We are only home a week and I volunteer to present at an upcoming motorcycle forum in just 2 weeks’ time. And not one presentation, but two different ones! What was I thinking?! We hadn’t finished unpacking yet, I hadn’t even switched my PC on, let alone downloaded all our photos from the last 7 months’ travel and the inevitable multiple software updates (and all the surprises, frustrations and headaches this exercise always attracts). We still have so many lunches, afternoon teas and dinners to have to catch up with friends – that all important step to regrounding ourselves. I did volunteer though … and very glad to have done so really.

Lunch with friends

As Anthony explained, we wanted to give back to the motorcycle community which we have got advice, information, inspiration from over time. It was a massive job preparing those 40 minute presentations but it was worth it from a giving back point of view and meeting fellow travellers, old and new. We decided to hire a car rather than fly or put our 19 year old car through 3000kms suddenly after not being used for months: that way we could also catch up with friends – sorry we missed so many, but hiring a car meant quite a few extra dollars for every day away …

Destination: Jindabyne for 4 days, 1500kms each way. First stop, Sydney and catch with friend and faithful blog follower John. We met John when we went to Bhutan in 2009: the three of us were always last, constantly stopping for photos, taking in the scenery and simply enjoying a sedate ride. It was great to catch up, chewing the fat and enjoying Sydney’s stunning harbour and tasty food. Talk about travel was never far!!

Magnificient Sydney Harbour

Rather than camping over the 4 days at the motorcycle meeting, we took up the generous offer of staying at a friend’s house just 50kms away. It meant a bit of driving everyday, but what’s 100kms?! And the scenery is simply gorgeous – just no drinking for me as I was the designated driving. Anthony found out just before we left for this week’s trip that his cataracts had worsened badly – yes, he realised that of course but the diagnosis means a consultation with the surgeon this week. So no driving at night for him (although he is still legally allowed to drive). And we made sure we avoided the dangerous dusk and dawn driving as big kangaroos are everywhere in this area.

The Horizons Unlimited Snowy Mountains 2017 meeting was fun to attend. The presentations were well received based on the lovely feedback we had and we were asked if we would make our presentations available, so they must have them useful.

HU Snowy 2017 presentation

The presentations are UK to Oz (and back) and Iran and Stans.

The weather was pretty wild and unusually freezing for that time of the year!

Jindabyne in November!

Everyone’s bike is set up differently

On the way back, with stopped over in Sydney to see our oldest Australian friends – Jenny we met in southern Egypt in 1982 and we entered the Sudan together. It was wonderful to see Mark and Jenny as always, spending the afternoon chatting, going for a walk to the beach and having a family dinner with the 3 “kids” in the evening.

Many thanks to our friends for their hospitality and generosity. It was so great to see you.

We made the most of passing through Canberra to stop off and visit a exhibition on an important Aboriginal dreamtime story: the Seven Sisters. The paintings there were exquisite and the way the story was explained in different regions extremely well done. How the museum incorporated several paintings with a narrative which you watch lying down staring up at a dome was superb!! Quite magical.

It was a long day driving from Sydney to Brisbane as we stopped off in Port Macquarie to see more friends. Back home before midnight. What a whirlwind week. We packed so much in.

Home again. The rest of the unpacking, more washing from this past week, more paperwork to add to the mound of still-unopened-and-to-be-filed mail that greeted us when we returned from our RTW 3 weeks ago now: oh, this is overwhelming… Tackling the software issues, buying a new PC as Anthony’s died just before we left for the Snowies, sorting out the weeds in the garden, finding so many things dying after not being used for so long like the whippersnipper, being faced with a horrendous quote to fix the rusted gutters (we need scaffolding from a scaffold company but also the installation needs to be audited by another specialist to make sure it is safe – occupational health and safety gone mad once again) and paperwork – so much paperwork… And of course, there is the decorating, sometime. It is so much easier on the road: pay the odd bill back home and continue travelling with just 3 decisions: which direction, where will we eat and where will we sleep. So much easier…

The post RTW blues is a common problem and articles have been written about it recently by travellers. Everyone has their way of coping or recovering. We went through it once already, so the second time around, we know what to expect and how to combat it. I was so proud of Anthony when I read his last blog. It takes me a bit longer. My problem is not so much travel “blues” as such but feeling disconnected and rudderless. That’s where reconnecting with friends and having a routine is important to me. And working on new plans for the future.

First, a trip back bush calls me so I am off for a week. I buy new, fabulous art and visit some old friends. It is exactly what I needed on many levels. And my drive out bush was so special. I am just disappointed that I was not able to visit one particular community which always brings me so much joy but the road conditions would not allow me in the car I had – there was a shortage of 4×4 in Alice this week and I only managed to get a ‘fake’ one, an automatic Mitsubishi outlander. It would not have got me across the Sandover river bed. I chose sense over heart… can you believe that?!

I don’t like flying but love seeing the world from the air – our gorgeous outback

Red centre sand dunes

The area around Alice is looking green after all the rain

Wild weather in Alice – my car nearly submerged in 15 minutes

The Sandover Highway

The road to Mulga Bore is looking slippery today

Mavis, who welcomed me into the family 14 years ago and to whom I owe so much

Oh I do love being here

It was a short but fun day out

I was not going to pay the $80 washing fee so did it myself!! That red mud is sticky!!

The resident peacock at my hotel in Alice

And I am looking forward to going home!!! RTW blues over 🙂

– Anne