MY COUNTRY

The love of field and coppice

Of green and shaded lanes,
Of ordered woods and gardens
Is running in your veins.
Strong love of grey-blue distance,
Brown streams and soft, dim skies 
I know, but cannot share it,
My love is otherwise. 

I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror 
The wide brown land for me! 

The stark white ring-barked forests,
All tragic to the moon,
The sapphire-misted mountains,
The hot gold hush of noon,
Green tangle of the brushes
Where lithe lianas coil,
And orchids deck the tree-tops,
And ferns the warm dark soil. 

Core of my heart, my country!
Her pitiless blue sky,
When, sick at heart, around us
We see the cattle die
But then the grey clouds gather,
And we can bless again
The drumming of an army,
The steady soaking rain. 

Core of my heart, my country!
Land of the rainbow gold,
For flood and fire and famine
She pays us back threefold. 
Over the thirsty paddocks,
Watch, after many days,
The filmy veil of greenness
That thickens as we gaze ... 

An opal-hearted country,
A wilful, lavish land 
All you who have not loved her,
You will not understand
though Earth holds many splendours,
Wherever I may die,
I know to what brown country
My homing thoughts will fly.

Dorothea MacKellar

CONTIKI GREECE REUNION/ GREEK FAMILY/ GREEK POSSE

WEATHER: Cool in Melbourne and 15C

HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: Reunited with my Greek Posse

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Realizing I may not be returning to Darwin for a long time

WORD OF THE DAY:  I Love a Sunburnt Country

DISTANCE TRAVELLED: 3752km

I leave Darwin today for Melbourne, from one family to another.  My Greek Posse.  When I did my Contiki tours last year there were 5 gals that were on my Contiki Spanish Spree that were also doing Contiki Greek Islands.  So after 2.5 weeks together we were going to be spending another 2 weeks together and we were so lucky that we all got along well and welcomed the extra time that we would have together on the trip.  There are just some people on tours that you connect with and Lisa, Bree, Dee, Jess and Kaitlin were lucky enough to have clicked.  Greece for all of us was a massive DRINKFEST.  I don’t think I have drunk so much alcohol in a 2 week period ever.  Seriously, the alcohol was cheap, we had great company and the days rolled into nights that rolled into mornings and the drinking just really never stopped.  We also picked up 2 new people to our family with Danni and Kasey and we were now complete with 8 of us.  There were nights we all looked after each other and the best day (I can remember) was an impromptu pool party we had in Santorini.  It was a great trip and at the end of it, we all promised once I got home that we would have a Greek Posse Reunion and this is how I came about my trip to Melbourne. 

I thought I was on an international flight this morning from Darwin.  Jetstar have their Singapore, Bali, Bangkok and Vietnam flights all pass through Darwin before heading into domestic ports.  So it didn’t sound unusual for me to think that I was.  So I was up at 4.15am, dropped the car back to the airport depot and walked the keys to the desk at 5.15am to find that there was no-one there to speak to.  This usually isn’t a problem as they have a key box drop, so I did this with no concern and a pat on the back of another successful car rental.  I had filled the car up last night and Brisbane people should not complain about the cost of fuel when it was 1.53 a liter in Darwin!!!  I headed to the Jetstar self-check-in machines, but they were all closed so I checked in with a check-in chick and asked about the flight and would you believe that it was actually a domestic flight!!!!  So I was at the airport 1.5 hours early!! Oh well it is always better to be early than late, but I could have used an extra hour in bed……  My suitcase weighed 4kg heavier than when I left Brisbane at 22.8kg and that doesn’t take into account the 2kg of salty plums I had in my carry -on bag.  It was nice to be travelling with a suitcase though and to have plenty of room to pack things.  I way too much clothes by in my defence I needed summer gear for Darwin and winter gear for Melbourne and because I could-so I did. 

I was surprised just how busy the airport was, there were people everywhere at 5.30am.  I headed through the security screening and I was pulled up again for my Ethiopian bangles and had to get a personal body search.  I was told to put my Croc’s through the scanner when I told her they are 100% plastic, she replied back, how are we supposed to know that (nicely) and I guess she had a point.  After the frisk I was then asked to do the explosive swab test.  I was fine with this as I have had several of them done and just takes a minute to complete.  Well you can imagine my HORROR when the swap came back POSITIVE!!!  I can’t even tell you what ran through my head those first few seconds of a positive explosive test.  Where did I get it from?  The car?  The hotel room?  The procedure then is for the tester swabs himself and then they re-test you.  I was so RELIVED when my second test came up negative and I was free to head to the departure gate.  I was heaving a sign of relief from that scare as I tried to find a seat to kill some time.  It was weird to see Red Rooster open so early and they had the full menu open but I am happy to report I was able to resist the urge to get a classic quarter and chips at 6am!!!  I managed to find a seat and set up with my computer and get some of the blogs that I had written the last few days loaded.  The one good thing to help kill my time was the free Wi-Fi that Darwin Airport offers.  As I haven’t had proper computer access since leaving home it was great to boot up and I was lucky enough to find Zeme online at the same time so we had a chat before he had to go to bed as they are 7 hours behind us.  There is only so much a handheld device can do, I love my Blackberry, but you just can’t beat a proper computer.  I could see now why it was so busy, looking at the departure TV’s there were 7 flights leaving before mine and my departure was at 7.15am.

