Bed at 11:24 pm.
Alarm set for 3:40 am.
Yes, that is not much sleep.
But my bags had to be packed and repacked four times because today is Darwin Day.
On the flight, one of the cabin crew casually asked:
“Are you going home?”
Without hesitation I said:
“Yes.”
And then I felt the biggest smile spread across my face.
Suddenly I was explaining my plans—looking at properties, checking out training facilities, trying the famous Parap pool, finding gyms and swimming coaches.
And just like that, I realised:
I have a plan.
An hour from touchdown, my excitement was palpable.
Then the snacks arrived.
My automatic thought was:
“Oh, I can’t eat that. I’m an athlete.”
I didn't say it aloud. That would have been rude. Everyone else seemed perfectly happy with the beef mince pie. Clearly I was the only athlete on this flight. 😅
Instead, I found a stale mint in the bottom of my bag, told myself it wouldn’t hurt, drank my water and started wondering how I was going to get bottled water to the motel.
It has a harbour view.
I’ll tough it out and drink the tap water.
Three thousand miles to get here.
I’m doing it.
