Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's final duty on his two-day official visit to the US was to kick out the "flying buttress" of Australian-American relations from the ambassador's residence to make way for Joe Hockey's clan.
Former Labor leader Kim Beazley and his wife Susie are heading back to Western Australia after six years representing Australian interests in Washington DC.
The prime minister joked that many people had suggested his US trip had been scheduled as an opportunity to do a final house inspection.
"Check the curtains, count the teaspoons and make sure there are not too many cigar burns on the carpet," Mr Turnbull jokingly told guests at the Beazleys' farewell party on Tuesday night (US time).
"That is completely untrue - the foreign minister (Julie Bishop) will be doing that."
Mrs Beazley asked whether Mr Turnbull would kindly help them pack.
"Lucy will tell you there is nobody less able to assist you with packing," Mr Turnbull responded, before toasting Mr Beazley's efforts in the US.
"He hasn't just been a pillar of the Australian-American relationship, he's been a flying buttress," Mr Turnbull declared.
Before the soiree, on a bone-crushingly cold Washington afternoon, tradition dictated that Mr Turnbull plant a willow oak tree in the "forest of fallen prime ministers" at the official residence garden.
He then chatted to two presidential hopefuls by phone - Hillary Clinton, who he knows personally from his Goldman Sachs days in 1992, and Republican senator Marco Rubio.
Mr Turnbull earlier spent about three hours at the White House, discussing defence and trade matters with President Barack Obama at bilateral talks.
The prime minister also tried, possibly in vain, to convince Congressional leaders of the merits of free trade, urging them to pass the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal quickly.
Then there was a round table on cyber security and a meeting with the US secretary of homeland security.
In the morning, Mr Turnbull made a noble attempt at multi-tasking - testing out a walking desk at 1776, a Washington start-up incubator.
"There is no doubt there's a knack to this which I've not yet got," he said.
Mr Turnbull jetted off home on Tuesday night, wrapping up a week of overseas travels to the US and Middle East, in which he made no time for press conferences.
Meanwhile, Mr Hockey, the former treasurer, arrives in Washington on Thursday and will present his credentials to Mr Obama before officially taking up the ambassador posting.
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