Stage One Complete

The kids have gone home and I'm on my own. I had the rare privilege of being able to sleep in this morning, having slept without the disturbance of snoring, sleep walking, or sleep talking, to have a shower at my leisure, and to set about the business of the day without thinking about where 13 kids were.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, I had a great time and the trip went exceptionally well, but there is always a sense of relief when you finish a project or trip and I think the kids were feeling it too. Rhys said on the way to the airport, "I've loved this trip but I can't wait to sleep in my own bed tonight".
He had special reason to feel pleased and relieved, having given a talk at the Box Forest assembly to nearly 500 students and staff and doing a spectacularly good job of it.
Troy's powerpoint on Busselton and the trip was fantastic and Rhys even ad-libbed his way through it as well as his prepared talk.
We presented the school with three framed prints by Jenny Taylor, depicting scenes from Busselton and the cape which they were very pleased to receive.
Then it was the final pack-up and clean-up before departure.
There was a small hiccup regarding the whereabouts of a football but that was successfully resolved and we were off. A stop at Red Rooster for lunch meant we couldn't take the detour I'd hoped for to see Ned Kelly's armour at the State Library; I'll have to do that on my own.
Next stop Avalon airport.
Check in went smoothly, with only Dana nudging the 20kg baggage limit. At the airport I gave Robbie and Jacqui gifts of Melbourne T-shirts and badges as thank yous on behalf of the kids and myself for their help and support throughout the trip.
Then Chris and I waved them goodbye as they headed out to board the aircraft and we set off on the return journey to Melbourne.
Jacqui sent me a text a few hours later to say they had all arrived safely and all the kids had been picked up from the airport, our final responsibility completed.

It has been a memorable and satisfying week which I'm confident was thoroughly enjoyed by the kids and staff alike.

I am now at Sydney airport having just arrived for a couple of days along with hundreds of thousands of other "pilgrims" here for World Youth Day (Week!) and the Pope's visit to Australia. I stayed the night with Jacinta, a teacher from Box Forest, and her husband Geoff, and last night had my first taste of a Melbourne style Trivia Night (Quiz night) at The Terminus pub in Northcote (an area very familiar to me as my Nan and Pa lived there for 50 years). It was well run and good fun and gave me a few ideas for next year's Big Busso Quiz Night.

I'm about to head into the city and sometime this afternoon rendezvous with Alex who has also come over for World Youth Day.