When we bid Farewell from McLaren Vale back in January, the four of us thought Australia would be our home for the foreseeable future. Lisa and I had talked about moving to Australia for our kids’ schooling since before we were married more than 17 years ago. It was just part of the plan: the States for the kids’ primary/elementary schooling and then Australia for secondary/high school. Equal parts of their school lives with each set of grandparents.
The last six months in Australia were filled with some wonderful experiences for us all: catching up with lifelong friends, lots of time with family, magic beach days swimming and fishing on Adelaide’s mid coast, working a vintage in McLaren Vale for Lisa, and plenty of exploring a city that Lisa and I really hadn’t lived in since we were studying at university. We even managed a trip to the edge of The Outback with the kids over Easter, and a fabulous ANZAC Day long weekend trip to Robe. A memorable and amazing period of our lives, a period about which we have absolutely no regrets. Reflecting back on this master plan, however, I think Adelaide was frozen in time for us to a degree, somewhere we enjoyed living at Saint Mark’s College but really hadn’t experienced – other that fun-filled holidays – for more than 20 years. And although we – me in particular – left Australia in 2000 with very strong connections to the Land Down Under, after living in California for more than 20 years something I think we underestimated as part of this move was leaving the community we’d built in Sonoma County and our lifestyle back in California.
As we tried to put down roots and make a life for ourselves in the greater Adelaide region the pull back to California never really left us alone, as much as we tried to suppress it. And although I’m sure we could have settled into life in Australia eventually, an opportunity for Lisa to take on a senior winemaking role back in Sonoma County that came out of left field earlier this month seemed like a nudge from across the Pacific when a lot of things weren’t falling into place Down Under. I think I’ll always wonder what could have been, as our move back is something that’d been in my head since I left to work for Cypress Semiconductor “for a few years” when I was 21. The thought of taking Lilia and Max away from their Aussie grandparents will always be something that makes me sad, as it was our intention for Jenni and John to be able to enjoy their grandchildren during their teen years via something other than FaceTime and the occasional visit. Nothing can replace casual grandmother/granddaughter shopping adventures after school, snorkeling on the Port Noarlunga reef with Steve, or trips to see Port Power play at Adelaide Oval with Pops John. As the age old adage goes: life is what happens to you when you’re making other plans…
The decision to uproot ourselves (again) and head back to California happened very quickly. Lisa’s job offer came through on July 9, with a request to be back in California to start rolling on August 8 in time for the California vintage. The dates coincided with me needing to set foot back on US soil by July 26 to keep my green card active, exactly one year after we flew off to Paris for the start of our six month European tour. And it also lined up with the start of the school year in California. So on July 24 we bid a tearful and emotion-filled farewell to Pops John (Granny Jenni and Steve had set off on a trip to Greece a few days prior) and hopped on a plane bound for Melbourne. We managed to find the larger-than-life photo of Lisa piloting The Tank on the Dampier Peninsula in Melbourne’s Jetstar terminal during our layover (photo below). And then it was off to Honolulu, one last beachside adventure before life back in the Golden State.
Although Honolulu’s Waikiki is very much the Vegas Strip of the Pacific, it was an excellent spot to spend 28 hours as we headed west. We basically spent the entire day people walking along various portions of Waikiki, beginning the day at laid back Fort DeRussy where Max and I swam with a very friendly turtle near the outer edge of the barrier reef. The frozen banana “soft serve” from Banan at the eastern end of the Fort DeRussy is a hot weather treat that should not be missed, neither should the grilled meats from nearby Steak Shack.
We spent the afternoon in the thick of the crowds on the central portion of Waikiki, so many different accents, people from all walks of life. It wasn’t that hot but – as we discovered in Rome – the humidity made the heat impenetrable, we were all thankful at being able to cool off whenever we needed. The turtles swimming amongst the bathers along Waikiki were fun to watch, every now and then one of them popping up to take a breath amongst the crowds before submerging back to nibble on the ocean floor. Afternoon beachside cocktails at Koa Oasis capped off a memorable day, a good distraction from getting our heads around how things had unfolded. Next stop: San Francisco.
