25 June 2018
Cornelia must’ve been exhausted from all the excitement of sitting in a car all day, as she slept for nearly 13 hours without waking once. IS went off to the doctor to get himself checked out, and returned a couple of hours later with the news that he’d been signed off work for three days to allow for the swelling and pain to ease. (He can’t wear his glasses, so he can’t actually do anything at work anyway!)
He must’ve regretted his inability to go to work, as Cornelia instantly commandeered him, playing phonics games with him, and doing the treasure hunt game with him, until he was completely tired out!
With the knowledge that we would be travelling again later today, Ian, Cornelia and I drove up to a nearby logging track with Tashi & Socks, to take them out for their daily walk. Despite the heavy mist hanging over us, it was a beautiful and fresh walk and Bugsy very much enjoyed being in charge of Tashi.
I made us some sandwiches for lunch when we returned, and we did our final bit of packing and sorting with IS rested and Cornelia watched cartoons in English and Norwegian. It felt a bit odd just sitting around relaxing and just waiting for the time to arrive to head to the airport, which of course, it did.
IS dropped us off safely and with our good wishes exchanged, we set off with our hand luggage, desperately hoping it was all within the size allowances! (It was!)
I’d already checked us in online, so it was quick and easy to print out the boarding passes and join the security queue. Both Ian and I were part of the “random swab” checks and thankfully, I haven’t given Cornelia any Calpol for ages, so came up clean. We met another family in the bag check line – the mum was Norwegian and her husband South African, and they had a four year old daughter, Sia, with whom Cornelia immediately clicked! They completely adored each other from the moment they met. Sia had a pen that had an ink stamp on the top and a bubble wand inside, which Bugsy thought was completely amazing. She went straight on up to Sia and asked if she could stamp her arm, which Sia dutifully did. The parents were also both lovely and we kept bumping into them around the airport and in the queue to board the plane.
Bags searched and handed over, we went off for some supper for Bugsy, who agreed to a salmon burger and chips, and then merrily scoffed the lot. Neither Ian nor I were hungry, so held off until later on.
After tea, we found a little play area with massive Lego bricks, so Ian was happy for a while, as Cornelia and I watched him play nicely by himself… 😂
Cornelia was so excited to be heading home and sang all the way onto the plane, introducing herself to the cabin crew and basically charming everyone. The flight was slightly delayed taking off, but made up all the time, and Bugsy was good as gold the whole way.
The flight was only two hours, and it passed quickly and before we knew it, we were through passport control, to find Sia and her Dad waiting for us, so the girls could enjoy just a few more minutes together.
As we had no baggage to collect, we were straight out to the hire car via M&S for a sandwich supper at Clarey’s.
Claudia and Zaza were already in bed (it was about 21:30 when we arrived), but Claudia heard us come in and rushed downstairs to greet us. It was one of those really happy life moments, to have someone else’s child rush into your arms to hug you. We sent her back to bed, with a compliant and tired Cornelia following her, and they both settled down quickly.
Amazingly (although I don’t really know why I’m surprised as Clare and Dames are always the most fabulous hosts), they had waited for us before they had eaten, so we enjoyed a late al fresco BBQ of lamb and salads (and put the sarnies in the fridge for tomorrow). Completely delicious! What a way to end the day and to welcome us back home.
Cornelia's adventures around the world 