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second life
August 2009 
We're Back!
Posted on May 1st, 2008
by 
asecondlifediary
asecondlifediary
HALLELUJAH! WE'RE BACK!
Well my friends, the last you heard from us we had packed up our little island and sailed off into the sunset for our monumental "Meeting One Another In Real Life" ... We got back home from our lovely holiday in New Zealand about a week ago, and it's taken that long to get back to 'normal'.
Let me tell you what we've been up to:
First of all, there was such an intense feeling of "I know you!" when Cal and I met in real life for the first time. We'd exchanged a number of photos and have almost daily/nightly telephone calls (on Skype), so we felt entirely comfortable with one another when we laid eyes on one another at Melbourne Airport.
I can't speak for Cal, but for me, it was such a strong feeling of "coming home" when we hugged - a feeling of being complete and secure.
Then I discovered in the hurly-burly of meeting and greeting, getting bags, paying for the carpark etc., that I'd lost my wallet which had $500 (AUS) in it! Long story short - went back to airport, searched carpark, reported to authorities, they viewed video and saw my wallet on the ground and then it was surrounded by a crowd of people - crowd disappears - no wallet!
A week later, when Cal and I were at my holiday house in the mountains, what should arrive in the mail but my wallet - complete with $500!!!! I could have kissed the woman who found it. I've contacted her and am looking forward to taking her out for lunch so I can hug my wonderful saviour.
So ... back to our holiday.
We spent several days in my mountain retreat, introducing Cal to my friends; several of whom commented, "He's lovely! We didn't expect him to be so normal!" lol (Apparently the perception is that anyone who spends any time at all in Second Life must be weird). My house is in an alpine area, surrounded by snow mountains but has a beautiful crystal clear river at the back, with a rockpool and waterfall. So it's a fairly idyllic place.
We visited the magnificent Mount Buffalo (in north-east Victoria) and walked around the lake there and took a peek in the windows of the historic Mount Buffalo Chalet which is presently closed down. The old building is heated via a boiler and apparently is a bit too costly to run these days).
Then we spent several days down along the Great Ocean Road at Airey's Inlet and Lorne. We discovered THE most wonderful breakfast tearoom beside the Erskine River with such an extraordinary menu - right beside the bridge if you happen to be in the area.
For my birthday, Cal took us on a trip to New Zealand which was magnificent. Truly one of the most unique landscapes you're ever likely to encounter - incredible rolling hills, steep turrets of green, boiling thermal springs, beautiful beaches. No wonder "Lord of the Rings" production people used it for filming.
We took a tour through some glow worm caves and it was just like being in another world. Cal and I sat in the front of the tour rubber dingy going through the glow worm cave in total blackness (such that you couldn't see your hand directly in front of your face). As we glided through the cave, the dingy being secured on a guide rope, we could hear the sound of a waterfall in the distance. Our guide took us closer, closer, closer and ever closer and I must say that my heart started to pound so hard because I couldn't see a thing and I had no idea how close we were to the waterfall.
She'd told us that the cave dropped away and I imagined that we'd all be swept to our deaths. At last, the dingy came to a stop, and slowly, ever so slowly, we were guided back along the rope guideline. When we got some distance from the thundering waterfall, I asked our guide, "How close did we come to the waterfall?" and she replied, "Your feet were right over the top of it!"
Can you imagine!? Dangling over the top of a waterfall in a rubber dingy!!!!!!
Gradually, our eyes became accustomed to the dark, and she guided us back to the waterfall, which now presented itself as a tiny little six inch drop! LOL
If you ever do get to New Zealand, you REALLY must visit the Waitomo Caves. We did the Spellbound Tour, which takes you to the glow worm caves (in a rubber dingy) and the stalactite and stalagmite caves which are enthralling.
As if a trip to New Zealand wasn't enough of a birthday present, Cal also treated me to something I've always wanted to do - bungy jumping! Actually, it was a bungy swing, which was FABULOUS FUN! I had absolutely no fear as they belted me into my harness and explained what was going to happen. Still laughing and joking as they swung me over the 80 metre precipice, I COMPLETELY FORGOT that my 'swing' would first drop me 60 or 70 metres DOWN into the ravine, before it swung me out over the gorge. LOL
They opened the safety clasp and there was a god-almighty blood-curdling SCREAM as I plummetted down the ravine! FINALLY the rope caught and I swung out of view of the camera for I SWEAR a full minute as I swung to the full length of the bungy rope! It was soooooo much fun. After the initial shock of the drop, I just laughed and laughed and laughed until I had tears rolling down my cheeks.
If you have a yen to try it for yourself, check out Mokai (Gravity Canyon).
Next stop on our holiday of thrills was Rotarua with its thermal pools and boiling mud. We had planned to do the whole pool relaxation thing with a body massage, but ran out of time; opting instead for a place called (I think) Hell's Gate which offered a mud bath and lounging in one of their thermal pools.
We stripped naked and went into one of the private cubicles (located funnily enough right beside a busy highway), so as we happily slopped mud on each other's naked body, we were ever so aware of trucks thundering past about 20 feet away! lol They figure you will need a cold shower after that, suggested also as a way of lowering your body temperature before you hit the thermal pool.
So it was more shrieks and gasps as we "cooled our bodies down" and made our way to the sulphuric pools of water, boiled by nature. I enjoyed the experience, even though I did manage to get some of the water into my eyes (despite their warnings not to) and believe me, sulphur DOES sting!
Another beautiful spot on our tour was the lovely Lake Taupo, where we had a romantic dinner at one of the local Italian restaurants for my birthday. Cal presented me with a gorgeous little Lalique heart pendant, which I've worn hanging in my cleavage ever since.
Oh, I forgot to mention Wellington. Our hotel (City Life) is located a minute or so walk from the Cable Tram and we made several forays up the steep incline to visit a bird sanctuary (about 15 minutes walk from the top) or the gardens or, on one night, the restaurant at the top of the hill.
We also made a visit to the museum in town and learnt that Maoris have only occupied New Zealand for about 600 years (from my memory). Compare this to the 60,000 years that it is thought aborigines have occupied Australia.
All in all, the three weeks together were just wonderful. We have established that we do indeed want to make a life together, so we are now researching where we might live. At the moment it's looking like that will probably be Australia - maybe around the Bryon Bay area which is an ideal temperature and location.
But for now, there's a thunderstorm looming here as I write, so I'll say 'adieu' for now and let you know how things work out with our search for a new island to create our Intentional Community in SL.
Mia
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