Reality Bites!

After my life altering amazing adventures in Cairns I flew back to Sydney to return to work in Gosford. The flight was great! The Moreeeny luck took a turn for the good for once. I ended up with a whole row of three seats to myself! This hardly ever happens, let alone to a Moreeeny! I boarded the plane and took my seat on the aisle waiting for everyone else to board the plane. I saw the two seats next to me empty but there were still lots of people to board so I was not optimistic that they would remain free. As more people passed me looking up for their seat number and looking beyond row 14 the more my hope grew. Then I saw a woman with a screaming toddler in her arms tromping down the aisle looking for her seat. I figured the Moreeeny luck would have landed her and her screaming brat right next to me, but nah, they kept walking. The people started to dwindle and then they started to shut the baggage compartments. I was getting a little excited by the fact that I might have a whole row to myself, and then one lone woman got on the plane last minute. I sank down with reality and prepared to give up my little dream of having a row to myself for an almost 3 hour flight. To my surprise she sat down before she got to me, after her they shut the doors! You couldn’t imagine how excited I was at my little bit of luck. I whipped off my seatbelt and shifted over by the window in anticipation of throwing up the arm rests and having my own little chaise lounge. I did up my seat belt and got ready for takeoff. The girl across the aisle looked at me and looked that the seats and smiled at me. I responded with a look that said, “Haha, I don’t think so hunny! Don’t even pretend to think about jumping over here!” We started to roll back so she could get up and switch right away and the second that seatbelt sign was off I had my size tens up on those seats maxing and relaxing. I know you may be thinking that I got awfully excited over a couple extra seats on the airplane, and only for a three hour flight, but I take my victories where I can get them okay. Being a Moreeeny the small things often mean much then the average bear, others tend to take luck for granted (Kinda like “My parents never beat me.”)

So I landed in Sydney and then had about a 2 and a bit hour journey by train and bus to Gosford. After being in Cairns with the tropical climate and 30+ degree days Sydney’s 19 degrees felt like Antarctica. When I first came I remember writing that this Canadian couldn’t handle the heat, but now I have to say that this Canadian can’t handle the cold. When it gets down to about 22ish I start throwing on the layers. I have no idea how I am going to survive when I get home! I am hoping that I will spend the next month acclimatizing to the lower temperatures here and by the time I get back home there won’t be a huge difference in temperature. Of course it doesn’t help matters that I am now living in a cave. This house is down a bank and completely surrounded by trees, making it extremely dark, damp and cold all day long. It is a marathon activity to do laundry here because when I hang it on the line at 8 in the morning it is not dry by 5. The house never gets direct sunlight at any time of the day for more than 15 minutes or so. I find everything is constantly cold and damp, even in the house. Downstairs, or as I have started referring to it as, Serbia, is cold 24 hours a day no matter what it is like outside. I call it Siberia because of the coldness and the fact that it is unlivable by anything but the possum that lives in the floor between levels. Yep a possum in the floor! It is lovely when he gets thumping around at about 5ish in the morning. You may ask, “Why don’t you just kill it, put poison out, shoot it, trap it etc.” Well here in Australia possums are protected and because of that you are not allowed to do any of the above. We are basically stuck in the same situation Peter was on Family Guy when that bird made a nest in his beard.

The top looks better with carpet and a paint job. I now have my original mattress that I was sleeping on but a shitacular pillow instead of my old soft ones. This pillow is like one step up from a slice of bread. I currently have it folded in half and put in the pillow case in order to provide some pillowness while I sleep. Still no kitchen or stove or anything to cook on, and I have absolutely no where to store my stuff. The room I am in is barely big enough for my bed let alone anything else. So I continue to live from multiple suitcases that now looks like a textiles factory threw up in the corner. I started to tidy a bit yesterday but quickly decided there was no use and that I was destined to live like a bag lady for the remainder of my time here in Oz. I am finding it very difficult to live like this and there is no space for the kids which mean that they always have to be attached to my hip. I don’t feel safe letting them play around all the stacked pieces of kitchen cabinets, metal pipes, screws etc that is currently occupying the living room. It is very trying in my position to live here like this. I am a million miles away from home and now without any of the comforts of home. Let’s just say I am very much looking forward to reuniting with friends and family at the end of the month. Until then I will continue to press on with my nose to the grind until that time arrives. I hope you guys enjoyed catching up on everything; I will have more for you when I can.