shriek like you have seen a pop star

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Gosh, where did that week just go, it has flown by the weeks just get quicker, I think being kept busy helps that but you certainly feel it when it comes to the end of the week, when we got home from work on Friday I think we both just collapsed in a heap, even making a cup of tea was an effort, a swim was suggested but no, it was cooler today and the spirit just was not there.

Anyway our week, Andy and I got up for our usual early morning start to head off to work, it did not feel so bad for me this morning it feels like a lie in after the last two mornings when we were up much earlier for the balloon festival.

We said goodbye to our camp guests and bid them a happy day to explore this marvellous city and we headed off to our respective offices. On the way in we did have the joy of seeing another hot air balloon or two, the view is even more stunning with a hot air balloon on the landscape.

Andy said he saw the RAAF Balloon, just above the water of Lake Burley Griffin as he went over the Common wealth bridge, I said I bet those Raaf Boys try to see how low they can get the Balloon with out getting their feet wet and just burn enough gas to make the huge balloon rise.

After work we head back to camp, we find that Darryl and Sarah have only just returned from their day out, we sit and enjoy a cup of tea and chat about our days except that theirs is much more interesting than ours, they visited the war memorial.

However it has been a hot day here today and what better a day than to go for a swim and work up an appetite, I could not resist the snorkel and flippers again before long we were all in the very very cold swimming pool. I am sure that it was warmer out of it than in, but we exercised and that was the main thing, once it got too cold to bear we all got out.

Darryl cooks up another amazing dinner, we all indulge, I have to admit that it is nice to sit in the comfort of a caravan, even though Darryl blew up an empty wine bag to make a cushion for my back which had been giving me some grief in the last few days.

After dinner, I went for a shower, on my return Darryl is wandering around the A frame of their caravan with a torch. “What have you got?” “Red back!” Darryl shouts back, it seems that while Darryl was looking underneath the car a Red Back just dangled itself down in front of his eyes so had to quickly remove himself from the situation.

Like us Darryl and Sarah have been in Red Back country and think that they must have picked up a hitchhiker along the way, these spiders, so I understand, like dark quiet places, so it seems strange that we have both had Red Backs hitch onto our moving homes, I wonder though if they were in eggs that have now hatched out.

Anyway the Redback has been dealt with accordingly. (size 10 Flip Flop) I explain to Sarah that apart from the fact it is now wearing a mans thong on its head, that the spray I used “kills all crawling insects for up to 6 months” but its ok because we will be long gone by the time it wakes up!

Excitement over we indulged in a game of rummikub, first go we all sat patiently while Sarah and Darryl explained how it all works, then we had an “open” game where we could all see each others cubes of numbers so that Sarah and Darryl can explain what we can do as we go along. The second game became different, Sarah’s fighting with her competitive head but she also wants to try and help us get to grips with the game, but soon we are on a third game and we are all fighting for survival.

Suffice to say, I enjoyed the game, but I did not win that night, I would recommend a game of rummikub, it makes you think and I love games that make the grey matter work. Perhaps Andy and I will head into town at the weekend to see if we can find a game or two to play on our lonely winter evenings ahead.

It was 9.30 and bedtime was calling, once again we were all exhausted, so while Andy hopped into bed I went to the amenities, however on my return, things were not so sweet under the canvas, I had taken my glasses off but I could see a fairly large light brown blob walk across the canvas. “Oh my god!” I exclaimed scrambling for my glasses case to get a clearer image of the perpetrator, a humungous spider, possibly of the Huntsman variety is within the confines of our awning.

The Wallaby Wanderers had obviously heard me Sarah shouted “Is it a glove puppet?” she thinks I am having them on, “I can honestly confirm that this spider is big enough for you to stick your hand up it’s……” as both Darryl and Sarah came bursting through the door of the awning complete with camera in hand “…. and use it as a glove puppet”

The fun and games ensued as we all tried to work out what to do with it, by now the perpetrator is obviously feeling confronted so it runs onto the roof at which point Andy is now out of bed, standing there in his underpants holding the shirts that were hanging up, I had told him to retrieve them, just in case the spider went for cover. Andy is trapped in the corner and the spider is now running toward him. “This is some kind of sick joke now, it’s going to drop on me!” Andy exclaimed.

“zip up the door!” I shout as if that is going to prevent the spider from getting into sleeping quarters, it will help for awhile but if it finds the gap where the zips join then we may have company tonight.

I hate to say it but we did despatch the spider in a not so friendly way, we used the spray that we used on the Red Back earlier, and the spider eventually dropped to the door mat just outside sleeping quarters and at Andy’s feet, whereupon the very brave Darryl swept it up and deposited it in the bin bag, which I further deposited in the bins outside the amenities, I was sure that I saw that bin move!

