We had the loveliest summer. There was hardly a heat wave, few north winds, and enough rain to prevent gardens parching. It has continued through March, a month that often brings scorching heat after a hot summer and causes the earth to set like concrete and crack up. Everything is green and lush and when the sun shines like it did today you could be excused if you thought we were in the Garden of Eden.
Mind you this is localized to the Dandenongs. In my travels through March I can say it it is exceedingly dry in northern Victoria and southern NSW, and in western Victoria and SE South Australia. Frighteningly so in the case of the latter. There must be so many farmers anxiously hoping for an autumn break.
But on my travels one thing has been obvious to me like never before in my recollection. I have had picnics in Canberra, Adelaide, on the banks of the Murray River, on the beach at Normanville, Christies Beach, Cape Jervis, and one thing has been notable at all these places, as well as when working back here at Gembrook daily.
There are no bush flies. Don't ask me why, I know not. Usually in summer and March there are flies all over you especially in South Australia, but besides on or two here and there, just no flies.
Weird.
Sunday, March 29, 2015
Monday, March 16, 2015
15 Days of March
March 1- Gord and I left in his Skoda about 11am to drive to Canberra. We stopped at Bonnie Doon for lunch (junk food), and a pee. In the little garden there monuments to fallen soldiers stand to commemorate the sacrifice of local men in wars. Also a separate one to Stephen Arbuthnot erected by his family. He arrived at Gallipoli on 5 Aug 1915(from memory) and was killed 3 days later along with 450 others in a suicidal attack at 'The Neck'. It filled me with sadness and anger, the stupidity of this. We continued on, not arriving at Canberra till about 6.30pm. Then it took us nearly an hour to find our motel at Narrabunda south of the city. We had seen a golf club bistro advertising near our motel on our way so we headed there for dinner. I ordered lamb shanks from the menu and Gord spag bol. The maitre di approached me after a while, sorry, we don't have any shanks left. I said I'd go spag bol also, he said we do great ribs, I said Ok I'll take the ribs. A little while later he came back saying sorry we're out of ribs, i said that's Ok I'll take the spag bol. He said we do a great Tbone would I like that, I said yeah sounds good. This maitre di was well spoken and smartly dressed in black trousers and white shirt/coat, but he had curly hair sticking out in every direction and a front tooth missing, making him look a little crazy. He told me to replenish my wine free of charge at the bar. I went and got another house wine but paid for it, I didn't want to explain to the barman. A little while later the waitress came with two bowls of spag bol. Gord and I laughed thinking this was as good as a Faulty Towers episode. I was half way through the spag bol when the waitress brought out the biggest TBone I have ever seen. I ate it too and it was the best TBone I have ever had. Gord had to help me eat it (chips and salad too). So we came out in front, and had a great laugh to boot. Next to us was about 20 Irish people on tables joined together so I twigged they were there for the cricket and started up a conversation with a couple of them on our way out. One was the manager of the team and it capped off a happy evening for us. I went and thanked the maitre di, he didn't know I had two mains served but he laughed with me and said it was one of those nights.
March 2 - We slept in a bit then I went to the shops at Griffith to stock up on some things while Gord slept longer. I cooked a breakfast of eggs as we were fortunate that our motel room had cooking facilities (a couple of hotplates in the bench, crockery and cutlery, and a sink, and a good size fridge). it was a lovely restful morning. I made some ham and pickle sandwiches for lunch and we headed off to the war memorial. The visit there did nothing for me really apart from the initial revulsion I felt when I walked in to see the stat emblazoned on the wall that 102,000 Australians had lost their lives in conflicts around the world. The same anger I felt looking at Stephen Arbuthnot's monument in Bonnie Doon was with me as we went through the building. The total stupidity of it. OK you might say Hitler had to be stopped, and the Japs, but that whole business was a product of the stupidity of WW1 and the botched arrangements made following it as the Allies moved boundaries and shored up economic resources in Europe and the middle East. It was one war really with a twenty year break while the initial loser licked wounds and rearmed with revenge in mind. And you can have all the monuments and ceremonies you like, none of it does one scrap for the poor buggers who were killed prematurely, 102,000 of them, in our 115 years of participation in wars abroad. Mind you 25,000 German civilians died in one night in the bombing of Dresden and 70,000 Japanese civilians, mostly women and children, were vapourized by two bombs in Japan. In my view all the pomp and commemoration is a smokescreen to hide the incompetence of the politicians and military command of the day, and a manipulation of future generations to recruit more suckers to serve and die as a result of the decisions to engage us for political and economic reasons.
