25th Sept to December 13th

25^th September 2013

Since the last posting of the blog, when we arrived in WA, it has rained most of the time so not a lot has been happening except a few noteworthy events.  Our first Saturday in WA the 14^th, other than the one we arrived on, we watched Emma and Abby play their netball semi-finals which Emma’s team won and advanced to the grand final.  Abby’s team was not that lucky despite playing extremely well.  Their opposing team had some much taller girls in their ranks that gave them a big advantage.  The teams are within respective leagues based on performance, not age or physical size, so Abby’s team was playing against older, taller girls with similar abilities.  The following day we had a re-union lunch with Ann and Ashley Merry flew to Melbourne on the 18^th stayed overnight and saw her specialist on the 19^th who gave her a clean bill of health as far as the cancer, but it will still take some considerable time to get over the after effects.  Which is why have elected to stop travelling, temporarily at least.   Merry flew back to Perth that evening.  On Saturday 21^st we watched Emma’s netball grand final game against a team that has beaten them twice this season.  However, their better mindset and determination helped them beat their opponents quite substantially.  On the following Sunday we had the pleasure of Garon and Sue calling in for lunch with us and Colleen’s family.  The only other vaguely interesting thing is the computer that I normally use has died, which is why you are only getting a summary of the last couple of weeks.  Whilst we are in Perth, waiting for our tenant to move out of our house in Geraldton, it is unlikely that we will be doing much in the way of excitement therefore blog posting will probably be less frequent. 

26^th September 2013

Yesterday was almost a reasonable weather day with sunshine throughout most of the day. However, the weather has now reverted to rain and wind again although the wind is nothing like the heavy duty winds of a few days ago.

 28^th September 2013

We went for dinner with Colleen, Craig and Abbey, Emma was having a sleep over at a friend’s house, at an Asian restaurant called Chatters in Midland which was excellent.

29^th September 2013

We discovered that the caravan hot water system is leaking but can’t actually determine were but are managing to catch most of the water in a bowl and turn the water off at the outside tap when not required.

 2^nd October 2013

We drove out to the Jayco sales yard where there is a ‘Toy shop’ for spare parts and bought a new water heater for the van.

 4^th October 2013

We moved the caravan down to Ann and Ashley’s place in Spearwood, south of Fremantle, to stay with them for a while whilst we get the water heater replaced as we couldn’t use the van to live in and do the replacement job at Colleen’s as there was no sleeping room there without the use of the van.  The van’s bed had to be up to allow access to the inner end of the water heater.

6^th October 2013

Barry removed the leaking water heater from the caravan but couldn’t release the hoses from so-called quick release fittings and had to cut the hoses.

8^th October 2013

We drove back to the Jayco Toy shop to buy two new quick release fittings for the water heater and installed them

10^th October started the installation of the water heater

15^th September 2013

We drove out to Herne Hill and had the gas system on the car serviced as we discovered a while ago that we weren’t using the usual quantity of gas to diesel.  It turned out that the solenoid was gummed up and not opening properly, if at all consequently no gas flow.  It is now cleaned up and retuned and running fine.  It is a pity we didn’t have this done in Victoria as the fuel consumption would have been improved on the four day trek across the Nullabor.

Barry fitted the new water heater into the caravan but has still got to connect the water hoses and gas supply.

17^th September 2013

Barry managed to theoretically finish fitting the new water heater but has found the inlet hose dripping through the new quick release fitting.

18^th October 2013

Merry went with Ann and Ashley to the Perth Concert hall to listen to the West Australian Symphony Orchestra.  It was a rehearsal performance in readiness for the evening performance but at a much reduced price.

21^st October 2013

Having had several more attempts at stopping the leak Barry has had no success and the quick release fitting will not live up to its name and release the tubing in any way.  Meanwhile, Merry has gone to the cinema with Ann and Ashley to see ‘Blue Jasmine’.

22^nd October 2013

Barry has finally managed to get the heater tubing fully into the fittings which has solved the dripping problem so we can now return to Colleen’s front verge and life in the van prior to our eventual move up to Geraldton.

24^th October 2013

We used the bus into Perth and met up with Heather who was one of our Geraldton friends many years ago and who has maintained the relationship by email or phone.  The last time were enjoyed her company was about five and a half years ago before we started travelling.  She is younger than us and still working but we managed an elongated lunch break in Miss Maude’s in the Carillion Arcade.

25^th October 2013

We used the same method of travel, but at a later time, to meet up with Sue (our Sue, not Steve and terry’s Sue) outside the BHP building and then entered and met up with Garon for a tour of the building, as he now works for BHP as well as running his own business.  The building is more impressive on the inside than the outside with numerous secured areas that require a pass to enter.  We didn’t explore every floor as many are used by other companies and are work areas that do not appreciate tourists wandering around, so basically we saw his work area on the 39^th floor from the doorway and then went up to the 41^st floor which is available to all personnel in the building as their common rest area for tea breaks, lunch or just relaxing. As the building is virtually all glass, all of the open plan offices have a view out over the city in one direction or another and takes in Fremantle, the ocean and south to the Kwinana industrial strip which is 30 plus kilometres away.   This is not the absolute top floor but not far of it and there is now access to the roof for tourists so all photos hat be taken through glass.  It is many years since we had an overview of Perth from the Legacy Lookout that was the tallest tower block offering views in the 1970’s and is now quite miniature.  The view of Perth and the Swan River from this height is very impressive and comparable to city views from the various towers in Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra and Auckland that we have experienced.  Unfortunately, the BHP building was not built as a general public viewing opportunity, so we were quite lucky with having a relative working there.

