Schapelle ‘I’d rather stay in Bali’ ’

Schapelle confesses With just days until her homecoming, scared Schapelle is heartbroken about giving up the life she knows in Bali

Schapelle Corby is struggling with the daunting prospect of finally coming home and leaving her boyfriend and beloved pet dogs behind in Bali.

While many would assume she’d never want to set foot on the resort island again after spending a large chunk of her life in appalling conditions in notorious Kerobokan Prison, Schapelle, 39, is upset that she may never be allowed to return after she is deported on May 27.

She will be banned for at least six months, but it could be for much longer – separating her from Balinese paddleboarder Ben Panangian, who she met and fell in love with in jail. She’ll also be leaving behind her two best friends, dogs Luna and May.

Schapelle is saying goodbye to everything she knows to return to an uncertain future on the Gold Coast. She is also aware that she will always be a target for the media,, has few j job p prospectsp and,, despite rumours of hidden millions, is virtually penniless.

“We don’t talk about what“basically,will once y happen when Schapelleonce,isfinallyonce you’ve d home,” her devoted olderittwicesisterand you rea Mercedes tells Woman’sor the Day. actsheof marryi has been busy fixing updoa withbedroomthesuccess for Schapelle in the same modest house at Tugun on the Gold Coast from which she set out for Bali in October 2004.

Her mum Rosleigh Rose says she can’t wait to take her daughter back to the beach where she spent so many days during her childhood. She plans to lavish Schapelle with love while she adjusts to life back home.

“I’d like to take her to the beach, to have a surf, to have the sand between her toes,” Rosleigh says.

But she admits the change will be hard for her daughter. She fears Schapelle will struggle to adjust to life in Queensland – it might be her home, but it’s changed so much in the 13 years she’s been gone.

“I don’t like thinking about it, it will be hard for her,”, Rosleighg said

‘It will be hard for her... I think she’s frightened’

recently of her daughter’s homecoming. “I think she’s kind of frightened.

“I wouldn’t even ask if she wants to come home, because there’s no use in asking. It’s not a choice. It has to happen.” you’ve donesomanyit things have changed done since Schapelle last set foot in alise that australia, marriage, likeRos leigh selling the ng, has fish nothing shop to her daughter once s worked in years ago. The most heartbreaking adjustment will be living in the house she once shared with her dad Michael, who sadly passed away from cancer in 2008.

“Returning to Queensland will really bring it home to Schapelle that her dad is no longer here, and that’s a sad thing for her because they were really close,” Rosleigh revealed recently.

Of course, it’s not just her home that is different. A friend recently said that the one-time Gold Coast beautician, who was just 27 when she was jailed, is a changed woman.

“It’s been very hard for her – she became very spiritual,” reveals the friend. “She’s not the same person she went in as.”

Her mental health issues have been well documented, and Mercedes says her sister’s health is still a concern and that she and the rest of the family are making few plans because they don’t want to put any pressure on an already-fragile Schapelle.

“Whatever she does, it will be her decision and no one else’s,” Mercedes says. “We’re just going to take it one day at a time.”

In the countdown to freedom, Schapelle has had increasingly mixed feelings about her long-awaited homecoming, breaking down in tears when meeting with Bali correctional officers about her scheduled deportation later this month.

She has been quietly living with her brother Michael in a rented house in Kuta, spending time with Ben, sunbaking, snorkelling and walking Luna and May on the beaches near her temporaryte po a y home.o e.

Her family knowow it will be incredibly difficultult for her to adjust – notot just to freedom but also to life back in Australia. They plan to mark the occasion with a small celebrationn at Tugun with extended family y and a handful of f close friends.