Australia, the Land Down Under; the newest continent. I have had my eyes set on Australia ever since I first saw a picture of an Aborigine back in early grammar school, but I never thought I'd actually get there. Now I'm only seven days away from taking off, with Eric, on Qantas Airlines, destination Sydney, New South Wales.
Am I excited? Of course I am, but with much more trepidation than I would have anticipated. The images of the rampant fires enveloping much of the Eastern shores of the country have been seen by all. Many homes have burned to the ground and 23 people have died as of yesterday; yet oddly, the saddest part of this calamity for me is the death of One Billion (the B is not a misspelling) animals. I have seen photos of charred kangaroos lining the highways, and images of innocent koalas climbing ever higher on their trees, unable to escape their terrible fate.
This is a real tragedy; one which has taken away some of the elation that generally precedes any of our carefully planned trips.
Additionally, Gianna's cat, Charlie, is now in his eighteenth day as patient in a local animal hospital, having undergone major surgery and being readied to have more. I'll skip the details, but animal lovers will understand how painful it is to see your pet suffering so much. There will be a long convalescence and Gianna is understandably questioning whether she will be able to join us three weeks later.
You may be asking why then we don't postpone the trip. Lamentably, in order to save some money, I purchased nonrefundable tickets; Australia is not an inexpensive destination. So, here we are, a week away from what ought to be the trip of a lifetime, but feeling on edge.
That said, Eric and I will be taking off as scheduled. We will only overnight in Sydney and depart the following day for Perth, in Western Australia, which has not been affected much by the fires. He and I will spend nearly three weeks on the West Coast before Diane and Gianna are scheduled to join us, back in Sydney. Hopefully, by then, the fire situation may be under control and Charlie will have recuperated and feel much stronger.
Let's keep this positive attitude in place and hope for the best. I hope you will follow us on this blog.
I have begun to post a number of pictures from recent previous trips. If you are so inclined, please scroll down and look through them; many great memories are associated with them, and I want to believe that the same will be said about this upcoming trip to the other side of the world.
Buona Notte.
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