Home Again

Well it has been a season for travelling... New York in November and England for Christmas and New Year.

The latter was pretty spectacular too. There is a part of Surrey that has become the new Sharm... several of our instructor friends and colleagues seem to have found themselves pitched up there and this year, they decided to host a New Year's Eve party. So this was to be the venue for our celebrations too. Even friends now living in Holland were popping over for the event, and we were hoping for our good friend from "oop norf" was going to join us too. However her lovely new employer deemed it necessary for her to work on New Year's day. We wouldn't mind but they had offered all staff a choice... either work New Year or Christmas. She chose the former and they gave her the latter. Hmmm... how to keep employee morale nice and high eh?

Anyway, sadly missing our Northern lass, we did have a great night. Hosts Mork n Mindy had turned their home into a Vegas Casino, and the theme was to suit. So Hubbie and I turned up decked as Trailer Trash and Brit Chav. We were joined by Mr n Mrs Funky Town, Superman, a croupier, and several Casino ladies. Much fun was had, many drinks were drunk, Auld Lang Syne was sung, and whilst money put on the table was kept to a minimum... we even won the pot!!

And now we are back home.

The flight, incredibly, flew by... pardon the pun. Thanks to my fully stocked Kindle and a great iphone scrabble game, Oh... and an incredibly strong tailwind we were here in no time. In fact it only took four and a quarter hours to get here, as opposed to a possible five. We were also entertained by a rather loud diver sitting behind us bragging about his dives, abilities and habit of ignoring the local rules and dive guides... Hmmmm Does any other type of sport attract this kind of know it all? I just hope this particular chap doesn't turn up on my boat some time this week. Funnily enough though, he appeared to be one of only a tiny handful of divers on the plane. In days of old, we would bump into a whole heap of our regular guests on the flight, or find ourselves sat next to the very people that would turn up for their Open Water Course the next day. How times have changed eh? Today, the plane was predominantly tourists looking for a little winter sun with about five divers thrown in for good measure.

Unfortunately the fantastic tail winds that brought us here so speedily, stayed and we had British gales battering us. I spent much of the evening watching the palm trees in our garden taking a complete hammering. Glad we didn't have to dive in that weather!

And at dawn this morning, we rose to beautiful peachy pink skies and sunshine once more. After the grey blanket that is the current UK sky, it was a welcome sight to see the blue once again... and a little sunshine too. It was lovely too, to take a look at our beautiful sea backed by the distant mountains.

On a more serious note, Sharm held its elections over the last couple of days, so we shall soon see who has won the final draw. It is looking like the Muslim Brotherhood are finally about to get their day in the spotlight, so let's hope that their currently fairly liberal views remain that way. After all, the revolution was all about fighting for freedom, not further oppression. My main concern is for the small Coptic community, however the Brotherhood do clearly state that they want all religions to live in harmony. So... here's hoping.

In the meantime... let's go diving! We have a day today to wash everything and get ourselves settled in. Then I have only one working day before the traditional visa run to El Tor on Sunday. Finally, they have agreed to renew our work permits, which is a huge relief to us all!! Woo Hoo! That really is a very good sign... and not just on a personal level.
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