Flying the friendly skies?

Natalie and I are at the airport waiting for our flight.

We are flying with United Airlines. I have been flying with them for several years and am a member of their frequent flyer program. I know that for many years United's motto has been 'fly the friendly skies' but based on our experience this morning that has been firmly booted into oblivion.

Firstly, we HAD to use self service check-in. This was tedious and hardly the efficient service they make it out to be. They asked for info we had ALREADY provided.

Next was the bag drop. One of my bags was 3kg over their limit of 23kgs. But my other bag was 3kgs under. Instead of recognising this averaged out to the correct weight we had to rearrange things in my bag. The alternative was to be charged for the excessive weight. Crazy! Especially when you consider Natalie weighs between one third and one half of the average American. I am hoping that United prove to be more friendly between here and Sydney.

This is London calling

Well, we have made it, almost.

Today has been the final day of our stay in the UK.

Natalie and I have been packing and tidying up in preparation to move out of our place in London and hop on the plane tomorrow morning.

Packing and tidying up isn't a big headache. The biggest problem we have faced is trying make sure our bags are under weight for the trip home. Even though we are going via the USA and therefore allowed to take 2 checked items weighing 23kgs each, we have filled that very quickly! It is a drama. Actually getting things disconnected and final bills sorted out has been slightly painful but no worse than expected.

But what an adventure! Next stop, Lincoln, Nebraska, where the weather is very warm - mid 30s!

There are going to be aspects of life over here that we miss but we are both very much looking forward to returning home to our family and friends in Australia.

And so we say to this old land, "Toodle-ooh!... Au revoir!... Auf Wiedersehen!... Ciao!"

Going out on top

Last Saturday saw my last game of cricket here in the UK. What a difference it was compared to my first game.

We won the toss and batted on a pitch which the locals said was a little unpredictable but looked pretty tame. The opposition bowling was, for the most part, lacklustre and we made 5 for 294, declared after 35 overs. I was lucky enough to be at the crease when a good friend of mine scored his 100. That was memorable. I fell a little short of 50, making 43. My season has finished with 212 runs at an average of about 30.

We made early breakthroughs in the opposition innings, including a run-out whereby I hit the base of leg stump from a throw from a deepish square leg. My view was obscured by the square leg umpire and so I wondered why my team mates were so excited.

I also picked up a second run out mid-way through the innings. By that time the opposition were playing for a draw. Very boring but we were slowly making progress.

Finally, with just a few overs remaining and two wickets to get I took a catch at a shortish square leg. Our spinner had bowled a loosish ball which the batsman pulled well to go past me. I got my hand to it but it ballooned up forcing me to take a diving catch to recover.

In the end we got their skipper who hand fought most of the afternoon for the draw.

Probably my finest effort in the field over here and I am really pleased as I have had some rubbish form in the fielding while over here but know what I am capable of.

The countdown is on!

The preparation for our London departure is well and truly on.

We have sold our car, along with numerous other items: the TV, DVD player, coffee maker, pots and pans, amongst other things.

We had a BBQ with some friends yesterday as well. The rain held off for most of the day and we even got a round of golf in before dark.

While we have been slowly cleaning the house one of the biggest jobs has been undertaken today: carpet cleaning. We hired a machine and walked it home about a mile from the shop.

There is something to be said about people who put light-coloured carpet in rental properties: dork!

But the job is going well and the carpet is drying nicely.

In three days time we'll almost be in America and on our way home.

An Alpine Hike

When Natalie and I were in Zermatt last month we did a hike one day up the lower reaches of the Matterhorn mountain. The Hike, which you can see at the Zermatt website (trail 29 up - yellow and red - and trail 28 - pink- down) saw us travel from the altitude of Zermatt of 1,620 metres to Schwarzee Paradise at 2,583 metres.

We went up via the small villages of Zmutt and Stafelalp and then came down via Furi. Below are various photos we took throughout the hike.

Much of our hike, as you will see, was above the tree line and we had to work our way through several hundred metres of unmelted snow just before we got to the top of our hike - Schwarzee Paradise.

During much of hike we saw few other people because the ski runs were closed and the cable car up to Schwarzee Paradise was closed.


That way!: Finding our way through Zmutt, a small village just up the hill from Zermatt.


Village life: Little ski villages such as Stafelalp are tucked away and you come across them very quickly on your hikes.


Flowers: With the weather being warm it prompted the flora to bloom and we saw all sorts of interesting flowers during our hike.


More flowers: High up, above the tree-line we came across this waxy, white flower, Lots of them! It's not Edelweiss though.


Lunch with a view: It was a great place to have lunch. We could have been the only people in the world at that stage. We had seen one other couple just before we stopped for lunch. They had turned around before they got to Schwarzee Paradise because of the snow.


Sheep: We started our trip down from Schwarzee Paradise and almost immediately came across these sheep roaming the side of the hill.


Streaming: Hiking up and down the lower parts of the Matterhorn we were able to collect drinking water from streams such as this one, caused by the melting snow.