AHMEDABAD 2

Dear Mum

I have been in India a couple of days now and it has a time and pace that is so very different from Europe…. magical, dusty, beautiful, crazy…. it is difficult to find the right words! The country teems with people, sights, sounds, colours and the heat - it is 30 degrees in the morning and mid 40s in the  afternoon !!!!! I am coping quite well in the heat, I put factor 50 cream on my face, wear light full length clothes , drink lots of water and just keep in the shade! 

We have been travelling around visiting Artisans in rural villages which has been amazing. My friends work with craftspeople and their villages - so they have been visiting them for meetings etc - it has been wonderful for me as the children and the villagers have seen very few, if any white people , and I am regarded with great interest. There is usually one of the older children who  can speak some English and I just love to talk and laugh with the children. The women are shyer to start with but then they too come round and want to ask me questions. They have mobile phones with cameras - and they want to take pictures of me  - they might live in very basic houses but they use Facebook and modern technology at the same time as following very ancient crafts and traditions     

The roads are a mixture  - in the city they are jammed packed with cars, auto rickshaws, lorries, buses, motorbikes, pedestrians and cows! In the villages less traffic but but herds of goats, sheep, water buffaloes and more cows of course! The other night when we went out for dinner we met an elephant walking along the road - it is trained to put its trunk into car  windows and take money!

This is my favourite photo - you have to look hard to see me in the middle of all the children!

Hope all is well with you my lovely Mum - look after yourself  and lots and lots and lots of love      

Tricia xxxxx

AHMEDABAD 1

Dear Mum

I do live an amazing life! I left my Australian friends at the beginning of the week and am now with my Indian friends - I have been made so welcome here - it is just amazing! It really feels like family - especially as last time I was here I was with Jenny for Kathan and Swati’s wedding.

Yesterday I went for a walk on my own - India is so welcoming - it is really special to be a white woman on her own - as so many children and adults come up to me and start talking - smiling and welcoming me - magic!

After a meeting at a university I was then treated to lunch. If you show Jenny this photo she can tell you who everyone is!

Then Shraddha and Swati took me to the tailors as I wanted to get a couple of tops made - we had a grand time and went to lots of places before the ‘stitchers’ with my material - shopping in India is just a completely different experience!

Later one we all went to dinner at Uma and Deepak’s house - they had prepared a feast for me - and I felt very honoured! Then we drove back along the noisy, crazy Indian roads!

Today I am going out to some villages to meet some of the people involved in the work of the Manthan organisation - which will be really interesting. I am really so amazingly lucky not just to be in India but to be meeting people and being welcomed into their homes.

Hoping you well and happy and getting out everyday to feed the ducks on the moor! My friends all asked after you as they know of my family from conversations over the years, so I can send you their special regards from here in India.

Lots and lots of love my lovely Mum, 

Tricia xxxxx 

Abu Dhabi!

Dear Mum

Well I am in Abu Dhabi! airport! I left Melbourne last evening and it was a long flight around 13 hours to here.

I was lucky with the seats again and got the one with all the leg room at the front - I had eaten a big dinner at Kerry’s so I just went to sleep on the plane - listening to Little Dorrit on audiobook and knitting when I woke up this morning. Can’t say it was a full nights sleep but I definitely got some sleep so that was good.

I have a few hours here until my flight leaves for Ahmedabad, but I asked a young man where the restaurants are and he gave me two vouchers one for breakfast and one for lunch - which was a bonus. I also found a shower so I had a good wash and then went to duty free and smothered myself with very expensive face creams and Channel No 5 perfume! Things to do when at an airport for a while!

With the magic of the internet - here’s a photo of me writing this letter - and a little girl playing on a statue of a camel behind me!

I think when you read this letter I will be on my flight to Ahmedabad - the time difference is very confusing - I am now 6 hours behind Australia and three hours ahead of you - but that will all change tonight when I get to India - then I think I will be 4 1/2 hours ahead - which is pretty crazy!

Say Happy Birthday to Ann for me please as I am sure you will talk to her today - and I hope she’s completely over her flu!

Look after yourself my lovely Mum and I will send a letter from India when I can - lots and lots and lots of love your nomadic daughter

Tricia xxxxx 

Leaving Melbourne

Dear Mum

I hope your cough is getting better and that you do not have too bad a cold. Jenny told me that you had caught a cold and that a lot of people have had it in Cheshire - that seems strange for May - you’d think the cold season would be over.

Anyway my lovely mum I do hope you shift it as soon as possible - eats lots of fruit and drink extra orange juice - vitamin c is always good for a cold.

