Chapter 11 - The Travelling years Part 1

Before I start writing this chapter, I just have to tell you where I am writing it. I am on a jetty, alone, on a deserted island off Langkawi, off the south west coast of Malaysia. I am surrounded by the most stunning natural beauty, aqua blue sea and lush green mountains. What am I doing here? The perks of my job. Am I enjoying it? Yes of course, but not as much as I should because my family aren't here with me. An experience alone doesn't make for half an experience shared.

Anyway, back to 1990. College complete and another happy era over. I really loved life, I always have. I remember thinking at one point, why couldn't cancer happen to someone who didn't love life quite as much. How ridiculous!

So at some point during college, I decided that I wanted to travel the world. Initially my friend Sian was planning on joining me but something changed. During college, someone had introduced me to Dawn Charles. Dawn, my travelling companion and dear friend today. Much to her parents dismay, she decided that she wanted to go travelling with me. I worked at Uncle Jerrys law firm for 6 months, putting every penny away that I could to save for this adventure. I remember I saved enough for a flight and about £2000 spending money- I think? I'm sure Mum and Dad and Nan and Grandad would have been responsible for some of that.

I remember the Group that waved us off. My Mum, Dad, Nan, Grandad (who cried), Uncle Jerry, Sian and Black (one of the Cuffley Boys). I think we were pretty brave at the age of 18yrs old. I know lots of students do it now but in an age of Digital immigrants, there wasn't any technology that was going to keep us in contact. No mobile phones, let alone the Internet or Skype!

We bought the cheapest ticket we could find. Five airports and two days later we arrived.

I have to give credit to my parents for supporting this decision. They got a telephone call every 2-3 weeks depending on how flush I was. And frequent letters. I used to really enjoy writing them. I think Mum still has some. I cannot even imagine a world where I did not know where Indyana was and that she was OK for a day, let alone weeks. We started our journey safely, staying at my Uncle Eric and Aunt Rose. My dads eldest brother and his wife emigrated long before I was born. Their house was very grand and full of antiques. They were so kind to us, taking us to the top sightseeing places. First stop? The set of Neighbours! We even got to see some filming in action. We went to a beach where literally thousands of penguins emerge from the sea to hibernate. Or mate? I never was very good at general knowledge. I remember loving it though. This was a lovely period of feeling safe to set us up for our big adventure on our own.I have seen Eric and Rose several times since over the years, and I have a real soft spot for them. They have good hearts.

We flew to Sydney and it was love at first sight. I ended up staying in Australia for just over 2 years - my poor parents. And I met some of the gang who are my best friends today. What a beautiful country it is. Absolutely vast with the most amazing beaches, wildlife and natural scenery. The australians work to live, rather than the other way round. It really is the great outdoors- barbecues on the beach really do happen. And it has an amazing party scene as we were to discover.

We got work pretty easily and some really funny jobs to support our travels. We stayed in Sydney for a while and then took off on our travels up the east coast, a well known track for the backpacking scene. The jobs as I remember them, in order of bizarreness:

1. Do you remember the 'snide' perfume stalls that set up on the corner of the street right? They were common in the 80's. There is always a look-out person, who has the responsibility of making sure no coppers were about. And then there is the person in the crowd who gets the crowd going. That was me. I simply had to stand in the crowd and pretend to buy some perfume. ' I'll have one please mate.' The idea being that other punters would follow in my footsteps. I then hid round the corner until a new crowd had formed and came back to repeat the exercise. I knew all my acting training would come in handy. I got paid $50 for the day. Not bad money that, back then.

2. I worked at a Dionne Warwick pop concert, as a cleaner. I had a long instrument that allowed me to pick up all the ciggie butts in the stands.

3. Dawn and I started our own enterprise, selling fruit on the beach. We bought a big polystyrene cooler, chopped up a variety of fruits and headed off to Surfers Paradise beach with ambitious profit targets. We had sold one slice of melon when our cooler collapsed and all the fruit landed in the sand.

4. I sold stretchy paint door to door, until an Alsatian scared the living day lights out of me. I wasn't good at this job anyway, I am not great at selling or bullshitting.

