Back Home!

We've made it home!















Ruth and Mum kindly picked us up from Heathrow, despite us arriving very early in the morning. As you will see from the pictures, the backpacks had grown to their maximum capacity and it was great to finally leave them somewhere.










We were entertained on the way back from Heathrow by the inexhaustable Indi, Ruth and Andy's black labrador (a new addition to the family whilst we were away). Indi is going through her chewing phase. She makes a great paper shredder too
















We spent a few happy days catching up with Mum, Ruth and Andy. We even got to have a belated Christmas Day! It was great to come back to the full works - turkey, christmas and birthday cakes, mulled wine. After a few days in Surrey we have now made it back into London. I am hanging on to my former travelling lifestyle by keeping my backpack, albeit now filled with jumpers and coats rather than flip flops and shorts. Vania has ditched her backpack for a granny trolley, now rumbling along a London street near you!




So that’s where we are now, happy to be back from a great trip. It’s unbelievably cold, but sunny at least. Having been in 35C in Cairns only a week earlier, we are struggling with the drop in temperature. I am living in my fleece and ski jacket and Vania is wearing so much Alpaca wool that with a longer neck she could pass for one. I queued at a Watford match last night, in the snow and wind (how English), but it still hasn't sunk in that we are back home. London is largely the same - crowded, people queuing and muttering away, houses still cost the equivalent of the GDP of a small nation but the pubs and buzz of the city are still amazing. Nicky Campbell on Five Live is still an idiot. Television is still only allowed to show programmes about home improvement, cooking or reality ‘talent’ shows. I've missed the English sense of humour, or even just being able to understand what people are talking about. The buses now talk to you and tell you where you are (whilst this is a welcome development, having spent seven months on buses wondering where on earth we are, there’s something terribly ironic about being told every thirty seconds where you are on a journey you've done hundreds of times)!



We are now filling our days by trying to resume our previous London lives. We are both keen to get back to normal asap, although with jetlag we've been getting up around 6am for a week now which certainly isn't normal for us! It's 6.30am now, I am writing this and Vania is getting ready for her "power breakfast" CV review in Canary Wharf with Nacho. She looks very good though, I'd give her a job. Sorting our lives out is exciting although knowing quite where to start is a bit daunting. We are very fortunate to have use of Teresa and Peter's flat (thanks so much), after seven months in hostels it's so good to have our own space, clean kitchen and bathroom and to empty the backpacks and spread out a bit. Vania is applying for jobs while for the next few months I am studying and doing some voluntary work. We are really looking forward to catching up with family and friends we have so missed, so please find some time in your diaries for a long overdue drink.



It's the end of a fantastic journey. We hope you have enjoyed reading about how we were getting on and seeing the photos. We hope the "look where we are now" posts haven't annoyed you too much and that you'll still want to speak to us now we're back!










We have met many weird and wonderful creatures on our way, from alpacas to keas, stingrays, kangaroos and of course Frankie, the Maori Wrasse. We've made many friends too, have been helped out by loads of people in the countries we've visited - from bus drivers to hostel and tourist information staff, market stall holders, hardware store owners, Mr Coconut Man, random people on the street - the majority of which have been unfailingly helpful, friendly and often very funny too.










To those of you still travelling, stay safe and enjoy the rest of your trip. Let us know from time to time how you are getting on.





So that's it from us. From Machu Picchu to the Great Barrier Reef we have a whole host of wonderful experiences from a world that now seems a lot smaller and much more familiar than it did. We take with us only memories and leave only footprints (including that great big carbon one, oops). Oh, and thousands of photographs.

Take care,
Tom & Vania