We Meet ....

The arrival of 1999 saw a countdown clock set up near the town hall in Adelaide. (Remember back then we were all excited about the millenium?). Little did I know it was the start of a ghastly countdown for me.The trip to Kangaroo Island was done with fairly new tour company run by Tim and his Dutch wife, Bianca. Two nicer people you could not wish to meet. The group set out from Adelaide in the back of Tim's Landcruiser and caught the ferry across to the island. On the island, there was another person to join us for the tour. A German girl, Claudia Steiger joined the tour and hopped into the back of the LandCruiser with the rest of us. She was a bit shy, which was quite understandable given that all the rest of us stayed at the same place in Adelaide and we had already done a wine tour together - we all knew each other and she was the outsider. Her blond hair was bleached by the sun like a real surf chick. She wore a big white long-sleeved shirt that contrasted wonderfully with her deep tan. She had khaki shorts on and was wearing her hiking boots. As we all chatted and asked her the odd question, she wrapped her camera in her hat and then the camera strap went around the hat and then it all got unraveled again. I was captivated. I am sure that the others could see that there was a chemistry between us. It was this girl who did the heartiest thing to me. I fell in love with her. I thought that I had known love before, but this seemed different. It was so powerful and, from the start, just felt so right. We lived worlds apart, we spoke different languages, we had very different pasts, why would our conviction be so total.

It is impossible not to sound a bit of a drip while waxing lyrical about the love I have for Claudia, but don't give up on me. I am sure everyone has pondered elements of what I am describing and I know it is a bit toe-curling to hear someone else trying to describe it.

Kangaroo Island is a great place to spend a bit of time. There is so much to see; cliff walks and views, seal colonies, wildlife, secluded beaches and bays and more. The tour took in all of this and, in the process, Claudia and I became inseparable that day. We were camping and on the first night we rolled our swags out a little to one side and we chatted away into the night. She kept saying that she wasn't tired and couldn't sleep, but she later admitted, she just loved the talking. I had chopped about ten onions for the evening BBQ and as a result my hands were absolutely reeking of onion. She teased me about it (for years after too!), but that didn't stop us holding hands as we finally nodded off.