Haggis - and a Highland Haar

Once again "Cattle Class" with Emirates proved to be quite acceptable. I was rather worried as my friend Douglas recently returned from a trip to Australia with Emirates and informed me that, although drinks were served with meals, that was it. I'm glad to report that this was totally wrong and he should have just asked - a wide range of alcoholic drinks were available free of charge throughout the flight. In fact I had to forego my final meal otherwise I wouldn't have managed the last few beers.

Due to the Dubai rainstorm my flight from Glasgow was late and I only just managed to make the transfer between terminals to catch my flight to Sydney - on the plus side there were no queues and I just managed to squeeze onto the flight with minutes to spare before take off. The only other event of note was a passenger a couple of seats behind started to choke thus causing some consternation amongst the Emirates staff. However a woman in the seat behind me obviously had some medical training and managed to sort things out with out any fatalities.

Sandra and her sister Johann were there at the airport to greet me and by around midnight we were opening a bottle of champagne that had been kept for me since Christmas.



A Highland Haar descending upon a deserted Coogee Beach

Have you noticed that weather forecasts are becoming more accurate. Sandra had already advised me that, after weeks of fabulous weather, rain was forecast for my arrival - and sure enough .......by the time we had driven to Coogee Beach for a walk on Tuesday morning the rain had arrived. Grey skies and a heavy drizzle - a real Scottish haar - was keeping people away from the beach in their droves - and remember this is high summer. As the rain got heavier we made a beeline for the car getting drookit in the process.

A drowned rat - but still smiling

Our trip to Coogee was not only to take in the fresh air - we were also on the lookout for haggis for a rather belated Burns Supper Johann is hosting on Saturday for a group of mainly ex-pat Scots. A small butchers shop, run by a Fifer who had left home 32 years ago but still had a Methil accent you could cut with a knife, was doing a roaring trade turning out haggis for discerning Sydneysiders. Two large examples were duly bought but we managed to resist the range of other Scottish "delicacies" on display such as Irn-Bru and bars of Highland Toffee. As I posed for the haggis photo a comment was made that suggested I was holding a pair of very substantial breast implants!

A lovely pair

Wednesday - enough of recuperating from jetlag, it's time to go to work. Steven our son is in the process of buying a house and there is a big renovation and decorating job about to get underway. Trips to Bunnings (the Australian version of B & Q) and IKEA are going to loom large over the next few days - I can't wait, it will be just like being at home.