The first leg: Blow by Blow, Austin to LAX I was riding in the car with my daughter to the airport. I’d been watching the weather in Sydney, worrying about the rain, worrying about catching my flight from Sydney to Melbourne. My daughter said, “Don’t worry Mom, if the rain stops your flight, you can just stay … Continue reading First Two Legs of an Extra Long. Austin, Texas to Melbourne, Australia Flight
Author: Barefootbuell
The Big Leap
Tree Frog we found at the Wilson Reserve in Melbourne I'm more nervous than this little frog as I prepare to leap across the enormous pond. I've been burrowing through piles of paper work for months trying to get an exemption for a visa to Australia. It was hopeless, I might as well have been … Continue reading The Big Leap
Renaming and Reorganization of my Blog
My blog Visionsfromtwocontinents started, December 11, 2017. That’s five years ago.Now it has a new, easier name, instead of writing visionsfromtwocontinents.blog, you can just look for patsysblog.com Back in 2017, a pandemic was something that only happened long ago, during WWI. In my book Visions from Two Continents: cover I published a letter my uncle Charlie wrote … Continue reading Renaming and Reorganization of my Blog
HOME
A map of Wisconsin with Door Peninsula in red. Minneapolis is my home city, but HOME is Door County, WI. Not a city but a peninsula of small towns and preserved woods, surrounded by Lake Michigan. The picture featured on the blog is a arial view of Sturgeon Bay, one of the largest small towns … Continue reading HOME
The Jab
I got the jab, 9 weeks ago in Australia. It was AstraZeneca, the only vaccine then available in Australia. I wanted to be vaccinated before I caught my flight to the USA. We stopped by the local Clinic, they said, “The vaccine will be available after Easter break.” We called after Easter, still no vaccine. Some friends … Continue reading The Jab
The Last Leg Home
The sun was just beginning to rise, and clouds loomed over the city of Los Angeles, I put on a highly rated mask for the rest of my trip. It was not comfortable. The plane landed in LAX I got off and went through customs without a hitch. I'd rested during the long 12.5 hour … Continue reading The Last Leg Home
Leaving Fortress Australia
It will be Friday for two days as I fly into the past. What a rigamarole I went through to board the plane. First before anything I had to show my covid free test result paper. "Why does it say, the 26th and the 27th?" The polite masked gate keeper asked. “I was tested on … Continue reading Leaving Fortress Australia
Getting a Covid Test to travel to the USA
At 12:30 I said we needed to get going to get my Covid test before traveling. I had called Delta in Sydney earlier and they told me all I needed was a negative result on my phone within 3 days of travel. It was now two days before my international flight. I asked at my … Continue reading Getting a Covid Test to travel to the USA
Covid International Travel?
Feeling safe in Fortress Australia, on the train in Melbourne Next week I take the scary steps onto a plane to fly back to the USA. I’ve been in Fortress Australia for 15 months. Covid here is controlled by borders closed, and everyone wearing masks so there are zero community contact cases. No Australian is allowed to … Continue reading Covid International Travel?
North Queensland Camping – before Delta
As soon as Covid was under control in Queensland. I mean really under control, no community transmission, people living in Queensland were encouraged to be tourists in their home state. I got plane reservations on Jet Star and reserved a camper van through Cruisin Motor Homes in Cairns. I did not get insurance, since we … Continue reading North Queensland Camping – before Delta