Kana got safely off to NZ yesterday and was all smiles just like Lisa 4 years ago. I wonder if she will be like Lisa and phone home in tears a few days from now! I hope not because there is nothing worse than having to listen to them crying that they just want to come home and not being able to do anything about it. Of course the homesickness soon passes but until then it is heartbreaking being only able to say 'stick in there'.

We managed to finally get her suitcase packed at about 5 pm the day before she left - nothing like leaving things to the last minute! There are a lot of things that have to be parcelled up and sent to her though because there was no way we could get everything in and have the suitcase still weigh 20 kg (in fact it was just under 22). This year they also have to take a lot of school books with them and also where Kana is going, it's a lot cooler than where Lisa was so she will need thicker winter jackets etc so I can see me having to make a few trips to the post office.

Now that the job of getting Kana organised is over, I have no excuse for not starting on the packing......