Dear Inroad,
Well it has been exactly 1 year, 1 month and 2 weeks since departing
the beloved homeland for Australia. It has also been exactly 1 year, 2 months
and 2 weeks since my last blog.
Our first year down under has been colourful to say the
least. We made the acquaintance of our baby boy Eli on 19 February 2014. Unlike
Ceylon who was born in our home on the Barberton Road in South Africa, Eli made
his grand debut in a hospital. This was a profoundly different birth experience
to say the least. But more on this topic another time.
After nine months spent living in terrifically close
quarters - Ceylon, Eli, Papa bear and I, along with all the worldly possessions we had
been able to amass onto our flight, crammed into two medium to small bedrooms
in my father’s house, which is also home to my father, step-mother, younger
sister and two stoepkakkertjies
called Logan and Toto – we moved into our first Australian home. Not only did we survive these initial months
in Australia, I can safely say that no animals, in-laws, relatives or relationships were
harmed, at least not irrevocably, during this tenure.
The journey of becoming migrants fresh off the boat to residents
comfortable in their new surrounds, community and life has been daunting,
exciting, challenging and rewarding. It is a long and winding road with many
miles still to walk, and, as Jimmy Cliff (who I’ll be seeing live in April at
Bluesfest! Yeya!) croons “many rivers to cross”. May we find our way over, and may we never forget that it's all about the journey.
