The run up to departure was a whirlwind of activity which was made much less onerous by the help from Mum and Dad Barley in making sure all the little tasks in the house were completed.

Our farewells began last month when we said bye bye to my parents and sister up in Newcastle. That was tough and it had to take place at the end of September because they were going on a long trip round Hong Kong and China which meant I wouldn’t see them again before we left for Australia. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that tight hug between I-Lin and I in the car park of Dragon I Restaurant with the heavy rain and grey skies. And when I think about it now I still get a pang in my heart.

As if that hard goodbye wasn’t enough to go through; we had some of the most difficult goodbyes take place during our last few days in UK. Adele, Andrea and Helen are probably the girls I spend most my time with and see often and they are all so dear to me so having to put a two year stop on our girlie get togethers was not easy.

Adele is a great shopping companion as proved by our girls’ trip to New York last year. She is extremely fun to be with, has a generous and giving nature and shares my love of pink coloured cocktails. What more could I want in a girlfriend? I've only known her for about 3 years but we've managed to get really close in such a short space of time. Andrea is the girl who will always give me an honest answer or opinion and I always value what she has to say for she is wise and measured and I can rely on her completely. She is a real do-er and keeps me focused and I am a keen admirer of her organisational abilities. We've been through so much together both emotionally challenging stages in our lives as well as more fun times like how to drive two narrowboats down a canal together and what to do when an old man asks you for sex at a car boot sale...(sorry I guess that was a private joke moment). Helen has this irresistible personality which is completely on my wavelength; think high end Louis Vuitton combined with, well if I’m honest and I hope she’ll forgive me for this, complete and utter potty mouth filth. She can spot a fake handbag instantly and is a magpie for anything new and expensive I buy. She is upper crust and knows her Tiffany from her Mulberry and combines that with salt of the earth calling a spade well, a $*@#ing spade".

And then our final goodbye. We spent our last evening with Steve’s family; mum, dad and bro as well as aunt, uncle and cousins. Throughout the time we’ve been planning this trip they have been so supportive helping us out with practical things including a tiler at short notice and painting the house yet we know that this move hasn’t been easy on them emotionally. It’s been difficult to go through the emotion of whether for the sake of our own happiness it’s worth putting our loved ones through hurt. We console ourselves that this relocation will make our marriage stronger which makes us better people to know and love and that it is only a temporary thing.

Steve spent a year in Germany as part of his university studies and he would have to walk to a phone box to call home and there was no email. Steve being Steve would “forget” and weeks would go by without calling home and his parents would have to phone the "frau" who was his landlady to make sure he was ok. There is no chance of that happening now. Firstly, I wouldn’t let it and secondly, it is so easy to stay in touch these days that the distance is less of an issue. This stint abroad for him will be so different to Germany for both us and for his family. For a start we will be in touch always. Also, at least he won’t have to walk across a cabbage field to get to work nor will he have to pack a rucksack of dirty clothes and walk two miles to a launderette every Saturday. Instead we have lots to look forward to. We have each other to share the adventures with and to support one another when the going gets tough. And finally we have the means to share every little details with our loved ones.

So this post then takes us to the next chapter which is all about life in Australia. Please go to the next page on this site. See you down under!

I'm a new blogger and already struggling to post regularly! Note to self; must do better. I'll make you a deal though. You forgive me for the lack of posts and I'll make it up with a long one this time! People keep asking us if we're excited and our response is that it's hard to get excited at the moment when there's still so much to do before we leave. Also there are people we love here in UK that don't want us to go and the upset of having to leave them is closer to the heart than the Australian adventure; at least it is for now. I think we will start to get excited when we start the actual journey to Melbourne on Wednesday morning.

Although I say the Australian adventure seems to be more distant than the reality of saying bye bye to loved ones; the fact of the matter is that it's definitely happening. I had my last day of work on Thursday and helped Steve (I say help but really I just sat and watched) clear his desk and locker in the office at 20:30 on Thursday night. Steve finished work on Friday working right down to the wire and our cars went back to the leasing company also on Friday. Not only is our house becoming more and more empty, our driveway is too!

My wonderful little sister returned from a trip to Hong Kong and China this weekend and we had a lovely catch up phone call which was bitter sweet. It was made clear to me that although we will be far away from each other in terms of geography we can bridge that distance with regular chit chats but also that nothing will take the place of actually being close to each other and being in the same the time zone. We really must make sure we talk regularly. My mum also called me from Hong Kong and I have to confess that after we hung up, I was a little teary as it became real that we'd be far apart.

