Today, when it started as a sunny day I started the washer as soon as I made it downstairs. With no clothes dryer, we have to take advantage of sunny days if we prefer to leave here with entirely clean clothes.
Generally, our individual clothing suitcases (one each) weigh about the same. This time, we plan to be completely packed, able to weigh our bags by Wednesday, and pay for any excess online.
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| On Friday morning, Trish and Neil gathered the alpacas in the smaller mating paddock. Some needed injections to keep them healthy and Neil, a physician, can easily handle this process without calling the vet. |
We’re flying on Emirates Airline, our favorite airline to date. Their baggage allowance for one “free” bag each is 30 kg., 66 pounds. This helps us tremendously on the flight from Auckland to Sydney this coming Friday. Emirates provides a 10% discount if excess baggage is paid in advance online. Many other airlines don’t offer ‘free” checked bags.
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| They all look on as others got their injections. |
When the upcoming cruise ends on April 30th, we’ll fly from Singapore to Bali on Jetstar Asia. They too have a “free ” allowance for one 20 kg, 44 pounds, checked bag. In this case, we’ll have considerable excess baggage fees and reorganizing our stuff the night before the cruise ends.
In both cases, we’ll have to pay extra for the third bag (between us) that contains shoes, toiletries, powers cords, business cards, and medical supplies.
Sure, it would be great not to have a third bag, but as often as I go through that bag there is nothing we can eliminate. After all, our bags contain every physical possession, we own and duh, we don’t have anywhere we call “home” to regroup and repack, unlike most other travelers.
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| Finally, they were done and releases the alpacas into the paddock. |
We always get a kick out of seeing cruise passengers with more luggage than us. That used to be us in our old lives on the few occasions we traveled over the years – way too many heavy bags. As we’ve learned in our travels, at times, it’s a painful and expensive lesson.
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| Through the glass at the kitchen window, sleeping while standing. |
Now, we accept the reality that what we have is what we have. Eliminating many items isn’t practical when many countries don’t have what we’d need to purchase to replace certain items during a short-term stay.
Trish and Neil left for their three-week holiday in South Africa on a 17-hour flight on Friday. Early that morning they moved 47 of over 100 alpacas to our yard now that the grass has regrown. Also, they wanted us to have one more amazing week to interact with them.
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| Being an alpaca mom is an exhausting job and many naps on occasion during the day. The adult alpacas are tagged through their ears. The cria (newest babies) wear collars with nag tags until they later receive their permanent tags. It’s imperative to tag them for health and mating reasons. |
A local woman they employ as a farm helper stops by a few times a day to add the extra nutrients the alpacas need, lined up in colorful bowls along the inside of the fence of the paddock. It’s hysterical to watch their enthusiasm when they see her coming with the bowls as they hover in one massive group close to the fence.
Today, our two videos include one; when Trish and Neil walked them up to our driveway, and two; as they entered the paddock outside our back door. Have a look!
They’re funny and so adorable.
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| Most afternoons many will rest at the side of our house. On sunny days most will sit in this location with shade, providing a break from the heat of the sun. |
Since they arrived in the yard, we’ve spent hours outdoors watching their playful antics, treasuring every moment knowing soon we’ll say goodbye. Last night only minutes before dark, the antics of the young ones running and leaping through the air, left us laughing again and again.
Now, it’s time to stop “playing” and get “down to business” with laundry, packing, scanning receipts, and reorganizing the house to put everything back in its place. We always attempt to leave the property as tidy as it was when we arrived.
May your day be productive as well!
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| Although Hawaii may not be the perfect climate for cactus to proliferate, many varieties of cactus seem to thrive as this has that I spotted on the tour of the Princeville Botanical Garden. For more photos, please click here. |