Chaos

We thought we were sort of almost ready for them. But it quickly became apparent that we weren't. The prepackers turned up around 8:30 yesterday in their minivan with a pile of cartons, butcher's paper, and tape, and got to work. Berenice's impression was "they're not efficient, they're ruthless". And it was as much as we could do to stop them from packing the shoes of our feet and the car keys out of our pockets. We tried to rush around in front of them to grab things that weren't to be packed, and to tidy up the girls room so that it was trafficable ("We tidied it, but then Christopher came in!"), etc. After a while, it became apparent that we could only really stand back helplessly and watch it all happen. They finished shortly after 3pm, having packed and labelled about 340 boxes, pieces of furniture, and other items.

We managed to have Helen spend some time with her school-friend Phoebe, and Nanna took Stephanie off to have a haircut. And Grandma had taken them and Christopher for a walk (or sleep, as the case may be) in the Gap Creek Reserve. The girls are going to stay with Nanna and Pop most of the next four nights.

After a few logistical complexities, and stopping off at Nanna and Pop's place, we found ourselves at Mt Ommaney Hotel and Apartments for the evening. We indulged in the Pepperjack Shiraz that Glenn had given Christopher for his birthday. It was definitely on the spicy side of the shiraz spectrum, and it had a nice relaxing effect. Two of us indulged in Wagyu steak and Rabbit and Pistachio entrees, and a Valhrona Chocolate Ravioli dessert in a pool of Anglaise with vanilla Bean ice-cream. A Black Books episode with England vs Sri Lanka in the background rounded things off nicely. The combination of traffic noise and poorly-adjusted air conditioning made it a bit difficult for Joanna to sleep, but she should be able to try earplugs tonight.

The removalists have almost finished loading all the stuff onto the truck now. Berenice is amusing herself with a brush and dustpan before the cleaner comes, and Joanna and Christopher have gone back to the hotel for a snooze. I've discovered that after we finish in London, we'll be staying in the Wayfarer's Cottage in Malvern for a couple of weeks while we look for a house to live in. I suppose that we'll be able to put up with it for that long. Take a look at their brochure if you have time.

I think all the paperwork is done now, apart from one insurance fax/post, finalising my last Canberra trip (which I'll do shortly), and collecting a cabcharge from work. We might even to a quick whiz-around with the vacuum cleaner here later on this afternoon. So the stress-o-meter is nicely back down into the brooks-babbling-through-the-village territory. We'll probably end up lazing around in the botanical gardens or Southbank over the weekend now...