I am still at Kerry’s house but go to the airport this evening to start my journey to India. Kerry, Stephanie and I have just been out for a Chinese lunch - which was delicious but I think we all felt a bit sad. So I will say good bye to one dear set of friends but look forward to seeing you by the end of the month!

Alex is in Spain at the moment they have taken little Alba to meet her Spanish family. From the photos she looks like she has put a lot of weight on and is flourishing!

It is lovely to think that we will all be going away together in July and Alba can then meet her British family!

Here are some photos of our holiday house this summer in Anglesea to cheer you up we are going Friday 17th July, I am sure it is in your diary!

Look after yourself my lovely Mum and I do hope you feel better soon - lots and lots and lots of love
Tricia xxxxx 

Newcastle letter - out of sequence

Newcastle

Tricia 23 April 2015

Dear Mum

It was just lovely to speak to you on your birthday and I had updates and photos from Jenny,Fiona and Sophie and it sounded like you had a glorious time - I am so pleased.

I have been having adventures here in Newcastle, New South Wales. Stephanie and I arrived on Monday morning for a three day workshop and it was raining quite heavily. However no-one anticipated the storm that then happened over the next three days - it was enormous! As you can see - the Storm of the Century was how the papers described it!

Sadly the workshops had to be cancelled as everywhere had to close down and the roads were impassable. The storm raged for over 36 hours, we lost power in the hotel but we had candles and torches . We were fine - the hotel really took care of us - providing food whilst we all waited for the storm to die down. I have never seen such winds and rain - some of the gusts were classed as Cyclone 3 level winds - so I suppose quite close to a hurricane . We could see the sea from our hotel room and it was wild.

Yesterday we went for a walk around the area and there were lots of trees down and the sea and clouds were spectacular.

   

We met up with some people yesterday afternoon and we are going to the University this morning for a meeting and then will fly back to Melbourne this evening. I am speaking at another Workshop in Melbourne on the 8th of May and some of the people who were going to be coming to this one will now attend the other one - and who knows maybe they will ask me back again!

I am thoroughly enjoying my time in Australia and have met some really delightful people and can see me doing some more work here in the future. I didn’t really anticipate that but life is such an adventure!!!

Lots and lots and lots of love my lovely Mum - I do miss you. 

Tricia xxxxxxxxxx 

Loving the learning - and recognising both the happiness and the sadness

It's my last few days in Melbourne and I have a morning to myself which has meant I could catch up on my blogg and write to my Mum etc....  all good stuff!

I have been using my time here in Australia and New Zealand, to reflect on what I want to do in the future.....   and that was the learning that I wanted to come out of this journey.

But in the last couple of weeks I have actually felt more confused about what I want to do in the future.......... however what has becoming increasingly clear to me is that I need to get myself more prepared to go through the doors that I know will be opening for me in the future.

I do have faith and certainty - I am totally certain that these doors will appear ......  the uncertainty is that I have very little idea what these doors will actually look like!

My first bit of learning from my time here - is that these are new doors  - opportunities will appear and will come in ways and forms that I don't know and can't foresee -  and I have to become completely comfortable with that. It must be perfect to have no idea what these doors will look like, what is behind them or where they will lead........

This is an important piece of learning as I have been trying to predict what the doors will look like - based on my previous work etc - but I am now moving into uncharted territory - and cannot know what it looks like!

So that is my first bit of learning -  I will embrace the fact that I have no idea what the doors of opportunity will look like or where they will lead........ and I will be excited and fearless about the unknown!

The second piece of learning is that I now need to prepare myself more as an independent operator.  In some ways I have already started this - planning to leave the University, my flat in Liverpool etc but what I must also do is to prepare myself with the tools that I will need to be independent.  I have been focusing on the leaving Liverpool stuff and the time has now come to prepare myself for this one woman future and the unknown options - but there are some basic prerequisites that a professional independent business requires - so I will start there and see what happens!

It's funny, but of course other people see things that you don't, several people have been telling me this for quite a while but I just wasn't ready to hear. Learning is all about being ready for the next step, and you just cannot learn something until you are ready.  The details of this are not yet clear to me, however the next steps are.

So I will take this knowledge with me to India on Tuesday, use my time there  to learn more.....  and then back to Liverpool, (briefly!) and a plan is being formed!

