We set off on 21st July 2015 to meet our friends who we planned to do most of the trip with. They were travelling in a Toyota Hi Ace camper. Manfred had been preparing the caravan and the car for several weeks. He had invented an ingenious way of hooking up the car and caravan by reversing the car until the rear wheels went up onto ramps to get to the correct height. Because the driveway is on a slope it was really the only way he could do it. Unfortunately, on the day we were setting off, it was very wet because it had rained very heavily the previous night. This meant that each time he reversed the car up the ramps, they slipped on the wet driveway and the car skidded off them. I was getting very nervous after several attempts until finally it all happened as it should! The cat from next door, Miko, paid us one last visit before we left. He had a feed and then went to sleep on our bed! Whoops! We told him he'd have to go home and that we wouldn't be seeing him for a while. I guess he's going to lose weight while we are away for 2 months.

The weather was fine for most of the way. There was just one light shower before we reached Moore River where we had our first stop at a roadside rest area. I had made a big fruit cake to take with us and we all had a piece with our coffee. Our friends were very impressed to be having home-made cake and we made this a habit at morning coffee time until the cake finally was gone. Our friends were also surprised at how many other people were stopped at this rest area. They had often stopped there before and usually were the only people there. This was to become a trend as our trip continued. It was incredible how many other people were travelling with caravans, camper trailers and mobile homes. The state of the loos was testament to how many people were using the rest area. They left a lot to be desired (the loos, not the people!). We drove on from there passing lots of beautiful trees, grass trees and we even saw one emu. There was also some Geraldton Wax in flower. We also saw quite a few maniacal, crazy drivers who appeared to have a death wish by overtaking on solid double white lines. Our next stop was Hangover Bay at Nambung National Park (where the Pinnacles are). It was so lovely there. We had our sandwhiches and a drink and admired the beautiful beach. Norma and I talked about when we had been there before many years previously, when their niece, Rachel, had been in Perth on holiday from the UK. So Dave took a photo of Norma and me at the beach so we could send it to Rachel. I have to say this little area was absolutely pristine. The chemical toilets were spotless and there was even a basin and tap so we could wash our hands. There was no rubbish here, and no bins. There were just signs telling people to take their rubbish with them and they obviously do.

Our journey continued until we reached Dongara where we had another loo stop. I think we might know an awful lot about Australian public toilets by the time we are home again. Just a bit further and we reached Geraldton where we planned to stay overnight. We stayed at the Sunset Beach Caravan Park. We put the Avan up without a hitch (we'd had a practice run a few weeks before when we stayed at Moore River for a few nights). We had brought leftovers from the day before for our dinner, so only needed to heat them up (Green Curry). We walked down to have a look at the beach and the setting sun before getting cosy in the Avan.

This year Manfred and I decided to go on a big road trip. It took a while to organise. We did lots of research on caravans but didn't want to spend a fortune so ended up buying a second-hand A'van Aliner. Manfred spent a lot of time doing maintenance on it and getting the car ready for towing etc. In the midddle of all this planning for a trip we also got married so it was a very busy time for us!

Back to Blogging

It is so long since I posted on my Blog!
I am doing a course at work on 10 Things to do with new technology and Blogging is one of them so I thought I'd better get back to Blogging!!

The big news in the last few days has been
1. CHOGM being held in Perth, Western Australia. (Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting).
2. The visit to Perth by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip (The Queen opened CHOGM)
3. And of course the BIG news, the grounding of the Qantas fleet of planes, leaving thousands of passengers stranded all over the world.

The big red box

Here is the big red box which featured in my previous Blog. It is being opened by my grand-daughters, Ella, Violet & Molly




And the content of it was - a Sylvanian families Hotel, which was a huge hit with the children.

Time is Passing

Another Christmas has been and gone. We've eaten all the turkey, ham, Christmas Cake, Christmas pudding, mince pies and had our fill. We've exchanged gifts and cards with family and friends, we've sung Carols, we've laughed and cried, we've hugged and kissed, and we have thanked God again for His wonderful Son, whose birthday we have celebrated.
Now it is 2010, another year ahead of us. Let us make it a better year for all.
I am not making any real 'resolutions' this year. I just want to be a better person, to not waste too much time on unnecessary things and to do as much good as I am able.