29^th October 2013

Ann returned from her Adelaide visit arriving home around mid day and confirmed a night out arrangement with her friend (another Ann) for a night’s entertainment watching Andre Reiu at the Perth Arena.  Ann was taking the place of the other Ann’s husband who elected not to go. This interested Merry who managed to obtain tickets for us, so we went with the two Anns but couldn’t sit near them as our late booking put us much closer to the back in the third from back row and to one side.  Surprisingly it wasn’t a complete sell out so we moved soon after the start to a more front on area.   It was a spectacular show, and well worth the expense.

6^th November 2013

We used the bus to visit Perth again to take a walk around the park alongside the Narrows Bridge that crosses the Swan River.  This is a very pleasant park providing an easy walk ending by using a bridge over the road to catch a Cat Bus (free) into the bus terminal where we had lunch.  This was followed by another Cat Bus Trip to Harold Baos Gardens in West Perth which is another of Perth’s parks and is often used for photographic sessions after weddings in the local churches.   We then went back into the business district and visited the visitor centre who informed us of the whereabouts of offices of the seniors card suppliers, which turned out to be very close by.  We visited this office and acquired a new seniors’ card for Merry as her current one was falling apart and the timing was good as they produced the new one on the spot.

16^th November 2013

There is still no real excitement happening here, other than Barry changing the oil in our car in readiness for the next big move to Geraldton, in a few weeks time.

17^th November 2013

We used the bus once more to go to Perth and visit several heritage building that were open for their once a year viewing by the public.  We visited the old Law Court which is now a museum and the new law Courts which included a 15 minute talk by one of the Judges on the history and workings of the court.  This was followed by a tour of the chambers, holding cells, etc.  We then wandered back into town and visited the Perth Town Hall before grabbing some lunch, and then headed for the Government House and Gardens.  The tour was a slow wander, in single file, through the ground floor only of the building as the upper floor is probably accommodation that is in use.  The Gardens weren’t as good as we had expected but were still quite nice but much of the lawn was covered with food tent and a stage for various performers to do their thing.  After leaving the Gardens we crossed the road for look inside St George’s Cathedral which coincided with a talk by some woman on the life story of Edith Cowan.  We listened for a while but gave it away after about five minutes as she kept repeating herself and made our way back to the bus terminal to head home.  It was a pleasant day out on a fairly warm day around 35°C with only the faintest of breezes.

28^th November 2013

We did a dummy run to the Sir Charles Gardner hospital using the 920 bus from the Pheonix Shopping Centre to Fremantle Railway/bus station and then the 98 bus, which does a huge clockwise circuit around the Perth outer suburbs), and calls into the hospital on the way.  This allowed us to determine our timing for the buses to ensure being on time for the real appointment. 

 9^th November 2013

We met Colleen, Abby and Emma in the Cockburn Central shopping Centre where Colleen treated us to lunch to celebrate Barry’s 71^st birthday, and in the evening Ann and Ashley took us out for dinner at Flames in the Rossmoyne area for the same reason, and both greatly appreciated.

30^th November 2013

We visited Colleen, Craig and the girls to say goodbye before heading off to Geraldton.  Craig didn’t actually make it due to the previous nights cricket club celebrations, however, Emma made up for that by provided us with a wonderful mini-concert to show off her great progress since Barry started teaching her to play the guitar.  She very ably accompanied herself whilst singing two songs for us.  They weren’t songs that we are familiar with but it was great and Abby joined her on the choruses.  Half a dozen lessons from her Granddad and a lot of hard work from Emma has worked wonders.   She is now working on learning some more songs for their Christmas camping holiday with the families friends.  

2^nd December 2013

We attended Merry’s appointment at Sir Charles Gardner Hospital and were disappointed with both the off-hand specialist and the hospital; however, all is okay in Merry’s throat and she doesn’t need another check for 6months which may be possible at Geraldton hospital.

3^rd December 2013

We left Ann and Ashley’s at about 7.00am which didn’t beat the congestion on the Kwinana Freeway but it wasn’t too bad and where well north of Perth soon after 7.30am and the traffic on the Mitchell freeway soon became quite in the northerly direction.  We didn’t envy the people on the southbound lanes as they were virtually at a standstill.  We stooped in a layby for a drink break and rest after two hours travel, and again in Leeman on the new Indian Ocean Drive for lunch.  The new Indian Ocean Drive is much easier driving than the Brand Highway.  Other than the right turn at the end of the Mitchell freeway, at Burns Beach road, and the left turn onto the Wannaroo Road, it is a straight forward continuous drive to the Brand Highway just before Dongara, with some ocean views.   We arrived at our house at about 2.30pm and dropped off the caravan and crossed town the back way to the real estate agents to collect the keys.  This didn’t allow much time for unloading the sea container in the hope of at least getting a bed so that we could sleep in the house.  That didn’t happen as the padlock on the sea container was so badly corroded that the keys wouldn’t turn and the local locksmith was not available until the next day, so we settled down in the van again, but in our own front garden this time.

 4^th December 2013

The lock on the sea container was cut off by the locksmith at great cost for five minutes work and the unloading began, but not at a particularly fast pass as some of the first pieces of furniture happen to be the heaviest, which we choose to work around.  This meant that we didn’t extract a bed yet and spent another night in the caravan.

5^th December 2013

Having now had a good look at how the tenants have treated, and neglected the place, we have been out shopping for Fridge, TV, microwave oven and washing machine and doggy door plus replacement toilet, laundry trough and cupboard

7^th December 2013

Barry has now fitted the doggy door through the laundry door and Foxy has learnt that it is available and takes advantage of it.  We have also now unpacked the corner pieces that made it possible to assemble the base for our water bed, fit the foam and water bags, fill and use the bed.  This has added supreme comfort to our lives along with our rocker/recliner chairs.

