the check in girl told me I was over weight (no jokes please) and then can you believe it she said that I could only take in piece of hand luggage, and that she would have to weigh both my bags, to see which one I could take on board... bugger - I tried to reason with her, but she pleasantly and incredibly annoyingly would not give an inch! I ended up having to pay an extra $65 - so much for my cheap flight!!!! Argghh.

Anyway, the flight was a matter of up and down and there it was, my wee home town, little old Nelson. I couldn't believe actually how little it looked to me. And another thing I have noticed since being back, is that there seems to be an incredible lack of people around. I know, I know, it is just because I have gotten used to the amount of people there are in London, and other partsfo the world I have been in the last 7 years, but it feels quite insane to not be surrounded by activity and noise all the time. They do say that Nelson is the biggest retirement village in NZ...

My sister was there to pick me up with her boyfriend Brad, and we together made a plan to suprise the family one by one. I got my brother while he was on the loo!! He didn't actually recognise me and it took some time and for me to take off my suglasses before he finally realised. Then my step-mum Carole, then step-sis Michelle, my other brother Vince, and finally my Dad. All had the same reaction - 'What are you doing here?' but all were happy to see me and it was well worth all the effort. Special thanks to my sister Julie, who has known for a year, and managed to not only keep it secret but helped me out all the way - kisses.

Since then I've just been hanging out with the family, absorbing home and their lives, trying to get a feeling for who they are and where they are at. It is funny, I've not been terribly good at keeping in contact with the family over the years. So I feel it is very important to spend time with all of them, important for me. And it is good, and it is nice to be home, and I feel very spending time with them, and I wonder whether I can come back here now and settle down. I have many questions running around my head these days. Family and friends all excited to see me, want to know what I am doing, what I am up to, how is Mark, what am I going to do after the travelling... ??? And most of it is simple and easy, but there are a couple that keep rebounding round my head, and I think it will be a year of reflection for me, and year of decisions and thinking about my future. I hope by this time next year, I will have worked something out.