We have a departure date

We have finally gone and booked our flights! Hallelujah. After several weeks of avoiding the 'have you booked your flights' question I can finally answer 'yes'! And the date is Sunday 2nd October. One week tomorrow... the mixture of excitement and nerves is making me feel slightly sick right now. I don't even finish work until Friday and then I'll be off...

Last weekend I had my leaving drinks at Keston Lodge  and had a great night catching up with friends but because we didn't have our flights booked yet I thought I'd see them all again, for one last farewell... Alas, that is not to be because James has to get out there asap for work, he's a big fan of the last-minute plan. I, on the other hand, love to plan and this kind of rash decision makes me feel a bit dizzy.

Luckily I had yesterday off work and I started my packing, when I say started I mean the spare double bed in my house is covered with clothes and shoes. When booking the flight we learned that package allowance for flights to Australia is not the most generous - one bag! One bag? How on earth can I put belongings to last one year into one bag?! There are some horrible people out there setting these rules. Thank goodness James agreed to fly with Emirates, they allow 30kg rather than the standard 20kg. He's a good boy.

So here's to my final eight days in the UK... I am going to fill them with finishing work at Care Choices, saying goodbye to my Saffron Walden friends and gorgeous Godson, spending as much time with my Dad and Sister as possible, and attempting to make wise packing decisions! Wish me luck!

xoxo

Australian memories

I'm still waiting on my exact departure date (yawn) but surely it's only a matter of weeks now! This week I've spent a lot of time thinking about being in Australia as a child and getting excited/nervous about being there as an adult.

For those of you that don't know, my Mum is Australian (well she was born in Kent but emigrated when she was two so always considered herself to be an 'Australian'). Growing up in the UK, I remember my Mum constantly moaning about living here and wanting to move back to her home town, Brisbane.  It's a strange twist of fate that I'm now heading to Queensland myself, I so wish she was here to share this adventure with me.

Growing up my Mum would often take me and my sister, Catherine, off to Brisbane for a few months to spend time with our Nana, Poppy, Aunty Dee (Mum's identical twin), three cousins - Sean, Dean and Michael, and Uncle Tony. My Dad's brother Ed also lives in the country, in Sydney. Defiantly safe to say I have more family in Australia than here! Sadly, my Nana, Poppy and Aunty Dee are all in heaven now with my Mum, it would have been amazing to have had the opportunity to see them more.

I want to share some of my Australian family history and memories with you. Here's two beautiful ladies enjoying the Gold Coast - my Mumma and Aunt -

My first trip to Australia was in my Mum's tummy, she always said I was such a calm baby because she spent so much of her pregnancy at the beach and floating in my Aunt's pool -

Meeting a Koala for the first time aged 4 -

Jumping the waves with my Mum - 

Going to Sydney Opera House aged 7 -

Whale-watching with my family - 

My Mum driving my Uncles 4x4 on Fraser Island - 

My Nana in hanging out by the pool on Christmas Day 1997 - 

Here's to lots more memories (hopefully I'll be wearing slightly more fashionable clothes in upcoming pictures!)

xoxo

Hello, or should I say g'day...?

Hi there. Welcome to my blog. I've been debating if blogging is a good idea... I don't want to be one of those self-indulgent bloggers banging on about how perfect everything is and writing vacuous SATC carrie-isms. So I'll try to avoid that but if I do start to annoy you perhaps don't follow me anymore! So here goes...

I've decided (after checking with some honest friends) that now is a good time to start a blog. I'm about to leave the UK for a year, maybe a bit longer (we're getting one-way tickets). As you'll probably know, my boyfriend of two and a half years James has got a job out in Queensland, Australia. He's a pretty funny guy, kind of cute and I quite like him so we didn't really fancy being separated for a year. Plus saying 'yes' to going to live in Australia for a year wasn't hard. I will be travelling the 10245 miles from Saffron Walden to Queensland and using this blog to keep you updated on my new life. 

So here we are in September and it look's like start of October will be the departure date! I have three more weeks of work left, I need to sell my car (let me know if you want to buy my Ladybird), we haven't booked flights yet and I need to pack! Then it's just the simple case of flying 24 hours+, finding an apartment, a car, a job for me and perhaps some friends might be a good idea! Arghhh... makes me feel a bit nervous!

I'll keep you updated with progress... 

xoxo