crazyscot

After the eclipse we were a bit short on things to fill our last day in Queensland, so we drove to the little town of Mareeba (pop. 6800). ( The last few pics within. )

Finally, getting back to Chch, came a bonus that we hadn't previously experienced. At passport control, the "locals" queue covers NZ and Australia passports, and NZ residents. We got to use the short line, and were welcomed home!

It's funny that I should spend a whole post discussing just 117 seconds of my life, when I've been writing a post per day up 'til this point on this trip, but I think it deserves it. ( This is the biggie. Photo-tastic, if you scroll past the discussion of strategies. )

Let's face it, getting up at 3am for a 6:30 flight was never going to be pleasant. We parked in the Christchurch Airport long-stay; the path took us through the end of the terminal building where they don't mind people "resting" overnight. As it was well before dawn, it was a slightly surreal experience to witness this room of people apparently openly sleeping.

( Australia day 0. Light on the photos and probably not of much interest. )

I haven't made much progress with writing up or uploading photos from Aus, but there's a good reason for it... No sooner had I got home, than I went off haring round the A&P show on Friday, then have spent this weekend in Wellington for a conference. Work have indicated that I can have a couple of days off in lieu as they're happy to count it as personal development time, and I'm hoping that they'll let me take it this week because I am shattered.

In the meantime, in the interests of not letting my backlog get any bigger, here are a couple of snaps I took this evening in WLG airport.

The bag belt is dressed up to look like Hobbiton, and has signs talking of bags going on adventure.


This creepy giant Gollum lurks above the main concourse, seemingly unaware of the tasty delights on sale nearby:

We are home after a few days in Queensland.

Headlines: Hot. Sticky. Exhausting. Breathtaking (in at least three ways). It was cloudy for the total eclipse, but cleared up just enough that we saw it.

More to follow, but it won't be tonight. In the meantime, have a teaser photo...

Tonight we fly
Over the houses, the streets and the trees
Over the dogs down below;
They'll bark at our shadows
As we float by on the breeze.
Tonight we fly
Over the chimney tops, skylights and slates
Looking into all your lives
And wondering why
Happiness is so hard to find.

- The Divine Comedy, Tonight We Fly