I have neglected my blog for nearly three months - or put it on hold, so to speak. I have no intention of wrapping it up, on the contrary, but my life has been filled with exciting travels.
My daughter Julie is married to Josh and they live in Melbourne, Australia, and I hadn't seen them since my husband's funeral in April 2015. A rendez-vous was long overdue! My youngest daughter Sophie is living there as well, for six months, so it was time to gather the family and regroup. What better occasion than Christmas!
So we - the four of us still living in Norway - set off on December 20 - on the horrifically extensive travel from Oslo to Melbourne. I had chosen the quickest route, via Dubai, but it's still a mind-blowing distance - 24 hours approximately and the crazy jetlag to boot. As the air steward said as he was serving the meal a couple of hours before arrival in Melbourne: "Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, whatever. Here's you breakfast, lunch, dinner, whatever." (It was 9 pm local time, 11 am our left-behind time). Knowing you're going to be cooped up in a very limited space for that long means having to place yourself in a sort of Zen mode - and tell yourself this is something you just can't do anything about - there's no escape - and you have to forget all about claustrophobia and all other types of anxiety. Alcohol helps, especially a Bloody Mary or two, and so does a pill. For me at least. We all have our different survival methods.
I couldn't believe our luck when Julie told me she'd managed to get hold of a rental flat next to her and Josh's place, in the same building, in the beautiful suburb of Toorak. This made everything so easy for us while staying in Melbourne. The proximity, the leafy flowery walkway between the entrances, the huge sun deck and the Christmas tree made us feel we were at home, and the long travel and the ten-hour time difference were suddenly peanuts! For the time being anyway, until I woke up on Christmas Eve with the mother of all colds. And I am never ill, so I felt it was very unfair that this should happen now! I was very anxious about it being a three-week type of flu, but with the aid of paracetamol and rest I was back on my feet again in less than a week. Yes, I know I tend to exaggerate my pains and woes when I get ill, and I become exceedingly grumpy, but imagine my worry at being bed-ridden for weeks in Oz - definitely not a fun option.
Possums started circling our Melbourne rental flat as soon as dusk descended, and remembering Dame Edna Everage's cheerful and endearing greeting to all her guests and audience - "Hello possums!" - I had thought this was a cute animal. No way. The growling, the wheezing, their presence everywhere - especially in the tree you just walked under - it's all quite disturbing. And some of them are huge!
Gradually I learnt that the most dangerous animals in the world live in Australia. The reptiles. The insects. I lived in Africa as a child and thought I was pretty confident about all creatures great and small, but some phobias definitely found their way into my head Down Under. Especially when the shark alerts suddenly became a daily occurrence as we moved down to the coast after Christmas.
Hairy beast!
Hairy beast II. No no, this is not a possum! This is Julie and Josh's sweet cat - Miko - but she likes to sit in the trees at the entrance, just like the possums.
Shark alert in Anglesea. The helicopters indicate a circle round the area where they spot the shark. Many spottings this holiday, and several beaches closed. As if the Australians care….
Friendly guys? Not always, it seems. They are very strong.
Once again I'm reading the great travel writer Bill Bryson, whom I recommend as a must for everyone who loves travelling and becoming acquainted with a country from the inside. He's very witty and capable of noticing some of the less appealing sides to a country and its people, and elegantly ironic about it he is too. All interspersed with descriptions of easily attainable historic events. I'm glad I picked up this book when my Oz stay was actually coming to an end, because by then I had so many references and observations of my own and laughed out loud at the recognitions.
This is a little excerpt of Bill Bryson going boogie boarding with his friends Deirdre and Glenn, an aquatic pastime that my granddaughter did several times:
"'What about sharks,' I asked uneasily.
'Oh, there's hardly any sharks here. Glenn, how long has it been since someone was killed by a shark?' 'Oh, ages,' Glenn said, considering. 'Couple of months at least.'
'Couple of months,' I squeaked.
'At least. Sharks are way overrated as a danger,' Glenn added. 'Way overrated. It's the rips that'll most likely get yer.'….
'Rips?'
'Underwater currents that run at an angle to the shore and sometimes carry people out to sea,' Deirdre explained. 'But don't worry. That won't happen to you.'
'Why?'
'Because we're here to look after you.'"
We happened to have the exact same conversation with our new Australian family.
I'm full of admiration for the brave Aussies and very happy they're now part of my life and can lead me through all perils, known or unknown.
