That was the easiest I've ever passed through bag drop, immigration and duty free in Melbourne. No queuing anywhere. Just another hour and we'll be boarding the Dreamliner to Dubai then on to Rome. I'm looking forward to a sleep. Been too excited to sleep last 2 nights.

Well it's been quite a week, with everything planned and just a few days to go I woke up Wednesday with a pounding headache and no voice. So dosed up on vitamin C, echinacea, zinc and garlic I faced a few days tucked up in the warm and thankfully with 2 days to go I am on the road to recovery. So now we're cruising till Sunday afternoon and the flight out of Hobart. Italy, look out! We're on our way!

After many months waiting, planning and preparing we are finally in the home stretch - 27 days to go before Sonia, Mili and I head off on our big adventure. Sonia is a friend and work colleague and Milli is her 10 year old grand daughter. The suitcases are out of storage, bookings made and I have lists and notes to keep me on track. It is an exciting time - I was last in Europe 30 years ago and have many wonderful memories and am going back to some of those p...