England

And so to England. We reached Manchester with the dawn and looked out of the cabin into the grey morning cloud. After 15 minutes circling in a stack we made our landing and giddily I said goodbye to the beautiful Singapore cabin crew, the elegant young women in full length national dress and the young men in the smartest of suits.

For Pete, the rain was depressing but to me it was a refreshing blessing after the oppressive Singapore heat. By the time I had dropped him off over Birmingham way and set course for Sheffield there was sunshine, blue sky and white fluffy clouds. Just as the sky should be.

My journey has been, like every good day of my life, a fascinating lesson. Australia seems a long way away because it is. It is half a world way. We are lucky to have long evenings here so before I went to sleep I cut the overgrown lawn and then walked to the top of my hill to ook out over the city and then back through the woodland of oak, beech and birch. Today when I stepped into my tiny garden and felt the soft English grass and rich dark soil I could see it as the wealth I learned about when I was a child.

Our rain is the water of life. We are a rich nation despite the deficit. I am filled with respect for the Aboriginal people who hollowed tanks in the cliff top rocks to catch the rain and collected dew from the trees. The Singapore water is imported from Malaysia and they are experimenting to introduce 100% reclaimed and intensively purified "New Water".

We may have a colder climate but we have had so many resources that it is easy to take for granted and now I can better appreciate the struggle of the early Australian settlers to make peace with such an alien landscape and the hardship endured by the forced labourers transported for such trivial crimes. I am amazed by the vision of the entrepreneurs and engineers who have created the thriving commercial cities of both Sydney and Singapore and in awe of the resilience of those who earn their living from the land. Those who live there have earned and enjoy a good life.

But I am made for the wind and the rain, I have a fair skin specially for grey skies. I was ready to go away, sad to leave my friends but I am happy to be home. There is much to be glad about here, especially my family and my friends.

Signing off now - 2.45am in Sheffield, 1.45am in Munich, 7.45pm in Singapore and 5.45pm in Brisbane. Over and out.