D-Day finally arrived

Our last week in South Africa was really strange - in some ways it sped by and in other ways it seemed to drag on endlessly.  I had such mixed emotions, there was stress, nervousness, fear, dread, excitement, joy, sadness.... you name it, I felt it!  

Our last night was spent at a B&B and that evening we went out for dinner with our daughter Paula, her fiance, Calvin and Impi.  Impi is in his late 20s, he has grown up as a part of our family - his mother was my parents' housekeeper.  I drove his mom to hospital the day he was born and since then he has been like a son to me.  Although I know we will see him regularly and I hope that one-day he will also come to live in England, I was dreading saying goodbye to him.  This was the biggie for me, the one thing that I knew was probably going to break my heart.  And it did.  I randomly burst into tears halfway through dinner and it took me a good few minutes to get a handle on my emotions.  I still tear-up when I think about it.  Fortunately, that little emotional outburst aside, our dinner was pleasant and we had a good time together.

The day of our departure dawned and we took care of a couple of last-minute errands, went and had coffee and then lunch and before we knew it it was time to pack up and head to the airport!

photo credit: wilco737 via photopin (license)

We flew Emirates because of their generous baggage allowance (2 x 23kg bags checked-in luggage per person.)  Once at the airport we did our luggage drop-off and then went through security.  We had decided not to have anyone see us off at the airport and I was really pleased with that decision on the day.  Our wait at the airport and our flights were uneventful and after what felt like VERY many hours, we landed at Heathrow.  We were dealt with by a pleasant customs official who stamped our passports and wished us well in the UK after having a look at our BRP letters.  We had taken all of our documents and TB certificates in our hand luggage, just in case, but she didn't ask for any of that.

Once we had collected our luggage (it all arrived, safe and sound!)  we hired a car at Heathrow and set off for our temporary accommodation that we'd booked through booking.com.

It felt a bit anti-climatic really...all the build up to the big move and then the departure from Durban, the flight and our arrival in the UK felt so ... ordinary.