Ithaca bound

Moving house is always difficult. Managing an overseas move while caring for Oliver, with all his special needs, seemed next to impossible. As much as we hated the idea, Shami and I decided that it made sense for me and Oliver to return to Ithaca ahead of him. I'd get a head start on settling in, paper work, medical care, and getting services for Oliver up and running. Shami would stay behind to tie up loose ends in Australia, not the least of which was emptying our place of two and a half years of stuff. He could manage much more easily without appliances or furniture (or an overnight feeding pump!) by himself than we could with Oliver.

But there was just no way I could travel alone with Ollie... the three of us barely survived our last trip to the US. This plan only became a real possibility because our good friend Fernando came to our rescue. Fernando had been observing at the Parkes telescope, and he was returning to New York City at roughly the same time. He offered to rearrange his travel plans in order to escort me and Oliver from Rozelle to Ithaca, door to door. It was a tremendous undertaking, and we are forever grateful to him. Chivalry is not dead!

It felt like a whirlwind, saying goodbye to people and places, and packing and planning. But before we knew it was time for us to leave. The task ahead was not made any easier by starting out on a 40 hour trip with only 2 hours of sleep. But we were off nonetheless.

The taxi was packed and waiting. Our friend and neighbor Abi and her son Felix saw us off.
Saying goodbye to Shami was very hard.

Shami spent as much time with Oliver as he could, and worried that Oliver would forget who he was.

Our United Airlines 747 taxis away from the gate. (Shami says: And in the foreground, the new Airbus A380 in Qantas colors.)

On the long flight from Sydney to LA we got lucky with bulkhead seats and a bassinet. Oliver barely fit, but I made a little nest for him, and to my relief he was actually able to sleep off and on for a portion of the flight, giving our arms a bit of a rest. And finally, we made it to California!

Our flight out of LA wasn't until evening, so we booked into a hotel room to regroup, clean up, wash feeding tubes, and rest as best as we could.

Fernando, Bag Rambo! Don't mess with him, he'll carry all your bags whether you like it or not!
Oliver enjoyed spreading out and watching his favorite Wiggles DVD.

We had two more flights to go. From LA to Philadelphia, and then on to Ithaca. It was not easy... and I won't even go into the problems we encountered with the airlines losing our luggage in LA. I kept reminding myself that every minute that passed brought us one minute closer to Ithaca. And finally we arrived!

Ithaca was very COLD. When we stepped off the plane onto the tarmac the temperature was 7°F (-14°C), and the wind whipped icy snow in our faces. But it felt so good to be home, I didn't mind.

It was wonderful to have my family greet us at the airport.

Ollie on the drive home, looking out at the snow and wondering what happened to the sun and the Iron Cove Bridge.

Ollie and Mum in front of our new house, "The Garage Mahal."
And finally, Ollie asleep in his new crib. What a long trip...

Memories of a year ago

One year ago today, we were standing in the Syracuse, NY airport with all our luggage, waiting to fly to Sydney for the very first time.

Ah, memories!

An early Christmas?

We've now spent over a month and a half in our new apartment at Rozelle, and we've managed rather well with just what we squeezed into the five suitcases we brought on the plane with us. But we've been waiting anxiously for the stuff we shipped from Ithaca by surface mail almost three months ago, even as our memory of what we packed in those boxes faded away.

So it was a real surprise and quite an exciting turn of events when ten of our boxes finally showed up at our door. Opening each box and rediscovering all the things we'd packed away in early August felt like an early Christmas!

Of course, now we need dressers, and shelves, and more storage space...

Down Under

The lights of Sydney at dawn, as our flight comes in to land...


We were met at the airport by Sam, our extremely helpful relocation consultant. Here's Meghan heading to the car.


Unpacking in our temporary apartment. For the first month, we have a small, furnished one-bedroom place in Kirribilli, across the harbour (we have to learn British spellings again) from the Sydney central business district.


Our living room, right after the cable guy brought us our wireless internet receiver (on the window sill). In a confusing reversal of the usual situation, this box connects to the internet through a long-range radio signal, and provides us broadband access through an ethernet cable.

Bon Voyage

Farewell dinner at Sean and Jeanine's place.


Lined up at Caitlin's just before we leave for the airport.


Checking in for the flight at Syracuse with all our bags. Notice Shami catching up on his sleep after a long, sleepless night of packing and cleaning.


We had an uneventful flight, with layovers at Pittsburgh and San Francisco, although the dubious terror alerts meant that we could not carry on water or hand cream. Anyhow, here is Meghan at dinner in the San Francisco airport, posing with Mitty (?) the koala bear.

Packing and shipping

It was a massive job, but with a lot of help from family and a few sleepless nights, it finally got done...

Da taking out boxes to ship.


Ma undertakes last minute clothing repairs amongst the chaos of packing.


Notice Meghan having a really bad hair day!


Rows of bins, labelled and stacked in the basement.


Dinner on the floor after packing away all the furniture.

Out with the old

A minivan-load of stuff, off to recycle...