So Long, Farewell...

All our American guests are gone (picture a very sad face maybe holding back some tears).

The Rules left Wednesday afternoon, and the boys left early this morning. Though, not as early as they were meant to. But, before I tell THAT story, I of COURSE have to relate our wonderful walk yesterday, to wind up their trip.

It was in the rain. And not just the normal rain that we get here, like, 90% of the time (I'm only sort of joking about the 90%...). It was a DOWNPOUR. And beautiful. Most of the day the clouds teetered between pouring buckets and just plain hard rain.

But, around 5, there was a small break in the rain, so we decided to go for a walk.

By break, I mean it was just regular raining. And by break, I mean a few minutes because our walk went for almost two hours, and we all came back absolutely drenched.

It was worth it though. While it may have been ridiculously wet out, it was warm enough that it wasn't annoying to be that wet. That, and we were moving quite a lot, so the drenching kept sweating at bay.

And it smelled wonderful out there. We walked up the back of the Paradise property my in-laws own, through forestry property. So lots and lots of large pines, ferns and moss and blackberries and native other undergrowth. Mix all that with the general freshness of the air here, and clean hard rain, and it smelled just... divine. The clean smell of pine and plants and rain and fresh dirt....

Taking the main road home

Not one inch dry.... but it was fantastic!

So, Irish stew was eaten, goodbyes were said, and off we went. But not before the two Anthonys got some more quality time.

Home we went, and then they packed. Well, MATT packed, I packed Anthony's bags since I had gifts to send home that I didn't want breaking. Matt checked the flights, and their first one from Tasmania (out of Launceston) was delayed to take off at 9:30AM instead of 6:30. Which wasn't terrible news because the 6:30AM flight meant we needed to be up by 3:30 in order to wake up a tiny bit and drive to Launceston to make the flight. 

Phillip and I checked it around 2:30AM though, and it was delayed until 10:30 (because of fog, which is a risk you take when you fly out of Launceston). Not nearly enough time for them to make their second big flight from Melbourne to Chicago. So dear tired Phillip spent time online and on the phone trying to figure something out. After a few more hours of sleep, and some more calling, he finally got hold of someone who was EXTREMELY helpful. The Qantas airline ended up putting the boys on a Jet Star flight that left earlier. Then Jet Star ended up just putting them on a flight straight to Sydney to catch up with their big flight to the States. 

All worked out ok, as far as we know. They should be in the air right now, and Phillip and I will be working on catching up on two weeks worth of lost sleep (to a very good cause!), and getting used to a quiet house again...