This is My Australia

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DAY 456

How daft can you get? My first chance for a lie in this week and I went and booked an appointment for a hair cut so not much chance of a lie in, oh well perhaps tomorrow. Andy is up and about early as usual, he did not mention that he went to bed at 8.00 last night as he was bored and it was pouring with rain, but by 9.00 he was sitting opposite me reading a book.

After breakfast and a shower we headed into town for my 9.00 appointment, on the way out telling the people at the reception on our campsite that I would pay for the next seven days as agreed, she said “I will just check that your site is available”, here we go, this is where they tell me that someone is booked onto our site and that we would have to move, but we have already booked in for 28 days and agreed to pay on a weekly basis just in case anything changed.

They always want to tell you something different than you have agreed, but at this point she now tries to tie me down to a time when I will be back, but I have no idea as there are things to do while in town so I don’t know, I just said “I will be back this afternoon, it is not like I am going anywhere, you have my trailer!” With that I left her to it, grrr!

We arrive in a very empty car park, hmmm too many choices, where to park? I left Andy in Borders bookshop so that he could have a cup of coffee and a read, how civilised, while I head off to Epic for my long awaited haircut. I was determined that it was going to be exactly how I wanted it cut.

So Josie now washes my hair, I am relaxed in a huge reclining armchair with leg rests and the bowl seems also to move to meet the back of my neck, my first hair wash in ages (by a hairdresser that is!!) I also get a head massage while she rubs the conditioner in, but the shocker is while she tries to get all the knots out, ouch!

I have gone to great lengths to explain, how much I want cut off, which bits I don’t want touched and how to cut my fringe and pleeeeaaaase don’t cut any layers in at the top!!

Josie makes me a cup of coffee and soon she is down to it, chopping and cutting then she asks if I want volume, hmmm good question I think as I look at her hairstyle, she has big volume, lots of back combing so I am careful with my answer, “No!” is my immediate response, no volume, I wonder if she can sense the fear in my voice I suddenly have visions of leaving the hair salon with big hair.

Anyway the long and the short of it, excuse the pun, is that Josie did a good job, she listened, I have a hair cut, she has paid attention to what I asked and I am happy, so $87 lighter I wander back to Borders to find Andy reading some camper trailer magazines.

I decide that while I am there I would buy a CD, my first one in ages, when we were in Borders last week drinking coffee and reading they were playing a CD which I really enjoyed, I had heard the music from this band when we first came over to Australia, I asked who it was because I wanted to buy it, but have only just got round to doing it (a small treat for having my first weeks wages paid!!), Empire of the Sun are an Australian band and the CD is Walking on a Dream.

With a few chores done we headed outside the Canberra Centre and into the precinct where the Multicultural Festival is being held, there are dozens and dozens of stalls depicting all nationalities and their food, people are dressed in national costume, we sit for a while and watch a band on one of the stages, we find that we are listening to Johnny Huckle, he is playing guitar and singing, one thing about the indigenous is that they have good rhythm, the music is very vibrant his final song is “This is My Australia”, while listening I felt quite over awed that we were sitting in Canberra enjoying the culture and just enjoying being here really and thinking about the long journey that we have undertaken, what can I say, it just felt good to be here.

After listening to Dale Huddleston and the Riverbank Band (also very good) we headed off again and found a Dutch Pancake stall, of course we had to oblige, they looked delicious for $10 each we had a plate of 19 tiny pancakes, mine with apple and cinnamon (ok then and the whipped cream, but I am sure that was calorie free because it was from a street stall) and Andy had chocolate and ice-cream on his (also calorie free!)

We ate and soaked up the atmosphere, there were people everywhere, I watched as one child accidentally let go of her balloon and I watched the disappointment on her face as the balloon drifted up towards the sky.

A little further on we found another stage where they were dancing, we find out that they are Macedonian, the dancing was great the Macedonian community seems to come from Queanbeyan which is just over the border in New South Wales.

After a good look around we decided that it was time to head off up to Belconnen to the camping shop, but on the way Andy sees a Toyota dealership with a Landcruiser Wagon, V8 sitting on the forecourt, we only half heartedly look around as it would be tying money up at the moment we don’t want to spend on a vehicle, anyway the Patrol is going really well, so why change, better the devil you know, we have had it serviced regularly and we know its capabilities, it’s also a lot more comfortable than the Landcruiser Wagon that we just looked at.

We drop in to a camping shop called strangely enough, “Camping world” and we pick up a foldable wardrobe so we can keep our clothes neat and tidy, whilst we are in the same camp spot for a long while, it is the last one they have in the shop so as it is the display model we get some discount, the girl tries to pack it up for us but we tell her not to worry too much as we will be using it in a minute.

Getting back to the Wendy house we realise we have not had any lunch and it is nearly 3.00 o’clock so again we have the remnants of the Chicken Vindaloo to finish as there are 3rds.

The afternoon drifts by, tidying up and while Andy has a nana I have to sit and sort the malfunctions out on the laptop again! We have had a lot of issues this week with the broadband connection, the new dongle and last night even one of the usb ports packed up, but I think I have resolved everything now, fingers crossed.

We tidy up our paperwork box but we can’t believe how much rubbish we have thrown away, old bank statements, 2008 car insurance documents and even receipts from the hotel in Singapore, it all either needed binning or the important stuff keeping safe, but with a cleansing session we feel better and have a lot more room again.

I have started my new book, “Great Australian Working Dog stories”, which are nice short stories about our canine friends, which I am thoroughly enjoying.

We decide to go and swim the afternoon Is cloudy but very warm and the pool seems inviting, Caroline wants to try out her new rash vest which she got this morning. By the time Caroline has gotten in the pool, I have already done 2 lengths and we soon both knock out 30 which is now our exercise target.

I call my sister on Skype and she as usual is in a rush, but agree to Skype in 45 minutes from when we called, I say to Caroline that I am not hungry enough to go out to dinner tonight, but would be quite happy with a bowl of soup or something.

Well something it is, we get fish and chips for me and Chicken and chips for Caroline from Red Rooster and drive back to the Wendy House, well we did work hard in the pool.

I catch up with Jane and Lily, my 10 year old niece who looks as lovely as I remember her and really miss them, Jane and myself had our typical brother and sister relation ship when we were younger but we are really close and I value that.

After a good Skype session we settle down, Caroline doing her Professor Layton Puzzle and me finishing the blog.

Caroline manages to Skype her Mum and Dad who are currently enjoying 13 degrees C in Spain at the moment, then we finish the blog ready to upload.

We have had a full on busy day and it seems like only 5 minutes ago I was getting up, where on earth did the day go?

So until tomorrow bloggers.

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Photos

Johnny Huckle
with This is My Australia

Dale Huddlestone
And the River bankband

Dog Prison
They looked so sad.

Comments

[Stacy]

Did you know....
That the term 'Dongle' is the most confusing technilogical term. The things you learn when watching 8 out of 10 cats! lol. Glad the work is going well !