Steve and I have always been blessed with a lot of love in our lives and this last week and a half is certainly testament to this. So a quick summary as to what we have been up...

There was a lot of cousin love as we all gathered for the last time for 2 years. We went for lunch at the Star in Sancton and had a delicious time. Thanks guys for making the trip. Samuel had been up all night baking little fancy cakes for us so special thanks for the thoughtfulness. Joanna bought us a lovely leaving gift and shed tears for us as we said bye bye. Thanks Jo for your love. Chris drove all the way from training in Blackpool to spend the evening with us before driving all the way back to Manchester so thank you for the effort and for giving Joanna a lift home! Carine and Webbly had just returned from an epic trip around Hong Kong and China and had barely recovered from their jet lag so full marks to you guys for battling through and coming. Aaron had lots of uni work and an essay deadline or was it an exam yet still came and on the train too. Funny that although he brought his books, they never did get opened though! And Zoe and Leigh have a wedding to prepare for and very busy schedules yet they still made the time so huge thanks guys!

Other farewells included:

• A coffee and a dinner with my ex Business Link girlies Veronica and Michelle, a lunch with Dazzler and a catch up convo with Wendy
  
• A get together with old friends from the Wheel and all the cute kiddies (see one of them on the left, little Logan)
• Pub golf for Steve with his work colleagues where he learnt the hard way that downing and mixing drinks is never a good idea
• Gossip over tea and chocolate with Helen with lots of tearful hugging by the front door
• Lunch with the gang from the Core where I have been working for the last 4 months. I have been really lucky to have had such a great temp assignment which I have thoroughly enjoyed. They gave me a beautiful Pandora bracelet and charm to remember them by which was such a touching and thoughtful gesture. Thanks guys!
• Dinner at La Cena with Nicola where we did rather well to get a bottle and a half of wine on the house!
• A brief but sweet (and tearful) farewell with Lorraine which took place in the very apt location of a Hays office!
• A two coffee catch up session with Jo and now she has some of our furniture as a permanent reminder of us!
  

The farewells started about a month ago as we began doing the rounds seeing friends and family. Highlights include the traditional Buccaneer visit with the Mortons, Helen and the Marshalls, a car boot sale in the early morning and freezing cold with Andrea and Alex, a visit from Sarah and coffee with Jo, dinner last Saturday with Adele and Jon at the Pipe and Glass, a week with the Chan clan lunching and shopping with my mum and sister and eating my dad's cooking, dinner with my old schoolfriend Rakhee on a very rainy Newcastle evening, a visit from Nicola and a cup of tea with Ponters and his very cute son Archie.

The next two weeks are very busy as we have so many things lined up. We have dinner at the Pipe and Glass with the Barleys and Morrells, Chinese cousins reunion on Saturday, two pub meals on Sunday, a wedding in Cambridge and lots of other things. No doubt I'll write about them all when I get a chance. Our one regret is we can't make it to Artisan for a farewell meal but there are just too many people to say bye bye to separately to fit into their place.

Our farewells have been fun and involve a lot of good food and drink so that pleases us greatly and if it didn't hurt so much, I'd say we should leave more often! I'm hoping the next two weeks go by quickly so the pain of moving away is shorter!

This is definitely one of the hardest things I've had to do. I guess leaving for university was inevitable and the excitement took the hard edge off. This time leaving seems like I'm abandoning my loved ones for a selfish adventure and so feelings are definitely mixed. Having to balance farewells with the enthusiasm for a new Australian adventure with Steve is a strange feeling.

I'm now working 3 days a week giving me 2 days to sort things out like setting up this blog! Actually right now I'm procrastinating. My to do list consists of many other things but somehow doing this is much more attractive. Compare sitting at the table with a cup of tea typing away to cleaning the carpet? It's easy to understand why I'm doing this right?

We've actually been very lucky in that things have moved on relatively smoothly. The biggest blip we have encountered occurred last night at 21:30. The chap we had lined up to re-plaster and re-tile our shower in the en suite ready for the new tenants to move in called to say he could no longer do the job. What a waste of time especially considering we had waited a week for him so now I need to figure out an alternative plan that results in the work being completed for the 1st November.

With that my procrastinating draws to a close. The lure of the Vax carpet cleaner has become too hard to resist!