After having spent the previous two days packing (yes, I procrastinated quite a bit during this time) when I woke at 5am in the morning it felt quite surreal knowing we were going on an international holiday. I’ve dreamt about it for a long time, but when the day arrived it just didn’t feel right. I kept wondering when I was going to wake up and discover there was still 6 months to go.
We got up, showered and double checked our bags for the 50th time. Dad arrived right on time at 6am to pick us up, as he was kindly driving us to the airport (saving us about $50 in shuttle costs in the process). We had dropped Turbo off at the dog kennel the day before, so the house felt very empty. After double and triple checking the house was locked up, we packed the bags in the car and we were off! For a few minutes at least. Thankfully we hadn’t driven very far when Mat realised he’d left his (only) jacket back at home, so we turned around so he could collect it. We all teased him about being the one to forget something, then headed off again (I later discovered on the plane that I had forgotten the pashmina my mother had given me, but purposely neglected to tell Mat this for several days).
My dad's flatmate, my dad and Mat - just before we left for the airport