Episode 1
I’m back! After 3 months of sitting on the lounge at Burnett Heads staring into space we are on the move once again.My secretary, with a burst of enthusiasm that’s scary has launched into action to bring you up to date with my activities. I haven’t just sat on the sofa, I did go off to Warwick and Toowoomba for a few days and also to Airlie Beach though I didn’t get to see or do much at either place. Also, over the summer another sibling of mine was created. I was a bit on edge that he may be replacing me but it seems my fears were unfounded, he is going off to live in Sydney with L’s great nephew Romeo. He is certainly bright being purple and orange.L was busy over summer with the turtles again. Being a bit short on volunteers this summer at times she did a lot of beach patrols during the night. The number of turtles laying on our beach this summer was a lot less than previous summers so she was far from busy.Then the end of March rolled around, the cases were packed up, the house cleaned and locked up and off we set, I was all a-quiver with anticipation of a new adventure. We took a flight from Bundaberg to Brisbane, then another on to Sydney. I sat in economy with my humans and envied another stuffed toy that was enjoying the luxury of travelling business class, I feel that a bear of my standing merits a better deal too.When we got to Sydney we had a great deal of trouble finding out how to get to the international terminal. It seems that the airport authorities are saving money on signage, certainly there wasn’t any information or pointers for those wanting to transfer to the international terminal. So, after asking several people for direction, and getting some wrong info, we found the bus stop, caught the bus and duly arrived at the international terminal. All this was fine until it came time to go through security, then I was ‘stuffed’ into the the carry on luggage and put through the security scanner. Is this the way to treat a bear of my standing, the indignities of it, If I could scream and kick my legs I would.I was left in the carry- on all the way to London,and then for the train trip to Arundel, NOT HAPPY!Now I am again sitting on Heather’s sofa awaiting developments. D is busy getting the car ready for travel. We are off, it seems, to Iceland. L booked us on the ferry from Denmark to Iceland on the 9th May after a great deal of effort and frustration. She nearly tore all her hear out. She keeps her hair so short it would hardly make much difference anyway.I must say that it is bright and sunny in Heather’s sitting room where Trevor the cat joins me on occasions. Poor Trevor is not the best and seemed to be on ‘death row’ for a few days when he wasn’t eating at all. Then the offer of a change of diet picked him up no end and he is his usual perky self again.D and L spent a few hours everyday going off to work on the car. While D worked on the mechanical jobs that needed doing L busied herself cleaning and polishing the car. It arrived all bright and gleaming when it was parked near H’s in Canada Road, the smartest looking car in the street, I do like my ‘carriage’ to look presentable.Then one sunny morning I was placed in the small backpack and we sent out for London on the train. I’ve been there before, of course, but still an air of adventure to come prevailed as we travelled through the lovely lush countryside with the fields bright with spring flowers and the trees all bursting into leaf. a lovely time of year:Initially it was a bit boring for me sitting in one office, then in another, while my humans filled out forms and applied for their Russian visas. I’m somewhat concerned as to whether I shall be let into Russia along with my humans come the time because the security guard at the Russia visa office asked me if I was applying for a visa, I had to admit to him that I didn’t even have a passport, oh dear, I really think I need a passport at least, I don’t want to be arrested as an illegal. We stayed at a Hostel in Stepney Green in the East End. This proved to be quite an ethnic area with many immigrants from the Middle East and Asia. The choice of eating establishments was many and varied and my lot enjoyed some lovely ethnic meals at really good prices.The weather was bright and sunny and got really warm, in fact, far too hot for the warm clothes my lot had brought with them to London. We walked along the embankment, took a ride on the London Eye where we enjoyed great views over the city, took a trip down the Thames to Woolwich Arsenal, and took some bus rides around the city and out to Camden Town and Hampstead Heath. We visited the Bank of England museum where I got to feel the weight of a bar of gold. It weighs about 13kg, so was a bit heavy for me to lift and whisk into the back pack. Image what one of them would be worth on the open market at present. We learnt that the bank first opened for business in the Mercer’s House in 1694. The first purpose built bank was a small building on the present site built in 1734, nearly 300 years ago. It has since been enlarge and re-configured over the centuries. Much of it was destroyed during bombing raids in WW2.Gee, i did enjoy that trip to London where many people who saw me commented about my presence, I think I might have made some new friends. I even got to see the houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Downing Street, and Trafalgar Square. L is going up to the ANZAC day service in Westminster Abbey on the 25th, so another trip to London is in the pipeline for this coming Friday, however L may not be allowed to take me into the Abbey with her for the service, and no photos are allowed in the Abbey either, so that will be very disappointing for me because I do like to have my photo taken. My secretary will now try and post and add some photos to bring you up to date.Amongst those photos we shall include a couple of my very best fans, Reg and Loraine who even come to visit me at Burnett Heads.
I will ask L to upload some video of our turtle hatchlings that was taken this summer. the long wobbly one is what D took, think he lost the plot a few times, or just got bored. L can't find a way to edit out the boring bits.
Cheers for now