Author: Peg

Just finished getting all the major parts and pieces of the trip figured out.

There is only one back-track. From Sydney to Adelaide to catch the train to Darwin. Darwin, Where I almost got stuck. Who know that you couldn’t just get a hop a  flight Darwin to Cairns. I get into Darwin at 5:30 in the evening and will be leaving at 11:30 the next morning. The next available flight was 2 days later. There are two round trips. Perth to Geraldton and Cairns to Lizard Island. Think I did pretty good.

Little treats to me: rooms with harbor views in Darwin and Cairns. And, I am keeping my hotel in Brisbane an extra day. My plane leaves at 10:30PM. And, even paying extra for late checkout leaves me on the street at 2PM. An extra day – keeps me cool and off the streets for very little extra $$$. 

Major treat: 3 nights on Lizard Island. Hey, The Asylum has a “Scholarship” fund for folks who out live their money. I do not come from a long lived family – so, I think they will be safe! 

I’ll not even complain about the ocean being murky this afternoon. I did get one OK fishy foto. And, I caught a surge coming back in – almost body surfed back to the beach. 

Today, I decided to not go to Hobart to see their funky museum. I am not really that huge a fan of art museums. Even when one of the premier exhibits is a mechanical pooping machine. Decided that I really like trains and I’ll spend the museum time and money on the train. The whole point of this trip was to ride the train across Australia. Now I am going from bottom to top as well as west to east.

I still have 7 days left to “spend” in Australia. 

808AM in the 808: BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.

This was a totally bad way to start my Sunday. In all my years working with the military… “This is no drill” the scariest of all words. And if anyone who lives in Hawai’i and got this cell phone alert says that they were not terrified for an instant … well, they are lying.

Apparently this message not only came over the cell phones, It also came over the TVs and radios. 40 minutes later messages were sent out saying OOPS. I live less than a block from a very reliable warning siren. And since it didn’t go off – within two minutes I figured that it was a mistake. 

But as Carlton would say: It was a “Check up from the neck up” for me. What if it were real? I am all good. Nothing needs to be done. I would have gone and sat on the end of the pier and waited.

I am not a surviver. And, if anyone thinks they are a surviver type – well, read the saddest book on the planet. The Road by  Cormac McCarthy. After the first  page you know it is going to end badly. Note to Barb: He wrote this just after he returned to El Paso. 

Did my walking, swimming and yoga. 

Yesterday was busy. Today not busy. 

Three weeks from now I will be on my way to Australia. I keep reminding myself that I am no longer young and that I must schedule downtime into my travel schedule. Especially when the weather is hot. I have positioned myself in Sydney near the ferry terminal and a major transfer point for the local trains. So, I can easily get to lots of places. Or just go for a boat ride. And, it will be easy to get to the airport or any other way out town. 

Sometimes I just think I want to give into this getting old shit. Just tuck into the  Asylum. Buy a really finest kind walker. Stock the closet with elastic waist clothes. Eat and drink anything I want. Retire the Fitbit. And, just wait. 

No. I am not about to go quietly into the good night. Time to do some yoga. Then dinner. 

Fun busy day. Walk, breakfast, Costco, Kaloko Ponds, afternoon meeting, little rest, dinner at Kona Inn. 

Started the day off with 2 long exposure shots from my lanai.

But now I am tired. So, I am going to have a cup of coffee and go nite-nite.

I did not even think about going in the water today.

But, I did go see Surfer Dentist. He patched up my tooth – and said that there was a really good chance that it wasn’t my sinuses bleeding down the back of my throat – but the gums around my damaged tooth. And, I think he was right. 

Went to dinner at a friends house tonight. Lovely, but chilly time. It was so cool. She has black cows in her back yard. Turkeys roosting in her tree. And a flock of parrots flew over. Since she is “aging in place” she is having an elevator installed. Her house was built so an elevator could be installed when needed, but it is still costing 60K. 

I never quite understand why people get off their big boat just to pay extra money to bounce around in these little boats. But they do.

 

First, the problem of the day. I developed a posterior nosebleed this afternoon. I am no stranger to nosebleeds. But, posterior nosebleeds are much more serious. Another joy of aging. Rest assured that I am taking this seriously. Not seriously enough to take myself to the local ER. But, seriously. No swimming. No inverted yoga postures. Hopefully, it will stop by itself. 

