How quickly does a year go?

My flight back to England is on Monday 26 June at 17:00 and I arrive into LHR at 7:00 on Tuesday 27 June. Mumma and Puppa plan on meeting me at the airport, as do Giorgio and Toni I think, so it’s going to be a big old family reunion. Only one part of the family will be missing, and that’s little Poppy, who I hope still recognises me!

I’m excited, but very sad to leave Sydney too. I’m pretty sure it’s stolen a little bit of my heart. What an amazing place.

So our last week together in Sydney is chock full of fun – and for Dave and I, that mostly involves eating out at all our favourite restaurants.

Monday night was Miss Chu, where we gorged ourselves on Vietnamese rice paper rolls, steamed dumplings, steamed pork buns, and sticky rice pudding.

Last night was Velero, possibly my favourite restaurant in Sydney, where for $38 per person, you get four tapas dishes and a huge seafood paella to share. Beautiful.

And tonight? A semi-farewell dinner with a few friends. I’m not a massive fan of the farewell party – I love going to other people’s to say goodbye, but it’s not really something I want for myself. Firstly, I don’t like the attention being on me particularly, and secondly, I just don’t like saying goodbye. Maybe that’s selfish (as pointed out by Dave) but that’s just me!

We’ve decided on a vegetarian place called Yulli’s in Surry Hills, followed by a few drinks in the Cricketers Arms, a pub which, I’ve been told by a particularly obsessed-with-everything-English Australian friend is just like an English pub – there’s a big open fire and it’s full of good-looking English men (her favourite type of man, of course). A fitting way to end my time in Sydney really!