We’d enjoyed a few days in Phoenix to catch our breath, unpack, wash Berta and park her up safely, then pack again. We swapped the wheels for suitcases and began our journey to my homeland early in the morning. Deb took us to the airport and Cleo seemed to be looking forward to a long stretch spent on an Arizona couch while we were off jet-setting.

The Nation’s (Not) Capital

In order to prevent the airport sprinting escapades of my last trip home, we had a night and most of the next day to spend in Sydney. After leaving the States, we were on the ground for only a couple of hours in Hawaii. We landed in Sydney around 8pm and despite having an approved visitor visa in-hand, Dan was understandably nervous about passing through immigration. He failed the auto-check-in, maybe because he had his hat on, so we were soon in the “help” queue and didn’t have to wait long to talk to someone. They were happy about me and handed Dan’s passport off to someone else for another check. A nice lady asked if Dan had declared his information beforehand and since he had, she was back five minutes later to hand him back his passport and wish him a happy visit. Welcome home hubby!

After a short train ride into the city, we walked to our rooms at the Hilton on Sussex street on a nice warm evening (thanks credit card points). It was late, but we were in Australia so we had to go and find a meat pie! We were right in down town but it was a quiet affair with most places closed down. It was surreal walking hand-in-hand with my husband in my home country.

We had to settle for a servo pie in the end and we enjoyed them and the perfectly engineered sauce squeezers while sitting on the crisp white sheets of our hotel bed.

The next morning, we were happy to have had a good sleep and we started our wandering in earnest. We started with breakfast on King Street Wharf where I had to remind Dan that things weren’t as expensive as they seemed because we were using US dollars. It was a Wednesday so our entertainment was the business-people walking along the Paramatta to get to their offices for the day.

Our next stop was the Sydney Harbor Bridge and we vaguely walked in that direction, getting intentionally semi-lost.

Sydney is such a walk-able city and after more than 20 hours sitting still, we were happy to be out in the glorious sunshine.

After finding ourselves at the base of the bridge, we found some stairs and went vertical.

The view over the harbor was spectacular and Dan took full advantage using our trusty binoculars. He was touristing hard!

We walked over to the north side of the bridge, then turned right through the suburbs to Kirribilli. When we reached the ocean again, we waited twenty minutes to board a ferry over to the Opera House.

It was the perfect day to be on the water and the boat offered such great views of the House and the Bridge. Still surrounded by mostly locals, I could only imagine having such a commute every day.

At the Opera House, we were back in tourist-town and after wandering around its base as much as we could and browsing the indoor gift shop, we were in need of a sit-down so found ourselves a shady spot under a tree overlooking the House and the water.

It was entertaining eavesdropping on a teen conversation nearby, watching a Dad throw a footy with his son and see the tourists milling about Australia’s most famous scenery.

We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering through the botanic gardens all the way to the Anzac Memorial where of course I searched for the 2nd 27th Battalion but couldn’t find Grandpa’s name.

With a flight leaving Sydney at 7pm, we were soon back at our hotel to collect our bags and on the train. When we landed, I walked gratefully into the arms of my best mate with Dan following close behind. As we walked out of Brisbane airport together, it was like we’d seen each other yesterday.

Kevin

Miella had insisted on staying up for our arrival but turned shy and teary when we walked in the door. Maybe Dan hadn’t been what she expected? After giving me a hug and meeting Dan, Claire took her to bed and we went outside with Kevin to have a beer and catch-up. We stayed up a few minutes into the next morning, excited that we had more than just a few days together.

After a couple of days at home swimming in the pool with the kids and helping out around the house – the usual stuff – we got ready for a camping weekend out at Dicky Beach. I was excited to experience Kev & Claire’s caravaning lifestyle first-hand after hearing about it so much over the past year. We drove up in a convoy, with me and Dan driving Claire’s little Hyundai up to the Sunshine Coast.

We stopped at the famous Ettamogah pub (now called something else, but it will always be Ettamogah to me) and I loved when the bartender poured a half-pint of beer full of head. When I asked what he was going to do with it, I asked him to give it to me instead of pouring it out. No worries mate. The look Dan gave me! It was like we were speaking a different language. No robotic customer service here, just genuine people.

