Not quite sure when night is over and morning starts here as the flight goes on for what seems like ever and arrival in London is set for 6 a.m. after a 13 hour flight and leaving Bangkok at midnight - I just don't know what the time of day is and my body clock certainly doesn't!
However, we got some sleep, we got some food and we got some entertainment and the flight arrives on time so here we go with the last stage of the journey - getting home! We get through arrivals and baggage pretty quick, despite being second to last off the plane, the only one after us was in a wheelchair, and as we go through the Duty Free area, we spot the flavoured Baileys that we had tried in Sydney Airport and hadn't seen anywhere else, so we treat ourselves and more importantly, my other daughter/Becky's sister. It is also a bonus to find that we have arrived at Terminal 3 which is great news because we thought we would arrive back to Terminal 5, where we left from four weeks ago, and would then have to find our way from there to Terminal 1 or 3 to get to the Central Bus Station to catch the National Express Bus home. It's lucky as I'm out of English Currency, only Becky has proper money, so when we've walked three miles through the underground tunnels leading from one terminal to another and finally get to the Central Bus Station, and it hasn't cost us a bus or taxi fare, she can at least buy the coffees.
It's pretty chilly, only 2 degrees apparently according to the pilot when we landed, but we have added layers during the course of the journey from Bangkok and the coats come out of the bags now and we're set to go, except that we have two hours to sit in the draughty waiting room. Finally the bus appears on the screens showing that at least it will be turning up to take us home - thank goodness! The bus was due to depart at 8.50 a.m. and by the time we've got all the bags in the hold and everyone onto the bus, it's a little late leaving but we're on the last part of the long journey that we've been on for the last four weeks, so we don't mind.
After a driver change, we get a stop at Gordano Services to get something to eat before setting off again for Plymouth and it is now that the rain starts, which gets more persistent the further west we go - it's nice to be home! We arrive at Plymouth slightly later than expected and most people leave the coach here, and quite a few get on for the remainder of the journey down through Cornwall. The new driver gets on the bus and checks through the list of stops, asking if there are requests for Liskeard, then Bodmin, then on through the rest of Cornwall at which point I'm thinking that the first stop will be Saltash and he didn't mention that so try to bring his attention to the fact that there are two for Saltash. At the end of his list, he asks if there are any other stops and I try again to tell him that there are two for Saltash whereby he checks his list again and with a blank look and a slight shake of the head, says "aahhh, yes, two for Saltash" as he returns to the top of his list and ticks us off. Fills you with confidence doesn't it?
At this point, I text my husband to let him know we're just leaving Plymouth in the hope that he will meet us from the bus in Saltash and as we approach that bridge, the rain gets harder - what a welcome home, funny how that always seems to happen! The bus stops to let us off and the driver gets our luggage out from the hold and John is there to help put the bags in the car and get us back under our roof and back home. Oh it's nice to be home and the dog is pleased to see us and even the cats are a little curious and John is probably really pleased to see us but does that thing where he tells us all about what he's been up to. It's funny how people do that - ask how your holiday was and then change the subject or tell you about their trip somewhere or someone they know who went somewhere. I'm very conscious that most people don't really want to know all the details, there's nothing more boring than someone else's holiday (well there probably is but not much)! I'm trying very hard not to bore people with all the details, but if you're reading this, then it's too late, sorry!
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