Sunday, 1st January 2012 … New Years Day, Midtown Marina
Of course, we were woken up at midnight buy the fireworks going off somewhere in town, probably the showgrounds, but that was to be expected.
A little windy today. Poached eggs on toast for brekky as I need to lose some weight, badly! As I said before, New Years resolutions and all that.
Geoff painted on the primer for the starboard side deck even though it was a little windy for it. He said it came up well. I pottered around doing a few things but nothing of note. We both keep busy but sometimes it is not worth a journal entry. A nothing sort of day.
Monday, 2nd January 2012
I woke up with a bit of a sore a neck this morning. Geoff is out there getting ready to put the first coat of the two pack paint on. It dries fast so he is hoping to get two coats on today. I decided to go up to IGA to get a few bits. I should have known better to go after a public holiday as it was chockers. But it didn’t take long to get through the checkout and then walk back to the boat for a cuppa. Gerry asked Geoff to go up to the gate as an ambulance was coming for Celia as she thought she was having a heart attack. Hope not. Played Sequence and he won!
Tuesday, 3rd January 2012
Another busy day. Geoff finished the 2nd coat of the 2pack on the Starboard side. Sally rang and we had a good chat. We also chatted to Sam, Shirley, Di and Lindsay which is a daily occurrence.
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| Di from FiddleV1 |
We filled up the water and then Geoff spent the rest of the afternoon getting the back deck ready for sanding and painting. This entailed unscrewing all the carpet studs, studs for the clears, unscrewing hooks, bolts, hinges, auto helm, helm, back tables and putting the stuff on the front deck. So the front deck is now loaded up with carpet, chairs, table tops, helm step etc. Once this was all done Geoff gave the back deck a clean off with the pressure washer.
Gerry popped by with an update on Celia. He said that she had an ECG and they said it wasn’t a heart attack but probably a panic attack. She has the early stages of Alzheimer's so gets a little confused sometimes. She also gets headaches and gets dizzy and Gerry says she is not at all well. It must be a worry for him. On another note … I have managed to stick to my diet for 4 days now so I hope I can keep it up. Helped a large cat to berth called ‘Giddy Up’. Chatted to Deb and she said Garry had gone back to work in Gladstone. Chicken Laksa for tea and then Geoff went back out on the back deck and did something with his dremmel. But he soon finished as he said it was getting a little late to be making noises. Played Scrabble and he won. There was a cold wind coming in the back so I put up the covers and then even had to shut the saloon door. Nice days, cool nights which is good for comfort.
Wednesday, 4th January 2012
There’s a creak when boats go by and cause a wake. I thought it was the rudder so went to turn the helm wheel but, of course, it is off and up on the front deck. Geoff turned it for me when he got up but it didn’t make any difference. Another nice day with a refreshing breeze. Celia is back and I stopped to ask how she was. She looks really washed out and starting to look old. Mind you, she is in her mid 70’s.
Geoff fiddled around and put the beading up around the instrument panel which was an eyesore as it had been badly cut by tradesmen when it was put in. He stopped at 11.30 and had a shower and then headed off to the Bundy Base Hospital to get his incisor built up. Then off to the supermarket and Zac’s meats so we are having lamb chops for tea. Why lamb is so dear in this country is beyond me so it is an occasional treat. When he came back he continued sanding but stopped to colour my hair for me to cover me side grey bits. I then went up to visit Arnie, Barnie and Carnie as I don’t see much of them these days as ‘Femme’ and ‘2Abreast’ are at opposite ends of the marina with no need for them to walk by us.
Thursday, 5th January 2012
Most of the day was spent getting the back deck sanded off. A quick trip into town for Geoff to try to find a small hatch but to no avail. He wants to put a small compartment near the gear levers where a tatty and dirty mesh sailing bag resides.
The afternoon was spent masking up and putting plastic over things to protect them from over spray. We worked hard but there is not much to write about as we just worked.
Rod has brought his boat ‘Local Council’ in behind us which has trapped us in a bit. I also met Arnie, Barnie and Carnie on the dock so it was time for more treats. I also spent some time on the internet trying to find some boat cushions that would fit our odd shape back deck seat area. Of course, this was a fruitless occupation. They will probably have to be tailor made. Chatted to Sam again, as is usual, and we found out he was a hang glider pilot so we have more in common as he is also into IT.
Friday, 6th January 2012
Up at 8am. It is going to be a hot one today. It said on the news yesterday that Bundy was in for a heat wave with temperatures around 32ºC. This made me smile as the temperatures in summer in Bright were often around 36º to 41ºC. But it is not the heat that kills you up here, it is the humidity and you feel like you are carrying around a hot, wet blanket on your shoulders and you continually perspire. In fact it drips off the end of you nose quite often. It’s something you get used to though!
Geoff had a thought and went onto the web to check out RV websites and found a small hatch for a caravan so he has ordered one. Then, to his horror, he realised that the first coat he had sprayed on was not undercoat but topcoat. He is hoping it is not a problem as he had sanded it well first. About 5pm he sprayed on another coat and it looked good with just a few spots that needed sanding back and re-doing. We then took the majority of the masking stuff off and will finish later.
Saturday, 7th January 2012
Geoff had a bad night as his Gout is playing up and he also said he was a bit tired. I had been on my diet for a week so got on my new scales and weighed in and I had lost 2.4 kgs. I expect it will be 1 kg or less from now on. Another hot day.
We finished pulling off the little bits of masking tape we had missed yesterday and Geoff said he is going to leave it for a week before he sands back the rough patches and resprays them. I went for a shower and then caught the bus to Hinkler as it was too hot to walk. Hey, the sales were one, so I managed to pick up some PJ bottoms and 3 sets of tops to go with them. Onto Coles as they had some good ½ price specials on (I very rarely shop at Coles). Then onto Woollies for the rest of the stuff. Geoff came to pick up the frozen and perishables to take back to the boat. I wandered around a little bit more and then caught the bus back. When I got back I did a couple of little sewing jobs. I had lost a button on my shirt which I couldn’t match so bought a new complete set. That was soon done and then I cut down the PJ bottoms. They were nice lightweight cotton but long ones, which I hate as it is too warm up here, even in the winter. I cut them down to just below the knee and hemmed them up. Whilst I was shopping and then sewing Geoff fitted back all the stuff we had taken off for painting. He then masked up around the side non slip blue panels and painted them. He also sold Owen’s Saturn TV antenna to Rod for $220 so that was good,
Poor Geoff has toothache and thinks he may have to go to a, what he calls, real dentist as he thinks the Bundy Base Hospital is not thorough enough - or cares enough! His whole jaw is aching so he thinks he might have an infection.
