SUNDAY 22 FEBRUARY     HEALESVILLE

Badger Creek is a misnomer, as we do not have badgers in Australia. It was probably thus named because there were lots of wombats in the district, and there is a degree of similarity between the two creatures.

Rode the bikes into Healesville in the morning, where I bought rolls for lunch and some doughnuts and cakes for afternoon tea. We bought a Sunday paper and John hired a couple of videos – to fill the void left by the absence of TV!  Cycled 10.3kms, so the park is about 5kms from town.

After lunch we had a visit from P and K, who wanted to have a look at the rig in our set up mode. They brought friend R and his friend C with them. It was a pleasant visit – nice to play hostess again, and to socialize.

Tea was ham and cheese sausages. Have not had those before and certainly will not again! They were very fatty, and did not taste all that nice.

We are not far from the Healesville Sanctuary and in the late afternoon can hear the dingoes howling – I like the sound.

SATURDAY 21 FEBRUARY      HEALESVILLE

I drove to the shopping centre to get the Saturday Age. Bought some groceries, wine and lunch rolls too.

The only drawback of this caravan park is that it is too far from the town to walk, on a regular basis, especially if it is at all hot, and there is shopping to carry.

Read the paper.

John went off to bowls, taking Truck.

Now that we are back in Melbourne, I could not put off any longer a chore that has been hanging over my head since before Xmas. About a dozen of my former staff asked me to write references for them, for future use. This is akin to writing student reports, and not fun! Spent the afternoon writing, and got them all drafted. Will give the hand written versions to P, who will take them to work and type and print them up for me on the school’s letterhead. I do feel better for not still having all that to do.

Tea was mince chow mein again, at John’s request.

John enjoyed the afternoon of competition bowls at our club. He filled in for an unavailable player, and so played a “proper” game.

The environment at this park is so pleasant, with lots of birds around.

WEDNESDAY 18 FEBRUARY     TORQUAY

Woke to a very pleasant, sunny morning, but with a rising wind.

John went and bought the Geelong Advertiser paper and looked up all the bowls listed. He rang up and got a game at the Eastern Beach club, in the afternoon, so he had to drive into Geelong for that.

I wrote letters to a friend and to K, recounting our travels to date. I had planned to walk to the PO to mail these, but it had become so windy that I was reluctant to leave the awning  and van. I really wondered how well they would stand up, and whether flying debris would do damage. It didn’t feel safe to be out and about, anyway – real fire weather. There was a fire near Colac, which was contained later in the day.

I ended up reading for much of the afternoon. Walked to the post box outside the park and posted my two letters.

John returned from bowls not very happy – the wind had made it very difficult to bowl consistently.

A couple with a big van, parked near us, came and asked about the Trakmaster and we showed them over the van. They are looking to change to an off roader. He said we’d get ours as far as Weipa, on Cape York, easily.

The wind dropped a bit, later in the day.

Tea was tomato and mushroom risotto.

TUESDAY 17 FEBRUARY     TORQUAY

I did two loads of washing – $2 a load; hoped the weather would stay favourable for drying same. It did.

We drove to the Torquay shops and claimed our lotto prizes from Saturday night – collected $87.60. Every bit helps!

We drove on to Anglesea because John thought he might be able to get a bowls game there – but nothing was on. Bought rolls and scrolls there, for lunch.

On the way back to Torquay, we stopped to have a look at the famous surfing mecca of Bells Beach – there were a few people surfing on medium-looking waves. I can’t really see the attraction, but the activity and associated lifestyle is obviously addictive for many. We have seen some older surfies around the area – to me, grey hair with wet suit looks somehow incongruous.

John finished letters to his daughters and we went to the PO to mail them. I bought ingredients for a risotto.

Felt like a bike ride, so went up the Deep Creek Nature Walk to its end, then cut back to the east and onto Horseshoe Bend Road. Rode north on that until we felt it was far enough, and rode back to the van. It was a good ride of 17.5kms, but there was a headwind on the return leg that made it rather hard.

After this, was too late to cook risotto, so I put some salad together which we had with pink salmon from a tin, followed, of course, by strawberries! Well, we do love them at this time of year – and they are an easy dessert.

MONDAY 16 FEBRUARY     TORQUAY

The big day today! It is seven weeks since we set off, too.

We had to get up at 7am. It was raining solidly and so would have been a great day to stay in bed!

Left for Melbourne about 8.45am. There was quite heavy traffic in Geelong, and heading in, even though we thought we’d miss the worst of the peak hour. Had to get diesel there  – 72cpl.

