So long...
This chapter has come to an end. We are at the airport. We left our home just over a year ago and we are now set to return to Wales. We have another three weeks on the road then back home we go. We have stayed in 48 different beds along the way. House swaps, new friends, friends of friends and very old friends we hadn't seen for years. Some hotels, a few Airbnbs, a pretty ropey airport motel in Perth and a bonus night in a Singapore hospital pull out bed. This shot from Heathrow last year seems a long time ago....
We have had a ball. Thank you for joining us, keeping up with what we have been up to and for your lovely comments and emails. The world is such a small place and communication is so good I think we are probably better at keeping in touch when we are out of the country than when we are at home... We are full of inspiration and ideas about where life will take us next but we can't wait to go home to see family, friends and of course, Scully.
At risk of sounding like an Oscars speech there are a few people we would like to mention in a bit of a look back on the last year.... Every offer of a bed or meal has been taken up and we have made some wonderful memories and friends as a result.
Firstly, Team Home. Thank you especially to my super organised mother Wendy and, equally organised buddy, Polly who have been our house organisers/post sorters/bill payers and general PA's at home. Thanks to Donna and Gareth, Carl and Hayley #washmypants Carmen who have seamlessly organised all the changeovers for house. We have had holliday lets, a long term winter let and then back to back house swaps and holiday lets again since March. Not easy to make a place perfect week on week. Our wonderful neighbours The Calcutts and Vicky have been very long suffering of the constant changes next door... mind you it's a struggle to find a family louder than ours...
Team Scully. Not many dogs have their own WhatsApp group. Carly and family, thank you for having him for so long, especially when you had a new addition to deal with. Nick and Kate, the Joslins, the Crooks, Lucy and the boys, Mum and Dad. Thanks to you all for being happy to have the old boy hang out with you at various times over the year. Just recieved this photo from his current carers... he looks thrilled at the prospect of us returning...
Singapore was a highlight and a lowlight all in one. We loved the place. The hustle, the people watching, the efficiency, the gardens. Dave's sister Lucy, her husband Pan and her wonderful boys were such a comfort and a help after Meg's accident. They never failed to put a smile on our faces. What happened to Meg showed us the true kindness of strangers. The staff of Somerset Laing Court hotel and their many gifts and food parcels sent to the room, Dr Daryl Chow, the magician of a Hand Surgeon, Sam, who was behind us on the escalator and called for help, has stayed in touch and we met up afterwards and Jenny Laing and her gorgeous family who fed us, watered us and gave Davey a ticket for the Singapore Grand Prix. Thanks for all you did.
Australia was about taking a trip down memory lane and catching up with old friends, you know those ones that you see again after years and it is as if no time has passed. The Mcauliffes, The Moores, The Jessops, The Turners, Guy and Phil and Caroline Padget. That is well over a century and a half of friendship between them and we loved seeing you all and thank you for feeding us, taking us to awesome places and putting us up. It was also a time to land on the doorstep of new friends that we'd met in Sri Lanka. "Come and stay next time you are in Australia.." they said. So we did. Thanks Family Barry for a having us and introducing us to your stunning corner of rural Victoria that we would have never visited otherwise.
New Zealand was as glorious, as always, such a stunning country. Our great friends, The Lemons, were just wonderful, sorting places for us to stay and making Wannaka and Castle Hill big highlights of the trip. When we arrived to crash on their floor in Sumner, Christchurch, they said there was no need because their mate Susie was away for the weekend and we could stay there. Turns out their mate Susie is one of the loveliest humans on the planet and happens to have one of the best views in Sumner... thank you Susie! We caught up with Katherine, one of my second cousins, for an ice cream in Rotorua and another old school buddy, Nicky Wood and her gorgeous family in Tauranga. Tom still talks about his New Zealand best friend, Brodie.
We had some great swaps in New Zealand but the one that stands out was at Coopers Beach, Northlands. An incredible house with stellar views and so many personal touches to make us feel at home. Thank you Nelwyn.
America, you exceeded our expectations in every way, except your president. Thanks to The Robinsons for letting us invade you, 8 kids between us and we all loved our time catching up. We looked up my cousin's friends, Kim and Chris, who lived in Portland. It was one of those "if you are going to Portland you must look these guys up." We turned up with some random BBQ offerings to their front yard the day before their builders were to arrive. They were completely unphased and we had a great night of ultimate frisbee while a guy in a yellow dress did the hula hoop and a girl dressed as a clown juggled with some metal contraptions right outside their front door.
Normal for Portland, we were told.
Back to BC and we loved meeting Frank the Bowen Island Soup Fairy in the flesh, pork wonton soup to die for. Tracey and James made our Comox/Cumberland stay. I met James on a ski course, another "look us up when you come to Cumberland" remark.... A day of biking trails and waterfalls, local secret spots we would never have found without them. Thank you to Anne Gardner for putting us up in your lovely home too. We loved our swap with Mary and David in Powell River, a week of calm, catching up with a bit of school work with an incredible view and they kindly let us leave a whole load of stuff there while we went to Galley Bay. On the subject of Galley Bay, the Preto family, as we mentioned, have been so wonderful. Tony, Louise and all 4 of their kids and their own families feel like family to us and we have shared some wonderful times this year whether it be on the slopes or in Galley Bay.
Whistler has welcomed us with open arms and completely surpassed our expectations. We knew we loved it but didn't realise how much and how much more there is to this place than just skiing. Lisa and Marti, who we rented from, felt like a big sister and brother, living downstairs, by the time we left. We were invited to Christmas parties and made to feel so welcome by everyone when we arrived particularly Kim Clarke, Claire Thomas, Jules Hudson, Amanda and Nick Imregi, Tina Symko and the Springman Family who sold us the Truck.
There are too any people to mention individually but a special thank you to Sofia who we had hoped would be someone who would be a great role model and friend to Polly as well as help us with Meg. She has been incredible, so much fun, so happy and genuinely full of spirit and life. She has become a friend to us all and happily just wanted to hang out with us/Polly/Meg since we got back this summer. All the young people (they make us feel soooooo old) we have met here have been inspirational to the bigger kids especially. Sofia and Karin, Ben and Crystal, Johnny and the coaches at Momentum with their array of Olympic and X Games medals. Rachelle from Nature School has made a huge impact on the boys.
Last but not least my wonderful cousins, the three of them Jason, Becky and Angie and their fabulous other halves, families and bumps... and their incredible parents, Esther and Joe, who have always been so generous to us and welcomed us with open arms over our many years of boomeranging back to BC. We had a bit of a fade out in our goodbye with Becky, Mikey and their family, which is for the best... too many tears from Becky and I, when we say goodbye, so we will just pretend we are seeing them in a few weeks. It is better that way for us all. We were so excited that one of the bumps decided to make an appearance before we left and the kids were able to meet the latest edition little Henry Del Vicario aged 2 days. We had a wonderful evening down in Vancouver to say goodbye to the rest of them and they gave us this delicious cake.
So long. A bientot. It read.
Hopefully that is 'So long' as in a farewell Aug Wierdersehen good night way...
As opposed to (you stayed) SOOOO LONG.
Maybe that just covers both interpretations.