We were on a A321-231 aircraft with a 3x3 seating configuration.  I had my window seat and the plane was full for the 3 hour and 50 minute flight travelling from the top of Australia to the bottom.  It made me think if I have ever flown this route before after living in the Territory for 15 years, and I think I actually did once to play in the Australian Junior Championships in 1990.  As we started down the runway I had a few tears in my eyes as I realized that I don’t know when I will be back to Darwin again.  I do enjoy my trips ‘home’ and they never seem long enough as I still know a lot of people here.  I should make a bigger effort to spend a week or 2 here and see as many friends as I can, next time.  I spent 15 years here and even though Brisbane is ‘home’ now, Darwin always holds a place in my heart and in my memory.  I can see now how ‘home’ was Newcastle for mum, but she always lived in the Territory for nearly 30 years.

This made my 61st flight in 16 months and it was a beautiful view from my window today.  We travelled over the heart of the Northern Territory with is beautiful red colored dirt making me think of lines from a poem by Dorothea MacKellar “I love a sunburnt country, A land of sweeping plains, Of ragged mountain ranges, Of droughts and flooding rains”.  We then travelled over amazing salt pans in the middle of nowhere and then into a brown colored land that snaked with a dark blue river for kilometers with not a cloud in the sky.  I sometimes want to tap people who sit in window seats to take a look out the window, there are amazing views that you would just never get anywhere else in the world.  I guess I am being a little sentimental at the moment as I leave my homeland, my country to live somewhere else and make it my new home.  This is only expected and I know for a fact just how good we have it here in Australia. 

As we came closer to Melbourne the Captain made an announcement that Tullarmarine had one runway closed and he had to hold in 2 holding patterns over 25 minutes till we were given the all clear to land.  We then had to wait another 15 minutes for an aerobridge to become available before we were then able to deplane.  Talk about a rig-marole.  I text Danielle and Bree, Bree had arrived 30 minute prior to me, so the airport pickup worked out well for Danielle who had taken the rest of the week off work to spend with us for us to meet at baggage claim.  Lisa and Deanne are from Melbourne and Kaitlin, Kasey and Jessica were unable to join us for the 3 nights so we had half of the Greek Posse reunited.  It was great to see the girls and they looked so different, in a beautiful way, out of their backpacking travelling clothes!!! With a few hugs and a few OMG we can’t believe it we headed back to Danni’s place for her to get her gear.  We also stopped at a supermarket to stock up on some munchies and buy dinner for tonight.  We spent 150 bucks on snack food with the exception of some mince, spaghetti sauce and garlic bread, 150 bucks on chips, dips, cheese, soft drink and biscuits.  Oh breakfast was also included in that of bacon, eggs, muffins and bread.  I wonder if we will consume all of that over the next 4 days!? No meal was complete without alcohol and the girls purchased 4 bottles of wine and 2 bottles of vodka to get us started for 100 bucks.  Ahhhh now this really is a Contiki Reunion!!!

It was now after 3pm and our apartment was ready for check-in.  We were staying at Melbourne Docklands and where reception was, our apartment was in a different building.  So once we checked in we had a security swipe to get us into the building 2 down and then the reception guy met us in the car park, to walk a flight of stairs to get to the lift to get to the apartment.  It was a little work, as we had our bags, plus the shopping but between the 3 of us we did it all in 2 trips and the views that we had were certainly worth the work.  We had a 3 bedroom apartment that over looked the marina, Etihad Stadium and part of the city.  It really was a beautiful outlook.           

The rest of the afternoon was spent with a wine glass in the hand and just catching up with Danni and Bree and then Lisa and Dee arrived at 6pm having had to have worked today-suckers!!!  Then dinner was cooked by Danielle and we just sat around the table till 11pm just catching up, laughing and drinking 3 bottles later.  There were a lot of questions for me, which is natural, as it is pretty unusual and different what I am about to embark on.  I am getting used to all the questions now but I am hope that when I tell people behind my motives (besides Zeme) I hope that I am not making people feel bad about their way of life here in Australia.  Not every country has all the opportunities that we are given here in Australia; we really are a lucky country.  But I am not so focused anymore on the ‘western’ culture as I am now in trying to help people that are not as fortunate as us.  My whole mind set has changed and when we spend 100AUD on grog I think now that a well-paid Ethiopian gets paid that for a month’s worth of work.  This is purely my perception and I couldn’t give a hoot if some-one spends 100 bucks on shoes, but my mind is ticking on what could be done with that money in Africa.  I am on an email list for a volunteer company called Global Volunteer Network and in their latest newsletter you can donate 44AUD and this gives a child in Africa a hot meal for lunch for 12 months.  I spend more than that on a night out.  It is all just a perspective and I don’t intentionally want to make people feel bad. 

