Goodbye

As can be seen we made it to the airport.Some of the afore mentioned friends (assistants) came to the airport to make sure we actually got off and weren't going to be a bother anymore.

The big adversity at this stage was the weight limit on our luggage.

Packing for a trip of this length, with 3 legs (Tanzania, Turkey, Cycling in Eastern Europe) had significant packing challenges.

The greatest weight factor was books. Reading will be a new found luxury after the last 6 months and even though we will not be doing a large formal home schooling program (This next bit is a secret to the boys), there will be some academic expectation and Leah had done a significant amount of research (with Eva's assistance) and there was significant weight attributable to educational supplies. Toiletries, firstaid suppiles, medical needs, some light camping gear, palliative care teaching supplies, soccerballs ( yes yes we deinflated them) and a little bit of clothing added up to over 200 pounds of stuff.

In contrast to many of Ambrose's departures we gave ourselves loads of time so the reshuffle and repack was not under any time stress.
The flights were uneventful with a highlight being our Calgary-London leg being undersubscribed and there was extra seats to stretch out on so we all got a few hours before landing.
From touchdown to arriving at King's Cross train station was only 2.5 hours including immigration, non-customs, left luggage, changing money and a 23 stop tube ride. Heavy schlepping (sp) but otherwise easy and Patrick met us as planned.