A Week in Wardell

What do you think of the new look blog? I thought it was time for a spruce up :)

After a month of dog sitting Derek in Brisbane I headed south to NSW to a 1 week sit in Wardell NSW for Julie and Ryan. My charges being Bailey the dog, Bowie the rabbit and 6 anonymous chooks.

Bridge over Richmond
 River at Wardell

Richmond River

The daytime weather has been terrific - 25 C but the nights have been cold. Quite perfect really for the middle of winter.

I  must admit to vegging a lot and watching a lot of Netflix. "The Fall" - "Keepers" - "Fargo #2" - "Outlander #2"  but I've  also managed some lovely walks. The area is rural and very beautiful.

Once again I scared myself. I was walking along the river edge and then took a side road while listening to a podcast about the East Area Rapist in California. There wasn't a soul in sight and Mr Google Maps directed me up a side road. It didn't seem to lead anywhere - was called Swamp Street and was a No Through Road. Aaarggh! Against my better judgement I continued on and ended up ankle deep in muddy water. Swamp Street indeed!! It actually lead out on to the main highway and was only a short distance from home. I don't need scary movies and podcasts to scare myself - I can do it all alone!!

                            Bailey is so cute and lovely and 
                                    a real snuggle bug.

Watching scary movies with Bailey

First thing I saw on waking from
my nap - sitting on my chest

I stopped at the Ballina RSL for lunch today after my shopping. Best food for minimum cost

Roast Pork YUM

View from the RSL

Ballina has rapidly become one of my favourite places to visit. beautiful place.

I went for a drive up the coast north of Ballina around Lennox Heads on Sunday where the scenery is spectacular. Great beaches and I saw a whale appear but then disappear too quick to get a photo :(

I leave Wardell tomorrow and hopefully have a few days in the Ballina Caravan Park before returning to Brisbane for my next house sit in Banyo.

The winter you're having when you're not having a winter!!

June has been a quiet month and although it's the first month of winter, it's yet to get cold in sunny Brisbane. It's been between 20 to 25 C every day and quite muggy on occasion. I was looking forward to a cool winter but circumstances have bought me back to Brisbane. Never mind - there's still time :)

I've spent most of June dog sitting Derek Da Dog and loving it. Caught a couple of movies - The Mummy and Despicable 3 and watched a lot of Netflix.

My beautiful boy xx

Only a Mee Ma could
love that face

The highlight of the month was that I finally sold my "old" car after 3 months of advertising it. The buyers took 3 days to commit and I was getting increasingly anxious because the registration was due ($650) plus the insurance debit was coming up within a few days ($60 per month). Gets a bit expensive when I'm paying out rego and insurance for Snowball as well. Anyway - the deal was done with 5 hours to spare  - big phew because that would have been money down the drain for me. As it was I had to get a second roadworthy done because the first one had run out the week before grrr.

Holden Viva - gone but not forgotten

I'll miss my little car - after riding high in Snowball it felt like my bum was dragging on the road in the Viva - you sit so low lol. 

I had all the paperwork at hand  and rather than climb 3 flight of stairs up to Lee's I opened Snowball and we sat inside in the car park doing the transaction. It made me laugh - sitting in the back of the van with the lights on counting out thousands of dollars - anyone passing by would have been forgiven for thinking it was a drug deal going down.

I must say it's a great relief that it's finally sold although I'll miss it after 7 years of tootling around. It's been good to me.

I spent 5 days house sitting for Lorraine and Jethro while they took the kids off to Port Douglas to posh it up with the rich folk. My charge was Mia - a 3 legged rescue greyhound. She's quite old now and a suspected tumour resulted in her leg being amputated. She's still quite agile and a very loving, gentle dog.

Mia - gorgeous girl

With all the house sitting I've been doing I've missed being on the road  but I'll get a few nights soon. I'm leaving this Friday to go to Wardell NSW for a week then I'll have a week of rest and recreation at Ballina NSW . Then it's back to Brisbane  Qld for a 5 week sit at Banyo. After that I'll travel 2100 kms back to Adelaide for a 1 week sit and then I'll have nearly a month to do a road trip. I'm planning on doing the Great Ocean Road to Melbourne and then continuing on up the  east coast. I also want to go to the War Memorial in Canberra.

I'm so looking forward to this. Up till now I've always been on the way somewhere or coming back from somewhere - I just want to meander :)

I've also signed up to Netflix and downloaded a pile of TV shows and movies to watch along the way. I could buy a TV and antenna but really don't want the bother or use the limited space. This way I  can watch what I want when I want and can top up when I go to Lee's - unlimited downloads :)

Below are some cars I've seen this month

I don't know whether he's a
Donald fan or plays the trumpet

Blind man driving.....?

