Just a quick update to those that might not know. Mum and Dad have arrived in Egypt and they say that the pyramids are magic! They expect to update the site when they hit the UK. Until then, here’s a picture of Gypsy missing them both! She’s been moping around the house, but we’re going to get Xena to come over and keep her company!
Gypsy is actually behaving herself really well, and is coping better than I expected!
Well, only 2 more days until we leave. The house is ready for Matt and Melissa to move in (I hope), all the packing is done apart from a couple of last minute bits and pieces, we’ve got all our paperwork sorted, and last minute shopping is done.
I finished work last Thursday – it seems really strange when I think that it will be 6 months before I’m due to go back, however, I’m sure I’ll get used to it. I got the person I wanted to replace me, and I know Lesa will do a brilliant job and that the other girls at work will give her heaps of support. I must admit, while I won’t really miss work, I will miss all my friends there, but I know they will send me emails and keep me up to date with all the news (won’t you girls??).
We had farewell drinks with family and friends on Saturday and it was a great night. We went to O’Sullivan’s, an Irish pub in Essendon where we had booked one of the private areas (aptly called Maggie’s Parlour). People came and went from 3pm onwards, and we finished up about midnight. The first few hours were fairly quiet and laid back with our group making most of the noise. Then, about 9pm the band came in and started setting up, and by 10ish you could hardly move in the place! Here’s a few shots taken on the night.
Unfortunately some of the photos couldn’t be used, since someone put a lovely big fingerprint right on the camera lens. Now, this wouldn’t have been a problem if the photos came out with a lovely soft focus sort of look, where we all looked really sexy, instead these ones came out really blurry and everyone just looked pissed! Or maybe that’s the way it was! I know David gave the guiness a good nudge. Said he needed to get a good taste of it for a fair comparison while we are in Ireland. I guess that also means we’ll be testing buckets of the stuff whilst we’re there, just to be sure, to be sure!
Only 2 more weeks now! It has gone so quickly. I guess partly because we’ve been so busy finalising everything for the trip and organising room in the house for Matthew and Melissa to move in. We’ve got our tickets and are just waiting on the paperwork for the car we’ve booked in Europe, so nearly there. Just a little bit of shopping to do – and that is mainly to put together a care package for Naomi, our niece who lives in London, and whom we’ll be staying with while we are there. This will consist mainly of vegemite, life savers, minties, etc. – the really important stuff! While vegemite is available in London, I believe it’s very expensive, so a couple of (large) jars will find their way into the suitcase (plus a tube for us of course, after all we’ll need some to have with all that lovely French and Italian bread we’re planning on eating while we’re away). Mmmmm, toast and vegemite!
Because the last weekend before we leave is Easter, and a lot of our friends will be tied up with their own families, we’ve organised to catch up with family and friends this coming Saturday at a local Irish pub – this will also give us the chance to do a final taste test on the Guiness and whiskey before we go to Ireland. Purely for research and comparison purposes of course!
Working out the best way to manage our finances while travelling took a bit of thought, but after some research we’ve decided that our credit cards and a Travelex Cash Passport for access to cash is the best solution for us. The cash passport is reloadable via our internet banking, and since we’ll have the laptop with us it should work out ok. The Cash Passport website also allows easy tracking of spending. The downside of the card is the heavy transaction fee for an ATM withdrawal, but if we’re careful we should be able to keep this to a minimum.
Now that the trip part is just about organised, I’m concentrating on finalising everything at work. Since I’ll be on leave for the 6 months, I’ve had to organise for someone to fill in for me and hopefully this will all be finalised this week. Providing I get the person I want, I’ll be able to go away knowing everything will go smoothly in the office (and that I won’t come back to a real mess!)
Only 7 more work days!
Only 4 weeks to go! And with public holidays and Easter, only 15 more work days! Now it’s starting to seem real.
The trip arrangements have all gone according to plan – plane tickets, visa’s, travel insurance, tour in Egypt, accommodation booked in key areas, beds organised with relatives, car’s organised. Everything working out well. We’ve already had dealings with great people in France and Tuscany – they have made it really easy organising things from the other side of the world! I’m looking forward to meeting them face to face.
David will be picking up the tickets on Friday.