A Damsel in Distress (Part 2)

I felt so bad when I got the news......I had been expecting my brother and boyfriend to be quite literally walking through the hotel foyer at any moment and now this. They had tried so hard to get me out of a pickle and two cars later, were no further from home and I felt a million miles away.


Just to really make my despair complete a massive electrical storm blew in from the ocean and scared the geewillikers out of me. I am mortally afraid of thunder and lightning and nature was putting on a spectacular show of both just for me.


I went upstairs to my room to pack as I was checking out in the morning. I had $100 to my name and no idea where I was going to go once morning dawned. I now didn't even have a plane ticket. I tried to remain positive which is easier said than done when you don't have a plan B. I didn't even have a credit card to rack things up on and worry about it later. I was up to my eyeballs in problems with no solutions and it was a sobering moment that I will never forget.


As so often happens in life, or at least in mine, just when you think it's time to throw up your hands and give up, something happens that makes everything alright and that something or rather someone, came in the shape of Raoul. Yes my guardian angel emerged from the storm and sheltered me from harm yet again.


I got a message from reception that someone was on the phone for me and wanted to wait until I came down to take the call. It was Raoul. I have never been more relieved in my life although I really didn't know how he was going to be able to help. It was just so good to feel as though I wasn't completely alone.


It seems he had a plan. He had had a bad feeling that for some reason my ride home was not going to eventuate and he couldn't stop worrying about it so had decided to call. I confirmed his worst fears and without hesitation he gave me a lifeline. He had already discussed it with his parents and they were happy to let me come and stay with them for as long as I needed to or until the strike was over. He lived about a 3 hour drive away and would be there to pick me up first thing in the morning. Relief washed over me although in retrospect I could have very well been leaping from the frying pan and into the fire.


I didn't know this guy from a bar of soap and I certainly didn't know his family. How did I know that he was really even taking me to his family home. He could have been planning anything. In all my glorious naivete none of those thoughts even crossed my mind. All I knew was that this kind young man had taken me under his wing for some reason and was prepared to go to a great deal of trouble to help me.


He arrived very early the next morning as promised and we headed off to his family home. We got to know each other on the journey and for the first time I realised he had a bit of a crush on me. I wondered how much of how he felt had to do with what he was doing for me. I gently let him know that I had someone back home and that was where my romantic interest lay. He seemed a little disappointed but it didn't change anything and we got on famously.


It turned out his family lived on the grounds of a big psychiatric hospital and believe me by that point I knew I would feel right at home. His father was one of the leading psychiatrists in Queensland and was required to be on site. They had a huge rainwater tower in their back yard which had been the scene of several suicides amongst the inpatients. Good Lord, was nothing about this holiday ever going to be simple?



Raoul's family welcomed me with open arms and from the moment I walked through the front door I knew I would be ok. Better than ok in fact.


I learned that Raoul was actually right in the middle of Uni exams so his mum took me out every day while he studied and took his tests. Then in the evenings Raoul and his friends would take me out or they would cook me dinner round one of their houses and I had a ball. Raoul did try to change my mind about the guy back home but I couldn't be swayed and it became a bit of a joke between us in the end. Once his exams finished he took me to Noosa for the day which was beautiful and was where we took these shots.


As the strike finally came to an end and it was time to get my plane ticket again, they wouldn't let me have it for the price I originally paid, in fact they doubled it. Raoul's mum got on the phone for 3 hours to fight for me and threatened to go to the current affairs shows if they didn't do the right thing. They finally caved in under her relentless pressure and after staying with them for one week they drove me the 3 hours to the airport.




This family came into my life when I was young, desperate and a long way from home. They didn't know me and they didn't have to help me but they did. Raoul in particular just saw an upset young woman in a hotel foyer he just happened to be in and wanted to help. He could have just walked away the first time but he came back the next day and then rang that night just because he had a "feeling" that I would need him. And I did.


It's been 28 years since I saw Raoul and his family but I have never forgotten their kindness and it will live inside me always.


Postscript...I worked at the Ayers Rock Resort 11 years later and ironically there was another major airline strike. Many tourists were stranded at Uluru though a lot of them hired cars and drove the 500kms to Alice Springs where there was a bit of civilisation.

I was working in the bar at the time and met a girl who was essentially in the same position I was in all those years ago. I'm happy to say I was able to pay it forward and let her bunk in with me until she was able to continue on with her trip.

Maybe one day she will be able to help someone else in trouble and so it will go on.

