Got up at 03:00 (yes, 03:00, I thought I was on holiday) to pick Song up from the airport, my brother Pete also getting up to drive because I’m not insured for the cars. Also, he knows the way and it’s just as well.
A storm came through overnight and the conditions were really bad – dark, raining heavily and stong winds all the way down. Got on to the M25 and saw a sign that said it was partially closed, and a few minutes later we hit a tailback of trucks that wasn’t moving. After about 5 minutes it started to move but we were diverted off and my brother had to navigate around the back roads to bypass the closure and rejoin the main road. All the time I was checking the flight to see where it was and it was going to be close.
Fortunately we got there just after the plane landed and had about a 30 minute wait while Song cleared immigration and customs. She said the immigration officer asked her about 20 questions because she didn’t know where she was staying because she was being picked up. He asked her what she did in Australia, why was she only staying 2 days in England, what work did I do, where was she going after England, who was left at home and so on. He just might have been bored and wanted someone to talk to.
The drive back was uneventful, although the weather was still bad and the Orwell bridge was closed so we had to go the long way round.
Song didn’t sleep we were meeting the rest of the family again before my older brother and his wife and daughter had to drive back to Scotland – an 8-9 hour drive.
Went back and both of us slept for a couple of hours, then out to dinner. Song had sausages, I had lamb. My lamb was under cooked for my liking. I also had chocolate ice cream.
Tomorrow we’re heading up to London and staying overnight. We fly to Iceland at 13:00ish Wednesday but didn’t want to worry about getting from Ipswich to Gatwick in the morning.