After spending time in Derby and Brum with the Woodwards we embarked on the massive mission of catching up with as many people as we possibly could… whilst continuing to munch through Matt’s food wish list.

The rolling English countryside!

Saturday morning we got up and drive over to Hereford. Hereford, is where I was born and where most of my family lives.   We drove straight to my Nan and Granddad’s house and caught up with them for an hour or two.  We walked in whilst they were in the middle of decorating their living room so Matt made himself useful by taking down the blinds! They both seemed really well which is relief as Nan has had quite a few health issues this year.  The only resident of the house hold who seemed a little subdued was mad dog “Whiskey” who amusingly seems to have put on so much weight he didn’t manage to greet us in the passageway as he usually does… he can’t fit through the pet door anymore.  He also seemed far less inclined to bounce about and spin on the spot.  Other than that I’d say everyone, including Jason the cat were all good!

Uncle Nigel was also there being chief wall paper person so it was great to see him too before we headed off to catch up with other relatives.

One significant thing I had to do was visit the grave of my late Nan and Granddad.   A week after we left England my Nan passed away and I didn’t have the chance to attend her funeral and say farewell.  So, rather than grabbing chips from the college chippy and having a cup of tea with her we had to head to the cemetery to say hello.  It was very strange and sad but it was good to take some flowers to cheer up her resting place.  In fact, we ended up picking up sandwiches and eating them on the park bench a few meters away from where she rests; I reckon she’d have liked that, us having lunch with her.

After visiting Nan’s grave we headed over to my cousin’s house.  She had a little baby girl whilst we were away and we’d never met her.  It was lovely to catch up with her and her brood.  They really are awesome kids, she should be very proud of them.  We arrived at a point where he oldest son had to apologise to her because he’d managed to hit her with his toy dinosaur… His response was that “big t-rex did it” and when she replied that big T-rex better apologise then he put on a monster voice and said “sorry mummy” .  Very cute!

It was also really cute to see the traditional Lloyd style sibling personalities in evidence.  Oldest one…  noisy, confident and independent.  Youngest one… shy, clinging to mum and quiet.  Tee hee!  Even Matt said I can see you there and Kelly there!   lol  It was really cool to catch up with them all.

Now.. this is BALTI!!! YOM!

On the same day we’d booked ourselves into our favourite Brummy curry house, the  Shylhet Spice Cuisine, in Kings Heath.  I can’t tell you how amazing it was to eat a proper curry with a proper Naan! Lol  I’ve really missed an actual Balti.  Our local curry house tries hard to make them but they’re just not the same as an authentic Brummy Curry!  YOM!

The curry gang! Thanks for coming you guys! :0)

What was even more lovely was that nearly 20 people came to eat with us.  Some of them driving from North Wales just to spend a couple of hours with us!  We are really lucky to have such fabulous friends.  There was a lot of love in that room !

We graciously gave ourselves Sunday off from our mad dash and, after a very important breakfast at Beckett’s Farm (sausages)  spent most of the day at Mum’s setting up their NAS drive (NERD ALERT!) Matt, of course, made sure that he had the opportunity to drink more English Ales in the evening; I was so tired of going out that I stayed in… Unfortunately, I didn’t know that Matt had taken a house key with him and so ended up staying up until the wee hours so I could let him in…. you might have seen the Facebook status! Lol

We bounced back into the swing of things on Monday, heading to my favourite place in the whole of the UK… Stratford upon Avon. I just had to go and see the new theatre and have a yummy cream tea by the river! I know it’s a clichéd British thing but I really do love a cup of tea and a scone with proper clotted cream!  YOM!

We were joined by friends of ours so we were given another opportunity to catch up with people we hadn’t seen for a while! All good

By Tuesday lunchtime we were on the train to London so that we could spend some time with my bestieN8 and her husband – I need to invent a little name for him    It’s always awesome to catch up with her and we’d planned in a little spa day to ensure that the gossip wasn’t interrupted by smelly boys.  That meant that we left Matt to his own devices.  He ended up catching up with a friend in the pub at lunchtime… and didn’t finish drinking until late that night…  I force-fed him about 2 liters of water that night… there was no way I wanted to travel back to Adelaide with a really hung over husband!  NO no NO! I think it worked too!

On the Plane home.. Matt didn't know what I was up to

And that was that.  A plane out of Singapore down to Adelaide and we arrived home Saturday morning! A whirl wind tour of Britishness and now it’s all back to normal…. Sunshine, 20 degrees, coffee at the beach….

