The Emirates giant came down gently on Brisbane soil and we swept through customs and passports in about 20 minutes. In another 20 we were home – it is 7 am. Time for a cup of coffee and a shower and Gill is picking me up to take me to the Sunshine Coast to Celia’s new home on the water. It’s lovely to be back and among my bookgroup women and we discuss the works of David Malouf who has died recently, and specifically “An Imaginary Life”. This one was a difficult one to concentrate on but at the end of it he ( Ovid, we think) gains his freedom and finds his joy.

I find mine also among good friends, a view of the water, and the gentle sunshine on the deck which tries to catch us but we run away from it in the nicest possible way.

We pick some produce from the garden which has survived but is full of weeds. I see my work cut out for me for the whole week. The neighbour, and my cat Boney are still alive. I make a pasta with pesto, artichokes and green olives. I turn off my light after a long day and hear the reassuring patter of my possums on the tin roof. The fruit apero bar will be open for them tomorrow night and I await my birds. Will they appear I wonder?