Australasian Odyssey Begins

Lea and Jim on the last "day" at Cora Barclay with the Steven Parish book "Australia".
With our great friends -the amazing clinical team at the Cora Barclay Centre, Adelaide, SA.

May 5, 2007 Saturday

Our Australasian Odyssey started at midnight of Cinco de Mayo! We closed the door of the Cora Barclay Centre for the last time. Our nine month sabbatical as Auditory-Verbal Consultants in Adelaide, South Australia was a fabulous experience....we are a little bit sad about the place we were leaving....a little bit glad about the places we are about to visit.....and very glad to be on our way home....

We are celebrating our thirtieth wedding anniversary with this Australasian Odyssey.

The CEO who hired us coaxed us “down under” offering us ‘round the world’ airline tickets. We certainly were flattered by the invitation to share our professional experience, excited to live in a new place doing what we love and eager to travel in that far away part of the world.

We teach parents of children who are deaf how to help their kids listen and talk. To work with families of newly diagnosed babies was definitely a draw for me. South Australia recently passed a Newborn Screening act. Cora Barclay Centre had a dozen infants waiting for services. I love helping parents with their babies. As we struggled with the reality of leaving the comforts of home, the lure of seeing the other side of our planet won. Always loving adventure, Jim and I could not think of a reason not to go. We started our west to east journey visiting Scotland and Ireland (see prvious blogs) before finding an "Australian home" in August 2006.

Friday May 4, 2007 was out last day of work which became our last night of work – we worked so hard for nine months. The demands forced us to work day and night. We left the Cora Barclay Centre at midnight. We had to finish reports we were writing, tidy up our desks, clean out the computers, and write a few thank you notes. Saying good bye to a place and the people we lived and worked with for nine months was surreal. For the last few days I felt like I was walking in a dream state.

The clinical team gathered at 5 pm in the hall outside our offices. Robyn said some really nice things about us working there and that made us feel so good. They gave a gorgeous book – Steve Parish Inspiration Australia – full of amazing pictures of Australasia. The Cora Barclay Centre and Board of Directors gave us a Kakadu tour for us to enjoy on our way home.

"Good Bye Cora Barclay Centre" - "Good Bye Robyn, Chris, Hillary, Pauline, Nicola, and Katie! It was great being part of the clinical team with you! Keep up the great work "hearing the call for kids" in South Australia - helping parents expect their children to learn to listen and speak! We will be doing all we can to help you from the other side of the planet. We already miss you and all the families. Thanks for having us."

Backpacks were all we wanted to bring. We had to organize, sort, and Jim found a great shipping company that shipped a cubic meter for a pretty cheap price. Our friend, Nicola, offered to take us to the airport and also invited us to sleep at her house on our last night. She showed us photos of her trip to New Zealand – our first port of call. Her beautidul pictures increased our enthusiasm for our adventure!

Up early after a few hours of sleep kept me walking in that dream state. Quantas Airlines flew us from Adelaide to Auckland. While we waited in the airport, Jim spotted a girl reading "Maps of Narrative Therapy" by Michael White. I read a previous book of his and am very curious about him, his teaching in Adelaide, and the practice of Narrative Therapy. Now leaving, I am sorry I did not get to meet him. I talked with Rachel. She lent me the book which we got to discuss because she sat right behind us – very friendly, professional, and inspiring!

We got out at Auckland on the North Island and had to walk across to the domestic terminal – breathing in the moist air felt so different from Australia! The place was so green and I was only looking at an airport parking lot? People were immediately friendly and happy. It was an easy flight from Auckland to Christchurch on the South Island. Jim sat next to a rugger – the Canterbury Rugby Club was all on board. Nice article about Kyoto in the magazine. Van Shuttle to the YHA with a bunch of doctors attending the conference of surgeons. Funny driver and young couple from Melbourne, Vic- had to have a photos of us with the driver. Fun!