AUSTRALIA: HOME

Wow. What a trip! Its now Tuesday morning and Tim and I are recovering after the longest flight in history! OK. Maybe an exxageration. 40 HOURS!!! It seemed as if we had every obstacle under the sun trying to stop us getting home, but we finally did, praise God. 12 hours at Schipol Airport in Amsterdam after waiting in line for the tix we had to pick up...KLM decides to install totally new system on Good friday which had all of its operators in confusion, staring blankly at their screens.... 17 flights were cancelled, so queues were everywhere, and our plane flew off without us, while we waited! Then we had delay after delay as KLM tried to fix things that were wrong with the plane, asking for "just another 15 minutes of our patience" for 2 hours! Once on board they tried to shut the door but the seal came off (ok thats reassuring) as well as the exit light above the door (just a few more minutes of your patience please...) and then my seat wouldnt go back (Phoebe) but of course the guy in front of me had his seat right back the whole trip (ggrrr) and my headset wouldnt work so i couldnt use the entertainment unit...I was NOT a happy traveller! Poor Tim tried in vain to find a comfortable spot to stretch out his long legs, but alas...squeezing a 6 foot 3 man into a 5 foot 1 space is not easy. 11 hours later we were cramped and grumpy (but still managing a smile), tired and achy and arrived in Kuala Lumpur for 4 1/2 hours of waiting where the machine promptly stole tims bank card leaving us with no money to even buy a drink, and all the comfy seats were in the cafes where you had to buy stuff to sit down...so we drifted and occasionally sat there anyway until someone came along to move us on...felt like a vagabond!

Eventually it was time for the last leg of the journey and this was pure bliss in comparison!!! Malaysian Air was fantastic and made up for some of the tedium from before, with comfy seats, headsets that worked, giving us more space to stretch out (they gave us 4 seats to share-yay!) and cool movies to watch. I watched Pursuit of happyness-amaaaazing...totally recommend it, and Tim watched Happy Feet, which he said was cute.

Arrived in Sydney to be greeted by Melisa and Gaby with freshly picked roses in a basket (nicked from the neighbours which i think makes it even more special, dont you?) and their gorgeous faces and cuddles. I felt like Princess Diana being presented with a posy of flowers. Then it was on to Coogee Beach to reintroduce ourselves to that amazing Australian phenomenon, the SUN. Over milkshakes and lattes and earl grey tea, we watched the waves roll in and soaked up the warmth and let the breeze blow away the trip. We even got a little sunburnt, how about that?!? A short play in the water up to our knees (Gaby went in in her clothes and i had fun pushing her), we were driven to Ray and Lindas where we have been put up like royalty, and where i slept for 16 hours in a bed that felt like a cloud. Yesterday was Easter Monday and a public holiday so we sat around catching up with Ray and Linda from brekky to lunch and have been househunting since. it feels so good to wake up to Australian birds and the brightness of the sun, and Tim and I feel like we are exactly in the centre of God's will for us right now, in the very palm of His hand. Catching up with friends and family is on our agenda, and finding that somewhere special to live is too. Keep us in your prayers as we wait on God for further instructions, and also that it all goes well with the pregnancy and job interviews this week.

Bless you

Phoebe