22nd to 28th May 2013

22^nd May 2013

Today Barry braved the Melbourne rush hour traffic to get Merry to her 9.30am appointment at the hospital.  As luck would have it, there was a vacant 1 hour parking lot right outside the hospital which was much appreciated and only cost $2.40 for the hour which turned out to be more than adequate.  The alternative had been to use the hospital parking but you can only use it on a day basis for $11 dollars plus when we got there it only had 1.9 metre clearance which would have removed our roof rack Being an early appointment there hadn’t been time for them to get behind their schedule so Merry actually had her treatment and was on the way of the hospital by the time she should have been starting it. On the way there we spotted an area where Barry may be able to park for 2 hours that is a relatively short walk from the hospital.

23^rd May 2013

The afternoon parking was also quite fortunate but due to seeing the nurse and doctor as well as the treatment Barry had to move from one 1 hour parking bay to another, but in this case only meant reversing into the bay behind him.  Today was an even earlier appointment and Barry was able to use a 2 hour bay which still had some time left on it so only had to pay $1.20 to top it up.  Being early meant the treatment happened straight away and allowed time to have a blood test sample taken by the vampire department.  Even allowing for this, we were back at the car very quickly and probably didn’t need to have put anything in the meter, but you never know in advance.   Merry actually had a pretty rough day yesterday as eating and drinking is getting more difficult and in the afternoon became nauseas, developed a bad headache plus leg cramps.  It was this that instigated the blood tests but she has since discovered that she feels a lot better if she stays off the morphine, so the blood test may not prove anything but we shall see.   The afternoon treatment took a while as they were running late again so Barry had to juggle parking bays.

24^th May 2013

Today shouldn’t have been a problem as we arrived early and Merry received the treatment early but had to see the doctor and nutritionist.  The doctor turned up early and checked Merry’s throat which apparently is looking good, however, it was suggested that a gastro nasal tube be installed to assist with eating and drinking, as swallowing is becoming very difficult and painful.  She then saw the nutritionist for a while and in theory that was it for the day except now she has to go back downstairs and have the tube installed which then meant having an X-ray to check that the tube is positioned correctly.  Meanwhile Barry returns to move the car which has now got a $70 parking fine attached to it because Melbourne can’t, or won’t provide adequate parking within the area.   Barry moved to a 1 hour bay expecting Merry to emerge soon, but that didn’t happen as she had to wait for the nutritionist again to have a bag of food drained into her, so Barry had to move the car once more before Merry finally returned to go home for a short break before returning for the second treatment session.  This time we found a closer cheaper parking bay which is not usually available as other people get there earlier than us.

25^th May 2013

Being the weekend Merry doesn’t have to present herself for treatment so we can relax in the knowledge that we now have to order and therefore buy the nutritional packs and gravity bags so that she can maintain her weigh, and eat in some form of comfort.  If we were Victorians this would be freely given to us, but being West Australians we have to buy our own.  Paying into the so-called National Medicare scheme for years means nothing because when you need treatment etc it suddenly becomes State based, and having not lived in WA for the last six months we get nothing from them but we are expected to go out of our way to vote in their mandatory elections, or face a fine.  We haven’t been in Victoria for six months either but it probably wouldn’t help if we had, as we aren’t on a Victorian electoral role.  In many ways the health system is as archaic as the original Victorian age.  On the brighter side, the nursing staff and Merry’s specialist are absolutely great.

27^th   May 2013

We had a very clear run through to the hospital as it was after the mad rush that is usually absolute bedlam, and makes you wonder what it would be like if some dramatic event took place.  There would be more people killed in the panic on the roads than from the actual event   We found a 2 hour parking reasonably close but the hospital was running on time and we could have got away with a 1 hour bay which would have been closer still and would have been of benefit to Merry who is now struggling to walk any distance beyond 20 metres.  Future visits will involve dropping her off at the door and then find a parking bay.

