Thursday, July 30, 2015

Mainland, mainland, mainland.... and a couple of funerals.

We had a lovely first caravan trip to the mainland in May 2015. 


Destination Maroochydore to celebrate with my brothers family members for our mum's 80th birthday, then on to my sisters and another celebration on the actual day.
On the way to Maroochydore we stopped at Glenrowan - Ned Kelly Country - and visited and amazing anamatronic show where the events leading up to his capture were recreated as if you were there and part of the events.


We also visited Mount Panorama - the racing track and museum of cars and motor bikes. 




While at my brothers we visited Underwater World at Mooloolaba, I had been there before but it is a lovely place to visit and admire the fish in a near normal environment as we walked around viewing tunnels and observed their behaviours.
It was lovely to get away and relax also to spend time with family members on both sides of the family.
We had a slight hiccup leaving my sisters house, the kerbing in front of her house was a little high and damaged the rear of our Ford XR6, necessitating running repairs in the way of screws and cable ties.... we arrived at Michael's fathers home and another problem the drive was too steep to be able to back the caravan in.... quick unhook and an appeal to the neighbours to help push the caravan into place, and some serious thinking about the vehicle.  We love the XR6 but it is perhaps just a little too low to tow with.    
Next day on way to SeaWorld we checked out some 2nd hand cars and I did a search on Cars Guide and we put an expression of interest in at Sunshine Ford on a Ford Territory ex demo vehicle they had.... arranged to view it later in the day, crunched some numbers with the budget and we became the proud owners of a new Territory, diesel, just had a couple of small things to do on it before we took possession, like fitting a tow bar, and having tinting done on the windows.  


This also gave us a chance to visit Movie World and spend a relaxing day there moving among look alike movie stars and watching stage shows and 3D movies.


We spent an extra night on the Gold Coast catching up with family there before we took possession of our new vehicle and travelled onto Valla Beach in NSW, and visiting Michael's mother and husband Geoff.
We had a lovely meal out with his mum, as Geoff was not well and was in Macksville hospital, having some tests done.
We stayed an extra day in Valla Beach before heading down to Melbourne and the Spirit of Tasmania ferry and home.

We had just been home about a fortnight, back at work a week when we hastened to Melbourne as Michael's daughter Emma had her first baby, a gorgeous little bundle of joy called Thea.  She had been a little anxious to meet us all, causing her mum to spend time in hospital in Tassie, before transferring to Royal Melbourne Womens Hospital for the birth.  Thea was diagnosed as having spina bifida in an early scan and would require surgery immediately following her birth.  She has proven to be quite a feisty little girl, kicking out catheters and removing drips, but has come on in leaps and bounds and is progressing well.  It was lovely that all the siblings and family where able to be in Melbourne for some time while Thea was in Neo Natal Intensive Care and show support to Emma and her partner Matthew.  Michael and I flew in the day following the birth and stayed 4 days we had to wait for our cuddles of the precious little bundle till she was released from hospital and back home in Tassie.

During this time we were made aware of problems with Michael's step father, his health was deteriorating fast, he had been placed in a nursing home for respite care with the possibility of a full time placement as it was getting harder for Michael's mother to care for him at home. He was having falls and there was the possibility that he could injure himself in a fall, and it was hard to assist him back upright following falls.  We got a phone call on a Tuesday morning that he had passed away and planned a trip back to the mainland for his funeral and farewell.  We travelled into Sydney along with Liz (Michael's eldest daughter) and Josh (Michael's son from Adelaide) met us there. We hired a car and had a 6 hour trip to Valla Beach for the funeral the following day. It was lovely to see all of Michaels Brothers and his sisters in one place with his mum, but it was a pity the circumstances were such.   Road trip back to Sydney and back home....



The day before we left for Sydney I had the news that a dear school friend of mine that had been battling cancer had passed away, so we came home to another funeral and this time I had been asked to give a Eulogy to my friend about our school days and our friendship over the years.


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