Day 2: March 16, 2015 : Monday
Have to get used to the five and a half hour time
difference. Had a really good night’s sleep and woke up to time on my mobile
showing 7.30 AM. Whoops! Way past lunch
on Aussie time. Hustled, only to find my
cousin still asleep. My mobile had
automatically adjusted to local time because Vodafone was roaming!! So now my
watch is on Bombay time and the mobile on local. Then came fixing up the wifi. Adjusted settings, entered passwords. No
go. Shrugged, left it and hoped everyone
would assume that I’d arrived safely. At 2 am local time, the mobile went
crazy. The wifi had kicked in and the
WhatsApp messages were pinging away. Answered all of them and then went back to
sleep. Emails and Facebook are back on track. I’m connected.
My cousin’s friend had lost her husband the day I
arrived, so we went on a condolence visit. That was familiar. The world over, it seems, friends gather,
chatter about memories and shared experiences.
I was the ‘new’ element and introductions were made and everyone was really
friendly. Funeral arrangements were
discussed and sympathies exchanged.
Australia is a country of immigrants – everyone there had come from
somewhere else. A mini United Nations!
Picked up stuff for the house on the way back. Discovered the $2 shop. Went a little crazy.
Came home and chatted. Exchanged family
anecdotes, some new, some known and some quite startling. Wondered why I was
being offered dinner so early and then realised that it was dinner time!! Got
acquainted with Rikki and Peachy – the plumhead and cockatiel – my cousins much
loved birds. She really is a bird
person. And she has a garden with a bushy chilli tree and curry patha. Roots,
literally!
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