28^th May 2013

Today was another early appointment that meant battling with the rush hour traffic again but we usually allow extra time to allow for it.  However, the twelve 1 hour parking bays opposite the hospital entrance had been roped off for some sort of major maintenance but we did manage to grab one beside the hospital.  The treatment was over quickly but Merry had to also see the nurse which took a long time so the car had to be moved.  After that session she then had to get some prescriptions made up and are told it will take an hour.  After waiting as long as possible Barry went off to move the car again but as there were none available to move to simply decided to slowly circumnavigate the block a few times.  Fortunately Merry called him on the phone just before finishing the first lap and was able to pick her up and head home.  The afternoon appointment gave us the opportunity to use the same parking area and we got away with only one 1hour session by a few minutes.  We noticed that the work across the road from the entrance amounted to half a dozen star pickets being driven into the ground and tape attached to keep traffic out.  Not bad for a day’s work, Barry wants a job like that.  Overall, today was a much better day for Merry who was feeling a lot better.

4th May to 21st May 2013

4^th May 2013

Last night when Merry attempted to turn off our gas heater that we have now used for the last seven days, it wouldn’t let her.   It wouldn’t let Barry turn it off either so he turned the bottle off to kill it.  Later in the night he was able to turn it off so it seems that something expands with the heat and stops the control knob from turning.  It did it again in the morning so Merry phoned the shop where we bought it and arranged to have it changed.  This meant driving to Carrum Downs on the other side of Melbourne, about 110km each way, so the $129 heater has now cost us about $50 in fuel and toll road fees to get it replaced.  If the replacement does the same thing in a week’s time, or any other time, it will hit the rubbish tip rather than cost another $50, and use that money towards something else unless the Primus sales rep comes to us.  We sent a text message to Sue wishing her a happy birthday, which seems to be the modern, totally impersonal, way of communication.

7^th May 2013

So far the new heater hasn’t let us down but it is still a bit early yet. Merry has now had four of her radiation treatments that now take approximately two minutes time now that the initial two visits are over.  During those visits they have to take X-rays to study to ensure the alignment with the target is correct and make necessary adjustments to the mask that holds her head in place, and still.  It is just unfortunate that she has to travel for about 1.5 hours each way to receive the treatment.  Next week she moves into one of their hostels that will put her much closer and will be able to travel on the trams.  This will be much better for especially when the treatment becomes twice a day with six hours between them, but the hospital is trying to get her into one of the hospital accommodations alongside the hospital and possibly into hospital for the final week

9^th May 2013

Merry’s treatment is still going okay and has confirmed the accommodation for Sunday.  Barry and Foxy will be able to maintain their 4kms morning walk along with Steve and his dog Badger, and his sister’s dog Toby on Thursdays. 

12^th May 2013

Barry took Merry into Ryder-Cheshire House and settled her in.

13^th and 14^th May 2013

Merry is managing by herself at the Ryder-Cheshire House which has included a trip to a 3D movie.

17^th May 2013

Barry drove down to the Ryder-Cheshire House to bring Merry home for the weekend.  Her twice a day treatment starts on Wednesday so Barry will move in with her as it is expected to make her more tired than she currently is. 

18^th May 2013

Whilst here in Wooden, Merry is cooking a variety of stews, one which will provide for tonight’s meal and the remainder will be put into a blender to make it virtually drinkable.  The other stew will suffer the same fate so that Merry can eat/drink them next week as swallowing is becoming an uncomfortable exercise.  It currently feels similar to having tried to swallow a large pill that has chosen to lodge in the throat.

19^th Nay 2013

Barry drove Merry back to Ryder-Cheshire house and moved in as well.

20^th May 2013

Barry went into the hospital with Merry in the ambulance as Merry had an early appointment and would probably be out again very quickly.  That didn’t happen as the ambulance was late doing the pick-up and got to the hospital late and then waited more than an hour before having her treatment, which was quick but they arranged for her to see the nurse because drinking water was becoming a problem.  This led to her seeing a doctor who has now prescribed Morphine to make it easier to eat and drink as she is not allowed to lose weight because that affects the fit of the face mask that holds her head still during the treatment and accuracy is vital.