A Damsel in Distress

We have all had people cross our paths in life who we could have done without knowing but I believe that even in hindsight there was probably a lesson to be learned from them even if we don't see it right away.


I have been very fortunate that I have met some amazing people who will always have a special place in my heart even when their presence was only fleeting.


When I was 20 years of age I booked a holiday to Queensland. It was one of those spur of the moment things, impulsive if you like. I was just walking around the city streets one lunch time when a big poster caught my eye in a Travel agent's window. It was of a woman lying in a hammock between two palm trees, wearing a bikini and a blissful smile and holding one of those tropical looking drinks garnished with pineapple. Before I knew it I was walking back out with a plane ticket in my hand. Oh to be young and carefree.





I was a little nervous about going by myself but I was also excited. Of course my mother nearly had a conniption but there wasn't much she could do about it.


In the weeks leading up to my departure I met and fell in love with the man who would become my fiance (we didn't make it up the aisle but that's another blog post). Of course this put a whole different complexion on my little solo adventure but the ticket was non refundable and so my impulsive decision had to stand. He didn't much like the idea of me going either but after vowing our undying love for each other I crossed the tarmac and set off for sunny skies and lazy days around the pool.


The very first day I got horribly sunburned. I stupidly fell asleep in the sun and for the next two days I could do nothing but lie naked on the bed slathered in all kinds of lotions and potions trying to prevent it from blistering. This was to set to tone for the holiday I'm afraid.


On day two of said nakedness on the bed, the hotels' fire alarm started blaring loudly. My worst nightmare...naked in a fire.....OMG. I quickly threw on some clothes and went out into the hallway only to be engulfed by smoke. Any thoughts that maybe it was just a drill and I had somehow missed the memo were quickly discounted. There were 3 girls next door and I joined up with them as we scurried down the stairs and outside to relative safety. It turned out that there had been a fairly substantial brush fire on the hill that the hotel was built on and of course the smoke had blown straight into the hotel. Crisis averted.


The good thing about this incident was that I got chatting to these girls and we arranged to meet up later for dinner. It turned out that I was as much a god send to them as they were to me because as is often the case, 3 women together is not a good combination. The girl who seemed to be on the outer was the one I really hit it off with. I've always had this underdog complex but I digress. After that we would either go out as a foursome or in pairs and for the next four days I had a wonderful time.


By this time there were grumblings about a major airline refuellers strike and people were starting to worry. My newfound friends decided to leave a couple of days early just in case, particularly as one of them was in a wedding on the following weekend and another was starting a new job. I was disappointed but now that I knew I could make friends easily enough I felt a bit more confident.


The next day I booked myself on a tour. I thought it might be a good opportunity for me to meet some new people and to see some of the sights too. The bus turned up at the hotel to pick me up and as I climbed on board I thought there must have been some mistake. The bus was chock a block full of senior citizens. Now don't get me wrong, I adore old people but I was young and looking for adventure and this was not quite what I had in mind.

My day trip with the seniors. Check out the 80's fashion *cringe*

Turns out I had the time of my life. These old timers were fighting with each other over who was going to sit next to me. Every time we got off the bus one of the old gentlemen would stand at the bottom of the steps, hand extended to help me off. They told me stories about their lives, we laughed and joked and I couldn't remember ever having such a fun day for a long time. I was quite sad to leave them all and I think just about every single one of them hugged me as I made my way down the aisle of the bus.


The airline strike had now turned very serious and people were trying to leave by any means possible. It was threatening to go on for at least 10 days. You have to realise here that hundreds of thousands of people flock to the tourist mecca of Queensland every year so many people were terribly inconvenienced by this strike.


I only had about 4 days left before I had to return home. My accommodation was paid up til then but after that I didn't know what I was going to do. I had very little money left because I hadn't thought I would be there much longer. I must admit to feeling a small amount of anxiety but I honestly thought it would probably resolve itself and all would be fine.


Er NO. With two days to go it was thought that a week longer would be the absolute minimum. Extra buses and trains were put on and armed with the information that if I cashed in my plane ticket I could get a ticket on the train, I set off to take some action. Once I had cashed in my ticket it transpired that all the seats were taken on the train and the buses were all fully booked for the next week. Ok so now I am panicking.


I arrived back at the hotel and rang my mum from the foyer (I didn't have a phone in my room). As I was explaining the situation to her I started crying, much to my embarrassment. Unbeknown to me two guys were listening and could see how upset I was. They offered to help by ringing the local radio station to see if anyone was driving down to Adelaide who could take another passenger. It didn't bring forth any offers but I was very touched that they wanted to help. They told me that they were in town for the night and asked if they could take me out to cheer me up. I politely declined but thanked them for their kindness and went to my room to try and figure out what to do next.


