Lazy eyes struggle open with the gentle kiss of smiling sunshine, deep waves of nostalgic reverie greet our final day in the sweet embrace of home. It is time for a new home. Hearts aflutter, minds racing, today we will fly away, birds on the winds of change, a new life in a faraway land. Swopping the salty summer and Xhosa “clicks” for a snowy winter and Scottish burr. The afternoon brings rain and an unseasonal cool, unusual for the Cape Coast at this time of the year, as if to say goodbye and send us off with a small taste of what is to come. Mad dashes in the bid to ensure everything is packed and everything else? well that we will have to do without. It is hard to part with so much wine. The Silver City Golf groans under the weight of far too many bags barely space enough to spare for passengers. A final sip and cheers of MCC, a final supper soaked in tears, left over mince pies and Christmas cake. Off to the airport, in convoy we snake our way from Fish Hoek to Cape Town international airport. Heaving heavy suitcases, three apiece and scraping the weight through the baggage check we wave a bittersweet goodbye and board for chapter two. Between bite size bottles of Johnny walker and bad movies with broken bits, soaring across open skies and over endless waters, crossing continents to arrive in the early hours of the morning to be greeted by the grey sky and chaotic clutter of Heathrow airport. Through the windows of the National Express we watch buildings swop out for sweeping countryside spectrums, grazing sheep, nonchalant as we squeeze our way through endless roadworks and dull faced drivers. Station hotel, Gloucester provides a break before the train. A place of utter disrepute, derelict on the outside with the stale smell of cigarettes hugging the inside. My imagination runs wild with sordid deeds and soiled sheets. Time for a large glass of whisky to stop my mind from racing. The train trip is shattered into several pieces, the bags anchoring our move as we move from carriage to carriage, tears of frustration pool at the edge of tired eyes. A seat presents itself, the tiresome toil now compounded by our proximately to what seems to be the only working loo on the train. As we charge towards Edinburgh noise levels increase, toilet trips become more frequent and there is a general air of joviality. Its 10am but the plane has obviously flown over (so to speak). There is nothing for it but to crack open a cold one. Waverly welcomes in the train with the hiss of brakes and the smell of gunpowder, outside throngs of people span the closed down streets. This is Hogmanay and this is where the world comes to party, we forge our way forward, floundering as we unsuccessfully try to make sense of the amalgamation of information. Google maps, Lothian bus routes and a general feeling of being entirely uncertain of our surrounds. Money matters but this is not worth it, we decide to go for gold and hail a cab, with a resounding sigh of relief we set off in style. Tonight, we celebrate and then lay ourselves down in the cold confines of a small hired room. Tomorrow our adventure continues. West Wemyss, our home for the week is a place of undeniable quaintness, a tastefully decorated asylum a ways away from the tedium of house hunting. Edinburgh is bigger than one might be led to believe, and we are now swimming in a sea of infinite outcomes. Rain pours down on what feels like an endless pursuit, trawling the city- house hunting is not for the faint hearted. At the very tail end of the afternoon the sun begins to set, disheartened by hours of fruitless searching we climb three flights of stairs. Our new flat sits perched at the top of a tenement with views that take in both the city and surrounding Pentland hills. I have my list of demands, but David quietly contemplates the horizon he knows that deep inside we both agree this is where our bags will be laid to rest. We can finally celebrate our arrival, this calls for large glasses of red wine, pork belly and the ceremonial discarding of our now tattered and tired luggage. Good riddance and welcome home.