The End of an Era

On Wednesday 1st April I packed up my box of toys for the last time as I finished working with children in four Hampshire Primary Schools, three in Farnborough and one in Basingstoke. 
It was a poignant moment as I said goodbye to the school office for the last time - sad but exciting as I can now look forward to training and preparation for my journey around the world.



I have been given some wonderful gifts, bouquets of flowers and cards signed by parents, children and teachers and have taken away some precious moments of times spent with some very special children and adults. 

A big THANK YOU to everyone who has contributed to my enjoyment of the work I have been doing and who have touched my life in their own individual way.





I have been working in schools since 2004, one of them for ten years, so it has been a big wrench to finally say goodbye to everyone.  I am hoping that we can still keep in touch via my blog and I look forward to returning next year when I am planning on talking to the children about my trip in a school assembly.  The idea is to give a talk before I go and then follow it up a year later when I will have photos and video clips to share.  Hopefully the children will have the opportunity to follow me and to plot the boat's position as I travel across the oceans and around the world.

I am still working here at home but with more 'free' time during the week I can now start concentrating on selling the house, getting fit and sorting out all the paperwork that needs to be dealt with before I go away.  The last thing I need to be thinking about is filling in my tax form as I head across the Southern Ocean to Australia.