Going to be a pretty short one today! The rest of the flight from Dubai was great. Breakfast was a cheese omelette with chicken sausage and potatoes and some fruit and yoghurt, which was served about two hours before we landed. Landed pretty much right on time, just before 0630. Unfortunately, it took quite a quite to get out of the airport! There was quite a queue for the passport gates (which aren’t particularly well organised in the first place) and then once I’d gotten through that and collected my bag there was a massive queue for customs. 

It’s been a while since I’ve flown into Brisbane – the last time I came back to Australia via Melbourne, but it was definitely the busiest I’d ever seen. Just when you thought you’d reached the end of the queue you realised that it looped back around and you ended up back on the other side of the baggage hall. One of the airport employees directing traffic said something about there being a 10 day holiday or something in China, so between that and a couple of planes arriving at once and there you go. The queue was moving fairly regularly, which was good, it just took almost an hour and a half or so to get through. Luckily I didn’t get picked for extra screening, so once I made it to the front of the queue I was able to head out and catch the Airtrain and bus back home. It was actually kind of odd to be sitting on the train and hearing only English spoken around me – for the last month it’s either been a mix, or no English at all! 

Made it home just fine, and then had to go out again to do some grocery shopping (much easier without a big backpack!). It also gave the hot water heater time to work, as I’d turned it off while I was away and by this point I was in desperate need for a shower! 

And that pretty much finishes off the trip. Had an absolutely amazing time, caught up with some wonderful friends and crossed a couple more things off the bucket list. Highlight (other than catching up with friends) would have to be Skara Brae I think – amazing to think that you can still see and explore something that was built by people over 5,000 years ago… And Ypres is definitely a close second. Would love to get back there and explore more of the surrounding areas one day.

And now I can start saving up for, and planning the next one! No idea where that will be to, but I’m sure I’ll figure something out! Thanks for sticking around for this long, and I hope you enjoyed reading my ramblings.