21^st May 2013

Having now tried using the liquid and tablet morphine, eating and drinking is marginally better at this point in time

18th April to 3rd May 2013

18^th April 2013

Barry fitted new flywire to one of the front bedroom screens plus both of us doing a lot of cleaning cupboards and things and also loaded the car with as much of our stuff ready to take to Steve and Terry’s tomorrow so that it is out of the way with all the packing happening and also guarantees that we can get the remainder of our gear into the car on Friday when we all leave the house.

19^th April 2013

We drove up to Steve and Terry’s and dropped of the first load of our gear and returned in the afternoon in time for Barry to fit new flywire to the other front bedroom screen so that they can both be refitted to the windows when Garon is free to do it.

20^th April 2013

Garon and Barry pulled part of the second bedroom wall apart as it had been water damaged and used expanding foam to seal the void above the wall and replace the Gyprock panelling and prepared it for a few coats of paint.  Meanwhile, Merry continued with the cleaning process.

21^st April 2013

Garon continued preparing the wall for Barry to paint tomorrow whilst he is at work.  Sue is busy packing and selling their unwanted items that have been on eBay for the last week and are being collected today.

22^nd April 2013

Barry cut out a small area of Gyprock in the office wall that looked dodgy and bought some more bits and pieces to replace it.  In the afternoon he sanded the bedroom and applied two coats of paint.

23^rd April 2013

Barry did some more sanding in the bedroom and applied another three coats of paint and it now looks finished.  He also did some preparatory sanding in the office and replaced the flywire in the office flyscreen.

24^th April 2013

Barry needed to return some multipurpose filler to Bunnings hardware store but is unable to find his wallet which he last used in Bunnings yesterday, however, when he asked if it had been handed it was met with a negative.  Having searched the house, car and enquired at the last known place of use it was thought to be lost but by checking our bank account on-line it became apparent that no-one was using my bank cards.  Merry transferred the money in the account to an account that is in her name only so if anybody did try to use my card they were going to be very disappointed.  After lunch Barry spotted something under the ends of the bed that we are using, that turned out to be his wallet.  How we hadn’t found it before is a mystery as we had both checked under the bed but we now have the wallet back without cancelling numerous cards and organising a new driver’s license, bank cards, etc.    

25^th April2 013

 Barry went with Garon to his office and helped him pack up the items he wanted to bring home and pack for transportation to Perth We contacted Colleen in Perth to wish her a happy birthday continued with the sanding, painting and cleaning whilst Garon did some work on the roof, replaced the flyscreens and Sue got on with packing their boxes. They were both home for the Anzac Day holiday. In the evening we went to the local Thai restaurants for our farewell dinner as there was nothing left in the house to cook with.

26^th April 2013

Barry finalised the painting and cleaned that room and then assisted Merry with cleaning other rooms.  Garon’s car was collected and taken to be trucked over to Perth.  Meanwhile the removal guys cleared the house out that allowed us to clean the last two rooms by one o’clock we had finished and walked to the Concourse shops and had an alfresco lunch.  We then cleared the remaining remnants to either the back of our car or the roadside verge for the council to remove.  We headed out to Woodend at about 3.30pm leaving Garon and Sue to finalise their packing their cases and to be picked up for the trip to the airport in a Limousine courtesy of a friend, at 4.000pm.  We arrived in Woodend slightly later than expected as the Navman took us via a different route that included an unnecessary tour of the St Kilda area so we turned it off and followed the signs to the Westgate Bridge after which we turned on the Navman again.  It then took us along the Ballarat highway instead of the Calder Highway for a scenic tour of Gisborne but the distance was no different.

