G'day folks

Yes, we've arrived in Australia. I am writing on Michael's computer on a desk in our suite (i.e. two rooms which means we can have Ella and Patrick in with us, albeit on the other side of the sliding doors, so don't choke!) overlooking Sydney Harbour. Hooray!

Our twelve hour 'long transit' in Dubai was longer than planned due to technical issues with the plane. In fact the flight took off three hours late, which pissed us off slightly as we were all in need of sleep and would have welcomed the extra three hours horizontal in the First Class Lounge! However, at least we weren't flying cattle class, which would have meant three hours sitting around at the departure gate without enough seats and less information... I did overhear one Aussie woman trying to tell the gate staff that Australians and New Zealanders were used to wide open spaces and shouldn't be coralled into small rooms in airports unlike 'you people', which made me wonder, how big does she think the Arabian desert is...? I suspect the people of Dubai, especially those in the airport dealing with endlessly stupid passengers, would have loved to be out in their very own wide open spaces...

But we got on the plane in the end and thoroughly enjoyed our experience of First Class, despite the histrionics of a couple who were asked if they would be kind enough to swap seats with one or more of us to facilitate Ella being placed next to Michael or me as opposed to infront of us. In the end we gave up, which did mean that my flight, in particular, seemed like a series of interruptions as Ella dropped by needing something else done... I probably sound a little peeved, but I'm not, just tired! Because her seat wasn't next to anyone (the First Class cabin was arranged as one window seat, two centre seats and then one window seat across the plane) she was a bit spooked and couldn't face sleeping on her fully reclining bed 'alone', so she had to come in with me (and later on, with Michael). I could completely see that the couple who kicked up a fuss at being asked to move would want to sit next to each other in the middle of the plane, given the seat configuration, but I didn't appreciate the moaning at the end of the flight about the fact that they couldn't see out of the windows because Ella and I (Ella strapped to my lap for take off and landing) were in the way! I guess I'm just used to passengers being more accommodating on other occasions when the seating plan has gone awry - most people would rather move out of the way of a small child in a confined space anyway. But maybe that's me being a parent-fascist and unaccepting of the idea that the world does not revolve around my children!

Ah well, never mind, the hell that was in the end closer to 40 hours of travelling is over and we are in Sydney. Ella's passed out on the bed, I've unpacked the 'hotel/Wagga' suitcase and toilet bags, the dirty laundry is piled up waiting for washing tomorrow (hard to believe how much laundry I did in Bristol and Frankfurt before we left), and we've all had a shower. Now we're waiting for Room Service to deliver some much-needed lunch before we venture out. Michael's mother said that yesterday it hit 35 degrees in Sydney - a record high temperature for the time of year - but I'm pleased to say that it's a more reasonable 23 degrees today with a breeze. Not sunny though - mostly low cloud.