Sunday, 8th January 2012
Geoff managed to get some sleep and is trying to keep busy to keep his mind off his toothache so it doesn’t get him down. I cooked him some scrambled egg and diced bacon so he didn’t have to chew too much. He sanded off the back deck table tops and hatches ready to put them back on and paint. I went up and did the washing … boring! Back to the boat and get a crockpot meal going, scrub my new pink boat shoes, clean up and then back up to fold the dry washing. Back to find Lynn from ‘Osho’on the boat and looking at our fly screens and chatting. She stayed quite a while and we chatted about NZ (she and Matt are Kiwis). Late lunch then more sanding and fitting things for Geoff and a little of this and that for me.
Monday, 9th January 2012
Wow, a very hot night. Geoff’s tooth has stopped aching. He went off to look for some foam and rubber suppliers and to get some quotes from upholsters for the back seat cushions and to repair our director chair seats pads. I went up for a shower and met Carolyn, Steve and Spuggy on the way up so stopped for a chat. It is an overcast day today and we may be in for a shower, but then maybe not. Geoff came back and then got a call from the upholsterer with the quote of $462 for two long back seat cushions and 2 bits of canvas for the directors chairs. Ouch … too pricey for us. So Geoff went off to pick the old ones up and now we have to have a re-think.
At 11am I went up to Neato for my interview, which was relatively painless. On the way back I went into Dimmeys and bought some heavy duty navy material at $3 a metre (so cheap) to make some cushion covers to cover the gaudy ones I had bought on sale. Owen met me at the gate and came back to the boat. Geoff arrived and we all had a cold drink and we handed over the money we had got for his antenna. We also arranged to ‘dog sit’ over the weekend for them. Maryanne also said I could borrow her sewing machine over the weekend to make up the cushion covers which was great.
After lunch I cut out the three cushion covers after checking how the originals were made (I’m no seamstress) and tacked them all up ready for sewing. I took my time to make sure
I got them right. Geoff spent more time fiddling on the back deck and then went up to buy a litre of the top 2pack paint only to find it only comes in 4 litres. Another ouch … more $$$$$’s. He then went up to pick up the perspex from Windscreens O’Brien to replace the back deck coffin bunk hatches as they were really scratched. We then went surfing again and found some foam on the web called UVA75 which is closed cell foam and good in the weather. Now we will have to locate some.
I got them right. Geoff spent more time fiddling on the back deck and then went up to buy a litre of the top 2pack paint only to find it only comes in 4 litres. Another ouch … more $$$$$’s. He then went up to pick up the perspex from Windscreens O’Brien to replace the back deck coffin bunk hatches as they were really scratched. We then went surfing again and found some foam on the web called UVA75 which is closed cell foam and good in the weather. Now we will have to locate some.
Tuesday, 10th January 2012
We had the Air/Con on overnight so I slept ok for once. It is another hot one today and quite humid so you only have to walk a few steps and the perspiration starts to drip off you. Yuk.
Geoff was out on the back deck fitting up a little shelf he had made to hold the small shackles and other little bits and pieces. He doesn’t last out there long before he comes inside, where both the fans and the air/con is on, for a rest and a re-hydrate. But the last drink he had was a beer which actually de-hydrates so that was of no help. I did go up to the shower but why did I bother? You feel just as sweaty as soon as you have dried off plus the tap came off in my hand so I had to ask Paul to fix it . Before I headed back to the boat I wandered up the street to get some fresh bread rolls, bread and picked up 500g of fresh prawns on the way back to cook Pansit Bihon (Filipino) for tea. After lunch of the yummy rolls I finished off my budget on the laptop. It is reasonably cool in here so I think this is where I am going to stay! Geoff spent the afternoon fitting the new perspex into the port coffin bunk hatch and there was a lot of frustration going on as the hinge came away as he was trying to fix it in so now he has to go out and buy another one.
I kept plying him with cold drinks but there’s not much else I can do. My cabin and the galley is clean and tidy but there are tools all over the place so I can’t really do much more. So I fiddled around. Just as I was about to prepare tea Gerry and Celia came to say they were going to go to Melbourne for a wedding soon and did we want some liver. We gracefully declined … bleh! After they left I cooked the Pansit Bihon which is quick, easy and very tasty but not really a dish for a hot day and I was soon sweating madly. But nice!
Wednesday, 11th January 2012
Boy, another very hot and humid day. 33ºC which is not so hot but the humidity is a killer. Geoff put the other perspex in the 2nd hatch but with a couple of trips into town to buy two new hinges. They look good. We noticed a couple of scuff marks on the new paint work so we may have to start taking our shoes off, like other cruisers. I went off to IGA and on the way back I bought some really strong UV resistant cotton ($18.50) to sew the cushion covers with. I saw there was a sign on the road at the start of the marina saying that there was a party on Steve’s boat ‘Zarab’ on Friday night. Steve is the fisherman who braved the river to push us into the mangroves after the floods. I made a mental note to check with Deb to see if it is a special occasion, like a birthday. So I did ask Deb and found it was a prank by other cruisers and Steve didn’t even know about it yet. Poor Steve. I must admit I did wonder how everyone would fit on Steve’s small fishing boat. I then put Lamb shanks in the crockpot using a recipe I had found in a magazine which looked nice. I also noticed Carolyn and Steve wandering past the marina so went up for a chat. Whilst we were talking Wayne and Josene arrived and had come to pick up their small power cruiser they had purchased recently and to make there way back, by sea, to Port Douglas. We had met them in The Louisiades on their 44 ft Perry cat ‘Alacrity’. After dinner, and “I must say here that the lamb shanks were absolutely delicious, Wayne and Josene came onboard for drinks and a chat.
Thursday, 12th January 2012
I got a call from Carolyn asking if I fancied a ‘girly’ day out doing some retail therapy. Yes … but wait till I get out of my jamas and have a shower. Wayne ‘Alacrity’ came onboard to see if Geoff could get his phone to work as a modem for his laptop. Geoff got it talking to the laptop but later it stopped. Geoff was unable to get it working again so Wayne will probably have to go into the Telstra shop to buy a USB modem. Geoff went off to Owen’s to borrow his scooter as he is sitting his motorbike road test tomorrow. Carolyn arrived at 9.30 and I left Geoff working on the starboard coffin bunk window. Off we went to Spotlight, Sams Warehouse, Sugarland, Aldi, Hinkler, Op shops and to get back about 3pm. I didn’t spend much but bought a couple for tops for work, a cookie cutter, nibbles etc. Oh … plus a top for Jo which we will get a 2Abreast logo put on. We met Steve at the marina gate and they came on for a cuppa. They stayed for drinks and nibbles and then we just had Spicy lentil and bacon soup for tea which Geoff had cooked whilst I was out gallivanting.