27^th April 2013

We had slept in the house at Woodend so that we didn’t need to clear the caravan of all the stored items so we spent most of today preparing the van for habitation.  We were able to use the van with ease in the afternoon and evening and slept comfortably as it wasn’t especially cold.

28^th April 2013

We finalised the clearing up in the annex and Steve’s sister arrived for morning tea and to decide on a pattern for the quilt that Terry is going to make for her.  When she left she took advantage of one of the never opened 10 litre cans of paint that we had taken from Garon and Sue’s to take to the tip.  The evening turned a lot colder.

29^th April 2013

The night was much colder than the previous night and Foxy joined us in bed at about 2.00am.

 

29^th April 2013

We drove to Melton and disposed of the unwanted tins of paint that we removed from Garon and Sue’s when we left.  Melton is one of the few tips that allow paint disposal but was on an elongated route to Sunbury where we had to visit to drop off the front wall of our annex for a modification. We also picked up some relatively cheap 32gig USB keys from the Aldi shop before heading home.

30^th April 2013

Merry spent most of the day doing a spring clean of the caravan even though it is nothing like spring temperature wise at 7 degrees at night.  Meanwhile Barry had a gas bottle filled as we are using a gas heater for warmth rather than run up Steve and Terry’s electricity. We are also using gas for our fridge, water heating and boiling the kettle, the same as when we free camp without using the generator.  Whist he was out he collected the new timetable for the V-line train to Melbourne in readiness for tomorrow’s trip.

1^st May 2013

 We took the V-Line train into East Melbourne and then the Metro train to Parliament and the ten minute walk into Peter Mac Hospital for Merry’s first radiation treatment.  It was booked for 2.00pm but by the time she had been though the procession of short interviews and preceded by emergency cases she received the treatment at about 3.30pm.  By the time she had finished and had a chat with the social worker we couldn’t get back to East Melbourne in time to board the V-Line train before 4.00pm so we had to upgrade our pension rate fare to the full frae for the return trip.  The treatment left Merry feeling slightly dizzy and nauseas for a while and not too keen to eat dinner, although she did eat some, but otherwise okay. This may have been due to us leaving t5he hospital rather hurriedly in an attempt to get to home at a reasonable time.  Tomorrow we’ll take things a bit easier prior to leaving the hospital and hopefully that will make things a bit easier on Merry.

2^nd May 2013

Merry went into the hospital for her second treatment on her own and fortunately didn’t experience the dizziness or nausea.

3^rd May 2013

Merry tackled the hospital on her own again today which meant going in for an early appointment plus meeting with a doctor and dietician.  She managed it okay without any unpleasant effects so we assume that Wednesday’s unpleasantness after her first treatment was the release of pent up tension due to the long build up to the treatment.  She has been presented with a timetable for her treatments which do not exactly fit into the 10.00am to 2.00pm window that we asked for, due to the hour each way travelling.  One is at 9.30am and another at 3.00pm so she will have to leave very early in the morning for one and come home late for the other.  Having said that, they don’t seem to stick to the timetable anyway so it could change at a moments notice.

1st April to 17th April 2013

1^st April 2013

Garon took Colleen, Craig, Emma and Abby to the airport after a huge farewell roast dinner.  Apparently the flight back was better than the one coming here, and they arrived intact.

2^nd April 2013

The weather has now turned cold and wet but at least Colleen and Co don’t have to suffer it.  Garon and Sue have returned to work and left us at home alone once more.  Merry has now been informed of a date (11^th April) for a PET scan and another CT scan.

3^rd April 2013

Barry contacted an arbourist to check out the neighbour’s tree for a quote to get rid of it as it is a treat to Garon and Sue’s house, but he didn’t turn up.

4^th April 2013

Barry contacted some more arbourists to check out the tree but could only get one to come tomorrow and left a message to ring back with the other.  The original one from yesterday has come today with a final result of $1950.

