A Farnham style exit!

After months of planning and talking about my trip it finally came time to say goodbye and what better way to do it than with 9 parties and family gatherings! Johnny got wind of this and is subsequently booking another tour: I'm Not Dead Yet - 2011! An honourable mention goes to Rebecca Swain for attending the majority of those parties.

Spotted at 14:45 17/08/10 at the Brisbane International Airport: an emotional mother and father saying goodbye to their youngest (and most favourite) son for 6 months. A tough moment for me...but then I saw the Duty Free shopping downstairs and the slightly unethical use of the QANTAS club's wifi!

The flight to Singapore was interesting...especially because for the last 6 months I thought I was going to Kuala Lumpur. Bronwyn, my 50-something yr old Kiwi (come Aussie) neighbour, was good for a chat, a Singaporean Sling chased by a couple of beers and regular toilet trips (which meant I could easily get out and walk around while she was busy).

The change over at Singapore was greatly aided by the piano lounge in the middle of Terminal 3 with the pianist taking all kinds of requests!

Boarding the A380 to London took a lifetime! A very full flight meant a long time to get on and seated...especially because I was up the very front, hence, the last to board.

By now I had so much sugar in my system from munching on Minties and downing Hot Chocolate, I had the shakes! And it certainly didn't help my stomach when we hit a few patches of turbulance along the way.

After 13.5 hours, and a great chat with the guy next to me who ships motorbikes from Australia so that tourists can do roadtips on their own bikes, I landed in the rat maze that is Heathrow Airport. There was certainly chemistry between the immigration officer and me: she was big, black, had more attitude than Aretha and was possibly having the worst day of her life; exactly how they are on UK Border Patrol.

I emerged from Customs sooner than expected (no full body pat down like Brisbane this time) and started scanning the crowd for a familiar face, which I found glued to the camera "recording it for your mother." 2 hours later and I was at home in Rugby feeling like I just woke up from a big night in the Valley...