Leaving The Mother City

Russ cycled into work very early today. We agreed to meet in town later so that he could drive Ham and I to the airport.

I spent most of the day cleaning and then sorting out what to take. It made me nervous to look at the huge pile of articles accumulating on the bedroom floor. As I swept through the house I kept on finding more, as well as things which should have been sent inside the Land Rover - I was furious with myself for not having used the opportunity to squeeze more into the car before it left.

Recently British Airways has changed it's policy of carrying sports equipment free of charge. We decided to double up our luggage and use Hamish's bag allowance for his golf clubs instead, only I hadn't calculated the amount of essential kit a teenager travels with nowadays. I was willing to leave all my stuff behind as long as I was able to take the five Wonder Bags which I've been promising some friends for months.

Wonder Bags are the modern equivalent of the straw filled 'slow cookers' women used during wartime. Lucie and Lachlan took one on their travels throughout Africa - as they ate breakfast, Lucie would toss whatever ingredients she had into a pot with a tin of tomatoes or some water and seasoning. The contents was brought to the boil for a few minutes, then transfered to the insulating bag to 'cook'. This produced a piping hot and nutritious stew at the end of each tiring day. The bags work equally as well for keeping food and drinks cool. In fact. I can't think of a better picnic for any season than a casserole, rice, some chilled wine and a hot cup of tea served from a volcano kettle!

I managed to pack one bag and all the lids, but there was no space for the other four even after flattening them out. I thought about taking two as flight pillows but didn't want to risk having them confiscated. After accepting defeat, we had a last look around the house and set off to meet Russ in town and then head for the airport.

As Ham and I walked through security, I blipped Russ for the second time in as many days. It's his birthday in a few hours and I can't remember when we last spent it together...
H A P P Y B I R T H D A Y! Hope to see you soon - please pack light and bring the Wonder Bags...