Back Down Under

Above - Abu Dhabi Airport, heading back to OZ for a holiday

Above - One of the first things NS did when getting back to OZ was head up to the Edgy lookout and just, 'take it all in'.

Above - B3, B4 and Lachie, WHPS sports carnival cheering squad.

Above - Full of smiles and giggles, Giorgia and Sky.

Above - "i luv you" , "i luv you too" , "no, i mean it man, i'm not just sayin this cause i'm drunk, i luv you" , "yehhh, me too" , "and me to" , "yeh me too", heh...i luv you" ,then all three crash to floor.

Above - Punk, Chuck, Merv, NS, Jas and Rosco; There was 6 different versions of this song being sung simultaneously, but geez it sounded good!!

Above - John, Cappa, Picko, Strongman, Floydy; debating the intricacies of world sports.

Above - Marrissa, Magic-hands, Suzie Q and Sarah; some of the northern beaches finest.

Above - Nel, Ange (with FS lookalike shoulder piece)

Above - The Wheelos, Dohy, Aikes, Punk, Dixon, Merv, Chuckles and Rempt; a quiet night from the lads left the house standing the next day.

Above - Despite sub-zero temperatures, B2 and B1 hit the surf back in Oz whenever they could.

Above - What a site, all four clean the wax off the ol' twinny, getting her ready for some waves.

Above - Enjoying each other as much as catching up with friends. As usual NS was left with all the cooking duties for the party.

Above - It was soooo hard t get on the plane after enjoying the Oz home life again; Dee Why to Longy beach.

Above - The 4 B's at Taraonga Zoo.

Above - B3 wore his train drivers hat, "just in case the State Railway paged him to work", hanging with the bros.

Above - Before heading home to Oz for a holiday, B3 and B2 tried out the new school pick-up bus in the U.A.E.

Above - It was a bit windy, and i didn't have anything to hold on to but this shot from the top of the Burj Al Arab (world's tallest building) came out o.k. I was having a look to install a new roof-top-garden.

Well, I'm writing this back in the U. A .E, and FS and the boys are still back in the land of Oz, but it is fair to say that we all had a great time catching up with family and friends and meeting some new additions to all the various families.

As most would know, FS and the boys went back a few weeks earlier than my-self, it was so hard to walk away from the airport check-in, knowing that they were heading to God's country and that once i walked through the air conditioned doors to the outside, the harsh reality of a 45c heat would hit. It was all i could do, was count down the time minute by minute, hour by hour until i was getting dropped off, checking in and launching on one of Etihad's finest.

By all accounts, the surprise early visit of FS and the boys caught alot off guard. FS's mum went into mild hysterics, Karen thought FS was there for a hair appointment, Kylie forgot FS had gone and said hello as if it had been 5 minutes (before it registered obviously), Christine went semi hysterical at a surprise dinner the next day, Nel drove past FS and boys walking back from school and "i thought i recognised her", to me in an email a week later. B1 and B2 were treated like major celebrities the first afternoon of school when their mates saw them, B3 was naming friends to see that didn't actually exist, but was pumped to see Lachie and Will and his girlfriend being Ava, and that left poor little B4, whom nobody recognised at all. One of the best was a lunch FS went to at Karen's; Lisa C turns up and after 30 minutes asks who the little blonde boy is?

From my own account, it was 10am when i flew out of Abu Dhabi and 48c with extreme humidity. T-shirt and shorts, landed in Sydney to 12c and a freezing SW wind....bloody beautiful. Everything was weird, a taxi driver that understood every word i said, although he only drove at the speed limit (60-80km/hr), it felt so slow after driving the last 20 months at 140km. Driving through and into the beaches was a strange feeling also, excitement for sure, but the senses were picking up on the fallen leaves from the Liquid amber trees, the large flowers of the Magnolias, green nature strips, people walking outside and so much more.

Everybody says it, but it isn't until you get home, you realise that not much at all has changed (besides some friends with extra kids in their stock of course). I mean, the check-out-chick at the local top shops asked FS if she had gone away for a weekend. The war veterans are still running people over at the shops on their way to the bank, the school mums still have coffee at the same spot every morning, mum still had nothing worth eating in the fridge or cupboard ( i sense she hid all the good stuff knowing i was coming), but you know what, for me the lack of change was great...it was so easy to come home, to have some catch-ups and a couple of stories about being away, and before 5 minutes we're talking about how the mighty eagles are going in the footy, what's the surf doing, and how if it's not printed in the Manly Daily, it's not worth knowing about.

Of course for FS and I and the boys too, it was such a special thing to come home to family and friends, one of the treats of being away i guess is coming home. I did need to re-adjust to a couple of points though. Filling up at the petrol station i parked and for about 25 seconds couldn't figure out why no-body was coming to fill the tank and clean the windows?? not to mention the huge difference in cost of the petrol. Rather than paying 30cents/Ltr I'm digging deeper for the ridiculous $1.70, cough.

Anyway, my 2 weeks went way too fast, but it was great to get on the turps with most people at our little do, or to catch up with others at BBQs or school events etc. I was really struggling to get on the plane and my last couple of days i asked FS a couple of times for the reality check i sometimes need. Of course some of my best mates put it best, "everything is still here when you get back, keep having fun over there and maybe save up for some hair transplants while you're there". Mates...who needs them!

FS and the boys will be coming home at the end of August after 8 weeks in sunny (most of the time) Sydney. I know B1 and B2 are really going to miss their mates again, but i can't wait to tell them all about my trip through the Maldives on my way back to the UAE. That's for the next blog page though. Thanks to everyone.