Ah... its good to be home

What a joy it is to be home. After another alcohol infested long haul flight, we arrived safe and sound to a lovely cool morning, the sounds of Magpies and the laidback drawl of the Australian accent.

This time we had the joy of spending 14 hours next to a nervous flyer who gulped down fists full of sedatives, guzzled champagne and when her twitchy legs finally released her into a deep slumber, she sat there open mouth breathing her stank in my direction. Her mates sat right behind us all guzzling wine to help them sleep, they too breathing open mouthed in our direction. At one point we thought the offensive smell was coming from the toilets but as I got up to investigate and made my way past the group, I noticed an almost pleasant, fresh smell coming from the toilets...yup, it was them alright, all four of them...

But, we are now back in the land of sunshine, fresh air, open spaces and friendly people. We laughed as we watched the morning news. What a contrast to the overseas news that is obsessed with Iraq, Terrorism and the Stock Exchange. Our newscasters idly chatted about seemingly unimportant things making jokes at each other and allowing the conversation to ramble gently. All the while, getting their message across but in a gentler, more humorous and calmer manner.

We found one news segment to be of particularly jocularity. A newscaster tells us an Australian man has found, in the dirt, a pure gold nugget worth $25,000. Just lying there about 2 feet under! So the interviewer asks this guy what happened when he found the nugget... the Aussie replies very laconically, "well, me misses and me were bout to have a cuppa tea and we found this thing..." the interviewer pushes for more information, possibly some spice to add to the interview "yeah, and um... well, we looked at each other, and we went over to the car and had a coffee and um, yeah".

Paul and I looked at each other, smiles bursting out, expressions of knowing fondness, yet disbelief in the understated nature of Australian spirit. Yep, thats our guy, the good old Aussie, not a bragger, just plain simple facts, no mess, no fuss, no drama, just tell it like it is. And we find it ever so funny!

So, its so nice to be home, to see the brilliant sunshine that occurs in Australia, to smell the fresh air and enjoy the laid back, open feeling of our land. It was particularly nice to have a leisurely chat with family and friends and then fall into coma-like-state that lasted over 18 hours.

I feel an overwhelming urge to pat a kangaroo for some reason so I think in the next few days we might take a trip to the best wildlife sanctuary in Australia, the Phillip Island Wildlife Sanctuary, cant wait.