Wednesday 19 june - Thursday 27 June - our last week in Melbourne
Wednesday was the last morning we got to see n@g before they left for home. Couldn't believe how fast the time had gone. I went to meet them at around 9.30 at their hotel before heading out for breakfast at a cafe down the road. We all had a big cooked breakfast which was lovely then went out to see what I could show them in their last hour. We walked down to the Crown where we looked some of the expensive shops and marvelled at the decor of the place. It's all so grand and big, lots of big chandeliers and marble surfaces. Nanna and I even spent a while admiring the toilets we went into.
After that we went to get the icecream nanna had been desperately wanting since they arrived. We went to the Trampoline chain which has lots of different flavoured icecream, gelato and frozen yoghurt. We both had a big icecream each and wandered down southbank with them in the sun. Liam met us along there from work to see them off, and as we walked back to get their bags we were just in time to watch one of the scenic helicopter flights taking off from the pad on the yarra.
After picking their bags up from the hotel we walked the short walk up to southern cross station and got them on their airport shuttle bus. Even when hugging goodbye and all the goodbye stuff it didnt sink it that they were going again until they were both on the bus looking through the glass. They drove away and it was very sad, I also felt bad knowing how long they had until they were comfortable again.
Liam went back to work and I got on with my day as best I could with my bad leg. It felt very strange being alone again and I felt very lonely for a few days after they had gone but adjusted again after a while.
During the next week or so we carried on with normal life, Liam working at CPA and me doing some hours babysitting through the week and weekend. It was very hard for us both saying goodbye when our last days came along.
We both went to see john and Emily in the week who made us dinner before we went out to yo-chi which is a frozen yoghurt place where you fill your cup with however much you want and also with all kinds of fruits, sweets, sauces etc. It was delicious. That was the night Gillard was replaced by Rudd.
We went to the Hollywood costume exhibition which was very interesting and fun. The original costumes from dozens and dozens of films were there, with great little clips of video from the actors talking about costume and information boards. Some examples were fight club, batman, Spider-Man, wizard of oz, the king and I,the queen, gladiator, superman, pirates of the Caribbean, titanic, blues brothers, Bourne identity.....the list goes on. It really made you aware of how much thought and effort go into the process of just dressing right or the screen and also to help the actors play their roles. There was also a lot of information on the history of film and some aboriginal sections with their successes in the film and tv industry. Some interactive games and information sections made for a good couple of hours in there before getting Liam's hair cut and me heading to work.
We also met up with anna Leigh, David and the kids one Sunday evening for a meal because the kids wanted to see Liam. Luckily acacia was feeling better for us to do it as she had been very poorly the week before and been in hospital. My time spent with the just a few days before had been her very unhappy and tired lying on the sofa for the whole day so we wernt sure if she would manage it.
The meal was great followed by an hour or so in the kids gaming area, trying to win lots of tickets to get them toys at the end.
We mostly spent time catching up with programmes we wouldn't get chance to see when we set off again and packing things, last minute shops and all the boring stuff.
Friday 28 June
Friday was my last day with Acacia and Paterson, Paterson was ill unfortunately and not a happy bunny all day. They gave me a card along with a bracelet with a love heart and "thanks nicola love acacia and Paterson" engraved on it which was wonderful, and goes really well with my special bracelet from Oliver. They also gave me a home made canvas print with their art work on it to send back to the uk. We spent the morning chilling out and trying to keep Paterson as happy and comfortable as possible. We made pizzas and then I took them out to find a small present each before going home. I went for a last relax in the sauna at the gym, due to not being able to use it over the last week due to various injuries in my legs I had been using the steam room and sauna a lot a few times.
It was then home for a bath and book time before heading back into the city to meet Liam for a last drink in Melbourne. We sat in the atrium of federation square and had some chips, wine and beer together whilst he told me about his last day.
He got a lot of nice gifts, a lovely lunch and a card full of heartfelt goodbyes plus some very good feedback. He has done really well in the job he got here and I know he will do well when we get home.
We decided against buying one last pizza from the van in the arts precinct because we still had food to eat at home, so we spent the evening watching nanny diaries on tv ( much to Liam's disgust), eating pasta and trying to fit the rest of our things in the bags. It hasn't quite sunk in that we were leaving melbourne, we loved living there but we were both ready to get back to our adventure.
