Home After A Hectic Time

We are now home again and sorting out things around the house after being away for three weeks. The lawn has been mown and Trish gave the house a quick vacuum too.

Meanwhile earlier in the week in Canberra my sister Judy and her other half Peter arrived Tuesday afternoon. We hadn't seen each other for some time so we had some catching up to do. Then Trish and I went to Canberra airport to collect my brother's wife Jeanette who had flown up from Melbourne. We were all in the same motel so catching up and enjoying a few drinks was easy to do. We walked to a local Chinese and enjoyed a meal.

The funeral for my uncle was on Wednesday and we made sure we were there in time. The service (where I gave a eulogy) was fairly short and was followed by a burial. From there it was too a local club for refreshments. Peter and I made sure we didn't over indulge, actually we were still a little seedy from the night before! I caught up with some relations and my cousins.

From there it was back to the motel for more drinks and chatting! It was great to catch up but it is disappointing when it takes a funeral to get us all together like this. It was really good fun.

Dinner was some more take away food in the motel room. The girls had a great Wednesday night while the guys hit their respective beds a little earlier.

Trish and I were on the road for the 1400k drive back home early Thursday morning. The part of Australia we were to drive through had enjoyed heavy recent rains. The countryside was lovely and green, looking more like it was spring rather than mid summer. Usually the paddocks would be yellow with dry grass at this time of year but as you can see it was lovely and green.

We spent the night at Moree and then drove on to Caloundra the next day arriving home about 12:30 local time.

Tony, a friend of mine here on the estate, had kept an eye on things while we were away so the place looked great when we arrived home. Tony had even cleaned the pool for me so I could enjoy a swim. Thanks Tony!

In Canberra

I do have Wi Fi connection here at our motel in Belconnen in Canberra so I can continue with my blogging!

The Sat Nav got us safely to our motel in Canberra from Newcastle. The freeway around Sydney made for a very easy trip through what is usually a bit of a nightmare. Traffic (and red traffic lights) slowed us once we hit Canberra which is about 400ks south of Newcastle. A message from one of our Newcastle hosts Mick suggested I check my oil as a he found a large pool of oil under where the car had been parked. My car oil level is still above "full" so the dropped oil was most probably from the idiot who spilled oil over the engine when doing the servicing before back in mid December.

Our motel is old but very well situated near a small but adequate shopping centre. The shopping centre has a supermarket, eateries and a 'grog store'. Last night we had Malaysian food. It was OK but nothing to write home about. There was heaps of it and the cost was very cheap. I think the motel room light was off and we were asleep by 9pm.

We spent an hour or two on Monday afternoon visiting my Aunt. She had stayed by my uncle's bedside for his last 36 hours. She is in her mid 80's and is coping as well as can be expected.

Many other relatives will arrive this afternoon and some are staying at this motel.

I have a little speech fine tuning today and I will also keep an eye on the cricket on TV.

The weather here is fine with 31 expected today. It was 16 this morning in Canberra. This is a bitterly cold place in winter and can be stiflingly hot in summer!

It Is Monday

We are hoping to arrive back in Canberra today soon after lunchtime. How lucky we have been to have good friends in Newcastle who have put up with us for the last 5 nights. Mick and Janet's hospitality has been great. I now have Mick set up with 300 movies, a WD TV HD Media Player and another way in place to use his TV and Stereo Receiver. Mick seems to love it too.

Tomorrow Tuesday we will spend some of the day in funeral preparation. I have prepared a piece to say at the funeral and will run its contents passed the Lola and the celebrant during a meeting that afternoon. My sister and sister in law arrive in Canberra tomorrow too and we are all staying together at the same motel.

Whenever possible I hope to catch a look at the cricket Test Match going on this week on TV.

When we arrive in Canberra early afternoon today (guided by my new Garmin SatNav unit) we will catch up with Lola. The destinations are already keyed in to the Garmin!

The funeral is due for Wednesday 11:30 am and we will depart for home on Thursday morning via an inland route. We may stay overnight Thursday in Moree (about 800 k's away from Canberra) and therefore should be home about early afternoon Friday.

Tony, this will save me an email to you mate, I will try and call during our 'free' hours. It seems we have had some rain at home, at least a couple of inches so hopefully my lawn has recovered a bit.

I may noy have email contact from our motel room in Canberra but there is a wireless hotspot available in the motel lounge.

Thanks For The Gift Vouchers

It seems I am pretty easy to buy a Christmas gift for, if in doubt give me a JB Hi Fi Voucher. (JB Hi Fi is an electrical chain store here in Australia). Altogether I received $100 worth of vouchers.

After experiencing some traffic hassles on our trips recently Trish and I decided on a satellite navigation unit for the car. Our friends here in Newcastle have had one for some years now and just swear by it. They loaned it to us to safely find our way recently and it was great. They paid almost $1000 for theirs sometime ago, a similar model was on special at JB for $167 so I snaffled one at that price.

So thankyou to everyone who gave a JB Hi Fi voucher, I am the owner of a new Satellite Navigation unit for the car! We will put it to the test when we drive back through Sydney on Monday as we head back to Canberra for my Uncle's funeral. My sister Judy and her partner Peter are staying at the motel with us along with Jeanette, my sister in law.

One Funeral, Now A Second One.

The funeral for Trish's brother Bevan was a small affair attended by less than 16 people. Three of Bevan's siblings attended with all three travelling from interstate. Trish and I drove from our friend's home in Newcastle to the airport where we collected Bevan's younger brother Bill and then drove into Nelson Bay for the service. Nelson Bay is a beautiful spot very popular with holiday makers, especially at this time of the year. It was crowded with holiday makers. The family members chatted and remembered their brother at the RSL Club following the service.

We dropped Trish's brother at the airport and made our way back to Newcastle. From there on the phone ran hot with to-ing and fro-ing in preparation for my Uncle's funeral back in Canberra. It is to be held on Wednesday in Canberra at 11:30. I have been asked to give the Eulogy. Therefore we will need to be in Canberra carrying out some preparation well before Wednesday.

My sister Judy and Peter will bring the caravan up from Omeo while my brother's wife Jeanette will fly to Canberra on Tuesday afternoon and stay with us a in a Hotel/Motel near the funeral chapel. At this stage we are booked in to the motel for Tuesday and Wednesday nights. However it may be an idea for us to head to Canberra even earlier so I can prepare adequately.

Our New Year's Eve was spent quietly with friends Janet and Mick and some of their neighbours. Michael slept better than the previous night!

If all goes to plan, we should get back home to Caloundra on Friday.