Good-bye Jessica

Yesterday afternoon we took Jessica to the airport so she could make her long and tedious journey back to the UK.





She was been here for three weeks and it has been great that she has been able to combine work with a catch up with friends and family.  I know that her grandparents in Geraldine were very pleased that she was able to spend so much time with them.





While it is always sad to say good bye we never seem to be out of contact for very long. Modern communication like Skype and emails make it very easy to stay in touch, and even her Grandma is able to speak to her on a regular basis on Skype. It is such a long way from when family left to live on the other side of the world in years gone by. Saying good bye in those times must have been so much more difficult.

Jessica spent the final week of her stay at Lincoln with her Aunt and Uncle and used this as a base to see us in our bus, visit friends and to sort out 'The Storage Unit.' Jessica and Andrew have had this unit since the days they lived in CHCH, originally for Andrew's motor bike collection and then for all that extra "stuff" that they didn't want to throw out when they moved to the UK (over 4 years ago now.)
The first problem was that the access card and keys for the padlocks. None of the small group of people who could possibly were 'looking after' them could find them so a new set had to be purchased.




We hooked up the trailer and headed in with the borrowed bolt cutters to see what treasures could be found, and what 'stuff' could further be parted with. We can see how that programme on TV where they auction off the contents of abandoned containers can be quite a good gamble.

Jessica diligently worked her way through all sorts of stuff she felt she no longer needed. Photos were taken and emailed off to Andrew for him to decide on, and Jessica took lots of paper work and books back to sort through during her evenings.  We took a trailer load of it to the Salvation Army, some paper work (including lecture notes from Uni days) were shredded, some was consigned to the rubbish and some to her suitcase to take back to the UK. Even we fell heir to some bits and pieces.  A customs search of her bag would be interesting as it now includes tools such as spanners and the like. Just as well Emirates allow 30kg of checked luggage.








What is now left is mostly Andrew's motor bikes and the associated parts and tools. What will be come of this is yet to be decided. I know he would like some of them in the UK but shipping is a costly exercise but not impossible.