The Scent of the Jasmine

Whilst we were back in the UK spring has finally arrived in Melbourne, the fruit trees have erupted into blossom and the early morning air is filled with bursts of fragrant Jasmine.  A positive sign that things are changing for the better.

Our time in the UK, was short but sweet, starting with a night in London to get over our jet lag and catch up with our friends who reside there followed by a wedding in Bath and an introduction to the newest member of the family in Kent.  But I am getting ahead of myself, let me start at the beginning.  Our flight with Qatar left late at night and was a turbulent affair leaving little opportunity for rest.  A brief stop over in Doha airport did little to ease the journey, not helped in the slightest by the excessively long bus ride from the plane to the terminal building and back again. It seems the people who designed Doha airport thought it would be a good idea to park the planes as far from the terminal building as possible.  The second leg of the journey was shorter and smoother and we arrived in London on a warm and Sunny afternoon.

After a short rest and freshen up in our tiny but centrally located hotel room, our first reunion was with our friend Pereta who we met for dinner at an Indonesian warung, before going for drinks at the Yard.  To be honest only Barnadi was drinking, as I am still on the Isoniazid and Pereta claims to be genetically incapable of tolerating alcohol.  The next morning we had Brunch with Graham in our favorite London cafe Ballans, walking it off along the Southbank before getting on the train back to Bath, the home Barnadi and I shared for nearly 8 years.

Bath, a city that will always be in my heart and the one place in the UK that I still think of as home.  We had returned to Bath on this occasion for the wedding of our friends Martin and Laura.  Our hosts for this visit were David and Kirsty, unfortunately we arrived too early to be guests in the new house they have just procured.  It does seem that house buying is the new fashion as Martin and Laura have also been busy shopping for property, as if planning a wedding wasn't enough to occupy their time with.  The wedding itself, although sometimes a little unorthodox in its choice of entertainment, went well with everyone having a good time.  I don't think anything could have wiped the grin off Laura's face that day.

For us however the most exciting part of the trip was yet to come.  On the day after the wedding, after catching up with Gemma and Dan as well as the rest of the remaining Green Park Brasserie gang, we headed back to Kent to visit my sister Rachel and her 4 month old son, Owen, my newest and cutest nephew.  At only 4 months old there were still so many things for him to do for the first time and we managed to get a lot of them done in our short visit; his first ride on a bus; his first trip to the seaside; his first game of pooh sticks.  So although I couldn't get him walking (despite my best attempts), he still achieved a lot.  It is only a shame that at 4 months old he is unlikely to remember us, especially as our next trip back to the UK wont be for another two years at least.  We will therefore have to rely on the power of Skype to ensure he doesn't forget who we are.

My nephew, Owen.

We returned back to Melbourne late at night, ready to start back at work the next day with a new found optimism, longer days and warmer weather being just the start.  Potential new job opportunities and only a month left of my TB treatment to go, things are finally starting to look up.