As I said goodbye to Europe, I decided to set my watch back to Australian time and try to sleep according to what the time was in Australia. With thirty seven hours of travel and stopover time I hoped this might help to avoid some jetlag, as I was due back at work on Tuesday.

Thankfully the stopovers at Bangkok and Taipai were uneventful and I arrived safely in Brisbane on time at 8:30am.

As I was going through customs I noticed a Border Security crew filming…I thought "Oh no, I hope I don't arrested for the chess set Hayley sent home with me." I needn't have worried, I had declared it and after looking at the chess set the customs person said it was fine. They did however question something that showed up in my handbag…it was the gummy bears I'd bought in Frankfurt that I'd forgotten to declare! It was my (and Aaron's) lucky day, they waved me through without confiscating them.

I felt happy and sad at the same time, happy to be back home and to be able to see Aaron again, but sad that my trip was over (looking back, it seemed to go so quickly) and that I wouldn't see Hayley now until after Christmas.

I managed to keep myself busy for the day and stay awake until 9:30pm, when I dropped wearily into bed.