8th September to 9th Ocrtober 2014

So sorry for being sooooo tardy with the updates to the blog.

We have been having a full-on time and hope that you will understand. J
I will do these updates in a staggered format – otherwise you will be inundated with news.
Hoping that you are all keeping well and safe.
Barb and Darryl.

8^th September  Today we went into the Terminus Hotel at Temora for a lovely lunch with our dear friends Elaine and Rob.  Afterwards Rob took us on a guided tour of the Air Museum and we spent a lovely 3 hours going through the displays and listening to the history of the aircraft from a knowledgeable person.

Back to the house and spent a great afternoon in fantastic company.
9^th September   We said our farewells to Elaine and Rob and then headed off through West Wyalong to Condobolin and set up camp in Wendy and Ian’s driveway.  We all went into Condobolin for dinner as Ian and Wendy had a Garden Committee meeting and then we had our dinner afterwards.
12^th September  Today we were joined by Lyn and Jenny as they have come to stay for the weekend.  We met them in town and had lunch at the Royal Hotel and then back to the Research station.
13^th September  We had a slow morning and then prepared to go into town for the street parade for the Condobolin Pipes and Drums Tattoo and then on to the RSL club for the entertainment for the evening.
A fantastic night was had by all and it was lovely to see so many young members in the bands.
15^th September Said farewell to Jenny and Lyn as they headed back to Wagga and work tomorrow.
16^th September we headed off to Dubbo and our friends Jenny and Doug.  Was soo good to see them and spend a few nights with them both.  Jenny spoilt me by making lots of lovely biscuits and slices.
19^th September. We waited at Jenny and Doug’s for our friends Robyn and Lindsay to arrive and then we headed off towards Glen Innes and the Campertrailer group National meet.  We stopped at Bingara on the river for the night.  A lovely free camp site right in town.  The town offers free camping all the way along the Gwydir river.
20^th September.  We made our last leg of the journey to Glen Innes and set up at the showgrounds.  There are all sorts of rigs here and it is really good to meet up with some of our dearest camping friends.  We have got rigs here from ALL mainland states/territories and Tasmania.  We are going to spend the next week here and participate in different activities and seminars on all things camper trailer, camping, 4WD and maintenance.  We also have some charity days – where there will be markets and morning teas etc with all funds raised going to local charities.  24^th September – it bucketed down ALL day and night.  It wouldn’t be a Campertrailer National Meet without rain…….
28^th September.  We have left Glen Innes after a fantastic week and have headed out to Tingha (SE of Inverell) where we stayed with our friends Sandra and Tom Smith.  Very gracious hosts and was lovely spending three nights with them.  They have a lovely property and we were given a ‘Cook’s’ tour of half of it….. Such a lovely part of the country.  We look forward to meeting up with Sandra and Tom again at the ACC (Australian Caravan Club) National Muster at Lucindale in SA towards the end of October.

1^St October. We said a sad farewell to Sandra and Tom and headed off to find a camp on the Mehi River out near Walgett BUT all the camps were a LONG distance from what should be the river.  Darryl decided that we would keep driving and in the end we stopped at COLLARENABRI.  What a great little place this was.  The free camp had flushing toilets and hot showers – a real treat for all the travellers.

