Day 305 – 15th November 2018 – ADELAIDE

So after nearly a year of being on the road, the time had finally come for me to return back home to Adelaide.  I was pretty excited to get to see everyone, but especially the Grand-kids.  I have missed them very, very much.  It is also a little nerve wracking to wonder if this might have damaged our relationship with them, being away for so long when they are still so young.  Haim is 3 and Connor is 2.  I was a bit sad that Col couldn’t come back with me, as it would have been great flying into Adelaide together, but he had work commitments so couldn’t join me this trip.

We were hoping to shift some of our winter stuff back to Adelaide, as it does not get much use up here in Darwin!  So I filled a rather large bag with what I needed for this trip, as well as some of my winter clothes.  We didn’t have a scale, so were trying to guess the weight.  Both of us decided I was well over, so I removed a heap of stuff out of the bag.  We were still not convinced it was under the 20kg allocation, but thought we would give it a go.

All went smoothly getting to the airport by 5.30am for my flight leaving at 6.30am.  The time of truth arrived and put my bag up on the scale for evaluation….. 11kg.  So annoying.  I could have packed a heap more stuff in there!  Oh well, perhaps I will invest in some scales for next time.

I headed back to Adelaide, and other than a few delays, it all went well.  Mum was there to meet me and as we walked through the airport together I heard a little voice yelling out “Nanny!  Nanny!” and little Haim came running through the crowd and jumped up into my arms.  Best moment!!  I got to see my middle daughter Jemma and my son Sam and it was just awesome.  I have missed everyone so much.  So good to just hang out and spend time.  Sam took Thursday and Friday off work to hang out together which I really appreciate and am very excited about.  Erin, my eldest daughter, joined us back at Sam’s house too then Steff, my daughter-in-law, arrived home after work to join in the party.  I got to see Franklin their Golden Retriever who is now HUGE.  He was just a puppy when we left on the trip, so it was fun seeing the teenage version him.

Just so good to be home and be around some of my favourite people, with still so much to look forward to over the coming days.  So relieved that the time apart has not changed my connection with Haim either.  We were both super excited to see each other and it felt like no time had passed.  We have been pretty lucky with Social Media on our trip and being able to video call and communicate that way.  It has helped us to feel close to everyone still.  But you can’t beat scooping a little person into your arms and cuddling them.  Or getting a hug from one of your kids.  Just the best.