Perth Airport

1. My bags are packed (tightly I might add) and I'm ready to go, I'm sitting here behind the doors.... of Perth airport, woohoo. Mybattery is running low so this may be a quick one. Spent yesterday morning trying to upload negatives of slides and gathering information for the Kariaotahi school reunion. Trawling through my precious things I actually came across an exercise book of Dad's when he was in Std 4, (Yr 6) in 1943. It was an anthology book of obscure poetry, used mainly for writing practice I am thinking. Good to know me and mine are not the only ones that had occassion to put b's and d's back to front in mini dyslexic moments. I also came across my school reports from primmers to Std  3  (Yr 1 - Yr 5) and on reading them through, I found I was above average in oral english, reading, vocab and some maths, was logical and had common sense, (most of them said that) but the overwhelming thread through each report  (two a year) was that  I was talkative, LOL, did not see that one coming at all heh heh.  

Between  all the above I stripped my bed and remade it, laundered everything in the house except what I stood up in,  emptied and cleaned the fridge ( a jar of sundried tomatoes, olives, and butter remain apart from a host of condiments that will last until the second coming - well almost lol)  watered the garden and swept the floor before finally packing at 3 pm before my bags were picked up at 4pm by Bronwyn. At  the last minute I decided to get someone in to house sit as Jude is off to Perth this week  and just felt better about having someone there to keep an eye on the place and to keep the garden's watered.  Becks, who is house sitting was blown away from the view and the size of the place and loved it on sight.  I told her she could play Goldilocks and have her choice of three beds -    a double, a Queen (fittingly mine, heh heh) or the King size one left until Janet gets to pick it up.  Becks is one of the Macca's crew and  has house sat for Bron and Gerard so was happy to jump at the offer of some time on her own as she still lives at home.  

After handing over the keys I then drove Gerard home and parked my car there as they are having it as a second car while I am away.  I then caught a lift with the family down to Dongara to Jude's 65th  birthday and had a lovely time.  She like me has had friends she has grown up with and it was great to meet some of the people she has talked about and more of her family.  It was also a mini Tardun reunion with a full turnout of those who were about and Colin (Janet's husband) played and sang for the music  for the night.  It was after dinner when people finally got up for a wriggle round the dance floor and it was great to see   a heap of oldies (heh heh) on the dance floor with the grandchildren  all busting their moves.  Those who travelled left around 10 and those of us who stayed started cleaning the hall around 11pm.  With another of Jude's friends who had bussed all the way down from Exmouth,  I stayed at Jude's.  She has a tiny one bedroomed flat but we pushed the table and lazy boys  back and managed to fit a mattress on the floor (me) and a camp bed (Rhonda).   I  was so tired by  then I could have slept on a board and not known the difference.  I was rudely woken at 5 am when my phone alarm went off - playing the theme song to "The Rafters"   on full volumn.  I leapt (as much as one could in a tight space)  to the table to turn it off and grabbed it to put it under my pillow only to hear it go off again 10 mins later on the delayed alarm.  It would seem in my comatose state I had pressed off on the alarm but missed save .  I thought having the phone completely switched off would have been enough  but it would seem not, as I found out.   I dozed on and off hearing Jude's Mum ring up at 7.30am  to wish her Happy Birthday but missed Jude leaving to open the hall for breakfast.  Speedily ablutioned and was repacked to go down to the hall by 9am to a barbequed breakfast done on the barbeques just outside the hall.  This was along side the harbour with the tide in so a great start to the day.  

Jude had arranged with her brother and sister in law to give me a lift to Perth and we were on our way by 10am, down the Brand  Highway  which was virtually empty.  It was noticably light with traffic with the Coastal Highway now open.  It made for good travelling time with only a few places slowed down by trucks.  We passed through the turnoff to Eneabba where there were bush fires last year.  It burnt on both sides of the road, which was closed for four days at the time.   It was fascinating to see all the clumps of green grasses that have grown since  interspersed with blackend remains of gumtrees and scrub.  We stopped at a road house half way down to get some drinks and ice creams  (them)  and peanut brittle (me).  Had a conversation with the shop assistant who commented it was an old fashioned toffee  and to watch my teeth.  I laughed and said, what the few I have left - I will lick it if I have to, lol.   Coming into Perth it looked extremely dry  as since Christmas there has been over 60 days with temps  30 celcius  and above - another record.  Ray and Kay showed me where their grand daughters go to school, which was hit by the Perth fires earlier in the year.  Lots of the trees are gone and though there was smoke and water damage, the school survived .  

I am now writing from the free internet in the airport as I had typed up a post only to lose the whole thing off my computer when it dropped out of internet - rude words, rude words.  I only have a thread of battery left so all good.   I was way to early so after typing my now defunct post, I decided to eat the peanut brittle - for energy of  course and also so as not to be arrested by taking food through customs with nuts in it.  I had picked the more peanut less toffee slab of brittle and it was somewhere after the third mouthful I felt something hard in my mouth and wouldn't you know it, (no not a tooth) but a great lump of filling.  Damn and double damn, that will teach me for being so flippant.  I am pleased to report that I am experiencing no pain except the anticipated pain in my wallet when it will cost something like $150 -$200  to repair ,  spit, snarl.  I may hold out til return to 
Australia as with medicare and health ins it will be much cheaper.  Am back to seriously thinking about having the few working teeth I have left  ripped out to be replaced by a Hollywood type set on gnashers instead..... watch this space.

 I am now checked through  with luggage.  Arrived to find I had only packed 17k  so took out my external hard drive from laptop case and squeezed my camera into the bag, now stretched to the seams but still only weighing 20k  with 3k to spare.  My laptop is under the 7k allowance but handbag probably takes up the slack, heh heh. I am now going for a wander through the shops before going through customs.  I have a bottle of water to drink as you cannot take water through customs but you can take an empty bottle to fill the other side - I ask you, what is the deal on that.  My bottle is still unsealed and whilst I am all for bio security this is just plain dumb.  Anyhoo, will post and away, and next post will be from NZ, woohoo. :)