My Varuna Journal

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Feb 8, 2002 cont'd Journey to Oz
Except for some evidence of recent bushfire activity in the lower ranges, the environment here is green and lush, and I'd forgotten how HUGE the trees are. Makes the P&J (pinon and juniper) back home in New Mexico look like kid's stuff.

I planned my itinerary so that I would depart from LAX late at night and arrive in Australia first thing in the morning. I wanted to give myself a leg up on the time zones by mimicking a regular night's sleep in transit. The one mistake I made was not requesting
either an aisle or a window seat. A window seat so I could have a headrest for sleeping on, or an aisle seat so I could use copious amounts of water to battle jetlag. For that kind of therapy you need ready access to the aisle so you can get to the toilet. Instead I got the dumb middle seat with nowhere to lay my head, and the joyous prospect of waking up my constantly snoozing seatmate if I drank lots of water. 131-222 . . . Hello, Qantas? Got any aisle seats left for February 22? I'll take it! (Even the toll-free numbers here are quaint and user-friendly.)

During the train ride into the Blue Mtns it struck me repeatedly that Aussies take pride in their surroundings. Everything is so charming and neatly kept, exuding the mood of a young nation. Ironic that I had to move to an overseas country and then return after almost five years to really notice it. It's the kind of thing you take for grated while you live in it, but something precious when it's being restored to you

The Blue Mountains
after a period of deprivation. Which is how I feel about the trees, too—and the food. And even the coffee and tea. The cappuccinos are perfect, and somehow a cup of tea tastes light years better drinking it on Aussie soil.

My challenge today is to stay awake until at least nine p.m. so I can slide right into the local rhythm. I reached Varuna by noon today, and (with utter relief) divested myself of my backpack, my hiking hip-pack, my laptop case & my suitcase (the one with the &$#! wheels that decided to go haywire like a supermarket trolley just when I most needed them). Although I was as prudent as possible with what I brought, it's difficult to "travel light" when I need my notebooks and hard copy files for the project. I badly wish my chiropracter Susan had smuggled herself in in my suitcase like she wanted to!

The front door to Varuna House
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