But all journeys involved partings....... and today I have also been thinking about the transient nature of relationships.  A friend once told me  that people come into your life ' for a reason and a season'  and  that is so true.  The 'season' for some people in my life, like my mother - has been my whole life, and for others the  'season' has been for a much shorter period. The 'reason'  for people being in my life is not always clear at the time but thinking about my time here, I can see people who have really helped me learn -  and that's what it's all about -  however many people there are in your journey, the learning you do on your own!!!

So  feeling blessed,  feeling happy - consciously happy, but also recognising and cherishing the beauty of sadness of the transitory nature of our humanity.

Thank you blogg!

Melbourne but not for long.....

Dear Mum

It's Sunday morning here in Melbourne and it is raining cats and dogs! I am coming to the end of my stay here in Australia and I’m surprised how emotional I’m finding it. I am really quite sad to be leaving as I have had such a really special time here.

Last night Kerry invited some friends round for dinner, I made a chicken casserole, which I have to say was very good and Kerry made Pavlova which was absolutely delicious. Here is a photo of Kerry and me and the pavlova.

We then played cards, Kerry and her friends play solo but they had never played estimation whist, so I taught them how to play Matches and we had a grand old time. it reminded me of playing cards as a child with you and dad and my sisters, and the many happy hours playing cards with my own boys.

In the morning we had been to the Queen Victoria market, it is such a lovely market, really huge with stalls selling everything. We bought the ingredients for the dinner and then I bought lots of little souvenirs to take with me to India.

India - yes the next leg of my journey is India! I will leave here on Tuesday evening and fly to Ahmedabad via Abu Dhabi. My friends in India have planned a very full two weeks for me. I will be based in Ahmedabad with trips to various villages to meet people and to see some of their work, so my amazing journey continues!!! In the market I bought lots of pencils and pens with koalas, kangaroos and other images of Australia on them, to give out to the children that I will meet on my travels.

I feel amazingly blessed, I have been made so incredibly welcome here and now there is another group of wonderful people planning exciting things for me to do in India. I just feel so grateful and appreciative , especially for the people who are in my life.

It is Mother’s Day here in Australia and Kerry will be going to visit her Mum this afternoon and I really miss seeing my lovely Mum! It’s nice to write you letters and hear how you are getting on from the others, but I am really looking forward to seeing you at the end of the month . I will be over to see you in the last weekend in May!

Hoping you are well and happy and I am sending you great big hug from Melbourne.......

Lots and lots and lots of love my lovely Mum - Tricia xxxxx 

Melbourne again!

Dear Mum

How are you - well I hope?

I’m now back in Melbourne , we flew in from Christchurch on Monday evening after a really lovely week exploring the South Island of New Zealand.

The landscape in New Zealand was truly spectacular with amazing mountains, lakes and the sea. We spend a very lovely week driving around in the camper van just taking it all in!

We spent one night with my friend Paul and Sue’s son Sean and his girlfriend Claire , they are a lovely young couple who are travelling at the moment and currently living and working in Dunedin. They made us very welcome by cooking us beautiful food and then taking us to their favourite spots - it was a very happy time.

They are currently living in a beautiful little house which overlooks the ocean and it has a really sweet garden which has lots of ornaments - I saw these two little owls and thought of you!

I heard from Jenny that Ann had been ill and she also thought she might have caught the bug herself - I do hope they are both better now and that no-one else caught it.

I hear from my boys quite regularly and Jim has been over in Paris meeting his little niece for the first time. Sadly Rachel couldn’t go to as she is still having problems with her visa. Here’s a lovely picture of them!

Hope all going well with you my lovely Mum, lots and lots of love

Tricia xxxxxxxxxx

    

New Zealand 2

Dear Mum

We are now in a place called Haast - tiny - population around 200 people - New Zealand is such a sparsely populated country - we have been driving through the most amazing countryside with hardly any houses - quite a lot of sheep though!

Here's me having a breakfast cuppa in the campervan - with the sun rising behind me!

This is just a short letter as we are now going to set off - for another day of amazing views! 

Yesterday we saw Cook's Mountain and the Fox Glacier - apparently there are over 3,000 glaciers in New Zealand! Today we will spend some time on the beach then head inland.

   

Lots and lots of love my lovely Mum Tricia xxxxxxx 

New Zealand 1

Dear Mum

Well - I am now in New Zealand - we arrived very late Sunday evening and picked up our camper van Monday morning and drove out of Christchurch. To start with the countryside seemed very normal but as we drove it started to change around every corner! One minute there would be rolling hills, the next minute big black peaks in the distance and then amazing beaches. 

