Heavenly Beverley : Hi Honey, We're Home!

We are back in Heavenly Beverley after a mammoth flight home. Cairns to Alice Springs, then Alice to Perth. QantasLink 717s...at least we had more legroom on the second half of the flight. The food was erratic, vino cost six dollars a glass (cash only!) and there was no entertainment of any sort. I think 717s were invented just after the Wright Brothers were successful in their first flight.

And with one hundred and twenty-five people crammed into an oversized sardine can with wings, the inevitable has happened. Directly behind us was a woman with two revolting children, one of whom kicked Michael's seat repeatedly. And she had a ghastly, deep and spewy cough on her that sounded like she may have been brewing some awful lurgy. Didn't she cover her mouth, I hear you asking? Not on your life. Hence this morning, Michael has huge and very painful boulders lurking in his throat. *sigh*

Note to selves - Lily and Digger will be our transport to Cairns on future trips.

I'd been awake since four o'clock in the morning Cairns time. We'd watched "The Shooter" on the idiot box and I was struggling to remember the name of the lead actor. Naturally, in the wee small hours, I sat bolt upright in bed and announced "Mark Wahlberg". After that flash of lightning moment, I couldn't get back to sleep. Just as well, as Michael suffers from a chronic case of Failure to Launch, so last minute packing mostly fell to me.

We took leave of my brother as well. B2's eyes were definitely wet and I hugged him tightly, hoping to transfer some of my innate happiness to him. He is not in a bright place at present and I feel that given the circumstances of his family upheaval, I may have to go in and bat for him in the near future.

I snapped photographs of our beloved Pump House and Freshwater Creek just before we departed. And Princess, the hire car as well. She had proved herself quite worthy and improved her get-up-and-go during the week she was ours. All she needed was a bit of a thrashing to get her moving well.

I will miss the Cairns weather. We flew into overcast skies yesterday afternoon and this morning is cold and threatening rain. That our maximums are less than Cairns' minimums is a bit hard to take...

The good news is that I have added a whole new group to our family and friends. In seven days, I became very close to Natalie and Michael, James and Kahli. The delightful Kerri Adams drove us to the airport without a moment's hesitation. Grant and Leigh O, Eric and Michael all supported each other during those upsidedown episodes of hilarity and tragedy. Lesley, Leigh's former wife was a tower of strength for their children. Rob and Vicki, Leigh's brother and sister were stoic and sad, funny and comforting. Solly, Eric's son deserves a special mention. On the day Leigh was dying, Solly climbed over the marina's fence to Seaquence and returned with a rope knot for Leigh to hold and take with him on his journey to the universe. That was a wonderful gift for Leigh.

The Canine Clowns were overjoyed to see us. Madame Cat came inside, complained loudly, ate her biscuit and then vanished again. We have no doubt she will reappear when she had recovered from our latest betrayal. The pirate Parrot just about blew up with his excited squawking and had made a bloody awful mess with his seed.

Jan and Greg were absolute life-savers for the nine days we were away. They spent part of every day in Station House, endured the unusual torment of the Beagle galloping away from them at the oval, fed the dogs and medicated Pip, topped up the missing cat's bowl and entertained Red with their very presence. We can't thank them enough and will reciprocate like a shot if they experience a similar disaster at short notice.

The dogs are snoring contentedly on their bed in the laundry. The first load of washing is completed. I am gazing out at our beautiful courtyard. In spite of the grey day, I am surrounded by a warm glow in our pleasure to be home.

May everybody I know and love have a good day.

Leigh Doust or "Dousty" - his idea of paradise

Kerri (Leigh's very first love) with his sister Vicki and some handsome dude in an appropriate shirt

A very very special bunch of people - clockwise from bottom left - Michael, Eric, Leigh O, Grant, Vicki, Lesley, Rob, Natalie, James, Michael and Kahli