12/3/15

Dear Diary,

In between these two Scotland games in Tasmania I am going to go visit my Aunty Shelly who lives out Launceston for a couple of days. I haven't seen her for about 20 years but we always had one of the better and closer family relationships probably due to us actually being of a similar age. Facebook is great for all sorts of things and I feel I already know a lot about her life right now , like her having four kids, but there are three of them that I’ve never even met before (I’ve met her oldest one when he was two years old but he’s now old enough to have moved out of home).I’m really looking forward to seeing her again and meeting everyone else for the first time but its also a bit daunting too.

The bus from Hobart to Launceston takes a lovely little meander through all sorts of country towns. If they weren't such obvious county towns that haven't changed their way of life in over 50 years you could almost call them quaint.

While looking out the window and wondering about how our reunion will go I see a wild Wombat walking across a field. Well, you don’t see that every day. In fact I think it’s the first Wombat I’ve ever seen in the wild.

Shelly meets me at the bus depo full of smiles, hugs and cheer it feels like twenty years worth of hugs all in one. She introduces me to her 17 year old son, Liam, who will be out learner driver chauffeur today (I will get to meet 14 year old Faith and 13 year old Travis later.) Liam and I shake hands in a much more restrained manner before I insist he drives us somewhere for lunch. The chatter over lunch doesn't stop and it’s great to actually find out what's been going on over the last two decades and our food goes cold before the conversation does.

I’m taken on the scenic route home which includes a stop at Westburry to see the “Big Wickets”. If you're a fan of big things and a fan of cricket you’ll love the big wickets at Westburry. They really are big. Huge in fact. Located right next to a lovely country cricket field and towering at tree height they really are quite impressive. Shelly tells me that they were erected in honour of Ricky Ponting but they are really a tribute to Local legend Jack Badrock who played in 7 Tests for Australia from 1936 to 1938.

Other local points of interest on the way home include lovely rivers and creeks, pig farms and the juvenile detention center (the only one in Tasmania).

At home I meet the rest of the family and am also introduced to the new pets of the house, three young rabbits. Nightmares of sleepless nights on On Myles couch return but I’m told these ones sleep through the night.

A big dinner, more family gossip than I can deal with in a single evening and arguments about which child I’m kicking out of their bedroom so I can claim their bed for the night abound until I am exhausted and prepared to go sleep with the rabbits. Eventually Liam draws the short straw and I claim his bed. Before leaving me to get some shut eye he tells me there is a huge huntsman spider somewhere in the room. He doesn't know where but look out for it.
I hate spiders. This is a nightmare. Sleep is a long time coming.




"Look for the ridiculous in everything and you will find it." Jules Renard - (1864 - 1910)