AUSTRALIA IN JANUARY

Eat your hearts out Snow-Birds! It may be, it could be "AUSTRALIA IN JANUARY!"

Face it Facebook fans! Down Under can be tops in January. Not only is January "Jordan's Month in Boston, the Great Escape to Australia may happen as I've been there 3 times. Sydney, Melbourne, Cairns, Canberra and a transfer in Darwin. I know the way.

The seasons are Upside Down in the Land of Oz. Charlene Whitman did Australia 30 years ago with her late husband, Ralph. I know as I have a sheepskin hat I traded them for Red Sox tickets! LOL Seriously though, my inculcation with Australians came when I was a soldier. For one year my Mates guided me in the way of a land 10,000 miles away. In 1990 I treated my Seton Hall men and Gram Rita to an incredible trek to Sydney by way of Jay Leno and Freda Payne and her Band of Gold. LA was fine and the 14 hour trip from Sydney was clouded by some jerk smoking in the seat in front of me. Today it's different.

In 1998 Old Bob modified my trip by going from NYC to Hong Kong then to Vietnam for 9 days then onto Australia. I was gone for almost a month. I made a mistake in taking way too many clothes and shoes. At JFK I began shedding clothing. I gave my wool blazer to a Porter.. he said 'The Lord Will Bless You!" By the time I arrived in Australia I mailed by boar shoes, etc. TRAVEL LIGHTLY!

My Exten

ded Far East Trip was great. I cannot say enough good about CATHAY PACIFIC! Awesome aircraft. State of the art. All my bookings were with Spencer Travel. Hong Kong was my first stop...Holiday Inn for 3 nights. Awesome Baby. Fast, Fast, Fast....not Half-Fast.. like you know who! LOL. Onto Vietnam for 9 days. ANH (my cyclo peddler) and the World something hotel. Awesome Baby. Onto Sydney.

I lost a great friend and brother, Rod Bryar last year. Rod was worldly and I thought someday he might make it big like Paul McCartney. Not so. I lost touch with Rod for decades and as luck would have it, in 1990, I let my fingers do the walking in the Yellow Pages from a phone booth in Sydney. AMAZING! Matilda, his widow, returned to my good company in 1997.. here at Birch Hill. For a week the Australian Due were given my red carpet. We went to Salem then down to visit Ben in CT on the  Waterford Shoreline.

We" HAD FUN IN THE SUN" a promotional clip Rod wrote years ago. He wrote a book The Outer Edges of Fame two years before he died. we SKYPED every two weeks for years and Rod gave me insights on his Mother Country few Americans might know and understand.

 Sure, the Australians speak differently. Rolfe Harris' song "Tie Me Kangaroo Down" is a great synopsis in understanding Australia. Conversely, Rod and Mattie were thrilled to see squirrels bee-bopping around on Boston Common as they departed. Don't be intimidated by the Aussies.. they love Americans!

In 1998 I took a Greyhound from Sydney to the Great Barrier Reef country in Cairns. I lived with John and Gayle Anthony for a week as Rod had just moved into his River Front Farm in Kaih NSW.

Today, Daniel Stevens, Rod's son is achieving with his toddler and wife.

The bottom like to this blog entry is: Do not look for the cheapest fare...CATHAY PACIFIC IS THE BEST.. A trip Down Under will be TOPS. As Father Bosken advised me 'Bob, GO FOR IT!' we only life once!

The Advisor of Trips

Col. Robert L. Potvin
Peripatetic in Every Respect
Appraiser/Auctioneer
AU 2000
West Brookfield, MA