According to plan

Bethany and I survived our adventure, even if it didn't quite go to plan. Having taken my very hard to get time off in lieu, I planned to make the most of it by booking tickets on the earliest flight out of Wagga. Getting up at 5am isn't so difficult when you are doing it for a good reason. I woke Bethany by telling her it was time to go on the plane and she leapt out of bed. The others were a little more difficult to rouse but we all piled into the car and arrived at the airport around 10 to 6. At 6.30 we taxied out to the runway and Bethany was nervously gripping my hand. We couldn't see anything out the window as it was still dark. We taxied for way too long and ended up back at the terminal thanks to the fog and a mechanical problem. A series of farcical errors followed and Bethany and I spent 8 whole hours in Wagga airport.

One of the ways that I kept her amused was by letting her loose with my camera. All of the photo I will post today, save one, were taken by Bethany. She made friends with some of the other stranded passengers, many who had more at stake than we did. Three women had a flight to Paris to catch and lots of people missed meetings. I was terribly upset because we missed out on seeing Granny and Susie. Thankfully Bethany is a resourceful little girl who managed to enjoy the experience as a new adventure. We deleted most of the photos she took of the carpet, pot plants and the chairs but I kept a sample. She looks like she has a slug in her mouth in this one.

Our plane finally left at 2.30, Bethany really enjoyed the flight, and after 2 hours on the train we finally arrived in Gosford and were met at the station, in the dark, by Shona. How delightful it was to see her and to finally lay eyes on our beautiful niece/cousin Annika!

I had lots of cuddles and she smiled at us a lot.

Tim was at youth group and Shona made us a delicious curry which Bethany made hilarious faces over when she found it too spicy. Shona patiently smiled for photos and I think they turned out pretty well but it is hard to take a bad photo of such a lovely face.

On Saturday Mum and Dad came over and we had a lovely morning of Annika cuddles, cheese and bruschetta before driving over to Terrigal for lunch. I was feeling a touch ill from exhaustion by this stage but recovered while we watched Oh Brother Where Art Thou. We had a fabulous roast chicken with chorizo shoved under its skin for dinner followed by a delicious apple and raspberry crumble. Bethany took charming portraits of Mum, Dad and Tim and they will all thank me for not posting them. I took this picture of Bethany and Annika which rather accurately depicts Annika's feelings towards Bethany at that moment as Bethany was showing just a little bit too much love. Annika did also give her lots of smiles.

We were able to go to Tim and Shona's church and see Tim in action. Shona had primed Bethany for seeing Tim in a dress and she did find it amusing and she had a great time at Sunday School. After lunch and all too soon we hopped back on a train and headed towards Sydney. This time it wasn't dark so we could see the water and the city. At the airport we were reunited with some of the passengers from the 6.30am Friday flight - 8 hours in an airport together and we are bonded for life. All in all it was a lovely trip and I only wish it had been longer. Thanks Tim and Shona for your wonderful hospitality, thanks to Mum and Dad for coming over for the day and thanks to Annika for all the cuddles and smiles. I'll leave you with two skillful shots by Bethany.