Progress

We left the airport and headed for home. The mood in the car was quiet. Mum was very upset and sobbed quietly. Drew sent us texts from Sydney; he and Margie met up with their other travelling partner, Belinda, on the bus from the domestic to the international terminal. He jumped on facebook and added Megan and me :) Up to this point, he has resisted being friends with us. Adding your mother as a facebook friend is considered uncool to a Gen Yer!

We avoided travelling up the range; it's reduced to one lane of traffic and is a very slow trip. We went via Murphys Creek; it was a sobering drive.The after effects of the flooding are still very plain to see.

We arrived home around 10-30am. Gibbo and I went to work to catch up on some overdue emails. The three of us felt a bit deflated so went out for tea at Mary's. The events of the last few days had taken their toll.

Meg set up a facebook account for Gibbo so he can keep up with Drew. He has a wagyu as his profile picture.

I fell asleep on the couch, wondering how/where my boy was. I woke up at 1.30am and went to bed..............and then my mobile went off 15 minutes later. A text from Drew!!! From Vancouver!!!! They had just landed, 7.30 Thursday morning for him. He was using up the last of his credit. I was excited to hear from him and then couldn't sleep.

Gibbo left for Surat at 5.30am to fix some loose ends. Tough gig.

I was expecting a phone call some time this morning (Friday). I checked the flight status of the Vancouver-Ottawa plane and saw that it landed at 4.35pm local time (7.35am our time). I stayed close to the phone, waiting, waiting for a phone call. Finally, it came! Drew rang an hour after landing, from his new home. His host family met him; the kids had nearly missed the plane in Vancouver due to some confusion over where to go to get their study permits; finding their luggage in V and taking it to the transit area was easy; he had no-one next to him on the plane from Sydney to V; he only slept for about 3 hours; it's really cold; his host Mum is "really lovely, really nice"; he has an interview at his school next Wednesday and starts next Thursday. He's a bit nervous about that. He and Philip (the German exchange student) were heating up some spinach quiche and were going to "chill out". He jumped on facebook and said hello to everyone. He has free wi-fi which is a bonus.

Knowing he is now there makes me feel........I don't know. I'm sad and glad. So much time and effort and emotion has gone into getting him there, from back in June when we started filling out the application. I haven't cried much since yesterday because I'm really at peace with what he is doing. I think this is the absolute best option for him at this time in his life. Letting him go was hard but it feels right too. And Louise was right. The horrendous part was the anticipation leading up to the day....the day itself was ok. I had some really bad days but yesterday wasn't one of them; it was more a little celebration that he was on his way at last. He's off to make his way in the world. Without his momma :)

After the phone call I went to town to the dentist then had lunch with Meg. Came home and caught up on my blogging and 365. And here I am now. One child on the couch, one child asleep on the other side of the world and a husband, who's had a tough time, travelling back from Surat.
He will head back out there early next week; I'll get a lift to Roma Sale on Wednesday and he will pick me up and we'll head up to CQ for some station visits. Now I can start to spend some more time with him on the road and also start to think about what I want to do this year?????

Goodbye, See Ya, Have Fun, Take Care

And so it was. We arrived at the airport at 5am and met Louise, the departure lady. She took Drew to check in; then we all went through security (where Drew was checked for explosives) and upstairs to wait. Louise took Drew and Margie away for 15 minutes to go through some paperwork, insurance and what to do/who to contact if you miss your plane etc.

Bree and Sophie were there to meet him with a huge red cardboard heart. He was really surprised. They're his two best friends.

We headed to Gate 20 and sat for an hour. It went slowly. We just stood around talking nervously. Notice how Megan is always aware of where the camera is pointing.

Doug and June bought him a Kangaroos jersey as a going away present. He insisted on wearing it.
Time to say goodbye and head to the gate. This is the moment we all started to cry; still smiling but crying too.

Granny found it especially hard. He is the light of her life.

This was a tough moment for me, when he went to line up...........
so I ran over and gave him another tight hug and three kisses.

And then he was gone down the corridor toward the plane. He turned around at the last second and I could just see his head and hand waving over the top of the other passengers.

Oh, he was soooo excited to be finally heading off on his grand adventure.

We turned and walked away, back through the terminal to the car. I couldn't believe what I'd just done....said goodbye to my son for a year. Drew. Canada. Really??

Then We...

Booked in at our usual city resting place, The Cosmo on Park Road. It's really close to this place...

Chris met us and we went to Sizzler for our last dinner together for a while. Gibbo imparted words of wisdom. Drew presented Gibbo with his iPad (on loan for a year), much to Gibbo's delight. Now he won't feel quite so left out.

The wallpaper on Drew's mac. I wonder how long that will stay there!

We laid everything out for our early start. I was surprisingly calm...there was no other way to be really. 4am would arrive soon enough and there wasn't a thing on the planet that I could do about it.

Drew later posted on his facebook wall:

So...I've had an amazing last day in Australia

thanks to my amazing family :) I

can't wait to leave tomorrow though:)

It really was a great last day. It seemed to last forever and it was filled with laughter and joking and fun and our own little peculiar Gibbons family language and sayings. We were aware of Drew's impending departure but there wasn't too much sadness.

A Happy and Sad Day

Wednesday seemed to last forever. Louise, the WEP departure liasion officer, rang mid-morning and arranged a place to meet. We talked for a while; I think she gave me a pep talk! She told me it is a horrendous time - I said "yes, it will be" but what she actually meant was that the lead up to the leaving was horrendous - the actual leaving wouldn't be so bad - and that I would survive.

I I made a cup of tea and laid on Drew's bed while he finally tidied his room. We did the final, final pack, added a few more items and left for Brisbane at 1pm and took a thousand photos before (and as) we left.

Drew took lots of leaving photos too. He was a bit sad to say goodbye.

Last Minute Happenings at Home

This is it. We're leaving at lunchtime and heading to Brisbane. 20 hours. Eek.

Drew and I went for a little walk where I tried to remind him of every single thing I've taught him over the last 17 years! Make the right choices. Feed the Good Wolf. All that sort of stuff. I just had to do it. Now I feel like I can send him off. There's nothing more I can tell him.

Meg made pancakes for breakfast.
We all went to the chooks.
Meg sat on Drew.

Gibbo started to wash the car and only did half a job. Meg finished it off.
Meg pulled one of her baby carrots just to see how they were travelling. Baby.

The troops got in the pool to cool off. It was hot and humid.

You can just imagine what happened next.