Winging It in Oz: Farewell Australia!

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Farewell Australia!

This will be my last post from Australia. I’m waiting in the Sydney International Airport for my flight to Dallas/Fort Worth, TX in about two hours. The past two days have been an emotional rollercoaster. Yesterday afternoon Chris took me to the Adelaide airport for my flight to Sydney. When I checked in my luggage (three bags, all overweight, which I’ve NEVER done before!) they waived the excess baggage/overweight baggage fee until Sydney. Chris and I got to my gate about 25 minutes early and spent our remaining time together holding each other and crying a lot. I’m terrible with goodbyes, especially if I don’t know if I’ll ever see the person again. I waited as long as I could to part, and I was one of the last people on the plane. Walking away from Chris and down the walkway was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. That part of my life was over, and moving on is extremely hard.

I spent a good part of my flight crying my eyes out. At that point I wished I didn’t have an overnight layover in Sydney, because I just wanted to get home. Now that I have had the overnight layover I’m glad for it, because it has given me a chance to say my goodbyes in parts and come to terms with leaving my home in Naracoorte and my life with Chris before having to deal with coming to terms with leaving Australia in general.

I spent the night with Peggy Eby, a flying fox researcher in Sydney. When I had last seen Terry he offered to get in touch with her and see if she could host me overnight, but I had originally said no. I thought I could deal with staying in the airport overnight, but when I realized I’d have to collect my (heavy) bags and sit around with them I accepted his offer. I had met Peggy briefly at the Australasian Bat Society meeting in Melbourne back in April, and she’s an extremely nice person. Of course we talked a bit about bats. I slept well, except for waking up at 6:15am for no reason and then being woken up for good by jackhammers next door at 8:00am. Peggy suggested I take a walk around the beach before we left for the airport, which sounded like a great idea. It was a perfect day for it (mid-70s and sunny) although I had packed my sandals and had to resort to wearing my hiking boots. I walked all the way from her place near Bronte Beach to Bondi Beach and back. It’s such a gorgeous place. And it really is true about the exercise buffs all over the beach. They were everywhere: joggers running with their dogs, people group yoga or boxing classes on the lawn, people playing games. It was such a change from the rather sedentary life in rural Naracoorte! By the time I got back I was nice and sweaty. I had originally not planned to shower, but quickly changed my mind. We then headed out and I’ve been here for a few hours. And guess what? I only had to pay $150 in total for all my excess/overweight bags! I had thought it would be either $190 or $220, depending on which rate they gave me for the extra bag. I don’t know where they got $150 from, but I wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Now I’m just waiting to leave my life here in Australia. I know I’ll get emotional again when I’m leaving. I’ll write more when I get home and let you know how the remaining two flights go. But for now, goodbye Australia, goodbye to all the wonderful people I’ve met here, and goodbye little Southern Bent-wing Bats! I hope to meet again someday!