This coastline was black, presumably volcanic - black sand and black rocks. The weather also seemed to change by the minute too, and we drove through sunshine. showers and rainbows - the sky stretching up and away in every direction with the clouds also making another landscape above us! The camper van is great and we stop and make cups of tea etc and our lunch watching the sea break on the rocks, or out to a lake and peaks - beautiful!

The scenery is truly fantastic - and really does take your breath away. It is much greener than Australia and looks more 'British' but on a much grander scale - all the beauty of the Lake District but really amplified - with hardly any people and loads of sheep. The towns are very small and sort of old fashioned in a nice way! Sue and I get on well and have laughed a lot.

The weather has been pretty wild and tonight - Wednesday - it is blowing a storm - but we are nice and cosy with our knitting!

Lots and lots of love my lovely Mum Tricia xxxx 

Sydney

These were sent via the phone - and both Jenny and Claire had real trouble printing them out!

Sunday 26th April Sydney

Dear Mum

Am now in Sydney and leave this afternoon for New Zealand. Through the magic of the internet I now know that Claire has a printer - so I can send letters to Abbeyfield again - thank you Claire! The technology is magic as I am writing this letter on my phone! I have left my computer in Melbourne as this afternoon I am going to fly to New Zealand with my dear friend Sue - she is from Bacup but is staying with her brother in Australia for three months.

I flew down from Melbourne yesterday and had a grand day walking around Sydney - the weather was extraordinary - when I arrived it was baking hot - walking down into Sydney I had my sun glasses on and looked for the shade it was so hot. But by the evening there had been hail storms and I really needed my jacket and scarf!

Here was the view from the apartment I am staying in - 12th floor with a great view of the back of Sydney! I walked down to the famous waterfront - it is funny seeing things in real life that you know - Sydney Opera house was just like I knew it - but bigger - and the waterfront was sort of smaller than I had envisaged! I got a ferry and did a round trip of the harbour - it had loads of ferries and reminded me very much of Hong Kong.

I got back to the waterfront and was walking around the Opera House when the weather changed completely and there was a short but very violent hail storm - crazy weather!

The sun then came out and I walked back! So summer to winter in one afternoon! Am off to New Zealand this afternoon - we are in a camper van and I may not be able to write that often - but hope you well and happy my lovely Mum - with lots and lots and lots and lots of love.

Tricia xxxxxxxx 

Still in Melbourne

Dear Mum

How are you? I heard from Jenny that you had a sore eye, I hope it is all cleared up now. You will soon be off to London for your birthday weekend, I will think about you and I’m sure you will have a wonderful time.

I am now staying at my friend Stephanie’s house, it's in the suburbs of Melbourne but I will be going back to Kerry’s tomorrow.  I am enjoying being a guest and have been made so very welcome .

On Friday morning I went to Melbourne Museum and was particularly interested in the galleries which told the stories of the aboriginal  people. There was a very poignant  memorial to the children who had been taken forcibly from their own families and put into white families. It is amazing to think that this continued right up to 1969. Before I left  Liverpool I had gone to an exhibition in the Maritime Museum about British children that has been sent out to Australia and that too had continued into the 60s.  Made me think how lucky I was  to have been brought up in my lovely family. 

On Friday evening we went to a drum circle and I took my singing bowls. It took place in a lovely little cottage up in the mountains, which are not too far away from here.  We sat in a circle and everybody played  their drums , I played my bowls  and we sang.  It was a very special and rather magical evening. 

We haven’t really done very much else this weekend , just pottered about, but as Stephanie is such a dear friend this was  perfect.  She has gone to watch her son Adam play Australian rules football so I'm now in the house on my own, writing letters. 

Here’s a picture of me on the deck yesterday doing my knitting. I'm making a cardigan and these are the sleeves so not too far to go now!

The weather is still very changeable here but I think that is typical for autumn in Melbourne .  The light is also very different from the UK even when it’s overcast the light has an intensity which can be quite dazzling!

I will send this letter via Jenny as I think Claire’s printer is still out of action. Hope you enjoy London, and please give my best to all the family.

With very much love from your galavanting daughter down under!

Tricia   

xxxxxxxxx

Back in Melbourne

Dear Mum

Back in Melbourne from the beach house. The weather has turned really cold, but I suppose it is autumn. But then the sun will come out and then it is very hot -  a strange climate! Yesterday went up to a beautiful waterfall  and looked for koalas but didn’t see any!     

