A Busy Week!

We're finally settled with mum in Sandy Bay, Tasmania. Our flights to Australia took twice as long as usual because China Southern Airlines dog-legs through Guang Zhou in S.E. China. We calculated that from the time we got out of bed in Vancouver to the time we crawled into bed at my brother's home north of Sydney, we'd been on the go for 48 hours! Worth it though, as we saved a couple of thousand dollars compared to the Air Canada fare to fly Vancouver-Sydney-Bangkok-Vancouver.

Pen and Grandnephew Finn

No complaints about China Southern. The Airbus 800 for the 9 hour flight from Guang Zhou to Sydney was brand new and the service was excellent. We travelled by train from Sydney Airport to Richmond north of Sydney, arriving just in time for the combined birthday party of my brother and his two grandsons Finn (3) and Lief (1).  We spent the night with John and family at their lovely home on a horse farm in the Blue Mountains. A fews weeks ago the area was on bushfire evacuation alert but a subsequent rainy spell had everything looking green and lush. Next day John drove us on a scenic loop through the Blue Mountains back to Sydney. We stopped at the Three Sisters lookout, lunched in a lovely mountain village and arrived at our dear friends Kevin and Janet late afternoon December 2 for a two-night stay.

With the iconic Three Sisters in the Blue Mountains

Kevin is one of Australia's most prominent Indigenous language activists - a passion we've shared for over a decade. Our get-togethers always involve lively discussions about our favourite topic. Kevin and Janet are exceptionally kind and thoughtful hosts and their home was a delightful sanctuary after the marathon trans-Pacific flights. We spent some of our time together planning their visit with us in Tasmania in January.

The Sydney airport is just a 12 minute express train ride from Kevin and Janet's home so we bid them farewell after breakfast on December 4 and in no time we were relaxing in the departure lounge for the final leg of our long haul. Recent rains in "Tassie" had the island jewel dressed in her best emerald green for our final approach. Mum and brother Bob met us at the airport and by 2.30 PM we were sitting down to some of Tasmania's finest wine and cheese on Mum's patio overlooking the Derwent River. The travel adrenaline quickly drained out of us and we finally felt 'retired'!


We decided to get a runabout car for our 3 month stay. Scanning the ads on Gumtree.com, the Australian equivalent to Craig's List, we found a little '96 Honda Civic hatchback that suited our needs. After 24 hours of bartering via text message we bought it yesterday. We expect to be able to recover our modest investment when we leave and come out ahead compared to renting. Today we'll take our first trip - to the nursery - and by tonight we hope to have our veggie garden in. Life is good!! :-)