When we pulled into Dicky Beach Holiday Park, of course Kev had booked the best site of the lot. Right by the beach. He parked it and got set up pretty easily then it was straight into the water.

Brad

After a quick dip in the ocean, we paddled about in a shallow pool towards the top of the beach as the sun set, the adults chatting away while the kids played in the wet sand. Kev was mid-sentence when Dan pointed across the beach and asked me, “do you know that guy?” Brad was walking towards us waving his arm.

I’d reached out to Brad in January after yet another recurring dream where I was reunited with my highschool mate. In these dreams, we were in different places each time but the theme was always the same – we were just chatting, sometimes with other mates, sometimes just the two of us. We’d been pretty good at keeping in touch after I first moved to the US, but we hadn’t heard from one another in nearly 10 years. Now, having driven down from our home town Mackay, he was here.

I was up and out of the sand walking towards my mate and we collided hard in a big hug. My dream was literally coming true! He looked a little different with way more muscles, less hair on top and more in front but his smile hadn’t changed a bit.

After meeting the team, we all retreated to the campsite where Brad gave us a tour of his work ute. He was a self-employed mechanic working in the mining industry and living in his paid-off house in Mackay. He’d put in a lot of hard work to get into his position and it was awesome hearing the stories of how he’d gotten there over the past ten years.

Later that evening, Marke & his beautiful daughter Nora showed up along with John Sicoli. Even though Brad had booked his own campsite, he pitched his swag near the caravan near John’s tent and we all spent the evening talking non-stop. Brad fit right in with this group of friends and I couldn’t have felt more special with all those special people around me.

The next morning, Dan, Brad, John and I ventured out into the ocean for a sunrise swim. With the growing swell, it was more like sunrise ducking and tumbling, but what fun it was. The water was the perfect temperature and it was the only time we could legally be in the water because lifeguards put the flags out at 9am deeming the water too dangerous to swim in.

Over the next two days we went on bike rides up and down the promenade, took long walks along the beach and took a small trip out to the Ewen Maddock Dam. John went for a skate while Kev jogged, in training for his upcoming triathlon, I went for a walk with Brad when the others went bike riding, we all just fit around each other taking turns sitting around and doing things like bucket baths with the kids.

Brad left a day earlier than us – he’d had a big drive to get to Dicky Beach and now he had to face the return journey. Having not really had our phones out the whole weekend, I was glad that he suggested we get together for a group photo and a local dog walker helped her out. We made the usual promises to keep in touch and give our best wishes to each others’ families and hugged goodbye. Not only did I get to reconnect with my best mate, he got to meet “my people”. At one point he almost whispered to me, “How did you find these people?”. I know how lucky I am.

Bye Dicky

Our biggest laugh came on our last day when we were all at the holiday park’s pool, the kids splashing around in the pool (Hallie nudely of course) with Claire and Marke while the rest of us sat around the pool chatting. Dan and John were on one side of the pool and Kev and I were sitting on the edge with our legs dangling in the water when Claire screamed out, “KEVIN!” I’d never seen such horror written into her eyes. Hallie had poo’d in the pool. The result was exactly as you’d expect – us adults with no child responsibilities removed our body parts from the water while cacking ourselves with laughter. The kids and adults in the pool exited as fast as they could, avoiding the floating feces. Kevin started retching as he picked up all the pieces of poo and we weren’t sure if he was kidding. Tuns out he was not. Poor Nora had to give up her butterfly catching net so that Kev could gather the last few pieces and his retching continued as he threw the bits into the garden. We fled the scene while Hallie held tightly to her floatie wondering what all the fuss was about!

We were still laughing on our way home.

White Card

Back at home with Kev, we moulded into the daily routine starting with picking up Audrey from her new highschool. It was hard to keep up with her antics she spoke and moved so fast! She was a full-on teenager now but still kid enough to do cartwheels at Kev’s weekly touch footy game. Hallie and Miella were in fine form watching their Dad on the field. Obviously their hero, we should have brought two water bottles so they could both be water girls. Dan and I were the only adult spectators.

We did a couple of trips to Bunnings and a concrete shop to prepare Kevin’s driveway for a re-do, and then, the “bomb cyclone” started to threaten.

Thankfully the impending storm didn’t impact our white card training! This was four hours of our life we would never be getting back but we had that attitude going in so it was bearable. This training was necessary to get us into the Melbourne GP paddock in a week’s time so it was worth it.