As you can see the Eucalyptus trees are evergreen and do not shed their leaves or turn yellow, but there are some trees which have started to turn and there is Virginia creeper in Kerry’s backyard which is changing into that beautiful red colour. I suspect the deciduous trees are imports from Europe but don’t know for sure. It must be really into spring in the UK, I will have missed all the daffodils in Sefton Park. They were just starting to come out when I left and will be well gone when I return.

I have just organised my trip to New Zealand, I am going with my friend Sue who is also in Australia ,staying with her brother in a very remote part of New South Wales. I am meeting her in Sydney so I will have a day to look around and then we fly together to Christchurch for a week. We are hiring a camper van and  we will travel around the South Island - very exciting!

I have heard from Claire that her printer has stopped working and she is not now able to print out the letters, so I will send this one to Jenny and I am sure she will be over to see you soon! Claire is going to get a new printer but won't have it until after the 19th, so I will send the next few letters via Jenny. You will be off to London soon for your birthday weekend, I am sure you will have a grand time!

AND I HAVE VERY LOVELY NEWS FOR YOU!!!!!!!!

Alex, Lara and little Alba are going to join us in July for the whole week in  the cottage in Anglesey. Won’t that just be wonderful!  

Lots  and lots of love  Tricia   xxxxxxxxx    

Airey’s Inlet #2

Heard from Claire that her printer had stopped working - so Mum might have seen these but not got a printed version yet - am sure it will be repaired soon! Heard from Jenny that Mum took all the letters with her when she went to hers on Friday!


Dear Mum

It’s Easter Monday and I'm sitting on the deck with my computer, writing this letter to you. In front of me are two very big and beautiful parrots. One is very red chested with green wings and a dark tail than the other has a green head , green wings and a very beautiful bluey green tail, they are very tame and feed out of your hand.

There are also big white cockatoos around here, my friends don’t like them as they are bullies towards the parrots and they also do damage to the house with their pecking. It is quite funny that
every time the cockatoos land on the deck, David rushes out and chases them away.

So I haven't got a picture of the cockatoos yet! They are bigger than the parrots and pure white except for the yellow crests they have on the head. It looks like the single crest which they fan out into three yellow crests - beautiful birds but not very popular!

It has got cold today and I went to a charity shop with my friend Kerry and bought two jumpers, they cost me in total $4 which is about £2. I hadn't packed enough warm clothes but the charity shop was the perfect solution.

On Saturday we drove up the Great Ocean Road to some famous rocks called the 12 Apostles. We passed through amazing forests of beautiful really old trees. The Apostles were very impressive but I think the trees were the favourite bit of the trip.

I heard you had a lovely day and Jenny’s on Friday with Aidan and Livvy, and I’m sure you really enjoyed it. We are going for a walk now up to the lighthouse.

With lots of love my lovely mum.

Tricia xxxxx

   

Feeling happy!

The system is working - got  beautiful message from Claire who delivers these letter to my Mum:

Done. The delight on your mother's face makes my day

Airey’s Inlet

Dear Mum

I am now at the beach house, it is in a place called Aireys Inlet. It is surrounded by beaches and it feels like we are at the caravan! We have had a couple of lovely long walks on the beach and last night we played cards, an Australian game called phase 10.

Today we are going to go further along the Great Ocean Road which will be lovely, the views are absolutely spectacular. The sea is a mixture of turquoise and dark blue and the surf is strong. There is a huge surfing competition taking place not far away from here, with surfers from around the world.

I haven’t been swimming because the water is quite cold and the beaches are quite wild. They are just the most perfect dog walking breaches and Kerry’s dog has been a real pleasure to walk with. His name is Hamish and he is the same colour as our Hamish but quite a lot bigger.

I hope you had a lovely day at Jenny’s she told me you were going to come over with Fiona's family. I am looking forward to hearing all about it! 

Here are some photographs, with very much love

Tricia xxxxxxx

Melbourne #4

Dear Mum

It is now Thursday morning and I am waiting to go to the University of Melbourne for the first meeting. When we return we will go up to the beach house which is about an hour and a half away, on the Great Ocean Road. There are lots of British names here and we will pass through Anglesea and Torquay - there are so many places with British names in Australia - the legacy of the early settlers of course - as well as Geelong and Werribee - all very interesting!!!!

I am eating a hot hot cross bun - they always remind me of travelling down to Spalding and staying with Aunty Ellen. There is a lovely shopping street next to Kerry’s house and it has many little shops like fishmongers and bakeries - and Kerry just brought me a hot cross bun for my breakfast! I like the old sign in this row of shops which says: 'Arnt you marvellous'- a lovely message - and here’s to you my lovely Mum - 'Arnt you marvellous!!!'

