Time is a funny thing. It’s all relative. In the few hours before I was to leave Mebourne for a 2 month stint with the Inidan Cricket League in India, I almost willed for every second to slow down. I tried to take in every moment with my wife Natlee and son Callum ad daughter Caitlin. Suddenly we’re having dinner and then approaching the airport on the Tullamarine freeway. I noticed that I was doing 80km/hr in a 100km/hr zone. Nat either didn’t noticeor just didn’t comment.
The time soon comes to say goodbye as we all stand outside the International Departure Terminal at Melbourne airport. Nat’s being strong as tears roll down her face. I hug the kids with a promise that “I will blow them kisses in the wind” – and just like the wind, they are gone and I am about to start a new challenge. In fact a new chapter in all of our lives.
I’ve got so much time after check in – and now the time goes so slowly. I am leaving at 1.15am and it has just gone 10pm. Luckily I get ‘goodbye’ calls from my sisters Jenene and Rosemary. And then I wander – looking at books and duty free items that I have got no intention of buying. And then I see Courtney Johns – a player from Essendon Football Club with whom I have worked for the past 5 years or so. He is travelling with his girlfriend Leah to Borneo. We will travel the first leg to Kuala Lumpur together.
Even though I had only been alone a couple of hours it was great to see a familiar face. It was just what I needed at the time actually! We had a glass of red and then we were off.
I had a sleeping tablet in my pocket just in case….. The fact is I never had time to think about it. I was so tired that I think I was asleep before the plane levelled out. Next thing I am being awoken for breakfst. I had slept the best part of 6 hours.
KL airport is dead at 6.30am. I say a quick goodbye to Johnsy and Leah as they head one way for their connection and I the other.
I can’t get a phone to accept my credit card so I am rapt when my “new technology” Sony computer picks up a wireless connection in the airprt and I can check emails and do a bit of last minute stuff. On the plane to Delhi the flight is only 4 1/2hours. They bring out some disgusting food – a little curry dish. I worry that this may be the best I am going to get for the next 2 months! Oh well, I need to lose a few kilos…
Pretty straight forward once I landed in Delhi. Collect the bags. Grab a taxi to the domstic airport. Check in again. More waiting. And then off to Chandigarh in the north of India. I am met by a driver at the airport and taken to the hotel – Mountview. A comfortable hotel with wirelss access and all of the things that you would expect in a good hotel.
It’s been a very long day – about 22 hours now – and I am tired. I try to get things set up as best as I can. I make a few calls on skype – one of last centuries best inventions and then I go for a bit of a walk and look around. By 8.30pm I have had enough. It is, after all, past midnight in Australia and tomorrow I start my new role with the Dhaka Warriors. Who knows what tomorrow will bring but that is one of the reasons I am here. It is time to say hello to a new challenge….
