Packing again and we are preparing for our long trip home.  I am sad and yet excited to return to my adopted country, Australia.  I’ve loved visiting Vermont and enjoying the experiences of Alaska and Canada but as we depart the northern hemisphere I realise that the country is about to ‘hunker down for the winter’.

Tears and more hugs, sheesh and we get into our rental car. I am full to the brim with books, mp3 players and reading glasses.  We have to drive back to Montreal - more parlay vous Francais.  It is Sunday morning and the air is clean and fresh.  Mistress has navigated the return journey to the airport even though there were detours in and around departures.  We return the car back and I am yanked from my seat belt and bolstered into the waiting lounge of the airport.  The luggage is put through the usual weights, measures and ticketing but me however, I am carried proud and strong in through the gates.  Just then a plastic gloved man is probing me with a stern look on his face.  How intrusive is this?  I am forgiving of him and this necessary process as I know it's for our protection.

Phase I :  Across the Prairies to Vancouver

The flight across Canada was uneventful.  The view of the prairies reminds me of an old patchwork quilt.  The market gardens and farms are picturesque from the sky.  The flat landscape is edged by the brutishness of the mountains.  Small creeks and estuaries are bone dry and lay in wait for a skerrick of rain.  It is a hard life out here in this land relying on Mother Nature to nurture the crops and stock.

In contrast to this dry and coiffure landscape, Vermont was brilliant in colour.  The Fall foliage dotted the mountains crackling with multicoloured sparklers.  Tufts of persimmon and golden hues represented a tiny thread of a living mural.  The brilliant canvas was interrupted by red barns and colonial white houses remanets of a romantic period when the early settlers came to the region to make a home.

A white mist exudes from the wings of this metal bird and clouds drift past. A waft of sadness oozes from my body.  I have reconnected with my place of origin and now as the aeronautical miles flicker past I realise that it may be quite some time before I can return to this magical region.

The wheels of the steel beast touch down on the tarmac.  The landing is a little bumpy but we taxi safely to the departure dock.  This marks another transition from one aerodrome to another. It is evident that there is more waiting until our next international Air Canada flight to Australia via Hawaii

Phase II:  Aloha Hawaii

After several hours of slouching on uncomfortable lounges we are boarding the plane. The sun is setting - how profound don’t you think?  This is the final chapter on our holiday now it is travel and waiting and sitting in crowded planes and waiting lounges.