Day 97/98/99, 22nd-23rd November 2011. New Zealand - Australia - Bangkok - London - HOME.

This is it, the final part. You will notice that its 2 days, but actually 3 days long, because that is how long we were actually traveling. It has kind of worked out cool that it was 99 days long, it was unintentional, but makes me wish I would have extended the trip by one day to make it to 100. I totally would have if I had known.

So, we had to get up at 4am this morning, and we rang our parents to say this was it, we would be seeing them soon. Of course it wasn't for another 2 days that we landed in London, but we were starting our journey home now. We got all our things together, and got on the airport shuttle at 5am, arriving at Auckland airport at 5.20am.

We went to the Qantas desk to check in where we were hit with some ridiculous charges, which is why I will never fly with them again. To cut a VERY long story short, if we checked in our extra luggage in NZ and didn't pick it up again until London, then we would have had to pay thousands of dollars for that. The only other option was to check the luggage in for each flight seperatley for each flight. Because we wanted to do this, Qantas charged us for wanting to pick up our own bags and check them in again. Yes, rather than them  them do the extra work of moving our luggage between our transfer flights, we were going to do it ourselves, and they were charging us for it...!!! We angrily paid a $300 'fee' to be able to pick up our own bags, and then made our way through security to wait for our flight to Sydney.

While we were waiting for the flight, I bought the Kardashian's book, I love them lol. There were computers in the departure lounge so I went on facebook while we waited and got given the great news by Dean that he was coming to visit us in London next month, so we were excited to hear that. Then it was time to get on the first of our flights. It was only going to be a short one, and it went really quickly.

3 and a half hours later, we were nearly in Sydney, Australia. 

When we landed, we did all the boring stuff again, went through security (where they were filming that border security tv show) picked up our luggage, and then made our way to the departures side of the airport to wait until we could check in for the next flight.

I wish we could have spent some time in Australia, but because of money there was no way we could have afforded to visit properly. The first thing we did was get some lunch, even though it was really early in the morning there. The lunch was really nice, the food was much nicer than what we'd had in NZ. After lunch we had about 3 hours until we could even check in for our flight.

We found an area where we could sit with 4 suitcases and 4 heavy pieces of hand luggage, and spent the next 3 hours taking it in turns wandering around while the other one sat with the bags. I finished my Kardashians book and it was just a really long boring wait, until we could check in for our flight.

Luckily, because the rest of the flights home were with British Airways, we only had to pay once for the extra luggage. This time it was only about $50 a bag, proving how ridiculous Qantas's prices were. Once we were checked in and through security, it was time for some (more) shopping. They had a Victoria's Secret and I just could not help myself. I bought a cute tshirt and a purse. I know I really didn't need to buy anything else, but we had spent so much money on this trip, why stop now? I also had to buy some water as I had stupidly bought loads before we went through security and of course they had taken it off me.

Christmas decorations at Sydney airport

Waiting...

Before we got on the plane, we got some dinner, even though it was more like lunch time, our timings were way off lol. I had some really nice pasta, I can't remember what Gary had but he didn't like it. We also wanted to buy some food and snacks for the flight, but there was nothing to buy really, we ended up buying some gross looking sandwiches that we didn't end up eating.

It was soon time to board, and the plane took off from Australia at about 5pm. When we were in the air, I read a bit, I was re-reading the Hunger Games again, and listened to my ipod for a bit while Gary did his usual and watched as many films as possible.

I had pre-booked us seats at the back of the plane where the seats are in 2's so nobody was sitting next to us. Although we ended up with this really annoying girl in front of us who kept talking to us. She kept making conversation every time she caught my eye so I had to make an effort to not look in her direction.

Even though we still had about 7 hours until we reached Bangkok, where we would have to get off the plane and get back on again, I took some sleeping tablets, hoping to get some sleep. Next thing I knew I was waking up after about 6 hours sleep, and it was nearly time to land in Bangkok. I was very pleased and surprised by this situation.

Flying over Bangkok at night was amazing, it was all lit up, and made me really want to not get back on the plane when we got off, but go and explore instead. Of course we couldn't, but if we had the money, I would have just stayed there. Annoyingly, we had to go though security again, and they took all my water away from me AGAIN. It was about midnight and there were no shops open in the airport so I was angry and thirsty. Bangkok airport was really exciting, especially as we have never been to Asia before. It made me really want to visit.

Soon enough we got back on the plane, and just as we were about to take off, there was a problem with it. The electricity in the cabin was broken and the air-con didn't work. Oh my god, it was so hot. For 2 hours we had to sit there in the pitch dark, boiling hot. I was not happy. Of course Gary managed to fall asleep right then, and I was just sitting there dying of over heating, and I had no water as it had been taken away.

Eventually the problem was fixed, and we were on our way to London. This was the final leg of our journey home and I just felt sick with worry and anxiousness. I was so scared about everything that faced us when we got home. Of course we had the issue of telling our parents that we had got married without them. But mostly I was worried about everything returning to normal. I really loved the traveling life, and seeing so many beautiful places, meeting so many people, and experiencing so many things. I was not ready to go back to life how it was before we had left. I have made no secret of how much I hate living in London/ the UK, and it really upset me to think about coming back.