A couple of hours later I received a message from home that my boyfriend and brother were driving up to get me. If you are unfamiliar with Australia, I live right down the southern end of the country and Queensland is much further to the north. It was at least a 24 hour drive.


The next day was Sunday, my last day at the hotel, and I was expecting my brother and bf to arrive about 5pm. I was getting so excited to see them and be on my way home.


During the afternoon I got a message to come down to the foyer as I had a visitor. One of the guys from the previous day was there to see me to check if I was ok. His name was Raoul and he really was a sweetheart. I excitedly told him the news and thanked him for his concern but that I would be fine now. He looked oddly reluctant to leave but in the face of my optimism I guess he figured his work here was done and he could head back home.


At 5pm I got a message from home. My brother and boyfriend were in fact still in Adelaide and wouldn't be arriving any minute to get me. They had got about 300 kms from home when they had hit a kangaroo. They had got home with a badly damaged car and then set off in another vehicle only to break down about 100kms from home.........


To be continued.........

In the eye of the beholder

It's funny how very few of us like the gifts we were born with. There is always something we don't like or something that we'd change if we could.

When I was a little girl I had jet black hair, blue eyes, fair skin and rosy red cheeks. I suppose you could say I had quite vibrant colouring.

As I grew up into a teenager my hair changed to very dark brown with coppery highlights, my eyes faded to a bluey grey colour but I managed to retain my fair skin and rosy cheeks. It was at this time that I finally got my hair to grow long for the first and only time in my life. It was also probably the only time in my life I have actually liked my hair. It would have been half way down my back and it was beautifully wavy and shiny.


Then came the 80's and perms and like most young women my age I embraced this new easy to manage style. I have subsequently burned any pics from that era and as a result of constant perming my hair went from lovely waves and kinks to straight as an ironing board. It took years for the kink to come back and I deeply regret the chemical torture I put my hair through during that ugly period.


Fast forward to today and of course yet another metamorphosis has taken place. My hairdresser recently informed me that if I were to stop colouring my hair it would definitely be "salt and pepper", my eyes are now almost totally grey with a hint of blue and I have most certainly lost my rosy glow.


A couple of days ago I took Chelsea to the hairdressers as she wanted to try a new hairstyle. She had her hair graded and as the hairdresser was cutting it, all these beautifully big loopy curls were springing up everywhere. I had completely forgotten she had curly hair because she has been straightening it for so long.




When she was a little girl her hair would be a riot of curls particularly when it was about to rain or there was a lot of humidity in the air. I loved it and would run my fingers through them and make them all bouncy. Now that she's older of course Mum has no say whatsoever.


The hairdresser was ooh-ing and ah-ing over her hair and of course she was getting more and more embarrassed. I begged her to leave it curly just for that one day but she went straight home and got out the straightening iron. Meanwhile, poor Emily, who has very fine wispy hair had been looking at her sister longingly while all this had been going on and I could see it written all over her face that she wished she had Chelsea's hair. That she would have gladly left it curly because like me, she thought it was beautiful in it's natural state.


On the way home we were discussing genetics and who inherited what and from whom. They were both cursing me for various parts of their anatomy they hold me responsible for which I won't go into. What are you crazy? I'm not going to highlight my physical imperfections by telling you what they see as theirs.


I told them something that my mother always said to me when I was complaining as a teenager about some imaginary flaw....She would say "You have two arms and two legs...you have two eyes you can see with and two ears to hear the music. Be grateful for what you do have because there are people who would love to have your problems". And she was right.


Somehow these days it seems so unimportant that everything about me is fading in a physical sense anyway. Inside I am vibrant and alive...I just have to get that message from my brain to my body so we're all on the same page.


What, if anything, would you like to change about yourself if you could or are you happy with yourself as you are? I would love to hear about it.....



** Sorry there won't be any pics of my daughters as they are now or at least for the foreseeable future.

Good friends are just the tonic

As expected when I woke up this morning, I deeply regretted writing the previous post but too many people had already seen it to delete it. Then I remembered something really important, something I find myself saying often to others.......

............good friends are there

for the good times and the bad...............

I still wish I hadn't allowed myself to get to that point, but I did and I'm not going to beat myself up about it anymore.


One thing that has proven a positive though is how very lucky and blessed I feel to have such wonderful and caring friends. That you would all reach out to this virtual stranger across the other side of the world or in Selma's case, "down the road a bit", just amazes me and I am deeply touched by your love and concern. It made more difference that you can possibly imagine.


