After an amazing night in my own room for the first time in I don't know how long, I got up early to get my taxi to the airport. There was a guy sharing it who was also going to the airport but on a different flight. Luckily it was only slightly earlier than mine so we managed to go and get some food (Burger King I think it was) and chill out together for a bit. Shame we weren't on the same flight it would have been nice to have someone to meet up with on the stop over. And if I'd have been on his flight I'm pretty sure what was coming up later wouldn't have happened!

Well, once he had got onto his flight I watched some TV on my laptop for a while and later boarded my own flight to Sydney. It was only a short flight I think but once I had landed and gone through security to get to the international departures lounge I had a long wait ahead. I found out the flight was delayed slightly so managed to get some wifi access to let Lauren know I was going to be later arriving in London.

When waiting at the gate I was unsure of whether or not I had actually been checked onto the flight properly as I hadn't spoken to anyone since landing in Sydney. I decided it was best to make sure before there wasn't a big queue for boarding. That was when I found out there was an even longer delay and they weren't entirely sure how long it would last. Well we finally got called to board after about another half an hour and that's when I got talking to a few people, one of whom was from Australia and travelling to London for a holiday. We then found out, to our horror, that the flight was going to be delayed overnight due to an problem with plane (it was the braking system if I remember rightly).

Everyone was quite confused as to what was happening as we were led down what would have been the boarding tunnel but actually took us in to arrivals. We had to go back through customs as we were being taken to hotels for the night. That's where I ran in to problems. As I hadn't officially entered the country again and was supposed to have left the night before the customs officers were very confused. I had to explain my situation to them and wait outside an office whilst they verified everything. Obviously I hadn't needed to go through customs again when I came in from New Zealand so wasn't officially in the country. Well it all got sorted and in the end I got to see the customs officers 'after hours'. They were quite a funny lot!

I went through to baggage claim where we were apparently having the plans explained to us; I had no idea what was happening! I followed everyone outside and made sure I found a bus as quick as possible that everyone was getting on to. Well, the fun didn't end there. I got to the hotel and queued up for ages again (remember this is after having been travelling for over 24 hours already). I almost got to the front of the queue (there was one person in front of me) and they announced there were no rooms left. Luckily the Australian woman I had met in the queue had been given a suite to herself which had 3 beds in it. Since she new me she said I could stop with her and this other lady she had met. I was so relieved! And the room was gorgeous!

The next task was finding food. We were told that the airline would pay for a dinner that we could get from the bar downstairs. However, after their faffing of getting us sorted into rooms we were too late and the kitchen had closed. So basically according to them we were left for the night with no food. I had no money left at all because I had spent my last few dollars on something as I thought I was leaving the country! Thankfully a guy on our plane walked past with some pizza that he said we could share which was so nice of him!

We also hadn't heard whether or not breakfast was included and couldn't get through to anyone from the airline who could fill us in. The woman I was staying with said she would buy me some if it wasn't included but I felt really bad about it. I went to bed that night not knowing. Thankfully in the morning a buffet breakfast was included which was lovely; I made the most of it.

At the airport after breakfast we were all being assigned to different flights going to London. The queue was absolutely huge and took hours. I got the front and was assigned a Cathay Pacific flight which was leaving that afternoon.

It turned out my new friend was travelling first class and she thought she could take a friend into the lounge with her at the airport which would have been exciting. It was going to be my little silver lining but unfortunately she wasn't allowed.

It was such a relief to finally get onto the second to last leg of the journey. When we stopped over in Hong Kong I was so tired that I almost got onto the wrong flight. There were too Cathay Pacific flights going to London at a very similar time. The directions to our flight seemed to come to a dead end at a balcony. I asked some other people who looked confused and they led the way. It was a long distance and once we got there I realised it was the wrong flight so I had to power walk it back up to where I had started and luckily I found it in time. I then fell asleep even before we had taken off.

I was sat next to a nice asian family who were looking forward to a family in England. I slept the majority of the way.

I remember flying in over London and feeling such a wave of relief that the horrible journey was finally over - I think it took over 100 hours! Once I had cleared customs I found Mum and Lauren waiting for me at arrivals; they had managed to hide themselves behind a group of people though. Lauren had made a little sign with my name on it but she didnt hold it up because she was embarrassed!

We had a costa to perk me up a bit and then began the journey home. I couldn't believe that that was it - 5 months of the best time of my life was now complete...but I'm preparing for the next!