8^th December 2013

We have now moved much off the furniture and packing boxes into the house, which included the benefit of a bed, but have still got a lot of sorting to do plus work out a plan for getting the last 4 pieces of furniture into the house.  One of them in particular will probably require burly removalists.  Being back in our home with plenty of space compared to living in the confinement of the caravan for nearly 6 years gives a feeling of freedom but is not yet fully realised as much of the space filled with boxes waiting to be unpacked and then the problem of finding homes for everything.  We have brought back much more to this house than we took out of it when we left to move to Karratha.

10^th December 2013

The new toilet has now been installed which not only improves the look of the room it also saves a lot of water as the old one poured about ten litres of water away with each flush whereas now there is a choice of 3 or 4.5 litres, subject to requirements.  Meanwhile we have been unpacking boxes and finding homes for some items and producing a pile to go either the Red Cross or a garage sale.  We still have 15 large boxes out of 67 and 4 small boxes to bring into the house to unpack which will be done during the earlier morning hours from here on as WA is about to enjoy its first heat wave of the year, and Geraldton’s temperatures are slightly higher than Perth’s.  

12^th December 2013

We are still unpacking boxes and moving furniture into the house.  The is only one piece of furniture to come into the house now but it is way too heavy for us to move but Barry have has found a way to separate the top section from the bottom section and removed all of the doors so we may be able to manage to bring the sections in when the lounge has been cleared of boxes and homeless items.

13^th December 2013

Today’s temperature reached 43°C but we spent most of our time in shops to aid our home improvement and comfort.  This included having the track of the kitchen vertical blinds overhauled and buying a slide-out unit for the bathroom cupboard.  The cooler part of the afternoon was used to fit new lever type door handles to all of the rooms in place of the round knobs.  This is recommended for older people whose wrist and grip aren’t too great but it also allows the door to be opened with an elbow if both hands are full, so long as the door swings away from you.  It is a costly exercise but worth it in our case as the old knobs were scruffy and the replacements look good.   We have also discovered that the locking pins of every window have been removed so we can’t lock any of the windows in the either the closed or slightly open positions.  Just part of the joy of having tenants that steal or damage  as required and useless real estate agents who charge for inspections but notice nothing despite having an inventory and photographs.

25^th September 2013

Since the last posting of the blog, when we arrived in WA, it has rained most of the time so not a lot has been happening except a few noteworthy events.  Our first Saturday in WA the 14^th, other than the one we arrived on, we watched Emma and Abby play their netball semi-finals which Emma’s team won and advanced to the grand final.  Abby’s team was not that lucky despite playing extremely well.  Their opposing team had some much taller girls in their ranks that gave them a big advantage.  The teams are within respective leagues based on performance, not age or physical size, so Abby’s team was playing against older, taller girls with similar abilities.  The following day we had a pleasant re-union lunch with Ann and Ashley.  Merry flew to Melbourne on the 18^th andstayed overnight and saw her specialist on the 19^th who gave her a clean bill of health as far as the cancer, but it will still take some considerable time to get over the after effects.  Which is why we have elected to stop travelling, temporarily at least.   Merry flew back to Perth that evening.  On Saturday 21^st we watched Emma’s netball grand final game against a team that has beaten them twice this season.  However, their better mindset and determination helped them beat their opponents quite substantially.  On the following Sunday we had the pleasure of Garon and Sue calling in for lunch with us and Colleen’s family.  The only other vaguely interesting thing is the computer that I normally use has died, which is why you are only getting a summary of the last couple of weeks.  Whilst we are in Perth, waiting for our tenant to move out of our house in Geraldton, it is unlikely that we will be doing much in the way of excitement therefore blog posting will probably be less frequent. 

26^th September 2013

Yesterday was almost a reasonable weather day with sunshine throughout most of the day. However, the weather has now reverted to rain and wind again although the wind is nothing like the heavy duty winds of a few days ago

18th August 2013 to 8th September 2013

18^th August 2013

This was a really miserable day weatherwise that stopped us walking and even venturing outside for more than a very brief spell for shopping.

19^th August 2013

The weather is slightly better allowing our walk but not much else.  Our walking habit probably doesn’t get our blog readers excited but it is helping Merry greatly.

21^st August 2013

We used the train into Melbourne to go to the appropriate venue to cast our absentee votes for the upcoming federal election as we will not be back in Geraldton or Perth by the 7^th September.  However, it is done and out of the way now and we needed to visit Melbourne for a Village cinema to use the tickets that Sue and Garon gave us before they raced off to their new WA jobs, which they are apparently enjoying.

24^th August 2013

We drove down to Taylors Lake to visit the Spotlight store to buy the backing material for the quilt that Terry is making for us which the Bendigo store didn’t have, and also buy some more of the border material for Emma to use when we get back to Perth.  We managed to buy the backing material but only had the one option and they didn’t have any of the border material.  We then drove the 100kms up to Bendigo where we bought the original border material only to find that the remains of the one and only roll had been sold.   We bought some alternative material to make a third narrow border so that the main border can be narrowed to provide material for Emma to use on the matching pillow cases she is hoping to make for us.  However, when we got home we didn’t like the match up with the new material, so we may use some material that Terry has instead, or try and get away with the original border material and hope we have enough.  We now know why homemade patchwork quilts are so expensive.

25^th August 2013

We took a drive with Steve and Terry to the Mt Macedon pub for lunch but the lunchtime meals were so big that we wouldn’t be able to manage dinner which was already cooking at home, so we settled for a drink with a bag of crisps.  Whilst there, we booked a table for five for Friday night.

