A trip back in time ....

The train trip had a little unexpected drama halfway when high winds brought down a huge tree over the lines and we were held up for about an hour while the poor train staff had to saw and carry branches off the lines but fortunately, we managed to get going again.

It was a big tree and the train rolled over a fair bit of the tree before it could stop 

The guys worked hard to free the train

.... with inadequate tools, poor things

Unfortunately we arrived very late but not too late to crack a bottle of bubble and gav=ze out at the spectacular view of lights spilling over water.  Happily, this visit, we were able to book our same old shoebox in Potts Point overlooking the magnificent middle and outer Sydney Harbour. It’s a magic view (even with the crane nearby!) 

Magnificent view!

We woke to the most glorious sunrise and the same $million views that we fell in love with 20 years ago when we bought this little gem. We’re here only for a short visit to celebrate 40 years together and to revisit places tinged with romance and not a little nostalgia: memories of stolen weekends in Sydney half a lifetime ago. I reckoned back then that I could live here even it had to be in a shoebox. Twenty years later we fell in love with Sydney all over again when I spent a sabbatical up here and we decided we just had to buy a ‘shoebox’ (and travel up from Melbourne as often as we could!). We reluctantly sold this wee place 8-9 years ago so we could go travelling more widely - and didn’t we just do that with great gusto!

The advertising for our place in Potts Point when it went on the market in 2016

Back in the saddle and on the road

Over the first 4-5 months of this year, I discovered that movement is a gift not to be taken for granted. Simply going for a walk was a bit of a luxury as I got back on my feet and tackled the slow process of regaining strength. Both of us faced this as Lindsay had been diagnosed with arthritis in both hips and we were feeling a little nervous about our 61-day train trip coming up in mid-August.  But our doctor assured us we’d be fine (providing we packed lots of pain killers!) and resassured me that my pelvic fractures would be strong enough to tackle bumpy train rides. We took a few long drives in the country to test out our injured parts and slowly slowly we managed to  handle more. And as I was reminded by an inspirational person, I did look back and smile at how far I had come!

With our 40th anniversary approaching mid-year we decided to take a train trip to Sydney and back – a dress rehearsal for our ‘Grand Asian Caravan’ odyssey (by train not camel!) a little later in the year. It would help us get our ‘train legs’ and balance back in action - not to mention that we like seeing the land pass beside us and enjoy experiencing the sense of distance that land travel affords. And we were practicing travelling light!  It was to be a bit of a dry run.