Luxe, I think not!

The Ragtag Daily Prompt today is Posh, meaning high end.  Interesting to note the word comes from Romani language, too.  I didn’t know this before!  It makes my post today more meaningful to me.

A few months ago I had an unexpected wake up call regarding my health.  It made me reassess my life and priorities.  I realised we work towards a future, forgetting about ‘the now’.  As I waited for my results (by the way were all clear), I did not want to share my concerns with my colleague, so I enjoyed the trip as if it was my last one.  It made me savour every moment.  I travelled light.

As it turned out over dinner we talked about books and she recommended Paul Kalanithi’s ‘When Breath Became Air’.  I found the book in the airport bookshop on the following trip and started to read it during the flight.  As I turned the pages, the fragility of life as I know it, felt palpable in my hands.  I promised myself the words, “….some day …” would not be part of my vocabulary unless I made active plans for that day to eventuate.  I came back from my trip and booked a short trip to the Coral Coast.

I fly over the Coral Coast in Western Australia, look down on the stunning seascape and yearn to visit, “some day” and most of all, the tiny airport in Shark Bay is where I wanted to disembark.  Now I’ve heard others who choose to fly Etihad and gush about the luxury of Dubai Airport.  Not me.  I wanted to experience disembarking at Shark Bay airport.There is just a cyclone fence that separates the tarmac from the airport.  I’ve been on flights where the co-pilot stepped out and helped unload the luggage.  Everyone here is, “mate”.  Give me this over luxury any day!This is the arrival lounge.  It is quite possible there was a water bottle dispenser nearby, and some toilets, but that was it.Arrival/Departure lounge. That’s it!

To say this is a tin shed is adding glamour to the structure.  Posh, it is not! But, I wouldn’t want to see this changed for the world.  I love this airport!

At the airport I met another passenger who was travelling to the same hotel as me so we started chatting as we waited for the car to pick us up.  She was from New Mexico and doing a quick tour of Western Australia.  I was impressed with her ingenuity of researching the areas she wanted to visit.  She had avoided the big tourist icons in Sydney and Melbourne to visit the lesser known in the other side of the world. I, on the other hand, had heard about Shell Beach and the dolphins at Monkey Mia but never found the time to visit.  To be in the same place at the same time was a logistically challenging exercise for both of us.  But, we, two gypsies at heart, found ourselves here and determined to enjoy the experience.  Unfortunately the high winds forced the cancellation of her dive tour, and as I had hired a car, we shared the cost and did some sightseeing together.

I left Shark Bay after a brief break feeling I had been on a month’s holiday.  It is a 8-10 hour drive from my home in the city.  Next time I’m determined to drive up here.  My schedule will just have to accommodate that “some day”.

Until next time

As always

a dawn bird