5th April 2013

The second arbourist came this afternoon and is somewhat dearer at $2750 so we can guess who will get the job on the assumption the neighbour is willing to go ahead.

6^th April 2013

Garon and Sue approached their neighbour with the quotes for removing his tree and also replacing the rotting fence, and were pleasantly surprised that he agreed to both projects.  He has agreed to go halves on the fence which Garon and Barry will replace to cut the cost.   Fortunately it never got to the stage were Garon had to offer to pay half as incentive towards its removal, so it is assumed the neighbour will bear all of that cost as it is his tree.  Garon had been willing to share that cost purely to remove the treat to his house as more than half is already hanging over his side of the fence and it is a very tall tree leaning his way.  We will wait until the tree is removed before attacking the fence in case we disturb the tree roots and bring it down prematurely in one hit.  Apparently he is going away for a few weeks so the projects will be on hold for that period.

7^th April 2013

Garon and Sue took a drive along the coast and found a spot for a picnic whilst we drove out to Karokook Park and took Foxy for a 1.8km walk around the lake.

8^th April 2013

Barry started to sand the wooden bridge floor between the bedrooms and bathroom and was then joined by Merry to assist along the edges and do the vacuuming to keep the dust under control.  This is being done to re- treat the floor because a roof leak damaged an area some time ago.  The leak was fixed but the wooden floor was left looking sad.  As Garon and Sue will be moving to Perth soon it needs to be done prior to either renting or selling, and we just happen to be here at the right time to help sort out some of the tasks.

9^th and 10^th April 2013

We continued with the sanding using Garon’s orbital sander.

11^th April 2013

Barry continued with the sanding only today we hired an industrial floor sander and a belt sander and made a huge impression and gave us the chance of getting the job finished.  Merry went up to the Hospital for her PET scan which is designed to ascertain whether there are any more cancer problems within her anywhere which could be the originators of the two cancers that she has now produced  or whether they may the originators of others.  It turns out that there are no more signs of any others cancers anywhere else so all is good, and her radiation treatment starts in a few weeks time. 

12^th April 2013

We finalised sanding of the edges  and cleaned up before heading out to Steve and Terry’s at Woodend for the weekend to give Garon and Sue the chance to coat the stairs and landing with a sati polyester finish.  This requires three coats and 16 hour in between coats.  That would have put the upstairs bedroom and bathroom (ours) out of reach which is why we went to Steve and Terry’s.

13^th April 2013

Steve drove us up to Bendigo to visit the Aldi supermarket to buy a $49 ereader which includes a protective case and is also a calendar, calculator and FM radio, plays videos, music and photos as well as being a book reader.  It has a four Gig on board memory and a mini SD card slot to take a 32 gig card.

14^th April 2013-04-15

Steve drove us to Sunbury to visit Big W shopping centre to buy a 32 gig mini SD card to enlarge the memory of the new ereader that we bought yesterday in Bendigo.

16^th April 2013

We drove back to Garon and Sue’s and were pleased to see the final results of the 5five and a half days of sanding with the new coating were well worth the effort despite there being a few bits that could have been a little better.

17^th April 2013

We bought some flywire screening and replaced the flywire in the lounge front window and have enough on the roll to do the side lounge window tomorrow and will buy another roll for two upstairs windows.  This will avoid any potential tenants from complaining about the screens when Garon ad Sue are in WA and have to get the agent to hire somebody to do it.

20th March to 31at March 2013

20^th March 2013

We have now heard that Merry has an appointment at Peter Mac Hospital on 26^th March and unfortunately at 8.30am.  They don’t take into account the fact that we have a 1.5 hour journey to get there, however, unless we misinterpreted the booklet they sent us, the treatment is not going to cost us much if anything.  We will know more next week which coincides with our daughter, Colleen arriving with her husband Craig and two girls, Emma and Abby.   It is a fair bet that Colleen will go to the hospital with Merry in place of Barry who will look after Craig and the girls.

