Advance Australia Fair

"I love a sunburnt country, a land of sweeping plains,

Of rugged mountain ranges, of droughts and flooding rains.

I love her far horizons, I love her jewel-sea,

Her beauty and her terror - the wide brown land for me!" 

Dorothy Mackellar

It's a long flight from Honolulu to Brisbane, around 10 hours, but that's nothing compared to the Arctic tern, which nests in the Arctic tundra before it heads down under to Antarctica.  A journey of 12,000 miles to get two summers per year and more daylight than anything else on earth.  It's a pretty smart bird in comparison to our flock as we were flying from summer into winter.  When I last visited my adopted home of Sydney 13 years ago, I had no intention of it being so long before I came back.  I love this vast land of kangaroos and kookaburras, of dingos and emus.  The tallest people in the world live here, I suppose that explains why they have such big hearts.  Everything seems bigger here, from the horizon to the heavens.  There seems so much more space or perhaps its just fewer people, scattered further apart.  You need to factor in the price of fuel to understand why this long legged race travel long distances in such small cars.

“The place is changed now, and many familiar faces are gone, 

but the greatest change is myself. I was a child then"

Beatrix Potter

Landing in Brisbane was like slipping on an old familiar pair of slippers that had been lost under the bed for too long.  Australia is an unpretentious mix of America and England, to have been gone so long makes me a real dumb blonde.  As we approached customs I wondered if it would be too cliche to say G'day?  I guess I'll go back to being Andi, shorten as many words as possible and attach an 'i' or an 'o' to the end of nouns.  The kids will become groms or nippers and Grego, he'll have to be Bruce if I'm now Sheila.  I have a feeling he may enjoy a lower density population and the increased intensity of surf culture.

Sometimes we let fear stand between us and our rainbow 

but if we have courage, our hopes and dreams will lead us to our pot of gold in life. "

Daniere Anthoney

It was wonderful to see the ever smiling face of Dickie Hoole as we popped out of airport customs.  Like a seasoned sherpa he scooped us up, loaded the luggage into his 4wd and we were soon headed towards Surfers Paradise.  Our destination was Rainbow Bay in Coolangatta, a 2 hour drive south and home of the infamous Snapper Rocks and the SuperBank.  We checked into our highrise apartment and began enjoying the front row seat of the surfing action immediately.  It was easy to imagine linking a ride all the way through to the next bay.  

"Queensland is fluid in size and shape, it ebbs and flows and refuses to be anchored in space, it billows out like a net that can settle without warning over its most wayward children and pull them home." Janette Turner Hospital

"Vertigo is the conflict between the fear of falling and the desire to fall." 

Salman Rushdie

It didn't take any of us long to settle into our 16th floor holding pattern. Greg and Dickie spent the next couple of days vehicle shopping while the kids and I explored the pool and the beach.  Once Greg and I conquered our vertigo, we enjoyed it's fabulous views from the apartment balcony.

"Gotham City. This city can do things to people.Change them. I've seen it happen too many times."

Gotham Knights

Dickie affectionally calls Surfers Paradise "Gotham City" and watching the ever changing city scape it was easy to see why. The food in Australia is as great as I remember it.  We met Greg's old friends for sushi and I rediscovered Woolworths.  Of course I went crazy buying lots of long forgotten favorites: Timtams, custard, Heinz baked beans and proper bacon.

"God bless America. God save the Queen. God defend New Zealand and thank Christ for Australia."

Russell Crowe

It truly was wonderful to be back in the lucky country with weeks of time stretching out ahead of us.  We were fortunate to be at one end of the rainbow.  Although from past experience I know how quickly time flies in this vast and beautiful place.  We needed to move on and experience the full spectrum of what Australia had to offer and begin the search for the other end of our rainbow.