This is it

Wednesday morning my mum will take us to Cape Town for a last lunch, an embarrassment of tearful hugs, dinner and too much wine before we grumpily get on our 8am flight to London on Thursday 1 March.

Amanda's dad will no doubt rue his offer to pick us up from Heathrow in the 6pm rush hour, but we're very grateful and look forward to staying in his and Sue's house for a week while they rush around India and Nepal.

We've postponed reality for a week by skiing in France with Les Girls. So our new life in the UK officially starts on Monday 19 March - one in which we will eat only organic food, watch no television and ban the car. And probably do some good deeds and smile piously at cab drivers who knock us off our bicycles.

Good bye travels. The past 15 months have been the best of our lives. Thank you.