Grandchildren

Grandchildren are such a blessing. I have 3 beautiful grand-daughters and I love them to bits.
Last weekend I was asked to look after the girls while my son and daughter-in-law went out for the evening. I could have gone to their house and looked after them there but I knew they would have more fun if they had a sleepover at my house. And I was right.
They played with the Barbies, they drew pictures and painted magnificent landscapes. We had art works drying everywhere. Molly didn't have her afternoon nap, insisting that she wasn't tired. Then they played outside for a while, collecting gum nuts that had fallen from the trees and picking flowers.
Manfred & I took the girls to Hillarys Marina for fish and chips and then they played in the playground at the family beach until it started to get dark. When we got home there was much discussion about who was sleeping where and also whose turn it was to sleep with Grandma. It was decided that it was Ella's turn to sleep in my bed (phew!) and eventually after bathing, dressing in pj's, teeth brushing, hair brushing etc they all went to bed and went straight to sleep. There was not another sound until 6am on Sunday morning.
What a lovely time we had. They wanted pancakes for breakfast and, of course, Grandma obliged. Topping choices were maple syrup, golden syrup and honey and drink selections were banana or chocolate flavoured milk.
After all of us dressing and gathering up the paintings we went to Church.
We also had all our shoeboxes to deliver(21) to Church for Operation Christmas Child (a Samaritan's Purse initiative to give gifts to children in third world countries).
After Church Manfred picked up Ella, Violet & myself and we went to the Cancer Rally for Life that had been going for almost 24 hours at the Arena Joondalup.(No Molly because she really needed an afternoon nap!) It was such a warm, sticky, humid day so the girls had slushies to drink. Later we went to Hungry Jacks for burgers and chips before I took the girls back to their Mum and Dad.
When I went home it was about 3pm and I was absolutely shattered. I made myself a coffee, lay on the bed and promptly fell asleep, with Spiffy cuddled up beside me, purring contentedly. The phone woke me at 6.15pm and even though I had slept for 3 hours I still had a good night's sleep on Sunday night. I was so exhausted.
But I would not have missed a moment of those 24 hours with my adorable grand-daughters. We talked about all sorts of things, we laughed, we watched movies, listened to music, played with the Barbie dolls, painted pictures and although the girls made an effort to put all the toys away, there was still quite a lot of tidying to do afterwards. What fun we had. I love those little girls and it made me realise how fortunate I am that I get to see so much of my Grandchildren. So many Grandparents don't always have such a good relationship with their children or with their daughters-in-law or sons-in-law, and so they don't always get to spend so much time with their grandchildren. I am Blessed.

Adventures of Spiffy Part 4

Well I am really feeling a lot better now and apparently so is Hobbesy. When they took Hobbes to the vet, the vet was very pleased with him and he is now starting to get better. It just took him a bit longer than me, I guess because he is so much older. So isn’t that great, he gets to keep all 4 legs! He has even had a couple of walks over to my house and it was so nice to see him. Hobbes, Albert and me, we all stay inside at night now. We like to be able to go outside when we want to, but it really is much safer for us if we stay inside after dark. All the doors get closed including the pet flaps. I never liked using that pet flap anyway, its too big for me. It was really for Kathryn’s dogs that she used to have years ago and I have never liked using it so now I just insist on someone opening a proper door for me or I use that yellow litter tray. I’ve got used to it now, and its not so bad if there is no-one around.
The funny thing was, Kathryn was trying to get me to use the pet flap again so she propped it up onto a stool so I didn’t have to push it with my head. I didn’t use it anyway even though it was propped open. And then, one day, Kathryn walked through to the kitchen and there was old Albert in the kitchen eating the rest of my breakfast that I had left for later!!! He must have thought an open pet flap was an invitation for him to come in. It seems Albert & Hobbes were very welcome guests at my house before I lived here. It gave Kathryn a bit of a fright when she was expecting to see me in the kitchen and there was Albert! And Albert certainly got a fright! He took off the wrong way towards the family room and Kathryn was calling to him, “Albert you have to go out the way you came in!” I think she was a bit worried that if I saw him there might be another cat fight! But I was pretty relaxed, lying in a lovely warm sunny patch on the pool table. Kathryn’s put a towel there to stop the pool table from getting my cat hair all over it, so she must know I sleep there sometimes. She’s got towels all over the house now but she can’t keep up with all the nice new spots I keep finding. Well, I’m spending so much more time inside now, and I need a change of scene every few hours.
Anyway, when I went back to the vet, Kathryn put me in a normal storage box without a lid, to travel in the car. She knows I can behave very well in the car now. The only thing was, she put the lid on to take me into the vet’s waiting room, for my own safety, she tried to tell me! How embarrassing. And the vet thought it was very funny because it said “Baking things” on the lid. Kathryn had previously used the box when she was moving house. I didn’t think that was funny.
When we went into the surgery, it was a man who took out those stringy things they call ‘stitches’. He was very nice too. Kathryn said she’d never seen a man there before, they were usually all women at this vet practice. He agreed that male vets were a dying breed, the profession was being taken over by women.
He checked me over, no temperature this time – phew!!
There was no money to pay this time either. Post-operative care is apparently free. So we very happily went home again.
We’d just like to really thank the Duncraig Veterinary Hospital for taking such good care of Hobbesy and me. All the people who work at Duncraig Vet are really nice, friendly, caring and professional people and we really appreciate the very good treatment that we got there. Dr Sally looked after both Hobbesy and me and she was lovely to us both. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the man’s name that took out my stitches, but he was nice too, (and he knows who he is :)). Even Ollie, the ginger cat that welcomes everyone to the Duncraig Vet was nice to me, and I appreciate that.