Castaway returns home!

AND so it transpires, I am one of the lucky ones.

After exactly one week stranded on the beautiful island of Cyprus I made it home in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Unfortunately many people who spent the extra week with myself, my husband and three-year-old daughter at specialised accommodation weren't so fortunate. Many were sent back to their unhomely apartments in various parts of southern Cyprus after being told simply: "Your name isn't on the flight list."

The massive backlog of flights, move to bring stranded passengers home along with the running of other pre-booked flights was certainly a big test for the airlines and is going to continue to be right into next month. I can more than relate to the frustration that people who are STILL stranded in foreign countries feel.

The feeling of hopelessness and helplessness; the feeling that you are on your own in this volcanic ash crisis and the notion that sitting at your very own dinner table is a very far off reality.

We were transported to the small town of Protaras on Friday, April 16 at 6pm after we were told at Larnaca airport that our flight had been cancelled.

Apparently our EuroCypria plane was sitting on the runway, ready for take off, and we were told to be prepared for an early morning departure. On Saturday; nothing. Our rep simply says there's been no movement on the airspace closures and parts of Europe, where our flight path travels directly across, were still in lockdown.

Thank goodness that we were in accommodation with people in the same situation as us. Around 100 stranded people from Northern Ireland were staying at the Sweet Memories apartments along with our party.

We each in turn were checking the news on an almost hourly basis and by 1pm Saturday, after Ryanair and Easyjet announced they would not be flying to Monday afternoon, we realised we were in for the long haul.

People talked about making their own way back to mainland Europe via boat, train, bicycle...anything that didn't have wings.

Others contemplated the thought of being stuck on the island for weeks. Although the thought of spending a month on a mediterranean island would have had me smiling like a Cheshire cat back home, the reality when you are running low on cash as well as footing the bill for food, travel and daily essentials on an unexpected extendement to your holiday, wasn't so nice.

A family friend, who was also caught up in the flight chaos was lucky enough to have been placed in a four star luxury hotel, full board in Lanzarote, having went from a self-catering seven day holiday.

For us and the 100 other Belfast bound passengers we weren't so lucky and were told our tour operator did not legally have to provide us with accommodation, let alone food.

Monday comes and goes and the anguish of not knowing when exactly I will reach for the handle on our back door again is deepening. Test flights carried out in the UK show that the risk of the ash to plane engines was still very high and airspace closure times were once again extended.

So what do you do when you are waiting for a cloud of stubborn ash to move away from the UK? Well if I took in anymore of the beach I no doubt would've turned into a sea shell.

Don't get me wrong, I know we could've been stuck in worse places but continually checking the news for a glimmer of hope on your mobile phone doesn't really allow you the time to enjoy your 'extended' holiday.

On Tuesday as Northern Ireland and Scotland make some headway with short haul flights, news of a fresh ash cloud dampens everyone's hopes. Navy ships are sent to Spain to pick up stranded passengers and channel ports are reportedly jammed with people desperate to escape their holiday.

In Cyprus though we remain as clued up about getting back to Northern Ireland as we did on our way back from the airport on Friday.

As quick as it was closed airspace completely reopened on Wednesday to a thankful sigh fro me everyone at our apartments. We were informed in the evening our flight had been scheduled for 6.30pm on Friday.

Many people were angry with the thought of another two days as they lost out on another days pay from employment they were missing out on but many, like myself, were relieved to have eventually been given a definite date and time for a flight out of the small island.

The journey to the airport did not ease anyone's fears about the unexpected. Would a new ash cloud appear? Would there be problems with the flight? More importantly, would we all get on the flight?

Unfortunately some of those fears became a reality and a number of people were unable to get home that day because of problems with the flight list.

They face another week of waiting as currently only one EuroCypria flight flys from Larnaca to Belfast a week. After five and a half hours in the air we touched down in Belfast to a huge round of applause and an uncontainable excitement at being back on home soil.

Getting off the plane we were met by the cold and wet welcome we usually wake up to each morning; and a realisation that we would never take it for granted again.