Second, the progress of the day. I figured I should not lay down and nap. So, I finalized my Australia plans up to Feb 14. The train will deposit me in Sydney at about noon on the 14th. But, I all manner of plane, train, bus and hotel reservations. All good until I get off the train. One of my hotel rooms is called a “matchbox”.  No, I didn’t do the Air BnB thing. I am sort of old school. 

Enjoying some fine coffee and a little toast this morning – when out popped a crown. It wasn’t 100% unanticipated. Fortunately, I was able to get an appointment to see Surfer Dentist early Wednesday. Only in Hawai’i do you need to check the surf report before going to the dentist. Actually, he is more responsible than that – but if the surf is good, the chances of him showing up early are slim and none.

Sorry Perth: You got short changed by Geraldton. I have a friend from the Merkel Cell Carcinoma support group who lives about 250 miles north of Perth in Geraldton. I’ll fly up early on Friday AM – spend the day and then take the bus back to Perth on Saturday morning. I’ll get to Perth mid-afternoon. Good news is the bus terminal is within a mile of the train station. Sunday morning it is on the train for my ride across the country. Hey, this whole trip is just one great big adventure. I’ll still have enough time in Perth to do some sightseeing – if the body holds up.

There will be plenty of time to rest after I am dead. Or on the 65 hour train ride from Perth to Sydney – which ever comes first. 

Had a hard time with getting my exercise in today. You know you are in trouble when you check the fitbit every 2 blocks. Are we there yet? Can I turn around now? Finally made a deal with myself. Sushi for lunch, after I hit 5 miles.

I failed to mention that I drove a car the other day. I only crashed four times. Now, you know why Carlton made me promise to never buy anything with wheels under it. Fortunately, the car was Billy’s remote control Mustang. It is about 12inches long.  I think the car survived. But, it would be fun to run one up and down the passageways at The Asylum. I suspect that soon “remote control cars” would join “candles” and “working firearms” on the verboten list.

I know there are things that I should be doing. But, today, I am not doing. Maybe I’ll make a list!

Did these bottles contain booze? I don’t think so. Olive oil? Who knows. Not me. 

A nice lazy day… Sort of. Well, it was sort of lazy. It was a nice day. The lazy part is I let the daily swim slide. But, I walked the 5 miles and did a hard yoga program. Well, hard for the 2018 version of me. It would have been easy for the 1998 version of Peg.

I got a luggage scale at WaMart. A fish scale was cheaper. And, it didn’t use batteries. But, it weighed at least twice as much. So, I decided to start worrying about ounces with the scale. And, I picked up a DIY tooth repair kit while I was there. With my old teeth – something will go wrong. FYI: My backpack weighs 3 pounds empty. My suitcase weighs 4. We’ll see which one goes and which one stays in Hawai’i.

So, the trip is getting “real-er”. 

Also, a friend had a news letter  emergency. You need it, when??? Time to invoke on of Peg’s rules: If you want it bad, you get it bad. 

Yes, that is our “official” wedding picture. I am in my oh so suitable “wedding togs”. For 20 years I was introduced as “Carlton’s current wife”. Well for the last 4 years, I have been “Carlton’s last wife”.  Good times, lots of them.  It is still good. 

Walked, swam, yoga – today. I am tired now. 

The catch of the day is a big female parrot fish. You gotta love parrot fish – because almost all beach sand is parrot fish poop. They eat coral and poop sand. 

Finally made some reservations for flying around Australia. 

Feb 2 – Kona – Honolulu – Brisbane (arrive Feb 3)
Feb 4 Brisbane – Melbourne. 
Feb  8 Melbourne – Perth
Feb 11 train to Sydney
Feb 14 train gets to Sydney
No plans after getting off the train in Sydney
Mar 1 – Brisbane – Honolulu – Kona (arrive Mar 1)

It is starting to come together. 4 weeks from today is lift off.

Put on my wool hoodie and made it out to the Old Airport. The sun came up. The whales showed up. Suit up and show up. 

Just a normal day in Hawai’i… walk, swim, yoga, read, nap. 

Hope all my east coast friends are safe and warm.