We have safely reached home after a long overnight flight from Chennai via Kuala Lumpur.

On our last day Padma asked us what we missed most about home. The boys mentioned beef. They missed their all beef hamburgers and sirloin steaks. Every time we saw a cow on the road I could see them salivating with the thought of beef.

For me it was blue sky. We arrived in India at a time when the seasons were changing and as a result we had three weeks of haze. Or it could be that India is always hazy.

In Australia we have no shortage of beautiful blue sky. That beautiful sky was tainted with smoke though on our arrival. A massive bushfire is burning out of control about 20 kilometres to the north of us and has already destroyed as many as 30 homes. Not a nice welcome. Our neighbour who picked us up said yesterday they took their morning walk in smoke as the northerlies blew the smoke to our area. Fortunately when we arrived today a southerly had cleansed the area and I got to see the blue sky I yearned for.