SUNDAY 26 SEPTEMBER HEALESVILLE
John slept in, not surprisingly!
I took Truck and drove to the local shopping centre to get some groceries.
John went off to bowl at Lilydale again.
I read, sewed, went for a walk.
Author Archives: wendyviney
1999 Travels September 25
SATURDAY 25 SEPTEMBER PAKENHAM TO HEALESVILLE 54kms
We were up, packed and away by 9.30. We really hadn’t had a chance to fully set up camp at Pakenham, which made it easier.
Our route to Healesville went via Cockatoo and Woori Yallock. This time, we did not have the towing dramas of the early days when we travelled part of this route!
Because it was school holidays and the Badger Creek Caravan Park was heavily booked – it is a family holiday venue – we were put on a site where a permanent van had just been removed. It was not a very big site, but it had the great benefit of being away from the hordes of rather horrible and badly behaved children that were running wild in the “tourist” section of the park. I think we preferred it amongst the regulars and the cabins!
We also had to pay the holiday rate of $20 per night, but the seventh night was free. When the holidays end, next weekend, it would revert to the normal $17 a night rate.
John did a very quick, basic, set up, then rushed off to bowls at Lilydale – a social game.
I read, knitted, walked around the extremely attractive grounds for a while, and had the football Grand Final on in the background. Carlton lost, which would disappoint John – however he came home happy that he’d bowled well, and that offset the disappointment over Carlton.
For tea, I made up a version of the Italian chicken that we’d had at H’s – John really wanted me to try to reproduce this. I rolled up ham and mozzarella inside flattened chicken breasts (I pounded these with the little rolling pin). Cooked the rolls by simmering in the electric frypan, in a tomato, onion, garlic type sauce, with mozzarella slices on top, garnished with capers and black olives. They were yummy!
I phoned K and left a message that we’d relocated again.
John played computer games until nearly dawn.
1999 Travels September 24
FRIDAY 24 SEPTEMBER PAKENHAM
Today was John’s 59th birthday.
We went to work at the Electoral Office at 9am. Finished at 2pm – all done. It suddenly seemed to come together, so will not extend into next week. Damn – we could have used some more employment money!
So we had a quiet afternoon, resting – we were really tired.
There is no longer any need to stay around these parts, so I phoned Healesville and managed to get us in there.
Tea was soup and John’s choice – frankfurts. High cuisine! We had a bottle of sparkling burgundy to mark the birthday.
1999 Travels 23 September
THURSDAY 23 SEPTEMBER MORNINGTON TO PAKENHAM 60kms
We packed up the van after an early breakfast, and moved it to Pakenham.
The Pakenham Caravan Park cost $15 per night. It is adequate. It seems more of a park for longer term stayers, rather than tourists, given its proximity to this growth area of Melbourne. However, we did not feel out of place.
We went to “work” at 12.30, but it didn’t start until 1.30 – more inept organization – so we walked around the shops for an hour.
We worked until 9pm. Had fish and chips for tea – again!
It was so good not to have to commute all the way back to Mornington.
Phoned H and R and took rain checks on meals with them that had been planned for tomorrow and Saturday.
1999 Travels September 22
WEDNESDAY 22 SEPTEMBER MORNINGTON
Another early start. We had to have Truck at the Frankston dealership by 8am.
We were lent a Discovery and were at Pakenham by 9am.
We worked on counting votes. Some of the work involved checking some of the counts done in local booths on Saturday, but a lot was sorting and counting absentee votes. The place seemed very disorganized, with people floating about doing bits here and there.
We had a thirty minute lunch break and got sandwiches at the local shops, then quickly went and checked out the local caravan park.
John had to leave at 4.15 to go back to Frankston for Truck. I could not go as we had intended, because I was part way through trying to sort out a very mixed-up vote count. Not surprising, in the muddle of the place!
So John went to Frankston, collected Truck, then came back and we worked until 11pm. It meant extra money, as we were paid by the hour, but was very tiring.
We had a tea break and bought fish and chips.
Then it was the long drive back to Mornington – and in fog.
We had already decided to move the van to Pakenham tomorrow, because this vote counting may last into next week.
The new roof rack was put on Truck, at the dealer’s. It is much better than the original one, because it has a mesh floor, rather than just cross members. This is going to make it much easier to pack.
1999 Travels September 21
TUESDAY 21 SEPTEMBER MORNINGTON
We were both rather down today. I think there is an element of boredom setting in, though in John’s case, he is probably reacting to all that has happened in the past couple of weeks.
I drove to the shops and picked up the photo reprints, got them organized and mailed off.
I made soup for tea.
We were phoned in the late afternoon and asked if we wanted to go work, counting votes, at the Pakenham electoral office. We said yes – provided we could work around the Truck service that is scheduled for tomorrow. The man said that was alright.
More money – excellent!
1999 Travels September 20
MONDAY 20 SEPTEMBER MORNINGTON
We drove to home. Got a later start than intended because John slept in.
We pruned the kiwi fruit vines – heavily. Left the clippings piled up in the vegie garden. They are such rampant plants that they must be pruned every year, or they grow all over the roof and displace tiles. Hopefully, when they have dried out a bit, K will pile them up and burn them.
The work had not been finished before it was time for John to go to the dentist, for his 2pm appointment, and he was annoyed about that.
While he was in the dentist – for ninety minutes – I went back and finished the cleaning up after the pruning.
John was a little shaky after the dental ordeal, so I drove back to Mornington – in heavy traffic.
We left the contents of the roof rack in John’s shed, at home, because we are finally going to get the new one, under warranty.
Tea was soup.
1999 Travels September 19
SUNDAY 19 SEPTEMBER MORNINGTON
We spent a quiet morning, after a sleep-in.
After lunch we drove to the new Bunnings Warehouse that has set up locally. John had an enjoyable browse and I tagged along.
We are feeling quite aimless and it is not a pleasant feeling.
Tea was soup and leftover pizza. We are even eating rather poorly!
1999 Travels September 18
SATURDAY 18 SEPTEMBER MORNINGTON
We had an exceedingly early start, as we had to be at a school near Berwick, by 7.30am, and that was about 50kms away. The early morning was very cold, too.
John was allocated to be a standard polling booth official, checking people’s names and address and marking them off on the roll, and handing them voting papers.
Because I’d done election work a number of times before, and knew the ropes, John’s niece had me work with her on the absentee votes and deal with those whose names could not be found on the electoral roll. We were abnormally busy as it is apparently a confusing area and many people came in to vote, thinking they were enrolled for the Berwick electorate, but in fact were in Dandenong. I think there may have been an electorate boundary change, recently?
It was a long day, and tiring. We are not used to work! John’s niece and her husband were in charge of the booth, and it ran very smoothly – unlike some I have experienced! We were out by 9pm, which is pretty good as these things go.
The drive back to Mornington was tedious, in the dark and cold.
We had a very late tea of pizza.
1999 Travels September 17
FRIDAY 17 SEPTEMBER MORNINGTON
We had a quiet day.
Drove into Mornington, then walked around the shops. It is a large and varied shopping centre.
I got the latest film processed – the family ones from the funeral were pleasing, and I put three of the negatives in to get prints done for the whole family.
We bought fish and chips for tea.
This Adventurous Age 