AWOL

It's obviously been a while since I last wrote, and those of you who are not family won't know why.

Last Tuesday night, after a wonderful day exploring Jenolan Caves, Amber jumped into bed and a turned on my computer to check emails and jot you a few lines. My first email said "Call your brothers urgently" which sent shivers down my spine.

My Dad had suffered a huge stroke the night before and wasn't expected to live long. Could I get there in time? It was quite a question. I had never driven more than about four hours on the trotand there were 13 ahead. I weighed up driving to Sydney airport and trying to get a flight (but then being without a car), or breaking camp right then in the dark and rain, and knocking off a few hours before she awoke.

The second option won out and I explained what I was doing to Amber before she flopped into the back seat. By 3am I had managed to get 350km under my belt and stopped to sleep until Amber woke at 5.30am. Then we drove, stopped, ate, drove, ran around a park, drove, ate, and drove some more until 4pm on Wednesday afternoon when we arrived at Nambour hospital. Amber was an absolute trooper. Without a complaining word all day she kept me in conversation or singing to Wicked (I now know the entire sound track). Fatigue was far from my mind and I think I was running on adrenalin with one goal - to get there in time to say goodbye. And we made it.

In fact, although we didn't know it, we had an entire week up our sleeves and that's why you haven't heard from me. It has been a week of high emotion as my brothers and I took turns sleeping on the hospital room floor to support my mother who had a pull-out bed.


My Dad, Arthur Pye, died at 1.30am yesterday (Monday January 11). His youngest son and his wife were at his side and we had achieved our goal of making sure he wasn't alone. He will be missed by many, especially me. Those of you who have my book "Kids Welcome to Queensland" will recognise him from within its pages and this is Amber and Dad a few years ago. He was an extraordinary man. Not perfect, but who wants perfect? He wasn't just my Dad. He was an adventurer, teacher, comedian, sportsman, and friend to many.