking of running around naked, screaming, but not sure. (I may have been watching too much American TV, but please don't think that means any Americans I know run around naked, or screaming - just the ones having their house madeover - and even then, not usually naked. I just wondered if by having a clean house, I might feel the same as if it had been made over.)
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