Following that we went to Parliament House. That place left me cold also, the opulence is sickening, as is the aggrandizement of politicians past and present. And the new artwork, some sort of 3D visual thing featuring a drone bomber cruising around what looked like the treeless hills of Afghanistan looking for targets. It really had me scratching my head, along with the displays of guns (more art). Weird! If I go back to Canberra I will not bother going to either the war memorial or Parliament House. I should have known better. We had tea a pizza restaurant in Manuka it was fantastic.
March 3 - I cooked eggs again for breakfast, I love em on toast. We left quite early even though the cricket was a day night match as I was worried about parking. We parked in all day parking below Coles and shopped and toured the Manuka retail precinct. I bought new underwear which I had been meaning to do for ages and cruised a bookshop where I bought Barry Cassidy's book 'Private Bill' about his father who was captured on Crete and spent 4 years in POW camps in Austria as did Doug Twaits whose biography I'm trying to write. We had 'Grilled' for lunch then headed into Manuka Oval for the big match Sth Africa versus Ireland, taking in three bottles of water each and more ham and pickle sandwiches. It was great nights entertainment. Sth Africa blitzed em. The only downer was the amount of children playing cricket in the aisles next to us in the second innings and massing on the fence to get autographs from the Sth African fieldsman. They yelled out rudely with demanding tone to the cricketers who accommodated them despite this which impressed me. In particular Dale Steyn and Tahir Imran were patient and obliging. It was a noisy night what with all the drums and music and gas jets and the PA system but I enjoyed it. We were well and truly ready for sleep when returned to our motel close to midnight. There were big queues in the car park at the ticket machines before we could get to our car.
March 4 - We left about 8.30am to drive home. Lunched at Lavington and called in our friends the Murrays in Wangaratta. Arrived home at about 6pm. Lib had a roast chook on the go for us. A good trip, Canberra I liked. Hard to find your way around, parking is a problem, there are cops everywhere and I've never seen so many security guards, but I liked the trees - a planting program obviously began a long time ago with many exotic species which are now mature and beautiful. and the the people are friendly enough, a little more aloof than a country town but there's a relaxed feel about the place, and a generally prosperous healthy atmosphere.
March 5 - I caught up on correspondence and paperwork and then did a little bit of picking, rosemary and carrot flowers if I recall, I'm going entirely by memory, I don't keep a daily diary which I should.
I rang Huit and arranged for him to water the pots while we will be away. He came around to see for himself. I had a massage appt at 4pm followed by a chiropractic at the same place in Upwey then I took Pip to the dog sitter at Upper Pakenham. Home about 6.30pm and after dinner we packed bags and pantry for the early start to Adelaide the next morning.
March 6 - We woke at 4am planning to leave at 4.30 but it was 5am when we finally drove off after loading the esky and last minute tidy up. I hate coming home to an untidy house. We had breakfast in Ararat (Maccas I confess) and a picnic lunch at Murray Bridge on the banks of the river. We were a bit tired and cranky and starting to test each other after some 9 hours on the road and by the time we found our motel near the Adelaide airport which we found was overpriced, cramped, dark and outdated, the mood was not good. I rang my Aunt Hatsu and made arrangements to see her late afternoon the next day Saturday and have dinner at her house at her invitation. We then went for a drive looking for the Glenelg Oval where I had read.in the paper the cricket SA vs Victoria was being played as the Adelaide Oval was being used for the World Cup that weekend. We found the ground easily and parking right outside and watched the last hour of play of day 2 on a perfectly mild and gentle evening as we enjoyed a couple of pots of beer. We returned Lib to the motel and Gord and I went looking for some take away food as there was no cooking facility in the motel. The traffic was heavy, it being Friday evening of a long weekend. We found a pizza shop and a BWS for bottle of white wine and some ice for the esky as the motel fridge freezer would not fit our ice bottles to refreeze them overnight. The pizza wasn't bad. We crashed pretty early and slept well.
