Months of preparation, planning and contemplation culminated in our Melbourne home being packed up and readied for shipment to South Africa. There’s something gut-wrenching about seeing a life reduced to one 40ft container (+ a second 20ft, as it turned out).
We waved our earthly possessions farewell on 07 February, and then officially became homeless.
Our temporary home quickly dispelled all thoughts of being anchorless because we found ourselves in the tranquil surrounds of Research, where dear friend, Dewetia, (and Zara the dog) made our transition as smooth as possible.
Packing up a life is physically tough, but farewelling those dear to us was emotionally devastating. Logically we knew that we would in all probability see our Australian friends and family again, but logic rarely applies in these situations. In our final days in Melbourne we spent hours talking to the people we care about, we drank many glasses of wine, laughed a great deal, and – in the words of the song – we also shed some salty tears.
24 February 2025 – we boarded that proverbial jet plane and winged our way to Johannesburg. Sadness was tempered by sheer relief that we were finally on our way. Excitement would come later …
And on the afternoon of the same day – a tad the worse for wear – we were met at O.R. Tambo International by cousins Harry and Margie. (A huge surprise!) Our African life was about to begin.
African Scatterlings 
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