Home, sweet.... OH MY GOODNESS!

Well, I am now home in Melbourne (albeit only for a few days), and must say that the trip over on the Spirit of Tasmania last night was a doozy. Not exactly what I would call "smooth"; in fact rather rollicking really.

Because of the added daytime sailings during peak period, my evening crossing left at 9pm, which meant that after settling into my cabin and having a quick G&T in the lounge bar, I decided that I should retire early, in the hope of getting a decent night's sleep before we berthed at 7am in Melbourne.

As I made my way to my cabin, I was sure it wasn't just the G&T that was preventing me from being able to walk a straight line... and at times felt a real need to hold onto the railings along the passageway, just to keep steady. During the night there was quite a lot of rolling and pitching, and the boat groaned and made all kinds of banging and shuddering noises that made me wonder if all the cars on the vehicle deck might be playing dodgems. At one stage I was almost pitched out of bed with a particularly vigorous bump.

Anyway, after being very thankful that I was horizontal and tucked up (rather than trying to make do in one of the seats, which I foolishly booked when I moved over to Melb last February- now that was definitely a lesson learnt!), I eventually arrived in Melbourne, and even managed to find my way home to Brunswick without getting lost.

When I walked into my flat, I wasn't quite sure what would greet me after being away for 8 weeks. It seems the cockroaches haven't quite taken over the place (although there is substantial evidence that they have been around in the kitchen!), but everywhere I walk, I seem to wander through fine cobwebs. It seems the resident arachnids have been very creative in their choices of anchor points for their uninterrupted spinning.

One thing that did somewhat startle (and then greatly amuse) me, was the sight of the candles on my stereo. These were given to me as a farewell gift from the Sandy Bay congregation when I left Hobart, and all through last summer, I was very careful about laying the long, heavy candles horizontal to prevent them bending in the heat of summer. Of course, when I left for my placement, I had them in place in the candle holders, and completely forgot to lay them flat, and so the pic you see here is what greeted me when I walked into the lounge room.

I will allow you to draw your own conclusions about the imagery they represent to you.