Dee had to work in the morning so she and Lisa said their goodbyes and we would be seeing them both again tomorrow.  What a day-a long day, but I am happy I took the time to come and see the girls on my trip home.  We have a great group and a lot of people always talk about catching up again after tours and it never happens, for whatever reason, but I was always confident that it would, once I make a commitment to people, 99% of the time I stick to it.  This has worked in my favor most of my trip but has also been my downfall as I probably would have made my return to Africa a little earlier if this wasn’t the case. All good things come to those who wait.

SPENDING TIME WITH MUM

WEATHER: Hot and Humid and 31C

HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: Re-united with my brother John

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Retracing my steps to the cemetery

This week was always going to be an emotional week for me.  I was reunited with my half-brothers, my Dad and stepmother were in town, I was paying my respects to my mum and the finalization of my divorce goes through the courts next week.  Talk about some momentous milestones all rolled into one week!!

Our Father who art in heaven

Hallowed be thy name

Thy Kingdome come

Thy will be done

On Earth as it is in Heaven

Give us this day our daily bread

And forgive us our trespasses

As we forgive those who trespass against us

And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.

This morning I was off to the cemetery to pay my respects to my mum who died in 2008.  This was the whole purpose to my trip to Darwin and one that has been a long time coming.  I did book to come back early last year before I set off on my World Odyssey but Cyclone Carlos put a stop to that when of all weekends decided to pass through the weekend that I had booked to travel. 

Darwin has a few cemeteries that are now closed or are now full so most burials now take place at Thorak Regional Cemetery on Deloraine Road near Berrimah and this was where mum was laid to rest on the 6^th December.  It is around a 35 minute drive from the city and before I even got to the front entrance gates I had tears in my eyes.  I knew this was going to be emotional for me, but I was hoping I would at least keep it together till I got to her grave site.  I hate people seeing me cry and thankfully there was nobody else around at the cemetery as I retraced my steps from nearly 4 years ago and I remembered exactly where she was buried.  I was going to bring flowers but the thought of them rotting there after a few days really didn’t appeal to me, so with time and the weather on my side, I just sat and remembered the good times and what a character she was.  She worked so hard her whole life for me.  I never went without anything and she shaped the person I am today.  Even now after she has gone, she has continued to shape my life and give me opportunities that I would never ever have had,  From my round the world trip that people can only dream of, to meeting the love of my life to my move to a new country, it has all been achieved because of her.  I also squarely place the blame of my Elmo addiction with her; mum was the first person to buy me an Elmo which was then to span to a collection of over 300 of them over the years.  Incredible I know and I am now going to do something worthwhile with them and I am going to take them to Ethiopia with me and then donate them to an orphanage and share the love and make some little people happy with something that started with mum all those years ago.  Is that a legacy?  Maybe not, but it is comforting to know that we can make some people happy and give them something that they normally wouldn’t ever have a chance to own. 

Cemeteries are so sad as I walked back to my car; I stopped to read some of the headstones.  People have lost their mum, dad, brother, sister, daughter and sons.  BUT the circle of life continues and it is what and how you choose to handle the aftermath of a death that also shapes your attitude to life.  It has made me appreciate each and every day.  Put myself in other people’s shoes and to not judge so quickly.  Everyone is just trying their best in life and no matter where you are in the world; there is always some-one worse off than you are.  I love you mum and I thank you.  For everything that you did in life and for everything you have given me in your afterlife.  I miss you I hope that you are smiling down on me with that proud look on your face that I saw when I played well at squash or did well on a report card from school.  So as I wiped my last tears from my face I drove out of the cemetery I was thinking when the next time I will be able to come back.  Her memory will always live on in all the work that I plan to do in Africa.  She is now in God’s hands.

