A Day Away from Down Under

So we’re a day away from departure for our Down Under adventure. I’m really excited about it now and can hardly believe it’s so close when we’ve thought about it so long.

I chatted with our friend Gaye this morning. She’s from Melbourne, lives in Canada and travels all over the world. We met her because she arranges travel for companies and we were the grateful beneficiaries of her talents on several trips. She also happens to be an especially terrific human being that any of us would want to have in our life. As always, she had suggestions about places and experiences we should seek in the next three weeks. We will follow her lead, knowing we’ll be glad we did.

Gaye reminds me again of the importance of perspective. Hers is such a positive attitude, one to be admired and emulated. In the face of any difficulty, she simply adjusts and moves forward. She brings this force to her work, as well, much to the good fortune and pleasure of her clients. Her ability to smooth over those inevitable bumps in the road that occur despite the best-laid plans keeps travelers happy when they might otherwise lose the magic of the journey.

I’m assured by my lovely Aussie friend that we’ll find that spirit among her countrymen. Based on my reading in their newspapers, I’ve seen signs of that and so look forward to experiencing it first-hand. Just the news of the day speaks to a spirit of adventure and hope in the face of disappointment.

From the NZ Herald, we’ve apparently missed our chance to attend a “wildfoods” festival in Hokitika. I’m feeling pretty good about that because what was offered there to intrepid eaters were items with little appeal to my palate. While I can admire their gastronomic creativity, I am not sure I would have even sampled the wasp larvae ice cream. Perhaps a gustatory mistake, but one with which I’m quite comfortable.

Meanwhile in the Sydney Morning Herald, there is a wonderful photo and story from the city’s Taronga Zoo. The “miracle baby” elephant called Mr. Shuffles is doing well as he begins his life outside the womb. During a week-long birthday process, zoo personnel couldn’t detect a heartbeat in the baby, determined that he was dead, but then were surprised when he was born alive. Even though they anticipated the worst, their continued attention to the situation resulted in an iconic “happy ending.”

So today the packing begins. Our goal is to take only what’s necessary. In fact, we want to take as little as possible. Our tour companions will know us by our repetitive attire and may come to feel they are in the “Groundhog Day” movie, asking “didn’t you getting off the plane/bus/train in that outfit before?” We’ll hope they will spend their time watching the sights rather than our fashions. Truth is, if they are watching the luggage weight limits as carefully as we are, they will wear their own limited attire and we promise not to make fun of them if they promise to do the same for us.