An Adventure #3 – Back Again
Well, I’m back.
After so many hours of flight I have, at last, returned to my native shores, where I have spent the last few days thinking ‘huh, I guess I’ve missed out on the jet-lag’, and then promptly falling asleep at about 6.30. We are tired, and broke, and very, very happy. It has been one hell of an adventure, but there comes a point, no matter what wondrous place you’re in, no matter how incredible a time you’re having, where you find yourself daydreaming not about the exciting road ahead but of the comfort of your own bed. And now we’re back, and it is very nice to be back.
After bidding farewell to Shadowfax, our noble steed through over a thousand kilometres of driving, we spent our last few days not in the gorgeous countryside but in the bustling cities of Wellington and then Melbourne, which I believe are considered vaguely hip and or happening places to be. They were certainly very pleasant to wander around, as we bimbled through weird museums and botanical gardens and old bookshops – the latter to the point of seriously struggling to pack our cases for the flight back. There are few things as pleasant as browsing shelf after shelf of second-hand books, save doing so with someone you love.
And going to Rivendell, or what’s left of it. That too. You didn’t really think we’d go another week without donning our cloaks again, did you?
Sure, yours may be three times the size but mine is made of actual metal… I guess…It really has been one hell of an adventure. We have explored new lands, by wheel and by foot; we have encountered strange new creatures by the dozen, from very large and feathery ones to very small and luminescent ones. We have sought out old lore and been rewarded; we have uncovered treasures new and ancient, we have performed feats of strength and skill, and we did it together. There is no better way to travel than with your loved ones, be they friends or family. I think that if you share it with the right person then any experience is rendered ten times greater.
It almost sounds worthy of a book, when I put it like that. I don’t think it quite makes that grade on its own, the story of our travels… not on its own, no, but I am an embellisher and twister of facts by profession and I’m sure I can think of something. There are certainly sights and situations from New Zealand and Australia both that I intend to work with in great detail in the future – I’ve already talked about how fascinating everything geothermal proved to be, particularly for the Boiling Seas, and the caves and cliffs and carvings dotted around these gorgeous landscapes will make excellent settings for future stories of all kinds. I may or may not have thrown together a few words already, just to get the idea out of my head and onto paper for the future. You’ll see it eventually, I can promise that. It’s not often that I behold something in reality and think with such certainty, ‘I have to use that somewhere.’
I’d best get cracking. Having avoided as many responsibilities as physically possible for the last three weeks I have to catch up on many things: I’ve been writing as normal, obviously, but there are edits to make, submissions to… submit, proofreaders to nag. There are some other projects, too, that very much require my attention – one that is particularly exciting and which I can’t mention in detail just yet, but by the gods it’s going to blow your minds, I promise.
I am home, now. I have my desk, I have my creature comforts, and all is back to normal.
But I rather suspect this isn’t the last time we’ll head out to the other side of the world. If the commute wasn’t so long we’d still be there now, I think. And if it wasn’t so expensive to do that sort of travelling. But one day, we’ll go back. That, I think, is for certain. It turns out that sometimes you do know where the road is going to whisk you off to when you set foot out of your door.
Some adventures deserve a sequel.
