I’m sure people think of me as a bit of Christmas grinch when I object to them getting “Christmassy” on the 1st of December - let alone the end of November. I guess I get that way because it’s a long old haul until the day itself and it seems like a long time to sustain the effort.
Christmas is a happy and special time, and I love it, but when you have too much of something it loses that special feel.

This year has been different, though. Something strange has happened, I welcomed the putting up of numerous Christmas trees in the office, I enjoyed going to the shops the first weekend of December and seeing the decorations in the shopping centre. I was feeling Christmassy early! I even bought a Christmas jumper for the first time ever - and enjoyed wearing it! What’s wrong with me?

I’m sure that it is the thought of being away - a long way away - and having a summer Christmas that has bought out my festive spirit prematurely. Because this year there is something else to get excited about, an 18 day holiday to Australia.

Australia is a country I love, I have been lucky enough to visit it several times for work and although my visits have been short (a week at a time) I have enjoyed them immensely. The beautiful surroundings, the way of life, the easy feel and the great people (apart from when they are playing cricket) - so the opportunity to visit on holiday and with Paul has been a long held dream. My last visit to Australia was in 2012, a long time ago, so when Paul and I decided that this was the year that we would make our long discussed Christmas trip down under, I was over the moon.

What has added to the anticipation is that I am ready for a holiday. Paul and I like to go away every three months. Work hard, refresh the batteries. Repeat. And although we did manage to get away in September it was only a short break, not much more than a long weekend. So it really does feel like a long time since our trip to Turkey back in June. Physically and mentally I need a break.

For the last few weeks I have been counting down the days and, in more behaviour that is unlike me, I was really looking forward to packing on Sunday. It meant that we were nearly there.

Despite a 6am alarm call, I jumped out of bed this morning - excited and raring to go. The first thing I was looking forward to was the flight. Lots of people have said to me over the past few weeks, “oh but what about the flight? I’m not sure I could do that long”. But having done it several times before I wasn’t that daunted. And I did have the knowledge that we would be travelling in Singapore business class - recently voted the best in the world. And I am pleased to report that it hasn’t disappointed. Great service, fantastic food and a great environment. My only grumble is that when the bed is flat, there is only one angle in which I can fully stretch out. But as this is a (London time) day flight, sleep hasn’t really been forthcoming.

As we are now 8 hours into the flight somewhere high above the Indian Ocean, I see that there are still three hours to go on this leg - ahead of another 8 after we get to Singapore. Australia really is a long way away.......