Friday, 13th January 2012
Geoff fitted a new innards to the LED light over the stove top. There were only two left working in the old one. No wonder I couldn’t see what I was doing. At 10.30 Geoff headed off on Owen’s scooter to go for his licence. Whilst he was away I got some food together to take to Kinghorn St, packed, got the dirty washing together etc. Geoff came back and hour later and he said he had passed but it was more nerve wracking than he thought for an ‘old codger’. After some lunch he took Owen’s scooter back and then came back with “Owen’s Mercedes. Because we had the car we decided to make use of it in the afternoon so our first stop was Mensland (they also do embroidery) to pick out some shirts for Geoff and a top for Mikey and arranged to have our logo put on them and Jo’s top. The shop we used in Gladstone had emailed them the program with our logo on it. From there we popped into Kmart so I could show Geoff the UVA foam sleeping mats I had seen the day before. He said they were fine, and a good size so we bought four at $8 each as we thought we would double them up to give a softer cushion. We will cut them and cover them ourselves and use Maryanne’s sewing machine over the weekend. From here we went to Dimmeys where Geoff had a look at their cheap material. Even though it was cheap ($3 a metre) it was rejected by Geoff as he didn’t think it would stand up to the UV rays and would break up and fade after a while. So onto Spotlight where I knew the material would be 4 times the price, at least. We found some nice UV resistant soft canvas material which we thought was $19.95 a metre, which we thought was quite pricey for us. When we looked closer it was $49.95 a metre. Oh Wow, rethink! Another look around but Geoff kept gravitating back to the good stuff so he grabbed a bit of scrap paper and a pen and started to look at what we could get away with. We were going to make a complete envelope style cover but reverted back to my original thinking of making a rectangle type cover which goes on the seat pads like wrapping a present with not enough wrapping paper and securing it underneath with lacing, studs or strong elastic. Doing it this way we could get away with 2 metres as we could now cut it in half and have enough for the two seats. It was still $100 but we splashed out and it will probably save us in the long run. We then found some medium sized silver buttons with anchors on them and Geoff will put them on the cushion with strong twine and pull down on them making the seat top look more like a proper lounge cushion. They should look really nice. So instead of paying $400 we will get away with approx $170 all up. Next stop was to BCF to look at marine carpet but their selection was too expensive and boring so it was on to Bunning’s where it was cheaper and a more interesting carpet, So another $100 went out the window. It was now time to call it a day. That’s the trouble with painting the boat, putting in new windows etc as it makes the rest look shabby. So once Geoff finalises the odd bits he has sanded back, laid the new carpet, made the new bench seat covers and fitted then and I have made the new navy small cushions it should look snazzy. Once we had finished spending we went back to the boat and dropped off the new carpet and picked up the strong cord for the buttons it was time to head to Kinghorn Street. Where had the day gone? We popped into the new Aldi on the way there to pick up a quick meal. When we arrived Mia and Fe were very pleased to see us but a bit confused as to where their mum and dad were. They had heard Owen’s car and then we had arrived. Fun and games when it came to feeding them and trying to keep them apart. Then Geoff stuffed up the TV remote and he couldn’t get Owen on the phone so he fell asleep on the couch until Owen returned his call. There was a bit of snoring going on but I couldn’t work out if it was Geoff or Mia. I wrote up my journal, washed up and read. A tiring day!
Saturday, 14th January 2012
Geoff is not feeling at all well today. He is short of breath, dizzy, shaky with a headache and is exhausted. This meant we only got the cushion covers made up and one bench seat cushion cut and covered. We have hemmed the other cover but that’s all so the second foam cushion needs to be cut to shape and then covered. Geoff would do a bit and then sleep and he’s not eating much either so it is a bit of a worry.
Sunday, 15th January 2012
Raining.
Geoff is still not well. He says he feels like he did when he had pneumonia. He went to bed and had the sweats and then the shivers with headaches. I plied him with panamax but he’s not one for taking pills if he doesn’t need to. He wouldn’t eat any tea . I spent the day reading, playing computer games and checking on Geoff. At 9pm I rang 13HEALTH and spoke to a nurse and discussed Geoff’s symptoms. She suggested we take him to an ‘out of hours’ doctor but Geoff said he was too exhausted and he would wait till the morning when he could see his own doctor. So I just kept and eye on him and filled his hot water bottle when he needed it.
Monday, 16th January 2012
Raining heavily.
I was up early and ringing the doctors clinic at 8am to make an appointment for 10.15. At 9.30 we put the dogs outside, locked up and Geoff backed the Mercedes out of the garage (the car is wide and there’s only just enough room and I hadn’t driven for 2½ years) and then I took over. Boy, this car is a long and wide car to what I am used to (we rent the smallest and cheapest car we can when we need to, normally a Hyundai Getz). I dropped Geoff off at the doctors and went to find a place to park. When I got to the doctors he was nowhere to be found, even though he was 15 minutes early. I sat and waited till he came out . Apparently he has picked up a chest infection, one that has been around since Christmas. But he has no flu symptoms, only a fever, shakes, sweats, breathing problems and headaches. They took some blood for testing and then sent him to the Mater Hospital for a chest x-ray. We found the Mater Hospital, which I had never seen before, and settled down for a long wait but the wait was short and we were told we could pick up the x-ray tomorrow. We made another appointment to see the doctor at 2.45 the next day. We grabbed some milk on the way back and Maryanne and Owen were there when we got there. Geoff spent the rest of the day in bed but, at least, he had now started a course of antibiotics.
Owen dropped us back to the boat and I got Geoff into bed.
I checked the Bureau of Meteorology website the check the Burnett River status as it had been raining heavily all day. Another worry.
Tuesday, 17th January 2012
Geoff is still bad and threw up and nearly passed out. We brought his doctor’s appointment forward and got a taxi to the Mater Hospital and she waited whilst I went in and picked up the x-rays and then dropped us at the doctors. Maryanne and Owen arrived to see how he was, which was nice.
After checking his x-rays, the doctor said he should be ok back on the boat but he could go to hospital if he wanted to and to definitely go if he got any worse. Maryanne and Owen drove us back to the boat after we got, yet another, script filled. Geoff went to bed and I made a vegetable soup with past and rice in case I could get him to eat. I also made him a jelly. Everyone who is sick seems to be able to eat jelly. I also cooked up a piece of beef. Getting Geoff to eat is a bit of a problem at the moment and he is only eating tiny amounts at a time. Occasionally Geoff would get up for half an hour but he was really too sick. Another thing that was not good was that the boat was so hot that he couldn’t sleep which made him feel worse.
