April 2024
Hello everyone,
Oops!
Our April letter is a day late ... maybe it's a consequence of the time difference: this month, we flew out of Auckland on a Thursday evening, and the next day - also Thursday evening! - we flew to Paris from Tahiti... go figure! . Maybe it's April Fools' Day's fault, but here it is.
So, last few weeks in Australia. I left the Great Sandy Strait marina - whose manager is now wearing the same very stylish shorts as I am - to take the boat along the course of a small river, the Bilbie River. Francette didn't accompany me, as the area is notorious for its sand flies, the equivalent of Tahitian nonos or Caribbean yenyens: tiny insects that had inflicted hundreds of itchy bites on her the previous week. On this tranquil river, we hoisted the boat into a small pond in the garden of an Australian who loves France (he owns a river boat and sails the Burgundy and Centre canals several months a year). This is where Banana Split will be waiting for me until the end of the year.
Two days in Brisbane, time to say hello to the koalas and kangaroos at Lone Pine Sanctuary, with my eldest son's family, and to appreciate the Botanical Gardens and futuristic buildings of this magnificent city. Then a short stopover in Auckland, to introduce Francette to Waiheke Island, reached by ferry from Auckland, where she visited vineyards and olive orchards, and tasted the local oil, one of the most famous in the world. You can also try some oysters in the peaceful village of Oneroa.
Then 24 hours in Tahiti, enjoying the magnificent view from Bernard and Doudou's terrace, time to meet my other son Teiki, and many hours flying to Paris on Air Tahiti Nui.
And here we are again, in the Auvergne, where spring makes the occasional appearance of showing its nose, only to send us back a few hours later to winter temperatures; but don't worry, as I always say, "We've never been so close to the summer of 2024" (nor, for that matter, to Christmas 2024 or Christmas 2038!).
So, while we wait for better weather, I send you my warmest regards!
Antoine
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