As harsh as it sounds life does continue on and my little nephew Noah is proof of that and having dinner with my brother John and his partner and my Dad and Chris tonight is a perfect example of that.  I headed to ‘the’ shopping centre of Casuarina to have lunch and have a walk around before heading home for a small nana nap and then out again this evening for dinner.  Mum and I used to do lunch here every Sunday to get out of the heat and into the air conditioning.  Casuarina Shopping Centre has changed a lot over the years and now has a lot of shops that we have in Brisbane.  This was not always the case and I can remember when we got our first McDonald’s in Darwin back in the early 80’s.  Considering the first McDonalds opened in Australia in 1971, we were a little behind the eight ball all the way up in the NT with a lot of things.  I kept checking the bookshops as I walked around and headed into a newsagent and you would never guess what I found in there?  The Lonely Planet’s Ethiopian Amharic Phrasebook.  I knew that it existed but never thought that I would find it in Darwin.  Flipping through the phrase book the language looks daunting to say the least and the words that I learnt on my last trip (counting, some animals and greetings) look so different as I was just using my ear and writing them down phonetically, so seeing them written in Amharic means absolutely nothing to me and they have also written them in English letters, which gives me half a chance of learning the words, but phonetically is how I learn the best.  Oh the fun and games start when you learn a new language and I haven’t studied one since I was at high school where I studied Indonesian for 5 years and was a subject I passed (just) in year 12.  I also found another Lonely Planet book on Volunteering Abroad: A Traveller's Guide to Making a Difference Around the World.  I bought this as I think it will be a useful tool for me as I embark on my next chapter.  It has a lot of useful information on Organized Volunteer programs, Structured and self-funding Volunteer programs, Do It Yourself Placements and starting your own charitable project to name a few topics.  It lists placement companies and agencies, the practicalities, pros and cons, how to choose a placement, maximizing your contribution, useful websites and the list goes on.  I think it will be the best 25AUD spent on a book so far and only one of few actual books that will make the journey to Ethiopia.  They are just so heavy and will rely more upon my Kindle once I move.    

I needed to buy one more thing that really can only be bought in Darwin and that is in the form of salty plums.  Every kid in Darwin at some point in their childhood ate or tasted these.  They really are an acquired taste and I have tried to buy them in Queensland and they just are not the same.  They originate from China and they are dried, salted plums, which can also be sweetened with sugar and every kid in the NT knows about salty plums.  So I went back to ‘my’ corner shop, which I went to as a child and bought a 2kg bag for 40 bucks.  It sounds like a lot of money, but there must be at least 500 of them on the bag and memories of when we could buy them at the school tuck shop in primary school for 5c each….

I finished off the afternoon with a drive around my old ‘hood’, Nightcliff.  I used to ride my bike or walk to the beach to get in my sunbaking every weekend or visit the Nightcliff pool.  Darwin is not renowned for its beaches.  You can’t swim in the sea between October and May due to the jellyfish, but I was content to sit down there and roast myself weekend after weekend…..  Not much has changed really, with my sun loving ways and also with the area.  A few home reno’s and some new apartments but otherwise it all looks the same.  It was a beautiful day and with my memories tucked away I drove back to the hotel for a small nana nap.  It had been an emotional day and I just needed to re-coup. 

Dinner tonight was at my brother Johns house where I met his partner Sam and her daughter Zia.  Dad and Chris came as well so it was nice to see them again.  John introduced me as his sister, and it felt so nice, if not a little strange to my ears, as I just have never heard that when someone is referring to me.  I have promised Dad and Chris I will come to visit them in Townsville at the end of the year.  After dinner we all hit the road, Dad and Chris had to drive back to Paulies and I had an early start in the morning with my flight departing at 7.15am.  I stopped on the way home to refuel the rental car.  I’m not sure who told me, but you can always tell what side the fuel thingy is on by the little mark next to the fuel gauge in the car.  I was just hoping that it tells me what fuel I needed when I flipped the door which it did.  Another car rental success with no accidents- woo hoo……

My flight is an international departure tomorrow and with a 7.15am take off it is an early start in the morning.  Lucky I am only a 2 minute drive from the terminal and I am assuming the car drop off won’t take that long and it was worth the early start to get into Melbourne at a decent time tomorrow.     

So I leave you with these last words for my mum……

You can shed tears that she is gone 
or you can smile because she has lived. 

You can close your eyes and pray that she’ll come back 
or you can open your eyes and see all she’s left. 

Your heart can be empty because you can’t see her 
or you can be full of the love you shared. 

You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday 
or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday. 

You can remember her and only that she’s gone 
or you can cherish her memory and let it live on. 

You can cry and close your mind, 
be empty and turn your back 
or you can do what she’d want: 
smile, open your eyes, love and go on.

DARWIN-MY CHILDHOOD YEARS STIRRED

WEATHER: Hot and humid 32C

HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: Seeing some great school friends

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Emotions are in over drive

WORD OF THE DAY:  Reunion

There is no Wi-Fi at the hotel where I am staying, but they have the ADSL cords that you can use.  On the few occasions that I have had to use them I find that they just don’t bloody work.  So all my internetting is getting done on my Blackberry for my time here in Darwin.  It probably isn’t a bad thing as it is a less of a distraction as I write my blogs each night and just try and catch up on a few entries that I have been wanting to get done the last week.  It is difficult with 2 little people in the house in Brisbane, which I am totally not complaining about, as I want to spend as much time as I can with all the Elkins as I can.

