Holiday Prep

We are now counting down the days until we fly off to Brisbane, Australia to visit my sister and her family. I can't quite believe how quickly it has come around and I'm looking forward to a total break from the UK and it's messy politics and the unrelenting pace at work.

We've booked a five night stay in an apartment on the Gold Coast, south of Brisbane, shortly after arriving in Australia.  I'm hoping my sister and some of her family will join us for some of our time there, and OH has family there that we will probably visit during our stay.

I am looking forward to recovering from the inevitable jet lag laying by a pool or on the beach, which is only a few hundred yards from our apartment. Waking up at 3am in someone else's house and padding around trying not to wake them up can be a challenge, so I'm hoping this will be a good alternative. The apartments have tennis and squash courts, a sauna and Jacuzzi and a small gym too, which sounds ideal. I'm definitely packing my trainers and hoping to get a bit of exercise after a long flight.

Talking of the flight, there was talk that Extinction Rebellion would be holding a protest at Heathrow from yesterday right up until just before our departure, using drones to cause disruption, but they don't seem to have done so thus far.  I'm not sure if the demonstrations have been called off or just shortened, so I'm keeping an ear out for any news on this score, as this could cause us to have severe delays in getting away.

It will be winter in Australia at the time of our visit, so I'm not expecting raging heat, but hoping for 20 degrees centigrade or more, some of the time. I don't like extreme heat at all and Saturday's 30+ degrees was far too hot for me.  I spent all of the day in the house, which stays surprisingly cool in hot weather. Even the dog has been choosing to come inside out of the heat and stay cool lately, which is progress for her.

I'm looking forward to getting started on my packing and am taking lots of very lightweight trousers and tops which won't take up much space or weight in my suitcase. We probably will need a sweater or two to wrap up in, as I'm led to believe that the evenings can get chilly.

Last night, itching to start  packing, I decided to go through the things in my wardrobe and start to put aside the items that I wanted to take.  This involved trying a few things on and rejecting them on the grounds that they didn't look all that. I'm vowing to keep it minimal this trip.  After all there's a washing machine in our apartment and at my sister's house, so I can wash and re-wear my favourite things, so there's really no need to take anything other than those things that I really enjoy wearing and feel look good on.

I'll keep you posted with my packing progress.