Day One

It seems like I've never been anywhere else but sitting in this metal canister at 36,000 feet, the flight detail I can access from the back of my seat telling me that not only is it -52 degrees outside (how cold is that?), but that right now below me there is only miles and miles of dark ocean and that I better take a nap because here comes the international date line which will bounce me into tomorrow. Me and the fellow next to me know eachother well, because for twelve hours I have listened to to him snore and he has watched me drool and mumble, we both know exactly when the other has to pee, and I can tell what he likes to watch on t.v. because I peer over to the back of his seat from time to time as a change of scenery. He can tell that I have cold feet because I keep hauling them up under my knees, and I know that he has a penchant for soda water because he orders it - a lot.




















A quick peek outside the closed window shade reveals night, deep and black below but strung with stars above for the longest time, and then suddenly the sun is there, ringing the curved horizon with gold, and below you the ocean begins to turn blue.




















Then, in a surprising twist we are over land, and the cabin is being prepared for landing, and unbelieveably, there below me are the red tile roofs of Australia, and soon I arrive among them. Customs and waiting for luggage takes ages, and then walking out into the greeting area means being scruitinized by dozens of excited faces, all of whom are waiting for someone they long to see, but I am not one of them. Then I see my mum looking for me, I wave, she runs over and say's "You're here!" hugs me quickly and hauls me away to catch the bus which is leaving in two minutes.
I'm here.















I take these pictures while I wait at the rental car agency, half asleep, greasy and quite self-concious about my brash and potentially offensive accent (and breath).















Finally I arrive at Mum's new house, a dear little Queenslander built on stilts, as are the houses here, and I am overwhelmed by the green, the plants I never see, and by my complete love for the quintessential Australian backyard fixture - the clothesline.















I'm home.