Now Then. And so its goodbye to York. It is impossible to say exactly how we feel about leaving such a special place. But to paraphrase an angry Mum in Jacksons this week: "There's the door. You'll use it!" - I have a ticket to Brazil. I'll use it.

Just one story from our adventure down south on the train:

In London we met up with Mark (Dave's best man), soon to be joining us in Brazil for 6 months of English Teaching. He helped us lug our many cases and bags across town from Kings Cross to Charing Cross. Nelson is now being transported in a back-pack device - and he loves it. He spent the whole time cooing serenely despite the noise and the dark of the London Underground. He melted the heart of many a hardened commuter. Unfortunately, we missed our train in Charing Cross and tried to go a different way but that ended up being longer. The connection was delayed and we eventually made it into Bensifled at 7.30pm and Uncle David kindly picked us up from Tunbridge Wells. Mother and Father were very grumpy and not at all impressed with how long it had taken to get out of London - but Nelson remained upbeat and cheerful to the end. He seemed to have a look on his face that said: "I don't have a clue whats going on, but I'm sure Mum and Dad do, so I bet its gonna be OK... Right now, I think I will just chew my toes."

As long as his Mum is within sight and there were interesting things to see he seemed OK... which all bodes well for 10 hours on the airplane come Tuesday.

Amusing Goodbyes. People have different ways of saying goodbye. Some come over all emotional and start saying too much. But Yorkshire folk are known for calling Spades exactly what they are, so it is worth quoting Joan (wife of Doug) Greenfield who said to us this week: "I would be lying to say I will miss you, as I don't see you much anyway. But it's nice to know you're about, and so we're sorry you're going". Can't say fairer than that.

And finally an undisclosed International Student from the Far East sent us an email this week in which they wished us luck for the future saying: "I will keep your fingers crossed". How exactly will this happen from so far away? I wouldn't want to say... but it probably involves the use of pain-inducing technology.