A Day of Packing

Tomorrow we head to Dar on the first leg out our holiday (vacation) to South Central Africa. A journey that will hopefully take us to Malawi, Zambia and Botswana. We’re going to be traveling by Boat, Train, Coach and Plane and if you are interested you can follow our journey on a dedicated blog Victoria to Victoria.

Today has been a day of packing and as we are planning to save costs by camping, we need to squeeze in our recently purchased tent along with the clothes.

It’s probably a good thing as it limits the clothes we will take (I am never good at choosing what to take!). Once in Dar we’ll re-jig  for our onward journey, but planes have rules and needs must.

Almost a year ago we were packing in a much bigger way as we were approaching moving day and leaving England for Tanzania – time has flown fast.

Half Term in the Sun

It’s half term (mid-term break) here in Mwanza. The start of a week’s holiday. February half term is normally the quietest of the breaks, the coldest and dullest (weatherwise) but welcome nonetheless. After the hustle and bustle of Christmas/New Year it’s a more relaxed break.
Of course last year this same break marked the real beginning of our epic journey which brought us across the globe and to different hemispheres (Northern and Western to Southern and Eastern). It’s a year tomorrow that I wrote my first blog post and a year ago the week ahead brought the start of the clear out, as Mum arrived to start the process of clearing the garage and garden.

One year ago this coming week!

Now a year on it’s difficult to believe I am half way through my first year here in Tanzania. Time is really flying.
This half term will be more relaxed. We have plans to visit Rubondo Island at the end of the week with friends and colleagues. More of this later on, but we’re really looking forward to it.

Early in the week we’re meeting up with a couple from St Mary’s our old church (Steve and Judy), they run Wabia Network  (a charity doing work) out here in Mwanza and are visiting from the UK.

The rest of the week remains unplanned which is exactly how I like it. One thing very different to the UK is the weather which is scorchingly hot. This has turned February into the hottest month of the year so far and a complete contrast to February back home.

For my former colleagues and fellow professionals in the UK and to any off work this week hope you have a nice break.

End of Term

Finally we’re here at the end of Term One and The holidays are here and I feel ……exhausted.
Today we had an awards ceremony for the first three hours. Sadly Zanzibar (my house) were pipped to the Sports Day – winning more events overall but losing out on coming third more often than Pemba who one overall. The children won awards for outstanding (English, History and ICT for Bex) and most improved (PE for Matt). They also won awards for the school production. In dispersing the awards were musical and drama pieces from various groups of students.
Assembly was followed by two lessons and the ubiquitous Power Cut. Then tutor group parties to complete an early finish of school at 2:15. Three weeks break including a week in Zanzibar to come and a somewhat different Christmas / New Year to usual.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Gone But Not Forgotten (Holidays)

A submission to this week’s photo challenge (GBNF). This was a challenge to find one photo from each of our main holidays over the past 19 years since we were married (and some of the minor ones too!). This post has taken so long to put together the challenge has moved on – so it is gone but not forgotten.

1995: Crete

1996: Scotland

1997: France (Brittany)

1998: Derbyshire

1999: France & Cornwall (Milennium)

2000: Spain

Torremolinos

2001: Devon

2002: France

 

2003: Devon

2004: France, Denmark & Weston-Super-Mare

2005: Italy, Cornwall & France

 

2006: Czech Republic, Gambia & Lanzarote

2007: France

2008: Yorkshire

 

2009: Dorset & Scotland

2010: France & Derbyshire

2011: Estonia & Wales

2012: Olympics

2013: Vietnam/Cambodia & Lake District

Angkor Wat View

2014: Cornwall, Cheddar & Serengeti

On The Beach

T Minus 18

A day to tick an item on my UK Bucket List. This is a list of things I have done before but want to do again before I go. Last week it was Alton Towers, this week it is a swim in the Atlantic. It was a great day on the beach – a chance to unwind – and “boy do we need it”.
Great to spend time with family too as we share this holiday with Anita’s parents and sister’s family. It’s good for the cousins to get together before time and distance force a separation.
A week here in Newquay forms part of our “Grand Tour” which will allow us to see most of the family on both sides.
Today’s agenda included beach bowls, swimming, body boarding, sunbathing and relaxing!

