Darwin. Or is it Melbourne?!

We were in a hurry to get to Darwin, as we had booked Lexie on a flight back to Melbourne for a few days. She was really missing her friends and the text messages had dropped off a bit  - “I think they’re forgetting about me!” Which isn’t really surprising when you think about 11 year-old girls. When we decided to do this trip, we budgeted for a flight home for everyone at any stage, at a time that they felt they needed it. Dunc flew home for his sister’s 50^th Birthday. I would have flown home to say farewell to Priya, but we were in the middle of WA and nowhere near an airport at the time. Angus doesn’t feel the need to leave us at all. But now was the right time for Lexie. There was a direct flight from Darwin to Melbourne (at an insane hour of the morning), but Jetstar doesn’t do ‘unaccompanied minors’. Bummer. So Qantas it was – we spent some of the points we’ve been accumulating and in an effort not to blow them all at once, ended up with flights at the same insane hour! Not only that, but with connections all over the place. Lexie may have already been driven halfway around Australia, but now she was flying the other half. Darwin to Sydney to Melbourne to Adelaide to Darwin! Our next biggest problem was footware - we've been living in thongs since Geraldton. Lexie's only enclosed shoes were ugh boots and hiking shoes, and she was unwilling to wear either to school. (Can' t imagine why...) A quick swing past K-Mart fixed our problem. Dunc dropped her at the airport at 1am, ready for her 2am flight. All the paperwork was completed and mum and dad were to meet her in Melbourne. 

She had a massive 5 days. A lovely quiet day with my Mum and Dad to recover from her shocking night flight, and then it was on – back-to-back socializing and schooling. A cuddle with our kittycats. A sleepover with Livy. Afternoon tea with most of Dunc’s family. Dinner with Em. A birthday party. Two full days of school. And 2 days with Jazzy and family to finish up her time there. Thank goodness she has such loving and willing grandparents, who chauffeured her between engagements!