Earlier that day, we’d met with my old colleagues from Nautech, now named Vehiqa. It was thanks to my writing about the Spa Grand Prix that my old boss, Andrew, had reached out and asked if I was interested in working the Melbourne GP. Their Alitrax operations had expanded to F1 in both Melbourne and Singapore!

Not sure if he’d been serious, I’d replied that I’d only do it if I can bring my own technicians with me – my Dad and my husband. They were happy with the free labor and so it was we were sitting in a classroom with twenty other people, ready to learn about construction site safety. No shit – in order to pass the course, we had to show that we could put on safety glasses, a vest and a hard hat. Thankfully, we passed.

Beechmont

The next day, Kev was on call for work, but he’d looked and seen that there wasn’t a single container ship in the harbor that might need turning around so we drove off to Beechmont for a rainy-day adventure (that bomb cyclone was creeping closer).

This was a canyon I’d visited twice and Kevin many times, but it was always a pleasure to bring someone new. It was Dan’s turn. Of course, we stopped for a pie on the way there. Kev was enjoying having me home because it meant his pie intake increased drastically. We geared up with harnesses, helmets and Kev’s rope and were already wet by the time we reached the first waterfall. Wet but not cold – the rain in Brissie doesn’t bring a chill with it.

The trek along and through the gently flowing river felt familiar and we were soon at the first abseil point over the biggest waterfall of the whole expedition. It was no problem for Kev to set up the rope and he was soon on his way down the gushing fall.

As Dan and I set up to simul-abseil, I realized neither Kev nor I had fully informed him of what it was in store. He seemed surprised at the size of this fall! I was glad to be abseiling down with him and the rush of the water soon took over our voices. We nailed it. It was the strongest the fall had been in my experience thanks to the rain – not bad for Dan’s first wet rappel!

We carried on down the canyon, our Tevas squelching on the wet rocks between rappels. We had to keep stopping to look up at the beautiful green canopy covering us from the lightly falling rain.

The last few falls were jumpable so we threw the rope and our bodies off the wet cliffs instead of descending off them.

At the second last, I happily volunteered to climb down the provided knotted rope to scope out a safe landing spot. Both Kevin and Dan squealed like girls when they jumped off, but who am I to call them that when I hadn’t wanted to do it?

We mucked around in shorter falls, exploring the crevices that had been formed by the raging water. At some points we were full-on swimming the water level was so high.

After the last rappel we had a few snacks then started our search for pink ribbons which would lead us up and out of the canyon. It was bush-bashing at its finest and we all got caught in spiky plants more than once.

I was disappointed in the huge fence that had been put up to prevent trespassing onto private property, but I’d have been pissed off if I’d put the fence up because everyone (including us) were able to go around it without too much difficulty.

Alas, our search for a post-adventure pie was unsuccessful, but we did manage to find a round of $10 pints at a country pub and then the boys stopped for Subway on the drive home. Good thing I’d snagged some vanilla slice when we’d stopped for our original pie.

We went to bed exhausted that night.

Bomb Tour

When we woke the next morning, the “storm” had arrived. Not so much with rain or wind, but with the shut down of public transport and shops. The message was obvious – stay home – so we went out.

Dan and I borrowed Kev & Claire’s bikes and hit the tarmac. The rain wasn’t going to stop us seeing our friends. It was an awesome trip and we had the bike paths and roads completely to ourselves.

I was messaging friends as we were riding and most were home because of the bomb. Jon was first on the list so we stopped at a bakery near his place (nothing will close Aussie bakeries) and knocked on his door. It had been a few years since Jon and Dan had met and we were soon sitting around Jon’s kitchen table reminiscing and catching up over nice hot pastry.

After a tour of his backyard and the plans of house-raising, we were back on the bikes and off to Kangaroo Point. Jon walked with us and the bikes to his local train station so we could cross the tracks and go in the right direction. Now I was really giving Dan a tour of my “home”. We rode around the KP peninsula and I pointed out John’s infamous apartment but he wasn’t near his phone so didn’t see us waving at him like idiots.

Once around the peninsula, we came to Kangaroo Point cliffs. Such a special place to me, it was awesome to ride along the deserted boardwalk and point out the favorites, such as “Idiot Wind”.