3^rd October – As we were travelling we were seeing the Fruit Fly Exclusion Zone (FFEZ) signs and thought that we had until AFTER Mount Hope to dispose of our fruit and veggies BUT as we got near GILGUNIA, there were disposal bins and big signs – so we pulled over t the rest area for lunch and whilst there stewed up the apples, ate the Mandarins, finished off our salads and then continued on.  We arrived at Mt Hope and set up a camp opposite the pub for the night.  Decided to treat ourselves to dinner – what a dismal excuse for a meal this was L  VERY disappointed.  Even Darryl was disappointed with his meal.  I could understand to a degree about mine because they had to cater to Gluten Free request but a small piece of overcooked steak, 2 slices tomato, 1 slice of cheese, 2 slices of cucumber, ½ a lettuce leaf and 3 slices of beetroot was not worth what was charged.
4^th October. We travelled the short distance down to Hillston and camped at the Caravan park.  We were there early but I wasn’t well and it was sooo warm that it was best just to pull over and let me sleep off the Meniere’s and the heat.  In the afternoon we managed to go for a walk along the street and have a look at the town.  A nice little place that is struggling (like a lot of others) but the people are just so friendly and willing to chat about the local area.  I remember from doing the LEDWIDGE tree for my cousin Rhonda, that some of the family came from here – and found a listing for F. Ledwidge on the Memorial in the main street.
Unfortunately the 5^th October was NOT a good day.  The world kept tilting on its axis and I stayed vertical for the majority of the day.  The’ brainfog’ that followed was not nice and took a few days to disperse.
6^th October.  We headed off today, although I wasn’t 100%, and travelled via Merriwagga and stopped off for a looksee.  Here we found Frank Ledwidge on the memorial in the main park of town, and then continued until we made it to HAY.  Here we found a lovely camp in town at Sandy Point.  Right down near the river and easy access to the swimming ‘beach’ on the river.  Lots of picnic tables and shelters and access to flushing toilets.  During the afternoon we saw about another 4 vans roll in that had the ACC stickers or wheel covers on their vehicles.  It turned out that these people were all heading to Lucindale in a tag-a-long from Sydney.
We enjoyed a great happy hour with new friends, in amongst the strong winds and dust.  It took a whole ten minutes for the van to be completely covered in dust. L
7^th October, Darryl has hurt his back L.  How???? Who knows!!!!  I had him laid up with the TENS machine on and I went into town to get a new hot pack as the old one had sprung a leak.  I know the NEW recommendation is to put ice on the muscle but Darryl finds this increases his spasms and prefers to us heat.  This afternoon he managed to come out and join in the Happy Hour – albeit with his TENS machine attached.  We had gone around the surrounding vans in invited them to Happy Hour as well – so we ended up with about 30 people sitting in a circle.  We have been asked by the Sydney City Slickers group if we would like to tag-a-long with them for the next couple of days before we go our separate ways on our journeys to Lucindale.  So we have agreed.
8^th October.  Darryl and I headed off at about 9am (I was driving as Darryl’s back was still causing him grief) to go and find the dump point and then went into town and filled up with filtered water at the Information Centre and then out to the highway for fuel before pulling over and waiting for the rest of the group – another 6 vans.  We waited for about 30 minutes before thinking that we had missed them – so headed on our way.  We travelled west towards Balranald and then south to Tooleybuc and then west again to Manangatang.  A lovely little village that has got a ‘travellers rest’ area in town that offers flushing toilets and hot showers.
We visited the local takeaway and made a donation for the use of the facilities and then waited – as none of the other vans had arrived.  It took about an hour and then the others arrived and they ‘rounded the wagons’ in the parking area and set up camp.  It was quite comical as they really did look like the old western movies where they circled the wagons in case of Indians attacking.   That night we went across to the pub and had a fantastic meal with great company.  When we left the pub it was to realise that TONIGHT was the night of the RED MOON.  So for the next hour I took photos of the moon.  In the end I gave up waiting for the eclipse to pass and went to bed J
9^th October.  We went on our way at about 9.30am and headed towards Ouyen.  Here there is said to be AUSTRALIA’S BEST VANILLA SLICE.  We were meeting up with another van from Canberra and Peter was already in Ouyen and he was directing us to a good parking space at an old service station very close to the Ouyen Bakery.  We all parked the vehicles and headed up the road and most of us had vanilla slices (I had a lovely fruit and yoghurt muffin GF) and a coffee.  We then wandered the street and checked out some of the shops and then the renovated ROXY theatre.  The local ladies opened the building so we could have a look through and inform us of the works that had been done.  Once we were back at the vans we said our farewells to the Sydney City Slickers as they were going to Bendigo and we were continuing across towards Pinaroo in SA.  As we drove out of town, Darryl and I agreed that the Vanilla Slice was not the BEST that we had ever had, and the story at the bakery even admitted that they had NOT won a GOLD medal for their vanilla slices in the past 14 years.
We made it to 25km NW of Naracoorte at a large camp spot with two other campers.

