Diversions

I had to fly to Sydney yesterday for a follow-up appointment with my neurosurgeon. An 8.40 flight down there, a couple of hours to browse the shops before the 1pm appointment, then a relaxed afternoon with more browsing and meeting my publisher Bernadette for coffee before the 7pm flight back to Armidale.

That was the plan. But it was a cloudy, rainy day, and the morning plane from Sydney couldn’t land at Armidale. It’s a regional airport, and QantasLink flies Dash-8 Aircraft on the Syd-Armidale route, with 4 or 5 flights in and out each day. So, the other 40 or so passengers and I were loaded onto a bus, and trundled the 125km down the Great Dividing Range to Tamworth to meet our diverted plane, and fly out from there – leaving around 10.30am.

There went my morning in Sydney – but I did have a pleasant chat with a friend in the bus to Tamworth. Both of us had brought books to read on the plane, but neither of us can read in buses, so we talked about books instead.

Would you believe, the plane last night also couldn’t land at Armidale? I had a suspicion it might happen, and the flight attendant had commented that when they’d left Armidale at 5pm it was raining and cloudy. The pilots circled the town a couple of times, but couldn’t get good visuals on the runway…. so, back we went to Tamworth! This time I slept most of the way up the Range to Armidale, only waking up as we turned into the airport. Gordon was there to collect me, and we finally got home around 11pm.

The time I did get to spend in Sydney was good – and the great news is that the surgeon is very happy with my recovery, and I should have no more problems now. In 12 months, we’ll do a CT Scan and a follow-up appointment, just to make sure everything’s fine, but there’s no reason to expect that it won’t be. And the best news is that I’m allowed to drive again! Yay!

I also had a lovely meeting with Bernadette in one of Newtown’s many cafés, talking books and publishing (and weaving and textiles). We’re still hoping for October publication for my next book – but I do have to get it finished soon. As I’m also teaching at the local university for this semester, I’ll be working hard to get everything done… so please forgive me if the blog is quiet. I’m sure you’d rather see a published book than my blog posts!

Speaking of published books, plane travel is guilt-free reading time for me, and yesterday’s read was one I’ve looked forward to for ages – my friend Helene Young’s new release, Shattered Sky. A romantic suspense, set in the tropics of north Queensland, with a pilot and a navy commander tracking down people smuggers in the rugged isolation of Cape York.  Thanks, Helene, for a great read – I enjoyed every page! (And finished it as we were circling Armidale… – great timing!)