Wednesday, 18th January 2012
I was woken up by talking outside my cabin. Eventually I got at 7.15 as it felt like Burke Street out there, and it was, as there was a crowd of people by my cabin window. I opened the galley window and said “what’s going on” and Shirley said “How could you sleep through all of this noise? Rod’s boat has sunk”. Sure enough, there was Rod’s boat behind us with water up to the gunwales and the Fire Service pumping the water out to stop it going completely under. They were fighting a losing battle until the marina hired another pump and, slowly but surely, it rose from its impending grave. Rod was away in MacKay (he’s a truck driver) so Jan from the marina rang him and he was making his way back. Two TV stations turned up to film it all and it was chaos on the dock with heaps of ‘firies’ and most of the marina dwellers watching. Bosun, the dog, had been left onboard but was ok although confused. We said we would look after him but he wouldn’t come onboard as we have trained him not to. Jan said that Rod said he believes he left the hose on when he was filling his water tank. When the boat was floating again they went onboard and this seemed to be the case. Poor Rod only has third party insurance and has just bought a new fridge. If it is fresh water he may be able to salvage a few things but if it is salt that is a different thing altogether.
Later Maryanne and Owen came with some soup for Geoff who is in bed, of course. Geoff is feeling no better, maybe worse, and is getting very down that things are not improving. He is still not eating much at all. I don’t know what I can do to help him. Panamax is the only thing that gives him some relief. Not only has he got the pneumonia type chest infection but has tummy aches, reflux, Gout … you name it, he’s got it. All the symptoms he gets with his Scleroderma seem to be more pronounced. All I can do is be here and do whatever he needs or asks for. It’s the nights that are the worse for him. I try not to make much noise when he does get some sleep but I did manage to do a bit of cleaning and to get Geoff showered. Later I went up to IGA as all Geoff was hanging out for was Chicken Noodle Soup. I also got him some smoked salmon to try to cheer him up and coax him to eat. After this, Max Fleet, the newspaper’s photographer came down to photograph Bosun and then asked if he could take a photo of me. I protested that I had slept through a lot of the drama but I was the only one about so I said ok. Eventually Bosun came on board and I gave him some dinner that Deb had given me. Rod came home just after I had gone to bed, about 10.15 pm. I had left a note saying that I had Bosun so he knocked on the hull and picked him up. He was very down, as you would be. I asked where he was going to sleep and he said the car. With Geoff not being well I couldn’t offer him a bed but I did offer to keep Bosun but he declined. He probably needed his little mate for comfort. (he stayed at a friends).
Back to bed but awake at 2am as Geoff had uncontrollable shivers again and needed a hot water bottle. As I said before, he only gets relief with Panamax which he doesn’t like to take. I said not to be silly and that he could take 8 a day and if it gave him relief it would be silly not to. I might ring Sally tomorrow for a bit of nursing advice.
I found out that Celia is in hospital in Brisbane with a blood clot.
Thursday, 19th January 2012
I don’t think Geoff is any better really! I’ve made another appointment for the doctors tomorrow morning. This time I think we will take up the offer of hospitalisation if its needed. If not, we will go back to Maryanne’s where he can have the air/con on in his bedroom.
Rod has been working on his drowned boat all day. None of the people who said they would help him today turned up. I couldn’t help him as I had my hands full with Geoff. I rang Sally and got some advice which put my mind at ease. Today he has eaten a bit of banana, veg soup, chicken noodle soup, three pieces of smoked salmon and some jelly and custard. At this rate he will waste away to a shadow.
I sent an email to Lesley and Alan with the article from the paper which mentions I slept through most of it.
Nothing else to report. Another hot day.
Friday, 20th January 2012
Geoff made it through the night without getting the shivers for which we are thankful.
I slowly got Geoff ready to go to the doctors. I say slowly as that is how he moves at the moment. He had a shower in the boat which I then had to clean and dry up. I got him dressed and a little food into him and then we slowly made our way up the marina where Owen was waiting at the gate. Once we got to the doctors he saw that Geoff was no better, in fact he had more crackles in his lungs, and sent us off to the emergency department of the hospital with a report. Owen dropped us there and told me to ring when I was ready to leave. We were soon in a cubicle with Geoff having another chest x-ray and being put on a saline drip. I left about 3 pm and gave Owen a ring saying I would walk back to the marina as it wasn’t too far and I had been cooped up on the boat for the last few days. I must admit I felt exhausted myself. It took 23 minutes to walk back and I made a bite to eat and then relaxed. I missed a call from Owen and Geoff as my battery went flat. I called Geoff but there was no reply so rang Owen who said Geoff had rung him as he couldn’t reach me and that they were keeping him in overnight and doing a CT scan in the morning.
So I shall go and see him in the morning and take him some new PJ’s that I bought on the way home. Chatted to Lindsay, Di and Rod. Lindsay has a bad back, a disc problem, so he is also laid low. What a couple of crocks! Geoff rand later and said he had already had the CT scan and now is worrying/wondering why they did a CT scan. I can’t ring him as he is still in Emergency and there is no phone signal where he is.
Saturday 21st to Thursday 25th January 2012
Where do I start?
Geoff was in the Bundaberg Base Hospital from Saturday to the next Thursday. I got a couple of lifts from Di and Deb, sometimes caught the bus, occasionally got a taxi (when it was raining) and mostly walked back. I stayed most of the day trying to keep Geoff’s spirits up.
Geoff had a CT scan and they found enlarged Lymph Nodes deep in his chest. They said they needed to get him to Brisbane for a Bronchoscopy (biopsy). This came out of left field and threw us for a six. When I got home I researched it on the web and it put my mind a little bit at ease as it said the majority of cases were caused by a virus/infection. So the fingers were kept crossed. Whilst he was in the Bundaberg Base Hospital Geoff had numerous blood tests and ECG’s as they still had not ruled out TB (they still haven’t as of typing this up on 12th February). They were doing all these tests because of his past medical history. TB as a baby, Scleroderma, Mico bacterium Marium (a TB cousin but not TB) and previous pneumonia. Because the blood tests came back inconclusive for TB they kept him isolation which meant he had his own private room. Good for Geoff but lousy for his visitors as we had to wear plastic aprons and a face mask all the time we were there. The face masks were hot and made it hard to breath. Maryanne and Owen visited and I could see how silly we all looked, like Donald and Daffy duck. Geoff said the food was absolutely terrible and he had no TV to keep his mind off things as the TV in his room was still analogue. Still analogue??? They have had two years notice to change them over! Geoff is getting no better despite the massive doses of antibiotics they are injecting him with and he got very emotional. They told him they would fly him down to Brisbane by the Royal Flying Doctors Service but they missed out on doing it on the Monday. On Tuesday and Wednesday we had torrential rain here and Brisbane was flooded and they cancelled all flights out. This meant it was Thursday midday that they eventually came for him. Geoff was very emotional as he drove away in the ambulance as we never got to really say goodbye. They just loaded him in and they were off. He said I looked very forlorn standing there on the kerb as they drove away.
