T minus 2 days and counting

Well a busy Friday and a long weekend visiting the folks and here I am - 2 days out.

Rain does amazing things to a rural area. Everyone I spoke to in Grenfell has that spring in their step, confidence is sky-high for a bumper harvest.

After the recent long drought, many out there had almost forgotten what a running creek or a full farm dam looked like.

I can imagine the region would be a stunning sight from the air, even from ground level it's quite impressive. The sheep and cattle paddocks are green and lush, the animals themselves are in prime condition and the canola crops are a bright golden yellow; in many places the plants are a metre high.

Just as well I was busy gallivanting about the countryside or I would've been thinking non-stop about the trip.

Did get a few things organised even though I was out of town. I've already checked in for Wednesday's flight and organised a better seat - I've managed to get a window seat in a row of two going over and I'm pretty happy about that because I'll have more storage space. While I was choosing, I found a really interesting website called Seatexpert that shows you where the good and bad seats are on a plane and why they're hit or miss.

The idea of checking in for an international flight from Grenfell seems rather ironic I have to say!

Mum bought me a laptop bag as an early birthday present and I also picked up a plastic poncho ("Poncho poncho man, he wants to be a poncho man"). Take a look at the Singapore forecast and you'll understand why...I don't fancy the idea of pina coladas and getting soaked in the rain.

Have promised Dad I'll get him one of the traditional Arab robes when I'm over in Dubai. Should be interesting to see a man who voted for Pauline Hanson dressed in the full Middle Eastern garb. I'm already getting one for myself so watch out for an appearance of "Sheikh bin al Adman".

Last minute prep tomorrow - getting some Singapore cash for starters, making photocopies of all my paperwork and then trying to get a full night's sleep. "Trying?" I hear you say - I'm sure my mind will be whirring as fast as an A380's engine. But there's another night between now and then...