26^th August 2013

We cleaned and polished the car as our first move towards preparing to leave Woodend and head towards Perth, and because our car is parked under a tree that seems to be a congregation place for every bird with bowel problems so we have now covered the car with one of our tarpaulins.  We will start loading the roof rack and the back of the car tomorrow onwards, and clean the caravan on the weekend.

27^th August 2013

Today required another early start for a drive to Sunbury for Merry to reluctantly visit a dentist for a filling of some description as a few pieces have broken off of a tooth and exposed the nerve.  This has given us an opportunity to visit a Coles Express garage to use a 30 cents/litre fuel docket to fill up prior to leaving on Tuesday.  We will be topping up the car’s main tank and sub tank which will be about 100lts plus two jerry cans for another 40lts which will save us a respectable amount off our fuel bill.  We have another of these dockets for use at a later date, preferably at Ceduna prior to crossing the Nullarbor as the price of fuel in the middle of nowhere escalates dramatically.  When we are completely loaded with 180lts of fuel, and subject to the direction of the wind, it should get us between 700kms to 900kms across the Nullarbor so that we only have to use one expensive fuel stop out there.  Unfortunately the wind is most often west to east which is going to be a head wind for us with the caravan, so here’s hoping it is light.  In the afternoon we walked into town to the post office for our daily walk which is a slight increase in the distance that Merry has been managing and all went well.  We have also packed up virtually everything so that we are ready to leave next Tuesday which now only leaves the caravan to be cleaned.

30^th August 2013

The weather has turned foul again after a couple of decent days that actually included sunshine.  It didn’t exactly fool us but it did fool some plants into thinking it was spring and decide to open up their flowers.  It is now very blustery and damp so rather than walk into town; Barry walked round the shorter regular route with Steve and the dogs and managed to avoid the threatening rain.  In the evening we drove up to the Mt Macedon pub for the dinner which was our farewell treat for Steve, Terry and Sue (Steve’s sister), although a few days early.  The meals were large and excellent and we followed up with some lovely desserts, except Barry.  We then moved to Sue’s house in Macedon for coffee before heading home.

1^st September 2013

We did some more preparations towards leaving for WA such as cleaning the outside of the van, filling water tanks, pumping up tyres, etc, and Barry replaced the bonnet support gas struts as the original ones tend to let the bonnet close on you.  These ones are slightly stronger than the originals.

2^nd September 2013

We had a slight change of plans in as much as Merry went into Melbourne to the hospital for her PET scan, on her own rather than with Barry, who stayed at home to finish off the remaining household chores and bathing Foxy.

 

3^rd September 2013

We left Steve and Terry’s at about 8.15am on the start of day one of the journey back to Perth which took us through Woodend for the final time, joined the Calder Highway and headed towards Bendigo.  We veered off left just before Bendigo on the Alternate Calder Highway towards Renmark and then towards Barmera but turned right before getting there towards Morgan.  The right turn kept us on the north side of the Murray River which avoided having a ferry crossing at one of several places.  We stopped just short of Morgan at about 5.45pm having travelled 666kms, at a free camping site a short way off the road, which being a ‘B’ road didn’t have a great deal of traffic so we had an undisturbed night.

4^th September 2013

We woke naturally at 6.30am and were on our way on day two of our journey by 7.30am and heading for Port Augusta via Burra and Crystal Brook.  We arrived in Port Augusta at around mid-day and stopped at a Coles express garage to fill up the main and sub tanks which allowed us to use our second 30 cents/litre fuel docket off 102 litres.  We also bought some pies for lunch which we had just out off the other side of Port Augusta.  We proceeded along the Eyre highway past Iron Knob, Kimba, Wudinna, Poochera and free camped 45kms short of Ceduna, having travelled 728kms.

5^th September 2013

Day three of the homeward journey was an even earlier start at 7.00am with a heavy overcast cloud that provided an almost constant sprinkle of rain for the whole of the South Australian leg through Ceduna.  We called into Ceduna and used the Coles express garage to use a regular 4 cent/litre off docket to fill up which should get us to the border of SA and WA.  When we got to Border Village we made the mistake of topping up the tanks again and then found that the fuel at Eucla about 10kms inside the WA state was 13 cents/litre cheaper.  However, on the bright side the Eyre Highway changed from a just-wide-enough bumpy road to a pleasantly wider, smoother road as we crossed the border and we drove out of the sprinkling of rain, although still heavily overcast.   Crossing into WA also came with a time zone change from 2.0am in SA to 12 noon in WA giving us longer daylight for longer driving but we did have an extra rest break at 4.00pm as well as 2.00am WA time, and it also was a no wind situation.  Where we stopped for the extra break was a good free camp area and probably should have stayed there for the night but choose to move on to the next free camp area near Cocklebiddy having travelled 764kms.  It is actually a better area but because of the cloud cover it was not as bright as normal for that time of day which had brought the Kangaroos out to feed.  We had already decided to ease back on the speed as this also meant that they didn’t know which side of the road had the best grass to feed on, when one choose to cross from nowhere diagonally in front of us.  If it had kept going it may have got away with it, but it tried to turn back when it was right in the middle of our side of the road and felt the 70km force of our Roo bar.  Having had the suspension raised and therefore being a high vehicle it pushed the roo down under the car and back left rear wheel and out the side so there was no damage to the Patrol, or caravan.  We can’t answer for the roo as we never saw it again as it wasn’t on the road behind us. 

