The road home

January 12th 2007.....

Not written a blog entry for a few days, but it has been a little chaotic. Tuesday night I went for my last night of drinking at the Tree. I was sad to say goodbye to people, particularly Josh, Gill, Ian, Donald and Anna. Email addresses were swapped though so who knows when paths will cross again! On Wednesday night I stayed at Peter and Mandy's as they very kindly offered me a lift through to Bundaberg airport on Thursday morning. We had a great night, and I think I've made more good friends with people who I plan to keep in touch with. Not sure if I'll ever make it back to Australia realistically but if they ever make it to the UK, then they will never be short of a place to stay. Theres always email for keeping in touch, too.

When I got to Bundaberg airport i was surprised to be sharing a flight with Thom, a Reiki master and electrician who was holidaying in 1770 and who i met at the Tree. He's a really chilled, nice guy from Christchurch, NZ and we had some pretty good chats, so it was nice to have some company waiting for my flight from Brisbane to Singapore. He's planning on moving over to 1770, and his combined spiritualistic take on life and his engineering knowledge mean that his plans for an Eco-property could easily come to fruition. Utilising solar power and making the most of low LED's for lighting are easily achievable in a climate with so much sunshine, and with the right amount of space, a well maintained “good life” style veggie patch could provide pretty much all the fruit and veg required for a more than healthy diet. The abundance of fishing spots off the coast also adds to the potential for his dream to come true. It all seems fairly far-fetched when looking at it from our totally consumer dependent way of life in England, but having seen the way people survive out there (theres a huge barter-economy of people growing things and trading with local fishermen for fish or labour) it's almost a throwback to ancient times. A fully functioning society where everyone plays their part. In the event of a global crisis that resulted in loss of power and connection with the outside world, the little town of 1770 would be pretty much unaffected and be able to sustain itself easily.

After weighing in my baggage at Brisbane I was told I was 20kilo's over my allowed baggage. I was able to re-jig some bags around and ditch some items to take me down to 10Kilos over, but it would still have cost me A$900 to get that 10Kilo's back home. I was told I could send my baggage unattended and that it could be shipped to Leeds Bradford, so feeling a little blessed as that only cost A$200 and I should see my bag in about a week. The whole process took over an hour though making me nearly late for boarding. They were just closing the terminal gates as I sprinted down to gate 88 (which was actually 88 gates from where I started!!!) I think the poor girl sat next to me on the plane felt the brunt of my exertion, as I'd dressed for English weather and not strenuous exercise in the 35 degree Brisbane heat. I attempted to wash in the plane toilets somewhat unsuccessfully but eventually just resigned myself to being extremely smelly!

The flight from Brisbane to Singapore was pretty uneventful, and Singapore was a suprisingly pleasant airport, although the weather somehow managed to be both exceptionally humid and rainy at the same time. I took the time to chill in a bar outside and smoke my last cigarette for 14 hours before going to buy some duty free. While in the queue to buy some tobacco I got chatting to a fellow Brit who used to live in Knaresboro – it really is a small world!

The flight from Singapore to Paris was hell – I slept through a good 7hrs of it, but it was uncomfortable sleep and when I tried to stand up halfway through the journey I was numb in places that I didn't think I had. I was suddenly struck by the reality of going home. Back to the real world. I promptly scalded myself for looking at it that way. The experiences that I've had have been no less the real world than the world back home, and it would be a tragedy for me to make any kind of a distinction between the two. If I can use what I have learned and carry on thinking the same way as I have been doing when I get back then there is no distinction within me, and that is what matters. After all, although I never described it in that way, I think that was what I was looking for when I went away anyway. When I get home, i need to remember how easy it is to keep that sense of calm, how simple it is to stay aware of what is going on around me and to not lose that sense of wonder at the little things that so often don't get noticed.

This will probably be my last blog entry – unless I disappear off anywhere else in future. I know that there are people reading this that I don't know though, and I would like to leave the blog on this advice. If you want to do something – just do it. Don't waste time, don't worry about the long term effects. If things are meant to be then all you need to do is allow them to happen. Don't get caught up in too many plans – you will only be disappointed if they do not come to fruition, but don't be afraid to let the path reveal itself to you and carry you to wherever you should be. Relax, enjoy life and take the time to see things that you had forgotten to look at. Turn off the TV and go outside. Watch the sunset, look at the constellations. Walk in the countryside, stand still and listen to the world around you. Chances are you will see and hear things that you haven't since childhood. The wonder of life is still there - you just need to remember how to look at it.

PR - 12/01/2007