Wednesday Morning (+3), 5am (apologies to Paul Simon) and we are getting ready to leave our hotel room in Christchurch with the Aussies all over NZ Blackcaps in the First Test at Wellington. The overnight score was NZ 4 down with a very steep hill to climb to avoid the follow on. Today, we are crossing the” Ditch”, and we will arrive in Melbourne around breakfast time.
Despite protestations I was relieved of $NZ 50 to “allow” us to leave! OK, I know that they should have been paying me, but when you’re “down under” everything is upside down! We are the only people in business class and so have a choice of 8 seats. The thought of playing musical chairs with two MP3 players came to mind but even better having to fight for a seat when the announcements are made over the PA. Let’s go with it!
Our host asks “Would we like to have sparkling wine” at 06:30am. Not wishing to offend, but thinking more of our own fragile state we opt for orange juice, or in my case orange juice and water. The man knows how to live the highlife. Margery is quite pleased with the apologetic of broccoli and pumpkin etc for the cooked part of her breakfast. It appears that ”v” stands for vegetarian and vegan in these parts AND I was the cat that got the butter and M got the marg! The poor stewardess couldn’t really understand that I was more than happy with the breakfast – so often the veggie option is just a salad or a few vegetables, so I end up starving! ..this one was great as there were pulses and cereal bits as well as potatoes – so I definitely wasn’t hungry!
We take off in darkness and so see the sunrise for over 2 hours as we are flying westwards. I adjust my watch backwards by 2 hours. We are now making up for lost time, so to speak.
Melbourne’s urban sprawl lies beneath us as we fly in making NZ cites seem Lilliputian by comparison. We touch down in a new continent and one neither of us has ever dreamed we would visit. At least we are going the wrong way so they can’t accuse us of being convicts!
Arrivals was fine except the 90 minute wait to check our presents through AQIS (Quarantine) all for a few bits of wood, some shells and our camping bits. See what we go through thinking of you!!! No, it was really only the walking boots and the trekking poles which might have been a potential problem, and an X-Ray of the rucksack seemed to satisfy” them with a job to do”, and the we finally get the all clear to meet Alick and Mandy waiting patiently at the arrivals gate.
Emerald, where Alick and Mandy live is about 1 hours drive from Melbourne Tullamarine International Airport, and they had left at around 7 am to pick us up. Poor things, they thought that they had missed us when we didn’t emerge for such a long time. It is the first time that we had met Mandy but within minutes you’d have thought that we were family. We were soon talking about everything under the sun and Alick was normal. He can talk for Australia, and he hasn’t lost the nack!
We were able to leave 2 bags at the international airport, which will make life a little easier and cheaper as we fly up to Sydney.
It was great to get to Lawson Drive where we were to stay for the next 36 hours, because to be honest, the musical chairs game had left us both a bit jaded. Well, we had some lunch and then the chance to stretch legs properly around A & M’s beautiful garden and then the nearby reservoir, which was formed from a natural valley and a concrete / stone dam. I know it is the end of the summer, but the water level was shockingly low, especially as yesterday was the first day of the autumn for them. Remember, that it was only two weeks ago that golf ball size hail and flooding had hit Melbourne. We get to understand pretty quickly that Oz is very much a land of extremes, and that whilst it wasn’t always this way in living memory, today you can so easily have 4 seasons in one day.
We saw signs for Kangaroo feeding, but to be honest we were there about 1 hour early and we still had to get back before dinner. We did see Sulphur crested cockatoo and rosella (a red, blue and green parrot), as well as the ubiquitous Australian magpies!
After a very pleasant evening it was for us an early bedtime as we ware on our way to travel the railway tomorrow. “Train whistle blowing, makes a sleepy noise; underneath the blankets lie all the girls and boys.” zzzzzzzzz
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