After my wonderful week with the Wilsons, my dear friend Wes (of Smoky Mtn section fame) picked me up in Abingdon and drove me back to Tennessee for one last night in Knoxville with him and his lovely wife Marian before my flight back to Australia for treatment.

One thing I have really missed on the trail is being surrounded by kiddlywinks, so I was super excited to meet some of Wes and Marian’s family, including baby James and little Landry here, whose concern for ‘Ms Lou’s booboo’ was reflective of the kind sentiments I have received about my broken wrist from everyone I’ve met, up and down the trail.

The flight back to Australia was definitely made easier by the option of upgrading to comfort seating, whereby for an additional fee I was given a whole row to myself. 

I changed planes in Sydney for the domestic flight to Tasmania and then again in Melbourne, because what’s one more flight between friends? My Aunty Loll was on the last leg with me, seated just one row away and my parents and Mum’s other sister Trish met me at the airport and we all had lunch together on arrival.

I was home, showered (very challenging with broken wrist) and at the hospital by 4:00, where they realigned the bone (which hurt far more than the original accident) & put me in a cast. 

The bill for my time in hospital in the U.S. arrived at Wes’s yesterday so he has forwarded it to me and when it arrives I’ll follow up with the insurance company. Fun stuff…

In other news (where stuff really is fun), Mum and her sisters had planned a couple of nights in Stanley (which was their Dad’s name) to celebrate what would have been their Mum’s 100th bday on the 19th of May.

So I was able to join them for their midweek weekend away. I’m not sure you’ve ever heard four women (three of whom sound identical) laugh so much in such a short space of time. 

Much coffee, wine, chocolate and delicious food was consumed and I gave a one armed lesson on how to poach the perfect egg (i.e. I supervised). 

We climbed the Nut, visited a photographic exhibition of the local area and explored Stanley’s historic streets and buildings.

Our accommodation, called ‘Not Quite At The Beach’ was really sweet, with ridiculously comfortable beds.

After I get all the documents off to my insurance company we will be heading up to Mum and Dad’s shack in the Central Highlands, where there is the possibility of deer and snow. 

Life’s pretty good. Wrist has seen better days but is on the mend.

Hoping to catch up with all the Tassie folk while I’m down here. Then the same in Sydney and the Blue Mountains. Aiming to be back on the trail by early July.