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Published: July 11th 2010
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Monica
Looking very smart ;-) I just arrived in Melbourne, after a wonderful week with friends in Newcastle. I stayed with Monica and Scott, and it was just great to spend time with them. Monica had taken the whole week off work, and Scott, who is self-employed at the moment, took time, too.
On Sunday night, we had a barbecue and sat around a fire that Monica had lit. Camo, Adriaan, Donny, and Tinks came over. So good to see them!
Monday was a pretty active day. In the morning, I went to gym with Monica, afterwards we had lunch with Tinks. In the afternoon, Monica, Scott and I tried out the new bike path that runs from Belmont North (where Mon and Scott live) to downtown Newcastle. In the evening, we were invited to Camo’s place for dinner. And we had sooo much fun trying out these nerdy glasses (see pictures!).
On Tuesday morning, we went to John Hunter Hospital, where I had spent four weeks last year after my bad crash at Brokenback. I met my Australian doctor. He was, as usually, surrounded by a bunch of other doctors, and he asked me many questions on what had happened to me,
Scott
Something is wrong with his glasses ;-) and how my recovery had gone. I think he was proud of me having worked so hard on my recovery. It was good to see him, but being in the hospital was also very emotional because it is a place in which I suffered a lot of pain. So it was a good feeling to just walk out of the building again (last time, I had left it in a wheelchair). In the afternoon, Monica and Scott took me to Blackbutt Reserve, a wildlife park in which there are kangaroos, koalas, wombats, and different kinds of birds. Very nice place, and it is not far from the centre of Newcastle.
On Wednesday, Mon and I got up at 5:30 in order to go to the gym. Afterwards, I caught a train to Sydney to catch up with Dave, whom I hadn’t seen for more than two years. The weather was not very nice, it kept on raining. So we just went for a little walk and then had lunch a Darling Harbour, one of my favourite places in Sydney. Mon picked up her aunt Kate and uncle Michael from Newcastle airport, and when I got back from Sydney, I
Katha
I'm sooo smart ;-) met them both. “Aunt and uncle” sounds very old, but in fact they are only a few years older than Monica.
On Thursday, Scott had to go to Sydney for work. Monica, Kate, Mike, Donny, and I went on a winery tour into the Hunter Valley. We stopped in three wineries and tried really nice wines. Food was also nice. We had lunch in a restaurant where we could sit outside in the sun (yes, in the middle of winter!), and later on we stopped at a shop that sells lovely cheese and ice cream. And let’s not forget the chocolate shop that we visited! We also got close to Brokenback, where I had crashed last year. I must confess that I felt a bit tense when we drove past there. But luckily, I cannot remember the crash itself. It just reminded me of a very bad day in my life, that was followed by more bad days. Anyway. Let’s go back to the positive things: Finally, we got back home with a big box full of wine bottles and bags filled with other goodies. Believe me, we did not run short of wine and good food during the
Camo
Hello??? ;-) next couple of days.
On Friday, Mike and I went flying with Scott in Merewether. That means Scott went for a flight, and Mike and I watched. I’ve never flown there myself, always found the launch quite scary as it is pretty flat. Still, I had tried to fly there twice - and ended up in the bushes twice 😉. Scott took his dog Wakka for a flight. Wakka hadn’t flown for a couple of months. He is always really keen on flying. As soon as Scott starts setting his glider up, Wakka gets all excited and starts crying. When Scott has Wakka’s little harness ready, the little dog steps into it all by himself. When Scott launches, he lies in his little harness behind Scott, and as soon as Scott is airborne, Wakka steps onto his back. The flying dog!
We had lunch at the beach, then went back home. In the evening, my friends Liz and Ed from Canberra arrived. They had driven all the way to Newcastle (a five hour drive, sometimes even more) just to see me. Adriaan and Donny joined us, so I was all happy again to have my friends around me.
Liz, Ed and I went to Wybung Reserve with Scott on Saturday because Scott and Ed wanted to go for a fly. The wind was weaker than predicted, so in the end, only Scott flew and managed to top land even though the lift was very weak. He is just such a good pilot! Ed decided not to fly because he thought that there would be not enough room for two gliders in the weak lift. So he was happy to just watch and enjoy being outside and hanging out with the girls. Liz and I went for a little walk down the cliff and back. It still feels a bit strange to me to be the accompanying person instead of the person that goes for a flight. But I guess I will eventually get used to it.
As the weather was really nice, we had another barbecue in the evening. Adriaan came over once more (and brought a fantastic vegetable lasagne with him). Before going to bed, I had to say goodbye to Liz and Ed because they had to leave very early this morning (before five) as Ed has to work (even more amazing that they
Winery tour
Kate, Michael, Monica and Katha in front of the first winery we went to. came all the way). Saying goodbye to Mon and Scott was very sad. I hope I will see them again soon. It was fantastic to see my Australian family, I was sooo happy to spend time with Monica, Scott, Liz, Ed, Adriaan, Donny, and Camo. Miss them already!
I caught a train to Sydney early this morning and flew from there to Melbourne. I just arrived in my hotel. The congress here will start tonight, so I’ll go there, register and attend the opening ceremony. More on that will follow!
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bauer wolfi
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great pics katha.....