I may still have the pain in my head (though it is much better today) but the pain in my battered psyche has been replaced with the love and friendship I received from each and every one of you.


Thankyou for making this old girl feel almost brand new again.

Nothing new really

I know this is one of those posts that I am going to regret posting in the morning but I feel as if I don't get this out I'm going to self destruct. I am not coping at the moment, not at all....there I have admitted it.


I have had a sickening headache for days now, nothing new there really except the severity has gone into a new stratosphere. Normally I can push through the pain up to a point but I have been rendered useless and hopeless by the seeming endlessness of it. Since I've been having my weekly injections they have now crept into the back of my skull as well and into my neck to the point where I can't make any sudden movements without the back of my head feeling as if it's going to implode. On top of that I am just so exhausted all the time.


There are of course other factors that I know have a lot of bearing on it too but I am feeling like I'm not looking after my children properly and that's what's upsetting me the most.


My husband sent the girls a text each yesterday that said if they ever needed to talk to him to know that he is only ever a phone call away. I know this wasn't somehow directed at me but it only added to my sense of inadequacy.


I asked the girls tonight if they felt ok with things and if they felt they were being neglected. Their reply was that they knew I couldn't help it if I'm sick and that I'm the best mum in the world. I know I have been keeping up with getting them to all the places they have to be but our home life has definitely lapsed into a place I've never been before. The house needs a good clean, there are piles of washing and ironing and let's just say that none of us are getting much in the way of nutrition lately.


I go to bed each night thinking that tomorrow is a new day and I will catch up with everything but a new day dawns and I wake up in just as much pain as the day before.


I've got about 40 deliveries to do before Sunday when the current Avon campaign ends and still they sit there gathering dust.


Having Craig out of town so much is definitely taking it's toll and there are additional stresses and anxieties on my mind that I am struggling to contain. The girls are on school holidays and normally if I'm feeling unwell I can have a kip during the day and they are none the wiser. Now of course they see me spending more and more time lying down and that's not what I want them to remember about me. I think maybe they have expressed some concern to Craig about my health and that's what his text message was all about. I have always been able to disguise how I've been feeling up to now in front of them but lately that is proving to be impossible.


Craig will be home in a couple of days, the girls will be back at school next week and maybe life will go back to the skewed kind of normal I'm used to once I have had a break from all the running around.


Tomorrow, after all, is a new day.


PS Don't worry if I don't respond for a day or two because I am determined that I am going to get some things done in the next few days.

Keep Out - Private

If someone's diary was sitting on a table unattended and you had the chance to snoop without being caught....would you?

It sounds like a loaded question doesn't it but I ask it in all seriousness.

My privacy is VERY important to me and that didn't change when I suddenly went from singlehood to marriage and yet so many people seem to think that once one becomes two, all bets are off.

Let me just say here that my husband would never dream of violating my privacy and to the best of my knowledge never has. Perhaps he lacks the curiosity gene, isn't interested or has too much respect for me to ever read my emails, scroll through my text messages or look through files on my computer that may or may not contain incriminating evidence. Nor would I ever do that to him. But I know plenty of people who do.

If a letter arrives at our house and it's addressed to my husband it wouldn't occur to me to open it . The only exception to this would be if it was an obvious bill and as my husband is not here more often than not I open them by necessity.


I know his password to his email account because he rang me once to look something up for him. He needed information contained in an email and didn't have access to a computer. I reluctantly agreed to do it but it made me feel creepy even with his permission.

I know women in particular that open their partners mail, think nothing of going through their emails, read text messages that come in when their phone is unattended and rifle through their pockets and I don't mean because they are about to wash an item of clothing and are checking them for that reason. That to me is a despicable violation of a person's privacy.

I also detest it when anyone goes through my handbag without my permission and I don't care who it is. There isn't anything in there that I would be worried about anyone finding but that isn't the point.

I am trying to teach my daughters at the moment to respect each other's privacy. They are at the stage where they are probably having secret thoughts about boys and friends etc like we all did as teenagers and I quite often hear them telling each other off for going through drawers and cupboards in their rooms. I am trying to teach them that it's just not on and that their room should be their haven.

I know at their age I kept a diary and wrote in it endlessly about crushes I may have had or the things my best friend and I talked about. I would have been mortified if anyone had read it. It was all perfectly harmless but they were MY secret thoughts and I had a right for them to remain that way.