It was these little life experiences that ultimately I remember with such immense pleasure. They bring a smile to my face every time I think of them.

Our travels up the East coast were brilliant. It was a really safe back packing trail where we quickly hooked up with familiar faces at each stop. Byron Bay, Surfers Paradise, Airlie Beach, Whitsunday Islands, Cairns . At such a young age, we were experiencing such beauty. My passion for travel started then and has only got stronger over the years. We spent a couple of months and soaked up every wonderful moment. We met 2 girls called Lise and Jane, who we did much of the route with. I'm friends with Jane on Facebook now and she seems as lovely now as she was then. Every now and then, Mum would send me a package and I would have to stop at one of the PO boxes to collect. It was like winning the lottery. She would pop a new top in, chocolates, tea bags and bits and pieces. I loved getting those packages!

Dawn and I developed a really close friendship. We looked after each other and were each others family really. There was an amazing sense of belonging in this crowd. We all had a common spirit and everyone was so spirited and friendly. Dawn has always been pretty sensible but with that, she has a great sense of humour and a quirky personality. She also had her mad moments. Don't forget our trip to Thailand Dawn! Those memories are just for the two of us eh!

When we got back to Sydney, we rented a flat in Bondi Beach. A very famous, semi- circular alcove of a beach. I don't know what made this place so special but it was. I loved it there. We both got jobs that would pay the rent and let us have a good time. I worked in the Grand Cafe on Bondi Beach. Another girl called Lisa worked there and we hit it off. She lived with her boyfriend and a couple of lads they had met called Jim and Chris. Jim had asked me out on a date. I was pretty shy when it came to boys, but I decided he seemed nice. He was from Harrow and was a printer. We slowly started seeing each other but it wasn't very serious. Initially he was more into me and then when I decided I liked him, it had started to dwindle. Though I do remember him as my first boyfriend.

One of Jims friends was a really outgoing guy called Clive. Dawn and Clive hit it off and were an item for the whole time we were there. That was cool because by now, we had a big crowd and we would always hang out together. We laughed so much for two years. (Dawn has been happily married to the very lovely Vas for years now and they have 3 gorgeous kids. She recently set up her own business in North London, 'The Little Teapot.' I feel very proud of her).

We all got into the rave scene in Sydney. It was huge at the time. Late starts and late finishes- I'm not sure how we all done it. We used to look forward to these parties so much. We would dance all night and it bought us all close together as an extended family.

At some point, Dawn and I just hopped on a plane to Thailand and we stayed there for about 6 weeks, just having fun. When we returned to Australia, after about a year or so having been there, Dawn decided she was ready to go home. It was a sad farewell. We had had an amazing time together and memories that will last with us for our lifetime. We do not see each other as often as we should these days just because of our busy lives, but we have a bond and connection forever etched in our hearts.

I really need to introduce you to two more special people at this time. I don't remember the first time we met, no doubt it was at 'The Bondi Hotel' where all the British hung out. Tracey Cummings as she was then. A tall, slim, funny girl with a big mop of gorgeous brown ringlets. My first memory of Tracey is just thinking how nice she was, how she loved a chat and how I could easily imagine being friends with her. Our friendship blossomed until we slowly became inseparable. We ended up living and working together. Tracey was the first person I told when Paul proposed, the first I told when I fell pregnant and one of my friends that probably best understood what I went through. I am godmother to her first son Keiron. I made a lifelong friend and dare I say, my best.

Now the next story is hilarious but sounds rather 'suspect' so you need to know this is the whole truth. Clive had started to work at a brothel and strip bar in the seedy Kings Cross area of Sydney.

It was every young boys dream job. All he had to do was put the music cassette into the tape recorder and press play, whilst the dancing began. He then had to follow the girls with a torch providing their spotlight. And he got paid to do it! So, he knew that the establishment needed waitresses and a cashier and recommended Tracey and I. Off we went to our interview and got the job. Tracey got the raw deal, as she had to work downstairs in the middle of the action, serving drinks to all the punters. Neither of us ever felt unsafe and indeed were not propositioned. there were clear rules in place. One day though, she had had enough of the seediness and decided to find another job. I on the other hand, was onto too much of a good thing. I sat upstairs in the booth. My jobs included;

1. Talking the $12 entrance fee from the punters.
2. Keeping a record of the private jobs from the girls downstairs. The girls would have to come up, and report to me the nature of the job. Depending on the allocated time, I would be responsible for time keeping and buzzing their room to let them know time was up.
3. Doing the accounts at the end of the night. I seem to recall the girls got about 50% of the total income.

