After a 15 hour+ journey, it was nice to be met by friendly faces at Newcastle Airport as Lucy's Mum & Dad came to pick me up... treated me to a nice lunch and introduced me to the new dog - Rosie!1st stop was home to see my brother and sister, and Spot! And then on to my Mum's place in Castleford, to see her and fiancee - Dave. Can't believe it's 2 years since I was last home. Had a lovely time visiting various sights around Castleford... ate far too much...and also had one or two local beers. Seems that there is a LOT of places offering 2 for 1 meals at the moment...not sure whether that is a sign of the recession, or just the way that things are heading generally? Shame near enough everything comes with chips!
Back home for a couple of days - visited the crematorium to pay respects to my grandad, then watched 'Traitor' at the cinema with my sister (decent movie - we were the only ones in the cinema!) before visiting my Nan in the home. She has really aged in the intervening 2 years... and memory is proving difficult - at various times she thought I was her nephew, her husband, her son, and her grandson. 
The following day we went for a drive - Castleton (where my Grandad is from) was the 1st stop, a lovely little village in the North Yorks Moors... followed by a couple of hours in Whitby (excellent fish and chips, and a walk up to the Abbey - there really is 199 steps!)... almost had an accident on the way to Robin Hoods Bay (where we couldn't see anything anyway!) and then finished up at Roseberry Topping. Weather wasn't great by the coast, but as soon as we came inland a little, it was a truly gorgeous day, and the Topping looked as wonderful as ever.
Saturday I headed to the park with our niece and nephews... it's amazing how much they have grown up in the 2 years I have been away... took some lovely photos - they seemed to have a nice time. On the evening I headed to a friends house for beers, and a 'colliery' night out in Easington... some decent live music in the Mason's Arms, then a bar brawl in the Village... before back to the house for more beers... a 6am finish meant I was feeling more than a little ropey on the Sunday! Fortunately, an afternoon snooze meant that I was full recuperated in time for a dinner with Lucy's Auntie Pam, Uncle Paul and Mam & Dad... lovely food... but huge portions! I had haddock rarebit for starter, followed by the largest steak and kidney pudding I have ever seen! Almost had to be rolled back to the car...
Now it's time to pack up my belongings...again... say my goodbyes... give Spot a last stroke (I'm probably going to miss him the most!) and head down to London. Have enjoyed been home, but I'm pleased to be moving on, and more assured that Lucy & I have made the right decision in deciding to stay in Australia.