March 7 - Fruit and raisin bread (no toaster) for brekky. Off to the cricket. The Vics had made 535 in the first innings and play resumed day 3 with SA on 4/135. We watched the morning session, there were tennis courts behind the bank where we sat on the grass in the shade of a tree so between overs you could turn around and watch some spirited tennis. Adelaide people are big on sport.It was a most civilized setting, a snapshot of the relaxed lifestyle many people enjoy in suburban Adelaide. At lunch in the cricket we had another picnic from our pantry and I left Lib and Gord and took a walk into Glenelg to find a present for Hatsu and a bunch of flowers. The florist packed the stems of the flowers in cellophane filled with water and put the made up mixed bunch in an open box standing upright then in a bag with string tied to make the handles long enough so I could easily carry it. SA was 7/ for when I got back and we went back to the motel to shower. We arrived at Hatsu's about 4pm. It was wonderful see her and give her a big hug after 37 years. We talked and talked and looked at photos and enjoyed a lovely meal of beef stir fry and about 8 vegetables. Hatsu is 83 but very with it. We left after 9pm, back to our miserable lodging, but it didn't matter, we were tired and slept readily. Hatsu had offered for us to stay at her house when I told her we were coming over but I found the motel (with difficulty as it was the festival long weekend and the Adelaide Cup and the world cup cricket) as there were three of us and I didn't want to impose and make too much work for her. As it turned out it was a good thing as her son Lester was home from Dubai where he is based as an Emirates pilot. We didn't see him as he was out but I was glad that I had made our own accommodation arrangement.
.
March 8 - Banana and raisin bread again. We packed up and left the Aviator's Lodge Motel by the 10am checkout. It was disappointing and we wouldn't return but it was somewhere to sleep and shower and it was clean enough. I had booked a cabin the Sunday night at Brownhill Ck Caravan Park but there was no hurry to get there so we went to the cricket again for a couple of hours. SA was batting again about 4 down I think. A few wickets fell while we were there before we left to look for Brownhill Ck. We found it thanks to the GPS in Gord's phone. It was warm in the mid afternoon and Gord and I left Lib to rest in the cabin as she wasn't feeling well while we went to find a super market to replenish the pantry. At least we had cooking facilities now and a good fridge with a large freezer to get our ice bottles refroze. Steak and veg for dinner. I finished my book 'The Elegance of the Hedgehog' which I enjoyed after some doubtful thoughts in the first half. It came good and I'd recommend it for a good read. I started Barry Cassidy's 'Private Bill' which instantly engaged me as it started set in Chiltern with his childhood and was an easy style. Brownhill Creek is only 6km from the CBD but you would think you were well out of the city, as it is situated up a little valley heading into the hills, quite separated from the suburbs close by. It was a pleasant one nihgt stay if a little expensive at $163 for the cabin. the only downer was noisy neighbours who rattled and banged for hours apparently, Lib told me in the morning, I didn't hear it.
March 9 - We checked out and headed south, stopping at McLarenvale info centre. We realized we were close to the nursing home where my Uncle Ron (who was married to Hatsu but they were divorced many years ago) resided and where we visited three years ago but couldn't remember where it was. It was not my intention to visit him but Lib said we should. The volunteer working there gave me directions to a place but it was the wrong one. We found two more that were also wrong, and in trying to find another the GPS kept sending us to a huge mall. We went to Christie's Beach where we had a picnic by the sea. I'd rung the farm to find the correct name of the facility, it was in Seaford, and a local bloke told me how to get there. Ron is 89, it was a miserable visit, he said he was a prisoner there, once you get in you can never get out, he was hoping for an earthquake. He's had an operation for a cancer on his head fairly recently, you could see a part of his skull had been removed, to match an older one on the other side of his head. He could still hold a conversation, is frail, but could get up and walk, as he did when we left, trying to escape. He has Alzeimer's or dementia but retains some of his faculties and all I could think of was what a terrible existence and I hope I don't end up like that. We pressed on to Normanville where we booked a cabin for two nights at the Jetty Caravan Park. We love Normanville having stayed there a few years ago. Lib and Gord had a hit of tennis while I had a cuppa on the cabin porch looking out across grass and Norfolk pines to the sea. The Caravan park manager -Norm-came with linen for Gord's bed. We talked. He was a detective for many years but left the police force in the 1980's after he refused to release a politician from the lock up where he had thrown him. He had him cold and charged him with rape but a phone call came from superiors telling him to release him and drop it, an order he refused. the superiors said they were coming to Pt Augusta to release him which led to Norm resigning on the spot. Lib cooked steak for her and I and a chicken fillet for Gord on the barbie while she enjoyed a red wine. I was AF, difficult to do on holiday but there you go.
