2015/10 Australia trip - Getting there |
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Dear All,
In the run-up to our trip to Western Australia, Sandie was busy with gardening, cleaning up for winter. I was putting snow tyres on the Jeep – no sign of winter yet except for a small dusting of snow on Mt Cheam, but it could be serious weather when we get back from our trip at the end of November. Our weather at the end of September was a pleasant mixture of sun and rain.
Sandie had a good weekend at the club’s quilting show; they had well over a hundred visitors, some coming quite a distance. She was serving food and collecting at the door; proceeds went to charity. This picture comes from the Hope Standard.
She was worried she might end up with a black eye for Australia. She had one of her cataclysmic sneezes in the kitchen, causing her to whack her head on the corner of our granite countertop, giving herself both whiplash and a large bruise. The bruise was working its way down her forehead and she was having to wear a neckbrace.
We had a rare treat – a total eclipse of a full moon. I remember seeing the last one from Midland Avenue back in 1982. We didn’t see the beginning of this one as the mountains were in the way, but we got a view of the blood moon (hard to see, so dark against the sky) and then watched as it steadily brightened except for the earth’s shadow. We could see why people used to be terrified – it’s a spooky sight.
Monday September 28th
We set out early on an absolutely beautiful autumn day, sunny and warm. We drove to Vancouver Airport, leaving the Jeep in a long term carpark for the next two months. We flew to San Francisco and picked up our 12 hour Air New Zealand flight to Auckland and then another 4 hours on to Melbourne. (There is a direct flight from Vancouver to Sydney but we didn’t like the price.)
Wednesday September 30th
Tuesday was lost to the date line. Our pilot was lost too, announcing that we were going to arrive on Thursday. We’d wondered if he was planning on going around the wrong way.
It was still dark in Auckland, and a crisp morning, reminding us that it was early spring there, the equivalent of our end of March. Melbourne was chaotic with long lines for everything, one so long and winding around the carousels that we couldn’t find the start. Locals thought it was so busy because of Friday’s holiday for the footie grand final.