TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 17     SUTTON

Canberra had some three inches of rain overnight!

Today was cold, grey, damp. It had only been five days since we were sitting around in over 40 degree heat. Too much of a contrast!

I had originally tried to book us into a site at the Riverside Caravan Park, at Queanbeyan, where we had stayed before. They didn’t have a site big enough for Bus, which was why I’d booked us here. Now, I was very pleased  because, with all the rain, the other park could have been much more than soggy!

I walked up to the service station next to the caravan park, to get bread for breakfast. They only had white. Oh well, beggars and all that. But it made horrible toast.

Late morning, we drove to the family’s apartment, through drizzly rain. It was much easier in daylight.

The rented apartment was almost new, ultra modern, at ground level. The lawn beyond the patio fronted onto Lake Burley Griffin and there were great views across to the War Memorial building from their living room. SIL said they might move to a more spacious one on the third floor, whilst they wait for the lease on their own home to end.

The youngster with the sore ear was home from school, so his dad was also home from work. He made us some sandwiches for lunch. It was suggested that John take grandson to Questacon, for a couple of hours. I wanted to drive Terios back to the caravan park before the late afternoon traffic rush. So, SIL would drop John and the boy off at Questacon and pick them up later, after collecting the older boy from school. Questacon is an interactive science and technology museum. Neither John nor I had ever been there, but it would clearly interest John.

I followed them as far as Questacon, then took the Northbourne Avenue/Federal Highway route back to Sutton. It was easy driving, despite the continuing rain.

I had a quiet rest of the afternoon at Bus. It was still drizzling and chilly, so Couey got no more than the minimum necessary trips outdoors. She really wanted to investigate a couple of rabbits that were grazing not far from Bus, but I stopped that bit of fun.

I wasn’t very hungry, so just had some soup for tea. My stomach was still a bit painful.

SIL dropped John back at Bus at about 10pm. It was nice of him to drive the man back, instead of letting him taxi it. John had a really good time – especially spending time with the boys, who he sees so rarely. The younger boy was born in Brussels and to date, they’d only spent about three years of his life in Australia. We sat up for a while, with a nightcap of port, talking about his day.