Strewth. We made it!

Hoy moly, we're out the other side. I didn't think I'd ever get to write those words. But we bloody survived a relocation to the other side of the planet! - all the packing-up, the paperwork, the prepping, the waiting, the airport, the flight, the second airport, the second flight, IT'S ALL BEHIND US and it feels gooood!

As I sit and decompress on day 3 in Australia, and on our final day of isolation, here's some observations from the journey which are swirling around my jet-lagged brain right now:

1) Sometimes packing-up and getting rid of all my unwanted *stuff* felt a bit like preparing for my own death. Ha. It sounds dramatic, but it was the weirdest feeling. I guess I was ending one life to begin another and it felt odd to be asking friends and family to pick amongst the spoils of my life; "Does anyone want this Le Creuset set? I won't need it anymore..." "Here, take my plants, give them a good life...sob!" My therapist said i'd feel weird for a while as I was ripping up my roots and had nowhere to plant them yet. Which was actually exactly how I felt. It felt very unstable, like I could float off at any second, never to be seen again. Also saying teary goodbyes to people feels weirdly morbid.

2) The things I was worried about happening on the flight didn't all happen, but some of them did and I was glad I'd prepared for all eventualities. Woody had quite a big panic attack as we got onboard, which was one of my biggest fears. He was inconsolable and my worry that I wouldn't be able to soothe him and look after Essie at the same time came true. I was torn between giving him my full attention and feeling like I'd abandoned a 3-year-old to run amok on the plane. In the end an amazing air stewardess took him under her wing and sat him next to her for takeoff which really helped defuse the situation and calm him down. (Special mention goes to the lovely off-duty pilot sitting nearby who offered to talk to him and calm him down too.) After takeoff he was a lot better and he was brilliant on both the flights after that. I was so proud of him and how he dealt with such an overwhelming situation. He said he tried to focus on seeing Dad soon and it really helped get him through (*Sob.*) I'd also got him some ear defenders which were a godsend. He was convinced his ears would explode on takeoff so they added some security for him. Once he'd discovered the inflight gaming channel he was in heaven. And the plane food went down well. He bloody loves a meal piled high with salt.

3) Three-year-olds are tricky travel partners. Essie's TV screen didn't work for the first flight. HORROR! She got bored very quickly and demanded to "get off this stupid plane" about two hours in. She also called me an "Arsehole" at regular intervals for not letting her get off. Why she suddenly developed a potty mouth at 35,000 feet is unclear, but I guess altitude does strange things to people. (Alti 'tude, maybe?) I then spent the next six hours doing colouring-in, stickers, crafting and frantic children's entertaining like some kind of deranged clown. Suffice to say I never want to see a sticker again. I didn't manage to watch one movie, or read one magazine whilst in the air, which shows you just how busy she kept me. I'd wrapped lots of little pressies and activities to keep her busy under the advice of lots of well-travelled friends, the idea being to give her one an hour. She'd opened them all within the first ten minutes.

4) Mantras and medication will get you through. I had a bit of a wobble near the start of the second flight when I realised we still had 13 HOURS of flying ahead of us and I was all out of snacks and stickers. But I found repeating the mantra 'YOU ARE ON YOUR WAY. EVERY SECOND IS A SECOND CLOSER TO BEING THERE' really helped my head. Pills are also wonderful things.

5) Travelling during Covid times adds a lot of extra paperwork and stress. I kept feeling like we were one piece of paper away from being turned back. Thanks to the new variant, Australia announced they'd stopped all Provisional Family Visa Holders from entering two days before we left and it was a tense few hours scanning the internet to find out if my visa was going to be okay. Luckily I'd been granted a permanent Spousal Visa alongside my provisional one which is quite unusual to get at the same time but it meant I "should" be okay. When we got to passport control I had to show my Vaccination records, plus an approved 'Australian declaration to travel', with negative PCR tests for all of us. There was a tense moment when the Airport Official tried to work out if the kids counted as 'unvaxed' or 'exempt' due to their age, but finally we were waved through. I think the lovely border control lady could tell I was stressed as she said; "I bet this has been a long time coming, hey? Well, welcome to Australia..." Cue misty eyes from me and a huge exhale of breath.

6) Being met at the airport by your Love who you haven't seen for a month feels exactly like being in a movie. I swear I could hear the Love Actually soundtrack playing. But I think I was probably hallucinating with tiredness and pills by then.

7) So far everyone here has been incredibly nice. Part of the reason I wanted to leave the UK for a bit was the 'hardness, and 'computer says no' attitude that seems to have become the default setting of the country in the past decade. Passing through the drive-in PCR testing facility in Oz on day two with a very anxious Woody turned into a really pleasant experience thanks to the amazing staff. The way they were so gentle and caring and SMILEY, so upbeat and eager to be doing their jobs and make things stress-free was a million miles away from the surly grunts of the UK officials. Yesterday we called the GP to get us all signed up to the local surgery. I was stunned when we got an appointment for all of us on the day of our choice and at a time that suits. ABSOLUTELY WILD! I think I'm going to like it here...

This was the moment we had to say goodbye to my Mum & Sis. Woody had tried to make a run for it twice and was begging to live with them and not come. I think Essie's face sums up the mood.

Essie's 'decorated' tray table.

I think they'll be finding stickers on that plane for years to come.

Soz, Etihad.

(It's all in the eyes.)

Reunited!