I had booked the car hire in for a 10am pick-up this morning.  I didn’t have to be in town till 11.30am and like anything in Darwin it really doesn’t take too long to get from one end of town to the other so I planned on just coasting around driving past some old haunts as I made my way into the city.   The walk back to the airport terminal took only 8 minutes and I was in the car and out of the airport by 10.20am.  I was thinking about my travel week this week coming from the east coast of Australia, Brisbane-travelling to the top of Australia, Darwin-then making my way to the bottom of Australia, Melbourne-all I was missing was a trip to the west to complete a north, east, south and west of this great country.  Well when I approached the car rental it actually had WA plates, I kid you not….. Now isn’t that a little freaky and it completes the compass, even if I am not actually stepping foot into the state of WA.  

My drive into town took me past my mum’s old unit in Ryland Road, through Coconut Grove, past the Bagot Community, through The Narrows, Stuart Park and into town.  Not much has really changed.  There are a few more buildings, some construction of apartments in town but some businesses have stayed the same and in the same spot for over 20 years!!!  This is great to see that they have weathered the storm over time and are still trading.  Some of them are Territory icons and some of them I used to visit when I lived here.  I am sad to report my pizza shop is now gone, they did the best Margarita pizza’s I have ever eaten and mum and I used to have one every Sunday night for years.  I stopped along the Esplanade and then after asking a lady about paying for parking, which doesn’t apply on Sunday’s, I found a park at the top of the Smith Street Mall and headed into the mall.  I was a little early so stopped into a few souvenir shops to buy a post card to send to Zeme and it dawned on me that I have artwork, souvenir and statues from all over the world and I have nothing from Australia.  So I now went looking for something ‘Australian’ I could take with me to Ethiopia and I found it in the form of some aboriginal artwork painted on a wooden cylinder.  It actually is a beautiful piece of art and I when I look at in Addis I will think of Australia and of the NT and my mum. 

The Smith Street Mall looked exactly like I remembered.  Maybe a few shop changes and a few upgrades, but it was the same.  I was surprised to see so many people around as usually on Sundays it used to be quite dead, but not today.  I guess it is the dry season and a busy time for the Territory as its weather is ‘supposed’ to be better this time of year.  I found the restaurant fine and had just got seated when Jo text me telling me she was lost. It is funny that people who live in a city, and have their own routines, also don’t know where things are, as they change and move with the times.  Luckily we had our own reference points from 20 years ago and I told her that the place was across from the old Coles on Mitchell Street.  We used old references during lunch, I guess some things don’t die at all and we all knew where we were talking about.  Jo arrived and then 15 minutes later Lisa arrived.  They both look great and to my eyes haven’t changed much in the 22 years since we were at school together.  I did organize a 10 year reunion in 2001 when we got 95% of the students to a dinner in Darwin and maybe a few catch up in the ensuing 10 years but it was great to see them both today and have a gossip session and a laugh over our 2.5 hour lunch.  It was a shame I didn’t think of it earlier and arranged to have met a whole bunch of people for a casual lunch while I was here.

So with our farewells and promises to keep in touch I headed to good old Casuarina to have a quick poke around the shops before they closed at 3pm.  I am currently on the hunt for a Lonely Planet of Ethiopia and they also have an Ethiopian Phrasebook in their book collection I saw online, so I am hoping I will find that in the next few weeks to take with me.  I’m thinking I will have a bucklies chance of getting them without having to special order them, but I will check every book shop as I see them to see if they have copies.  These are probably the only 2 ‘proper’ books I will take with me as I have my Kindle now and I have been downloading books as people recommend them and have around 12 books loaded and ready to read.  I’m not really getting into my Kindle yet as I want to make the most of ‘real’ books while I can as I think nothing beats an old fashioned paperback in your hands.  My Kindle is out of necessity as English books in Ethiopia can be bought but are quite expensive.  So I wandered around Casuarina for an hour, in and out of shops and book shops and it is funny I am looking at people just waiting to see someone I recognize, but I think after 20 years those days are gone and a new generation has moved in, but I did see Andrea from school and had a small chat with her before heading on.

I am also on the lookout for tops for Africa.  I found that the tops I had on my Odyssey, though great, I felt a little uncomfortable in Ethiopia with them either being a little too low cut or body hugging for my liking.  I am lucky that the current trends for tops are the loose flowing t-shirts and I have managed to buy a bunch over the last few weeks.  I thought while I was here I would have a look, being a tropical climate there may be more variety here than in the Brisbane shops with winter still knocking on  our doors and I was right.  I found a bevy of shirts from K-Mart here that would do the trick for me in Africa.  They all fit, I think look okay and they were all on sale from 10AUD and down.  Does it get any better than that?  So I shopped up and bought a box of chocolates and a drink to take with me to my brother’s place tonight.  All the shops were closing at this point being a Sunday, so I made my way back to the resort for an hour or so to freshen up before my drive out to Girraween.    

