The day started off at 630 a.m. with the arrival of our young cousins at the crack of dawn. The boys were eager to play with them as much as possible as this was our last day in Australia. We got everyone up and moving and finished the packing of 8 suitcases and get to the airport. We packed both cars full of people and suitcases and headed off to the airport.
We were saddened by the drive knowing our holiday had come to an end, but with so many great memories, we were eager to get home. We got dropped off and unloaded with lots of hugs. We would see them all in August at Jessica’s wedding.
We got all our bags checked quite quickly and proceeded to do some last minute shopping in the airport. The boys played some computer games at the Apple Store on the Ipads and we grabbed a quick snack at McDonalds as our meal on the plane wouldn’t be for an hour or so after we departed. We headed through security and quickly to our gate and were one of the last few people to board. We were seated right at the back of the plane and found a few movies for all of us to watch. We departed around 1230 pm and started into our meal shortly after.
The flight seemed to go reasonably well though Jacob was not feeling very well several hours in. He needed to lay down for a bit and not watch TV. They dimmed the lights about 8pm and encouraged everyone to sleep as we would be arriving in Vancouver in 7 hours and it would be early in the morning there. We had turbulence almost the entire trip and at times was a bit nerve wracking. The boys slept for 5-6 hours and I slept for 1-2. We were awoken about 90 minutes prior to landing which was 1 am Sydney time. In a stupor, Krista and I ate breakfast while Jacob slept right through til we landed. We pulled into Vancouver at 730am though it felt like 230am to us. The boys filed off the plane and as the air crept into the hallway, it was clear we had arrived back in Canada.
We made our way through to get our baggage and through Customs. We headed to the domestic departures and were informed that our flight was going to be incredibly turbulent. We only had a half full plane headed to Calgary at 8 in the morning on a Sunday. There indeed was quite a bit of turbulence but the trip went by very quickly. We arrived in Calgary at 11am and had to collect our 8 bags. We called Fraser and had him pick us up right after we got our luggage. The weather was shockingly cold as we loaded our bags quickly into our SUV. We had left +36 of Sydney the previous day and arrived to a lovely -21. We travelled down Deerfoot and arrived home just after 12.
After unloading all our suitcases, we cranked the heat up much higher than we normally did to ease the transition from Australia to Canada. We were surprised by a goodie basket from our next door neighbours who used our house for ten days to entertain all their Edmonton relatives over the Christmas break. We were also blessed by another neighbour who felt the need to blow up over 100 balloons and leave all over the house including cupboards, beds and coats.
We soon after were greeted by Krista’s family. Amanda brought over a couple homemade lasagnas. Jessica brought some necessities like bread, milk and eggs. We had a raucous visit for a couple hours before sending everyone off on their way and settling down for some much needed peace and quiet in front of the TV. After dozing a bit, we ate some supper and had the boys in bed by 7 and ourselves by 9. It had been an incredibly long day but we were very glad to be home. Tomorrow would be a busy day of catching up for the kids at school and the adults with their work. We were thankful to be home safe and sound and for the blessings of an amazing holiday we would remember all our lives.
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