6^th September 2013

We started out earlier than yesterday at 6.30am with an almost clear sky plus what little breeze there was happened to be a tail wind.  This made the caravan the equivalent to a yatch with the spinnaker up which improved our fuel economy by 1km/litre.  That partly compensated for fuelling up at the most expensive fuel station on the Nullarbor and got us through to Norseman without having another fuel stop.  From Norseman we proceeded to our chosen free campsite 70kms north of Southern Cross arriving in bright daylight despite some cloud cover creeping in, and before the roos became active. 

7^th September 2013

We started out a little later today and travelled slightly slower as it was raining for most of the way, sometimes quite heavily with lightening in the distance.  We stopped at Tammin where it was raining really hard and considered pulling off at a free camp site and stay there until the next day when the weather might be better for setting up the van at Colleen and Craig’s place without the rain.  We phoned ahead and were told the rain in Perth had cleared   so we continued to the Memorial Rose Garden at Meckering for our lunch break where it was still raining but put our trust in Craig.  We did eventually drive out of the rain as we got closer to Perth and then had to decide whether to follow the Navman direction our make our own way the remainder of the trip.  We followed the Navman directions which we were dubious about as they took us almost to Mundaring Weir but it turned out okay.  It was hilly which we would have to do one way or the other, and twisty but not too narrow.  It was actually better than many of the roads we travelled in Queensland and Tasmania.  We arrived at our destination at about 2.45pm and were able to set up in the dry.  However, the ground is a bit sloping so we will be making some modifications tomorrow as our shower water doesn’t empty completely.

8^th September 2013

Barry re-arranged the levelling of the caravan in the morning and then we went with Colleen for a drive into the Swan Valley to a Coffee shop to buy some coffee for her coffee machine.  From there we had to take the very short mandatory drive to the Chocolate factory.  We did a lot of sampling but no buying as we still have a reasonable quantity of Aldi’s chocolate which we thought to be superior.  The Swan Valley has changed dramatically from our last drive through that area about ten years ago.  It was a series of wineries with open cellars but is now a series of wineries plus numerous tourist attractions such as coffee, chocolate, cafes, restaurants, and ice cream which we also had to visit.  It is now a family orientated affair rather than just wine tasting.   We collected Richard and brought him up to Colleen’s for the afternoon/evening which of cause included an excellent diner that was prepared and cooked by Emma with Merry’s supervision.

1st August to 16th August 2013

1^st August 2013

Since the beginning of the month the weather hasn’t allowed us to do much other than shopping and using the driers in the local Laundromat.

6^th August 2013

We made an early start and went by train into Melbourne and then by tram to Port Melbourne to attend the CPAP consulting rooms so that Merry could have her sleep apnoea data on a USB key analysed for any adjustments.  She also needed to replace her mask as the old one had seen better days.  By chance, we had picked a time to do it when the price had been reduced.  We walked down to the harbour side and caught a tram back to Southern Cross railway station and found that our next train to Woodend was due to leave in 30 minutes.  This didn’t allow us time to have lunch before catching the train so we bought some take-away pies and coffee from a stall on the station and headed off to platform 7B.  This walk alone took about six minutes as it involves entering platform 7A, then walk the length of the train in that platform to get to the train in front of it to the continuation of the platform where our train was.  We were able to enter the train straight away so we could sit in comfort for our lunch.

7^th August 2013

Merry joined Steve and Barry for the morning walk as it was dry, although chilly, and got colder as we walked.  It rained from midday onwards.

8^th August 2013

We could almost simply say ‘Ditto’ except the sun broke through in the afternoon after we had dried our washing at the Laundromat.  If we had hung it out to dry it would have rained again so some folk will appreciate our morning efforts.

9^th August 2013

We took a trip through to Kyneton to gain a prescription from the doctor because he bulk bills so it only costs us about $6 worth of fuel whereas a visit to the local doctors who don’t bulk bill costs us $25 for gracing them with our presence.  The trip took longer than expected even allowing for some shopping and lunch and was also made somewhat unpleasant by continuous rain.   The prescription was for some more pain relief stick-on pads as Merry still has a surprising amount of low level but uncomfortable pain in her throat despite the length of time since the radiation treatment.  This apparently is normal according to the specialist and unfortunately will last for some time yet.

11^th August 2013

We had an early start for another attempt at Daylesford Market which was achieved without Merry feeling nauseas this time.  The market, which we visited many years ago, was still alongside the old railway station and nothing had changed, but didn’t have the book that Merry was hoping to find.  We continued into the town and tried a few bookshops that happened to be open on a Sunday with no joy.  We still didn’t visit Trentham Falls, which may be a mistake, as we had some good rain over the last few days and the waterfall should be in full flight.

13^th August 2013

We did the morning walk without Steve and Badger as we decided to extend the walk, but also wanted to do some of Richard’s book keeping requirements that we started yesterday.  This meant starting out much earlier, and as we expected, arrived back home as Steve was getting ready for his morning walk with Badger.  The extended walk is now estimated at about 5kms which is a big improvement for Merry as the walk we have been doing is about 3kms.

!5^th August 2013

We dismantled the annex, put the awning away, re-installed the towbar on the car and hitched up to the caravan which confused Foxy as she thought we were packing up to move on.  However, it was in order to use the car as the braking system so that Barry could release the van brakes, jack up the van and adjust the brakes in readiness for when we do move back to WA, sunshine and warmth.  This took quite a while but was made easier with the use of Steve’s trolley jacks and the specially shaped tool that we bought whilst in Beaumaris.  It’s amazing what a piece of bent metal costs, but it is chromium plated, and necessary for adjusting drum type brakes, and unfortunately a straight screwdriver doesn’t do the job.

