Tammy's Chile/New Zealand/Australia Trip

Sunday morning dawned sunny with low clouds. I joined the Camp Widow Morning Walk & Talk at Roma St. Parkland, which was from 9:00-10:00.  There aren’t many fall-colored trees in Australia, but there are a few pretty ones in this park I love how the vines wrap around the trees The chrysanthemums behind me say 💜 MUM I still needed to get my luggage packed and check out before the Reconnection Session at 9:30, so I left the walk early at 8:30. I managed to get everything ready and check out in time to get to the Session, which was a chance to reflect with the other Newly Widowed campers - those in their first year of widowhood. After that we had a Brunch and Farewell time. They reminded us about “camp crash” - the difficulty of getting back to normal life after the mountaintop experience of a weekend being with people who all understand and relate to our reality and challenges as widows. We said our farewells, and got ready to leave. Camp Widow Australia was a healing and growin...

  Saturday, May 25: Saturday morning was cloudy and drizzly. I woke up at 8:00, which was the time that Welcome Tea and Coffee started, but fortunately there were no other scheduled activities until 9:00. The Keynote Address was amazing! After Morning Tea we had our Block Three Workshops. I attended “Writing Your Grief”. Then came the buffet lunch (when I walked to a different pharmacy that was a lot farther away, because the medication I got was not helping stop the itching).  Next was the Block Four Workshop “Mastering Money” (which I was late for even though I ran uphill to get back in time - I was so tempted to jump on one of those scooters, but I don’t know how to pay & get them going!)  Following Afternoon Tea was the Block Five Workshop time. I had signed up for a Walk & Talk in the Park, but I’d already done enough walking, so I went to The Camp Widow Game Show instead. This was hosted by the gals from Utah, and was like Family Feud, but with questions rel...

  Friday, May 24: First day of Camp Widow: I got down to the registration area and picked up my packet, nametag, and tote bag, and then enjoyed the welcome coffee and tea. In the Opening Address, Rebecca, the director of First Light Australia (the non-profit that organizes Camp Widow) explained how their organization came to be. She had attended the Camp Widow in San Diego several times and wanted to bring it to Australia, which required starting a non-profit organization. I believe she said there were 250 participants at this conference - it was a lot of people, both women and men. Tribute tiles Morning Tea (pastries & a cuppa) was followed by Orientation Sessions, for which we were grouped according to the amount of time we had been widowed: first year, 1-3 years, 3-5 years, or five years or more.  Before lunch (while the buffet line was really long), I walked to a pharmacy to buy medication for my feet (which were driving me crazy because of the itching). After eating, ...