It’s now after the meeting - well it went very well - just a small group - see picture - it was a preliminary meeting for a bigger event in May - I gave a presentation for a bit over an hour and we had good discussions. I am pleased as they are now organising the next event based on this one. We are all packed up and ready to go to the beach house - as it is the Easter Weekend.

 

We passed this building - on the tram we went down to the city - it’s called Royal Exhibition Building - it’s one of the oldest buildings in Melbourne. Look how blue the sky is! The light is quite extraordinary here in Australia.

This is a picture of Kerry and Stephanie buying Easter cakes after the meeting!

Got to go now the car is nearly packed - will send my next letter from the beach - isn’t the technology just marvellous as well!!

Lots and lots of love

Tricia xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

......and it’s snowing in Prague!

Melbourne #3

Dear Mum

It’s Monday morning and I’m back in Melbourne after the festival - it was an amazing weekend. We travelled for about an hour outside the city to a campsite on a peninsular, there was a festival site in the centre and we camped under very tall trees. There were lots of birds with a dawn chorus like nothing I have ever heard. The only one I recognised was the kookaburra, it really does laugh in a loud strident voice!

There was 1,500 women at the festival, of all ages from tiny babies to women 10/20 years older than me. I was staying in Stefanie’s caravan which was very comfortable, all mod cons! The festival was a mixture of workshops, ceremonies, music and dancing - and I loved it!!!!

The weather was very variable - we had an amazing storm on the first night with the trees really swaying and the rain pounding on the roof of the caravan, it was very exciting. Over the three days the weather improved and on the last day it was glorious and we all sat basking in the sunshine, with drummers and dancers all around us, it was a special few days and a lovely welcome to Australia.
I have found the time difference quite strange, to be waking up in the morning and to think about you getting ready to go to bed, very odd! I seem to have coped with the jetlag very well, woken up in the night a few times but have mainly gone back to sleep quite easily.

I have started to do a little bit of work this morning, planning a conference that I will be involved in later in April, I have felt very welcomed and it does feel really nice to be here. I have some meetings tomorrow and then on Thursday I will be doing a workshop with quite a few people. I haven’t prepared my presentation yet but I will do that tomorrow. This afternoon I'm going to take the tram down to St Kilda beach on my own, so that will be an adventure. I haven’t seen anything of Melbourne yet and this will be my first opportunity.

Here are a couple of photos of the festival! Thinking of you often and sending you very much love my lovely mum....

Tricia xxxxxxxx

 

Melbourne #2

Dear Mum

It’s now Thursday afternoon and Kerry and I had a leisurely morning walking the dog. She lives in a place called North Fitzroy - it is an old suburb of Melbourne - it was build around late 1800’s - there is a Liverpool Street and a Birkenhead Street and as most of the emigrant ships left the port of Liverpool that is not a surprise! It is a nice area with a park and little shops, see the photos.

I am now at my friend Stephanie’s house , she lives more in the suburbs of Melbourne. We are going to a Festival for the weekend and as we are camping I will not be able to write another letter until I get back on Sunday. No electricity or magic wifi!

The weather today is not so warm - though still warmer than the UK - it is the start of autumn and the leaves are just thinking about turing colour. I haven’t really seen much of the countryside yet - but will see more en route to the festival.

It has just started to rain but Stephanie seems to have all the camping gear sorted so we will stay dry - hopefully it will be sunny over the weekend.

Kerry and Stephanie have just been planning my time whilst I am here - and I feel very welcomed and at home - it is lovely to be staying in friend’s houses whilst I am here.

Hope the weather is warm and sunny in Knutsford and that you get out and about over the weekend.

Until my next letter next week - lots and lots of love Tricia xxxxxxxxxx

    

Melbourne

Dear Mum


Well I am now in Australia!

The flight was long but again I got a seat with very good legroom at the front and nobody next to me so I had space. I knitted , listened to an audiobook of Little Dorrit and dozed off and on.

My friend Kerry met me at the airport and I’m now staying in her house, which is lovely. The time difference is extraordinary as I am writing this about 1 o’clock in the morning and it is only 2 o’clock in the afternoon for you. - I am actually in tomorrow!!

Not certain how the jetlag will affect me, I’m hoping to get some sleep tonight and have just had a beautiful deep warm bath so am feeling quite sleepy now.

I will send this letter by Claire again, thank you Claire, the Internet is magic!!!

I will write some more shortly. With very much love


Tricia xxxxxxxxxx