I have been in Australia now for 1 1/2 weeks. The first half was hard, as we had no car. Robert has been great. He is good company and we have good chats.
I have to realise that his chats sometimes make sense and at other times he jabbers on and on about something. And you loose track and he also loses track of what he is talking about.
He has early Alzheimers and now that he is back on the coconut oil, he is actually doing so much better. His recall is better too.
We had hitched twice into town, it is 3 1/2 KM to town, downhill all the way and walking back is uphill all the way. A bit like home.
But once we had done that and then caught a ride after hitchhiking, we decided that hiring a car is a much better option.
So on Monday afternoon we got a nice Hyundai car , 6 speed, manual.
We have it for 9 days.
I am very happy with it and have already driven it on the roads here and on the motorway.
It has GSP in it( Navman) and it has taken me today to Castlemaine and Kyneton . On Wednesday we went to the top of Mount Macedon and the town of Woodend and Macedon town. You blink your eyes and you are through that town.
Sometimes we laugh at the absurdity of the situation.
We are neighbours at home. Robert owns the forest and we have been riding there for years. Sharran needed me to look after Robert for the days she is in Malaysia. So sometimes we just laugh that we s are now " stuck" with each other for these 3 weeks. At least the first 2 weeks are already almost gone. Next week is my last here. Not that it's super hard but it is emotionally draining at times.
And we started with the one room cottage where I slept int he lounge on a bed with an inner sprung mattress that was shaped like a hammock. So I woke up with a sore back every morning. Then we moved to the 2 bedroom cottage across the road where I have my own room and he has his own room and bathroom and toilet in between.
But we have to move back to the 1bed room cottage again on each weekend.
But that's better than the whole time there.
Anyway, I have been cooking some good meals.
I also got to see my son Joe and his fiancee Rachel, which was awesome. We had a nice dinner out at the Baringo restaurant.
So I managed to get one afternoon off where Robert's son took him for an afternoon out, and I drove to a little town called Milton. I went for a swim in an over roofed swimming pool and met some refugees from Iraq Mossoul. They are christians. They told me a bit about their lives. That made me thankful for where we live .
The following week, I drove with Robert to Ballarat wildlife park, an hours drive from Gisborne. We also had made friends with Tim and Marie and 2 kids.
Ballarat was great.
I also drove to Bendigo on an other day and we explored the city centre and went into the talking tram.
We went to Daylesford market and took a diesel train for a sightseeing venture.
Because I had the car, time went much faster and even though there were a couple of times I thought I was going to go crazy, I survived. On the Saturday before I finished my time, I was able to go by train into Melbourne city and Joe and Rachel were there to pick me up and we went to the Aquarium. Did some other things like shopping etc, we enjoyed ourselves and I could relax more.
The next day Marie and Tim took us to the Gisborne market which is huge, long streets of market stalls of all kinds of things. In the afternoon Joe came to pick me up and take me to his place and Robert's daughter-in-law stayed with Robert till Sharryn came home later that evening.
All went well but it took a toll on my health, I slept in long at Joe's and I ended up with a cold and seborrheic dermatitis on the scalp.
I met Rachael's family that week and enjoyed the visit immensely.
The trip was 3 1/2 weeks including the 1/2 week at Joe's.
It was a good experience but also very exhausting. But worthwhile.
But I won't do it again.
I was back in Melbourne in just over a month for Joe and Rachel's wedding. There we also met up with Aaron and Alice and baby Violet and Dave, and Michael who came from Korea. The wedding was great. It was the greek big fat wedding .
We came back 1 week before Christmas and everyone came here too.
We had a busy summer with all the family here.
I had also finished my 15th flight that year.( 2016)
So I managed to get one afternoon off where Robert's son took him for an afternoon out, and I drove to a little town called Milton. I went for a swim in an over roofed swimming pool and met some refugees from Iraq Mossoul. They are christians. They told me a bit about their lives. That made me thankful for where we live .
The following week, I drove with Robert to Ballarat wildlife park, an hours drive from Gisborne. We also had made friends with Tim and Marie and 2 kids.
Ballarat was great.
I also drove to Bendigo on an other day and we explored the city centre and went into the talking tram.
We went to Daylesford market and took a diesel train for a sightseeing venture.
Because I had the car, time went much faster and even though there were a couple of times I thought I was going to go crazy, I survived. On the Saturday before I finished my time, I was able to go by train into Melbourne city and Joe and Rachel were there to pick me up and we went to the Aquarium. Did some other things like shopping etc, we enjoyed ourselves and I could relax more.
The next day Marie and Tim took us to the Gisborne market which is huge, long streets of market stalls of all kinds of things. In the afternoon Joe came to pick me up and take me to his place and Robert's daughter-in-law stayed with Robert till Sharryn came home later that evening.
All went well but it took a toll on my health, I slept in long at Joe's and I ended up with a cold and seborrheic dermatitis on the scalp.
I met Rachael's family that week and enjoyed the visit immensely.
The trip was 3 1/2 weeks including the 1/2 week at Joe's.
It was a good experience but also very exhausting. But worthwhile.
But I won't do it again.
I was back in Melbourne in just over a month for Joe and Rachel's wedding. There we also met up with Aaron and Alice and baby Violet and Dave, and Michael who came from Korea. The wedding was great. It was the greek big fat wedding .
We came back 1 week before Christmas and everyone came here too.
We had a busy summer with all the family here.
I had also finished my 15th flight that year.( 2016)
