Back home – but only very briefly!

The last week has flown and I apologise for the lack of posts.  Actually the week really did fly with me departing for Launceston, Tasmania via Melbourne on Monday .  I always find Launceston interesting.  There are many weatherboard homes perched on the sides of reasonably steep hill which brings back memories of my teenage years in Wellington, NZ.  A national car rally was being conducted during my visit, which is probably why I couldn’t obtain a room at my usual hotel.  The alternative hotel proved to be somewhat “tired” although the people were friendly.  I had completed my business and had arrived at the airport to catch the small turbo-prop aircraft back to Melbourne for my onwards connection home only to find the flight had been delayed (Again!).  It seems I nearly always experience a delay when attempting to return home from Tasmania.  There had been a security breach at Melbourne Airport which closed it down for several hours throwing the entire Australian air transport system into chaos. By the time I reached Melbourne I had missed my connection to Adelaide. As a consequence I eventually arrived home late that evening.  Next morning it was back to the airport to catch my flight to Perth.  This is one of the longer domestic routes and also involves a 90 minute time zone change.
Whilst in Perth I managed to catch up with most of my family.  Mum recently turned 83 and I wanted to see her before we depart for the UK next month. One evening mum arranged for the extended family to come around to her house for a chinese takeaway meal together.  It was lovely to spending an evening with my siblings and niece.
I also managed to get mum to agree to have  her photo taken outside her house.  It was a beautiful warm and sunny day.  Actually there have been numerous sunny days in Perth which is why all her lawns have died from lack of water.  You may not be able to see it in the photo however the land is sand.  I fact almost all of Perth is built on sand which makes it rather hard to maintain a lawn.

 

This is the only photo I took during the week.  I really am a bad photographer.  Either I take a poor photo or; more frequently; I simply forget to take any photo’s. 
To my surprise the Qantas aircraft used for my return flight was a 767.  Usually Qantas use a 737.  I assume this aircraft needed to be repositioned.  On my arrival Jan collected me and we arrived home in the dark.  My soiled clothes are now in the laundry and the case has been repacked with clean clothes for this week’s business trip to Port Pirie.
Whilst in Tasmania I received a call asking if I could be in Perth in a fortnight.  So it looks like I’ll be making a return visit to Perth after my trip to Port Pirie.  This leaves poor Jan to do all the packing and cleaning in preparation for the big move.