I think we should remember that they were, in the main, the more adventurous characters. Those who, for what ever reason, left their homes, and travelled into the unknown, finding, and settling these new countries. Unless, they were either prisoners, sent over on prison ships from England, or slaves. Or, even the indigenous people of the country, the Aborigines, the red Indians, or Maori's. Again, all of these had to be survivors, at the least they must survive the influx of so many strange cultures. They had it rough, they fought for what they wanted, or they died. They also had to be able to get on with each other, to find their own place in the mix, to adjust. I think it has made them resilient people, who take things as they find them, the "no worries" attitude, I love so much. Only my theory, but as I said before, I like to make sense of things, try to understand why things are as they are.
Meanwhile, in Northern Territory, my mother was still not well, not wanting to get well, was my opinion. Something more than an operation gone wrong. I know she was not a fan of the heat, or the country yet, perhaps never. But, for goodness sakes, she has her beloved eldest son close by. I would have thought she would be ecstatic, but she wasn't. My father was, he got to go a few places with my brother, an auction, or the local farmers market. He always loved markets. Althought there is nothing here as he was used to in london. Nothing at all was the same. In fact, I found you had to stop looking for the familiar, keep an open mind. Assessing new things as you went along. Taking them at face value, and seeing what you could do with it. English ways, and even values did not work here. It was the way to drive yourself crazy. It occurred to me, perhaps my mother could not acclimatise to the changes. Although they had now lived here for two years. Every time my father took off, spending some time with his son, my mother said, "you see" as if to say, thats it, that's the problem. He couldn't live as she was living though, it did not even work for her, for goodness sakes.
I couldn't see her problem with him. He was fitting in, she was digging in her heels, hating everything different. It was vexing to see, and we were unable to change her outlook. Oh, lighten up I thought of myself. She's ill! Of course she was ill. not eating anything with any texture. Eating only mush like a baby, and not much of that. My daughter, and I kept up a cheerful front to Dad, saying.."she'll be right" another lively Aussie saying. Whilst exchanging worried looks, and comments between ourselves.The days passed, and she hardly improved at all. We all wished we could solve the problem for her. All. We could really do, was keep the house running, and care for her.
We girls were acclimatising, gradually learning how to deal with the heat. How to rise early, do all the physical stuff, housework, washing etc. Before the heat built up, or after it faded again. Otherwise, despite wearing only a cotton wrap, with hair pinned up off our necks. We found if we exerted ourselves, we would run with water, as if we had just stepped out if the shower. The shower, which we used several times a day, ran with warm water, straight out of the cold tap, due to the miles of overland pipes standing in the scorching sun. Oh but it was bliss to get into, to stand under running water. For a few minutes, you were wet, and cool. Food, was another thing we had to change. Despite my parents demanding English food, hot, and traditional, we, especially I, began to crave cold food, lighter dishes. We began to enjoy the sun, getting a tan, excercising more, filling our days. Then, everything we did, was like a workout, because of the heat. Mainly because everything was so different there, we had to find different things to do. A different way to live. But I was discovering, it was a way of life I liked.
I remember the first time my brother came home from one of his trips. He took one look at my overweight body, and red face, because of the heat, despite just having stepped out if the shower. "Wow, girl" he said, "you better be careful, you will have a stroke" well, I didn't. After a couple of months, I wasn't so red any more. I wasn't so overweight anymore either. Ok, it wasn't as if I hadn't been slim before, I had, just not for a year or two. Partly because I had been through an illness, and major life changes too, at home in the UK. In Australia, I had found a place that suited me. I knew that, I understood it on every level. I wanted to make the most of it. My children were all grown with their own lives, I was freer than I had even been.
As well as that, I began to see the beauty in the differences of the bush around me. The red earth, was the perfect foil for the grey trees, the very starkness, was beautiful. The bouquet of flowers in the tops of the trees, the kaleidoscope of colourful birds was right. They were so joyous, they are party birds, I decided. The strange lizards, that froze when you were near, one leg in the air. Giving you chance to look carefully, before it moved again. The songbirds sitting close to where you sit. The bright green tree frogs, that appeared in their hundreds, hanging by their little round, flat, sucker feet. The geckos, hanging upside down on the walls, and the ceiling, transparent and fearless. Losing their tails if you tried to catch them. We did not like them in the house, but they liked to be there. We had fun catching them with large drinking glasses, and putting them outside, unhurt. Although they scurried back in, the first chance they got. They thought the houses, were theirs, not ours.
As we found out way into Darwin, we found modern malls, and cafes, beaches, and swimming pools. All around the area was busy, and bustling. Ultimately, my daughter went home, back to England, missing her life, and friends. Instead I made new friends, and saw more of the surrounding area. Watched the herds of wild horses, the buffalo, the kankaroos on visits to the pearl farms my brother managed. Learn how to avoid snakes, and watch for crocks, swam in deep waterholes, drove across the vast desert to Alice springs. Attuned to the spiritual, around me,a nod inside me. Took on work, and got to know something of the real aboriginal. I worked, and played, explored, and for to know the country, and it's people . Above all, I got to spend valuable time with my brother, who left us earlier than he should have. My over two years there was invaluable, irreplaceable. Australia to this day, remains my favourite place in the world.
My mother, never attuned to it. She, and my father soon moved to New Zealand to be near my other brother. Magically, her health suddenly improved once there. She got off the plane, in a wheelchair, and within the day, was eating normally. So, perhaps my feelings were correct, it was too alien for her. My father, never liked NZ as much as she, but settled, and discovered garage sales. He, and my brother in Australia, died within two years of each other, a few years later. Leaving a gap, we can never fill. My mother, is still going strong, many years later. I sometimes think, she could outlive me too.
As for me, after eventually returning to England, I too, ended up living in New Zealand. Always planning to return to Australia, to make it the ultimate move. Fitting in holidays, and travel there in the interim. Always planning, and meaning to stay permanently, but it still hasn't happened.
One day, it will happen, but we can never recreate the time we all spent there together, back when. The time when I fell in love with the lucky country, Australia......
To this day, it calls me, to visit there, is to feel completely at home, to be surrounded by the energetic cries of the birds, by the heat, or the rain, by the positive people, is to feel...complete.
One day, it will happen, one day......
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