March 10 - We slept then packed a picnic and drove to Cape Jervis where we again picnicked by the sea looking out towards Kangaroo Island. We took a walk then watched the ferry load it's cargo of vehicles including a team of tree loppers with trucks and trailers. It was interesting watching the skilled drivers backing the semis with inches to spare. The ferry left as another from the island came in to berth. The weather was kind, Lib took a swim back at the beach, and had another hit of tennis with Gord. I consumed 'Private Bill', eagerly reading about the battle of Crete where Bill Cassidy was captured. Another barbie for dinner.
March 11 - We reluctantly packed up and hit the road, stopping at Strathalbyn to shop. We had another picnic at Wellington before crossing the river on the ferry to continue the long drive home.
We reached Horsham late afternoon and found a motel. Take away Chinese for dinner from the Horsham Palace opposite Coles. To our surprise and pleasure it was great food, the best Chinee we'd had for ages. We watched a James Bond movie on TV -'Skyfall'. I actually enjoyed it, usually I can't get interested in James Bond movies at all. The noise of trucks was high but I'd bought ear plugs when I was out getting the Chinee which did work and we all slept well.
March 12 - A pleasant run home it was through the big smoke Melbourne after stopping at Ballarat for Subway lunch. It's always nice to get home although there was a lot of washing to do. I picked up Pip, she looked great and was happy. I visited Huit and thanked him for watering our pots and seeds and cuttings, and enjoyed a coffee with he and Wilma.There was much mail and email to go through. One email was from my old school friend Janyne with whom I had recently been reconnected after more than fifty years. She lives on the Gold Coast but said she was coming to Melbourne as her mother had had a fall and broke her leg in three places. She suggested I give her a ring on her mobile to arrange a get together while she's down.
March 13 - Back to work after a slow morning catching up on paperwork and phone calls. A little bit of picking, altho I can't remember what it was. Rosemary perhaps. And oh yes, after my writing class I put some borage and edible chrysanthemum seed in and planted out some of the cornflowers we had in pots. Lib put these seeds in trays for me one day when she was off work. The ground was fallow and mulched down with straw through January and Feb, and Gord did some forking over while I was at the writing class. Meredith Jod and Elvie had done well while I was away and kept the ship on course. They're pretty tired though and are glad to have me back. I rang Janyne and arranged to meet her for lunch the next day at the Box Hill Rsl opposite the hospital where her mum is.
March 14 - I was excited and a little nervous at meeting Janyne after more than fifty years. She was waiting patiently in the foyer when we arrived 15 minutes late. I had phoned from a traffic jam 10 minutes earlier saying we were close. She was the only person sitting there so I knew it was her. Whether I'd have recognized her if I didn't know she'd be there, I'm not sure. In retrospect I probably wouldn't have although I said at the time I think I would have. Janyne said she wouldn't have recognized me. We both of course look very different to our primary school days. As we talked over a drink and then lunch in the bistro and afterwards, Janyne seemed more and more resembling the girl I remembered. The same eyes and expression, the voice inflection, the lively personality and sense of humour were all there. Lib and Janyne got on very well. We talked of many things; our school days, our parents, our children, our friends past and present, holidays, dogs, health. We did not talk about sex, politics or religion, there was no need, we had too much other to catch up on. We have much in common (including white hair which was probably what threw us a bit at first). Janyne will read this but I don't think she will mind me telling something of her life. I know of two other people only from my primary school days whom I know have at some point read my blog, but I doubt they still do. Janyne the person will be unknown to my usual readers. She married at age 19 and had two children a boy and a girl and lived in Melbourne. After seven years she and her husband divorced and she met her second husband Ben with whom she was with for 36 years till he died about 16 months ago. Janyne had two more children with him, another boy and a girl, to make a family of four children, who are now of course well into adulthood and settled, and have provided Janyne grandchildren. The family moved to Brisbane in the late 1980's and later Janyne and Ben moved to the Gold Coast.
Ben became sick with polymyalgia in 2003 then I think pulmonary fibrosis and his health worsened over time as he waited for a lung transplant, then lungs became available at the last minute, just before he would have been too ill for the operation. The transplant was successful but as time passed he had other problems caused by the anti rejection and other drugs. It was one thing after another including a hip replacement. He needed the other hip done but he was diagnosed with a brain tumour for which he underwent extensive treatment before it eventually claimed him. So he was ill for about twelve years in total during which time Janyne worked mostly full time while also looking after Ben and helping him through all the medical procedures. She speaks of him with great love and admiration saying he was an amazing man who never complained. He was 55 when he first became ill, as was Janyne's dad when he had the stroke that started his downward run. It made me think that I haven't done too bad to reach my age with no health issues until this RA this last year, which is manageable and nothing by comparison.