I was aghast to see a crumpled railing and later found out it was a massive boulder that had dropped from the top during the last big rain to cause the damage.

Even in the rain, Brisbane is a beautiful city. It was nice to point out where Kev and Claire had been married and my special Story Bridge.

After hitting another bakery, we knocked on the door of Jayne & Ash’s home. Jayne was still in a meeting and their boys, Owen and Elliot, were pre-occupied so Ash gave us a tour of the Sprinter van and his project car down in the garage. Jayne joined us as we were admiring the centerpiece of their kitchen remodel – a concrete bench top. While Jayne and Ash had never met Dan, it didn’t seem that way, they’d both heard so much about each other.

The kids were happy for the bakery treats and I was happy to be sitting out on the back deck enjoying them with our friends listening to cockatoos squawk in the nearby trees.

It was getting towards sunset and we had one more stop with hills in the way so we got riding and were soon knocking on another door – this time Lizzy’s. Finding the front door ajar, I walked in only to find an unknown person sitting with his back to me at a computer. I called out and he barely turned his head then I found Lizzy’s phone sitting on the dining table. With her obviously not there and me not knowing exactly who the computer person was, I went back outside and we soon saw Lizzy walking down the hill with her five-year-old Rory in tow on his bike.

We joined her walking along as Rory rode up and down the street, catching up as if we’d seen each other only a few weeks before. Geoff and Dawn were off at the airport collecting Lizzy’s mother for her yearly 3-month stay. When they pulled into the driveway there was no big song and dance, Helen was putting the kettle on for a cup of tea within minutes and Geoff handed Dan a beer. We stayed for a round, Geoff gave us a tour of his backyard and his high-yielding avocado tree, then we were off home.

With our lights flashing in the rain, the Brisbane tour was complete. The next night we spent the afternoon/evening at Jayne & Ash’s house to catch those we hadn’t managed to see yet. J&A were kind enough to host a BBQ in honor of my and Dan’s presence and though a few people bailed due to the impending doom, it was a great gathering where Dan got to meet and be met by the rest of my mates.

The kids had all grown up heaps and we met some new ones that hadn’t existed the last time I’d visited.

Real Cyclone

The next couple of days were spent riding out the “cyclone”. The first day was pretty mellow but was enough to close the schools. We spent the day at Kev’s parents’ place in Cleveland, repairing the anchor of their shade sail which had broken off in the wind. Two engineers and my strong-man husband got that fixed quick smart. After lunch at a local cafe, us young idiots ventured out across the water to Mud Island. It was only reachable at low tide and it just so happened to be and so Dan, Kev, Audrey and I committed to making the crossing, trudging through water up to our knees getting pelted by sideways rain most of the way. We’re not good at being home-bodies.

While the winds weren’t enough to convince me it was a major event, the flooding on the second day was. We managed to venture out a couple of times, the first in the car with Audrey just to have a sticky-beak, then I went out for a run just for something different. My shoes were soaked through in my first few steps, but it was a good experience just seeing how flooded roads still were.

At the local park, Audrey and I did handstands in the rain, then we towed each other on a boogie board using a long rope. It was literally child’s play – the big boys (teenagers) were towing each other using their four-wheel-drives. 

At one point the water came up over the bonnet and that got Audrey screaming at her Dad so Kev stopped in the middle of it, completely un-phased.

The little kids weren’t that impressed, they were too concerned with trying to stay dry – not likely. Miella had the joke of the day when we were driving through the neighborhood. Along with the rest of us, she saw a car turned around and up to its roof in water. “Oh shit!” She pronounced, quite genuinely pointing her finger in shock. A hush fell over the car. Haha, who had she learnt that from?

Cya Brissie

On our last night in Brissie, we had one last get-together at Jon’s house. I’m always the excuse to get the four of us together and this time was even more special because Dan made a fifth.

I don’t remember a lot of the details about our time in Brissie because it felt like normal life most of the time and not much worth writing about. Somewhere in there was us helping Kev re-do his driveway, swimming in the pool with the kids, doing cold plunges in the morning and sitting on the couch talking shit.

It’s always a fleeting feeling to see so few people for such little time, but it felt great to finally show Dan the first place I’d felt “home” since leaving my family home.

24 Feb – 11 Mar, 2025