Holidays

After a long flight, interspersed with the screams of a very tired child, it was great to touch down on the Gold Coast before catching the bus to Byron. Sue very kindly picked me up and before heading to Ballina we had lunch at The Farm.

By the time Michael got home I had had a nap but I still didn't last long after dinner.

As I was carless, and Michael no longer has any days in Ballina, I was reliant on my legs and others for transport. I met Pam at The lighthouse cafe for lunch before she collected me in the evening for dinner in Lismore with the group. We had a pleasant evening and it was an opportunity to catch up with everyone at once.

The weather was wet and windy so Sue, Pam and I spent Wednesday at the movies seeing The Lady in the Van. It was an interesting movie kept moving by the performance of Maggie Smith. We followed up with lunch and a game of cards at home before Sue dropped me in town for a bit of shopping. The price difference between Singapore and Australian Taxis was brought home to me when the 2KM ride home cost me $15...a trip to work in Singapore of about 6KM costs around $5!

We caught up with Chris and Steve over dinner at the RSL and I made arrangements to walk with them, weather permitting on Thursday. It was pleasing to see that Chris has made good progress since her recent mini-stroke and is still getting in some golf although she did admit that by the second 9 she tends to lose focus, and skill. Fortunately the weather had cleared considerably so we were able to get in a walk on Thursday and she was able to tick off her 10 000 steps for the day. It was quite noticeable that she has a tendency to drag her left foot and must concentrate to stop herself doing it. We were lucky to see a large pod of dolphins chasing fish in the river and a bit of other local wildlife.

Walk with Chris and Steve

When Michael returned from work we took a stroll along the beach and I had the opportunity to get my feet wet. The initial contact took the breath away but in fact the water was quite warm. On the way back we found some rainbow lorikeets feasting on seeds and decided it was time for us to follow suit...not seeds for us but champagne and hummus instead.

I had changed my travel plans, forgoing the Gold coast to Canberra flight, for a direct flight to Sydney. Departure was at 6.30 on Friday morning so it was an early start and by shortly after 9 I was sitting in mum's hospital room in North Sydney. She was looking pretty good considering it was only a week since major surgery, but still having a few digestion issues.  By 12 it was obvious she need a bit of a sleep so I took a walk up to Crows Nest for some lunch and a window shop. By the time I returned she was looking rested and fresh after a shower. She had 2 nurses on the ward looking after her, both from Northern Ireland and sounding just like Michael's cousin Barbara. By the time I left at 4.30 they had made contact with her surgeon and returned with the news that he would be removing the drain and staples over the weekend with a view to transporting her to Coffs for some rehab time, possibly on Tuesday.  That gold Card is invaluable as she will be transported by air ambulance and it will all be covered.

It must be rainbow lorikeet season as there were several of them flitting around the trees outside her window.

I caught up with Anna for a quick drink before catching the train to Canberra. I decided to go first class, a great decision, as I was able to relax with some wine and cheese, get in some nap time, do a bit of reading etc before Duncan picked me up at Queanbeyan and took me round to Margarets. He was about to head out to collect Michael from the Airport when he got a message to say he was still on the Gold Coast. He eventually arrived at 12.45, an hour late!
Duncan collected us for brunch at one of the trendy areas of town. It would appear Canberra has realised that there is plenty of potential for this type of thing and is redeveloping many areas close to Civic. Bev joined us there for a coffee before we made our way to the Craft Beer and Cider Festival at the Mecure. Some people dressed especially for the occasion! while the rest of us just enjoyed the many and varied offerings. It seemed to come as a surprise to Bev that Yes cider is alcoholic!! It was good to see her looking so well and getting on top of her health issues, although she is hanging out to start work, with still no start date in sight.

After a few hours of tasting we strolled back to Duncan's place for a rest before heading back to Queanbeyan, where we met my grand niece Frankie. She is a happy little soul who likes to keep moving. She and her mother, Mistie, joined us for dinner at the Queanbeyan RSL.
As Duncan had a birthday coming up on Tuesday he met us at Ikea so we could buy him a few furniture items. He is now the proud owner of a bed, desk and set of drawer. Then we crossed the road for my first ever visit to a Costco which is a membership warehouse club. They sell pretty well everything and Duncan joined as he can buy diesel for 90cents/litre. Not my idea of a fun place to visit, at least not on a Sunday! The boys spent several hours building some of the purchases while Margaret and I stayed out of their way...2 people with their own way of doing things is enough!
We had arranged to have lunch with Bev at her local pub, so after Michael spent a short time tinkering with her computer we headed down to The Duxton for a late lunch. Michael has decided that Canberra could be a pleasant place to spend some time...although I would restrict that to the warmer parts of the year.

Fortunately our flight back to the Gold Coast was on time so we got a good nights sleep before we went our separate ways...Michael to work in Byron and me on the return flight to Singapore.