I'm very pleased that I have renewed friendship with Janyne, a friendship I hope and trust will last for all our lives. As we said goodbye I had a tear in my eye. It was a great experience for me. She's a charming lady.
March 15 - After a nice sleep in I was on roster duty in the Emerald Museum in the afternoon. Volunteer Beryl was with me, she goes every week with whoever is on roster. It was Beryl's 86th birthday but she would not miss a week on museum duty so her family came and had afternoon tea in the park for which I stayed on for for a little while. Beryl too is a charming and amazing lady. I'm a lucky bloke to know and have known many women of quality, especially my good wife Lib who's a ripper.
March 2 - We slept in a bit then I went to the shops at Griffith to stock up on some things while Gord slept longer. I cooked a breakfast of eggs as we were fortunate that our motel room had cooking facilities (a couple of hotplates in the bench, crockery and cutlery, and a sink, and a good size fridge). it was a lovely restful morning. I made some ham and pickle sandwiches for lunch and we headed off to the war memorial. The visit there did nothing for me really apart from the initial revulsion I felt when I walked in to see the stat emblazoned on the wall that 102,000 Australians had lost their lives in conflicts around the world. The same anger I felt looking at Stephen Arbuthnot's monument in Bonnie Doon was with me as we went through the building. The total stupidity of it. OK you might say Hitler had to be stopped, and the Japs, but that whole business was a product of the stupidity of WW1 and the botched arrangements made following it as the Allies moved boundaries and shored up economic resources in Europe and the middle East. It was one war really with a twenty year break while the initial loser licked wounds and rearmed with revenge in mind. And you can have all the monuments and ceremonies you like, none of it does one scrap for the poor buggers who were killed prematurely, 102,000 of them, in our 115 years of participation in wars abroad. Mind you 25,000 German civilians died in one night in the bombing of Dresden and 70,000 Japanese civilians, mostly women and children, were vapourized by two bombs in Japan. In my view all the pomp and commemoration is a smokescreen to hide the incompetence of the politicians and military command of the day, and a manipulation of future generations to recruit more suckers to serve and die as a result of the decisions to engage us for political and economic reasons.
Following that we went to Parliament House. That place left me cold also, the opulence is sickening, as is the aggrandizement of politicians past and present. And the new artwork, some sort of 3D visual thing featuring a drone bomber cruising around what looked like the treeless hills of Afghanistan looking for targets. It really had me scratching my head, along with the displays of guns (more art). Weird! If I go back to Canberra I will not bother going to either the war memorial or Parliament House. I should have known better. We had tea a pizza restaurant in Manuka it was fantastic.
March 3 - I cooked eggs again for breakfast, I love em on toast. We left quite early even though the cricket was a day night match as I was worried about parking. We parked in all day parking below Coles and shopped and toured the Manuka retail precinct. I bought new underwear which I had been meaning to do for ages and cruised a bookshop where I bought Barry Cassidy's book 'Private Bill' about his father who was captured on Crete and spent 4 years in POW camps in Austria as did Doug Twaits whose biography I'm trying to write. We had 'Grilled' for lunch then headed into Manuka Oval for the big match Sth Africa versus Ireland, taking in three bottles of water each and more ham and pickle sandwiches. It was great nights entertainment. Sth Africa blitzed em. The only downer was the amount of children playing cricket in the aisles next to us in the second innings and massing on the fence to get autographs from the Sth African fieldsman. They yelled out rudely with demanding tone to the cricketers who accommodated them despite this which impressed me. In particular Dale Steyn and Tahir Imran were patient and obliging. It was a noisy night what with all the drums and music and gas jets and the PA system but I enjoyed it. We were well and truly ready for sleep when returned to our motel close to midnight. There were big queues in the car park at the ticket machines before we could get to our car.
March 4 - We left about 8.30am to drive home. Lunched at Lavington and called in our friends the Murrays in Wangaratta. Arrived home at about 6pm. Lib had a roast chook on the go for us. A good trip, Canberra I liked. Hard to find your way around, parking is a problem, there are cops everywhere and I've never seen so many security guards, but I liked the trees - a planting program obviously began a long time ago with many exotic species which are now mature and beautiful. and the the people are friendly enough, a little more aloof than a country town but there's a relaxed feel about the place, and a generally prosperous healthy atmosphere.