Dogs and vans and people and that was May 2017

Thursday May 11th 

I booked into Brighton Caravan Park - my favourite place - for a week between house sits. I was located right near the new shower blocks and O - M - G!!!  The best showers EVER!!. About a 12 inch diameter (30 cms for you Metric-ites) and the water literally gushed out. It was wonderful.  Some Caravan Parks have "showers" - tiny little shower head and you have to run around to get wet! My love for Brighton Caravan Park is consolidated. :)

Brighton Jetty

Brighton

I've certainly caught up with a lot of old friends with my Adelaide trips and this trip was no exception. I had dinner with Bob and Carol Ryan. Bob was a friend for many many years of my step father David Sando, who passed away some years back. It was lovely to catch up with them and will make sure I do again on another trip. xx 

Me and Bob Ryan - 83!!! Him...not me

Friday May 12th

The nights are now very cold now- got down to 3 C last night but I am quite cosy with my quilts and wheat bags and hot water bottle. I went for a 7 km walk with Vicki S along my gorgeous Brighton Beach today and had a midway coffee. Very enjoyable and a warm beautiful clean crisp day.

Brighton - sculptures all
along the seafront

Just in case you  get sick of my
 photos of Brighton Beach -
this is Brighton Beach lol

Angry Brighton Beach :)

Friday night was Aussie Rules football night with a twist. My 2 beautiful great nieces have taken up football - normally the domain of testosterone and hairy legs - neither of which Olivia and Jamie can be accused of. Father  Daniel - now thats something else. He's the coach of Olivia's team and is in his element. With 2 daughters and no sons he thought coaching a football team would be on his "not gonna happen" list. I really enjoyed watching Olivia play for the Brighton Bombers -  they didn't win but they certainly played well.

GN#1 - Olivia - Aussie Rules ready

Saturday May 13th

Long beach walk - what else? lol.  The days are gorgeous - Adelaide does autumn so very well.

Sunday May 14th

An early start on a cold morning to watch Great Niece #2 Jamie play her football. Once again a cold start but a glorious day - helped along with a bacon and egg sarny at the oval. Jamie shone and her team won. I so enjoyed watching them.

GN#2 - Jamie xx

Today is Mother's Day and I'm a long way from Lee and Michael but I've  been invited for dinner with aforementioned Great nieces and their Mum and Dad - Samantha and Daniel and Sam's mum Sue. Daniel cooked an exceptional roast lamb and we laughed so much my ribs ached. It was a wonderful night and I was gifted a snuggly rug - electric - to keep me warm on winter days.

Me and Sam...and a......box
......memory deserts me lol

Monday 15th May

Talk about catch ups! I had lunch today with Kathy Read and Fran Bermingham. I started nursing with these ladies way back in 1969. I thoroughly enjoyed spending some time with them and I hope to catch up again in future.

1969 - Me 2nd left - Fran 2nd right

Me right - Fran middle - Kathy Left
 Haven't changed a bit lol

Tuesday 16th May

I start my house sit at Kaye and Kelvin's house today and we got off to a good start with dinner at the Hallett Cove Hotel. Of course I got back to their house and realised I'd left my handbag hooked onto the back of my chair. Grrr. I can only blame old age...I was perfect in my younger days. Not!!
A quick phone call and a mad dash back to the Pub and all was well. I was lucky this time and will try to be more careful. This is getting to be a habit.

Wednesday 17th May

 A quiet day at home with the TV and the pets. Nice.

Thursday 18th May

Because of the "heart" incident back in Mildura I decided I should give up coffee - apparently caffeine can trigger the sort of thing I experienced and it has featured highly in each similar incident so far. I though after giving up cigarettes and drinking - both of which I held  Olympic Gold Medals in - that coffee would be a cinch. Well...no.  Almost instant headache and felt flat and lethargic all day. I hope this doesn't last long.

My Giving Up Coffee kit

Saturday 20th May

Coffee withdrawals - ugly!! Massive headache and absolutely no energy. Who would have thought?

Sunday 21st May

I went to lunch with my ex husband, Paul at the Marino Beach Cafe. What a magnificent view and the food and company were lovely.  My only anguish was the car park which we could see from our balcony table. The actual car parks were sooo narrow and I was stressing that one of the many lunatics that were whizzing in and out with a half inch to spare between cars, might dent my lovely Snowball. Luckily we had a box seat and when I saw a better park become vacant I flew down and moved Snowball to a safer spot. Much better :)  ..... but probably a bit neurotic.

Beautiful view from Restaurant.
 See Snowball squeezed in?

Salt & Pepper Squid and Prawns -
 very nice indeed

Paul - keeping an eagle eye on
 Snowball in the Carpark

Monday 22nd May

I had "not coffee"with Astrid Eacott at Henley Square - an old friend from when our daughters started school together - probably in about 1992. It was a great catch up and we ended up staying for lunch. I hope we can repeat it on another trip. I did enjoy it. Astrid's daughter Alina is a newsreader on ABC TV and is engaged to a young man who does the sport reports on the same channel.  Lovely.

Tasty lunch at Henley Square

Tuesday 23rd May

Today is my last full day in Adelaide and it was spent cleaning and getting sorted for a return trip to Brisbane and taking Mishka (da dog) for a final walk....I should say Mishka takes me for a walk....she just leads me along.

