Coming home.... (Part 1)

Subtitle: The horror flight
Sub-subtitle: Well really it wasn't that bad...

My day started at a reasonable hour (for a weekday but not for a holiday) with frost still on the windows of the hired car and a temperature of -2 degrees. After a few trips back and forth to defrost, I was eventually able to get on my way. Traffic delays and road work meant the 40 minute journey took 90 minutes but as I'd allowed plenty of time I managed to arrive right when the car was due back (give or take 2 minutes). I then had a 'private' shuttle bus to the airport and checked in before the line got too long. Figuring I had £41.95 to spend, I perused the terminal duty-free. By visiting four shops I managed to rid myself of it all (exactly). Next up was to head to the gate for boarding.

Here it is that my luck seemed to change. As the gate I needed to board at had limited seating I decided I might as well stnad in the line - after all it was moving slowly - that is until I got to the front of the line, at which time they decided to stop boarding as 'the caterers were still onboard' so passengers couldn't actually get onto the plane. Sitting right at the boarding gate (I wasn't giving up my 'first-in-line' position now) I heard more and more details about the reasons we couldn't board - the cleaners were still onboard as was a 'medical emergency' from the inbound flight that just needed to get into an ambulance and we'd be right to go. Then the news came through that the ambulance wasn't actually there - and so that wait begins...

An hour and a half after the plane was suppose to have taken off they finally let us 'board' which involved queuing for buses to take us to the plane on the tarmac. Eventually we were all systems go and we took off two hours after we were originally suppose to. Knowing I was travelling all the way home on the same flight I wasn't particularly worried about transfers/etc so settled in for a relaxing ride.

At this stage my body decided to have in on the fun. After a fairly limited sleep the night before, it didn't take long for a headache to materialise. As is often the case, the headache was followed by feelings of nausea and we had over half the flight to Singapore to go. I perservered for a couple of hours but evenutally the sickbags were needed. Feeling lousy I spent most of the rest of the flight hovering near the toilets. What seemed like years later we landed in Singapore and had to disembark for approximately 30 minutes before boarding would recommense. I took myself for a walk, spent some more money on souvenirs and made use of the free internet facilities before going back, through the security check, to the gate 'holding area'. And so another wait begins...

First and Business class are called while I remain 'comfortably' proped up against a glass wall. Economy is called, but starting from the back, so I remain seated. Then, of all things, boarding is canceled again! This time the engineer has found a fault with an emergency exit. Half an hour later, the Captain is standing in the holding area! Yes, that's right, the plane isn't going anywhere until we can get 80 people to voluntarily spend a night in Singapore at the airlines expense. After much deliberation I figured I might as well volunteer - I was still feeling queazy so a night in a real bed might make the next leg of the trip better. Of course there was still quite a delay sorting out who was no longer boarding. Eventually 30 (someone must have failed Maths!) of us headed off to get luggage and a hotel transfer. The luggage wasn't coming so those of us who were organised enough to do without went on ahead to the hotel. At this stage we just hoped they'd be able to get us on a flight about the same time the next day.

The hotel was quite swish with scumptious buffets for lunch and dinner. I managed a sleep and a bath between the two meals, such that I was fairly refreshed for the news that we'd be heading to the airport at 5am for an 8am flight the next morning... It also made my day to be 'rewarded' for volunteering by finding out that the whole flight was eventually canceled/delayed because not enough people volunteered and so time eventually expired and the plane could no longer go.

At this stage it is assumed that the leg from Singapore will go much more smoothly, but we'll just wait and see...


**** All that is above was written about midnight on the hotel-provided stationary. The rest of the story will appear in part 2 - stay tuned....

Q: What do you do when you have a night to yourself in a hotel room?

A: Self portraits...

By timer:



By mirror:

More Darcy shots...

Before I went to Dublin...


After I came back...

Dublin - 5 shots...

A fuller picture...

I was trying to decide whether to post some more photos but instead I thought I'd fill in the gaps between the previous photos with words...

On Saturday afternoon, having seen all the Great Aunts again and showed off the baby photos, I caught a train to London. Having alighted near St Pauls I decided to walk there and grab a couple of night shots. Upon contacting my youngest cousin, Roger, we arranged to have dinner at Brick Lane so I walked over there. Roger had been to watch Arsenal play that afternoon. To get to Brick Lane, I walked through Cheapside and down Grace Church Street (which I didn't get a photo of as they were doing lots of roadwork so I'm sure it wouldn't have looked anything like it did in the days of P&P). The Indian food we ate was very filling so I suggested we walk to the Tower of London for some more night shots. We ended up walking halfway across zone 1 and crossing the Thames multiple times, before getting tired and getting on the tube at Westminster.

