A nerd's guide to packing

In trying to decide how to send our excess stuff to Switzerland, we've had a look at a few different options. To compare them, Martin made a beautiful graph demonstrating which option is the cheapest for different quantities of stuff. Since the graph looks so beautiful, and it's highly likely that readers of this blog may one day need to send things, I've uploaded the graph. The 'excess baggage' option is calculated for Qantas, PFS = Professional Freight Services (www.pfs.net.au, takes 7-10 days), and 1m3 = ship (Kalgin: www.kalgin.com.au, takes ~53 days). Whoo hoo! Happy packing.

The countdown

So much has happened since I last wrote here. It's now just 15 days until we leave Melbourne! Martin will be submitting his bound thesis this week, and it's now 7 weeks since I submitted mine for examination. I've got a postdoc lined up at the ETH (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) working with Annette Oxenius. Martin's circumnavigated the country in his trusty Pajero (with me on board for a couple of weeks through the Kimberley) and now it's all about packing and saying goodbye. Until a few days ago, I was chugging along concentrating on all the things we have to do, but now I'm starting to realise that saying goodbye to Melbourne and all the people here that I know and love is going to be really hard. Two years is a long time to be away - so much will change in that time. It will be very exciting though! I can't wait to be in the middle of europe, hearing different sounds, smelling different scents, watching different views and meeting new people.