I remember babysitting for a woman many years ago. She was a single mum who had a different man in her life every other week. She would often leave her diary sitting there on her writing desk just begging to be read. I can honestly say I was never tempted to sneak a peek and I'm guessing there would have been some very educational information in there for a young girl like me.

So tell me....do you think it's ok to read someone's mail, diary, emails, text messages, in particular belonging to a spouse/partner or are you like me and think it is totally unacceptable?

Another road comes to an end.....

I know this may surprise you dear readers but I actually do have a few flaws in my otherwise exemplary character. I hope I haven't shattered too many of your illusions by admitting this startling revelation.


I won't sit here and reel them off one by one but I will just examine the one that probably drives me the craziest. I cannot seem to ever make a decision, from the very smallest insignificant choice of what to cook for dinner (hell I only know how to make 4 dishes) to the most important ones that could change life as I know it.


A few days ago I am proud to say I FINALLY arrived at a decison I have been grappling with for months. I have decided to give up my Avon round.


On the surface it would seem a fairly easy choice to make but it was a lot harder than I thought for a number of reasons.


Until a couple of years ago I had always worked in offices doing various things like reception, accounts, admin and just about any other desk jockey job known to man. I have worked in many different fields from government, to hospitality and tourism to fields as diverse as aged care and early childhood development.


I have had a wide and varied career and for the most part it was the kind of work I was well suited to and more importantly that I enjoyed. That all came to an end when my health dictated that I could no longer know from one week to the next if I would be able to front up to work. Rather than lose my reputation for a being a hard working and reliable employee I decided to quit the workforce for a while and work for myself.


Avon seemed like the logical choice. I had done it before when my children were small and having always been a people person I knew it would suit the situation I had regrettably found myself in.



A Regional Manager came to my home and gave me an area which was surrounding my own home. Perfect! I felt very enthusiastic even though I realised I would have to start from scratch. I had not been given an existing customer base...there wasn't one..... so I considered it to be a real challenge. Within a short time I called the Regional Manager back and requested more houses. You see everyone where I live is on acreage so while there was a fair amount of area to cover, there weren't a lot of houses and I was keen to build up my client base. She ended up giving me an additional 3 areas over the ensuing months covering a total of 24 kms.


In the two years I have been doing Avon I only narrowly missed reaching the highest level of sales by $2,000 and considering most of the people in my area either breed horses or dogs with little or no need for makeup, I consider this to be a fairly good achievement. Despite my level of sales the financial rewards have been pitiful but it was never really about making a lot of money. I knew from past experience it would never see me living off my success in a mansion on the Riviera. It was more that in the absence of a "real job' I wanted to feel useful and as though I was in some small way still contributing to the family coffers.


I have won a few sales awards which were nice enough to get but again, that wasn't what kept me going.


The reason this was such a hard decision to make was because of the people I have met. Many of my customers have become friends. I know all their dogs and pets, their kids and grandkids, I've been through marriage breakups with some of them, births and deaths, I have dispensed many hugs and a shoulder to cry on and have celebrated some of their joys with a "nice cuppa and a bickie".


These people mean more to me than a few dollars in my pocket and it has been a real wrench to think about giving that part of it up.


Just this morning I was at the supermarket picking up a few things when my phone rang. It was one of my customers who has become someone I care about a lot. Her name is Jan and she and I have a lot in common. We both have MS and she even gives herself the exact same injections I do. We have a mutual love of dogs that is bordering on extreme and she would often sign off text messages to me as "Love Jan and Bracken" xx (her beloved dog of 14 years).

My Awards

She had called me to inform me that Bracken had been put to sleep yesterday and she didn't think it was something she should tell me by text. She also said she had wanted to ring me to see if I wanted to say goodbye to him beforehand as she knew he was one of my favourites but also knew I had been having a difficult time lately so thought better of it. I felt terribly upset about his passing but more than that I felt for Jan who worshipped that dog and I knew what a gaping terrible hole he would leave in her life.


It occurred to me that even though the decison has been made and I know it's the right one for me at this point, it will nevertheless be a wrench to not have so much contact with many people who have ingrained themselves so deeply into my everyday life. I truly care about them and their friendships have come to mean more to me than I ever imagined.


I know there is nothing to stop me from still visiting many of them and I will......in particular some of my old ladies. Sometimes I'm the only person they see from one week to the next.


The thing is I'm tired and I need a break. I was starting to lose a bit of my enthusiasm and it's just time. I will miss the friends I've made and would just like to finish this post by saying RIP Bracken. Your mum and I will sure miss your big brown eyes and the love and affection you lavished on us. Rest your weary bones now.