To this day, I can picture those girls. Candy was European and stunning. Then there was Ginger, who I think was a heroin addict and then lots of Asian girls. Some had tragic stories, others fallen to drugs, but on the surface, these girls treated it like any other job. Anyway, one last story before we move on from EROS, (that was the name of the establishment).

One day, it got raided for illegal videos. The national news channel came

charging in. As I worked on reception, I was their first port of call. They threw a roving microphone over the booth and stuck a camera in my face. And proceeded to question me, ' what can you tell me about the illegal activities occurring here?' I stayed silent for ages. All I could think about was my Uncle Eric and Aunt Rose seeing the footage and telling Mum and Dad. Eventually, I responded. Picture this. I pointed my thumb back and forth at the till quoting 'I'm just a cashier.' And you can guess what's coming next right? Yes, that very footage was played out on the news all across Australia that evening. Well of course all my friends found this highly entertaining and again we had a giggle at The Bondi Hotel. I thought it best I tell Mum and Dad. You see, I really was a good girl and I cared deeply about worrying them. I played the story down of course but reassured them everything was OK. If I knew Indy was doing anything like that, I would be on the first flight out dragging her home. I think Mum and Dad have always trusted me. Suffice to say, this is one job I haven't put on my CV.

Another incredulous story but equally true. I was in The Bondi Hotel one night, and quite literally got in the middle of a fight. Two idiots had a punch up and one of the fists reached my jaw by mistake. Given that I'd had a few drinks, I thought it was fine and carried on partying. When I awoke in the morning, my face had doubled in size. I went to the local shop to get some painkillers and by some stroke of fate, a dental nurse was in the queue. She asked what had happened, and when I explained, I didn't have any medical insurance, she offered the services of her practise for free. It transpired that I had broken my jaw in 2 places. So a month of puréed baby food later, I healed. Again, my poor Mum and Dad discovered this whilst on holiday. God knows how I must have spoilt that trip for them. It's funny though how fate or someone or something steps in sometimes to help.

Reading this, It's hard to believe that I went on to build a successful professional career!

So, my next introduction. Please meet Leeanne Richards. Again, I don't remember how we met but I can tell you, she became a good friend in Sydney and has been an amazing friend since. Leeanne was and is such great company. She is funny, kind, generous, gorgeous and so easy to love. We had so many good times and she ended up living with Tracey and I too. I am not going to tell the story in this blog but Leeanne will remember the 'Dog impersonation ' early morning activity in Bondi. Leeanne was persistent and dogged in her support for me during treatment. She didn't care that I wasn't responding to any calls or texts or support. She just carried on reaching out to me and it meant a lot. I knew she cared even though I couldn't be a friend at that moment. We have shared so many amazing times together since and I hope to be able to share of them later.

Another dear friend that I met in Australia is Tanya. When she arrived, I remember thinking just how pretty she was. Tanya is so genuine. she says it as it is. I remember her posting Lance Armstrongs autobiography when I was diagnosed. His story of survival. That is what made his downfall so sad to me. Anyway, that was Tanyas way of giving me hope. I always felt she cared. Paul, Indy and I go on holiday every year with Tanya and her lovel husband Mark and their two girls. We have just got back from Antiqua and are plotting our next holiday.   

Eventually, after 2 years, I was ready to come home. I had the most wonderful experience, met some lifelong fiends and grew up just a little. Tracey and I travelled home together, via Thailand and one Christopher Biggins outfit later (that's for you trace), arrived in Heathrow. My buddy Dawn picked me up, as I was surprising Mum and Dad and Keely. I rocked up to 23 Doveridge Gardens, Palmers Green, one Wednesday evening looking slightly worse for wear.

' Hi, I'm home.'

It felt so good to be back with my loving family. There were tears of happiness all round. I had returned. But for how long?