Now, when I travel, as many of you know, it is always to see a specific city and rarely to see anyone in particular ... but, of course, this trip is about seeing David, whom I met in New Orleans in 2004 and through a series of spectacular events, the least of which was Katrina herself, landed back in my life in late June this year. First, let me clear this up for you, Australia has been on my list for many years ... so David is a bonus and Australia should be grateful because it probably would have taken me at least another 5 or 6 years to get here since my travel plans were to bounce around Western Europe the next few years ... hmmmm, the universe has a way of speeding things up sometimes, doesn't it?
As you might know, even in the airport I was able to surprise David since customs is a pretty big area and there are several exits -- naturally, I came through the far side and he was looking to the near side where just about everyone else from my flight had been routed ... I, of course, had 3000 things to declare so I got routed left instead of right ... but it gave me the advantage of being able to sneak up on David, who had ignored my orders not to bring flowers or stuffed bears to the airport -- that's probably a good thing ...!
After a brief hug and kiss (just a peck) - we took off to find the car, which David had promptly misplaced in the vast parking area -- two days later, we emerged from airport parking having missed Christmas dinner at his mum's ... just kidding folks! Actually, I was pretty impressed that he could find his car, as the car here is as ubiquitous (I always wanted to use that word!) -- as in the States, and the lot was full with people picking up all us world travelers!
We were home in what seemed like a short while ... and I was greeted by the family cats Baby & Fluffybum -- both who could outshout any 10 of my cats ... where's the duck tape? Now these are unusual cats -- Baby is a Siamese -- brown with deep blue eyes who has to b
e right there leaning on you all the time -- I've been having a few training lessons with her since my arrival and she is teachable ... Fluffy on the other hand has no hope ... this cat is addicted to his food bowl ... if it is even one millimeter below the top, he wants it topped off. Consequently, he loses weight by constantly walking between wherever David is and his bowl, mewing for a topping off. Once topped off, then he can go about and do his routine of sleep and hunt -- yes he is the resident hunter and has already brought in two birds as welcome gifts ... where's the duck tape?But, they are both pretty adorable and are wondering about this stranger in their house -- finding ways to see if she is OK ... like Baby drinking out of my water glass when I'm not looking wondering if I'm going to drown her in it when she's not looking ... so far, we're getting along and she does understand NO! Fluffy likes to wander the neighborhood and so he's not around too much unless he's catnapping -- but our time seems to be in the early morning when I get on the computer -- because, of course, he's been eating all night and now his bowl needs topping off -- a little strange but at least he's consistent! Baby's just jumped up here to see what I'm saying about her -- she's the climber -- tiny and agile like my Mirasorvino ... so far I haven't had to pull Alf out and threaten cat soup ...
I arrived on Christmas morning here and our plans were to go to David's sister's home in the afternoon -- but we both opted for naps since she and her family were going to be at David's mum's (Audrey) house that evening. We arrived early ... to Audrey's complete and utter amazement -- yes, David is usually the fashionably late sibling ... and I was greeted by the most wonderful aroma of roasting lamb in a home that has always been filled with lovely and loving people.
Within the half-hour, the house was a buzz with David's sister, Vanessa, her husband Adam, originally from NYC and FL, David's parents, Phyllis and Arthur, who now live in Punta Gorda FL, and Vanessa & Adam's children Jarrad and Tally. David's daughter, Ariane and her boyfriend Tim, who's studying to be a chef, arrived about an hour later, after having made the rounds of other grandparents' and parents' homes all day.
Now, Audrey tells me she's not a cook but you could have fooled me as I thought I had died and gone to heaven throughout most of the meal -- roast lamb, gravy, steamed broccoli and cauliflower, roasted pumpkin and potatoes with onions, wonderful Australian red wine -- yes I was in hog heaven! So simple -- but perfect after 2 days of airplane food! Audrey may not be a cook but it was wonderful!
Dessert was equally as tasty -- with one of Australia's unique desserts -- a Pavlova -- yes, after the dancer -- it's basically a fruit tart of sorts, but instead of custard, there's several layers of meringue, topped with a mixture of fruits -- kiwis, strawberrries, mangoes, passionfruit, grapes -- quite yummy ... this was accompanied by a traditional English Christmas pudding, hot from the oven and some vanilla ice cream. It was indeed a perfect meal of some of my most favorite comfort foods -- exactly right for a first day in an unusual and amazing country.
One of the great moments of the day was a quick trip to Vanessa and Adam's home on Yowie Bay to get some presents left behind ... I had been hearing about this house from David for quite awhile, as it is situated essentially on the side of a hill overlooking Yowie Bay ...
To get to it you must ride down the side of the hill in an inclinator -- which is like a small gated-platform that travels down an electric-powered rail to Vanessa and Adam's house which is built right into the side of the hill. It's an older house that was used as a holiday home and which they purchased, and then, redesigned the interior to accomodate themselves and their two children.
It's small but so charmingly unique that what it lacks in space -- it makes up for in character and environs -- as the entire back of the house overlooks the Bay and you can be out on the water in just a matter of minutes ... high ceilings, wood floors ... open and airy ... just delightful.
I enjoyed meeting David's family immensely -- Audrey is feisty and most creative -- she's a beautiful painter and her art is everywhere ... she loves music, particularly opera, and so that is what I brought her -- some Puccini and Verdi (which just arrived yesterday) -- his daughter Ariane is stunningly beautiful and reminds me of me when I was her age (18) -- Vanessa and Adam are warm and gracious, as are their children, and Adam's parents Phyllis and Arthur, who arrived about 3 days before me from Florida, are lovely. It was a wonderful Christmas -- so like the Christmas gatherings from my childhood -- when the entire family celebrated together.
Finally, 24 hours of travel started to take it's toll on me -- not to mention the 2 glasses of red wine and yummy food and I began to fade fast -- David whisked me away and I fell into bed quite exhausted expecting to sleep straight through until morning -- but alas at 4:30 am I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep so I decided to read, journal, say prayers and just hang out, until finally, at 8:30 am I fell asleep again.
It was Tuesday but I missed most of it -- including the spectacular start of the Sydney to Hobart (Tasmania) sailboat race -- because I slept the whole day -- waking only briefly from time to time, before getting up around 7:00 pm to eat dinner and watch a bit of TV -- that didn't last long and by 10:00 pm I was falling asleep again ... I went back to sleep and woke at 2:00 am ...
David, in the meantime, had spent the day being domestic -- grocery shopping, doing laundry, watching a bit of cricket on the telly, cooking, cleaning -- yes, he has it down fairly well ... well, almost ....
At 2:30 am, he noticed my light and came in to check on me and we spent the next 5 hours talking ... which was good since up to that point I'd mostly been asleep and I am sure David thought that perhaps I was going to be comatose for the rest of my stay here ... but we had a nice chat, settling back into the comfortable ease we had established over the 6 months prior via phone and Internet ... the sun began to come up around 5 am along with the chattiest birds on the planet ... but it was a nice sunrise and by 7:30, we'd fallen asleep with David's Siamese, Baby, settled in between us ... what a chaperone!
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