Our New Home

T Minus 19

This our new home …… for the next 10 days that is. ;-D.

We’re All Goin’ on a Summer Holiday

T Minus 19

A day later than planned but finally packed up and out of house it’s time for a bit of R ‘n’ R. We are off to Newquay for a week camping, followed immediately by 3 days of the same in Cheddar. We will join family in Newquay and meet family in Cheddar. It’s such a relief to have something else to do other than pack. Apart from the fact we’ve just packed up the car for a week away 😉
Let the holidays begin!

From Milton Keynes to …… Abingdon

T minus 20

So here we are at last. Our last morning in MK. Our last day in the house. Two days and a lot of clearing / packing later we are ready to leave. There’s still a lot to sort and to cull (in the end we had to pack without sorting – there was just too much to do in too short a time) but that must wait. All the “stuff” is in Abingdon barring one last car load. We will return there in two weeks after a break in Cornwall, Somerset and Lincoln and a day in Bicester.
Waking up to a near empty house is weird – less so because our bed is staying – but still weird. There was no food in the house and so off to Dobbies for breakfast (MK garden centre – known for it’s cheap and filling breakfasts). We had forgotten that this was the venue of St Mary’s monthly drop in / breakfast – so it was great to catch up one more time with some SMB folk especially as many of those there were in our Home Groups over the years.

Then back home (for the last time) to tidy up. It actually takes a lot longer than we imagined, the remaining contents fills our car to the brim and then it is a vacuum through and a final trip to the dump.

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In addition a mountain of pink sacks deposited with rubbish that will have to wait for collection.

So we leave our home (already it’s someone else’s house) and head off to Abingdon. We’re on route to Newquay, but it’s taken so long we’ve decided to stop over for the night and travel down a day late for 10 days under canvas. So concludes the first phase of our move to Mwanza!

Summer of a Different Kind

T minus 30

Today is the first day of the Summer Holidays. Normally this would mark the start of a six week break. A chance to get off the hamster wheel which is work and rest for a little while before climbing back on in time for the exam results. Of course this is a different kind of summer. With contracts signed and exchanged and a completion date set for 29th we have lots to do. Thankfully our buyers are happy to allow us to remain until the 31st or 1st but even so a week and a bit to clear out. We still have things to sell and dump and give away and little time to do it. Even with a lot done there is a lot to do still. To add to the mix we have a series of injections over the next 4 days – for me not too many but plenty for the rest. Today is also Anita’s mum’s birthday and a chance to celebrate as a family. We’re juggling lots of priorities at the moment 🙂

A year ago today I was in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam and down in the Mekong Delta. Here are a couple of reminders.

Cornwall Mini-Break: Day 1

T Minus 85

We visited the North Coast of Cornwall visiting three separate locations to enjoy the coastline and take in the sea air.

Chapelporth

Trevaunance Cove

Perranporth

The Sands of Time

T Minus 91

It’s difficult to believe that today is the end of my penultimate term. Like grains of sand rushing through the narrow neck of an hour glass, time is rushing by at an ever increasing rate.

Suddenly we find ourselves nearing the end of May. In three months time depending on how you measure it, we will will either be spending our last day in England (Friday) or our first day in Tanzania (23rd).
I think that part of the issue has been the business of work and also the plethora of Bank Holidays concentrated into April and May, another Bank Holiday weekend is upon us and will allow us to meet up with Family. The rest of the week will possibly involve a trip to Lincoln to drop off some stuff for storage and some further house clearance. We aim to of some trial packing to see how much it all weighs. We are also looking at some options for our equity and considering the possibility of investing in a smaller property.
It will be a busy week – probably our last week off before we move. We hope to make the most of it.