Parting is such sweet sorrow....

So I left the sunny shores of Hobart for even sunnier Adelaide. The beautiful Hobart morning made it hard to leave. So did Pickwick’s decision to spend the night vomiting all over the laundry floor. I was up at 5:45pm and spent until 6:30pm cleaning up and mopping. I am a glamourous jet-setter. Poor little man, he always picks up on me going away. Luckily he perked up later in the day when Sean’s Dad (big favourite) arrived and Pickwick slavishly grovelled all over him. Thanks, Dad!

I think one of the nicest things about travel is how it makes you appreciate home. Taking Pickwick and Hercules for their last few walks before I left Hobart, I took the time to look around me and view my neighbourhood in the sharp relief that only comes with the imminence of departure. The cool, crisp air, the joy on my dogs’ faces and the beauty of Mount Wellington were all savoured.

Thursday before Easter was my last day at work. It was the usual craziness. Logistically I was (shock) actually organised, despite the scanner deciding to make a mockery of my brilliant idea to electronically store recipes as pdfs to take (a month is a LONG time to be throwing together stir fries and eating in restaurants – okay, maybe not the latter). Yes, I had almost finished scanning truckloads of recipes and was just starting to feel pretty darn smug, when the scanner decided it would wipe them. Yay! But no, work went down to the wire and I have, sigh, a bunch of stuff to finish off in Adelaide.

But I didn’t get on this blog to complain, no siree. In fact, that same Thursday night I had a wonderful farewell meal with the Hobart posse. Twelve of us made merry over curries at Annapurna, and I got Easter off to a flying start with a chocolate bilby at each place and Easter eggs all over the table. It was a night of fun, food and laughter – the best kind of night with friends. Thanks guys!

Then on Good Friday Sean and I went to Royal Thai (we were trying to wring as much value out of the Entertainment Book before it expired!) and had a lovely, relaxed meal together, followed by a State Cinema sojourn to see “Potiche”. I love French films; the language is so beautiful and the French take on life (or film making) is a refreshing change from the blockbuster genre. Linda and Bryan will be shocked to hear that we were so early that we even got to relax over the newspaper and a slice of lemon tart prior to the film. Most civilised!

As for the packing, well, as predicted, I ripped it up on Saturday. Once everything was in the bag, I suspected I’d overdone it a tad, so I got an expert opinion (Sean) and proceeded to jettison about half of it. “Think of all the space you have for shopping now!” Sean exclaimed. That, folks, is the best kind of husband to have!!

Fortunately there was more to life than packing. I cooked up a storm, despite Sean’s protests that he was more than capable of feeding himself in my absence. I just like to feel that there’s a little of me still at home with him after I’m gone, even if it’s frozen in Tupperware and tastes like tuna mornay and rogan josh. We then had fun exchanging Easter eggs and gifts and proceeded to eat Humpty Dumpty and his chocolate beanies in front of “South Park” episodes for the rest of the evening. Go us.