Wednesday 24th May

I left about noon and travelled to Balranald NSW - another one of my favourite CP's. I didn't really think I would get this far because my plan was to take it easy. I didn't want any repeats of the trip down, but it was quite leisurely and I did 530 kms, getting in after dark. Hit the pub for dinner :)

Nothing like a country pub dinner.
Cold night..... Big fire...and pudding

Thursday 25th May

I got an early start and wanted to make it to Peak Hill NSW - another favourite. Not such a good day though. I'd left in the morning without so much as a  cup of tea therefore depriving myself of even more caffeine. I had a crippling headache and there were big blurry spots before my eyes. WTF!!
Tumour? Stroke? No - it turned out to be a too tight Visor type hat and dirty prescription sunglasses.  Doh!!  A quick stop - a cup of tea - a change of hats - clean the glasses... and a cure was had.

Continuing on I again came across a lot of cows grazing in the long paddock and strolling on the road. They really were lovely to watch. Quite calm and in no hurry. Maybe they can teach me a lesson or two. 

No Caption needed

570 kms to Peak Hill and again dark when I got in. I hit the RSL  for fish and chips and had an early night.

Friday 26th May

I had time up my sleeve so I decided to go to Lightning Ridge NSW. I thought I might stay 2 nights and have a good look around at this Opal mining town. Things didn't go quite as planned. Firstly I missed the turn off to the town - how, I don't know. See photo below - you'd think I would have noticed this. 

How the Hell did I miss this turn off?

Lightning Ridge Hilton..?

Gravel Caravan Park.
Every step echoed in the night

The 470 kms I should have travelled was increased by another 60 kms because I went 30 kms past the turn off. Grrrr My preferred Caravan park was full so I went to the other one which was all gravel and the amenities block was disgusting. I decided to stay just the 1 night so I never really got to see much. Everything was very expensive and the BBQ chicken that I paid top dollar for was more like a BBQ'd sparrow.  I will re attempt Lightning Ridge at another time and will book ahead.

Saturday 27th May

I couldn't leave early enough the next day - didn't bother to shower - I only had me to impress. I did make toast in my new toaster and learned that making toast in a camper van leads to the smoke detector going off. In future I will toast OUTSIDE next time. lol. 

 I thought I might head to Toowoomba and spend some time there. I stopped along the way at a bush cafe.  This was a VERY bush cafe. Corrugated iron walls and long drop toilets. This was obviously a truck stop - my bacon and eggs was huge with snags and chips and toast and tea. Just what I needed. I'd just got chatting with another couple when a man walked in asking for a shovel. I'd been listening to  a scary podcast on the way there - murder and mayhem - and the sight of this dishevelled man coming in looking for a shovel in the middle of nowhere excited the imagination. Wolf Creek 3.....?  I left. I locked the doors... just in case John Jarret turned up lol.

Yes - I ate it all

I was breathlysed in a tiny town called Bogabilla Qld......I've given up so many things that I doubt I would register anything on ANY test they gave me lol.

A great day to be on the open road

My no coffee rule has been maintained but it IS a pest. I usually make a Thermos of coffee at the beginning of the day and when I stop every couple of hours for a break, I'd pop in the back of the van and have a coffee and a snack. I tried making tea and Thermos-ing it but it overdraws and tastes bloody 'orrible. I had also tried just water and then add a tea bag as required but the water doesn't stay boiling and you just get brown water. I've solved the problem by getting some decaff. I usually avoid this because it's generally decaffeinated by adding chemicals but Nescafe has one that is done by Osmosis using water. Problem solvered and taste is quite reasonable. Will do the job.

I've had a good day of travel - thoroughly enjoying the drive and listening to True Crime podcasts and when I reached Toowoomba I realised I was only an hour from Lee's place so I pressed on. I'd done about 750 kms and again got in after dark.  My travelling rules are - stop every 2 hour - never let the tank go under 1/4 full - never stop at a roadside rest stop if there is only 1 car there AND don't drive after dark. I have broken all of these rules this trip but have given myself a severe talking too and will change my ways in future.

Derek da dog went nuts when I walked in - he obviously missed me. Just went crazy. So did I ;)

I spent the next few days just relaxing,  doing some chores for Lee and looking after Derek. Lee has been working from home and has always been there to look after Derek. Now she's started a new job where she needs to be in the office so I'm here for most of June to look after the dog. After that they'll be moving to a more dog friendly location and will better be able to accomodate Derek and will be able to leave him during the day.


Saturday 3rd June

Today is Derek's first Birthday Party. Yes...I know....he's a dog, right? Well not really - he doesn't think he's a dog and I don't think Lee thinks so either. The party was at Love Street Dog Park and 20 dogs turned up. They needed to wear Monster outfits and prizes were awarded. I kid you not. Pictures below.

Wee Bruno in his prize
winning costume

Derek the Octo-dog.
 Looked like he was in
his dressing gown lol

Billy from Stafford UK won
the prize for scariest internet
dog lol

Tuesday 5th June

I eventually got around to updating this blog to the beautiful sound of Derek snoring. I'm glad he's finally asleep - it doesn't however stop him from making some dreadful smells  

He's obviously missing Lee and follows me EVERYWHERE.  

HE LOVES HIS ME -MAW