Back Home 3rd April 2007

It was good to touch down safely at Heathrow. We had a really nice welcome home; Helen's mum was there at Heathrow to meet us which was a real surprise, and very kind of her. Anna picked us up from Bristol Bus station and had also got food supplies in. Steve's parents had popped over and left a welcome home card, flowering pot plant and more food supplies.

As we were away during the winter the garden wasn't all overgrown but was just about to come into bloom. Our two echiums that we had been growing for the last 3 years had made it through the winter.

Our neighbour Matt, Steve's brother Roger and Best Man, John, did a fantastic job of looking after our house-a big thanks to all of them.

In all we have taken 11,472 photos taking up 35Gb of memory so we have our work cut out editing them down.

Highlights of our trip were Galapagos, Tahiti and New Zealand (South Island) but we enjoyed almost everyday. Our favourite day was in the Whitsundays (Oz) when we spent the morning sailing and in the afternoon went out in the seaplane to Whitehaven Beach.

We had a fantastic time and are really glad we went. We would love to go off on another long trip but will have to save up for it.

Madrid 1-3rd April 2007

After a night flight we arrived back in Europe. The first thing to hit us was the cold and the second the cost of the taxi from the airport! It was only 14c in Madrid and there were no leaves on the trees, though the daffodils and primroses were out.

We stayed awake until the evening so the jet lag wouldn't affect us so much, and enjoyed our room in the Gran Hotel Canarias.

On our only full day we found the Prado Museum shut so went out to eat and wandered around a little.

The next morning it was up early again for our flight to London. It had been quite a strange few days knowing that soon we would be in England. We had mixed emotions, it would be good to see family and friends again and to be able to sit on our sofa with a proper cup of tea. But it also meant no more adventures, sightseeing and once in a lifetime oportunities and instead the reality of having to find a job!