The trip to “down under” was uneventful – we arrived in Seattle on Tuesday morning and ascertained that all flights to Juneau before Bill’s scheduled one in the evening were overbooked. Perhaps a fall-out of the continuing Mt. Redoubt eruptions which are keeping Anchorage airport on tenter hooks due to ash. I had previously booked an airport hotel so Bill came with me to eat lunch and hang out (ie take a nap) until it was time for his flight. When awake, we entertained ourselves watching news coverage of the G20 meeting in London. Amazed at how the Obamas towered over the Queen and Prince Philip – I once thought he (Philip that is) was tall.
Wednesday, I veg’d out in my hotel room until time to go to the airport early afternoon. Three legs on this flight (changes in San Francisco and Sydney, then Melbourne.) The long one (14 hours) across the Pacific was often bumpy but otherwise uneventful – broken up by short catnaps, a movie, some reading, and 3 servings of uniformly ghastly food. A thunderstorm broke over Melbourne soon after arrival as I found my way to the Skybus which took me to Southern Cross Railway Station and my vLine train to Lara. Sandy and Rae met me in Lara and brought me to my home-away-from-home for the next 6 weeks.
While missing Bill and Juneau, I’m glad I’m here to for support as Sandy begins radiation treatment. I’m suffering a bit of culture shock, but no doubt that will pass after a while. The weather is colder and wetter (I got soaked twice yesterday) than I anticipated, the birds are phenomenal, and little Sara (Australian terrier) is a sweetheart.
Meanwhile, on the home front, I catch up with Bill on a daily Skype conversation and find out wots ‘appenin in Alaska via email and on the Internet.
The Juneau Journal 