I just listened to music for a while and watched tv, and took some more sleeping tablets and fell asleep. I was lucky again and woke up just a couple of hours before we were due to land in London. This was it, it was all coming to an end :( It was funny that we had been so worried about this over 24 hour flight (since we left Australia) but it had gone so quickly and we actually found it really easy!

As we approached London, it actually looked really nice, it was still dark because it was so early in the morning, and we flew over the London Eye and it was all lit up really pretty. Then we landed, it was the weirdest feeling ever and I can't explain it. It's not like how you feel when you come back from an amazing holiday, it was worse. Knowing how long you had looked forward to it for years, and had the best 3 months of your life, and knowing you would never be as happy and free again as you have been in the past 3 months. It sucked.

The only thing that was of course exciting, was knowing we were so close to seeing our families again. We got through the airport as quickly as we could (had the worst luck waiting for our luggage, 3 of our bags were the very first ones out, and our 4th bag was the very last bag out) and couldn't wait to see our parents. As we came out of the airport, and saw our mums and dads, we ran to them, it was so nice to finally see them again. I blurted out that we were married straight away because I was so scared of how they would react, luckily it was happiness all around! :)

And thats pretty much it... we drove home, saw our brothers and sisters, unpacked, and ate some welcome home cupcakes that my sister had made us.

I feel just as sad coming to the end of this trip report as I did coming to the end of the trip. It was over so quickly and I am so grateful for the experiences we had. It has been so lovely for me to re-live them through this blog, its great to know I can look back on this for the rest of my life to remember what fun we had.

We did have the time of our lives, and thank you to those of you that have read this the whole way through, it means so much to me. I hope you have enjoyed reading about our adventure as much as I have enjoyed writing it. Lots of love xxxxx

Day 96, 21st November 2011. Tauranga - Auckland, New Zealand

Today was the day we were starting the journey home. Technically we weren't on our way until tomorrow, but we were going to the airport today. It was weird waking up in our little bedroom in Fabian and Treena's house for the last time. We woke up at 10am, and had planned to leave at 12, so we had 2 hours this morning to get ready and make sure we had packed everything. We showered, ate, and double checked everything, including the weight of all our luggage, which thankfully was not overweight, and then it was time to leave.

Gary was mostly sad to say goodbye to Archie I think, he really loves that dog!

The drive to Auckland airport took about 3 hours, Gary and Fabian sat in the front of the car chatting the whole way. I was just feeling really sad to be going home, but also excited to see my family. When we arrived at our airport hotel, we said goodbye to Fabian, which made Gary sad because I know how much he had missed him when they had left the UK, but we knew we would definitely be seeing them again.

Our airport hotel was ok, there was nothing around though. We walked 10 minutes down the road and found a shop, so we bought some snacks and breakfast for the morning, and then went back to the room and watched TV for a few hours.

We walked a bit further down the road at dinner time, and found a resteraunt to eat in, the food was so shit. One thing I was definitely not going to miss about New Zealand was the food. I really did not enjoy the food in NZ and could not wait to get home and eat some comfort food. I can't even remember what we ate but it was bad.

There was nothing at all to do in the area, so we went back to the room and just watched TV for the night. It felt so weird that after all this time, it was over. I was really excited to see my family, but apart from that I did not want to go home at all. I hate London and I feel like there is nothing here for me, and there is so much more in the world I want to see. I was not ready at all to go home and go back to normality. Of course I was so nervous about telling our parents the big secret news. Wasn't sure how they would react, so it was making me really worried.

Day 95, 20th November 2011. Tauranga, New Zealand

As soon as we woke up today it was time to start sorting everything out because it was nearly time to go home. Fabian wanted us to go round his parents house, but we had so much to do so I didn't go. Gary said he was going and wouldn't be long. I painted my nails and then started getting all our stuff together. It took me ages. We had so much stuff and it was all a big mess so I spent the next few hours organizing it all.

Gary finally returned 3 hours later (I was not impressed with him) and helped me pack it all in the suitcases. We had way too much stuff, luckily Treena had a suitcase that she was going to throw away so she gave it to us and we used that as well. We had 4 suitcases packed full, along with 4 pieces of hand luggage too.

Once we had the majority of our stuff packed away, we went out to enjoy our last proper day in New Zealand. We went out for lunch with Fabian and Treena, and their friends that had come round last night. We went to a nice restaraunt that had some quite nice food. We had these big platters with loads of food one. It was a nice time and afterwards we looked around in a few shops and then went to the beach.

We went for a walk around the beach, we went up to this overlook area that was right over the sea.

Me and Treena looking out over the water

It was a nice way to spend our last afternoon in Tauranga

We hadn't actually put our feet in the ocean yet, so we made sure to do that before we went, it was freezing!

When we left, we went to the supermarket to get some food for dinner and had a look in a few more shops too. Gary finally embraced the New Zealand way and walked around barefoot, which he had been laughing at since we had got there. I got a really cute stripy jumper in one of the shops, like we had any space to pack it, so I would have to wear it home.

