Last Post from the UK

I'm at the airport waiting for midnight to arrive. I was packed yesterday and took it down Dave's work to get it weighed as I was having problems weighing it at home. It was just under 54 kg and I hoped that it would not matter if I was a little over.

Yesterday was notable in its normality. I watched tv, went down Dave's in the afternoon and cooked lasagne for tea, then finished loading my CDs on to my laptop. This morning I had my first lie-in in over a week which was lovely! I spent the morning watching tv and had a shower then cooked lunch in preparation for mum's return home.

We left Nailsea around 2pm after picking up my new glasses. They have magnetic sunglass attachments which is very cool! We stopped in Bristol to say bye to Jo, then headed to Brize Norton. The drive was pretty uneventful, but the weather was atrocious at times.

We got to the airport around 5pm. We had to get temporary passes to enter the base, then I was able to check my stuff in which took all of two minutes with the majority of the time spent waiting for the boarding pass, etc, to be printed! Then we had a cup of tea and went in search of some food. We were able to leave the base so headed towards a village on the Severn we'd spotted. Unfortunately we took a wrong turning and ended up on flooded roads but we got there eventually and had tea at a pub, then returned to the base.

It's no 7.45pm and mum has gone. It's strange: no tears were shed though I probably will cry a bit once I get on the plane. It doesn't feel that exciting this time round. I'm only going for a year which will be gone in no time. That's not to say I'm not excited, I am. I think the problem is it just doesn't feel that real yet. Flying from an RAF base to the Falkland Islands isn't exactly an every-day experience and I think I'm more taken with the surealness of it all more than what it actually means!

Anyway, this keyboard is very weird, more like calcultor buttons than keys, and it is making typing very difficult, so I'll finish now.

I will try and post once I get on the islands but in case I can't, please take no news to be good news, and I'll see everyone in a year!

Comments

Anonymous said…
It was very strange leaving you at the base. I was very aware of burly men looking at two women hugging each other. Which is why my comments about seeing you hopefully at Christmas was said loud enough to be heard by them. The journey home was very uneventful but I did remember something you had promised to do, so was straight onto the computer as soon as I got home. Maybe leaving your mobile behind was not such a good idea. Glad to say you did pick up the message immediately and actioned.
27 July 2007 at 09:15
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