I’m about to board a plane to Melbourne for my cousins’ 40th birthday party. Normally I can’t do ‘start here’ parties without the deep-seated sensation of dread in the pit of my stomach, but there’s something special about this one.

I’ll have to re-learn how to ice skate. Melbourne has a fantastic rink that offers venue hire for functions, and that’s where her party is going to begin.

Jess is going to love it. She was an ice skater in her teens, and my aunt was always dragging her around to events, and she had loads of trophies on top of her dresser that she’d gathered over the years.

We had been reminiscing over the phone about the good old days and she told me how much she missed ice-skating. It surprised me because I thought, like most of us, she’d put down her hobbies when we left school or moved on to other things.

Knowing Bec’s party needed to be arranged, I made a mental note to find out about ice skating at Melbourne’s docklands and we made plans to start our night there with a group booking, then head into the city for dinner and drinks and a place Bec loves to go for special occasions.

I know Bec is wary of what we want to arrange for her, but she needn’t worry. Most of us just want to have a lot of laughs.

When I first mentioned it to the girls, they thought I was crazy for wanting to do something so treacherous before her big day, but I’ve risked it for Bec because I know how amazing she will feel if she gets to pull off a few of her old tricks.

And who doesn’t want to start their 40th feeling like they can swan ‘round as gracefully as they did in their teens?

I simply can’t wait to get out on the ice.