Just over a week to go

Only about 10 days before we leave, but it all seems a bit surreal as there are no Qantas flights leaving Australia for Europe at the moment because of ash from the Iceland volcano. We are hoping that flights will be returning to normal by 2 May! All the Good Food Guide reviews are done and in and I sent off the last invoices today. Just have to review some restaurants for the Herald and write them up before we go.

Our friends, the Maltbys and Anthony and Dimity are coming for the Anzac weekend. We won't see the Maltbys until they return from their trip to North America at the end of October.

Last Friday we said goodbye to Laurent and Sabine, Pierre and Vincent Agostinetti, our exchange family from Allauch near Marseille. We will be in their house in July. Their visit has been so successful. What a lovely family. And they have arranged some extra places for us to stay at the end of June and the beginning of August. Laurent's mother has a cottage in the Ardeche where we can stay while we canoe the Ardeche Gorge and Sabine's father has a chalet in Larche in the Alps where we will stay on our way to Verona, before returning home in September.