February 28, 2019

Thursday 28th February 

On the National Express coach from Gatwick to Bristol. 

It really is done now. We had two straightforward flights with Emirates. 7 hours from Ho Chi Minh to Dubai, a 2 hour wait then an 8 hour from Dubai on an A380 which had lots of spare seats. Makes life much more pleasant. Really impressed us with the planes, food and smiles. First thing I had to do at Gatwick was find my jeans. They have nestled in the bottom of my rucksack for two months without a second glance. We are delighted that the weather has chosen to improve here at home to help us recover. 

So…we have had a most amazing holiday. 14 flights, 7 countries and lots of hotels and many different beds. Surprisingly not a bad one amongst them. We really have loved it all and it managed to surpass our highest expectations. The weather has been on our side the whole time with only about three days rain out of 56.  And only one of them days stopped play. We have done lots of things that we planned and many things we didn’t plan (like jumping off a platform high above Queenstown…!). We have certainly learned lots about the countries and the people. Don’t think we managed to get as ‘down and dirty’ as we planned but instead fell into some higher end accommodation rather than backpack hostels but we did alright. Amazingly we did not need the mosquito nets we bought. In fact hardly met any of the critters at all. Have more of them at home..! Sand flies were a pain in the ass (and the ankles, arms and neck!) in some NZ areas but very rare. Surprisingly too was the lack of unusual animals in our travels. Some Quokkas in Australia, Kiwi’s in New Zealand and Macaques on monkey beach in Fiji. We have seen several different types of gecko, slinky and chameleons. The most common bird across all those countries was the little house sparrow..! Exactly the same as the ones at home. … aaaaw. 

And, of course, we got to spend some quality time with the Kelly’s in Oz. 

We confirmed that we really do have motorhome mentality (and we do, in fact, like each other) makes us more determined than ever to indulge ….(as soon as our bank manager re-opens his purse!).

Think Trina enjoyed herself and was often found digging into a plate of Vietnamese fare with her chopsticks surprisingly. 

There will be one more blog after this one outlining some of the finance and IT on our trip, so you have not got rid of me just yet…. 

Did you know…Michelle has six toes on each foot…. ? 

She may tell you the story one day but it was pretty hilarious….