On Sunday, Roger and I headed to Portobello Road which is mainly open on a Saturday but still has some stalls open on Sunday. It was busy enough for me! We then continued walking to Kensington Gardens and looked around Kensington Palace, the Elfin Tree and the Peter Pan statue. We got some obligatory photos of swans and also saw one of the Royal Choppers land. We then continued to walk to Oxford Street. It was packed. There were some great window displays ready for Christmas (including some with teddy bear puppets opening all the presents and trying out the toys...).

On Monday, I had a late start and then caught the tube to Oxford Street again for a little shopping at Hamleys. After spending too much money I caught the tube to St Pauls and walked across the Millenium Bridge again (by day this time). I then looked around Tate Modern until I was feeling tired so walked to London Bridge and start on my journey back to Luton (by underground and rail).

London - by night and by day - a selection

Peaceful???

Well the peaceful times in Crawley now come in short bursts. Yes, that's right, Darcy is home! :-) He's now also in fine voice (which Mark has been known to call girlie). Karen is pleased to be home but still frustrated that she can't do everything she wants to do. I'm looking at having a weekend in London before Mark goes back to school. Thus, lots to do, but nothing urgent.

Darcy Richard John Oakley b.20/11/07 5.57am

The thinker...
One last photo before visiting hours end...
... and then another because of his reaction to the previous photo
A proud Dad :-)
Proud Parents :-)
A proud Aunt :-)

Details, details...

The last week in pictures (well not entirely - but it sounded good)

'My' Couch

Luton Shopping Centre

Aunty Joan and Aunty Betty

Still Waiting

Well since my last post I've taken a drive to Luton. While there I caught up with my great aunts: Joan, Betty and Win (in that order). I also got to spend time with my mum's cousin, Karen, and her man, Dominic. I only stayed in Luton two nights, before I got a phonecall to come back to Crawley. Nothing much happened yesterday, though we did go to the hospital at 12.30am this morning to make sure I was sufficiently tired for this mornings drive (just kidding - there were far more important reasons for heading there). Now I'm back waiting at Crawley while Mark & Karen are at Haywards Heath.
I'll post a couple of photos soon, but as I've mentioned there's still none of a baby.

Waiting

Well very little is happening in cold England at the moment, so today I'm going on a bit of a holiday in a quest for an actual bed (and to see the relatives). Yep, that's right, my welcome to England found that the room I'd booked had been given to someone else. Now I have to watch my bank statements to make sure they don't try to charge me for it... Instead of a comfy bed, I've been thrust into the Aussie stereotype of sleeping on a couch for the last 4 nights. At least the couch was fairly comfy even if it was a little short.

Many of you will also be disappointed to hear that I haven't been taking many photos while in England so far. Never fear, more will be taken soon. I'm just trying to work out what photos I already have from last time...

Germany (some pictures)

Cars, Planes and Automobiles

So far this trip has been very interesting in terms of transport....

Cars- My car broke down on the way to the airport (two belts and a filter later it's working again). This meant that I used 3 cars to get to the airport - mine briefly, Ray's to Penrith and Amanda's for the rest. Luckily there was plenty of time for all this to happen, especially as it meant changing greasy car parts from one boot to another in the rain.

Planes - The trip to Singapore was delayed and then longer than expected so there was little time between getting off and reboarding - just enough to walk 50m and return... The trip to Frankfurt was hence also delayed but it was nice to receive a message saying I was to be met at the airport. The person I was sitting next to was unable to speak English so 'conversations' were very funny.

Trains, etc in Germany - The public transport system in Germany is quite good so my main issue with it was to do with jetlag and connections. Running 200m after only 2 hours sleep was more than my body could handle and the faintness took close to an hour to kick.

Planes (again) - The trip from Frankfurt to England was delayed (again) but still managed to arrive on time. It is one of the planes where you take a bus onto the airstrip and then board the plane celebrity-style. There were lots of spare seats on the plane so most people weren't sitting next to anyone. On this flight my main 'conversation' was to ask to borrow a pen.

Cars (again) - Picking up the hire car was pretty straight forward. Driving it to Crawley/Maidenbower was also pretty good. This morning though we've found that the babyseat doesn't fit so we're going to see if we can get a different model car before trying for a new babyseat.

Weight

For those interested in statistics, my bag weighs 9.5kg when it only contains gifts for those already O/S.

Long time no post...

Yes it has been a long time since my last post but given I'm about to embark on another adventure I thought it was about time I made use of this blog again...

Stay tuned.

Current status: preparing for a 5pm flight on Friday, November 9.

Movies and Long Weekends

Given the weather that began this weekend, spending time infront of the idiot box has not been such a bad thing. As such, what follows is the list of movies so far, whether on my own tv or elsewhere, that have made it into the long weekend....

