I arrived in Brisbane and worried that customs would be really bad because I live on a farm, but it was alright even though the customs officer made me a bit mad with the dumb questions... I guess they have to ask them even if the person that they are talking to seems to have more than half a brain. He asked if I had any of the tools that we use on the animals in my bag... like I was going to be trimming hooves over here. I was so tired and I snapped at him "I'm not stupid, I'm fully aware of biohazards and the importance of ensuring that no contaminants enter the country". Fortunately he wasn't bothered by my obvious annoyance and sent me on my way without asking to inspect my baggage... I had nothing to hide but didn't want to be in the airport for any longer, I had to get out into the world.
Finally out of customs... there were people everywhere waiting for family and friends, I spotted my sister Sharon and then saw three of my boys, then when I got close enough I met Sharon's baby Joshua who is now 11 weeks old, he's a real cutie. My boys being there was such a pleasant surprise, there were Rob, Evan and James. I asked Evan how his wife Karissa was and he said that she was fine... she was due to have a baby the same day as the wedding and I knew by his response that the baby was already born, but he refused to tell me the gender of the new baby telling me that I'd have to see for myself. He drove me almost straight to his place making a slight detour along the beach front at Margate. This area has really changed, the road used to be right on the beach front but by making the road narrower they have been able to add some gardens and a boardwalk. It looks nice. Finally we arrive and I get to meet my newest Grandchild, Taylah. She was born on Thursday, a day after her big sister Emily's fifth birthday, she looks so much like Emily did as a baby. It was good to finally meet three-year-old Sean and get reacquainted with Emily who was only 5 months old when I last saw her. They are great kids and I spent the day with them.
Emily and Sean cooling off.
Sean, Emily and Taylah.
Latter Evan drove me to Aaron and Lisa's house. They had arranged to go out to dinner and Lisa's family was there as well as my boys and Karissa, it was a good evening. I hadn't seen Aaron in almost five years but he's still the same person and after we came back from dinner I spent the rest of the evening with him and his fiancée Lisa. Because she was working the next morning Lisa went to bed and Aaron and I stayed up and talked for hours. I finally crashed around 2a.m. I think I was asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow. After about 36 hours in planes and airports with only about 20 minutes sleep I was really tired.
On Friday morning Lisa went to get her nails done and offered to take me to the shopping center at Kippa-Ring where I used to do my shopping when I lived there. Apart from the new cinema complex it seems to be about the same as it was 4 1/2 years ago and I wandered around and spotted some familiar faces and chatted with a few of them. I was beginning to feel as though I had never left here, so many things seemed unchanged.
Evan came over to Aaron's place and after we ate lunch he collected James and we went to my storage shed to sort some things out. We achieved more than I thought we would, but there's still a lot I have to do, I need to go through absolutely everything and find the few items I want to take back with me, and Rob is organizing a garage sale to sell as much as possible then the rest will be donated to charities.
Aaron and Lisa had invited me to a barbeque at Lisa's parents home but I was feeling too tired to be sociable with people that I don't know very well, so I went to Evan and Karissa's place for the evening instead. I had taken photos of the kids the day before and I showed them to Emily and Sean and then took more and put them on my computer so the kids could see them right away, they really enjoyed that. They act like they have known me all their lives, no shyness at all, that is so good considering the short time I will be here.
I arrived back at Aaron and Lisa's empty house and had a shower and was just about to go to bed when Aaron returned from the barbeque, we talked for well over 1.5 hours. He is strangely like me in very many ways, a thing I had never really noticed before. You see people differently after a long absence. It was so good talking with him but I was so tired that I had to end our conversation so that I could go to bed.
