Extra Extra !

OK - so it may not be the Sunday Times - but we've made front page news in the local rag! We were interviewed on Monday and the photographer came around and took some pictures (although Maxine is not a happy bunny with the one they chose to use(!)) So in our locality we have our 15 minutes of fame at least. The girls in the barber shop today were very impressed !! I expect Hollywood will be knocking on the door any day soon for me to star in "Die Hard 15 - The Kangaroo Fights Back". I'm sure the fame won't change us.

Anyway, with our feet back on the ground, the baggage has all now turned up (minus any bits of exploded oxygen cylinder) and intact. Qantas have been very apologetic and the compensation will include repayment of the fare plus a return ticket to the UK for the whole family. Not bad at all but we'd rather it hadn't happened in the first place !

Back home at last

Here's a picture I took from the airport terminal in Manila when people were first discovering the extent of the damage to the plane. A few others are here. We're now back home in Melbourne after 45 hours of travel and its come not a minute too soon. It feels great to be home. When we arrived at Melbourne there were crowds of reporters, TV cameras and photographers on hand. We've even been asked to do a live link up with New York for Americas NBC network but they want to do it at 9:00pm our time - so we've declined!

Its obviously front page news in The Age in Melbourne and they seem to be saying the age of the plane and some previous corrosion could be at fault - we discovered the plane was 17 years old. Not sure how long they are in service but that seems fairly old. There are also reports of an oxygen cylinder may of exploded. Regardless, it seems Osama was not to blame, which is somehow comforting.

Its slowly sinking in how fortunate we have been - its easy to be flippant now its all over but it could of been a lot, lot worse. My flight to Hobart next week is not appealing at all. The kids are OK which is the main thing, Ethan was holding his ears on the flight to Melbourne and saying he was scared it would happen again - but hopefully its not scared him of flying for good.

A relatively happy end to two very long and very stressful days.

Drama at 29,000ft

I'm sure most reading this by now will be aware of our not too pleasant drama today on Qantas Flight 30 from Hong Kong to Melbourne. We were about an hour into the flight leaving Hong Kong when there was a loud bang followed by repid de-compression in the cabin. The oxygen masks dropped and the drama started. It has been a completely surreal day and now that the adrenaline has subsided, quite a shocking one. We dropped 20,000ft in a couple of minutes and for a while we thought our number may be up - all the while thinking how could this happen to us! The kids were very good apart from Aidan refused to wear his mask. We could breathe normally after about 5 mins. The plane started dumping fuel over the South China Sea and we knew we were going to land (on something) soon. After about 30 mins we touched down safely in Manila with the fire trucks surrounding us on the runway.

The most shocking part for most people was realising when we landed that a huge gaping hole was in the fuselage beside the right wing. The thoughts of 'what may of happened' had many people throwing up and getting upset.

We've now spent the best part of the day in Manila and we've been called back to the airport from a hotel they put us up in. So far we've been on the go for about 30 hours - with about another 10 to go. We leave Manila in about 1 hour.

Will post the pictures of the cabin & plane when we get home.

Thats one of the cats 9 lives gone for sure for us.

Matfen Hall & Alnwick Gardens

This week we've done a couple of short trips in Nth'land as the weather has finally been decent while we've been here! First we had a night away at our wedding venue (7 years on) at Matfen Hall. Its had a spa added since we got married there and we thought we'd try that out. It was all very nice and the evening meal there was fantastic too.

Today we headed off to Alnwick Gardens as it's one of the new attractions to the North East and we'd not been up since it's opened. The kids had a whale of a time splashing in the water gardens, including Ethan getting properly soaked. They loved it and as the sun was shining it was a good day out. See some pictures of both here.

We're leaving for Melbourne and the Aussie winter tomorrow. Its always a balance when you leave - hard to leave but enjoyable to arrive back home.

Toronto this week

This week I've been across in sunny & very humid Toronto. It's the third time I've been there but the first for more than a couple of days so finally got my bearings there a bit.... And as I know a Canadian (with a British accent when he feels like it!), I thought I'd look him up in case he felt rejected from his Brit come Aussie friend..... So here is a picture of me & Jason close to Toronto's famous (in Maple leaf land anyway) CN Tower. Jason was very generous with his beer purchasing to repay me from plucking him from obscurity when we both worked at Nestle (well he turned up occasionally anyway!). Many years ago, recognising talent when I see it, I promptly offered the best and most highly qualified man a job in the IT department. Unfortunately he rejected the job and I had to employ Jason instead. Anyways, he finally made enough trouble in the UK and had to leave before his British passport was revoked. He now resides in Ontario where criminal records are nothing to be worried about ;-)

In case you're wondering, yes he will be reading this at some point.

Good to see you again Jase (and even better to see you Anna !)

Ethan Turns Five

Our little man reached a milestone yesterday as he turned five. As usual, the cast of presents is forcing us to purchase a new suitcase to take it all home. Lego has been the big theme this year with Indiana Jones & Star Wars Lego topping the bill. Several hours of building for Daddy and Grandad ensued......

Algarve Sun

Well, I can confirm that Portugal is NOT suffering the same fate as the UK with the rainy summer.... not that that really helps anyone. We spent the last 4 days basking in the 30 degrees doing absolutely nothing..... total bliss. Kids safely packed off trudging in the puddles back in Blighty while we relax. We didn't venture very far from the hotel (only to stuff our faces with yet more food) so there was a minimum of 'rushing around'. Guilty as charged your honour .........but we did miss the boys and it was great to get back to them (honest!). Here are a few snaps (not much to take without the boys there !!).

From Edinburgh to Windsor

Just to make sure we properly increase our carbon footprint this year, we've driven the length & breadth of Britain seeing people & doing stuff. The climate change people seemingly have not much to worry about in the UK we discovered at the same time. We were just about chipping ice of the windscreen in Edinburgh when we visted the castle !! The rain so far is reminding us of the complete opposite in Aus where people are having to resort to rain dances as the drought persists through the winter. Anyway, so far we've travelled from Edinburgh to Blyth, to Leicestershire to Birmingham to Windsor (Legoland!) and then back again. Maxine & I have just also managed to fit 4 days in the Algarve to find some sun.....grandma & grandad to the rescue again! See some miscellaneous pictures here....