1. Cruel Intentions
2. Mean Girls
3. Barbie Fairytopia - Magic of the Rainbow
4. Pride and Prejudice (short version)
5. Looking for Alibrandi
6. Wargames
7. Pride and Prejudice (long version)

Shrek the Third would have made the list also if it wasn't sold out...

Voiceless interviews

The irony of it all...

Just earlier this week I had people comment to me that doing personal interviews for yr 11 mid-year exams was such a good idea and that they wished they'd thought of it. My comment then was that I had to sit from 1pm to 3:40pm on Friday afternoon conducting them all and they were free to swap if they wanted... most didn't take me up on it. Now, I'm wishing they did.

As of yesterday, my voice decided to take a holiday without me. Today was spent in an attempt to improve my health again whilst trying to ensure everything would still go smoothly for the exams even if I had to just whisper the questions.

Hopefully the voicelessness wont be too much of a distraction for the students doing the interviews.

Doing The Tourist Thing...

In a quest to experience holiday living while on holidays, I suggested doing something touristy...

The day:
Meet at Circular Quay at mid-day.
Catch a ferry to Watsons Bay.
Have fish and chips in the park looking towards the bridge.
Catch a ferry back to the Quay.
Catch a ferry to Milsons Point (via Darling Harbour).
Walk across the Harbour Bridge back to the Quay.

Overall:
A very laid-back day greatly increased by good company. A day-tripper ticket is a good encouragement to make the most of the day. Still not quite touristy as we forgot to take any cameras with us hence no photos.

Patience

One of the things I've noticed with teaching is the continual test on my patience.

Patience with students...
Patience with staff...
Patience with family... myself... and with every other person I come into contact with during my week.

This week is looking to be quite a test on this as I head to camp for three days and then teach fairly full days on return. I'm pretty pessimistic about some aspects of the week already and that has made preparation even harder. Given the teachers who were filling in for me one day last week couldn't follow instructions and my homeroom was left unsupervised as well as one of my classes, it has been really hard to prepare for these three days without dwelling on the fact that my instructions might be ignored by the staff (let alone the students).

Overall, please pray for my patience as I am continually challenged to trust in God and leave everything in his control.

On your knees....

I was driving home this afternoon, reached the climb up the mountain and found myself stuck behind a car that wanted to start the 90km/hr climb at 60km/hr. Being really patient I waited until there was a nice break before changing into the fast lane, knowing I'd have to allow time to get the revs up again.
There was a car a fair way back that was coming reasonable fast but I assumed all was ok to change. So now I'm travelling in the fast lane not quite neck and neck with the car I was going to overtake and the car that was a fair way back is getting closer to my tail.
To make things worse flashing lights and sirens start as I pull just ahead of the car I'm overtaking and the lights and sirens are from the unmarked police car that is now on my tail. I overtake as quickly as possible while still being safe in the rain, to get tooted by the cop car as it zooms off.
We haven't even made it to the 70km/hr zone of the climb and I'm grumbling to myself about how it wasn't really fair to be tooted and mentally going back over the whole situation to ensure I hadn't done anything wrong. Thus I persisted past Lapstone and Glenbrook.
As I neared the intersection at Blaxland Maccas, I noticed about 3 cop cars and a firetruck with another arriving while I waited at the lights. Atleast one car had been written off in a crash on the eastbound side of the highway. I began to feel a bit better as it made sense that the tooting cop would want to get there pretty quickly.
When I was passing Blaxland Public School, an ambulance was heading to the accident. It was at this point in time that had I not been driving I would have got down on my knees and begged for forgiveness. My selfishness was right before my eyes. I'd driven right passed a serious accident and hadn't given one thought to the people involved and whether they were ok. I'd even wasted the time as I was driving passed Blaxland shops when I could have been praying for them. Even though it was raining outside making visibility difficult I still began to cry. How many reminders do we need before stuff will finally sink in! The devotion at school this morning was on prayer and making the most of every opportunity and one example had been praying while driving. This afternoon it was as if God said 'on your knees...'.

1 week down...

Yes, it's been a fair time since I've put anything on this site but that means life has been far from empty. Things have happened, energy levels have been depleted but still I am alive and praising God for all the blessings he gives.

So what has filled in my time?
Christmas, Currarong Beach Mission, CMS Summer School, socialising.... and of course preparing for school.

And we are now 1 week down :-)
I've met nearly all my students. Some I would be prepared to run through a duplicating machine, others ..... well they add spice to the day!

To 'celebrate' the end of week 1, I went to the "She" event. It was a night of good music, testimony and encouragement. Though it did mean I needed a sleep-in this morning :-)

And now back to lesson prep....