A first trip ‘round the world, part 66

We went down to Melbourne the day before and we stayed with that lady nicknamed “Liza Minelli” by some, that JP and I had met at Mt. Buller and who was a steadfast fan, if not a groupie, of the French ski school. 

She was a petite brunette, wearing tons of makeup and married to a guy who, I was reminded, sold all kinds of clothes to the rest of us. 

For the life of me, I can’t remember her name, so “Liza” will have to do, but she was something else! She loved to tease all of the boys with her stanzas: “Roses are roses, etc.” inspired from Gertrude Stein's poem “Sacred Emily”. 

While down in the big city, we squeezed in a visit to the Melbourne Zoo to get a close-up view at its Koala bears. I also took care of my American visa and JP and I debated the rest of our trip. 

Always restless, Jean-Pierre wanted to go to New-Zealand and visit Cheryl Mason, our Kiwi instructor colleague and her family, on the North Island, near Mt. Ruapehu, at Chateau Tongariro Hotel, and possibly ski there for a while. 

By that time, after being daily with him since May 29, I need a serious vacation from JP. I loved the guy, but needed a sanitary break from his boundless energy. I decided to forgo the detour via New Zealand and let him have it all to himself. 

I got my return airplane ticket straightened out, purchased the Greyhound $99-ninety day pass and the next morning, on October 4th, our charming host drove us to the Melbourne Tullamarine airport, where JP flew to Auckland and me to Nouméa via Sydney… 

I’ll never forget the sound of “Indian Reservation” by Paul Revere & the Raiders blasting on her car radio… 

That’s in this terminal that we lost track of each other for quite a bit of time and wouldn’t get back in touch until the spring season, when JP had returned to Megève from the United States and was ready to depart for another season at Mt. Buller.