Tripping Out Alone

2012 began at the airport in Denpasar being told I was not permitted to board a plane to Australia, I lacked the relevant visa. Calmly I explained this had all be sorted out on the Friday and the airline, and embassy, had agreed that my 'in process' status would be sufficient. I was then made to repeat the entire scenario again, not just repetitive but challenging as this was New Year's Day at 8 am.... Before too long, thankfully a very cross sounding man in Canberra gave me an ETA, which I think is an emergency/express travel authority and I was able to board the plane. Still nervous I would be turned back at the gate or worse it was with relief that I took back my passport at Darwin Immigration and was allowed to enter the country I had for many years considered my home, seems they do not think the same. After a run into the supermarket I boarded a ferry to Mandorah, which, and I repeat as it was oft repeated to me, is NOT an island. It is just quicker to cross the wate...

Monday in Melbourne Cold and fresh, undeterred by either tiredness or the chill factor I went with Kepsibel into the city where we had a great breakfast at Captains of Industry a most unusual, hipsterish cafe. Industrial in design it used to be an old shoe factory and is now retro fitted to accommodate an airy cafe staffed by faintly bearded young men who look vaguely Amish and pale. The food was wonderful soda bread with mashed avocado and a pear, almond and saffron chutney. Sufficiently fueled we went to collect the items on my first part of the shopping list, which was fun, if not a bit overwhelming to be amongst such choice and retail affluence. We found bargains in David Jones, where I was also mistaken for a sales assistant, which I didn't mind so much so I did my best. We went to ACMI and spent a brilliant afternoon amongst the exhibits in the free Moving Pictures event. Afternoon tea was taken in DeGraves at another hip coffee place, Melbourne does eating really well ...

October 2011. I flew AirAsia to Darwin and then took a JetStar flight to Melbourne arriving on a Sunday into a clear, sunny and cool city after minimal sleep and a full on day in Bali traffic trying to get last minute things organized...but none of that mattered. I am here to see my girls, hang out with them, study with them, eat, laugh and shop with them. That is all that matters now. Kepsibel met me a Southern Cross Station and we went to my hotel in South Yarra, a place Mick Jagger stayed in, albeit some, many, years ago and where U2 is rumoured to have trashed the penthouse. I intend to behave very well and enjoy the ease of getting in and out of the city, being near a park and enjoying the clean comfortable bed and the heater. Melbourne is pretty and cold, it is October, I feel like I am approaching winter not spring and I don't know if I have enough clothes..but again, who cares I am here to see the girls. Severen met us with Koh and Lyndon and we headed into the funky C...

Well I couldn't resist and in the end went downtown for a wander and tiny bit of shopping for new books and a peruse of all the glints in the hot sunshine of the skyscrapers before getting off to the airport and boarding the flight back to Bali. Eighteen flights! I thought I would have cured my fear of being enclosed in a metal tube by now but when the child behind you is freely allowed, by her over loud mother, to kick you in the back. And despite politely, and then menacingly asking the mother to stop the child have it continue, and not just from the child but the mother you have to accept that some times you are not meant to chill out on a flight. The nasal braying of the mother to the father one row behind kept the whole section awake, I moved away but not before we were all treated to her complaints that her tv didn't work and she wanted to be upgraded, or at the very least get a voucher up grade for her return. Well, you can only feel sorry for people like that, especiall...

All I do in Hong Kong is wake slowly up from the realization this is my last day of this adventure and as I was in Beachwood Canyon I am way way up in The Peak in a beautiful home by myself and there is nothing to induce me down into the melting pot of the tumultuous city, even though I do love it. So I sit at the picture window gazing out over the harbour and watch Hong Kong go about its day, while I consider what awaits me back home, and schedule myself for all sorts of new challenges and deadlines. It is good to have this time if only to collect my thoughts and wash my clothes...and dream about the next adventure.

I love Los Angeles, with a big heart! I love the way the waiters compliment you on your choices, the way they always behave so gracefully, even though I think it maybe because they want to be tipped. I'd tip a surly waiter anyway because it is a hard job to be so so nice to people all day long. I met up with Beau for a bakery brunch and marveled at his awesome recovery rate and also his exceptional skills in articulation on the subject of relationship dynamics which make him fascinating to listen to and an object of my deepest admiration. The coffee was superb too and we ate delicious pannini with mozarella and basil and arugula..mmm and then he left me to wander Abbott Kinney and peruse the shops for hours until my feet hurt really badly and I had to limp home! Then later Dylan and Hope came by and we went to Hama: Suchi at the beach an great diner style place that we thought may have been a bit 'sketchy' on the outside but was filled to the brim with hip and happpening ty...

Venice Beach - Los Angeles At nineteen I knew what I wanted in life, I wanted a clean bathroom, I wanted perfume and soaps that smelled expensive, I wanted a place of my own and a door I could lock behind me.... I managed to achieve most of the above, the door though never did, never has locked, and I find myself wondering what my life would have been if I had achieved that one last wish. Staying as I am alone in a brilliantly funky bungalow, just made for one, a block from Venice Beach, a short walk from the cafes and shops on Abbott Kinney Ave I feel like I have now got that key, I can lock the door. I fall for places more than people, I love walking alone, thinking alone and being alone in order to share more completely the process of my journey of observing and listening, drifting through stories in my mind.. I see a million futures ahead of me, paths beckoning and opportunities knocking. I made my bed and now I lie in it, happily, contemplating the glimpses of shadow lives I might...

My journey to the Bahamas was incredible, the location is stunning, there's no rubbish on the beach, and while the underwater environment, although clean, seems a little devoid of life it seems the resort does good things to encourage growth and minimize harm..People are friendly, I found out there were original inhabitants but they were taken by the Spanish to be slaves elsewhere and then the British left Africans freed after the abolition of slavery to live in The Bahamas as free men and women. There are words like Goombay and Jankanoo that are Bahamanian and refer to festivals but are also the names of drinks and corn chips...

On our day off we went exploring at the far end of the island and discovered a beautiful estate that once belonged to Huntington Hartley. It is now a part of the One and Only Resort but his gardens stretch beyond their boundaries and were created in the style of the Versailles courtyards and goes from the Bay to the Ocean. Stunningly beautiful and haunting it is full of stepped gardens and sculptures that were very romantic and Victorian in theme. Hannah and I took photos tuning in to the spirits of the women that were abandoned on the island as their men left of journeys overseas... The pillow on my bed is cold, My man is gone, so I've been told The seas have kept him for their own my man, my life, my love, my home.. I fear the loss but hope resides in my heart I am still his bride I call to sirens, seducers in sea you set my lord and lover free I was his star in the sky at night I was his joy, his song, his light I can raise my voice in prayer I can call him back from there.. God...

After I left LA I flew to Washington and met up with my friend Bekah and together we flew to Orlando, Florida where I spent a great night with her mum and her mum's husband George. We went to the beach, Bekah ran and I sat on the beach with George who was very interesting, and gave me some ideas about direction. Being in the midst of such a dynamic interesting family was fantastic after my LA Alone Time. The next day I went back to Orlando and flew to Nassau in the Bahamas...and entered another dynamic family, the one of Hannah, Jasmine and their mum, Re. The beginning of my Bahamas vacation...the challenge now is to have, to take, to enforce myself into vacation mode..what is that?? I am used to exploring, to seeking out, to engaging with people around me. Fortunately I am here to help Hannah make a documentary on her work so I have been engaging with people and filming their responses to Hannah's performances both in and out of the water and that has been great..the effect of...