SATURDAY 20 MARCH     HEALESVILLE

John had arranged to bowl at Lilydale. I dropped him off there and kept Truck.

I went to Chirnside shopping centre, where I enjoyed browsing the shops at my leisure. I did not buy much, though. There is little point in buying much perishable food, without the main fridge.

Bought the Saturday papers and kept them to read tomorrow.

Drove back to home and spent the afternoon chatting with P and K, and petting the animals. It is only a week now until the wedding, but they say all is organized.

John got a ride up here with another player.

K went out and bought Chinese food for tea.

There was much chat through the evening, of course. It was most pleasant. Eventually we left and drove back to Healesville.

FRIDAY 19 MARCH     HEALESVILLE

We drove to my former school about 10.30am. John left me there and went on to visit his former school. There had been a bit of a comedy of errors beforehand, when John gave me a pair of his good trousers, to iron for him. I discovered they were marked and needed washing. He brought out the other pair he has with him – they too needed a wash! He had to choose the least compromised pair.

I spent most of the day in what was once “my” part of the school, and various former colleagues came to talk, as they had time. It was rather like holding court! I did not see some people that I’d hoped to – ones on leave or away for various reasons.

Spent some time talking with T about Coraki, where we’d been in our time at Evans Head, and where his mother had lived. I am to phone him about meeting up in the coming holidays for a meal.

John arrived to collect me at 4pm and he ended up having a talk with various people too. He’d enjoyed himself at Cockatoo. Overall – a good day.

It was good to see the “old” faces – but I have no pangs at all about having left! Quite the reverse, in fact.

Refuelled Truck – 64cpl. This is the cheapest fuel we have had since Qld. Truck covered 178kms today.

Fish and chips for tea.

THURSDAY 18 MARCH     HEALESVILLE

The day centred on waiting for J to come and fix the fridge….. and waiting ……. and waiting.

John went to bowls in Healesville after lunch. I waited some more…..

I phoned the school to check that it would be alright to visit tomorrow.

J came in the late afternoon. The part he brought, that he was so certain was what was needed, did not fix the fridge. He professed himself mystified. He took the entire fridge away to fix at his factory. I must manage with just the Chescold for the time being. I guess that if we had to have whatever the problem is, we are lucky to have it now, rather than out in the wilds.

Tea was soup, cheese omelette and fries.

WEDNESDAY 17 MARCH     HEALESVILLE

We slept until 9am. It was a cool morning.

After breakfast, drove home,  where we had a great reunion with our dog and one of the cats. Butch dog was so ecstatic to see John! The other cat was not there. P came home for lunch and made us a sandwich. She said that Spook cat is never home in the day time. I suspect he does not like P’s little dog.

I told P that I planned to visit my old school – where she works – on Friday. She said some of my former colleagues had been asking if I would visit.

The garden has not been maintained as we would do it ourselves, but I guess that is to be expected of a different generation. The pool is a deep green – so much for K’s intended father-in-law helping him to maintain it! Can’t be helped now and I am not going to worry about it. It seems to be good for the local frog population, anyway.

We collected lots of mail.

Went to the local Post Office and collected my ring, sent from Rubyvale. Whilst there, paid the water accounts. They are still not right – the flat’s usage fees are still on our account. We will need to stir up both the real estate agent who handles the lease and the water authority.

Went to the library, where I borrowed a lot of books.

Then we had a practice bowls session for a couple of hours – John can’t resist!

Drove to the Chirnside Park shopping centre, where I bought Powerball tickets, chatted to the newsagency proprietors, who I have known for some years. The place is changing. It has a Target store now, and the food court area is being further developed for another supermarket.

We got back to the van about 6pm, after a full day.

Tea was soup, spag bol and then strawberries.

It is rather strange, coming back to the local area after a year’s absence. Even little changes seem to cause rather a sense of dislocation – almost a time warp thing.

It is so good to have books to read again!

SATURDAY 13 MARCH     TATHRA

I woke up with a headache – too much of that wine! John was feeling seedy all day, so we did not do much. He read – finished a novel.

I walked up the hill to the newsagents – punishing myself! Bought the Saturday Age and Weekend Australian, and read those for the rest of the morning.

After lunch, we walked along the beach to the Inlet, and back along the cycle path.  We watched people catching mullet and big flathead in the channel of the inlet entrance.

We spotted a bird new to us in the bush by the inlet. It made a whip like noise and when we got back to camp used the bird book to identify it as a male Eastern Whipbird. We also saw a huge black spider and wondered if it was a funnelweb? Certainly, it looked very anti-social!

There were thunderstorms building and it rained a little on us, but we got back before the worst rain hit.

I cooked barley soup.

Tea was the last of the tomato soup,  Chicken breast poached in lemon juice, garlic and spring onions, with some vegies. Rockmelon to follow.

The thunder and lightning lasted into the night.

THURSDAY 11 MARCH     TATHRA

The day was still fairly warm, but cloudier.

I did a load of washing, before breakfast. After breakfast, we drove up to the top shops, because I wanted to buy a Powerball ticket – there was a $15million jackpot.

John decided we should practice bowls and we did so until 1.30. By the time lunch was over, there was not time to do anything adventurous. I needed exercise, so went for a fast walk down the walk/bike path to Mogareeka Inlet – a bit over 2kms away. On the way back, I walked around some of the streets, and up the hill at the back to the lookout.

I saw lots of birds on my walk, including some yellow tailed black cockatoos.

John went fishing, around at the old jetty/landing that dates from the coastal shipping days. It is heavily used by fishing people, these days. The water is deep there. He had no luck – and no bites.

On Tathra Jetty. The valley in the distance is Mogareekah Inlet, though the entrance is out of picture.

I defrosted the fridge, just in case John came back with some fish requiring freezing.

I watched a wattlebird in a tree near our van. When he makes his gurgling noise, he puts his head up in the air and puffs out his chest, and chortles.

Tea was soup, sausages and vegies. Rockmelon. There are enough left over sausages to provide sandwich fillings for the next couple of days. Cold sausage sandwiches are great!