As for me …. Things didn’t get any better. Whilst Geoff was in hospital I noticed our voltage was dropping and when I switched the 12 volt off and left it on 240 volt the fridge temperature got warmer and warmer which lead me to believe that the 240 to 12 volt adaptor had blown. I got over this by borrowing Owen’s large car fridge. I originally had it down in the galley but had to climb over it all the time so manhandled it (it was heavy) onto the back deck. At the same time the smart battery charger died so I had no way of topping up the batteries if I left the fridge on 12 volt. Thank goodness for the car fridge. On Wednesday the forecast was for torrential rain and the possibility of flooding so Geoff had asked me to turn the engines over, which I did. The starboard one fired up straight away as did the port but it suddenly went clunk and stopped. What next was my thoughts. What with Geoff being ill, things going wrong, the port engine not starting and the possibility of floods it all got to me and I cried most of the night. I don’t think I have ever really got over the trauma of the Dec 2010 floods. Anyway, I got myself together and decided I needed a contingency plan if there were indeed floods so I went up to see Garry on ‘Femme’. He said he and Steve ‘Zarab’ would move 2Abreast if there was any indication of floods. Both Garry and Steve have Master 5 certificates. So I went home and typed up three letters of permission … one for Garry, one for Steve and one for the marina. I then emailed my insurance company to notify them of the same. They already knew Geoff was in hospital. They came back straight away saying that all was fine. So that was one thing off my mind. The next day Steve ‘Phencara’ came by and got the port engine going so I was more relieved. But, I must admit, I had no motivation to do anything apart from visit Geoff everyday. I went up to the supermarket and bought a load of Lean Cuisine pre-packaged frozen meals and just added veggies. Probably better for me anyway. I did have Rod’s dog, Bosun, stay with me when Rod was away so he was a bit of company. Apart from that I killed off Geoff’s mint plant. Well, that’s the least of my worries was my thought. The Basil survived!!!!!
Friday 27th to Tuesday 31st January 2012
The Royal Brisbane kept Geoff in Emergency for a day and kept him in isolation. They then moved him to another room which is purely for infectious diseases. He said the Qld health system wasn’t a patch on Vic or NSW. They gave him a heart scan and he said he was sleeping better as the night sweats were diminishing but was still on an emotional roller coaster. He also said his taste buds had gone haywire and everything tasted extra sweet. They also allowed him to wander down to the hospital shops, albeit with a mask on, so that pleased him no end. Once down there he was doubly pleased as his favourite Swedish Daim chocolate was sold there. A very rare occurrence. They also gave him an ECG as he was having heart palpitations (his pulse is still out of whack now with a strange rhythm which he believes is the medication he is currently on).
On Sunday he was moved to a new ward but still in isolation. He was p’d off as they wouldn’t let him out of his room and his brekky was left outside the room to get cold. He gave this new ward a 2/10 for caring. But late Monday they lifted the isolation. As they couldn’t get him to cough up any deep chest phlegm (bleh) they said that even if he had TB he wouldn’t infect anyone as he wasn’t coughing (he says he does not have TB). On the Monday they did an ultra sound of his stomach and on Tuesday they did the Bronchoscopy. That night they forgot to give him any dinner so the nurses had to scrounge around and get him sandwiches and apple crumble and cream.
As for me … when we had the torrential rain last Saturday night Garry from ‘Femme’ came to check on me, which I thought was vey nice. When Geoff went to Brisbane I went to the Telstra shop and got my Nokia unlocked and then bought a Virgin mobile to mobile Sim card as my Telstra plan had run out really fast. I also started to go to Zumba on a Monday morning. Lots of burnt calories but the room is very hot. On the Tuesday I actually got motivated and did some cleaning in preparation for Geoff’s return.
Note: Just in case you are wondering, the biopsy came back negative. Phew (Feb journal)
Thanks to all of the people who contacted me to check on Geoff. Geoff really appreciated it as well.
Wednesday, 1st February through to Wednesday 8th February 2012 - Bundaberg
It was very lonely without Geoff. We spoke to each other at least twice a day. They moved Geoff into a 4 bed ward and he hardly got any sleep from there on. There was a women in the ward opposite (he called her Moaning Mary) who had mental problems and called out for the nurse, or anyone who walked by, at all hours of the day and night. Plus Geoff was starting to feel better and all the people in the ward with him were really sick. A noisy ward, as it was the respiratory ward and everyone’s breathing was noisy etc and the night nurses were vey noisy and didn’t try to tone their voices down at all. They also gave him an ECG as his pulse was a bit out of rhythm. The biopsy did not show up anything nasty so that was a big relief. Geoff said the doctors are no longer worrying about the Pneumonia or TB but were concentrating on the Scleroderma and the scarring to his lungs. They are going to start him on a new treatment to try to arrest anymore scarring. They were surprised that he hadn’t been referred for further tests on his Scleroderma or been treated for it in any way since he was diagnosed in 2005. All the doctors he has been to over the years have been well informed of the problem so I wonder why none of them sent him for regular check ups. At least now he has had as many tests as he can have and has a full understanding of where he stands. He has an appointment with the thorax dept back at the Royal Brisbane on March 22nd.
And as for me …
Lots of people rang over the last eight days checking on how Geoff was progressing. Many thanks for that, once again.
Each day blended into the other. Steve and Carolyn popped by. They are back on the moorings as their boat dragged and then Steve had a lot of trouble getting the anchor up. Eventually it came up bringing up the push pit of a sunken boat. Steve believes the rest of the boat is still there on the bottom. I wonder how many sunken boats are still in this river as the river hasn’t been surveyed well up this way. I did have some company in the form of Rod’s dog , Bosun, a Jack Russell Terrier. I expect he will be expelled from the boat when Geoff comes back. On the 5th February I went on ‘Femme’ for the evening as there were Chinese New Year celebrations in the park nearby and a firework display from a barge in the river just upstream of us. At least it got me out of the boat for a while. I also went to Zumba again and it was just as exhausting as the first time. I also organised another two week exemption with Centrelink, which was good.
Thursday, 9th February 2012
Geoff rang this morning and said they have booked him on the 5pm Tilt Train back to Bundy. This meant I had no time to get down there and travel with him but he said he would be ok. Deb took me to the station to meet the 9.30 pm train and Geoff got off looking gaunt and old! Sad! He said he caught a bus from the hospital to the rail station which annoyed me a bit as I didn’t think he was really up to it and had told him to get a taxi. He did admit it took it out of him and that he wasn’t as good as he thought he was. His lung function is around 85% at the moment and they are hoping it will improve a little, and so is he. He had a hot chocolate when he got home and was straight off to bed.
