Sunday was not fun. Travel days never are. Actually, it was okay except for the arrival part. We didn't have to get up terribly early, just needed to check out of the hotel at 10:00. As usual on travel days I woke up at 5:00 and couldn't get back to sleep. I read, tried to get back to sleep, and fretted about not being able to find all the extra vitamins which I was afraid I'd left in Melbourne. At first light I unpacked two already packed suitcases looking for them, then decided that they were gone and there was nothing I could do about it. Eventually, I woke up the kids, we had a hot breakfast at the restaurant, and finished packing. When I closed the last suitcase, there were the extra vitamins, right behind the top which had been opened. So then I needed to pack those. But at least I had them. It was nice out and the kids got to run around while I loaded the car. We were off by 10:00, stopped in town to check messages, then got gas and went to the airport, returned the car keys, and went to the gate. There's only one gate so that was pretty easy. All the flights were delayed a little because of a strong headwind on the way to Uluru, but that meant we had a tailwind on the way east so we weren't that late. We had our packed lunch at the airport and the kids were fine on the plane. The difficulty began when the bags were delayed coming off the plane and were on a different carousel than announced. We found them, but by the time we got a taxi it was too late to go to the drive-thru PCR place that closes at 6:00, so we had to go to the 24-hour one at the international terminal. The taxi driver agreed to wait and circle with our bags in the car. We arranged a spot for meeting if he was circling when we got back. The pre-testing registration was all electronic and it kept glitching, so that took a while, with no place to set anything down and three passports, a phone, and a wallet to juggle. The kids were pretty good waiting, but S freaked out over the swab. I had to hold him, then he was mad and headbutted me right in the nose really hard. I actually saw stars for a minute. While I was still trying to compose myself and him the airport traffic police came up and hassled me about how long the taxi was waiting. That put me over the edge and I cried. The police got nicer and walked us back to the taxi. We then got the taxi to our hotel, but of course the meter ran all that time and it was about AD $80, plus $150 for the PCRs. I chose a cheap hotel. It was ok, but there's no parking lot and it's on a highway so the driver had to park on the sidewalk. Finally we got to the room. I let S have it. He cried in the bathroom. I ordered a pizza. I wasn't encouraged by this sign.

The walls are super thin and I can definitely hear the TV next door, so I'm sure everyone heard the tantrum. Finally, he settled down. The kids showered and put on clean clothes for tomorrow. I had asked for the pizza to be left at the door and grabbed a ten-minute shower myself, but the driver left it at the reception desk and by the time we figured it out it was cold. We ate, the kids did journal writing and screen time, I filled out health declarations for New Zealand, then at last everyone was asleep.

Monday started as rough as Sunday ended, but improved. I think Sydney is my least favorite spot in Australia. We managed to drag all our bags out on the street. I had ordered a taxi the night before, but I was really worried he'd take one look at us and all the bags and drive on, because of the difficulty in stopping long enough for us to load. He came right at 7:00 and we made it to the airport just fine. I used up my last Australian cash paying him, which was the plan, but then the card reader on the cart machine wasn't working. So I had to station each kid in a spot and ferry the bags between them to the end of the line which was extremely long. Then drag everything back the way we came as we progressed through the line. Finally we got to check in, but you have to try self check in before you can get help. It didn't work, probably kept timing out because again I was juggling too many pieces. Once that was done we had to clear security and so we got to our far end of the hall gate just at the scheduled boarding time. Boarding was delayed, ultimately about an hour, that would have been nice actually, but they kept telling us boarding would begin "shortly," so we couldn't leave to go to the bathroom or get breakfast because everything was so far. The kids were really good for all of this. I had snacks packed as usual and we were ok, but it was annoying. Once we boarded, though, everything went smoothly. The flight was fine. We did school work and had lunch, and then we were in New Zealand. Immigration and customs were pretty easy and then there was J waiting for us. We were so glad to see him. We got the car, went to the grocery, and eventually found our house. It's an hour drive and way in the middle of nowhere, and Google led us astray. I was sure it will be beautiful in the daylight. The house is one of the nicest we've stayed in, actually if the other one hadn't burned and we hadn't been offered this one at the same price we never would have been able to afford it. We had our usual late arrival pasta dinner, showered, and now everyone is tucked in with hot water bottles. We had some hard times the past couple weeks, as well as some fun, but that just makes being back together so sweet, and a gorgeous historic house is icing on the cake.

Waking up Tuesday we could see just how lucky we really are. We're in the Southern Alps, on a farm, by a mountain lake. It's breathtaking. It's cool and rainy, but the house is cozy.

There are hiking trails around. Rain and snow are in the forecast, but so far there seem to be clear periods each day and since the trails are right here we can just go right out whenever we get a break from the rain. We may not do much else for the next couple weeks, but being together in a beautiful place is enough.

The one issue we have is that, because the house wasn't booked for this time period, they had some work done in the laundry room and the washer is out of commission. So Thursday we took a drive into town to find a laundromat, a pharmacy, and pick up a few things we forgot at the store. Not very exciting activities but the drive was beautiful.

Friday was a nice, sunny morning, though cold. I'm back in the habit of morning walks.