I also managed to get a call into Zeme this afternoon.  It is always great to hear his voice and he always knows how many day we have till we are reunited.  Man I miss him so much and just need to hang in there for the 49 days that we have left.  Considering we were counting from 165ish, 49 should be a walk in the park.  Should be……..

I drove out to see my little brother and his new family this afternoon.  My Dad remarried 32 years ago to my beautiful step-mother Chris and after mum died, my dad was in Darwin at the time, and after 15 years we spoke again for the first time.  I then re-met my brother John when I was last here.  The last time I had seen him was when he was 8 years old, so both John and Paul have kept in contact VIA Facebook over the years.  Paulie got married last year, but I was unable to attend the wedding as I was away on my Odyssey and I remember this day quite clearly, I was in St Petersburg-Russia, when they sent me a message telling me that I was going to be an Aunty!!!  Being an only child I NEVER thought that I would become an Aunty via a blood relation…..  I was so excited and so happy for my brother and his new wife and boy it felt good.  Little Noah was born and then I received a message from my sister-in-law when I was in Santa Elena-Venezuela, asking me my dates for my visit to Darwin as they were going to try and have Noah’s Baptism while I was there to have us all together, I was so touched by this gesture from some-one I hadn’t even met yet and honestly it put a tear in my eye.  As it worked out we couldn’t get dates that would suit everyone and I was unable to attend the Baptism that is going to be next weekend.   In amongst all this my Dad and Chris were driving the caravan from Townsville and they left a few days earlier to be able to arrive before I was due to leave so that I could see them before I left.  It is strange to say, but with mum passing away I lost my ‘family’ that I had ever known but on the turn side I have now been reunited with my ‘other’ family and it gives me a nice feeling that I still have some blood relatives out there when I never thought I would and that I didn’t think I cared, but after re-establishing contact with them again it has made me realize just how lucky I am now to have them back in my life.  They are all amazing people and they opened their arms, time and hearts to me and for this I am eternally grateful.  No-one will ever take the place of my mum, but family is family and I like it.       

Paulie and Karla live on a block around 35 minutes from town.  I remember driving this far in the ‘old’ days was like a mission, it was such a ‘long’ way and back in the 90’s there wasn’t as much infrastructure as there is now.  Mum and I used to live out here (a very long long time ago) till we moved into the city and then we would come back and visit every Sunday.  Mum would let me sit on her lap and help drive on the dirt road till we got back to the Stuart Highway and one birthday we drove out with a birthday cake and didn’t realize till we got to the property that Mum had left the cake on the roof of the car and was probably somewhere splattered along the highway somewhere.  It is funny now, but I was a devastated 7 year old back then…….. 

I was prepared for the drive and I bought my IPod and the cord where I could connect it into the car stereo, so with my tunes plugged in, a box of chocolates, a drink and amazing directions from Karla I hit the Stuart Highway and for the gang waiting for me.  It didn’t dawn on me till after I arrived that I didn’t have a gift for Noah.  Gee what a BAD Aunty I am…. Bad bad bad…. I will make a point of sending something when I get back to Brisbane.  Karla was exact in her directions and I didn’t get lost once when I arrived at 6.30pm.  Dad and Chris had arrived a few hours before me and it was a weird and unusual feeling to have my Dad open the gate for me to drive in, my Dad.  I am lucky that Karla, Paulie, Chris and dad are all huggers and it was nice to be embraced by family and so readily accepted.  My nephew Noah was cute as a button and looked exactly like his dad did when he was a baby.  A splitting image.  I asked Karla if she gets sick of people telling her that….to which she shrugged and smiled, which I took as a yes.  I had a great evening with the ‘McAnally’s”  and it is so cool to say that my sister-in-law is amazing and wonderful with Noah, my stepmother Chris has always been an amazing person, by brother (yes it still sounds foreign to my ears) my BROTHER Paulie and of course my Dad are also in the amazing department.  I left their place a little after 11pm for the night drive back to ‘town’ with promises to keep in touch with Karla and Paulie and that I would be seeing Dad and Chris for dinner at my older brother’s place tomorrow night. 

It was a little scary driving back with no street lights, I can’t remember the last time I even drove at night time, seriously, besides a handful of times since I have been back it would have been over 16 months and it was a little disconcerting.  Tomorrow is going to be an emotional day as I make the pilgrimage to the cemetery to pay my respects to mum and have a little chin wag with her.  I am not sure when the next time I will be here in Darwin, so it makes it that much more of a significant visit.  

A BITTER SWEET REUNION AND MY RETURN TO DARWIN

WEATHER: 30C and humid in Darwin

WORD OF THE DAY: Is this really home anymore?  

