Well there I was among the throng of people at Sydney’s International Airport waiting at the Arrivals Hall. I had expected to be there a few days earlier to collect Basil, but in his usual fashion the recalcitrant code-writing donkey took a detour. Thankfully Ben managed to let me know that Basil wouldn’t be in as scheduled before I headed to the airport to pick him up. Last night though I was at the airport for another reason - to collect my parents from their 7 week trip to Europe.

Checking out the Arrivals information screens I noticed that it was going to be a busy night at the terminal. Mum & Dad’s Qantas flight from London via Singapore landed among a number of other flights – just 20 minutes after another Qantas flight, QF44 from Auckland. I had a funny feeling (you know the one that makes your stomach churn and your head start thinking). I knew (or I thought) that Basil was in Auckland. I knew (or I thought) that Ben was still working out a way to get Basil to Sydney. What I didn’t know was the fact that there would be 2 people (my parents), a donkey (you know who) and 4 trolleys of baggage (don’t ask) about to come through those arrival doors.

At the moment Basil is recovering from being up until the wee small hours drinking Bundaberg Rum (Basil wanted to know about the Polar Bear in the rum commericals he had seen in the inflight magazine) and asking my husband Ian about “this crazy football where you guys don’t wear any padding” (rugby league). I will catch you up on the rest of the story shortfly, when my tapping on the keyboard won’t wake the donkey.

Tags: australia, sydney, sydney international airport, travel, tourism, quantas, basil, where is basil