Friday, 10th February 2012
Geoff said he had a good nights sleep, the first for a long time and he really needed it. Already I am working harder than the last three weeks as he has to have a high protein diet so the first thing on the agenda was bacon and eggs. Shirley and Sam (Priority1) popped by to see how he was . After brekky he slowly made his way up the hill to have a shower. I must say we found the shower very exhilarating as there was no hot water, maybe the gas ran out, but it wasn’t too cold as it was a hot day. Back at the boat and Steve popped by to see when Geoff was coming home. HE”S HOME! HE’S HOME! After Steve left Geoff went for a snooze and then, around 5.30 pm, when it was cooler, we went for a slow walk along the river walk and, again, met Steve and Spuggy en route.
Saturday, 11th February 2012
Geoff and I slowly wandered up to the main shops this morning and he is slowly getting faster. We took some of his discontinued pills up to the chemist for disposal as I thought it was a bit dangerous putting them in the garbage. We grabbed a couple of Tiger Cubs rolls while we were there and then we went back to the boat to make them up for lunch. Yummy.
Owen dropped off some mail in the afternoon and then Geoff went onto the web to check out 40 amp/h Smart Battery charger prices as ours had definitely bit the dirt. He found a re-manufactured one for USD $160 and with post it came to $231 AUD which is really cheap so we have bought one. Now we will have to keep our fingers crossed it is ok. It is probably a factory recall for a new component as it still has the manufacturers warranty with it. I don’t know how long it will take as it has to come from the States which can be real slow. Geoff then looked at the fridge 240 volt adaptor. He found that the plug under the sink had been knocked out enough just to stop the power so there was nothing wrong with the fridge adaptor. Did I feel silly, or what … my only defence is that I had a lot on my mind at the time. At least we don’t have to spend over $100 to buy a new one.
At dusk we, once again, walked up the river walk path and this time up the steps and along behind the bowls club, swimming pool and RSL Club back to the marina.
Sunday, 12th February 2012
Geoff is getting stronger and stronger every day. This morning I transferred everything back into the fridge and then turned the car fridge to freeze and put all the freezer stuff in it so we could defrost the freezer. Up for a shower whilst we waited for it to defrost. It was an overcast and muggy day.
In the afternoon Geoff felt well enough to do a bit of sanding, masked up, of course.
By this time the freezer had defrosted and got down to minus again so I put all the freezer stuff back, turned off the car fridge and gave it a clean out. Owen popped by on the way back from archery and we carried it up to his car. Thanks Owen.
Monday, 13th February 2012
Geoff felt even better today. But he has some work to do. The spray painting job he did on the back deck before he got sick has all gone yellow and he realised that he put the undercoat hardener in the top deck finish which has probably caused the problem. Jan, at the chandlery, agreed that this would be the cause. Geoff is going to see how he goes on his scooter today and go to Bunning's. Both Di and Lindsay on ‘Fiddler’ had told him to take care. But, you can’t keep a good man down. He is going out to buy a really good mask with some decent filters so he can spray paint the back deck again. What a lot of work to do again, still, it will be worth it. I went up for a shower and continued on to IGA and trundled back to the boat straight away as I had bought mostly frozen and fresh stuff which needed to be put away as soon as. Just as I arrived at the marina gate Geoff also arrived back. He had found he was ok and had spent $60 on a good face mask. He tried it out and he said it was good but, of course, doesn’t allow as much air through which may, or may not, be a problem with his lung capacity at the moment. But he doesn’t have to wear it for long as the spray painting part doesn’t take long. It is all the masking up and removing things that takes the time. So, when he had finished the rest of the sanding and wiping down, we had the mammoth task of masking everything up again. I had done a lot of it whilst he was out so had broken the back of a lot of it. We hadn’t finished by dinner time but only had a little to do in the morning.
Tuesday, 14th February 2012
Up early and finish off the masking up. I was banished to the saloon and the door was covered with plastic and Geoff started spraying on the undercoat. I could here muffled cursing but couldn’t hear what he was saying with the mask on, Apparently the undercoat was spraying on lumpy in places. He said it was because the paint was low in the tin and when he mixed it there were a few lumps. He never thought it would spray out lumpy. It’s ok as it is only a few patches and he used a brush to even the surface out. The topcoat 2 pack, thinners and hardener are all new so he shouldn’t have a problem. Once it was dry he sanded back a couple of rough places and sprayed on the first coat of the topcoat. He was reasonably pleased with the results and said it is a real art getting the spraying motion right. Because I was trapped inside I typed up the whole of my January journal. I just couldn’t get motivated when Geoff was in hospital. Turkey salad for tea … great … no cooking. At 8pm we realised we hadn’t been out for our daily walk so we wandered along the river walk. It was well lit but a little eerie with the shadows of the trees playing across the water.. Scrabble when we got back and I won.
Wednesday, 15th January 2012
Woke up to the sun beaming down on the back deck and bouncing off the new paint work and we decided we needed to put our sunglasses on. Geoff is feeling good, almost his old self and about 9 out of 10 but still gets a little out of breath. But he is walking and working well. I just hope he doesn’t overdo it! He gave the back deck a final light spray cover and then we pulled off all the masking tape and plastic. Yep, he is happy with the results with just a few odd places that will need to be touched up but nothing major. Got a call from Sarah on Baybird to ask after Geoff after receiving my journal, thanks. We also received an email from Nick and Joan offering us a place to stay if/when we ever make it down to Once again, thanks.
Di then came across to see me to say she had two free passes for the City Gym for their ‘Mature Moovers’ class at 10.30 and did I want to go with her. ‘Mature Moovers’????? Yep, that would be me! Groan … yes … I suppose it will be good for me. I looked at the clock and it was still only 8.45 am so I had plenty of time before we needed to head off. Relax until then. The City Gym was near IGA so was an easy walk of 10 minutes. The exercise/aerobics class was set to music and was, literally, non stop for 45 minutes. It was air conditioned but I soon worked up a sweat although I really didn’t get puffed. But I did feel my muscles complaining at times. Di said afterwards that she thought it was a bit tame especially after doing Zumba and I suppose it was but at least with Zumba you get a break in between sets where you can gulp down some water and towel off your face. Mind you, Di is elfin whereas I am more like an elephant. I think it was probably just the right level of exercise and pace for a person of my age and fitness. I hate doing it but always feel good (or is it righteous) afterwards.
When I got back Geoff had fitted back most of the stuff he had taken off to paint, The helm, helm seat, helm step, hinges, hooks etc. I got him to stick the two remaining UVA foam sleeping mats together and cut them to shape so that I could sew up the cover and put on the black elastic straps.
