The last two weeks before we left were totally exhausting. We were getting up early and sorting things until 1 or 1.30am before crashing into bed to start the whole thing again a few hours later. Even though we had packers, we had to make sure that we identified anything we did not want to come with us. On top of that, some of our stuff was going to our house in Madeira, and some was going into storage for our new house when it is built, so we had to ensure everything was appropriately marked for the packers. We used a system of coloured labels but I have a suspicion that they were not always followed correctly. When our stuff finally arrives I will not be surprised if things end up in the wrong place. I know that some stuff that was meant to remain was packed (for example plumbing spares for the "old" house) and will be turning up where we have no use for it!
The packers arrived on the Tuesday before our flight, and from then everything was a complete whirlwind. They were incredibly efficient and I suspect that if either of us stood still too long we'd have been packed too!
We had no say in the order in which they packed rooms, so the kitchen and all of its equipment was done very early on leaving us no way to prepare any food. This meant that the only way to eat was to walk into town and buy something there. Our lovely friends Tony and Eniko kindly let us stay with them from Wednesday night onwards as our bed had been packed too.
On Thursday, several hours later than expected, a 40ft container arrived outside the house and the packers shifted everything into it. Well, nearly everything, as they realised quite quickly that there would not be room for the two motorcycles. Dave ended up having to make alternative arrangements with someone he knows who specialises in transporting motorcycles overseas.
In the middle of all of the packing, on the Wednesday, we finally exchanged on our house. The process, in hindsight, was pretty quick, but it was none-the-less, very stressful and you never feel it really will happen until you have that confirmation. It was a weight off our minds to know that we would not be having to sell an empty house from abroad.
The container was packed up and sealed, and it looked like we had filled every square inch of it. By the time it was done the driver had exceeded his driving hours so ended up sleeping in the cab outside our house for the night, leaving early the next day. We left the house looking a little desolate (us and the house), but then had a lovely meal out with Tony and Eniko and our friends and neighbours, Robert and Julia. It was a great evening but also a reminder of how much we are going to miss everyone.
On Friday, we returned to the house to supervise the transfer of the last few pieces of furniture to friends and charities and to do as much cleaning and tidying as we could. Also the purchasers popped around for what Dave called "house training"! It is a large and complicated house so we wanted to help the buyers know how to operate the various systems and to make their move in as smooth as possible. They strike us as people who will love and enjoy the house as we did, and that makes us feel a little better about leaving it.
My friend Shreena decided that, as we had never been to an acclaimed local restaurant in all the time we had lived there, she was not going to let us go without doing so. Therefore we had a great lunch out with her, and got back to the house just in time to supervise the loading of the bikes into a van for their separate journey. After a bit more cleaning we were picked up by Eniko and went back to theirs for another exhausted night.
Saturday, our last day in the UK, was a very emotional one. We took the girls out to lunch and (bravely) they came back to the house for one last look around. Then we waved them off amid many tears. An hour or so later some other friends, Sati and Rob, came around to pick us up and take us to Gatwick. We had a lovely meal out with them before they dropped us off at the Premier Inn for our last night as UK residents.
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