The beautiful light just before sunset on the drive into Canberra.
Robert and I have always said that we would not travel all the way to Australia from Sweden for less than three weeks, but sometimes circumstances change those vows. So after less than a week actually in the country, we arrived back in Stockholm on Sunday night. This was the first time that I’d been down under in the winter and it was an eye opener. In terms of the temperature, the weather was mild – daytime highs ranged from 13-20 degrees C. But in the evening, temperatures dropped below zero a few nights. And all that would be fine to handle IF houses in Australia had central heating. But this luxury is not nearly so common there as it is in the US and Sweden. In the places I was staying, there was either a fireplace or heater in the main living room, but the bedrooms were freezing and heated with only electric blankets. So I was cold. And I never wanted to spring from underneath those warm blankets to get out in the frosty air in the morning.
It was good to be there at least. The funeral for Robert’s Dad was last Monday. It was a graveside service and Robert gave a beautiful eulogy and I read the Banjo Paterson poem The Daylight is Dying before Kevin was buried with his wife. Afterwards, we all went to the pub for the wake and told stories, looked at photos and drank a few pints.
We spent the rest of the week hanging out with family, playing soccer and games of Uno. I’m glad we went, but oh my, my head is fuzzy today. And I head to the US early tomorrow morning. Now that is a lot of traveling.
{ 6 comments }
It sounds familiar! It gets so cold without central heating.
Beautiful poem.
It was cold that’s for sure! Kangaroo was nearly as cute as me :]
Glad you were able to make it over for the service, and it sounds like it was lovely.
Nearly as cute Dave, but not quite. But Jill has a better hop.
Thanks Christian. It was good to be in Australia, even if it wasn’t summer.
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