Well, what a rush to get away from home. It seemed to take days to get Ray ready to go into respite including an extra trip to the doctor to authorise getting some of his scripts dispensed early. We have a 21 day rule, so usually have to wait three weeks between dispensing each repeat on a script, we needed a repeat for two of them. So much red tape....arrrgggh!

But it is so worth it now I am here. Sitting in a jet plane for three hours hovering above the clouds it all seemed so unreal. I left home at 9.30am on Wednesday morning (about the time I usally fire up the computer for chat). I took a bus to the station, a train to Sydney. I stopped for lunch in one of the stations cafes before I took another train to the airport. Getting there early as you always have to I had to wait and wait, and finally we were boarded and fifteen minutes later in the air. I love the takeoff, that feeling of soaring away from the earth, such a free feeling.

The plane came in as smooth as a pigeon and exactly on time...congratulations to the pilot. Shirley was there to meet me and not fifteen minutes later the rest of the family got to see Granma. What a treat for me to sit down and have a meal with them. The little ones are different in their own homes, more relaxed, but also louder, naughtier too. But what a pleasure to be able to hug them, talk to them face to face, see them smile. Naomi sat on me,hugged me tight and snuggled in for the evening.

As I have not been here before it was good to fly in close to the coast and see the miles and miles of lovely beaches, some small islands dotting the ocean. There are hundreds of them here, large and small, it makes this part of the coast famous for snorkelling, scuba diving, all water activities. In days to come I will be able to see more of the place as we go about what to Shirley and Craig is now part of their everyday lives. You know what it feels like to visit family in unfamiliar settings. I makes me more able to picture who they encounter, what they do. Today we drove past Christopher's school, tomorrow I will go to Shirley and Craig's office. All designed to make me more able to familiarise myself with their world, to understand what they are talking about. And it helps me to feel as if them being so far away is not so bad.

Today was day 2 and I had the grandkids all to myself all day! Both have colds and stayed home from school so we watched videos, took a long walk to the park, played on the swings etc. Lots of laughter and smiles, both ate a large lunch and showed definite signs of improvement, going out in the sun will do that, and yes, it is fine, warm and sunny today so wonderful in the face of our wet, cold winter down south.

Tomorrow and the next day? who knows what they will bring? But whatever it is I will enjoy it to the full.