Saturday, 12 February 2005
10:03 a.m.
Well, according to the Web (all hail the Web) Qantas Flight 26 has landed in Auckland, NZ. From this point on our contact will be limited to calling-card calls and internet emails. I did tell Dawn, however, that if she can get a signal in the Auckland airport we should spring for one cell-phone call. I can afford the $1.99 per minute charge... and the $86 roaming fee...
2:44 p.m., PST
Well, I just got off the phone. They arrived safely this morning and just got to the bach at Hahei. Dawn was happy to talk to me at last, as they had not been able to connect with the calling "card" I had provided them. Richard thinks he figured out the problem, so hopefully they can make it work. But it was a lovely phone call - few times, in recent years, have Dawn and I been so happy to speak to each other. Add to that Dawn was punchy as hell (lack of sleep, jet lag, bad chinese food at LAX and a twisty, windy road to get to Hahei) made her a genial conversationalist. "I could just sit here and talk to you all day," she told me. When was the last time someone said that to me, I wonder?
"Emily has steam coming out of her ears," Dawn reported, and we laughed. Later, when Emily had steam coming out of her eyes, Dawn finally handed the phone over when went off to join the tour. (I am very pleased that calling me took precendence over the tour). Emily, who apparently slept most of the trans-Pacific flight, sounded like Emily. In fact, she sounded better than she has in recent days, when she has sounded very tremulous and sad. Elizabeth was nowhere to be found; Liz doesn't need a lot of phone time.
Well, that's that. They managed to get from Dundee to Portland, Portland to Los Angeles, Los Angeles to Auckland and Auckland to Hahei in about 24 hours. Now they can stop worrying about passports, tickets, carry-on, ear-drums and making the connection, and worry about... well, nothing. With Becky to cook the food and Richard to lead the expeditions, I imagine they will have a wonderful time.
I only wished they had asked me to come.