The gap in the spaces in between!

My God! You would have thought I had fallen off this godforsaken earth and wound up in an episode of lost. I have been sorta lost for the last three to four weeks! I even had one dear reader beg me to start blogging again as they were hanging out for more intrigue and adventure. Something to hinge their life upon even though I think their life is quite interesting without me. Anyway it was cute - he said he felt like my bitch! Then there was the UK contingent. "When you blogging again mate" is everything alright. Well I was in Melbourne for a stint but this was before the fires. I do feel sorry for the people that have lost their lives and those continuing to struggle with this massive tragedy. I left just as the temp started hanging around the 42 degrees mark everyday. ooooofff thats bloody hot. We had Australia Day celebrations at an amusement park for the clinically boring. Every ride was slow enough for a yawn to seem exciting. I then flew to Sydney to meet an old friend. She was attending a concert of some repute and I decided to surprise her by buying my own ticket and just show up with champagne in hand and a wry smile. Maryanne is in a wheelchair, although her disposition does not stop her from being one of the most loveable and exciting people I know. When I arrived with my auntie and hid behind a wall, as the initial hello's transpired (was trying for surprise you see) she caught a small glimpse and assumed I was my aunties secret lover. Thank god that got cleared up in a jiffy. Well we went off to grab a Chinese in Chinatown and not many were in the mood for being grabbed. However, we settled on one which tantalised our tastebuds, although Verlyn (auntie) had to have a 'heated debate' with the waiter to the point were I believe he intentially then caused her food to arrive tasteless and bland, which is a hard feat in a Chinese restaurant with so much MSG and soy sauce. We tarted it up with chillies and various pastes demanded from the kitchen until she was satisfied. Although she remained annoyed at the fact that everyone else's meals came out tasting deliciously Chinese. It was then off to the concert. Only one Leonard Cohen. 75 in the shade and well known for his maudlin depressing lyrics about lost love and pain. So what did we do - we sat through 3 hours of the most tantalising and inspiring music I had ever heard, with a band that could make you weep. but all the applause needed to go to this man who skipped and cajolled the audience into laughter and adoration. He kneeled on stage to evoke prayer and determination and we could not hear his knees crack as he stood. I think he was fit as a fiddle. He went through his repetoire and I thought I had only a small knowledge of his greatness but it seems I knew most of his songs. He read some as poetry and also encouraged his band and backing singers to steal limelight and take centre stage - he was most ecstatically irreverant when in postures of humble pride for his own band and singers. Hat on chest in supplication. I wanted to kiss him!
It's times like that when you feel quite small and insignificant. This man has written poetry and music and written novel after novel in a career that spans more than 50 years and he was still on the top of his game.
I then on impulse - (I do that!!) flew to Christchurch in New Zealand to attend a wedding of some complete strangers, so that I could get to know a bit better an 'amazing' friend I had met some one whole year earlier. Invited as her guest to this wedding was crazy and exciting in equal measure. I will no doubt bore you all with many stories of my adventures in New Zealand in seperate blogs as some will delight in wine tasting and some in the thrills and spills of Middle Earth and what it has to offer (swimming with dolphins). Some readers will further delight in the antics of local artisans. Comedy shows (although I missed out on Billy Connelly by a wee smidgen), Comedic Theatre in the park, and even some entertaining made by ourselves (kareoke reared its ugly head again). The sights tantalised and the people (and horses) took my breath away. So stay tuned my dear reader and I shall divulge the reasons for my Gap month over the coming days! Heading to Thailand next so stay tuned for even more.
D