Well we have had two spider shockers tonight, this is not fun, but the colder weather is going to bring spiders indoors so we need to be prepared, I always said that if the spider is outdoors then I would let it go, but inside our home it is fair game, hindsight says that perhaps we should have been braver about it and tried to rescue it, unlike the red back story any of those hanging inside or outside of our domain needs to be dealt with, we don’t want to test the bite of one of those.

The following day we had expected the Wallaby Wanderers to resume their travel plans, however they wanted to stay another day, not just because of our excellent company but because there was more in Canberra to do and that included a return visit to the war memorial, great because it is Cheap Tuesday and we know what Cheap Tuesday is don’t we?

When we get back from work we find that they are not yet back from their day out, we had planned on going for a swim but when they came back we all settled for a cup of tea and a chat. Poor Sarah is trying to get on with the blog, they are quite far behind and we know from experience that it is a nightmare to try and catch up.

Still it is cheap Tuesday, the pizza is ordered online so while Darryl and Andy head off to Dominoes, Sarah does the blog and I go and iron a few more clothes for me and Andy for our working week.

We are soon all indulging in pizza, yummy what a treat Tuesday’s are! However the games are on again tonight, there are serious matches of Rummikub to be had, this time the challenge heats up, the Wallaby Wanderers are less forgiving on KangarooJack tonight as we all play our own game with our own thoughts, I won’t go into detail, but although I came close, but close is not good enough, I did not win a game, however Andy seems to have taken the challenge quite well and a fair while into the game when we all thought Darryl was going to have it in the bag, Andy produced a blinding scenario of numbers and he was done! We played a good few games, but at 10.00 bedtime beckoned, we are off to work in the morning and the Wallaby Wanderers are heading back out on the road again.

Wednesday morning we say our farewells, we hope to see them again before they head back to Blighty, but Sarah has some trip planning to do and I know from experience that you want to do everything possible but which way to go and how to fit everyone and everything in is difficult and you cannot please everyone.

We leave them to it and head off to work, but when we return our gravely patch is back to normal, the only evidence that they were ever there are the tyre marks left by Pie and the companion it tows behind.

We went for a swim, we were both tired but needed refreshing and I can confirm that it was refreshing!

I had thought that the rest of the week would be quiet, however Thursday night we headed back to the swimming pool, but all was not well with the world here, it was full of teenage girls and although we don’t really want to be put off by their presence they do take up rather a lot of the pool, I spied a teacher sitting near by keeping a watchful eye. We pop over and she tells us that they will be out at 6.30, we are happy to wait, but engage in deep conversation, in the meantime earlier than expected some of the girls started to get out and dry off, the remainder soon followed.

I would like to think that they were being polite by getting out early, however I also know that teenage girls and a deadline for dinner means that they want to get showered, get ready and do their hair, that said these girls were all incredibly polite.

In the meantime another teacher turns up expecting to relieve Marg of her duties only to find an empty swimming pool, we all talk and eventually another teacher turns up also expecting to relieve the others of their duties equally surprised to see an empty pool.

Anyway, Teresa, Marg and Meaghan had to get sorted to get the girls in for dinner so they invited us back to their motel room for a cup of tea a little later, which after our dinner we duly obliged but choosing to take along milk and mugs, milk because we knew they only had long life milk and the cups because we did not know how many they had.

The door was open and we headed in to find Meaghan, De, Eva, Marg and Teresa whom however was surprised that we took mugs, it seems that they had plenty, I hoped she was not going to give us lines for bringing our own mugs.

Oh and just thinking about that I wonder now if Teresa or any of her colleagues reads this, are they going to be marking me on my grammar, which seems to be suffering of late?

We had a terrific time chatting to them all we had biscuits and Kit Kat, but they have responsibilities and more work to do before bedtime so we head off back to our trailer to enjoy what was left of the evening, they told us that they had been to Parliment house today and where standing in a que when they saw Prime Minister Rudd, Teresa said to the girls quitely to shriek like you have seen a pop star, which they did and believe it or not Kevin Rudd came over to them all and they all had a photograph with the man himself. How cool is that.

So back to Friday night, I manage to get the washing in the machine, however one of the machines is playing up and is not rinsing my wash, the water keeps draining away so it is perpetually filling, Canberra Motor Village have given me a token to use another machine but it will have to go through the whole cycle again, it is already late but it must be done, so while Andy catches an early night I sit with my book in the laundry waiting for my repeat load to finish.

As I am enjoying my book I carry on reading it and finally don’t get into bed until 11.00.

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Photos

Teachers
L to R
Meaghan, De, Eva, Marg and Teresa teachers, from Killester Catholic School in Springvale Victoria.

Comments

[Mum and Dad]

Balloon Blog
We really enjoyed reading your balloon blog....we love hot air balloons.....don't know if we would go up in one without the holding rope though.