Downing College and tricky journeys

After a rather emotionally draining visit to Johannesburg, Gavin’s trip took an unexpected turn last night. He boarded the plane more than ready to just go to sleep but after take off they discovered that the plane, a new A380, had a problem with its landing gear - it was stuck in the landing position and it was not safe to fly to London like that. They had to return to Johannesburg but the plane could not land until enough fuel has been jettisoned as it was too heavy to safely land. They circled and dropped fuel (where does it go to?) for a few hours until they were able to land. No food or drinks were served, it was noisy and bumpy, but the pilot assured them that they were safe. He paid for WiFi to contact me to let me know what was happening. After landing back in Johannesburg they fixed the landing gear and then had to refuel which took about 3 hours. They were then able to take off again, about 6 hours behind schedule. Gavin was due to land at Heathrow in the early hours of the morning and go straight to work as he had a busy day with back to back meetings, but they landed behind schedule and he only managed to get to the later meetings.  At least he was safe and able to get back home again. Many passengers had missed connecting fights and I think this was a costly problem for British Airways.

By comparison my journey to Cambridge was not as eventful! I walked Xena in the morning and then we drove off to Cambridge to go collect Thomas and pack up his room. It takes too long to go there and back for me to leave her at home by herself. I cannot believe that Tommy’s first term has already ended. He has enjoyed it enormously, the studies, the social life, and the rugby. He has come home tired but still has so much work to do over the holidays. That’s the thing about Cambridge University, the terms are very short at only 8 weeks long but you have to study during your holidays. 

However, he before he settles down to studying he is off on the annual varsity ski trip which is a joint Oxford - Cambridge ski trip where about 3000 students descend upon some small French ski resort - this year that poor town is Val Thorens! I worry as it is much partying and skiing, not a safe combination. They get some of the best DJ’s and singers performing for them all week. He leaves home at 4.30am tomorrow morning and has a week away skiing.

The journey to Cambridge usually takes 1 hour and 45 minutes from home, although going there was about 2 hours. I had planned to walk Xena around the college grounds while Tommy loaded up the car but as I took Xena out the car I was very quickly told off that dogs are not allowed in college. So poor Xena, on her half birthday (6 months today) had a really awful day spent mostly in the back of the car. Going home was a nightmare journey and it took 3.5 hours. We have just unloaded the car and I quickly made supper - I will catch up with journals tomorrow. 

This is a photo I took of the college, I liked the autumn leaves in the foreground.