Swiss army knife from Corinne Vogt der Architektin architect from Elgg, Suisse

Corinne's Suisse Messer

Years ago I met a Swiss architect from the town of Elgg at the Hurstbridge train station. I was working for a racing car driver at the time, living in Nutfield, She asked the time, and I pointed to a clock behind her head, but it was enough to start a conversation and we sat and talked for the entire 1 hour to Melbourne.
She had a green peugeot bicycle that she had been riding around the hills and farms out there, this was before GPS, so she was brave. On parting in Melbourne, I gave her my number and said for her to take care of herself which she later told me she thought was cute.
She stayed at the farm in Nutfield for a few days and distracted me from my work. I had only been working there for a few weeks when I met her. I had been to my first Vipassana meditation course the previous Easter, then made the life changing move to go work a few days on a farm near Buchan in Gippsland, Victoria, the place I met Bev who invited me to work on her and Peter's farm.
Corinne and I took at least one long ride into the hills, Corinne complained about the cold and I said you had to go north at this time of year to get some heat, we got home late that day, Bev was worried and turned all the lights on of the big round pink house on the hill in Nutfield to act as a beacon for our safe return.
Bev and Peter said that Corinne could come live on the farm, looking back, I wonder how that would have turned out - not well I suspect. Instead we travelled north, leaving the green Peugeot bike on the farm. We took the overnight train to Sydney, where the full moon shone over the landscape, and stayed in Kings Cross. We made our way along the coast, hitching a bit, even on Fraser Island, where she got sick.
Eventually we parted ways in Airlie beach, I saw her face fore the last time as her bus pulled out from the curve - or was it my bus, as she was heading back to Sydney by plane, and I took the long bus trip back to Nutfield.
Two things were waiting for me on my return to Nutfield, a watercolour of the Sydney Harbour and the Swiss army knife we used on our journey. There was the green bike to, which I used for a while until someone nicked it.
I don't even remember her face, except that she had dark hair that felt as smooth as silk, and a white complexion that reminded me of snow. The only other thing I remember is that she used to go out with a torch and collect the snail pellets from her neighbor's garden so the hedgehogs wouldn't eat them.
Since then Peter died in a rally driving crash, Bev had to leave the farm and the big pink house, I have grown older, stopped hitching, became a father, got married, became a father again, finished university several times, got a job, even a proper job that pays more than $10 an hour (Corinne had said no one in Switzerland would work for such a wage - what I used to get on Bev and Peter's farm).
And the only thing that remains of that time is some fond memories and the Swiss army knife.
kümmern, Corinne, hoffe, dass die Igel sind in Ordnung in Elgg