Home at last

14/10 and 15/10/17

Today is our last day and we get up at 5.45am (why?).  We are being picked up at 8.15am so plenty of time for breakfast, a walk, packing and a lot of other stuff instead of sleeping......

We drive through a few towns in Mauritius. It is a interesting place and I am sorry we have not seen anything of the actual country other than the resort.  It looks a lot like Fiji and even like Zambia. Kind of sad with old ex-colonial mansions or just houses now in disrepair. As though the original owners had to leave in a hurry and left their once beautiful homes to decay. And the new owners take over but without the means nor interest perhaps to maintain them.  

We get to the airport 4 to 5 hours before we need to but we can relax and have our bags wrapped in plastic before checking them in for their trip through Johannesburg to Sydney. I am not risking my bag being broken into for the third time.

We shop a little, walk a little, sit a little and maybe even sleep a little until eventually we can board the flight. It is later than expected and we watch our 4 hours in the premium lounge in Johannesburg evaporate.  We were to have had 8 hours in Johannesburg and had a voucher for 4 hours in the Premier lounge so could shower, eat and drink at our leisure before our 14 hour flight to Sydney.    We also had a bit more shopping to do and a few things like get our tax back. 

By the time we get to Johannesburg,  we have barely enough time to grab our last minute items. NO LOUNGE TIME at all.

Plus we had to go through additional security checks  and then the plane was delayed etc etc.  no fun at all.

The flight itself was squishy, long and unpleasant.  The last meal was served in the last hour so that they were still trying to clear the rubbish practically as we were landing. Worst flight ever, Qantas.

On arrival in Sydney, everything works smoothly with our luggage arriving unopened. We even find our valet parking place and car and are back in Newcastle within a few of hours of landing in Sydney.

It is so great to be home to this:
As another lover of red shoes once said "There's no place like home."

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