Di left for her plane to Perth fairly early on our last morning. We had shared an amazing experience and it was sad in many ways that it had come to an end and we didn’t know when or where we would be meeting again.

I still had the morning free before I had to leave. However, I brought the departure from my hotel forward so that we could leave before 3.00 pm even though my flight to Dubai wasn’t until 6.25 pm.

We didn’t experience much of a delay and it was good to complete my check-in and relax, knowing that I was in very good time. It was a very long journey home  - 36 hours in total, travelling back through Dubai, on to Melbourne, and finally to Wellington where I very gratefully arrived in the late afternoon of Friday 13 December.

It was great to take a short walk around the garden. The converted summerhouse had survived my very long absence and it was restful to sit and look out of the picture window at the garden and the hills beyond.  It was good to know that gardening could wait for another day ...

Christmas was just around the corner with the whole family arriving from all over the world, and that was something special to look forward to.

What an adventure it had been!