Day 28, 29 & 30 - Home

Here we are.....home.  What a fantastic holiday with so many great memories of places visited and friends made.  The last three days are in reality two days because we lost a day as we crossed the international date line.  We were in transit for almost 36 hours with 20 of those hours actually in the air. Thank goodness for the Air New Zealand "lie flat" beds because it certainly made the long haul - 12.5 hours - easier.
We spent a lot of time waiting in areas like this....

and other times we were lucky enough to be able to enjoy the airline lounges. Our first leg of our return journey took us from New Orleans to Los Angeles.  Los Angeles looked lovely from the air....

from there it was the long haul from Los Angeles to Auckland.  I slept for 8 hours of the 12.5 hours so I felt remarkably refreshed when we saw Auckland.....

from Auckland it was on to a bleak old Brisbane.....

Getting through customs took no time at all and there was a bus waiting for us as we exited the International Terminal to take us to the Domestic terminal.  We had a four hour wait for our Virgin Flight to Cairns but were able to enjoy the comfort of the Virgin Lounge in Brisbane.  They have recently renovated it and it is very comfortable but best of all was the shower that we were able to have.  It felt so great to wash the hair and change the undies!

Our flight from Brisbane to Cairns was on time and uneventful.  We both commented that the Mushroom Soup and the cheese platter that we were given on this flight was one of the best meals we had!  Good old Virgin Australia!

Now, we are home and after a 10 hour sleep last night we are ready to face the world again.

PS

I didn't mention on my blog that our good old faithful labrador, Hudson, got a paralysis tick while we were away.  The vets were amazing and each day sent us a detailed update on his progress.  He almost died and it was a slow recovery.  He spent two weeks in the vet clinic but I'm happy to report that we were able to collect him today.  He is still a long way off being fully recovered but he was as happy to see us as we were to see him.  He's getting a whole lot of loving!