from … Tuesday May 18

Then back home with Austrian [Lauda], at astonishing speed; for there’s a storm in the Bay of Bengal, and our 777 pilot avoids it by travelling south right down the west coast of the subcontinent and also by going high — 39,000 feet high, where the ‘plane remains for most of the trip. Result ? … from Vienna to Sydney in 19½ hours, including the stop at KL, with turbulence that even this weakling could handle. Beat that ! (Note to travellers planning flights: I thought I would be passionately devoted exclusively to jumbos for the rest of my life. Not so; whilst they will always hold a place in my heart, the 777 is just as good — and even a bit quieter. Of course, our jumbo flying has always been in the top deck, so maybe my comparison is unfair …)

Memory: looking down at my native land over many hours — red and sprawling and, most of all, DRY. Remembering how green it was when last I saw it from this viewpoint, two years ago …

Into Sydney at 2:30pm, with plenty of time to unpack and start the washing; we’ve arrived on home soil with two of CS’ handkerchiefs still clean, but nothing else — damned fine planning …!

Yeah. Home soil. Back to work. Gosh.

It’s not that I don’t love my country, for I do. But if we can’t plan for another trip (Italy ? Italy and France again ? … maybe even just France again …?), I’ll become impossibly despondent … Doesn’t matter how far off, nor how limited are the resources, currently; the ability to plan is what matters.