March 5 - I caught up on correspondence and paperwork and then did a little bit of picking, rosemary and carrot flowers if I recall, I'm going entirely by memory, I don't keep a daily diary which I should.
I rang Huit and arranged for him to water the pots while we will be away. He came around to see for himself. I had a massage appt at 4pm followed by a chiropractic at the same place in Upwey then I took Pip to the dog sitter at Upper Pakenham. Home about 6.30pm and after dinner we packed bags and pantry for the early start to Adelaide the next morning.
March 6 - We woke at 4am planning to leave at 4.30 but it was 5am when we finally drove off after loading the esky and last minute tidy up. I hate coming home to an untidy house. We had breakfast in Ararat (Maccas I confess) and a picnic lunch at Murray Bridge on the banks of the river. We were a bit tired and cranky and starting to test each other after some 9 hours on the road and by the time we found our motel near the Adelaide airport which we found was overpriced, cramped, dark and outdated, the mood was not good. I rang my Aunt Hatsu and made arrangements to see her late afternoon the next day Saturday and have dinner at her house at her invitation. We then went for a drive looking for the Glenelg Oval where I had read.in the paper the cricket SA vs Victoria was being played as the Adelaide Oval was being used for the World Cup that weekend. We found the ground easily and parking right outside and watched the last hour of play of day 2 on a perfectly mild and gentle evening as we enjoyed a couple of pots of beer. We returned Lib to the motel and Gord and I went looking for some take away food as there was no cooking facility in the motel. The traffic was heavy, it being Friday evening of a long weekend. We found a pizza shop and a BWS for bottle of white wine and some ice for the esky as the motel fridge freezer would not fit our ice bottles to refreeze them overnight. The pizza wasn't bad. We crashed pretty early and slept well.
March 7 - Fruit and raisin bread (no toaster) for brekky. Off to the cricket. The Vics had made 535 in the first innings and play resumed day 3 with SA on 4/135. We watched the morning session, there were tennis courts behind the bank where we sat on the grass in the shade of a tree so between overs you could turn around and watch some spirited tennis. Adelaide people are big on sport.It was a most civilized setting, a snapshot of the relaxed lifestyle many people enjoy in suburban Adelaide. At lunch in the cricket we had another picnic from our pantry and I left Lib and Gord and took a walk into Glenelg to find a present for Hatsu and a bunch of flowers. The florist packed the stems of the flowers in cellophane filled with water and put the made up mixed bunch in an open box standing upright then in a bag with string tied to make the handles long enough so I could easily carry it. SA was 7/ for when I got back and we went back to the motel to shower. We arrived at Hatsu's about 4pm. It was wonderful see her and give her a big hug after 37 years. We talked and talked and looked at photos and enjoyed a lovely meal of beef stir fry and about 8 vegetables. Hatsu is 83 but very with it. We left after 9pm, back to our miserable lodging, but it didn't matter, we were tired and slept readily. Hatsu had offered for us to stay at her house when I told her we were coming over but I found the motel (with difficulty as it was the festival long weekend and the Adelaide Cup and the world cup cricket) as there were three of us and I didn't want to impose and make too much work for her. As it turned out it was a good thing as her son Lester was home from Dubai where he is based as an Emirates pilot. We didn't see him as he was out but I was glad that I had made our own accommodation arrangement.
.
March 8 - Banana and raisin bread again. We packed up and left the Aviator's Lodge Motel by the 10am checkout. It was disappointing and we wouldn't return but it was somewhere to sleep and shower and it was clean enough. I had booked a cabin the Sunday night at Brownhill Ck Caravan Park but there was no hurry to get there so we went to the cricket again for a couple of hours. SA was batting again about 4 down I think. A few wickets fell while we were there before we left to look for Brownhill Ck. We found it thanks to the GPS in Gord's phone. It was warm in the mid afternoon and Gord and I left Lib to rest in the cabin as she wasn't feeling well while we went to find a super market to replenish the pantry. At least we had cooking facilities now and a good fridge with a large freezer to get our ice bottles refroze. Steak and veg for dinner. I finished my book 'The Elegance of the Hedgehog' which I enjoyed after some doubtful thoughts in the first half. It came good and I'd recommend it for a good read. I started Barry Cassidy's 'Private Bill' which instantly engaged me as it started set in Chiltern with his childhood and was an easy style. Brownhill Creek is only 6km from the CBD but you would think you were well out of the city, as it is situated up a little valley heading into the hills, quite separated from the suburbs close by. It was a pleasant one nihgt stay if a little expensive at $163 for the cabin. the only downer was noisy neighbours who rattled and banged for hours apparently, Lib told me in the morning, I didn't hear it.
