Gemma started nagging me to visit her in Australia shortly after Nick’s death and eventually I agreed to go over in November; she did all the booking of flights for me, deciding I should stay for almost the whole month.
I was petrified at the prospect of travelling all that way on my own and nearly called the whole trip off on several occasions in the preceding weeks, but I needn’t have worried; I didn’t get lost in the airports, didn’t miss any flights and my luggage arrived in Perth with me.
We had an amazing time together; Gemma’s long awaited redundancy came through on my second day there, so we were able to spend the whole time together. It was lovely to get to know Chris a bit better and to see their beautiful home.
We visited Gemma’s friends who live on a station in the outback; 700km north east of Perth and covering 185000 acres, it extends as far as the eye can see in every direction. The earth is bright red, the vegetation is very scrubby and there’s an amazing variety of wildlife around; kangaroos, émus, bungarras (a sort of big lizard), snakes, etc, etc. Blair, Jared and their three delightful children were so welcoming, we had a fantastic couple of days with them. I will never understand, however, why anybody would choose to live in such an isolated, harsh environment, where even the nearest shop is 60km away and you have to rely on rainfall for drinking water.
Another day we went to Mandurah, a bit like a modern Venice, in that many of the houses front onto canals. Gemma’s friend’s parents live in such a house and took us for a wonderful trip around the canals on their boat. How the other half lives!
Some other friends, again boat owners, invited us to join them on a trip to Rottnest Island, so we headed off. The less said about that day though, the better , as I discovered that I’m not a good sailor. I was just pleased the family was staying overnight on Rottnest and we were taking the ferry back to Perth.
It was a fantastic holiday; I borrowed Gemma’s bike to ride up and down the coastal cycle path, joined Gemma in her yoga classes and met so many of her wonderful friends. We went to markets and visited a jazz club, went out to meet friends for breakfast and spent Sunday afternoons watching the salsa dancing at the amphitheatre on the beach. I was able to wind down a bit for the first time in months.
Coming home wasn’t easy, but I was better motivated to start on the major pre-moving clear out than when I’d left. February is looming fast; I’m making progress, selling what I can online, giving other stuff to charity and taking yet more to the tip. Nick was such a hoarder! It’s far from easy, but in some ways it feels quite liberating to be having a good clear out.