Gee I am sooooooo shite on keeping this blog up to date :) 15th April to 28th May

Hello all,
Well time sure is flying past these days…..
Soo what have we been up too…..
I was supposed to see the Hearing Aid people on about the 14^th April, but with the couple of short weeks over that time, my appointment was put back to the 1^st May.  L

Easter weekend we spent the time at home and were visited by Beckie and the Children for Good Friday.  Ben came and joined us and then we had Bradley her for two nights before we met up with his Mum and brothers and sister at Uncle Ben’s on Easter Sunday.  This was good because the children could go for a swim in the pool at the complex.  The only downside of that is that Max cut his chin open as he slipped getting out of the pool.  First aid administered by Nanna and the cut taped up with Elastoplast tape and then Mum and Nanna did a trip to the chemist for waterproof dressings and butterfly-strips also.  Got some childrens Panadol to help with the pain side of things too.  The Elastoplast managed to stay intact for 48 hours before being replaced with a modified Butterfly-strip and a waterproof dressing.  After a week the chin looked fantastic.  It had healed really well.

We had a great day with the grandchildren and they loved being at Uncle Ben’s place.

Easter Monday was our wedding anniversary and also my Sister Jenny and her husband peter celebrated theirs. What a beautiful fine day it was.  So Darryl and I did some family tree research for the BECKETT family tree. [I have decided to do the Beckett tree for the grandchildren so that they know about their ancestors].  Darryl and I had an interesting time visiting different cemeteries taking photos of headstones, trying to find some graves – still looking – and then we stopped at Margate [over near Redcliffe] and had a lovely lunch looking out at the ocean.

Tuesday we took the car into our friend Paul and had its service attended and then we headed to Loganholme shopping centre, where we had not been in a long time.  Wandered the mall for  quite a time and then went home.

Wednesday was spent doing all the household chores, and Barb spent a lot of time spring cleaning the caravan.  All curtains were washed and dried, window screens taken out and scrubbed and put back and then all the linen was washed too.

24^th April  we headed into the Wesley Hospital to see Darryl’s respirologist and got a great report from him.  We don’t have to see him until late in the year.  We then headed home and hitched up the van and headed off to Jimboomba.  We have got a lot of things on this weekend – so made our base at Beckie and Matt’s place. 

25^th April we all went to the Anzac Day March at Jimboomba [ granddad proudly marching in the ranks] and then stayed for the full service in the park.

Back to Beckie’s and we headed off to Canungra, where we spent the day with some of our campertrailer group friends.  What a great day.  Time flew way to  fast and it was time to head back.

26^th we headed to Beaudesert to celebrate the 60^th birthday of our good friend Gai.  We had a lovely meal at the Chinese restaurant and then headed back to her house for drinks and chat.  Left there and back to Jimboomba.

27^th we headed out to Wyaralong Dam for the day to celebrate the Naming Day for our friends, Simon and Emily’s, little boy – Flynte.  What a lovely day we had and then splatter of rain did not start until the day was well and truly over.

28^th – Darryl and I took the van back home and then headed off to my cousin Julies and we were doing some research into the family.  What a great day we had.  Again – time flew way to fast and before we knew it – it  was 7pm.  Thankfully Rhonda gave Buster some food and turned the light on for him.  By the time we got home it was nearly 9pm.  Poor little fellow had thought we had left him. 

29^th I did some research into two other families – Bruce’s and Donald’s – all part of the Menz/Bruce family tree.

1^st May I had an appointment with the Hearing centre and got my hearing aids.  They are so tiny BUT WOW, the things that I can hear now :D.  Volumes are being turned down and I can hear what the big fella is muttering about over in his chair :D :D

5^th May – I pieced together the final bits of Luke’s quilt and have started layering them and pinning them in preparation for quilting.