March 9 - We checked out and headed south, stopping at McLarenvale info centre. We realized we were close to the nursing home where my Uncle Ron (who was married to Hatsu but they were divorced many years ago) resided and where we visited three years ago but couldn't remember where it was. It was not my intention to visit him but Lib said we should. The volunteer working there gave me directions to a place but it was the wrong one. We found two more that were also wrong, and in trying to find another the GPS kept sending us to a huge mall. We went to Christie's Beach where we had a picnic by the sea. I'd rung the farm to find the correct name of the facility, it was in Seaford, and a local bloke told me how to get there. Ron is 89, it was a miserable visit, he said he was a prisoner there, once you get in you can never get out, he was hoping for an earthquake. He's had an operation for a cancer on his head fairly recently, you could see a part of his skull had been removed, to match an older one on the other side of his head. He could still hold a conversation, is frail, but could get up and walk, as he did when we left, trying to escape. He has Alzeimer's or dementia but retains some of his faculties and all I could think of was what a terrible existence and I hope I don't end up like that. We pressed on to Normanville where we booked a cabin for two nights at the Jetty Caravan Park. We love Normanville having stayed there a few years ago. Lib and Gord had a hit of tennis while I had a cuppa on the cabin porch looking out across grass and Norfolk pines to the sea. The Caravan park manager -Norm-came with linen for Gord's bed. We talked. He was a detective for many years but left the police force in the 1980's after he refused to release a politician from the lock up where he had thrown him. He had him cold and charged him with rape but a phone call came from superiors telling him to release him and drop it, an order he refused. the superiors said they were coming to Pt Augusta to release him which led to Norm resigning on the spot. Lib cooked steak for her and I and a chicken fillet for Gord on the barbie while she enjoyed a red wine. I was AF, difficult to do on holiday but there you go.
March 10 - We slept then packed a picnic and drove to Cape Jervis where we again picnicked by the sea looking out towards Kangaroo Island. We took a walk then watched the ferry load it's cargo of vehicles including a team of tree loppers with trucks and trailers. It was interesting watching the skilled drivers backing the semis with inches to spare. The ferry left as another from the island came in to berth. The weather was kind, Lib took a swim back at the beach, and had another hit of tennis with Gord. I consumed 'Private Bill', eagerly reading about the battle of Crete where Bill Cassidy was captured. Another barbie for dinner.
March 11 - We reluctantly packed up and hit the road, stopping at Strathalbyn to shop. We had another picnic at Wellington before crossing the river on the ferry to continue the long drive home.
We reached Horsham late afternoon and found a motel. Take away Chinese for dinner from the Horsham Palace opposite Coles. To our surprise and pleasure it was great food, the best Chinee we'd had for ages. We watched a James Bond movie on TV -'Skyfall'. I actually enjoyed it, usually I can't get interested in James Bond movies at all. The noise of trucks was high but I'd bought ear plugs when I was out getting the Chinee which did work and we all slept well.
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| Natural art at Strathalbyn |
March 12 - A pleasant run home it was through the big smoke Melbourne after stopping at Ballarat for Subway lunch. It's always nice to get home although there was a lot of washing to do. I picked up Pip, she looked great and was happy. I visited Huit and thanked him for watering our pots and seeds and cuttings, and enjoyed a coffee with he and Wilma.There was much mail and email to go through. One email was from my old school friend Janyne with whom I had recently been reconnected after more than fifty years. She lives on the Gold Coast but said she was coming to Melbourne as her mother had had a fall and broke her leg in three places. She suggested I give her a ring on her mobile to arrange a get together while she's down.
