We're COMING...

Well, our hour has nearly come.

It is lunch time here in Beijing, and in a couple of hours we'll be leaving for the airport. Bangkok is our destination. We have only to eat breakfast and lunch, and play in the pool for a few hours, then we'll be on the plane home. A long overnight plane to Sydney and then a short trip to Adelaide. Arriving Monday 29th Dec. Qantas flight QF751 from Sydney arriving Adelaide at 2.15pm. Bring your banners. No fanatics please....

By the time we touch down we'll have travelled over 75,000 km, been in 16 countries [including Australia], been for 24 plane flights [only 2 of which have had personal tv screens!], visited with 11 sets of friends, eaten in cafes, restaurants, hostel rooms, from street carts, sports stadiums, train stations, airport lounges, and subways. Been to western loos, eastern loos, and natural loos, flushing, non-flushing, and supposed to be flushing but not... dragged and pushed the kids [and each other] to museums, lookouts and departure lounges. Been to amusement parks, thai boxing gyms, temples, shopping centres, all-hours doctors, natural icons, world icons and curious little shops. Swum in pools, lakes and beaches. Skated on frozen ponds, tobogganned down iceflows, seen frozen waterfalls, and waterfalls inside mountains, walked through rainforests and up volcanoes. Climbed skyscrapers in Manhatten and been in mudhuts in Mozambique. Ridden in trains, taxis, buses, cable cars, rickshaws, planes, shuppas, tuk tuks, sumos, minivans, bicycles and skate-cycles, elevators and escalators. Been below ground, on ground and above ground. Had smooth flights, short flights, rough flights and long flights. Been called Whitey, Farang, Hauli, Gora and Muzoongoo. Had fantastic times and very low times, missed you and not missed you. Taken about 9000 photos and nearly 12 hours of video [I'm not even sure if I'm game!].
And so much more.

We are SO ready to be home. I hope our tennants haven't changed the locks... ha
For those of you who've been keeping up with my ravings all these months, thank you. For those of you in Adelaide, we'll see you all very soon, and for those of you who live in other less fortunate places, thanks for being in touch with us since we left in July.
From him and her.