the best laid plans of kathryn garner...: Book Report

After the best 3.5 weeks of my life, Wednesday it was back to the northern hemisphere, D-town, work, the off season, impending cold autumn weather and the accompanying shorter days. Oh yeah, and a diet to shed the few extra pounds of biscuits and pies that I seem to have acquired Down Under. This was my first real trip out of the country, and the first halfway across-the-globe, 24-hour flight. And it didn't disappoint. The customs and immigration check lines were a bit daunting...thank goodness they didn't find the boxes of Celestial Seasonings tea I forgot to declare and thus illegally smuggled into Australia. Or the Sassafrass Creek mud stuck to the botton of my shoes that I trapsed back onto U.S. soil. Oops!

The trip was a good mix of visiting tourist traps, chilling out, observing Aussie culture, meeting Chris' family and friends, and spending time with the b-f. Unfortunately holidays always come to an end and the trip to the airport and stepping onto the plane was always going to be difficult. The walk through the big grey immigration doors to my plane was a tough one to make with the legs feeling like lead stuck to the floor and not wanting to walk forward. It felt like I was leaving home behind. Much thanks to Chris for being the strong one and giving my legs a push-start. Otherwise I'd still be stuck to that same spot in the Melbourne airport and I think the customs officials would have started to be a bit worried about an American tourist standing in the same spot outside their doors for 3 straight days. Somehow I did manage to walk on that plane, and 24 hours later found myself back in the condo...and eerily uncomforting place at the moment.

So it's 6 more months until the lovebirds are reunited again...Some things are just worth the wait.

A few paragraphs on the blog really can't do justice to the trip, so I won't waste any more words on trying to explain all the happenings and happy memories. If pictures are worth a thousand words, well here are a few thousand for your reading pleasure. They might read a bit like a "Where's Waldo in Melbourne" book. Happy reading...