Chasing the Sun: Oh Hell

Monday – Oh Hell

I had best start the story at the beginning of the week, Monday 31 January. We kicked off the morning with a really lovely breakfast at a great café I used to go to when I was working in Balmoral called ‘Billy’s’. It’s for me like having breakfast in the perfect family kitchen, so it was the perfect place to meet my Mum and Dad for a farewell breakfast. I have been totally detached from my feelings when saying goodbye to people lately. But I did have a bit of trouble saying goodbye to Mum and Dad that morning. I’m glad we’ve taught them to Skype.

Monday was the day our passports were due from the UK consulate, but when it came to opening the letterbox we were faced with the worst situation – only one of the passports had arrived. Greedily and selfishly I was pleased to have mine in my hands with the fresh new stamp from the UK visas office. But not having Jono’s made us feel sick to the bone. Both Australia Post and the Visa office said they didn’t have it, but thankfully both sides were both sympathetic and extremely cooperative, just desperately lacking in results.

We still went about the day as if we were travelling the next day, went to the beach, packed, cleaned, had a dinner with friends, but there was a dark cloud blackening that amazing Sydney summer’s day.

Tuesday – Can it be?

I woke the same way I had been waking during the whole visa process – with the sun barely up and my heart pounding in my chest. I got up and watched the sun rise, went for a walk, re-routed my walk to the post office, banged on the door until someone answered and made them search for the parcel. No luck. I couldn’t wake Jono with the news so I dilly dallied my way home. It didn’t really matter, Jono woke as soon as I walked in the door. I had to tell him that there was no package at the post office (and so real chance that it would be delivered that day).

Separately we changed tactics: I called my brother to see if he could drive over to the consulate again and beg them to look in every nook and cranny and Jono checked the Australia Post website again with the tracking number.

The website had a hit! It said that the passport was at Frenchs Forrest DF. W . T . F. ?! We jumped in the car making a bee line for Frenchs Forrest and then hit the morning traffic. But at the same time my phone rang - it was Australia Post confirming that the passport would be delivered in the regular mail that morning. Could it be so? We had three or so hours until the post came and oh the waiting!! I had everyone and everything on standby for the drop. We had breakfast at The Troubadour to kill some time, leaving us with two hours and forty five minutes worth of looking off the balcony for the post man… and the rest of the packing that we didn't have the heart to do earlier.

And the post man arrived! All systems go!

The rest of the day was all about making the house look better than it ever has looked while we’ve been living in it (and making the process of leaving it on that stunning summer's day even harder) and then all of a sudden it was time to leave for the airport. I couldn’t take a last look at our little home because I knew that that would break the floodbank of tears. We ferried our way to the city and I genuinely wondered what the hell I was doing. We had dinner with Dan and Jen at the pub and then it was time to be off to the airport. OMG what are we doing?

I think for both of us our feelings began to change somewhere during the middle of the flight to Kuala Lumper – I definitely became more excited and I know that that was the point Jono’s black passport cloud began to disperse.