Brisbane, QLD


Thursday, November 21, 2013

"NUMBER FOUR ENGINE WILL NOT START."

That is just what you want to hear the Captain of the Jumbo Jet to say when you are sitting on the plane at midnight ready to take off to the other side of the world after waiting two hours in the airport lounge. This is what happened when I was excited to be going home to Brisbane, Australia after spending three weeks in LA helping out my daughter with the toddlers while she went to work.

We taxied back to the gate where the technicians established that the starter motor had blown up. We were told it would take about 2 hours to fix. So we were off loaded. It was a slow process as we had to show passports and boarding passes again. and we waited again in the lounge. We were supplied with snacks and water and kept up to date with proceedings. Luckily I had a good book to read and time passed fairly quickly. We were reassured by the captain that the plane was fixed and perfectly safe. He wouldn't be flying it if it wasn't 100% safe. I was too tired at 2:00am to really be worried, I just wanted to sleep.

I didn't think that I had been asleep long when I was woken to have dinner. I fell asleep again after dinner for a while but then I seemed to be wide awake so I watched movies and read my book for the rest of the 13 and a half hour flight. I was happy to be home soon.

After a five minute wander around the car park to find the car we were eventually on our way to the door of our house. It was great to be back with TOH and to have my own bed.

However, it won't be long before I am missing my little grandsons and their parents again.

 The boys have learnt that when visitors come , it usually means "special treats". Papa helps unpack "Monsters Inc"

 Fox playing monsters with Papa.

 Banjo is watching, listening and learning.

Mummy has time to read a story before she goes to work.




26 comments:

  1. If only you didn't all live so far away from each other. Glad the plane had it's problems BEFORE you took off. 13 hours is such a long flight. The longest I've ever been on is 10 hours: Dallas to Sao Paulo.

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  2. Oh Diane, I'm sorry to hear you had a delay in departing but glad you eventually got home safely. I bet your darling TOH was thrilled to see you!

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  3. They are so cute!! yes glad plane was fixed for the long ride home

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  4. they are so very very beautiful, both your precious boys..yikes on the flight home, glad you are there safe and sound...13 hours? yikes again

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  5. glad you made it back home, safe and sound! you must be exhausted.

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  6. That happened to my friend, Venice, and I in Atlanta Georgia last week. Only it was the air conditioning that they had to fix. Got into Phoenix a couple of hours late. I don't mind that in my sensible frame of mind because I'd rather be safe than sorry. But it truly is annoying. Don't know how you handle a 13 hour flight. I get antsy after an hour and a half. I want to get off NOW. And at 35,000, it's not that simple. :)

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  7. Glad you're home safely. Long-haul flights are a bit tedious even without a delay.

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  8. We were once off-loaded from a plane and suddenly there were police running around. False alarm, thank goodness, but I know how uncomfortable it is to miss take-off time.
    Glad you're home safe and sound.
    Fox is getting so big, isn't he? And that photo of Banjo watching, listening and learning, is the cutest thing ever. The concentration on his face, and in those big blue eyes, is just wonderful.
    Just a guess, but I would say your daughter looks a lot like you.
    K

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  9. I am glad you are home safely!Very beautiful photos of your grandparents and their parents.I can understand you that you missing them.
    Sorry please my bad english.

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  10. Going to another country is nothing for the British or English. It is such a big deal for us because everywhere is so far away. I'm sure you are very glad to be home. Australia is not such a bad place.

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  11. good that you arrived safely after the drama. lovely to come home to your own bed isn't it and yes you will miss them all terribly. there is always next time

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  12. Glad you made it home --even though it took longer.... At least, you had a safe trip.

    YES--you will miss those sweet little boys alot... Glad you had some time to spend with them...

    Bet hubby is glad you are HOME.
    Hugs
    Betsy

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  13. Wow, I am glad they fixed the problems before your plane took off. That is a long flight! Your grandsons are so cute, it probably will not be long before you see them again. Welcome home!

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  14. What a lovely long visit you had with your Grandies, at least with technology today you can stay in touch. I'm glad you arrived safely after all the drama.

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  15. i enjoyed scrolling back to see all the pictures of your grandchildren. it must have been wonderful to visit for so long but after that flight you will be glad to be back home. Nice to see some summery weather!

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  16. What a 'wonderful' thing to hear just before takeoff. I'm glad the repair was made fairly quickly and that you had a safe flight. It won't be long before you're wishing you were back in L.A. with those two sweet boys.

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  17. There's something to be said for extreme tiredness! And I always think if the captain thinks it's safe to fly then it must be, I don't imagine any flight crew are in a hurry to die. So glad you evenutually got home. Now you'll have to treasure those memories of the boys.

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  18. Lovely family....oh dear about the delay, better be safe than sorry :). I bet you are missing them all ready...xx

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  19. It's always nice to get back home isn't it, even after such a long and troubled flight. Lovely photos, I can see why you are missing the family already.

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  20. The portrait og Banjo is just lovely.

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  21. So glad the plane was on the ground when they found the problem. Such a long wait.
    Really sweet pictures of Fox and Banjo.
    Looking forward to seeing you posting more often.

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  22. Sweet photos of your gorgeous family Diane. Quite a journey home!

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  23. My goodness what a horror trip back ! I can imagine that you are happy to be home again ! I see that your little boys have the same toys as Toby, lol ! Life will seem very quiet to you now !

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  24. At least they found the problem before you took off, and it may have been annoying but it is just one of those things.

    I bet it doesn't take long for you to miss the grandkids and their parents again.........love the names Fox & Banjo....just saying

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  25. Glad you arrived home safely!

    The one time we visited Australia there was a sick passenger on the pane that had to be taken off before we took off, and then another passenger had a panic attack and had to be taken off--it was a two hour process and we had to stay on board the whole time before taking off...so tiring!

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  26. Glad to know you're home safe... but I know what you mean about soon missing them again.

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