If revenge is a dish best served cold, goodbyes are a torture best kept brief. We had some wonderfully touching moments in the build up to us leaving Auckland. Both my and S's work put on a lovely lunch and drinks respectively. I must admit to shedding a little tear at lunch when my boss said a few words and I was presented with a beautiful Pandora bracelet with a horse shoe (for good luck!) and rose (representing my English colleague Jeni) thoughfully attached. And the card... well, I'm still giggling at that one. I'm really going to miss them and hope with some luck that I'll be able to work with all of them again in the future. Such a special company and amazing people.
We also had what turned into a lively farewell drinks party at Brew of Quay with family and friends. I was so pleased with the turn out and really enjoyed getting to chat to each person there and filling them in on the exciting times ahead and our imminent plans. What a great night.
Which just left Saturday to tidy up at work and spend the evening with parents, my sister, brother-in-law and nieces and nephew.
Sunday morning was a challenge and I'm not sure why we insisted on catching the 7:30am flight. We were out the door before 5am and thankfully had a very short goodbye with my parents (they very kindly drove us to the airport). A few tears were shed, but I think knowing that we'll see them again in November made things easier.
Koru lounge and an upgrade on the flight (feet couldn't even reach the seat in front of me and even though I'll admit that I'm a little vertically challenged, it made for a nice change) were a luxury I could get used to. As was having a car waiting for us at Melbourne airport and someone waiting for us at our accommodation in South Bank to show us around and explain everything to us. Thanks very very much to S's work. What a pleasure it can be moving countries... who would have thought!?
Sunday was spent walking around our new city, seeing S's building and just generally soaking up the atmosphere in our new home. Had a delicious lunch in Degraves Lane and visited the Little Cupcake shop (for you Kim!). We also met up with Marie in the afternoon which was great, have really missed her this year and look forward to spending much more fun times together now that we'll here.
Yep, I think we'll be just fine here.