Once I had done my bit we laid them on the bench seat and they look really nice. We then worked out a system to attach the anchor buttons to secure to the bottom side and to some of the large press studs to keep the cushion in place. We need to have them studded into place to stop them sliding out from under your feet when you get on and off the boat. We then had a general tidy of the back deck and then I made up some lunch. More yummy Tiger Cub rolls. After clearing up I carried a large garbage back full off unwanted/unneeded stuff up to the bins and was surprised at how heavy it was. I wonder how much more heavy junk we are carrying that we don’t need? After lunch, Geoff fitted the table top/hatch covers back. These back hatches can be raised and clicked into place as tables and are very handy as we often have brekky out there when we are cruising. Checked the emails and there is one from Moo and one from Gerry in Ireland asking after Geoff. Thanks guys.
Once I had done my bit we laid them on the bench seat and they look really nice. We then worked out a system to attach the anchor buttons to secure to the bottom side and to some of the large press studs to keep the cushion in place. We need to have them studded into place to stop them sliding out from under your feet when you get on and off the boat. We then had a general tidy of the back deck and then I made up some lunch. More yummy Tiger Cub rolls. After clearing up I carried a large garbage back full off unwanted/unneeded stuff up to the bins and was surprised at how heavy it was. I wonder how much more heavy junk we are carrying that we don’t need? After lunch, Geoff fitted the table top/hatch covers back. These back hatches can be raised and clicked into place as tables and are very handy as we often have brekky out there when we are cruising. Checked the emails and there is one from Moo and one from Gerry in Ireland asking after Geoff. Thanks guys.
Thursday, 16th February 2012
Geoff put the undercoat on the table tops and also did the outside stern middle bit he still had to do. He also laid the carpet out to flatten it out so he can cut it to shape. Once the undercoat was dry he put the first coat of the 2 pack paint on. He then went out to Bunning’s to buy some new directors chairs as he decided it was too hard to get them recovered. He will also buy a Chinese laundry bag to keep them in out of the weather when not in use. I packed away some winter clothes to give Geoff some room to transfer some of his clothes over so that Jo and Mikey can have some room to store their stuff when they are with us. Relax time. No weight loss this week!
Geoff was gone quite a while and came back with a few goodies. He bought two chairs from
Home Hardware at $39.95 each and then went into Crazy Clarks to buy a Chinese laundry bag. As he was browsing around he saw that they had aluminium directors chairs for $19.95 each so took the others back. The ones from Crazy’s do not have a little side table which we didn’t use much anyway and they are a tad higher and Geoff said he would cut them down a bit so they would fit more easily into the bag (which he did). He spent the rest of the afternoon cutting the carpet and making the box compartment where he had installed the new small hatch earlier (to replaced the dirty and tatty hanging bag). Just before dusk he applied the second coat of 2 pack to the tables and stern area. The back deck is almost finished and it looks great. There’s only a bit of painting around the front deck windows and the swim steps to do, a little sanding and retouch -ing of a few small areas. The carpet is cut but not yet laid as it needs its studs attached and the final touches need to be added to the bench cushions and then it is done. He has even got a new mint plant to replace the one I killed off. He conned it from Margaret on ‘Shining Light’. Also, Arnie, Barnie and Carnie came up for nibbles led by Carnie. We also have a very small foxie type dog on the marina off of a new boat that has come in called ‘Nikwane’. A bit of a yapper but quite cute. After dinner of lamb chops we sat on the back deck and just admired Geoff’s handiwork. We worked out that we had spent at least $800 on it … ouch … but worth it.
Friday, 17th February 2012
Geoff started fiddling around on the back deck early so I went up for a shower and Bosun came along for the walk. Just got back and Di was there checking on whether I was going to go to the gym. As usual, I had forgotten about it but there was plenty of time. ‘Mature Age’ time was 10.30 to 1200 Monday and Friday with the ‘Mature Moovers’ class at 10.30 on the Wednesday. At $3.50 a session it is quite affordable. Plenty of time to get ready so no rush. Got a call from Owen the ‘mailman’ saying he was at the gate so we went up and met him. Geoff’s two Bunning’s cards had arrived ($20 each) which he had earned by doing on-line surveys plus a gold filled bangle from Hong Kong for me which I had bought for the really cheap price of under $10 including packaging. I will see how long it lasts but it looks ok. The gold filled bangle I bought in the Sydney Market in 2000 when Sally and I went to the Para-Olympics is only now wearing after 12 years of constant use. Mind you, this one cost $100 all those years ago and has been really good. I wish I could find one the same. Apparently gold filled is a lot better than gold plated and should last if it is looked after.
Off to the gym and go on the bike, rower, arm press, leg press, chin up machine, stepper and lastly the uphill treadmill. 40 minutes, that’s enough but I must admit I enjoy it ‘after the fact’ although I am always making excuses not to go ‘before the fact’. Most of the machines come with individual flat screen TV’s so I should take some headphones when/if I go again.
When I got back Geoff had fitted the carpet, had cut down the directors chairs and finished of the bench cushions … FINISHED!!! But wrong, not finished! “Maz, can you mask up the paint work so I can finish off the blue bits” says Geoff. Groan, but I did most of it before I had to go down to the galley to peel some Banana Prawns as I was cooking Prawns in Lemon Moroccan Sauce and Spicy Couscous for tea. Steve popped by but didn’t stay long as he could probably see we were busy.
Saturday, 18th February 2012
We got an email from Jo this morning saying they should be here around 1pm on Monday. Geoff went up to have a shower and then headed out to Aldi to get some fruit specials and also look for a solar powered light for the back deck. He could not find a solar powered light that appealed so he might have to wire in an 12 volt LED light. Whilst he was away I got to cleaning - a deep clean, everything. Stuff you wouldn’t notice wasn’t clean BUT WOULD notice if it was dirty (if that makes sense). I also answered ten emails so how slack have I been. After lunch Geoff went off to Super Cheap Auto and bought a 12 volt LED light for the back deck. I took the rubbish out and, on the way back, knocked on a cat called Galla-something, and asked if they were friends of Ian and Lynne on ‘Blue Pearl’. Yep, known Ian for 25 years. Their names were Don and Vicky and they are here at Midtown until they sell their catamaran. Once back on the boat I carried on cleaning but it was hard to clean around Geoff’s mess (mess = tools etc). Gave the head area a thorough clean, polished the stainless steel sink and Geoff comes home and WHAT? Sands a piece of wood over it!!! Why do I bother???
Geoff spent most of the afternoon fitting the new LED light (the wood he sanded was for the base) and it throws a good light. Linda and Sailor from ‘Leisure Lee’ popped by to see how Geoff was. They are back in the marina on Tuesday and are currently berthed on the trawler wharf until then. I cleaned the clears, the side windows, the brass work etc. In fact, we were both busy all day and Geoff said the back deck was finished. Really and truly? We’ll see. Boy it looks nice. Time to relax.
Sunday, 19th February 2012
Well … Jo and Mikey will be on their way now. They should arrive here in Bundy about 1pm tomorrow. They have hired a car for the duration in case we can’t go sailing. It is probably not much dearer than catching the train both ways.