16^th August 2013

We went to Bendigo with Steve and Terry to buy a range of materials as Merry wants Terry to make her a quilt.  Terry makes quilts as a hobby and has produced many such items for family and friends.  Bendigo is a large town with many impressive old buildings due to the wealth from the gold digging days but we didn’t have time to stop and look on this trip, plus it will require several days to see it all properly.  It would require much more than the 5kms that we walk at the moment and Merry could not handle several full days of sightseeing so that will have to wait for another visit in the future. This of cause annoys Merry as we could have travelled around whilst waiting for her appointments had she been able to cope with it.

14th July to 31st July 2013

14^th July 2013

We had a rainy night and now another drizzly day with a breeze so Barry and Foxy haven’t gone on the usual 40 minute morning walk and are hopeful that the weather will clear enough to let them do the shorter circuit with Merry.  Meanwhile, Merry will play with her new toy and attempt to transfer her books, and audible books to it, whilst Barry continues to watch the test match even though one excuse for an umpire has already ensured England’s victory.  Apparently the English can’t be caught out if the ball nearly knocks the bat out of their hands.

22^nd July 2013

Due to weather conditions we have done little other than necessary shopping with Barry and Foxy having a few walks with Steve and Badger.   The pathetic cricketing display by Australia hasn’t helped cheer us up.  There appeared to be sufficient ex-Aussie cricketers in the audience that played in previous Ashes test matches to form a better team than we now have.  Even when Ponting’s team lost the Ashes they put up a better display.  Having mentioned the Ashes, we are currently only about a 30 minute drive from the birthplace of the Ashes ‘Sunbury’ where the stately mansion still stands but is now part of a school with school kids playing on the original pitch.  Perhaps our current team should return and practise with them to find out how to do it.  We can’t imagine why they dragged the English team all the way out to Sunbury to play cricket rather than play in Melbourne, and are amazed that the weather allowed it to happen, unless it was a very short game.  We can’t get enough dry weather on any single day to get our washing dry, but this is our typical Victorian winter.  If they played in the summer they may have gained a few hours of sunshine.

23^rd July 2013

 We tried unsuccessfully to have Merry’s prescription for Saline solution filled at the local pharmacy but they offered us an equivalent option at a ridiculous price.  We determined that it would be cheaper to go into Melbourne on the train and get it from the Hospital pharmacy which would also give us a bit of a day out and also let us get a haircut at a better price.  This worked out good for us as we had acquired MYKI cards for train travel on the Metro train to travel to the hospital from Garon and Sue’s place, but with them returning to WA and us moving to Woodend the $50 available on our cards was not going to get used as they where only good as far as Sunbury.  However, last Thursday the MYKI card equipment was activated at Woodend and became usable for travel to Sunbury and Melbourne, or Bendigo in the other direction, which is much cheaper than using our car and has no parking problems.  Merry managed the three flights of stairs to get out of Parliament Station and the 10 minute walk to the Hospital without a problem.  When we returned to the station we passed straight through to Burke Street and used a tram to Elizabeth Street to get the haircuts and lunch in the Galleria shopping centre.  We then used a tram to continue on to Southern Cross Station to get the V-Line Bendigo train back to Woodend.

24^th July 2013

We took Foxy for a slightly longer walk than Merry has been taking to continue building up her fitness.  In the afternoon we went with Steve and Terry to Kyneton but only for shopping and a short drive around the outskirts of the town to see some of the old buildings.

27^th July 2013

The weather hasn’t been good for more walks but has improved marginally today.  We drove to Trentham along with Steve, Terry and Sue for them to visit a rather large nursery for some vegetable plantings, but whilst in the area stopped for lunch.  Lunch was in the quaint old bakery which ahd a nice atmosphere and was tucked away down a laneway but was still very busy.  On the corner of the laneway was a shop that had every size of every item that you wouldn’t want in your home.  It was great for a 10 minute drowse but we can’t imagine anyone buying anything.  After all, who needs a Dalek, a larger than life, moulded plastic, gorilla or any other plastic animal or imitation dynamite complete with electronic timer?  The village itself requires a thorough check out as it had a lot of appeal plus we want to visit the Trentham Falls where we visited some years ago, so we will return when Merry is more able to walk for longer distances and the weather warmed up.  Trentham is higher than Woodend and therefore colder.

28^th July 2013

Merry accompanied Barry, Steve and the dogs on their morning walk but shortened it slightly towards the end by taking a short cut.  It still took nearly an hour which is a really good walk for Merry.  She hasn’t been eating as well as she had for the last 4 to 5 days because she feels permanently full so we are hoping the walking may change that.   We phoned Abby to wish her a happy birthday and to find out how she is recovering from her appendix operation, which is all good.

29^th July 2013

We had a really good short, sharp thunder storm last night and when you are already up in the clouds that are making the noise it get real loud.    Nothing of interest happening other than Barry replacing an add-on reversing light as the previous one chose to give up the ghost.  We have an add-on reversing light as the Nissan Patrol only has one regular one on the left hand side, and that is fairly well covered by the spare wheel on the dual spare wheel carrier so people behind us can’t see that we are reversing unless they are to the left of us.  Now you have to be blind not to notice as the new one is brighter than the previous one that we fitted whilst in Hobart three years ago.