March 13 - Back to work after a slow morning catching up on paperwork and phone calls. A little bit of picking, altho I can't remember what it was. Rosemary perhaps. And oh yes, after my writing class I put some borage and edible chrysanthemum seed in and planted out some of the cornflowers we had in pots. Lib put these seeds in trays for me one day when she was off work. The ground was fallow and mulched down with straw through January and Feb, and Gord did some forking over while I was at the writing class. Meredith Jod and Elvie had done well while I was away and kept the ship on course. They're pretty tired though and are glad to have me back. I rang Janyne and arranged to meet her for lunch the next day at the Box Hill Rsl opposite the hospital where her mum is.
March 14 - I was excited and a little nervous at meeting Janyne after more than fifty years. She was waiting patiently in the foyer when we arrived 15 minutes late. I had phoned from a traffic jam 10 minutes earlier saying we were close. She was the only person sitting there so I knew it was her. Whether I'd have recognized her if I didn't know she'd be there, I'm not sure. In retrospect I probably wouldn't have although I said at the time I think I would have. Janyne said she wouldn't have recognized me. We both of course look very different to our primary school days. As we talked over a drink and then lunch in the bistro and afterwards, Janyne seemed more and more resembling the girl I remembered. The same eyes and expression, the voice inflection, the lively personality and sense of humour were all there. Lib and Janyne got on very well. We talked of many things; our school days, our parents, our children, our friends past and present, holidays, dogs, health. We did not talk about sex, politics or religion, there was no need, we had too much other to catch up on. We have much in common (including white hair which was probably what threw us a bit at first). Janyne will read this but I don't think she will mind me telling something of her life. I know of two other people only from my primary school days whom I know have at some point read my blog, but I doubt they still do. Janyne the person will be unknown to my usual readers. She married at age 19 and had two children a boy and a girl and lived in Melbourne. After seven years she and her husband divorced and she met her second husband Ben with whom she was with for 36 years till he died about 16 months ago. Janyne had two more children with him, another boy and a girl, to make a family of four children, who are now of course well into adulthood and settled, and have provided Janyne grandchildren. The family moved to Brisbane in the late 1980's and later Janyne and Ben moved to the Gold Coast.
Ben became sick with polymyalgia in 2003 then I think pulmonary fibrosis and his health worsened over time as he waited for a lung transplant, then lungs became available at the last minute, just before he would have been too ill for the operation. The transplant was successful but as time passed he had other problems caused by the anti rejection and other drugs. It was one thing after another including a hip replacement. He needed the other hip done but he was diagnosed with a brain tumour for which he underwent extensive treatment before it eventually claimed him. So he was ill for about twelve years in total during which time Janyne worked mostly full time while also looking after Ben and helping him through all the medical procedures. She speaks of him with great love and admiration saying he was an amazing man who never complained. He was 55 when he first became ill, as was Janyne's dad when he had the stroke that started his downward run. It made me think that I haven't done too bad to reach my age with no health issues until this RA this last year, which is manageable and nothing by comparison.
I'm very pleased that I have renewed friendship with Janyne, a friendship I hope and trust will last for all our lives. As we said goodbye I had a tear in my eye. It was a great experience for me. She's a charming lady.
March 15 - After a nice sleep in I was on roster duty in the Emerald Museum in the afternoon. Volunteer Beryl was with me, she goes every week with whoever is on roster. It was Beryl's 86th birthday but she would not miss a week on museum duty so her family came and had afternoon tea in the park for which I stayed on for for a little while. Beryl too is a charming and amazing lady. I'm a lucky bloke to know and have known many women of quality, especially my good wife Lib who's a ripper.
Friday, March 13, 2015
Back Home Again
Lib, Gord and I have today (yesterday now) returned from a driving holiday which saw us visit Adelaide and my Aunt Hatsu. We spent last night in Horsham and were away for a week. Pip was so glad to be home too when I brought her home from the dog sitter at Upper Pakenham, mind you she is happy when we go to the sitter and is always fit and well on pick up. My friend Huit watered our pots while we were away.
Prior to the week away I was only home for one day following a trip to Canberra with Gord to watch the world cup cricket between South Africa and Ireland, which was a four day trip, one on the way up, two in Canberra, and one coming back. Lib stayed home for that one.
Both trips were successful and I'll post more about them next time after I have collected my thoughts and attended to many pressing things which is the way of it when you go away.
Prior to the week away I was only home for one day following a trip to Canberra with Gord to watch the world cup cricket between South Africa and Ireland, which was a four day trip, one on the way up, two in Canberra, and one coming back. Lib stayed home for that one.
Both trips were successful and I'll post more about them next time after I have collected my thoughts and attended to many pressing things which is the way of it when you go away.
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