Arrived in Sydney!

After all the farwell parties and the talking about it, you will be pleased to hear that we have finally arrived in Sydney and can now truly start the preparations for our trip! We would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who attended our numerous leaving parties all over the Country (!) and for those of you who phoned us before we left wishing us well - it really does mean a lot to us.

I can now also give you a word of advice if you are ever thinking of moving countries - do not go to the airport a) hungover or b) with your family! It was a really emotional farewell and I was extremely sad to be leaving my family and friends in the UK. The only good thing about having a tear stained face when we checked in was not having to pay the excess baggage fee of $300 that they were asking for!!! When they asked why we had so much baggage, I just could not control my emotions and ended up pouring my heart out to the poor check in attendant about the emotional farewell that I had just encountered with my family. Not only did he not charge us for the excess baggage but he also gave us a semi upgrade on the first leg from London to Singapore on Singapore Airlines new plane, the A380. It was a real shock on the second leg from Singapore to Sydney when we were hurded back into cattle class on a standard jumbo 747!!

Before we left the UK, there were some further developments regarding our trip. We heard from a carbon neutral car insurance company called "ibuyeco" regarding sponsorpship for our trip. I have attached the webiste link to ibuyeco under the heading Sponsorship - check it out!!!

We also received great support from a Shrewsbury (UK) business called "Castell", suppliers of Satelite phones to aid agencies, who very generously provided a satelite phone for our trip at a discount. This pleased Mum as she can now keep in contact with us even when we are in the outback!!

Thanks to ibuyeco and Castell for their genoristy and remember to look at their websites as they both do tremendous work.

Ok, enough of that - keep us posted with what you are doing and how work is going!! I am just about to go and jump in the pool at Gerard's parents house - I think I will get used to this Sydney lifestyle!!