The time warp

We left Canberra at 3.15pm on Wed 29th June, and by a quirk of probability, we arrived at the hotel in Windsor 24 hours later almost to the minute - local time at least.





With the 9 hour time difference factored in, that means a solid 33 hours of travel spent on three different planes, two buses and two trains; with several stopovers in airports and bus ports; plus some walking thrown in to break up the monotony.

Given all that, it wasn't that bad an experience. The kids are too big to sleep lying down en masse and too small to sleep in a seated position, but nonetheless they got the job done. Justine has, I think, had 1-2 hours sleep in that time, and so was the first asleep tonight. I got a decent amount on the plane, or at least enough for me to remain as functional as ever. The most important thing is that I think we are all likely to be on the right timezone.

Tomorrow it is Legoland. I just hope it lives up to Aidan's expectations, as he has been looking forward to this in much the same way as I was hanging out for a beer this afternoon and the way Justine will be for a decent cuppa tomorrow night - which is to say that he / we would happily step over our own mother's the get the object of our desire. No pressure Lego dudes, but you had better deliver!

Location:Windsor, UK

Transit

From the outside Abu Dhabi airport manages to look quite different to other airports, with a decidedly Arabian feel. From the inside though, it really does look like every other airport. Seems much smaller and drabber than Dubai though, which wasn't what I was expecting.



We survived the first and longest leg - though clearly not without some deterioration, as Aidan just towelled me up a chess with a move that he not only planned and executed, but knows the name of. Beware the 'electric fence' if an 8 year old threatens you with it during chess...

Transit time is up (yay!). Time to pile back on a plane for another 8 hours (hit ctrl-F7 and see whether there is an antonym for 'yay').

Location:Abu Dhabi airport

All the big questions

We're just sitting down to the gastronomic challenge of selecting from the many and varied cuisines on offer in the Sydney International Terminal. A quick scan shows only a very limited selection of chocolate croissants, and those of extremely dubious character.

On the way down Lauren was full of all the big questions: from the prosaic "is that our plane?"; to the profound ”why is the ocean there?”; to the frankly surprising "are you any good at wrestling?", she had all the bases covered.

At least when she stood up to get off the plane and suddenly asked "where did all those people come from?", at least I could confidently answer "Canberra!".

Location:Sydney airport

Not long now

Well, not long now. Thing 2 is asleep, Thing 1 is still kicking around knowing that the later he goes to sleep, the later he will wake up in the morning, and therefore the later he goes to school. And for once that we are happy to play his little game. The flight out of Sydney leaves at 10pm tomorrow night, and ideally they will sleep for a fair chunk of the 14 hours to Abu Dhabi. Either way, the more sleep they have tonight the better!

We've pretty much confirmed for the 814th time that we have all the documentation and paperwork, so obviously we'll have forgotten something stunningly critical.

However, when we discover what that is, we will be in Europe (so long as it isn't really, really obvious that we needed it in transit I guess), and that will make it a lot easier to deal with.

Bring forth the Chocolate Croissants.

NOW!

Location:Canberra

More details

If you really want to see a bit more about where we are staying, then the links below will take you to the websites of the France and Ireland houses we have rented (with lots of pictures, and maps to see exactly where they are). [Depending on how your browser is set up, you might want to right click and select 'open in a new tab / window'].

France: http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/p429363

Ireland: http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/Ireland/holiday-cottage-County-Kerry/p6904.htm