up in the air

It's something like 5am, and we're 11km up over the Great Australian Bight. John Lennon is on the in-flight system, and most things are well with the world (other than the way I originally spelled it!).

The flight has gone reasonably well after a shakey start. When we checked in they had lost the fact that our four seats + Mum should be together, so they had us all over the place – but in the end we got 4 seats together and Mum managed to get an aisle further back where we could swap around.

The kids have done really well up to this point – basically watching the TV for the first few hours, and then both getting a few hours sleep. They woke up about 4 ½ hours out of Sydney, and their meals have just arrived for breakfast. Might be a make or break moment. Justine is starting to get tired herself, which means that frayed tempers and short fuses could still be a feature of the last few hours.

By the time I get a chance to post this – we'll know!

And the winner is... us. The kids continued to do well for the rest of the trip, and even Justine isn't going too badly now that she has had a decent cup of tea back in the airport.

Mum had to leave us a little prematurely in Sydney, as she was flying Virgin from Sydney to Perth, while the rest of us were on Qantas to Canberra, and they run separate shuttles to their respective terminals, and you need a boarding pass to do anything. I asked her whaat the highlights had been for here before she left – and the one she picked was actually our last lunch in France. It was a beautiful day – warm enough to sit outside with shirt sleeves only, and in front of the villa looking out at it, the surrounding hillsides and up beyond the pool to a snowcovered mountain we ate a sumptuous feast of paella, risotto, gnocci, fresh bread, French wine and various other bits and pieces. it was spontaneous, picturesque, and gastronomically and mentally satisfying. An excellent choice, and I'm glad she reminded me of it.

Aidan's highlight was meeting Marie, who he played with for the last few days in France; and the natural history museum in Vienna.

Justine is still deciding, and hopefully she will have one by the time I can post this.