When we got in, we made pasta for dinner, and packed last minute bits before watching the film 'Just go with it' this evening. I can't remember what it was about, but it had Jennifer Aniston in it, and I love her. Before we went to bed we had to say our goodbye's to Treena because she would be at work tomorrow when we left for the airport. I was sad to say bye to her because she is so lovely and it was so nice of them to let us stay. Then it was time for us to go to bed, it was crazy that tomorrow we were starting our journey home.

Day 94,19th November 2011. Tauranga, New Zealand

Had a little bit of a lazy day/boring morning this morning. After the little road trip over the past few days we were kind of tired. I stayed in my pajamas until 1pm, watching TV, and skyping with people.

We finally decided to get dressed and go out to celebrate our 1 month wedding anniversary. I couldn't believe it had been one month already, in some ways it felt like we had been married forever, but in other ways it felt like it happened yesterday. We had decided to go to the cinema to see Breaking Dawn.

The film was really good, the best of all the Twilight films so far I think, we both really enjoyed it. The cinema was so tiny, I have never been in a cinema that small before.

After the film, we walked around town for a while, went in a few shops, and I bought 2 cardigans and a belt. When we got back, we relaxed for a while, and then Fabian and Treena's friends that I think were called Natalie and Dan, and we ordered some pizza's and watched Super 8 this evening. We didn't really do anything and this day seems quite boring, but it was actually a nice day.

The boys started watching Transformers, and it was getting quite late, so I went to bed, and Gary soon followed. He must have been really tired if he couldn't even watch transformers!

Day 93, 18th November 2011. Waitomo - Tauranga, New Zealand

Woke up this morning quite early because we had to get to our last adventure of the trip before heading back to Tauranga. We had some left over cereal from yesterday still, so we ate that in the hotel room for breakfast before checking out.

Today we were going on a 'Black water rafting' adventure in the Waitomo caves. Waitomo is a place that is a huge network of underground caves, and they actually have glow worms in them, which are the only source of light. There are plenty of ways to visit the caves, like boat tours and stuff, but we were going on the most extreme version which involved floating in a ring like the lazy river, but it was far from lazy.

The place we had to go was only 5 minutes down the road, so we were quite early. We just sat around waiting for it to start really, there was a tour group in there also waiting, they seemed a lot like Trek America, but a New Zealand version. They all seemed to be having so much fun together and it made me feel really sad because I was missing my Trek America friends so much.

Our guide soon came along and took us to go get our wetsuits and stuff on. Mine was way too tight, and I really struggled to get it on, but they would not let me have a bigger one. I was really annoyed about it because all the other girls if they said theirs was too tight were allowed a bigger one. Anyway, I finally got into it and we also had to wear helmets and welly boot things too, I was so uncomfortable.

Once we were all suited up, we had to drive in a van to the entrance of the cave that we were going into. When we got there, before we went in, we had to practice falling of the side of a small cliff with our iner tubes. The water was so cold, but it was really fun. 

Then we went into the caves and it was so pitch dark in there. Luckily we had lamps on our helmets, but when they were turned off you couldn't see a thing. It was fun floating around in the dark, but also kind of scary. We had to jump of the side of ledges and stuff and I kept thinking I was going to hurt myself, but luckily I didn't. There was one bit where there was only about 10 inches between the water and the top of the cave and we had to lay flat in the rings because it was too shallow to stand. I hated that bit because it felt really claustrophobic and I felt like I was going to drown.

When we got to the bit where there were loads of glow worms, we turned off our head lamps so it was completely dark, and they were glowing like lights all over the walls. Of course I have no photos, but I urge you to google Waitomo glowworm caves to see what they look like, it was amazing. 

The entire thing lasted 3 hours and by the end of it we were so freezing cold, my hands were shaking. The guides thought it would be fun to make us turn all our lights off for the last bit and feel our way out of the cave, I hated that because it was so black that I couldn't see a thing, and that made me panic. When we were finally out, we drove back in the van to the reception place to change out of out wetsuits, I was so glad to get it off, and then we got given some free soup to warm up.

We then drove back to Tauranga, which was about a 2 hour drive. We got back in mid afternoon and did some laundry, then Fabian and Treena got in from work soon after. We told them about all the fun stuff we did, and then we went out to the supermarket so get some stuff for dinner. I think me and Gary got some pasta and had it with some chicken, but I didn't write it down. After dinner we watched TV for a while, then I went to have a shower and started sorting out all our laundry.

This was the night that it really hit me that this time next week it would all be over and we would be at home. I got really upset about it, thinking about how unhappy I was this time a year ago, working long hours in a retail job I hated, dreading christmas and all the horrible sale shoppers that would come my way. At that point in my life, looking forward to this trip was the only thing that kept me going, and now it was almost over. So I just spent the next few hours feeling sorry for myself, wishing that I could relive the last 3 months all over again. Spending every day having fun, and also being with Gary every moment, was something that I had got way too used to, and I really was not ready to let go of it.

Eventually, I got over myself a bit and Gary came into the room and we went to bed.