h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Packing like fury at the minute as we head back to The Gambia tomorrow for the official opening of Calums Road! Tis very exciting to be seeing the year out at the culmination of a project that we were involved in right at the start of the year - the snowy weather is even echoing the conditions that existed way back in January.

The flights are via Gatwick so there's been a bit of nail biting earlier in the week as that airport was closed for 3 days - it's now reopened but I know the backlog of cancelled flights can mean disruption lasts for several days - all the planes and air crew are in the wrong places, plus 3 days worth of disgruntled passengers have to finish their journies. But we're flying from Belfast on Sunday evening, and the Gatwick-Banjul leg is Monday morning - both those days we have hotels booked so even if there's a few hours delay it won't completely scupper our plans.

I did almost have a stand up row in Boots this afternoon as I was trying to stock up on anti-mozzie spray, after-sun and bite cream, when the assistant told me that they had to put all their holiday products away during the Christmas period.

And I have a party tonight - all my lovely Trilogy ladies (or Trilogettes, as we style ourselves. Not Troglodytes.) are having a pot luck supper! So I must go now and get the oven on and start peeling and chopping my butternut squash, sweet potato and parsnips for my Roasted Roots with Rosemary and Haloumi

Enjoy the trip! It'll be a bit warmer in the Gambia than here, I take it.

Good luck - have a nice trip!

(I thought you said you were dining with trilobites there. )

Have a great trip!

~ wishes for safe and timely travels ~

Well, they cancelled the Sunday night flight to Gatwick!

Not, helpfully, at its scheduled etd of 17.35, which might have left us time to come up with another means of getting to LGW. No, firstly they delayed the take off to 18.10. Then they boarded us and our luggage. THEN they told us that there was a problem with the weather at Gatwick, and they'd keep an eye on it and get report back in 20 minutes.

An hour and a half later, surprise surprise the weather was no better at Gatwick....so they cancelled the flight. Our Banjul flight was at 7.30 am the next day - no flight leaving Belfast in the morning would have got us there in time.

We looked at each other. "Do we have a Plan B?" I said.

Rog went to reclaim out bags, I joined the queue for refund/ rebook, and used my iPhone to check on any other flights leaving to any London airport that evening. There was an EasyJet flight leaving in 40 minutes. To Luton. I bought the last 2 seats on it (at an extortionate price of course), and Rog put out an appeal on Facebook for advice on getting from there to Gatwick.

When we landed, he found 2 messages from biker friends offering to give us a lift between the 2 airports, which considering it was 11 pm on a freezing cold Sunday night, was a favour of magnanimous proportions indeed. We finally got to our hotel at 1 am - so much for the relaxed evening and nice meal we'd promised ourselves!

But we made it

I was wondering what you were doing in Luton!

Glad you got there safely in the end. Have a good trip.

She's back!

The return leg's always the worst!

You'll just have to re-schedule the nice relaxed dinner.