It was a miserable driving morning, with the rain. We took the Princes Highway, then went in through Footscray. We actually got a parking place not far from the Royal Melbourne Hospital, but still got damp walking there.

It is a dismal hospital. John did not have to wait too long. His fears of big and nasty tests turned out to be unfounded – it was only a blood take, but lots of phials of same. There was much relief, on both our parts. It will take a week or two before the test results are received by John’s physician, but we are quietly optimistic, since going off the Warfarin does not seem to have had any ill effects.

John felt up to driving out to Box Hill to see Deeper Image about a TV aerial. Their system employs a booster, needs a hole putting through the van wall, and costs about $250. Obviously, for that price, the booster would need to make a big difference! We decide to wait and see C at Trakmaster about making a hole for it, when we are in Melbourne. I do not like the idea of another hole in the van wall. If it was up to me, would not bother about TV at all!

In teeming rain, returned to Geelong, via the SE Freeway and Westgate Bridge. There was heaps of traffic, even though it was only mid afternoon.

Stopped in Geelong, at All Tools. John bought two props – $89 – big, solid, orange, and a hazard for unwary fingers! Got some fruit and vegies at Grovedale, on the way through.

One of the heavy prop stands in use (taken at a later date)

After we’d had a cup of tea, back at the van, there was less rain, so we went for a walk along the beach. This seemed very pleasant and easy for about 2kms,  until we turned to go back – and realized just how strong the tailwind had been! John really battled into the wind. He drove some 240kms today, much of it in traffic, so we were very pleased that his leg was even up to walking! Progress is happening.

For tea we had cold roast lamb, salad, and strawberries.

SUNDAY 15 FEBRUARY     TORQUAY

It was a cool day. Rain set in soon after breakfast, and it became pretty steady.

John drove to the bowls club to check if they were going to play; it was called off.

He brought back the Sunday Age. I found we’d won 4 Division 5 Lotto games, last night. The luck continues!

I finished letter to a friend, then walked to post box and mailed that and cheque to K to cover the vet fees.

I cooked pizza scone scrolls for lunch. It was cool enough to use the van’s oven and we felt like something warm. They were nice, too.

The drizzle seemed to lighten a bit in the mid-afternoon, so we went for a walk on the Deep Creek Nature Walk, then back through some streets. Walked about 3kms.

Tea was steak, fries, salad, followed by strawberries.

After tea, we watched a video that John hired this morning – The Castle. It was unusual.

SATURDAY 14 FEBRUARY     TORQUAY

It was a mostly sunny day, about 21 degrees, so just nicely warm.

We drove into Geelong where we visited All Tools and Mitre 10. John wanted to check out props to go under the van’s A frame and take the weight off the jockey wheel, when we are parked. He didn’t buy anything, though – decided he had to do a measure and check first.

At a shopping complex, we got papers, bread rolls, then some steak and a leg of lamb at a butchers – the meat was pleasingly cheap, compared to the prices we’ve paid over the past few weeks. Bought some wine.

I went to get a lotto ticket. The shop checked our Keno ticket – and we had a $500 prize! Yippee. Bought a couple of lotto tickets to see if we can keep the run going.

After that, it was back to the centre of Geelong, to RetraVision. Spent $500 on a VCR machine – John bargained a discount for cash.

Back at camp, John tuned the new VCR. He calculated that, with the wins since we left home, plus his bowls sale, we have enough “extra” money to be able to buy a new and better TV aerial, as he is not happy with the TV reception he is getting now. It seems that in every caravan park we have been in, to date, the main topic of conversation amongst male travellers is TV aerials! There is much comparison and advice given.

Unexpected windfall!

After lunch, rode the bikes around the foreshore, as far as the surf beach, and back through the streets. There were lots of people and cars about, so much concentration was needed. The ride was 13kms.

Tea was roast lamb (in the electric frypan, outside), vegies, followed by strawberries.

Used the park’s phone box to call home. Butch dog has had bad gastro and there is a vet bill of $130, that we will have to cover. At least, she is slowly getting better. It seems she has been fretting and may be run down – oh dear! I feel so guilty, and sad. Recently, a small bushfire started down the hill from home; K was at work and P got ready to flee, with the cats in their cage, and the dogs – but didn’t need to. Everywhere in Victoria is so dry.

We watched some of our “Grey Nomads” tape on the new VCR – it seems appropriate that this is the first program we see on it. That TV program really inspired us, when we first saw it, last year. It follows the travels of a cross section of older people, as they commence their adventures, and for a while as they go. I loved it.