Chinese New Year 2010 {Brisbane Child Photographer}

The last time I celebrated Chinese New Year with my family was back in January 2003.  So yes, I was way long overdue for another proper celebration with my family as the last time we were back, it wasn’t Chinese New Year.

It was good to see family and friends but the journey there and back were not something I would want to repeat anytime soon!  I wish we could skipped the journey and just “blinked” ourselves there!

After an 8 hour flight (red eye) we arrived a bit excited and couldn’t wait to get into our rented car and drive the 4 hour drive to my parents’ house.  Alas, the car rental counter was not opened yet so we had to wait for about an hour which was not too bad since it gave us time to have breakfast.  Finally we got into our rental car only to find that we could not locate the “handbrake”!  That Toyota Camry must be some new model that we have not seen in Brisbane yet because the “handbrake” turned out to be a foot pedal!  I actually ran back into the terminal to find the guy who drove the car to us but by then my hubby had located the foot pedal!  Anyway, off we went in anticipation of a quick trip home.  It went well from the airport until we got to the city.  So for about 45 mins things went smoothly then all hell broke loose…

The 4 hour drive that should have happened turned into a nightmarish 7 hour drive!!!  To say I was cranky was an understatement.  Bear in mind we had been on board a plane throughout the night for about 8 hours already.  Thankfully the girls slept a fair bit but my older one threw up a few times   My poor baby!  The younger was getting antsy.  Can you blame her?

The weather was awfully hot and stifling.  Every rest-stop along the highway was packed to the hilt!  There was absolutely no place to park the car.  The toilet queues were miles long…  The heat was unbearable.  I was in jeans, wishing I could just strip off my clothes!

It took us 3.5 hours to travel approximately 163km which meant an average of 46 km/hour!  Finally after about 4 hours, we managed to get up to the speed of 110km which was the speed limit of the highway.  I could have kissed the ground when we finally arrived at my parents’ house.  To say we were exhausted was an understatement…  Just thinking about it and writing this down now is exhausting!

Anyway, we made it home in time for the all important Chinese New Year Eve Reunion Dinner.  I had great plans for documenting our trip home this time but that 7 hour drive from hell just sucked all my energy and drained me dry!  The weather throughout the whole trip sealed the deal.  I just could not stand the heat and felt lethargic all the time.  The camera did not get the work out it deserved.  On my 5th day home I fell ill.  Had stomach ache which kept me up the whole night with trips to the toilet and an achy body the next day.  A couple of days later my hubby fell ill too.  Thankfully the girls were fine!

Anyway,  here are some photos that I managed to take.  Will continue tomorrow with the rest of our trip.

Finally we arrived and I can take my shoes off!

Waiting to board the plane

Chinese New Year Eve Reunion Dinner

Chinese New Year Eve Reunion Dinner