Chicken with Herbs

Technically our sons left home four years ago. James, then 18, headed south to spend the next four years at Otago University where he completed an honours degree in chemistry late last year. Ben, then 20, crammed his belongings in a pack and headed for England and the "university of life" as he called it.

While James toiled away in academia, Ben worked in a hotel in Studland Bay, Dorset then moved on to work as a waiter in an upmarket old folks home in Poole before heading to the great mecca of OE, London where he brushed up his cooking skills in a bar in Soho and did DJ work on the side. I think he would still be there now if the British Government had let Kiwis stay longer than two years on a working holiday.

In between times, the lads have been back to the family nest. Free board and lodgings have their attraction. It's always been a pleasure to have them round. The one thing I admire in my offspring is that they have never been unwilling to be seen in our company. They've always been happy to visit relatives with us, ferry us round (as we used to do for them!), join us when we've had friends in for dinner, even do a bit of cooking on the side.

However, we have now arrived at the time when they "leave home" again, this time a little more permanently.

Ben, a reluctant flier at the best of times, gritted his teeth long enough to catch a plane for Brisbane, Australia with his girlfriend Joe in the New Year. They quickly organised a flat within a couple of days of arriving and are now having a holiday in the sunshine before looking for work.

On Saturday James heads for Australia, too. He starts his studies at Flinders University medical school at the end of the month.

While it was a huge wrench seeing a couple of boys take off four years ago, this time round it's exciting seeing two mature young men heading away full of joy and enthusiasm. It feels good knowing they are both doing what they want to and knowing they've worked hard to achieve their goals.

I guess one of the things that made it easier to wave a fond farewell was remembering that when I was James' age I took off to Australia myself. I was all of 22 and the world was my oyster, as they say. After dallying on a country newspaper in Ararat, Victoria, I moved to Adelaide. It was another world. I had a flat to myself, an interesting job editing a teenagers' newspaper and I was my own person. Seeing my sons take off on their respective pursuits, some of the rush I experienced then comes flooding back to me.

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