I’ve been traveling throughout Australia for the past few weeks in full-on people mode. Even though I scored at the very top of the “E” (extrovert) scale on my Meyers Briggs test there comes a time when I’ve well and truly had enough of interacting and crave a bit of “down” time. I’ve reached that point and am excited to have a couple of days alone diving on the great barrier reef. That’s the ultimate “down” time…down under the surface of the ocean.
I find myself in the familiar setting of a Hilton Executive Club – a world I know quite well. Admittedly American, I feel at home in these hotels no matter where I find myself on this little blue ball we call home. I’ve just witnessed another incredible sunset in a land where one writer said “everything kills you.”* Even now I’ve just paused to film a seemingly unending parade of “flying foxes” – gigantic fruit bats. I must admit I love the way this country mixes friendly with ominous…familiar with fascinating.
Tonight the club is about half empty; a mix of Australian and American accents joining in the low chorus, when a matronly woman of indiscriminate age walks in. She could be 60. She could be 80. She is refined and knows the manager, Gemma, well. I wonder if she lives in the hotel – not something you see outside major cities like New York.
Gemma puts her other work aside to attend to the woman. She asks if she would like to listen to her favorite CD and proceeds to put it on. Evidently this woman, Swiss as it turns out, comes in every evening at dusk to watch the bats and listen to Il Divo, pop music sung by operatic baritones and tenors. The whole experience was…well fascinating. I lingered there for two hours soaking it all in and just wanted to share a bit of it with you here.
*Bill Bryson – “In A Sunburned Country”