A week at home

Us winterers are lucky enough to get a week off prior to departure to spend with friends and family. I headed back to Adelaide, and managed to spend a lot of quality time with my lovely wife. We managed to sort a few more things out with regard to packing everything into storage and getting the house sorted out. Sam (my wife) is going snowboarding in Canada while I am away, so there was lots of stuff to sort out. It was very dificult to find a balance between getting stuff done ready for us to go way and spending quality time together. I think we managed a pretty good compromise.
Sam had secretly arranged for us to stay in a Hotel the first few nights back in Adelaide as a Birthday present (it was my Birthday while I was home too!). It was a fatastic idea and we had a great couple of evenings together (Sam still had to work during the day).
I also managed to visit my grandparents before heading off, which was great!
On my last night in Adelaide I had a bit of a going away bash! It was a really great night, and my family put a lot of effort into organising it. It was good to talk to friends and family one last time before heading off. I am really glad so many people came along. I got to show off my Antarctic survival gear to everyone. Here's a picture of my wife with all the gear on!
It was great to have time to say goodbye to most of my family. By saying goodbye to so many people a week before I actual get on the boat, it split up some of the pain of leaving. It wont be until the boat is pulling away from the wharf that I will have to say goodbye to Sam, Sam's Mum and my Mum who are all coming down to Hobart see me off!