Having left Italy, our first stop was Birmingham Airport and then Derby to visit the female side of the Woodward clan.  Matt’s sister very kindly picked us up and gave up her bed for us for 2 nights so that we could catch up with her and their mum and aunty.  It was really nice to see them to go shopping with them and  to swap stories.  It’s good to see that everyone’s alright and have a chance to catch up in person.  Skype is a wonderful thing, it helps you to feel connected even when you’re really far away, but nothing replaces the option of hanging out with your family in person.

Matt and his sister having a good look at her new scarf from Singapore

Shopping with Mum

We had a lovely tea in some nice gardens, wandered around Derby shopping center; and Matt started on his long list of English foods that he needs to taste before we return!  He had a lovely steak cooked by his sister and we got to re-experience English fish and chips for the first time in 20 months.  Chips just aren’t the same in Oz are they?  They’re all frozen chips and no curry sauce for starters!  Matt, of course, opted to add item 2 from his UK foods list and add a Pie-Minister pie to the equation!

In Marks and Sparks Matt was spoilt rotten by his mum as she bought him various t-shirts and ties – lucky boy!  It was really nice to catch up with them all and very generous of Matt’s sister to drive us around, share her home and cook us all dinner

On the Tuesday we headed off back to Birmingham to catch up with Matt’s Dad who had come all the way from North Wales to hang out with us.

Yes, this IS a PINT of WARM BEER... and he LOVES it!

We went up to Solihull and headed to Whether spoons where Matt began re-aquatinting himself with English beer and burger deals. We had a wander around the shops and saw a film together before heading back to the pub for a carvery.  Quite a chilled day really.

At the end of that day, Matt’s sister  drove us all the way back to my Mum’s place! Thank you!

Mum has set me up on her car insurance so that we could get around and catch up with everyone.  The next day we wanted to spend some more time with Matt’s Dad so I had to drive into Brum.

I’ve always been more than confident driving in Birmingham.  About 2 weeks after my driving test in ’07 I forced myself to drive to the center of Birmingham town centre to get sheet music so that I’d get over the fear of driving in cities (of course I told mum I was off to Sainsburys..) Since that day, I’ve always found driving in Brum very natural and easy.  BUT….what a difference 20 months living in Adelaide makes!  With it’s relatively quiet and extra wide roads and my car with no gears the drive was very different to back home!  I drove to pick Matt’s dad up (about 30 mins) and was exhausted by the time I got there! Very interesting.  The roads felt really thin, there were buses, people and random bad drivers flying all over the place and whilst I was keeping and eye on all that I had to remember to change gears, in a sports car, without letting it stall.  I’ve never driven a sports car in my life before!  After a few days I was used to driving in the city but i was really surprised at how I responded to something that was so easy and natural before.

Spot the criminal in Birmingham City Center

Shops boarded up in Birmingham Post Riot

Poor ol’ Matt’s Dad got to experience me driving the car, nervously into the city center and we explored.

Now, you may have heard on the news that there has been a “little” disturbance in the cities of England of late.  It was really sad to see so many shops with boarded up windows and “open as usual”signs.   It was also very interesting to see which shops were targeted: Spec Savers (Sun glasses?), Car-phone Warehouse (Mobiles)etc.  It’s been even more interesting watching England respond. Facebook has been full of people saying “RIP” to “Broken Britain” – What’s interesting is the perception of what Britain is… isn’t it made up (at least in part) by YOU, you British people you?  I could rant on and on about community responsibility, how we all have to take some responsibility for our own countries culture… blaming others seems to be a major part of that…  anyway… this isn’t a post about riots  ;)  I did like the big screen in the center of town showing images from cctv to help the public identify the perpetrators! Thankfully, I didn’t recognise anyone.

It was great to catch up with Matt’s Family in person (rather than virtually) and to have a wander around some of our old haunts to see what has changed / stayed the same.

Matt and Dad

I’m pretty sure that we wouldn’t have been taken pictures of shops that were once houses built in 1571!  As Matt snapped these photos someone walking past loudly stated that he had no idea why anyone would want a picture of that….  Britain…. we have Heritage and history!  Move to a country with only 200 years of history and suddenly wattle and daub built in the reign of King Edward the VI seems very exciting indeed and beautiful too!

So, our travels are over.  We’ve hopped to Europe and back in a week and enjoyed catching up with family and friends.  This was a our first time out of Australia since we arrived here 18 months ago. So, it was really our first opportunity to see how we felt leaving it.  I know we didn’t go all the way to the UK this time (that will happen in August though) but we did have the opportunity to see our friends and family as well as see how we felt about coming back… and leaving them.

