We have arrived home

What a long flight!

Almost 12 hours from Frankfurt, 4 hours in the airport at Kuala Lumpur and then another 8 hours to Sydney. We arrived in Sydney Tuesday night, minus my luggage. Everyone else's arrived except mine. Never fails...no clothes to change into.

We stayed the night in Sydney and then had flights the following morning back to Melbourne (for Lisa and I). We were to leave at 10:30 a.m. but unfortunately after sitting on the plane at the terminal for an hour were asked to get off as there was a problem with the hydrolics. We finally were put on a plane at 12 and headed home. Still minus my luggage!

It finally arrived on Thursday night at my house, but wouldn't have if I hadn't constantly called not only Sydney airport but also Melbourne. My mind boggles to think what they spend on lost luggage and getting it delivered to people. But at least when it arrived it was intact and all the things that I had purchased were still there.

I have had almost a week now to reflect on our race and I have realised that we did a damn fine job! I have also had so many people email me and call me and I think it is summed up perfectly by my sister who emailed me and said "I want you to know how many people you have inspired once again on this journey. It doesn't matter what the destination. It matters about the journey and your courage, hope, and enthusiasm during this one swept away so many people and is something that will be with us forever. This is true success, not how you placed. You brought us up so high with important lessons that you could never let us down." Thank you Cindy, this comment put things in perspective.

I think that it is important to have a goal and the hardest thing to come to terms with after our race was "what do we do now". We have all been invited to a National camp the first week of June, so I think it is important to know what I want out of this sport for the future. I can't look 4 years down the track right now because I don't know if my body will hold out. So I have decided that I will look at my long term goal as the World Championships next year and my short term as being the best club person as possible. Supporting my home club of Yarra Yarra RC and taking part in crews for them in the coming season.

I will continue this blog over the coming months just to keep track of my progress but for now I just want to thank everyone who has supported me over the last year and a half. Without all of your support I would not have been able to accomplish what I have. It has certainly been a hell of a ride and I look forward to even more!

An official photo from the World Cup in Munich, this was at the finish. You can just see the tail end of the Chinese boat, but you can see how close it was for 2nd, 3th and 4th!