What a crazy few weeks!
I enjoyed pretty much every minute of it. Except falling off my bike twice in one day perhaps (first in a nettle bush by the side of a busy road when the gear cable snapped, second on a patch of grass in the cul de sac where I grew up whilst testing out the newly fixed gear cable. The latter hurt more, and was far more embarrassing because it was in front of my dad who looked at me like I was an idiot. It’s a good job my bridesmaid dress was floor-length. I had scrapes and bruises a 12-year old would be proud of).
I also broke my camera. And my kite. I actually broke the camera in the process of breaking the kite. There is a lesson there: sandy beaches, cameras and stunt kites (of the lean-back-and-take-the-weight variety) aren’t a good combination when the wind drops. The result is that you’ll end up flat on your back on the sand, your brother will laugh at you, and you’ll get sand in the lens mechanism which won’t come out even after your friend Dan takes it apart and puts it back together for you (minus the obligatory unexplained piece of plastic that doesn’t seem to do anything and you can’t remember where it came from).
To everyone I left in Melbourne, gloating that I was headed to the summer side of the world; I definitely spoke too soon. It was warm and humid when I arrived, which was lovely, but I think that a Placebo song covers it nicely for me:
‘English summer rain, always seems the same, nothing ever changes. English summer rain always lasts for ages.’
Yes, that definitely covers it. I mind it less here though for some reason. Probably years of getting used to it…
My flight to the UK was long but eventless. I even got 3 seats to myself on the 13-hour leg. Two seats free on the whole plane and they were next to me… bliss! I ignored the hate stares coming from other, less spatially advantaged passengers and caught up on lots of movie viewing, almost strangled some idiot in the bagel place in Heathrow terminal 5 who couldn’t work the till, tried to order coffee in HK airport without actually having any HK dollars (they wouldn’t accept anything else and I was being pretty blonde), and didn’t sleep for 39 hours (in total – I was travelling for 30). The jet lag lasted days. 3pm was a killer. But it was amazing to be home and see everyone.
It’s a pretty rare treat to have the whole family in the same place at the same time these days so the bank holiday weekend was crazy but fun when we all descended on the parent’s house. I spent 3 days being used as a climbing frame. In the last 6 months my 3-year old nephew has become boisterous and incredibly articulate. I spent the weekend discovering the delights of pre-drooled chocolate (yum); that he has very sharp elbows and knees (ouch); that girls are not allowed to play football (soccer) under any circumstances; giving a small child a bedtime (i.e. calm-down) bath is definitely NOT my forte; the only reason Grandma can’t beat T (my nephew) in a race is because she’s old (apparently); children think nothing of going into the North Sea fully clothed in September (until they go in head first); that not all plastic food tubs are microwave safe (woops); that turning children upside down might seem clever at first, but they like it too much and it just gets exhausting (and has drool-in-the-face based dangers); and that I am, apparently ‘a funny one, aren’t I, Aunty Phillippa?’ Hmmm. He is, quite simply, enchanting. And hilarious. Mustn’t forget hilarious.
I have caught up with lots of friends over the few weeks, eaten a lot of meals out and drunk a little (not as much as you’d think!). I spent a fabulous (if rainy) day in Glasgow with Donna. Drinking cocktails in the beer garden in the pouring rain at 4pm on what should be a work-day is far more fun because you’re probably not supposed to be doing that as a ‘grown-up’ I think. I was visited by Dan for the weekend, which was fantastic. Though he did spend an inordinate amount of time trying to fix my camera… sorry about that mate!
And of course, the reason for my trip home… Sanna and John’s wedding. And they couldn’t have had a better day for it. The day before, the rain stopped and the sun came out. Who’d have thought that we’d be able to have drinks on the lawn if they’d been there the week before? The day went (almost (and nothing to do with us)) without a hitch. I even managed to not fall over or down the stairs on the entrance to the room where the ceremony took place. Note to self: must check on the surface you have to walk on before getting your dress fitted with 4 inch stiletto heels on – steep stairs and thick carpet aren’t good for that! Linden Hall and the gardens are beautiful. As was the bride. The speeches were entertaining, and the dancing was crazy. There were some sore feet (and heads) the next morning.
The journey home was long. 42 hours door to door. Ouch! Second only in time to the epic 72 hour bus journey across Canada. I only found out when I got to Heathrow that my 2nd flight had been changed and was now an hour and a half longer, and only found out the reason for that when I got on the plane. They'd added a stopover in Jakarta. Considering we were setting off from Kuala Lumpur that didn't really make all that much sense to me but what can you do?! By the time we'd gone over timezones, back again and then again, we were all so confused we didn't have a clue what was going on!
Catching up with so many people came with one major disadvantage: it made me even sadder about all the people that I couldn’t catch up with. I would have loved to have made it down to Oxford, or London, or to Manchester (and Liverpool, Gillian!) but time and money were not on my side. I must say a huge thank you to everyone for their phonecalls, and effort made to catch up in person; to Donna for taking a day off work (what a hardship ;) ); to Dan for hiring a car and driving all the way to Northumberland; to the wedding crew for a great couple of days; my family for, well, being there (and being fun); and to everyone who made the trip as fab as it was. ‘Til next time. Big love.