It’s a very strange feeling.  First of all, Matt told me that he felt strangly sad leaving Adelaide in the first place.  He had to remind himself that this wasn’t a repeat trip of our “ping pong” back to the UK in ’07, that we were coming back.  I, on the other hand, was so busy thinking about the stuff I needed to get done when I got back that I wasn’t under any illusion that we wouldn’t be returning!

Spain did feel different this time though.  Obviously, having grown up in the UK, Spain was a regular holiday destination.  It always felt strange and different.  It’s dusty, dry, has terracotta roofed houses, beaches with cafes and a different atmosphere to the U.K.  Weirdly, when you go there from another, dusty, dry place with beaches and terracotta roofed houses it feels strangely familiar.  Even the plants were like the ones we have here in Adelaide.  The feeling of familiarity with the place I now call home.. from a location on the other side of the world was not something I was expecting.  It was nice though.  It also meant that leaving Spain, our holiday destination, didn’t seem as much of a wrench as it did when we were living in the UK.  I’ve left the Spanish beaches and cafes for the one’s down the road.

It’s a nice feeling knowing that you want to come back.  It’s even nicer knowing that the life you have now chosen to lead everyday is a little like the one that your friends and family back home see as a holiday.  I’m not being unrealistic, obviously I have to go to work in between but at the end of the day, the beach is at the end of the road, the sun is usually shinning and I can relax here

Of course, hanging out with your friends for the first time in 18 months is wonderful.  To be honest, I was worried about where I might fit in after all that time.. it appears I fit exactly where I used to! (yay!) which is a relief!  I did have a secret cry on the beach during the wedding because I knew that now that lovely day was over, I had to be on my way… away from my best mate again.  I soon slapped myself out of that though.  I’ll see her in 5 weeks!

Let’s see how I cope with it after August!

Here’s some more piccies of the event!

This is the last post I will be writing from the comfort of the dinning room table in my little house by the sea. I’m about to be asked to pack up the router and the telephone and place them in the suitcase which is already 10KGs over the limit (eik!)

It is very sad and more than a little bit stressful to try and fit everything that is left into a suitcase that must not weigh more than 20KG. In fact I’ve already managed to fail quite miserably on that count

At least I have LOM and SPAN here, and that’s cool We’ve had a great few days in Melbourne and LOF and I really enjoyed Hobart – although I was quite upset to discover that the Cadbury’s factory isn’t open at the weekends and I failed miserably at my mission to visit the factory on the other side of the world. He was, however, more than happy to walk down the main high street and into the annual Beer fest. Mummy Cow.. got you the coolest little gift They have Moo beer!!! LMAO!!! and the beer mat was more than adequate as a tea holder at work – the catchphrase will make you smile

So… here I am signing off in lil’ ‘ol Adelaide… I might be chatting in Bangkok or may be silenced until I arrive in the UK on the 10th… I’ll try and keep a travel diary again and I will be taking my laptop with me so fingers crossed. To those of you in Oz, a sad farewell; it’s been awesome and we’ll miss you and your beautiful country. To those of you in the UK… See you soon you poor buggers! Put the kettle on, find as many jumpers and blankets as you can and make sure the heating’s on

We’ve been working hard this week to get everything in order and ready for our trip back to ol’ blighty. The car has been sold and LOF has been working hard showing a wide range of people around the house. Obviously, we have both finished working now so that we can get the final bits and bobs sorted before we head off on our final Australian adventure and then our eventual return to London Eng – er – land.

Span and LOM have obviously arrived on this side of the hemisphere and it was great to hear a very happy and bouncy Span telling me about the wonders of Hong Kong the other day. They’re in Sydney now and are still coming to grips with the ol when do I sleep and eat problem that jet lag causes. Poor things. They’ll be cool though and I am sure that Sydney is right up Span’s street. She did tell me the other day that after being in Hong Kong her and LOM first thought of the word “QUAINT” when they got there! LMAO I think most Aussies think it’s the biggest most sprawling metropolitan place ever! They’re right though, they are staying in the older bit and it is lovely and ‘quaint’ in it’s own way

We’re off to join them in Melbourne this coming Wednesday and then when they coach of down the Ocean rd. we’re heading to Tasmania for 2 days to see what’s over in Hobart. I have been told by several locals that Tassie is ace and that 2 days isn’t going to show us very much at all but I say a quick visit is better than no visit at all and I am looking forward to seeing it. It’s supposed to be more untouched. I do hope it has more going on that Kangaroo Island though!! lol

Of course, it was always my plan to make sure that, one way or another, we got to Tassie. It is the home of Cadbury world Australia!!! As a resident of B’ham it is my duty to go and check that out and have a word about the ingredients that they are putting into their cadburys here!!! tut tut tut!

