Sunning ourselves in Queensland

Ha, ha, it hasn't stopped raining, well drizzling anyway, so much for beautiful one day, perfect the next.  All we can hope is that the 'perfect' part happens tomorrow for the outdoor wedding of our niece Bree at 2pm Saturday.

We have a lovely 8th floor unit overlooking the passage at Golden Beach near Caloundra and have done all the visiting family type jobs so now we are just relaxing with a red wine and a plate of cheese and biscuits, watching the kite surfers in the passage.

I have been frantically knitting trying to finish the jumper that I started a year ago for Toni, don't want to miss another winter and I think she will need it in wet and dreary Nimbin.

Only a couple of days to go ... have done a bit of shuffling of items in the backpacks, but generally we are happy with what we have packed.  Am waiting for the sleeping-in to happen, have been waking up at obscene hours of the early morn' for months with plans spinning in my head and I had hoped that would finish once we got here, unfortunately it hasn't happened yet but there is always tomorrow morning. You know me, the eternal optimist!

I will attach a photo of the view if the sky clears enough to take a decent shot......

The rain disappeared & we finished our time in Caloundra with a couple of lovely fine days.

Finished work....yeah!!

It is Good Friday and both Grant & I have finished work, now it is time to really get stuck into those last minute jobs.

The dining room table looks like a bomb has hit it, all the stuff is supposed to fit in our backpacks and our daypacks and to be honest I think we will be able to achieve that.  Once the new stuff came out of its wrappings and was repacked into ziplock bags or storage cubes it didn't look too intimidating, admittedly we haven't hit the wardrobe yet so there is still plenty to fit in, nothing important, just our clothes!  Travelling light has its good points, just have to chose a couple of favourite items that mix and match and we're done. Joggers & thongs/masseurs that completes the shoe department, few pair of undies and socks, a warm coat, some thermals and a scarf for me and beanie for Grant and that's it.  Nothing fancy but serviceable and above all else practical....sounds like me doesn't it?

What happened to the last three months?

Oh my goodness, what has happened to the time, the weeks have just flown by and it is down to the last few days.  I can honestly say I never thought we would ever get to the point where we counted in days!

Our time in southern England is organised, I think!  Our trip from Paris to Ashford International Station via Eurostar is still to be booked but I have the hire car organised and have arranged some couches to surf, there are so many truely lovely people in the world and we are looking forward to meeting some of them.

One of things I don't think we had really considered in the early days of the planning, is the cutting of ties with the life we have in Australia, our family, our friends, our home, our possessions - the things we have worked our whole life to achieve, this trip is a very big step and I expect there will be times of great homesickness over the year.  Missing the birth of our first grandchild will be heart-wrenching, thank goodness for Skype, at least we will be able to see her and watch her develop in those first months, just want to be home when she starts to walk, that would be nice.

Back to planning...with family members now choosing to live in our house while we are away, we no longer have such a massive packing up task ahead of us these last few weeks.  Toni will be home for Easter and she will help with the backpack packing decisions, having done almost 9 years on the road herself I am sure she will say 'get rid of half this junk Mum, you won't need it & you won't want to lug it round the world with you'.

Unbelievable, but it is my last day at work tomorrow and although I am sad to be leaving the lovely people I have shared the last two years with, I am excited by the prospects of what the year holds for us!