21^st March 2013

We had a trial run to Peter Mac hospital so that we knew the exact whereabouts and the train times merry needs to know to ensure she arrives on time on Tuesday.  We got to Parliament station alright but exited by the wrong exit which caused us to take about half an hour to get to the hospital instead of the ten minutes that it should take.  We timed the correct return trip to the station so that we were sure of the overall timing and then found somewhere to have a late breakfast.  From there we went to Carlton Gardens to a Garden and Flower show with the sales type stalls in the gardens and the flower show in the Royal exhibition Hall.  The Hall is a massive, beautiful building that looks like it should be someone’s palace but is completely empty except for the flower displays.  We spent several hours at this show before heading to find that Foxy had managed to escape.  We don’t know long she had been out for but Barry found her sitting on the pavement just around the corner about 30 metres away, but she seemed worn out as if she had been going round some of the walks we take her on, possibly in the hope of finding us.  Fortunately it all turned out okay but we now have to make the fence somewhat more secure before we leave her again.   

22^nd March 2013

Merry had her MRI scan at Clayton that took about 2.5 hours by the time they had done the scans and made the CD for her to take to the Peter Mac Hospital on Tuesday.

24^th March 2013

We all spent a fair part of yesterday and today preparing the house for Colleen, Craig, Emma and Abby arriving tomorrow, which involved organising two double airbeds. Moving our stuff down to the lounge which will become our bedroom so that Colleen’s lot can have the upper level and Garon, Sue and us use the bottom half of the house for sleeping, etc.  Soxy the cat, has also had a slight infection and had to have a visit to the Vet but seems to be okay now but is on antibiotics as a precaution.

25^th March 2013

Susanne collected Colleen, Craig, Emma and Abby from the airport, for which Barry will be forever grateful, and they arrived home in time for the dinner Merry had prepared, after a not too brilliant flying experience with Virgin Airways.

26^th March 2013

Merry and Colleen were dropped off at the railway station to go to Peter Mac Hospital for Merry to meet her surgeon.  This took her about 2 hours which worked out fine by the time the rest of colleen’s tribe had come up for air and went with Barry to the train station and meet up with Colleen and Merry to all go to the Victoria Street Markets.  After some lunch we all took the City Tram which did a roundabout trip to Harbour town, and then in to Federation Square.  We bailed out at a stop before Fed Square and went into the Melbourne Aquarium to see the Penguins, etc before crossing the Yarra River via one of the many footbridges and walked along the West Bank and veered off to the Eureka Skydeck were Colleen’s tribe took the trip to the top whilst Merry and Barry waited at the bottom as we did this during are previous trip to Melbourne.  We then all walked to Fed Square where we took in the atmosphere for a while and then took a Horse and carriage ride out to the Botanic gardens and back. 

This was followed by dinner and then back to the casino on the West Bank so our visitors could see the gas flares on the riverside and a look inside the Casino.  We then headed home to avoid keeping Garon and Sue up too long . Whilst we waited for Colleen’s tribe in the Sky tower we had a phone call from one of Garon/Sue’s neighbours to let us know that they had Foxy in their house as she had escaped again despite Garon and Barry putting in a much improved barrier to keep her in.  Apparently she burrowed out and Garon has now improved on our improvement.

Merry now has more information with respect to her treatment and knows that it starts in three to four weeks time for six weeks.

27^th March 2013

Barry took Colleen’s tribe out to the Dandenong ranges to enjoy the views, have lunch at Grant’s Picnic Area cafe were one used to be able to feed the birds which now isn’t allowed.  We had lunch in the cafe and moved on the Belgrave to the Puffing Billy Train ride but Colleen/Craig considered it too expensive and also didn’t fancy sitting on a train for two hours, so we headed home.  However, they did get to see an Echidna cross the road during our travels.