30^th July 2013

The weather has changed to cool but sunny so we packed a lunch and drove through Trentham and on to Daylesford with the intention of checking out Daylesford, and then return to Trentham for a walk around the village, plus visit the falls on the way back.  Daylesford turned out to be much bigger than we expected plus Merry was starting to feel somewhat weary and nauseas, so after a quick look at Daylesford Lake and a drive back through the town we headed home and had our picnic lunch there.  We will try again another day.  We have already been warned by Merry’s specialist that it will probably be a year before she is anything like her former self.  With that in mind, we have decided to return to our home in Geraldton when the tenancy agreement expires in November.  We are basically at a standstill until we see the specialist again in September when we expect Merry to be cleared and able to move on.  We will then meander back to WA  as we can’t take on climbs into waterfalls, walk through gorges, do heritage walks through towns and villages, etc, that take several hours of walking and/or climbing that we have been accustomed to.  This means we will not have seen half of Victoria and most of New South Wales (about another 18 months worth of travel, the way we do it).  We will then return for 3 or 4 month trips during the better weather times, on the assumption that Merry’s health returns to something like it used to be, and that Barry’s health doesn’t deteriorate.  It is slightly disappointing not completing the whole of the country, but it was originally only supposed to be a 2 to 3 year exercise, and we will be at the 5 year stage in September, plus we did some travelling around WA before we set out on the real trip in September 2008.  We started out from Ann and Ashley’s home near Perth with approximately 50,000 kilometres on the speedometer and we are currently 3000kms short of its 140,000kms service (90,000kms) and will be much closer to the 100,000kms by the time we get back to Geraldton.

31^st July 2013

Merry managed to do the hour long walk again this morning and seems to be better than yesterday so we just might try another picnic day tomorrow to Trentham and the waterfall if the walk to the falls is as short as Barry vaguely recalls from the previous visit.  We are led to believe that there is a physical barrier stopping you going right down to the base, which was only a request at the viewing platform last time, and was ignored.

27th June to 13th July 2013

27^th June 2013

Not such a good day for Merry as she woke up with a rough throat again that didn’t improve throughout the day, but still managed her eating.

1^st July 2013

Nothing of note happened over the last few days other than a walk in the local park behind the visitor centre and around the supermarket so that Merry continues with some exercise towards some more fitness.  Acquiring her previous level of fitness will take quite a while and will be very gradual.  Otherwise, she is still doing well and she actually managed her first steak last night and some toast this morning.  Tomorrow we have to travel into Melbourne to the hospital for a check-up with the specialist and the nutritionist, and will probably then be informed of the arrangements for the PET scan.

2^nd July 2013

We drove into Melbourne without any hassles other than the fact that all of the 2 hour parking bays were taken up and had to use a 1 hour one.  This was closer to the hospital but meant the car had to be moved to fit in both appointments even if things are running on time. We arrived early so we took the canvas print and some returnable goodies down to the radiation therapy area first.  We then had a coffee in the café before collecting the high protein liquid meals that Merry didn’t like, or use, and took them into the ‘C’ clinic to give to the nutritionist at the first appointment.  Barry returned to the car and moved it to a vacant 2 hour parking bay, and brought the other canvas print in for the second appointment with the specialist.  We then went up to the pharmacy and paid an outstanding bill before finding somewhere to have lunch.  This meant moving the car again as there were no suitable cafes within reach in the time left on the parking meter, so started in a homeward direction until we spotted somewhere to park and eat.  This done we headed to Taylor Lakes shopping centre and bought a nebuliser as it turns out that Merry needs one for at least another two months.  If we had known this we would have bought one three weeks ago instead of hiring one, but we can’t change that.  The outcome of the hospital appointments is that everybody is very pleased with Merry’s progress, and doesn’t need to see the nutritionist again.  She has been assured that the tiredness this length of time after the treatment is normal and will last for a long time yet so she can stop stressing about that.  Her vocal chords are still burnt and will take several months before sounding anything like they used to be, and will never sound exactly the same or as strong , but that will be a great outcome.  Currently the voice is whispery with the occasional sudden hoarse growl, a bit like a teenage boy whose voice is in the breaking process.   We have to see the specialist in 2 months time which will be just after the PET scan, the date of which has yet to be set and us informed.  Assuming everything is great after that we can think about travelling around in Victoria again, but being within easy reach of Melbourne for another check-up around February.  That means we will probably be somewhere like Bendigo at that time as we have some free V-line train tickets that we can use for that visit, or back here in Woodend with Steve and Terry, if they haven’t had enough of us.

4^th July 2013

We took a drive up to Kyneton to use the closest Woolworths store to Woodend with the possibility of a stroll through the town but by the time we got there the weather had changed from not very good to downright miserable, with more of the same to come.

5th July 2013

We had some wind but nothing dramatic and a little rain, however, nothing like they said on TV yesterday, but the lower coastal part of the State copped a bashing.  We have arranged for our windscreen to be replaced next week after having some rust being cut out first.

6^th July 2013

We went over to Macedon to visit Steve’s sister, Sue, for morning tea and to inspect her hot house.  The hot house is quite impressive but the weather didn’t show it off to best advantage but obviously will live up to its name with a bit of help.   Her ‘shedio’ (shed/studio) is also impressive although it is still a work in progress but will eventually offer many options including a bedroom/toilet with mezzanine storage.  In total the cottage, shedio, and hot house are a very nice unit.  In the afternoon we went to Sunbury where we were able to return Barry’s eReader to Aldi for a return of money as it had died and refused to recharge of do anything useful.  We continued on to Dick Smith’s where Merry bought a, 8.9 cm Kindle Fire HD so that Barry can now take over old 7cm version, now that the Aldi one has gone.

7^th July 2013

Despite lousy weather we went to the Gisborne market with Steve and Terry and actually managed to pick a time when the rain didn’t affect us, and better still, resisted buying anything.  After we arrived back home the weather deteriorated some more so we had a day of leisure.

