in, out, off, on, gone

I reached California last night, safely encased in my travel bubble, booked into my cupboard sized relatively economically priced hotel room, pulled off all my winter gear, went back to the lobby and bought fruit, water and toothpaste, (always with the toothpaste) then lay down on my big crisp white perfectly made bed and slept for eight hours. Waking in a dark room lit by a parking building glow seeping under the curtains but no sunrise.

And now I am back in the lobby restaurant eating an egg white frittata (thank you California – travelling without eating meat or flour is such a bother sometimes) and more fruit. Drinking my third cup of coffee (equal in caffeine to half a cup of coffee at my house) and lots and lots of water.

My little lobby hotel is so close to the airport I can hear the planes taxiing, and the trucks and the traffic and there is music and people looking and talking and asking questions and answering them. And coming and going. But no-one bounces into my bubble – the shutters are up. 

The plane that will take me to Melbourne, Australia via Auckland New Zealand (not the above plane I always fly Air New Zealand when I go home) leaves early evening so I have the day to bounce along in my bubble, walking as much as I can and preparing for about 15 hours of flying. I prefer not to know exactly how many hours so no counting.  I will travel  7,931 miles. This is equivalent to 12 764 kilometers or 6,892 nautical miles. Though I am not going on a boat. This is just an interesting but useless piece of information for us to ponder over.

Now I have to go back  to Mr Google and find out why a nautical mile is different from a regular mile and if so is there a nautical kilometre? Or is that not a term. And how many miles would it be as the crow flies. The same? Though I am not a crow or a boat.

So,  the next time I talk to you,  if all goes well in my little bubble,   I will be at Apollo beach in Melbourne, Australia. Cooking with my family. Our favourite thing. We have rented a house at the beach that has a huge kitchen: the first requirement of a holiday home for my family. 

The weather in Melbourne as I write is 63F and is exactly the same here in Los Angeles – 63F  a beautiful 17C.  Clear and calm. Though I think there is a forecast for rain when I arrive in Melbourne.

At the farm it is 34F  – 1C – quite nice there too! But I have to say it is very pleasant here!

I hope you have a lovely few days because it will take me a few days to get where I am going but I will be back in touch asap. Things are different for a travel blog!

Love celi