Week 1 - Here we go again – Although only the Reader’s Digest Version

I'm going to keep it all brief from now on. I've been reminded that some people don't want to read about 500 words a day of things haven't changed. I'll only manage a couple entries a week if I am lucky at the moment.

It was great to see all in the UK and after some hard work, a lot of drink, and a couple very impressing leaving BBQ's, we as a family packed our remaining belongings into a little hire car and trundled off to Devon to have a week of fond farewells with our families. (When I say little, I mean little by anyone's standards.) "How Small" I hear you ask? Well, I've think that I've seen bigger toy cars.

We got to Devon in our Noddy car, and promptly swapped it for something more David sized. We spent some quality time with Joyce and Roy, and was surprised that Daisy really wasn't to bothered about leaving Telscombe...almost like the people we left behind are more upset than we were.

Saturday brought us to Coalville, to be reunited with our remaining luggage (It had travelled to Coalville separately). We redistributed all our belongings that hadn't found their way onto the ship (a lot of things were sent even though we weren't expecting them to be – Do you think our library books will be overdue when they arrive in Perth in 6 weeks?). We were very conscious of the total weight of the suitcases and were very keen to avoid any excess baggage charges.

Tuesday morning took us to the airport, and with a little sorrow and anxiety, we bid farewell to the UK. Even though we took a lot of care over the total weight of the suitcases, we were overweight by about 19kgs, and the man wanted to charge us £600. I thought he wanted us to buy another ticket for him to come to Perth with us, and I politely refused to let him join our party. After the purchase of another piece of hand luggage (£25) and some hasty repacking of the offending suitcase Mum (who had come to see us off, thankfully) acquired a couple towels and a suitcase, and we took all our stuff with us. A lot better than £600
I think!

We were met at the airport by Jamie (his wife, Julie, sent us a bag of groceries – milk, juice, bread, cereal – everything needed for the next morning), and he chauffeured us to the apartment. The first couple days went by with a whirl, and the nights (jet lag and 5 baby teeth cutting through at the same time) were another story. At one point on night everyone was snoring in our bed, so Jane and I sneaked into Daisy's room, and climbed into her bed. An hour of uninterrupted sleep was bliss, but then Annaliese woke, and so we brought her into Daisy's room. It wasn't more than 30 minutes before a little voice woke us "I'm all alone", and then Daisy took me for a trampoline. Musical beds did go on for about a week, but is settled down now.

Besides that it's been parks, picnics, and playgrounds. Today we spent the afternoon as a lot of other families did. We had a lunch time BBQ Picnic in a playground, and then walked around the park admiring the views, rolling down hills, climbing in play areas, and playing Duck, Duck, Goose (Daisy and Me) for about 4 hours, and got home about 6 with two very tired Princesses.

That's about the long and short of it. I'll let you know about work next week.