Well this will be the last of our "blogging" for what has been the best and most amazing holiday that we could ever have experienced.

We had to be out of the Lodge by 10.00 am, so we were up and about very early. We had showers and stripped the beds and packed up the sheets, towels, tea towels etc. for the cleaning ladies. We had a very light breakfast of toast and coffee and orange juice and then emptied the contents of the fridge (not that there was much left!!). John took all of the rubbish to the bins and David and I went around the Lodge checking all drawers and cupboards to see that nothing was left inside. We cleaned up the breakfast dishes, rounded up all our suitcases and bags and had one last look around saying goodbye to the deer as we went.

Alison and Andrew arrived and loaded the cars with all of our luggage. Andrew then left to take our luggage home and we went off to bid farewell to Silvertrees owner Trevor and his son-in-law Raymond. We handed in our key and thanked them with a bottle of Yellow Tail Jammy Red Roo wine (Australian of course!!) and a big box of chocolates as we had appreciated all that they had done to make our stay so comfortable and Raymond said "Well, you've been here 4 weeks and we wouldn't have known you were even here!", so it was pleasing to know that we hadn't caused any problems for them during our stay. Reluctantly we waved goodbye to Stag Lodge and Silvertrees Holiday Park which had been our home for the past four weeks.

Alison drove us on the scenic route and was able to show us where their office was located for their business and we then went home to spend our last couple of hours in England with them. We had lots of cuddles with Rupert (I wanted to put him in my bag and bring him with us but I think he would have been missed!) and Alison had made us an enormous banquet for lunch. Oh it was so good and we ate heartily even though we all felt a bit down in the dumps.

Alan arrived to pick us up to take us to the airport at about 2.30 pm and we loaded the car and waved goodbye to "Barleyfields" and Rupert and the sheep and set off on the start of our journey home. Birmingham airport was so busy, but we waited in the Lufthansa line and got our (overweight, or so they said although we didn't have to pay any extra!) luggage checked in and our boarding passes right through to Singapore. We were shown to the area where we had to wait for wheelchairs and found Aunty Janet who had arrived to see us off also. What a wonderful surprise that was too, although we were all very emotional and finding it hard to say goodbye. And, then we were off. We were whisked away to Border Security and then loaded on our first leg of the journey to Frankfurt.

I had a big blubber when I realized we had lifted off and we were actually leaving England and our loved ones behind, so John and I just held hands for a while and let the emotions wash over us. It was a fairly quick flight and then the fun began when we had to disembark the plane down the stairs onto the tarmac and onto a bus to get to another terminal where the arrivals/departures lounges were located. As we were supposed to be in wheelchairs, it was very difficult for David and myself to climb down the stairs with luggage and then stand on an overfull bus and fly around corners on two wheels, it was just the nightmare we had dreaded coming true. Never mind, we made it and then were quickly loaded onto the next plane (Lufthansa) for the second leg of the journey.

For some strange and unknown reason, John and I had been given seats in the middle of a set of four which meant there was a huge struggle on the 12 hour flight if we needed to move or go to the bathrooms, and David had been seated away from us in the middle as well. Just so illogical that they place people who need assistance in wheelchairs to embark/disembark and then they stick them in the middle of other people to make it difficult to move and don't even both to keep us all together. It was an awful journey and I was feeling quite sick (I had a cold too!) and couldn't eat. We were served breakfast which contained scrambled egg that smelt like vomit and that just about sent me over the edge yuk! At least we had wheelchairs and were escorted to the waiting lounge when we got to Singapore.

The wait seemed endless and we were being accosted by a person who was considerably drunk, but no one wanted to deal with him. Thankfully his flight was called before ours so we had at least an hour of peace and quiet from him. We went through the Border Security and I'm sure these people all hate their jobs because none of them are cheerful, they are as sour as lemons in every country you go to and they speak to everyone like we are interrupting their day! We boarded the plane for the last leg of our journey home. This was Singapore Airlines and I would give them a huge rap as they were so cheerful, lovely, helpful and the food they served us on this flight was actually nice and totally edible - it was almost enjoyable except sitting in one place for the last 7 hours of a 30 hour journey was still pretty hard! At least we were all seated together for this flight and there was total joy on our tired faces when we finally landed in Brisbane. We were home!!!! Yay!!!!

A very lovely person arranged a wheelchair for me, but unfortunately David was forced to walk it through Border Security which was experiencing huge delays because of congestion. We were taken through the Flight Staff's line and were able to get through in very reasonable time, so thank you Brisbane Airport Staff, you were wonderful! We were met by Gary who drove the 7 seat limousine with mood lighting in purple, soft music and cold drinks. What a way to get home after that journey! Home......we were finally home and we could hear the budgies chatting as we came up the steps, it was so good to be home.

We made a big fuss of the budgies (and their four eggs!!!!) and then set about unpacking and getting our washing done and having a beautiful shower and warming up the roast chicken that I had left in the freezer. Brad arrived while John was in the shower, with a beautiful arrangement of flowers and a "welcome home" sign. Oh Brad, you are just the most amazing person! Brad looked after our house (EVERY DAY) and the birds were fed and watered and the mail was collected and any bills that arrived were paid. We could not have gone on this holiday for this long without Brad's assistance, we can never thank him enough.

After we had hung out the washing and eaten our hot chicken, we crashed for a short while and then woke up long enough to have a coffee, watch the news and then we went to bed. Ah the bliss and comfort of our own beds, toilet and shower, there is nothing like home, but oh my goodness this was as I said before, just the best holiday. I could not have scripted it better and we are just so thankful for those who made it so wonderful for us.