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Published: December 2nd 2009
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My secret weapon.......DAY 389
Andy was up and out first, I was snug and warm in bed, I could not see the sunshine as we had all the flaps closed on the tent to keep warm last night, I cannot believe how cold it was last night.
I got up at about 7.30, the birds were tweeting, I could see a glimmer of sunshine on the canvas and could hear Andy in the camp kitchen chatting to someone on Skype, I knew it was on Skype as I could only hear one person talking, he was chatting to his sister Jane.
Wow the first day of summer and we are sat in the camp kitchen wearing a fleece, the sun is shining but the morning is cool, the sky looks full of promise today with barely a cloud in sight.
My washing has almost dried on the line, I left it hanging there last night, it was soaked by the time we came back from dinner, but a couple of hours with the early morning sun seems to have mostly dried it.
An Australian Magpie wanders in through one door, has a look around and then just
Secret Weapon
I don't know why I did not come up with this earlier, but my very own non slip mat to use in the shower, will help prevent those nasty slip ups! walks through the camp kitchen without a care in the world and out through the opposite door, we think he must be looking for the laundry.
Shortly afterwards a little bird (I have no idea what type) wandered into the camp kitchen look around and wandered out, we think he was looking for the Magpie.
A while later, a duck wanders in, has a good look around and wanders out again, we think he was looking for food and not his friends!
The day is starting to warm up and we sit in the camp kitchen, preparing the blog “Some women buy dresses and some women buy calves.
It is the end of the month of November for our blog, last month “October” was our biggest month to date, with 6080 hits, November did really well with 5996 hits so not bad at all, we are still very pleased that people read our blog and judging by the messages we get, still enjoying them, so a big thank you to all of you reading about us and our adventure.
Caroline has the toaster on and I am looking forward to testing Josh’s mum’s Apricot jam that she very kindly gave us last night, it tasted great.
This morning we are going to meet Helen Sheridan, for a coffee at 11.00am, Helen is in Wagga this morning and we have not seen her since leaving Woodstock last week, so we want to catch up with her and all things farming. Caroline also wants to seek her advice on whether it is best to go to A&E or to a doctor about my little problem.
Ah yes, my little problem, I have a strangely sticking out belly button, which I have never had, some people just love medical drama’s but I don’t, it is just a problem that needs sorting and I really can’t be bothered with all the hub bub that goes with it, and I won’t self diagnose anything, as I am an electrical engineer, not a doctor.
On the way out, we pop into the same flower shop as yesterday to pick up some flowers for Helen, the lady recognises us and we engage in a little more chat, she wondered if we were local, but was questioning the deep tan that we had, we told her about our adventure and she said that she has been living in Wagga Wagga for 12 years and is still not considered “local”, I did say that if we went back to England with these tans probably no one would speak to us for a few months until we returned to a normal colour, pale!
We arrive at “The Golden Arches” coffee emporium, MacDonalds McCafé to you and me, and sit and read the news paper whilst we await for Helen to arrive, though the sun is out in force, boy it’s a bit chilly, there’s a nip in the air, its just ridiculous this is bl**dy Australia, someone turn up the heat, today is the first day of Summer.
We had a lovely natter, with Helen catching up on things, the little bin that the wheel fell of on has been repaired, the dogs are fine, Candy and her pups are all doing well, Jason is ok and Robert is good too, so all seems well at Woodstock.
Helen mentions to Caroline about some medical centre’s she has used in the past and once we have all finished our coffee, Helen has another important appointment to race off to and we set about driving through Wagga to find a doctor for me to see.
We manage to park outside a medical centre, there are Three shops in a row, for want of a better word, the Medical Centre, a Pharmacist and an Undertakers, that’s a sentence that is the start of a good joke.
I hand over my Medisure card, and soon we take a seat, Caroline picks up a couple of magazines and I stick my head in to “The Outback” a magazine that was always on the farm. No sooner than I am reading an article about “Bush Dunnies” (Toilets) then my name is called.
I follow this doctor in to his surgery room and we shake hands, his name is Paul (Pavel) Bartusek he is a Czech, he asks me what is the matter and I take my T-shirt off and show him what I think is my hernia, and he confirms that it is what is known as an Umbilical Hernia.
He clicks on to google and pulls up some images, I am horrified by what I am seeing, but I am given some paperwork to take to the front desk so that we can get it sorted out.
At the front desk, we pay the bill, the receptionist makes an appointment for me, amazingly it is tomorrow morning, not bad service, I expected to have to wait a while, she shows us on the map where we need to go in the morning and off we go.
We spy Eagle Boys in the main street and remember it is Cheap Tuesday today, great we can have pizza for tea!
We head back to camp for the rest of the afternoon, we have a nice lunch sat in the camp kitchen but soon we have a bigger task ahead of us, we have to write some Christmas cards, time is running out to send some back to England. Apologies not everyone is going to get a card from us, it would cost us a mere fortune to send a card to everyone so we have sent just to family.
Andy takes a nap, while I do some blog work, write some emails etc. I am enjoying sitting in the camp kitchen, it warms up nicely as the sun comes round, it feels like a lovely afternoon sitting peacefully, yes I am also drinking tea, Andy appears at some point we finish up the blog and publish and then just head off for Pizza.
There are police on the Sturt Highway tonight, we think they are targeting drink drivers so the drivers on the carriageway opposite us are being pulled in, when we come back we choose a different route, otherwise our pizzas will go cold if we are pulled in for breath testing (neither of us have been drinking anyway, unless tea counts!).
Back at camp we sit in the tent nice and cosy, eat pizza and enjoy a glass of Sarsaparilla, we speak to Sue and Cliff over Skype, catching up on all the news over there, Congratulations to them both as they will become first time grandparents in June next year!
We set up to watch Flash Forward, but by the time it finishes it is bedtime. So I head off to clean my teeth, but wandering through the deserted camp kitchen (which closes at 10.00 anyway), the TV is still blaring, the rotary fans are still switched on, along with all the lights! We must be becoming energy conscious as we both went in and switched it all off, whatever happened to “last person to leave please switch off the lights!”
The night was not as cold, so we left the flaps open on the tent, the sky was clear so there was no sign of rain (at the moment), so sleep soon grabs us into a world of dreams.
We have something really exciting for you all tomorrow, but you will just have to tune in to find out.
Until then, goodnight!
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Andy Hocking
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Flash forward.
It's going to turn into another lost, don't you think?