The Missing Months

After having a look through Kakadu NT I headed south to Katherine again to catch up with a mate and then back west. The intention was to look after my brother’s 12 Mile Bird Park in Broome WA while he recuperated from an operation scheduled for mid May. How quickly things can change.

I arrived in Broome at the start of May and his operation got postponed until 10th June so he and I both flew down to Perth to celebrate mum’s 91st Birthday. Due to Covid her 90th birthday celebrations had been cancelled the year before so it was great to get all the family together to celebrate. John flew back to Broome and I stayed on for a further 3 weeks in Perth catching up with family and friends.

After I flew back to Broome my brother flew down for his operation. All was going to plan until complications following surgery put my brother on life support and things quickly escalated and sadly he passed away 3 days later. From a planned caretaker role for 6 weeks my role changed overnight. The following 3 months were a bit of a blur as we worked day and night to sort through things and manage his bird park and building business.

In the end we were forced to close the Bird Park to the public at the end of June due to legal issues and so the animals were sold/given away and the 800 birds sold or relocated. Clearing out a massive shed and 10 sea containers of a lifetime of “stuff” was a massive task. The property is now “under offer” subject to probate and my role as an executor of my brothers estate is mostly done.

Broome is a wonderful place to be but under the circumstances it was a bit surreal and it was certainly not relaxing as Broome normally is. I had a couple of flying trips back to Perth during this time to catch up with family and attend Johns funeral in Perth. His ashes will be scattered in Broome sometime in the future.

After leaving Broome on the 1st September I drove Rhonda back down the coast to Perth and the plan now is to head east. With Covid a problem in NSW and Victoria I will probably just spend time looking around South Australia until the Covid situation improves.