Preparations being again

You’d have thought that since we went through all the effort to prepare for our departure last year, that this year would be a breeze!  Not much to take to the boat, just a few items in a suitcase or two and off we would go!  It would have been nice were it that simple.

Instead, we do like to complicate things just a little; firstly, we decided to allow housesitters to stay in the house in Shoal Bay this year.  Although the house fared very well for the 7 months we were away last year, when the opportunity arose to have a lovely couple about our age stay in the house we decided to agree.  They are thinking of making a sea-change from their life in Canberra and were looking for a housesitting arrangement for a few months to see if Port Stephens was a place they could seriously see themselves settling in.  We were fortunate last year to have wonderful neighbours keep an eye on things for us, as well as no problems with fallen trees, leaky pipes or other potential disasters, however decided that it might be worthwhile to have someone living in the house should problems arise.  Sometimes when opportunities present themselves so conveniently, you have to just say ‘yes’!

While this single event did not complicate things to any great extent, it did create more work.  For one thing, when someone else is going to be staying in your home you want it to be EXTRA clean and tidy!  We also put away all our clothes and personal items so as to create space in the cupboards and drawers for our guests.  Pruning shrubs and trees, tidying up the garden, washing the house, etc. all added to the work involved in getting the house ready.

We also had decided to do another air-freight shipment to the boat this year and have packed 6 medium-sized boxes to be sent to Tunis for our arrival.  While the majority of the boxes contain our Isagenix meal replacement shakes and vitamins (many people think we’re crazy but we find them so convenient and healthy that it’s difficult for us to be without them), we also did some shopping for “Bisou” including spare water maker filter cartridges, a new mainsail halyard and other bits and pieces.  So those had to be packed, an inventory created and typed up in English and French (for Tunisian customs) and then the boxes taken to Sydney for sending.

We also needed to do a bit of shopping for our trip to South Africa and our ‘safari’ in Botswana, as while we had everything we really needed on the boat, we did not have what we needed for Africa!  So, three large bags later (thank goodness we have Tad’s extra baggage allowance on Singapore Airlines) we were packed and ready to leave Sydney.

We flew to Johannesburg via Singapore with only a short layover in Singapore, and were delighted to be surprised on our first flight with a delicious chocolate cake and champagne, thanks to the staff on that flight.  The “Singapore Girls” really are second to none!

Our champagne and chocolate cake thanks to the Singapore Airlines crew!