8^th July 2013

This turned out be the coldest night we have experienced since arriving here.  When Barry went to the car to take it for the windscreen and rust removal, he had to use some warm water to clear the ice off the screen.  He then went to the shops first and the screen started to freeze over again whilst he was in the shop and had to drive around to the street behind the shopping centre to face the car into the sun to clear the screen.  In the afternoon Barry went to the guys property who is removing the rust to have a look at the damage, which is not as bad we had been led to believe and will only cost about $300.

9^th July 2013

Another freezing night but at least no one had to get up early to deliver cars anywhere.    The frost and ice doesn’t start to thaw out at about 9.30am as it takes that long for the sun to rise above the tree tops which are way up Mt Macedon.  Our car will be ready for the new windscreen tomorrow (Wednesday) but the screen will not be fitted until Friday morning as the installers have to fit in a time to travel up from the Geelong area which is about a 1.5 hours drive, as we definitely aren’t driving there without a windscreen.

12^th July 2013

We have done nothing for the last few days but should get our car back today which will allow a bit of mobility, but the lack of it has allowed us to watch the cricket test match.  We have been told today that the screen will be done by midday and can collect it at 3.00am.  Merry is still doing great although she has been getting headaches due to insufficient water intake (she claims) and her food intake has decreased now that she has come off the steroids.  Colleen rang yesterday to inform us that Abby was in hospital with appendicitis which she had obviously had for a while but hadn’t told anyone that she was in pain.  She didn’t want to miss out on her netball practice, or games, so she chose to put up with it.  Apparently they were gangrenous and about to burst when they finally took them out via keyhole surgery, and will stay in hospital for a couple of days.  There goes this weekend’s netball game for our little tough nut.  We arranged some flowers through Interflora for her but we suspect she would have preferred the money towards new netball shoes, or something similar.  Abby phoned us later in the day to let us know the flowers had arrived and loves them, and to let us know that she is fine.

13^th July 2013

Merry still doing very well and took Foxy for quite a long walk (by her current standard) despite the drizzle.  We then drove down to Sunbury and returned the Kindle Fire HD to Dick Smith’s as it will only accept files Kindle files that are bought directly from Kindle (Amazon) so it will not recognise the 4500 books already on her original Kindle and a lot of audible books.  She now has a Samsung Tablet instead which in theory should cater for both

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20th June to 26th June 2013

20^th June 2013

It was particularly cold last night, down to zero, but we survived.  Merry took a walk through part of the town for a bit of exercise, from the visitor centre to the local church and cemetery via the track alongside the river where it passes under the under the grey stone road bridge. She managed it quite well without knocking herself out and subject to the weather will walk around a bit more of the town tomorrow.  The batteries we ordered yesterday arrived late in the afternoon so Barry can replace the original tomorrow, and then work out where to mount the extra one, plus find somewhere to get some cables made up to join them.

21^st June 2013

We survived another cold night at a temperature below yesterday’s temperature as we had no water to the caravan because the outside tap and our hose had frozen.  Fortunately we still had some water in the underfloor tanks that we were able to pump through to make our morning tea/coffee and breakfast.  We will fill the tanks to a fuller level in readiness for more freezing weather.  We didn’t get this cold when we were in Hobart a few years ago, but that is virtually at sea level, not at 1900 ft (603 metres) up Mt Macedon.  You don’t realise the height as you drive from Melbourne as it is a long very gradual incline except for the last few kilometres after turning off the Calder Highway.  We took another walk through another part of town along the creek to continue building up Merry’s fitness again.

22^nd June 2013

Another morning of heavy frost but the tap didn’t freeze up this time buy wasn’t far off it.  It starts to melt and drip off the trees onto the caravan at about 9.00am when the sun finally reaches it, and then it sounds like rain. Terry does a lot of quilting as her hobby so this afternoon we  visited a quilting show in Lanceton but it didn’t particular excite us including Terry.  Some of the designs were quite good but most had been given to professional quilters for the actual quilt work.

23^rd June 2013

Yet another no-water-first-thing-in-the-morning event but the prediction is a few degrees warmer for the next few nights.  Apart from having an immediate supply of water in the morning it is unlikely that we will notice any significant difference in the temperature.

24^th June 2013

We drove back to Taylors Lake again and returned the Grundig PVR that we had bought as it didn’t live up to expectations and had our money returned, and then went to another shop and bought a slightly more expensive Sony equivalent.  This has already proven to be more superior and actually does what it should.  The external appearance of Merry’s throat is now totally normal with no signs of having been burnt in anyway.  Internally her throat has good and not so good days but generally is vastly improved now that the predicted ‘worst two weeks’ are over and done with.  Her appetite is still good and with the softer type meals that are prepared with her in mind, there are no real swallowing problems, probably due to the steroids which she has now decreasing. We drove to New Gisborne and had a couple of cables made up and have connected our two batteries together to give us longer lasting battery power when we free camp in the future.  That will have to wait a while until we leave here and even then it will need to be somewhere warmer.  We also had a quick look at the pretty town of Gisborne and a stroll around the local shops.

26^th June 2013

Merry’s throat is much improved and eating slightly more solid food but still needs to build up some fitness so we’ll continue with the short walks and try to gradually extend them.  It will be quite a while before we do 2 hour trips to the base of waterfalls again, we’ll just use the lookouts at the top.  It is our turn to cook today and the plan is a have normal oven cooked roast pork and vegies in the traditional style, to really test Merry’s swallowing ability. 

The meal was a success although Merry knocked herself out with the monumental project in preparing and cooking it, including a dessert and Merry managed to swallow it with relative ease.