October 22nd

Well here we are folks, safe and sound in OZ and it is raining!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  What a journey to get here, one forgets one is not 21 anymore and therefore, as much as we would like to believe is robust, one is not.  We left Abqaiq around 11 p.m .on Wednesday night for Bahrain and then our flight to Dubai.  After Dubain it was the long haul to Perth due in at 1:00 a.m. the next morning whichever day that is.  All I know is that I had one breakfast and two dinners but no lunch, The flight left early and we arrived in Perth early with the only pitfall being there were no landing cards available.  We found the cards at the start of the queue for immigration which was very short.  Alas by the time we found pens, did out best to read the very small print on the cards through eyes that would not focus, made sure we ticked all the boxes of things we were bringing in even if we did not have them to avoid being deported or fined, the queue at more than quadrupled in size.  One hour later after being very well behaved (although I think if I had started crying we would have been quicker as folks with kids who were creating were removed from the queue and taken to the front!!), we met the very nice immigration officer who wanted to know if I had a gun on me or a knife.  Yes, a very blank expression from me, I had ticked the box for prescription medication but that box also included knives and guns.  Next stop baggage reclaim, great the bags had traveled on the same flight as us, another officer checked our declaration landing card thingys and waved us through the green channel.  We were officially back in OZ :)  We were told on the plane it was 10 degrees, now we had not planned for that but still, in lightweight clothing, no need to stop for anything, straight outside to find a bench and replenish our dramatically decreased nicotine levels.  Now what to do was our next question. It was now 2:00 a.m. and Britz did not open till 7:30 a.m.  It was all a bit like Christmas Eve and no room at the inn, all reasonably prized rooms were fully booked and there was no way we were paying around 300 pounds sterling for a bed for 5 hours.  We stayed in the airport, sleeping like vargants on park benches until 7:30 a.m. when we got a taxi and went to Britz.

Lo and behold, our vehicle was ready complete with a proper toaster (for my crumpets).  We unpacked the luggage and arranged the vehicle as best we could, left the spare suitcase and overnight bag in storage at Britz, gave back items we did not want or knew we would not use to save space for more important things.  One of the items returned was the proper pop up toaster, we discovered we needed to be connected to a power supply, in other words be in a civilized campsite with other humans and hopefully that will not be happening this trip.  There was a very surprised look on their faces when they saw the luxury items returned.  Now to get the sim card for the mobile phone and the mobile USB modems for the laptops then off to Lyn's for a couple of night.

What a welcome from Lyn, it is so strange meeting up with friends in their home environments instead of surreal Abqaiq.  Rest assured, for those who know Lyn she is just the same <g>.  Lyn had obviously seen my comment on FB about crumpets and presented me with a couple of packets and the jam for breakfast the next day, now that is what I call the perfect hostess.  Here is the first pic of the blog - CRUMPETS!!

As you can see this pic was taken this morning after
Alan and I had eaten 4 crumpets

Today has been shopping day, return the modem to Telstra in the shopping mall number one priority.  Thank you Carla for all you help, I told you I would put you in the blog <g>.  Seriously can't fault the service, no quibble once the modem had been tested and found to have a faulty sim.  Alas the activation took ages but that gave us a chance to get the rest of the supplies purchased. When Carla knew what we were after she mentioned we should see Russell at the camping equipment shop and tell him she had sent us.  Yep, we could do that, anything for a bargain :).  We even knew exactly where the shop was as we had seen it yesterday and comment to each other about the roundabout which was close by.  Today Carla said go to the 'nasty roundabout' and turn left.  We had to laugh because that is exactly what we called it yesterday. So here we are the second picture has to be of the Nasty Roundabout.

The Nasty Roundabout!!!!

After the camping supplies, including two new Aussie hats, it was back to the mall were Telstra are to do the food shopping, now that was stressful, oh how I hate supermarkets.  Bless Alan who is an even worse shopper than me for not complaining, I think I would have blown a fuse if he had <g>.  Done and dusted with the exception of Marmite.  Now Mich, this bit is for you :)  we found Bovril and Promite but no Marmite so you can sleep easy that I will not haunt you in your sleep as I packed our jar for Saudi (it was the food item we declared on entry into OZ).  The sim card for the USB modem was now registered and ready for our collection so back to see Carla and finalize that so I can now start the blog.

Checking to see if the USB modem was working (it didn't
want to know the Mac but was working so Alan completed
the final setup when we got back to Lyn's).
Carla is there in the background proudly showing
the working product <g>

Once back at Lyn's house it was time to unpack yet again and repack the vehicle - not bad at all, we are far more organized this time than last year. All the food is tucked away safe and sound in the cupboards, the Coke, Red Bull and VB (yes Mich, this year it is VB not XXXX and it is in cans <g>), the wine is in the fridge along with, you guessed it, the sausages, there is space for the camera equipment and one piece of luggage tomorrow and still room to put you Skippy when you join us soon!!!! :):):):)  And it is raining again :(

Here is this years vehicle, anybody got a name for him,
really don't want to call him Britz :)

We are just back now from a lovely dinner out with Lyn at the :-

Are Lyn and Brian missing Saudi!!!!!!!

And tonight we don't have a sunset because it is raining!!!!! so we will end up with a lovely photo of my precious Alan and Lyn who is the most perfect of hostesses.  Thank you Lyn for making us so welcome xxxxxx  Night night folks.

Alan and Lyn at the Thirsty Camel!!!!