[unixgirl]

Great start, looking forward to read more. You must have been so worried about Poot - hope all is well with him now. You don't do things by half in your family - that 3 days before your trip sounds hectic.
BTW please pass on to Poot my shared annoyance at people thinking they can do an accent. I actually had to tell a co-worker his constant attempts at a Geordie accent (I'm from the North East and still have a bit of an accent apparently) were really irritating.
I for one am very happy that this is morphing into a trip report rather than highs and lows as you do them so well.