DISTANCE TRAVELLED: 2,850km

This trip to Darwin is long overdue. 

My mum and I moved to Darwin over 32 years ago.  I lived in Darwin till I was 20 and then made a move to Brisbane and have never moved back.  Mum stayed in Darwin, and even though she would call Newcastle home, Darwin was always her home and this is where she died in late 2008. After coming back for the funeral, I haven’t been back since and I wanted to make a visit to mums gravesite before I headed back to Africa.  I did try and come up in March last year before my World Odyssey, but Cyclone Carlos cancelled my trip and I just ran out of days before I left to be able to make the pilgrimage.

This trip to Darwin is long overdue.

Today also happens to be my mum’s birthday.  She would have been 58 today and it seems quite ironic that I am coming to see her on her birthday.  My flight doesn’t get in till after 4pm, so I won’t get out to the cemetery till tomorrow morning, but it seems quite fitting that I am here over her birthday.  There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think of her and the opportunities she has given me even though she is no longer here.  I was going through some jewelry this morning and I found a silver ‘MUM’ pendant that I had engraved ‘spending time with Jesus 2008’ which was the title of the poem that was read at her funeral.  Once again another fitting element to my Darwin weekend and I put it on a necklace as a constant reminder that life is precious and to always tell your loved ones how much they mean to you.

First thing this morning I had to pack my bag.  I am normally a night packer, but after a few sherberts (alcoholic beverages) at home with the Elks and a 1am bed, I set my alarm for 7am for the luxury pack.  Not a backpack, but a good old fashioned suitcase.  This was going to be a luxury for me and as I was only going for 6 nights I was able to take what I want, as much as I want and not have to worry about space issued and weight.  Well hopefully not weight.  I was in pure heaven and I even threw in some extra shirts and an extra jacket just for the hell of it and because I could, because I could.  It was very exhilarating which is quite sad, but breaking a 15 month habit and worry of packing a backpack for airline travel, this was a BIG deal.  It’s the small things……….    

Saying goodbye to Zoe wasn’t too bad this morning as she was in a hurry to get to ice-skating with Shane.  Tessie was a little more relaxed and had time for a big cuddle and a hug from Shelly before they left for dancing.  I had a tear in my eye as they pulled out of the driveway.  Gee if this is how I feel for 6 nights away how the hell am I going to handle a 3 month separation?  Well the upside is it isn’t forever or even 15 months this round and the way that time has been passing me by, I will be back before you know it. 

I had to drop off the car this morning and the good thing about using an airport location, once I had dropped the vehicle off, they were going to run me to the terminal as their depot is around a 10 minute drive from the actual airport.  I didn’t even do a walk around the car to check for any damage once I arrived as I hadn’t done anything funky to the car that I had for 12 days.  You can imagine my shock when the rental chick came back after checking the car, spoke to the manager, who then introduced herself to me and said there seems to be some damage to the car that wasn’t marked on the original sheet.  Oh Crap.  Something must have happened when I was in a car park somewhere as I didn’t have any bingles while I was driving.  Crap, crap, crap.  So I walked out to the car with the manage and we found a spot on the front bumper, I could see it clear as day, but when we got closer and I ran my finger over it was either a superficial rub or just mud from all the rain we had all week, as I was able to rub it all back and there was no mark.  THANK GOODNESS.  We checked the rest of the car and I got the thumbs up that all was in order.  I did get the spiel about how I should take out their excess reduction and when I told her I had taken out domestic travel insurance as it was cheaper, the only thing she had to say was did I have the funds to cover the 4000AUD while the claim was processed.  I could do it and to save 1221AUD which is what the EXTRA cost would have been had I taken out their insurance for the 33 days of car rental when the actual 33 day rental of the ACTUAL car was only 957AUD and the domestic travel insurance policy was 99AUD it was a no brainer. 

There was just me for the transfer to the terminal in the 18 seater van.  Brisbane Domestic terminal has changed so much since I last flew through here and I can’t even remember the last time that was.  Oh yeah it was last March when Lawsy, Shelly, Melissa and I did our booze cruise, but in the last 16 months they have done some pretty vast improvements to the terminal that are still a works in progress.  The Jetstar check-in is located between the Qantas and Virgin counters.  I self-checked in at the machine and then stood in the bag drop line that only had 10 people in it, where the check-in line had over 50 people in it.  What are those people doing in that line?  Why didn’t they self-check-in?  Needless to say I was in and out in 10 minutes and through security in a further 10 minutes and it was so nice to have 1 handbag and one backpack and not a rolly bag and a Frank Lloyd Wright picture to cart around.  I felt a little nude without all the baggage, literally, not carrying so much baggage.  My ‘suitcase’ only weighted 18.1kg, I had a window seat and I was 1.5 hours early for a domestic flight.  I guess some habits die hard.  I am always willing to be early and with Jetstar only having one flight a day I wasn’t going to risk missing this puppy.  The upside was that Brisbane Domestic Airport has free Wi-Fi so I was able to wile away the time on the internet. 

