Friday 31 July 2015

And we are off again!

After spending just a few months in New Zealand we made a decision to return to Europe to do some more travels. We felt there were still places we'd like to see as well as places we'd like to revisit. Since Aaron was already in London, which was going to be the starting point of our trip, the three kids and me just needed to join him. Sounds like a piece of cake! A flight across the world with a baby, toddler and school boy on my own! I was going to rely heavily on assistance from the crew, both Air New Zealand as well as Singapore airlines. 

The day to leave for London finally arrived. Very excited but also already tired due to a late hour we headed for the airport. Everything seemed to be going smoothly. We even had time for a coffee and a cake with the grandparents and auntie Piggy who was visiting at the time. Finally we said our goodbyes and headed to the gate to board our first plane to Auckland from where we were going to Singapore. Beany and Micky were happy to entertain themselves whilst I was getting ready to hand over the buggy which I was luckily allowed to keep till the boarding. As I was about to gather them together to board I heard Micky scream. She run over to me terribly screaming unable to explain what she'd done. And then I saw her bleeding chin. She somehow got quite a deep cut in it. I found it very difficult to comfort her whilst waiting for paramedics to arrive. The wait seemed very long. All other passengers had already boarded and they were just waiting for us. Finally the paramedics arrived by which point I also managed to calm Micky down. The bleeding had stopped too. However, I was very concerned she would need stitches. I was reassured stitches weren't necessary and also very quietly advised that there would be lots of paperwork involved and we would miss our plane if Micky was to have the cut stitched. In that case the chin got cleaned to avoid infection, Micky was offered biscuits to keep her occupied whilst Beany got some to cheer him up as poor boy was very upset by his little sister's accident. At last we boarded the plane and took off to Auckland.

By the time we got to Auckland, the chin got forgotten and Micky was her usual self, running around the airport, getting into mischief. Once on board the plane to Singapore, the two girls fell asleep rather quick, Beany and me joined them soon after and we had a pretty smooth cruising to our destination. Now we had only one more flight. Fortunately the stopover at Singapore wasn't long as we were all looking forward to the end of our journey as well as some food. Finally it was time to board and announcement was made but it wasn't what we expected! Due to some technical issues our plane was grounded and we had to move to a new gate at the other end of the airport where another plane ready to fly was parked. That obviously caused a delay! Anyway, I gathered the kids and very slowly we walked to the new gate. Due to the delay Singapore airlines offered all passengers breakfast, however it was served half way between the two gates which I found out after having arrived at the new gate. Although I was extremely hungry, I couldn't go through the hassle of taking the kids back and then going through security checks again so we just stayed put. The new boarding time was approaching and an announcement was made but again it wasn't what we expected! This time we were advised that our original plane was fit to fly and was going to board from the original gate! Once again I gathered the kids but this time a couple travelling with a girl in a wheelchair requested an electric buggy for all of us. I can't imagine the kids had any energy to walk so it was very helpful. For the last time we went through security checks. finally we boarded the plane and quite smoothly flew to London. We were all together again!

We spent a few days in London before heading south. I was mainly seeing my friends and doing shopping (lucky me) whilst Aaron was very busy getting the car ready for the big trip.


A breather: a barbecue party at Basil's where we stayed. 


Our wee girl was a centre of the attention and some guests wanted to have a photo with her which, as we can see, she wasn't very happy about.

 
Enjoying a trampoline at Marcel's friend's, Ava.




TV time at Uncle Basil's


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