6^th May was not a good day.  Meniere’s has reared its head and my day had been very unbalanced and then the brain-fog kicked in with the residual headache.

9^th May we made our way out to Jimboomba and spent some time with Beckie and Luke before heading to see our GP for our check-ups.  He wasn’t happy that I have had nearly two weeks of post-menopausal bleeding so is sending me for follow-up test and scans.  He also wants me to arrange an appointment with a gynae – so have done that also.

I have had my hearing aids for one week today and at Lunch time I heard the chimes in my ears to tell me to change the batteries.

10^th May we joined the family at Funky Mexican at Cleveland to celebrate Beckies Birthday and as a combined mothers day also.  I made a cake for her – which she wasn’t expecting.

12^th May we had dinner with some lovely friends and it was great catching up with them.  We had not seen them for about two years – so was great to see what each of us had been up to.

13^th May we travelled to Northlakes [north of Brisbane] and met up with our friend Chris from Campertrailers group and had a lovely 4 hours chatting and planning our next adventures.  Chris is currently house-sitting in Northlakes.

15^th May we were back at the Hearing centre and making some minor adjustments to my hearing aids.  I also had the tests and scans attended.

19^th May went to see the specialist Gynae and he wants to operate and remove a suspect ovary. When? Well I have a space free on Thursday morning!!!  Right.  So Darryl said – get it out the sooner the better.  We were due to travel on the 20^th to Goomeri,  to spend a week with our caravanning friends and witness the Pumpkin Festival.  So sent messages giving our apologies, completed the admission paperwork for the hospital and called Beckie and Ben to keep them in the loop.  Once home it was letting the siblings know what is happening.

22^nd we arrived at the hospital before 7am and told that going through to theatre at 9.30. Say goodbye now as hubby can’t go any further L.

All checks and preparations attended and then waited.  Went through to theatre at 10.20 am and woke in recovery at 12md.  Back to the ward by 12.45pm and then chatted on and off with Darryl and Beckie before they left at about 3pm.  Had a disturbed nights sleep – as one does when recovering from an anaesthetic and having all the necessary observations and checks attended.

23^rd – check by the specialist at 7.30am and all good.  He said he was glad he got it out – but is sure it is benign – and will get back to me next week with the histology results.  Discharged at 9.45am and then home to sleep for four hours J

I have noticed whilst incarcerated on REST that Buster has got quite a constant cough and he seems to be breathing with some difficulty.  This progressed quite severely over the weekend and on Sunday night he hardly had any sleep due to this constant cough. L  Monday we contacted the Vet and was able to get him in at 10.30am.  They think he may have Kennel cough – so have to keep him separate from other animals until seen. L

Well - he does not have kennel cough J but he does have Congestive Heart Failure and a huge heart Murmur  and they are not sure how much longer he will be with us. L  We have commenced him on fluid tablets and he will have a review next Tuesday.

Wednesday 28^th – Buster had NO coughing at all on Monday night and it was so good to know he had a good sleep BUT he is still breathing faster than he should.  He did have a couple of coughs this morning though L He is nowhere near as energetic as his usual self :C and this morning we had to force him to take his fluid tablet. L  Tonight I hid it in a piece of cake and he took it no worries :D

I had another follow-up with the hearing people and don’t have to go back until our return from our next trip – so that is good.

We then went to the Redlands RSL club to see our dear friends Julie and Ted Bartlett who are on a trip out from England.  Their son, Ted’s, partner Megan gave birth to a beautiful little girl last month in Darwin, so we were seeing some very happy grandparents.  They head back to Darwin tomorrow afternoon – so it was lovely being able to spend time with them and Elizabeth and Leanne.

As we were saying our farewells we received a call to join Julie and Ted, Elizabeth and Leanne for lunch.  What a lovely day we had.  Arriving home at 5pm.

We got the results of the histology back on the ovary.  It is BENIGN so all is good.  The other stuff that was done requires review and possible further action but not until we return from our trip – Doctors orders.

So that is all from us for now.  Sorry for the medical stuff BUT most of you will understand that this is how I tick.