It was a full flight as the aircraft was continuing on from Darwin to some exotic overseas destination of Bali, Vietnam or Singapore.  I felt a little jealous that people were going on a fabulous holiday and then had to take a step back and realize I have been doing that for the last 16 months.  I think I have had my time, but it is just me now, travelling-it’s in my blood and I know that once I get to Africa that will not be the end of it.  I may just travel locally on my new continent, but I will never stop travelling and it will be nice to have someone to share that with again.  We were on a A320 aircraft with a 3x3 configuration.  It was a 4 hour and 5 minute flight, one of the longest domestic flights you will get bar Brisbane to Perth which is over 5 hours.  As we were sitting there waiting to taxi you could hear a dog barking from the hold of the aircraft.  Poor thing, he is probably scared witless down there.  It was a beautiful day for flying and we got some great views as we circled after takeoff to get on our course.  With a few wide sweeps we were in blue skies and fluffy clouds.  I can’t remember when I have even done a daylight flight to Darwin.  They have always been night flights as they have always been the cheapest so it made a nice change to see our wonderful country pass us by on such a clear day.  It was just beautiful.  You could rent IPad’s with movies preloaded on them for 15AUD which I didn’t think was a bad price for a 4 hour flight.  I have my IPod and my book to keep me busy and with a few cat naps and some note taking for my blog the 4 hours seemed to go quite fast.  I have been a little slack in my blogging, but I am now on the home straight of organizing and prepping so I think there will be more consistent blogging to come back.     

Visiting Darwin this weekend probably wasn’t the best planned.  I had booked these flights based on Zeme arriving next week (which is not happening) and originally I was only home for 4 weeks and not the 7 weeks I now had.  It is the Beer Can Regatta on Sunday and the Darwin Cup is on Monday.  Two big events on the Darwin calendar and I decide to come this weekend.  The accommodation was a little more and after we arrived into Darwin there were people everywhere and I learned that a Brisbane bound Qantas flight had been cancelled and was not leaving today at all.  They were getting people put up into hotels as the ‘Jetstar’s’ collected our bags.  It then hit me that I would have buckley’s of getting my room upgrade ‘subject to availability’ with an extra 200 people in town on the busiest weekend of the year.  I had booked into the airport hotel, which sounds a little daggy, but the location of the hotel is pretty good and more central for me and what I will be doing here.  Rydges have 2 airport properties, The Inn and the Resort.  I had booked into the resort as it looked nicer and was a little cheaper.  The hotel offers a free shuttle to and from the airport to their 2 properties.  So I used the courtesy phone to let them know I was here and they said there was a shuttle on the way.  So when I walked out there was a van sitting there already, but it was full.  The driver said that we could wait for the next van or we could walk as it was only 400m across the park.  Pffffff 400m even I could that in 30C humidity.  The path was well signed and there were around 10 of us who decided to walk.  So we got to the first building and I went to check in to find out that was The Inn, but the Resort was just across the road and a further 3 minute walk.  Needless to say once I got there it was busy with the re-accommodated Qantas passengers, new check-in’s and others waiting for their ride to the airport.  The resort looks massive, a beautiful looking pool area, a nice restaurant and then the rooms and bungalows spread over the grounds.  I had booked a bungalow and after wandering around a little lost with the map I was given at reception, I found my bungalow and entered into a beautiful air-conditioned lounge.  Ahhhhhhhhhhhh.  I don’t know how mum and I survived without air-conditioning when I was living here, that humidity really is a killer.  Maybe I have just gone ‘Brisbane’ soft after not being here for so long?

What was remaining of the afternoon I spent contacting people for lunch and dinner dates for the 2 days I am here.  I have a lunch date with Jo and Lisa, 2 school friends, dinner with my Dad and stepmother who arrive from Townsville tomorrow with my half-brother, his wife and my new nephew and then Monday is with my other half brother and his girlfriend.  I will also get to the cemetery on Monday morning which really was the whole purpose of my trip here.  There are so many more people I could catch up with, but once again I am on time constraints and I can only do what I can. 

So I find myself back ‘home’.  Where is that for me?  It was always here while mum was alive, but now that she isn’t here, it has lost that title I think now.  Is Brisbane home?  Well it was till I sold my house, quit my job and sold the car.  Is it Addis Ababa?  Well not yet as I am still to get there and to find somewhere to live….  It is a little sad to think I don’t have a true home, but the upside is that I have an exciting challenge ahead of me and I would rather be where I am at now than trying to find a boring 9-5 job and settling back into a life that I feel I no longer think I belong and I mean that in a nice and good way.  I have changed, my values have changed and I have different priorities in life that I just wouldn’t be able to here in Australia.