Sunday...31 May 2015

Moving day again.
Today we moved from Moree to Dubbo. We were only going to Coonabarabran but we got there before lunch and decided it was way too early to stop for the day so we continued on to Dubbo. It is jolly cold down this way. We have already had the under floor gas heater cranking and it is only afternoon tea time!
On our travels today we saw lots of trucks, this road must be a truck super highway, they certainly out number all other road users on this track. Another thing we noticed was several trucks transporting brand new caravans north. And we also saw plenty of occupied caravans going north for the annual migration of grey nomads. No doubt they thought we were lost and going the wrong way! What we are not seeing lately is the obligatory push bike riding tourist. Maybe it is too cold for them at this time of the year. I do hope the Pillaga Princes still has her Great Coat on, she will need it in this weather!
We did enjoy our time in Moree, it is always nice to sit in the lovely hot pools and soak away the aches and pains and warm ourselves right to the bone. The pools are like a lovely hot bath that never gets cold.  I noticed I was moving much more freely by day 2. Himself did at least two sessions per day, his second one was usually late evening, bit chilly for me so he went on his own.

Friday...29 May 2015

Yesterday we moved from Millmerran in Queensland to Moree in New South Wales. About half way we stopped for a quick coffee with Himself's cousin in Goondiwindi. Two hours flew by, so much to catch up on. We will see her again next week further down the road at her mothers 80th birthday party which is where we are going. Will to be a great event, lots of family and friends all in the one place, most excited.
This caravan park has four hot spring pools at varying temperatures and Himself went for a soak last night but I left my run too late and had to stay home out of the cold night air which makes me cough myself silly. Perhaps I can go today sometime when it is a little warmer. I rather fancy a nice long soak in an oversized warm bath!

Wednesday...27 May 2015

After fighting a losing battle with the flu, we admitted defeat and stopped for a few days to rest and try to get ourselves well again.
We found a nice spot in Millmerran and slept and lazed our days away between pill popping and bowls of home made soup. Lots of tissues and plenty of eucalyptus spray and hand sanitiser helped.
Himself is back to normal and I am down to only one or two coughing attacks every so often. The ability to breathe freely in between coughs is very appreciated.
On his walks around the park Himself noticed these owls in a palm tree near the ablutions.

Around the town there is some absolutely stunning artwork on various buildings and structures.

Sunday...24 May 2015

Big day.
Today marks 5 years continuously on the road for the Loftus Caravan!
And they said we wouldn't last five days......ha ha ha.
In that time we have done a couple of laps of Australia and a figure eight just for good measure. There have been lots of other smaller sections but there is still one whole state we have not set foot on yet......Tasmania. It is on the list for sure, just that every time we have thought about going there something has got in the way like floods and fires and family & friends in need.
I guess this means we will have to keep on going, at least until we tick that last big chunk off the list, after that it might be time to settle down a bit and do normal stuff like buying a house and staying home for summer and hitting the road north for winter like all the other grey nomads.
Wish us luck as we continue our journey.

Saturday...23 May 2015

What do you mean Qld has winter? I thought old Joh passed laws against it!
Yesterday the top temperature here was 15. Really Qld, I am sure you can do better. You even threw in a couple of pea soupers and darkness at 5 pm AND......a day of non stop rain. Lovely soft gentle rain but non stop all the same. Kept us bunkered down in the van doing crosswords and reading or playing computer games. My Bigpond usage went through the roof! Today the sun is shining again so I am hopeful of being able to soak up a few rays to help me with this persistant aching cough.
I got a phone call two days ago from little brother who kindly let me speak to BB who he was visiting in hospital. He has been moved from ICU to a normal ward at last. Wonderful to hear BB's voice and have him tell me himself that he is alright. As you would expect I gave him a piece of my mind for scaring us all AGAIN!
We had a discussion over how many of his nine lives he has managed to use up (3 that I know of) and he reminded me that as a Leo he is fully entitled to his nine lives!
I think that some silly old buggers have a sense of entitlement that they really have no right to!

Wednesday...20 May 2015

BB is still in ICU. Surgery went well but his blood pressure is very low so they are keeping him there until they get him level again. I spoke to his wife this morning. She had been able to talk to him on the phone and said he was cheerful enough, just sore and a bit flat in himself. Fingers crossed he improves.
We continue to ache with the never ending flu. We are actually a lot better but still worn out and having a hard time shaking the cough. We made a decision to just stop and do nothing for a few days and that has helped but it is a very persistent bug.

Monday...18 May 2015

Phone call from my sister first thing this morning.
Eldest brother who had a stroke a few years ago, has underestimated his own abilities and yesterday he fell off a friends shed. Heaven knows what he thought he was doing going up there in the first place. Apparently he fell through the roof. Tests show he has sustained a spinal injury. Overnight he was flown from country Victoria to the Royal Melbourne Hospital and this morning he was transferred to the Austin Hospital who are the specialists in spinal cord injuries for Victoria. On arrival there he was taken into surgery as he has unstable L1 & L2 fractures.
He is out now in recovery but no further information is available yet. The ward is still waiting for his paperwork to come down from theatre.
Silly bugger, more lives than a cat but again he will face a long recovery and seriously hard work to come back from this misfortune. Get well BB!

Friday...15 May 2015

After two nights of limited sleep we picked up the caravan and took to the road again. Still a big fan of the modern motorway. Has to be the fastest and straightest way out of any town! Within an hour we were in open country again leaving the noisy and crowded city behind us.

