30th January 2013
We successfully managed to clean and dry all of our tarps
yesterday and store them on the roof rack along with one of the five chairs
that we carry in order to accommodate the occasions that we net up with
Richard, Jack and Rory. That may not
happen again for some considerable time as the next holiday that they are
arranging will be just the three of them, and probably in a snow covered area.
31st January 2013
We finally made it to the Botanic Gardens who proudly
advertise free entry but forget to mention that it costs $2.50/hr, or $10/day,
to use their car park. The gardens where
a bit disappointing though not the worst we have visited but way off being comparable with the best, in
Cairns. After walking the main path and
a few offshoot paths we had to walk to the furthest point again to visit the
Display Glasshouse which was a totally dismal failure with very little to
see. On the return journey home we
attempted to stay close to the banks of Lake Burley Griffin and stopped at the
Scrivener Dam which was built to produce the lake on the Molonglo River. We also stopped soon after that at the
Government House lookout which offered a distant view of the house across the
vast lawn and a landscape view in the other direction. We stopped again near the city to see the
avenue of national flags and the Captain Cook’s Fountain, a pumped water spout
in the lake.
1st February 2013
We very quietly celebrated Merry’s birthday by taking it easy
with the intention of having dinner out but it decided to rain so the enthusiasm
quickly waned.
3rd February 2013
Having seen adverts on TV that the Canberra Arboretum would
be open to the public this weekend we took the opportunity and gave the benefit
of our presence. This was a special
opening as it was the anniversary of the fire, and the real opening is due in a
few months, so we were lucky to have been here at the right time. We went on the second day and didn’t have to
put up with the dignitaries waffling on.
The car park is not bituminised, and therefore no lines setting out
parking bays, so parking was free but will eventually use the ready installed
ticket machines. It has a huge visitor
centre which includes a cafe that produces excellent pies.
There is an attached outdoor centre that now
holds a fascinating Bonsai display and a separate pavilion that vaguely
resembles part of the Sydney Opera House roof.
Between the two buildings is a huge grassed amphitheatre that no doubt
will host some shows one day, but currently is host to kite flying kids as its
shape offers great up drought. The
arboretum covers a huge undulating area with some established young trees and
acres of freshly planted trees that will look really good in years to come. It is impressive even now with its variety of
trees in land that was totally burnt out by fire a few years ago. 
There is a lookout included on Farmers Hill
that has a 360 degree view over the surrounding countryside and includes
looking down on Scrivener Dam, and has a huge eagles nest with resident eagle
made from scrap tools, springs and piping.
On the way home we stopped off at the Portrait Gallery where Barry
elected to have a very quick walk through some of the various galleries and
then sit and wait for Merry in comfort whilst she meandered slowly through all
of the galleries reading every
inscription.
4th February 2013
We had another lazy day during which Barry removed the front
right wheel of the car and changed it for the back passenger side wheel as the
front wheel has a flat spot that creates an irritating flapping noise. Now that it is on the back, any noise it
makes is behind us plus the wheel is rotating in the opposite direction which
also eases the problem.
7th February 2013
Apart from shopping we did nothing other than the gradual
packing up of our annex, etc, so that we can leave early in the morning.
8th February 2013
We did the final packing and left the caravan by crossing
the road into a car park that is hardly used so that Barry could jack up the
caravan to adjust the brakes as he is not convinced that the van’s brakes are
supplementing the cars brakes adequately.
This proved to be not such a good idea as it required a special tool to
be able to adjust the drum type brakes as there is inadequate room to do it
with a screwdriver.. We departed there
with the caravan hand brake pulled slightly on to simulate the adjustment as a
temporary measure which worked quit well and we can feel the van helping the
braking. We had two stops on the way to
the Albury region.
The second stop, for
lunch, was at Holbrook where we had visited before and were impressed, and were
impressed once again at the town park with the top half of HMAS Otway, a
submarine, as the central focus point.
There is also a museum alongside it that has a Hologram using the wife
of the ship’s captain explaining the fascinating story of the submarine and its
crew during the war and on the way through the museum you pass through the
confines of a submarine control room. For some unknown reason, there was about half
a dozen Aston Martins cars of various types and vintage in the car park. We then proceeded to the Albury region to a
rather ordinary caravan park for the night.
9th February 2013
We arrived in Melbourne soon after 2.00pm at 5 ways Caravan
Park in Dingley Village where we stayed two years ago for
several weeks, as it is close to our son and
daughter-in-law, Garon and Susanne, whom we will be visiting tomorrow. We are actually on the same bay that we were
on before.
10th February 2013
We drove round to Garon and Susanne’s home and enjoyed a
great meal and very pleasant day with them.
12th February 2013
We took an uncomfortable drive through Melbourne and out to
Woodend to visit Steve and Terry, which would be the first time we have seen
them since somewhere around June/July in 2008.
The trip back on a different route was a lot easier than the outward
trip with only one spell of nose to tail creeping
13th January 2013
Merry visited a doctor for a referral to a specialist to
check out her throat and was told it may take up to six months, but rather surprisingly
managed to get to see him next week and any follow up would be within a week or
two from then.
!6th February 2013
We visited Garon and Susanne again and as previously
arranged with them, offloaded the camping gear that we are currently carrying
which only gets used when Richard, Jack and Rory visit us for a holiday. Richard is arranging their next holiday in
the Snow to go skiing so they will not be using camping gear for quite a long time, are reduces our total weight by
a considerable amount and gives back a lot of storage space. Most importantly
it reduces the height of the vehicle which we had hoped would allow us into a
few underground car parks to use the shade when Foxy is in the car. We always
needed a minimum of 2.3 metres and although the overall height is now reduced
it is still too risky to get into the more usual 2.1 metres car parks now.
18th February 2013
Merry visited the ENT specialist this afternoon and had her
throat inspected with a fancy gadget used via her nose and informed that she has
a tumour on her right vocal cord which needs to be removed ASAP as it is slow
growing and hasn’t broken through the cord wall. She was sent downstairs for an X-ray and a CT
scan and booked into hospital for a biopsy the following day.
19th February 2013
Merry had her spell in hospital and Barry brought her home
again at about 3.00pm with a slightly sore throat as about half of the tumour
was removed during the biopsy plus they had a good look around down there in
case there was anything else there that shouldn’t be. The specialist said it was similar to a skin
cancer and they should be able to remove it all, probably by laser treatment,
and wouldn’t require any further treatment, but we will know more soon.
20th February 2013
Merry is feeling much improved today and her voice actually
sounds better than it has in a long time, although there is still some soreness
there. We had a day in the large Southlands
Shopping complex, not for shopping, just looking and checking a few things out,
and on the way home bought some oil, filter, etc in readiness to do an oil
change on the car.
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