The ides of March came and went and unlike Julius Caesar I survived, and it was also my one year anniversary of returning to Australia. I had flown back from Shanghai and arrived in the wee hours of the morning escaping the onslaught of Covid.

The journey from my home in Suzhou to Armidale was long and quite the adventure. I was sad to leave China after being there for four years and I really did not want to return to my old way of life. I had hoped to be travelling to Jordan, Egypt and a few other exotic places rather than Australia.

Catherine and Stuart put me up for three months before I could get back up to Queensland due to the state borders being closed. I had only planned to be there for about two weeks while I did my quarantine but the borders closed while I was there.

The three months passed and I returned to Queensland where I was met by my friend Peter who had offered me the ground floor of his two-storey house, I was able to live here for about two months until my house became available.

I remember the feeling well when I finally entered my empty house; it was one of failure and sadness. Failure because this is was not where I wanted to be, but then things were out of my control and I really had no choice but I still felt I had failed in some way.

Sad; because of the way my house and garden looked……….I also felt a bit guilty that I betrayed my home in some weird way by letting parasites live there and slowly work their magic to mark walls, carpets and to destroy the garden. Even after being there for months I still come across minor damage and marks, which I get very angry about, but what can I do.

The jobs around the house have been keeping me busy and for the first four months, I eased myself back into my previous lifestyle. Apart from the house and garden, I enjoyed getting out for bush walks and rides on the bike once more, two benefits of being back.

I had no plans to get a job but I had signed on the brew and the government told me I had to apply for 8 jobs a month and that was easier said than done. I could not believe it when I got a job offer. Even on the eve of my start date, I was still contemplating whether I would turn up.

I did and I have been here for nearly four months and it’s not bad although I would rather be home. Oh and it is nice to have a few more dollars in me pocket.

I’m on a short-term contract which finishes in November and the plan is to once again pack my bags and head of into the wild blue yonder but the world is in a hell of a state at the moment so it might be next year or even later before that comes to fruition.

So, after one year I have slowly adjusted to life as I knew it and for the most part its fine. I am able to rekindle old relationships and avoid some as well. Go back to my public speaking, drive my car, which I really missed while away and working around the house and yard is not a chore anymore.

Mind you sometimes, I feel my age. After digging in the garden the other day my body was sore from top to bottom and I just wanted to eat pizza and lie on the couch, although I did not.

Change, adapt and enjoy, it is a way of life.