Friday, January 24, 2014

Bring it On!


Thought I'd write a few thoughts as I prepared for my trip Down Under. Took this photo with my phone as I left St.John's on a 7:00a.m. flight about ten days ago. Had to dig my phone out of a bag causing me to miss getting Signal Hill and Cabot Tower in the sunrise! My flight route took me through Toronto, Tokyo, Bangkok and finally Brisbane.

Felt some anxiety leading up to this trip as compared to others….I was going so far away, for a long period of time preparing my house for someone else to live in and "in servicing" Judy on care of Schooner and house particulars. I hardly had time to think about Australia! It seems the trip was upon me before I felt I was ready! When people said, "You must be getting excited!", I had too much to take care of to think about my destination;-)

The other thing is, I would be living with Judy's husband and daughter (whom I've never met) until Tony's job finished up! Certainly, there was lots going on in my head leading up to this trip. 

In the past, I've always had Heather to look after Schooner so I really could just drop everything and go. In the early days, I'd write lists a mile long of specifics but haven't had to bother with that in the last couple of years. Most of you know how nutty I am about the dog;-) Heather says now, "What Mom, no list? You finally trust that I can do this;-)" Bless her heart!

Judy's name will come up in future posts I'm sure….suffice to say for now, she is a warm, beautiful, extremely capable person, as personable as you can imagine and organized to a fault! I could take a few lessons though I always manage in my own way to get it done;-)

Once I was in my seat on the plane, I was finally able to relax….until I was passed a newspaper and started reading about the Bangkok protests. I had heard about the protests before I left but now I had time to read about the particulars….like streets were being barred off  and that the Thai Airlines union supported the protestors. Of course, what did that mean for me as I would be on a Thai Airlines flight!!!! Would there be protests at the airport? Would I be stuck in Bangkok? All kinds of notions going through my head. After the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport experiencing a major fire this past summer and having to spend two extra nights in Nairobi, I figured anything could happen. Thai Airlines was wonderful…btw….friendly and attentive attendants;-)

Flights turned out uneventful of course, made all the connections and was met by a smiling Erin with flowers and her Dad, Tony, at the Brisbane airport. We've been getting along fabulously…I've been treated like royalty since I've arrived!

Just getting back to flying and airports for a moment….you know what's always an education of sorts for me when I travel…..the washrooms. Yup…..talk about real life problem solving tasks! How does this one flush? Is there something overhead? On the floor? Behind? Is there a motion sensor?  Do I pull this, step on that, push this? What does this button do? Sacred heart!! In saying that, the Narita International Airport in Tokyo has the best toilet ever…very sophisticated providing many advanced features! It would be worth one's while to Google "Japanese toitlets"…just saying';-)

Lots more to come on sights and sounds of Brisbane and maybe some reflections on some of the amazing travel and adventures I've been so fortunate to experience since I've retired. For now, here's a snap of a parrot I took a couple of days ago outside a small gift/snack shop at a local park. The parrots were as plentiful as pigeons and I had no problem having one land on my hand. Here's a snap of one of those handsome birds;-)

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