Farewells

"All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go" . . . Yes, tonight I'll be leaving on a jet plane (hopefully) on my way to Darwin, Australia via Singapore. It sounds like a hellish journey, but on the positive side it will be much shorter than if I was leaving from England. Everyone is giving me cheerful predictions that I will be struck with dire jet lag on the return journey, so I've already booked a day of lolling around before tackling the holiday wash for the next trip which will be to dear old Norfolk, sometime in mid July. I don't know if it's my age, but I'm not desperate to go on this trip. It's going to be fab. A journey on the famous Ghan railway from Darwin to Alice Springs. A sunset cruise on our first night in Darwin. A sunset BBQ looking over at Uluru sometime at the end of next week. Let's hope there isn't fog otherwise all these sunset events will be a big disappointment. It all sounds great on paper, but I'm worrying about sleep deprivation for the next 24 hours, followed by lots of early morning starts and sharing a room with a friend. Still, I've coped with a week of 2 hour sleeping per night before. It won't kill me will it? I'm luck, I know, but I've put off packing until the last minute.

I have all the requisites for a pre-holiday day. I have an enormous bruise on my leg where I smacked into a very sharp wooden corner of the spare bed, while making it up for Johar, my new and very melancholy catsitter. I'm a little anxious that he might change his mind at the 11th hour. He didn't look at all impressed with me, the cats or the house when he came over with a mutual friend for an inspection last week. Since then I've spent quite a bit of time on sporadic cleaning. I've collected enough cat hair to make another cat and four kittens. Plus the endless battle with the dust. I've just wiped out the microwave (always forgotten in my normal cleaning routine) and given the fridge a lick and a polish. Unfortunately, I've given myself another job just before I leave. I prepared the fridge fall-out lunch enjoyed by most travellers - lettuce, last two eggs, two large mushrooms and two slices of bread, plus the leftover pasta from last night. Should have been lovely, but I decided to save myself washing up by cooking the mushrooms and the eggs in the pan of leftover pasta. BIG mistake. HUGE. Now I have a burnt saucepan with a bottom coated with burnt egg to contend with. The other compulsory requisite of the pre-departure traveller is something going wrong in the house. Yep, had that one too. One of the air conditioning units in the living has stopped blowing out cool hair and makes a strange groaning noise instead. I've turned it off and hope that Johar can cope with just the one which is still working.  Getting maintenance to come round now is just asking for trouble and a lot of frustration.

Choti Billi threw himself into my bag just as I was about to fill it with clothes. He settled down comfortably, refused to leave and gave me the look that said "Don't leave. If you have to leave, take me." I wish Choti, but it's not going to happen. Eventually he jumped out and I've packed all the clothes that I carefully washed and ironed. These will look like rags by the time we arrive in Darwin in the early hours of Sunday morning. I am quite sure that nothing will be suitable either. It's difficult to pack for 17 C when I'm sweating in temperatures above 40 C. My walking boots take up most of the space. It took me 15 minutes to find my grey fleece, which I promptly rejected due to lack of space. Just hope I don't live to regret that in the chilly evenings in the desert near Uluru. Can't find the new socks bought in the sale at BHS anywhere. Goodness knows what I've done with them.

It's been a funny fortnight. We've had to say goodbye to a number of people who are leaving Al Ain for other jobs. That's normal in an expatriate community, but always sad. Many people left who were working here during my last period in Al Ain - they've been here for 13 or more years. It will seem strange without them. One of the people leaving is Bob 4 doors down. No more animated discussions over a bottle of Jacobs Creek I fear.

There have been other unwelcome departures this week. I lent a neighbour a cat trap to catch a beige coloured stray cat. The neighbour had named him Archie and, against her family's wishes, was hoping to add him to her household. There is a high prevalence of Feline AIDS in Al Ain, so it was decided to have him tested before doing anything else. I drove the neighbour and Archie to the vet. My neighbour was upset and Archie was clearly stressed given the pungent smell of urine emanating from the back seat. While he was tested my neighbour was working out how to persuade her family to keep him and how he would be looked after while they were away for the next few weeks. It was all for nothing. Archie tested positive for AIDS and there was no choice but to have him euthanised. Now I have to worry about Choti Billi who has had a number of scraps with Archie in the past. If he's been bitten by Archie, then Choti may also have AIDS.

A friend, who has been in the Emirates for 11 years, decided to return to Canada this week. She was all set to take her two dogs with her - both were strays that she homed and had come to love. I don't know the reason, but the day that she left she sent me a text to say that the dogs had been put down and that she was a mess. Again, this is another problem with living abroad and having animals. So many difficult decisions to make.

Finally, the sad news this morning that Michael Jackson had died. Thank you for providing the music which made my heart race as soon as I entered Scamps in Anglia Square during the high days of my youth. Farewell to all.