1st 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.
6th 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.
7th 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.
8th 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.
9th 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.
11th 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.
13th 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.
!5th 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.
16th 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.