28^th March 2013

We took our car plus Sue’s car to the railway station and then took the train into Melbourne where we walked from the Richmond station to the MCG and took the tour of the facilities which are used by both Australian Rules Football (aerial ping pong) and cricket.  We had lunch in the 'Paddock' cafe and then descended into the Sports Museum which has an interactive sections where the girls could practice there skills at archery, football, soccer, running out batsmen, netball and more, which they enjoyed more than the museum as such.  We then crossed over the road and railway via the footbridge to the Rod Laver Tennis Arena, but unfortunately that was closed.   The footbridge interconnects with about five different sporting venues as well as accessing the trams, trains and walking back into Federation Square (about tem minutes).  We took the tram into Fed Square where Merry and the girls took the train from Flinders Street station to go back to our car at Mentone and to take the girls shopping and to the cinema.  Craig, Colleen and Barry stayed in town and walked some of the lanes and alleys to pass some time until meeting up with Sue and Garon in Fed Square.  During this time Barry received a phone call from a neighbour that was in possession of Foxy who had escaped once again, so Barry phoned merry who was heading that way so that she could retrieve her.  Hoe she managed to escape is a mystery as the improved barricades show no signs of disturbance, no tunnels, etc.  After meeting up with Sue and Garon we all walked back to the MCG and watched the Footy match between Carlton and Richmond.  We left at three quarter time as the preferred team was losing badly, and walked back into town for a coffee were we discovered that the preferred team had come back dramatically, but eventually lost narrowly having had at least two missed chances to win.  

29^th March 2013

Barry transported Colleen, Craig and the girls to the railway station so that they could take a train up to the Melbourne Zoo, and collected them on their return.  Meanwhile the rest of us had a lazy Good Friday around the house.  The evening dinner was to be homemade pizzas Sue mixed the base ingredient and allowed to rise and from there the two girls took over and kneaded and rolled the mixture to produce the three bases and applied the variety of chosen toppings.  Garon cooked two of them in the Weber Q whilst Sue did the third one in the oven, and all three were really good.

30^th March 2013

Being a Saturday there was a late arising, especially with the teenagers but we eventually drove along to Saint Kilda for a fancy breakfast and a walk through the shopping area to buy a heap of cakes for afternoon tea.  Dinner was to be Indian style made by Colleen but Garon thinks his Indian meals are better so we had an Indian cook off.  After the cook off, Abby and Garon went for a run which pushed it a bit for Abby who was running in sand shoes which was tough on her legs.  The eventual conclusion of the cook off was that both were great in their own right and complemented each other despite the obvious differences. 

31^st March 2013

Colleen and her tribe, along with Merry went to a Direct factory Outlet to that Abby could buy some proper running shoes for future runs.  Unfortunately that will not happen today as Colleen’s tribe have to fly back to Perth in the afternoon.  It has been a short but sweet visit which has been great for us as it was five years ago that we last saw them.  The girls were literally little girls and are now young ladies, although lady doesn’t quite suit Abby as she is the impish one.  Emma is the bright academic type and Abby is the energetic sporting type although Emma does play netball and also referees netball.  Merry was very happy to have colleen with her at her hospital meeting with the surgeon as she know the right questions to ask, and now that she knows exactly what is happening with her mother cam stop worrying about her.

25th February to 15th March 2013

25th February 2013

We ventured into Melbourne using the bus/train combination and suffered the same problem that we encountered 2 years ago where by the train returns to Mentone Station where you then walk through a subway to the other side of the railway in time to see the bus you need pulling away from the bus stop and heading into the distance.  We then sat around at a cafe with a coffee for the next bus in an hour’s time.   We only visited Melbourne because we had to go to the electoral offices to do an absentee vote for the WA elections so that we didn’t receive a fine.  Voting in Australia is mandatory.

27^th February 2013

Rain has reduced our activities to nil.

