London one-way!

This does actually refer to the stage musical Dirty Dancing, as my pathetic attempts to dirty dance would probably find me on the ground in the dirt rather than in some sexy pose! But more to that later…

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Today we did the sight-seeing thing and hopped on the big bus tour, we went from the London Eye (which we still haven’t been on because it was hot but cloudy today) through Fleet Street and the commerce business part of town, across the London Bridge and back across the Tower Bridge, which are apparantly different bridges but every time an outsider talks about “London Bridge” the fancy one with the towers they actually mean “Tower Bridge”. Meh.

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So apart from being in the middle of nowhere, 1/2km walk from the closest tube station, and oh yeah, the lift isn’t working so we had to lug our suitcases and packs up 3 flights of stairs, mind you, when we were coming down the YHA guy was carrying some blonde European’s suitcase up the stairs for her. Bitch. Of course, Aussie chicks can just handle these situations better, we all know that.

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Well we arrived in London safely after 25 hours of pure unadulterated HELL! I’m so glad we don’t have to do that flight again for a long time, as Lija and I were saying, on the way home we will holiday every chance we get to break up the flight time!

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Hey everyone, well it’s 10.38pm and Lija and I have got through customs and security and our flight status says RELAX – I’ve never liked a better request! Dramas at check-in with my luggage supposedly over 5 kgs so there i am trying to chuck stuff out into spare bags that mum brought for that reason – even though our bethroom scales said it was under! Eeeek! No probs to us but parental units flipping out. Lija and I couldn’t walk through the gates without a few tears and grasping each others hands for support. Welcome to the start of a new life, we’ll catch you on the flip side 🙂 until our next posting, 24 hours later and hopefully in a London hotel sleeping off the jetlag BUH BYE XOXOXO

 Departing Australia…..zooooooom

On Saturday night I had the best going away party ever! Clare and Sam organised it, going out to dinner at Sofias in Wheelers Hill, then up to this dingy bar called the Scarab Beetle (which actually turned out to be really fun) and where else would you end such a night but at the 24-hour Pancake Parlour in Doncaster. I have to say thanks heaps to Laura and Stef, the designated drivers for the night! I had an absolute blast! Thanks so much Clare and Sam! Love yous heaps!

Stef, Carly and Rob came for dinner, and the rest of us all went out after, Clare and Sam, Grant and I, Michael and Laura, Stef and Brenna, and Chloe joined us at the PP.

I thought all the festivities were over and it was back to work this week, minus the crutches, but Bel was adament yesterday to fill my last Olivia shadowing shift with “behavioural strategies” for the new carer down at Interchange at 4.30, no earlier. Little did I know, waiting in the training room were all the Flexicare and Rec girls and four of my favourite families – they had organised a surprise going-away party for me!!!

Thanks so much guys, I love my little beanie teddy (believe it or not it’s the first one I’ve ever received!!!) and his bandaged ankle was just oh so cute! I don’t know why but when I wrote that the name Phillip came into my head, so he will now be known as Phil. And to Cathy and Ashley and Michael, (and I wish Martin could have been there too – but for a Grade 5er he prolly had many more important things to be doing like practicing his English!) thankyou for the gorgeous travel diary which I’ve decided to use on my travels out of London (especially can’t wait to take on Greece :-)). And to Dominique and Chantelle for the gorgeous cuddlebuddy, that if I could have had my way I would’ve just taken Chantelle’s with me, although she personalised mine with a lovely mouthmark – I wouldn’t have it any other way! And Lauren please tell Jordi not to give away any more of my secrets such as what I do when I drive the buses 🙂 he gives a great hug though! More than the gifts I have to say the words in all your cards were so sweet and kind, and I can’t imagine my life without Interchange and the positive impact that all of you, families and friends, have had on my life.

I’m sitting in front of my computer right now and I have no idea what to say.

It’s exactly two weeks before I leave, 14 days, and I have such a rush of emotions surging through me that I don’t know where to begin. I’m going to miss you all so much.

It’s ANZAC Day today. I was looking forward to a 7 hour time-and-a-half shift with one of my favourite girls, but alas, I’m stuck at home on the couch. Yesterday I rolled my ankle on shift, drove the kid home, went to work and stuck an ice pack on and ended up having mum come and take me to hospital. X-rays showed it was a bad sprain, leaving me on crutches for at least the next four days. And mum was worried about me going paintballing before we left!

I found myself with four free hours this morning, after a shift was decreased, so what else should I find myself doing but trying out my new suitcase. I took all the clothes I want to take with me and put them on my bed. Then I sorted them into pants, skirts/shorts/dresses, and tops. From there I culled certain items and fit them all in, weighing the suitcase and finding it at 15kgs.

Hmm, them’s a lot of clothes! So I’ve bought a few space bags to make a few jumpers and all my denim stuff fit in smaller (who would’ve known I’d had so much denim – 3 skirts, shorts, 3/4 shorts, and 2 jeans – far out)! This isn’t even including pj’s, swimwear or underwear. Not too much of a big deal, I’m allowed to take 30kgs altogether, and I don’t think the backpack will have a lot in it – just shoes!

Did I mention I want to take 8 pairs of shoes with me?!

I think I’ve just lost a couple of days because of work and everything, but a few important things have been accomplished. Best of all, I went into Backpacking Light, otherwise known as outdoors.com.au, and got an awesome price for two Black Wolf Cedar Breaks 55Lt backpacks, one blue and one olive, for $185 each when they are retailing for $209. And so are the powers of my negotiating skills. 🙂

Nup, that’s about the lot of it for now. Tune in again soon – four weeks to go!