We’re back to Adelaide on the Monday where we’ll meet up with Span and LOF at the end of the Ocean Rd, Adelaide . We’ll stay in the house for two days and then we have to hand the keys over on Wednesday. We leave on Thursday the 6th on route to Bangkok. Please don’t be suprised if you receive a christmas present from their! – if at all!! Chirstmas has been far from both of our minds lol. We’ll explore Bangkok for a couple of days and then get back on the plane to London; arriving in London in the early hours of the 10th of December.

Not long now folks!

I have mixed feelings about returning:
What if it’s not the same in the UK now?
What if I ‘ve changed soo much that I don’t like it anymore!!?
What on earth is it going to be like to work in a fulltime position again and will I resent it if I don’t get chance to carry on what i’ve been doing here???
How will we cope with the cold again?
How cool will it be to see the cats, my breath in the air, the snow, my family and friends……!!!

So I’ve now finished my final week at Thebby. The couple of months are over and I left on Friday with champagne and the usual friday night chocolates. It has been great working there and I have really enjoyed working with a lovely bunch of people who have been more than keen to take part in this new initiative I brought with me from Blighty.

The 12 champs have been working really hard and most of them have managed to use the board and the software in several lessons. Some of them have created some pretty impressive stuff and deserve a big pat on the back. I just wish that they would believe in themselves a bit more! They’ve only had about 10 weeks and they have got more skills than those who have had the board for 2 years!! I guess it has all be crammed in in such a short time that more time is needed to feel comfortable with the new skills that they have acquired. I have no doubt whatsoever however that they will go on to create some fabulous resources and I hope that they will choose to share these with the rest of us on the teachertechnologies Moodle

As an aside for Mummy Cow and DF; I have particularly enjoyed the fact that the Principal has a cellar (which contains champagne and a variety of whites and reds) and that he has allowed us to raid it every Friday night for our Whiteboards and Wine sessions! The trick has always been to get me to answer as many questions as possible before I finish the first glass. Obviously, on my last day I had more than one glass and as a result was getting louder and sillier! I was heard to tell them i would email the Immersive team in England to say “oi tart! I want a network install!” Which amused them greatly and made them want to ply me with more alcohol to see what happened next IN short… I am sure that what we need to do is have DF get a cellar, which he can stock with the governors permission and we can raid every week at our meetings It makes us all far more productive!!

Working with the refugees at the college has been an unforgettable experience and I have learnt so much from them. I can not believe some of the hardships that they have had to face and the next time a student can’t come to school because their hamster died I will be reminded of the student who found out her family had been murdered over the weekend and turned up to lessons. I guess the school is a solice and place to find friends and support and I hope that’s the way the students at my other place of work see school too.

I was given many generous gifts; Koalas in cuddly, chocolate and keyring form, a cat/pig keyring, a kangaroo fridge magnet and a clock. I’m not sure how I’m going to get that one home but all of these gifts were more than appreciated and I am very grateful for the thought that has gone into them. Thank you .. All of you for letting me be a part of your fabulous team

VS

Would you???!!!!!! OMG!!!!! How are you even still alive????

Anyone want to rent a house by the sea?

It’s here already. The time to pack up and leave is upon us. Granted we have to ship stuff a couple of months in advance but I am certain that the remaining 10 weeks will fly (they did the other end) We arrived with only 2 boxes, 2 suitcases and 2 guitars and are leaving with 4 boxes, 4 cases of wine, 2 suitcases, 2 guitars and 1 office chair (That’s 13 items eik! 13!!! it’s a good job i’m not superstitous!
The boxes are packe d now anyway and the man is coming tommorrow to put it all in a container and then onto a boat. It will then spend the next couple of months at sea until it lands at my parents’ house – at which point, no doubt Mum and Dad may have some valid concerns about where they are going to put all that stuff whilst we travel back! lol I’m afraid I have counted the wine though! Infact I have to list it all with alochol content for the Tax people who are charging us £3 a bottle to bring it into the UK! Cheeky buggers! Either way it’ll still save us money in the long run. I think that make the celebratory bubbles for our weddding £9 each! lmao! Woo hoo! and it’s soooooooooo tasty good!

You will also note from the pictures here in that LOF still has not cut his hair. I believe he has left his Bon Jovi phase now and is entering an altogether different phase. I do have it on good authority that his first hair cut since last October will occur soon however. It’s getting too hot! lol As soon as we find him underneath the fluff I’ll send you a picture

Anyway time to label the boxes – Erasing the words Destination ‘Brisbane, Australia’ and replacing them with ‘Worcs. UK’.
mmmm…