28^th February 2013

We returned to the specialist to get Merry’s biopsy results.  These turned out to not be as good as we had previously been led to believe as the more thorough examination revealed more than was first seen.  It means that it can’t be removed with laser surgery and therefore requires radiation therapy over a 6 to 8 week course.  Much better than the knife with the possibility of no voice.  Fortunately we can store our caravan at Steve and Terry’s in Woodend and move in with Garon and Sue for the duration, if they can bear it for that long.  Racing down to Melbourne from Canberra in the hope of seeing a specialist proved to be a good move.  So far getting appointments with doctors and specialists has fallen into place very easily.  Merry meets with the specialist and the radiation team on the 7^th March for the final decision on the method of attack prior to the first treatment.

2^nd March 2013

We packed up our annex, etc and moved out of Dingley Village and towed the caravan up to Woodend and managed to manoeuvre it into the parking area beside the house without any tree lopping required.  We settled in with Steve and Terry whilst Foxy argued with Badger (their dog) and Gypsy (their cat) as to who was in charge, which turned out to be Gypsy and Foxy and Badger resolved their differences.  In the afternoon Steve and Barry attacked the gas heating system that had stopped working as the installer had advised Steve to contact the manufactures, but that couldn’t happen until Monday and this is Saturday.  They found a hidden blown fuse in the igniter circuit which resolved the problem after it was replaced.

3^rd March2013

Other than a quick visit into the town for a small amount of shopping and a couple of photos, Merry had an afternoon of social chatter while Barry did an oil change on the car.

4^th March 2013

This was another day of socialising with our hosts and making future plans. 

5^th March 2013

We went with Steve and Terry on a trip to the small town of Molden and took a stroll around the town to take a few photos of the points of interest and moved on to Castlemaine to have some lunch and then walk the town.  On the return journey we called into Taradale to check out the railway trestle bridge before heading home via Kyneton where we had a quick look at another grey stone bridge.

 6^th March 2013

We packed all that we considered necessary to take with us to Garon and Sue’s, which almost filled the car and headed for Melbourne in the late afternoon and endured the frantic rush hour traffic getting through to Beaumaris.

7^th March 2013

We met with Merry’s surgeon and Radiation therapist at Murdoch hospital expecting to meet a team of ten but in fact a tea of fifteen had already discussed the situation and decided that radiation is the only option as the problem is a bit worse than first thought.  We are now waiting for an appointment for anMrI scan to get a better idea of what is going on.

8^th March 2013

We went out and bought a new computer for Merry as her current one is like us, getting old and slow, and generally becoming a painful experience, unlike us.  The idea being that we will be using a worthwhile fast computer for a devious little scheme (legal) that we are getting involved in with Richard.  

10^th March 2013

We drove out to Woodend to Steve and Terry’s again to collect some more of the caravan contents, and spent most of the day with them and Steve’s sister, another Sue.

12^th March 2013

We used the train to the Caulfield racetrack railway station and spent most of the day at the Caravan & Camping Show which is always dubious were we are concerned as it is difficult to leave without buying anything.  However, on this occasion it was at least something that should prove very useful, in the form of a TV antenna.  The caravan has a wind up antenna which we found to be only partially useful from a very early stage of our journey as it only receives horizontally transmitted signals.  When we got to Adelaide, some years ago, we bought another unit that fitted externally that can be rotated to receive a vertically transmitted signal.  Many of the country areas use the vertical signal.  When all else fails we use our satellite dish.  The new antenna is a retrofit unit to replace the roof mounted wind up antenna that can receive both transmission systems, which will replace the old horizontal bar.  Once we have proved it works to our satisfaction we will try to sell the additional external antenna which has to be removed each time we pack up.

15^th March 2013

The MRI scan appointment is not until next week, but Merry has had a blood test done as a prior requirement.  Now we just wait again, which we aren’t good at.

30th January to 20th February 2013

30^th 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.

31^st 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. 

1^st 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.

3^rd 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.

4^th 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.

7^th 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.

9^th 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.

12^th 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

13^th 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.

!6^th 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.

18^th 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.

19^th 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.

20^th 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.