We pulled up for the night on the edge of a little country town. After dinner and a couple of quiet ones we ran out of television shows to watch so Himself headed off to bed.  He was up again within half an hour to complain that the sound of the clock ticking in the absolute silence of the bush was deafening! The peace and quiet was really noticeable. Sudden silence can be just as scary as the constant city traffic! We did manage to adjust and had a wonderful sleep. The temperature dropped to 2 degrees which was rather a shock but the bigger shock was the alarm going off. We set an alarm the day the caravan had to go into the work shop but obviously Himself did not turn it completely off and bright and early this morning, on a day we could sleep until lunch if we wanted, off went the alarm! Just as well it was on his side of the bed, I would have thrown it through the unopened window myself!

Wednesday...13 May 2015

So after spending the night illegally camping outside the fix it shop on the Gold Coast, we handed the caravan over yesterday morning to have the roof fixed "again". Then we found a caravan park cabin to spend the next two nights in....right next to and hard up against the M1 motorway AND at the end of the runway approach to the Gold Coast Airport! Boy oh boy, we sure can pick em!!!! To be fair the cabin is cosy and has every thing needed but nothing could insulate us from the surrounding noises. Loud. Constant. Horrific. Just when we convinced ourselves the motorway would settle down after peak hour along came the southbound trucks roaring through the night. Exhaustion eventually allowed us to fall asleep but we needed no alarms clocks, several city flyer early morning flights took care of that little detail in our weary lives! And we get to do it all again today and tonight. Will definitely be finding somewhere else to stay if the van takes longer than quoted!

Monday... 11 May 2015

Well bugger me! Himself's brother nearly did it again. Got a phone call to say they were outside our caravan park this morning, the shame of it is that we did not know they were coming and we checked out this morning.  By the time they rang us we were way down south on the Gold Coast instead of up north on the Sunshine Coast which is where we had been for the two weeks before. Close Charlie, real close,  better luck next time.......
Had a great time in Caloundra with the eldest and her family. Did not do as much as we all would have liked as us oldies caught ourselves a cold/flu and spent much of the visit somewhat under the weather but it was still wonderful just to see them and catch up on their lives. The whole family live very busy lives with work, sport and school. I think they should install a revolving front door to handle the traffic through there.
Last night they took us out to dinner for Mothers Day and for Himself's birthday which is today. We had pizza and then they produced a cake and sang him happy birthday. Well done kids. Himself cannot remember the last time he got a birthday cake so it was either a very long time ago or he has begun to develop old timers!
Today was moving day. We needed to get our van to the roof repair man by lunchtime, then we waited all afternoon only to have them say they would do something tomorrow. Bit late in the day to organise anything else so we are camping over the road in a little area that may or may not be ok for us to be using. No doubt someone will soon tell us if we need to move but until then this very sick worn out old granny is gonna park up for the night and rest!

Wednesday...6 May 2015

Himself went back down the Hwy on Sunday for a second try at watching Australia v New Zealand at Suncorp Stadium. I would have thought after all that effort the very least Australia could do would be to win, but no, the Kiwis made them look like rank amateurs. I do believe that several players and the coach should be looking for new jobs!
Himself however come home a winner. He won the catch the flu competition! Which he was kind enough to share with me. Who is a lucky girl? Both of us have a constant ticklish cough and aching eyeballs. Sleep is not happening, cannot stop coughing long enough to enter the land of nod and any attempt to lay down brings on more coughing. Still if I must be sick I am in a nice place. Outside I have lots of fresh air and sunshine and that often cures most things.
Today Himself has driven back down the highway to the Gold Coast to see what can be done about the caravan roof. I do hope he comes home with some answers or at least a good idea of how we can fix it and put a stop to the leaks. The concern now is that the actual roof under the rubber membrane may be going rotten or at the very least mouldy if the rain is being trapped under there. Fingers crossed!!

Saturday...2 May 2015

Himself spent nearly 8 hours stuck in traffic on the Bruce Hwy last night. A big storm hit the Sunshine Coast, Brisbane and the Gold Coast and dumped enough water that the Brisbane airport shut down, trains stopped and traffic crawled to a halt as water flooded into and around the area.
Himself had a ticket to the Australia and New Zealand Rugby Test at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane last night so he set off from Caloundra a little after 3 pm with plans to drive to Caboolture and get a train into the game which was due to start at 8 pm. As he drove along the rain got harder and harder until he was down to 60 km and eight km from Caboolture the traffic ground to a halt and there it stayed until after 10 pm! Apparently the highway was cut by floodwaters in at least three places and I am reading reports this morning that five people died after their cars were swept away by the flood waters and that others had to stand on the roof of their cars as the water rose around them.
Our grandson was on his way home from university on a train which stopped between stations because the tracks were flooded and he sat on that stationary train for more than four hours and then when it finally did move again it terminated at the next station which left him and a lot of other people stranded for the night in an unknown suburb of Brisbane. His family called in favours and had him picked up and looked after for the night by friends of friends and he is now home safe this morning.
Himself survived his stranding reasonably well once he found out the Rugby match had been postponed until Sunday, but he said it was no picnic. Traffic finally started moving again a little after 10 pm, He said that even after driving the 8 km into Caboolture, fuelling up, calling home (Telstra was down but those with Optus had coverage) then crossing the highway to the north bound lane, he did not see the end of the backed up south bound traffic for another 15 km. One wonders how far back it was before the highway re opened as the traffic had been moving for more than half an hour at that stage! He was very tired when he finally got back a little after midnight.
And he gets to do it all again on Sunday!!