A very hot day today. After bacon and eggs I went up to the laundry to do two loads of washing. By the time I hade hung both loads out I was hot and sweaty even though I had just come out of the shower and dehydrated. When I got back Geoff was cursing and swearing as he couldn’t get the fresh water pump to pump water to the taps. He was very hot, sweaty and grumpy. I don’t blame him as it is cramped and hot work. Then, because he was trying to do too many things at once, he over filled the port hull water tank as he forgot about it (same as what Rod did but not as disastrous). No damage done but it came over the top of the inspection hole and into the bilge which meant it picked up a bit of dirt so he had to empty it again, rinse it out and then refill it. Then, because he was hassled, silly little things kept going wrong, like the hose coming out of the sink and he was getting hotter, frustrated and bad tempered and I didn’t know whether to stay, in case he needed a hand, or go up to Crazy Clarks to get a few bits and pieces and get out of his way. I chose the latter and went up and bought a soap pump dispenser for the bathroom, some anti slip mat, some sunscreen for Jo Jo, OJ, mugs, tea spoons (where do they all go?) a couple more knives and forks, new towels and bathmats plus a few other odds and sods. Owen was onboard when I got back. He was on his way back from archery and was dropping off some home made rum we had ordered. Later I went up to fold the washing and did some last minute cleaning and polishing and then relaxed after another very busy day. Geoff said he was going to sit down and relax with a cuppa but he’s still out there fiddling. Neither of us felt like cooking so we wandered up into town to the Chinese ‘all you could eat’ buffet. At $19 per head we decided against it and wandered past a pub that had meals for $8 so went in. The people next to us had ordered the steaks which were 300gm each for $6 a head … how cheap is that? We ordered the prawn curry with snow peas. It wasn’t a large serve and came with saffron rice and a pappadam but it was very tasty. Because it was a small meal we treated ourselves to a Macca’s soft serve ice cream and a hot chocolate. Met Steve on the way back who gave us a tiger cub loaf from his church.
Monday, 20th February 2012
Touch down! We had a very busy morning. As I needed to change the bed linen Geoff decided to turn his mattress over and top to bottom. Not an easy task in cramped boat conditions. But, with a tug here and a push there it was soon done. Then I had to make the beds which is always a hot and sweaty task. Geoff then got all of the stuff from the coffins bunks and stored it on the front deck ready to go to Owen’s for storage to give us a bit more room and to lighten the boat whilst Jo and Mikey are with us. Geoff is still hoping to go out for a sail even though the forecast is not that promising. The plans are to go out on a mooring or the trawler wharf so we can take off early on the Thursday. By the time we had, once again, done some final cleaning and polishing, it was 11 am so we headed up to the shower and also arranged for Stan to give us a hand getting out of our berth in the morning. Back to the boat to relax with a cuppa and, basically, to wait for Jo and Mikey to arrive. From memory (I forgot to write up the rest of today’s journal) Jo and Mikey arrived mid afternoon, later than expected. I think they got a little geographically embarrassed getting out of Brisbane. We just nattered and caught up for the rest of the afternoon before heading out to Montezuma’s for tea. During tea I watched Jo’s eyelids grow heavier and heavier until we took pity on them and went back to the boat but not before we had the obligatory soft serve from Macca’s for desert.
Tuesday, 21st February 2012
I didn’t sleep well as Geoff had cramp all night and I finally got to sleep around 2am. We had brekky and then took a whole heap of stuff off the boat and into the hire car.
High tide was supposed to be at 9.30 but Stan turned up at 9 am as he said it looked like the tide was on the turn. Stan, Debbie and Gary helped the boys out with the boat, which was nice of them. Jo and I left the boys to it and we took all of the stuff to Owen’s to store for us. We had a coffee at the local cafe whilst we waited for Owen to arrive as we were early. Geoff rang and asked for us to bring our extra long extension cord back with us as they had docked at the trawler wharf and the power bollard (there is only one) was quite a distance away from the boat. Once we got back we all headed off to the Bundaberg Rum Factory where Geoff and I got in for free as we were local ambassadors and were bringing two paying guests. Jo and Mikey had to pay $25 each which I thought was a bit steep but it was enjoyable and you received two full sized drinks (you would pay $8 for each drink at a pub) at the end of the tour. Jo and Mikey bought us a bottle of the Chocolate/Coffee Rum Liqueur … yum! They only give you two drinks because a lot of people are driving.
High tide was supposed to be at 9.30 but Stan turned up at 9 am as he said it looked like the tide was on the turn. Stan, Debbie and Gary helped the boys out with the boat, which was nice of them. Jo and I left the boys to it and we took all of the stuff to Owen’s to store for us. We had a coffee at the local cafe whilst we waited for Owen to arrive as we were early. Geoff rang and asked for us to bring our extra long extension cord back with us as they had docked at the trawler wharf and the power bollard (there is only one) was quite a distance away from the boat. Once we got back we all headed off to the Bundaberg Rum Factory where Geoff and I got in for free as we were local ambassadors and were bringing two paying guests. Jo and Mikey had to pay $25 each which I thought was a bit steep but it was enjoyable and you received two full sized drinks (you would pay $8 for each drink at a pub) at the end of the tour. Jo and Mikey bought us a bottle of the Chocolate/Coffee Rum Liqueur … yum! They only give you two drinks because a lot of people are driving.
Back to the boat for lunch and then it was head off to Dan Murphy’s to pick up some wine and beer and then onwards to Childers. We got to Childers about 4.30 pm and found the Palace Backpackers Memorial shuts at 4 pm … bumma! Still, it was an interesting town to wander around and we found a reasonably priced butcher and bought some meat and then went to Woollies to pick up our provisions. Eventually back to the boat and put the meat away in the freezer and put the other perishables away. Spag Bol for tea as it was quick and easy but lots of washing up. Then a thunderstorm rolled over which got us checking the weather forecast for tomorrow and it looks like storms and rain when we are going on the Fraser Island tour. Great … that would be right! Up for an evening shower as we have to get up before 5am tomorrow.
Wednesday, 22nd February 2012
Up at 0445 to make coffee, toast muffins and leave by 5.30 to drive to Urangan. It was an uneventful trip that took 1¾ hours. Saw a ‘post’ accident scene which the police were measuring up, we found out later that a young lad had died.
The coach picked us up just after 7.30 from the Great Sandy Straits Marina area and we headed off to River Heads to catch the barge over to Fraser Island. The trip took about thirty minutes and we landed at Wanggoolba Creek on the western side of the island.
Here we transferred to out 4WD coach. Our first stop, after 20 minutes of rough sandy tracks, was Lake McKenzie. This is a 'perched' lake, which means it contains only rainwater, no groundwater, is not fed by streams and does not flow to the ocean. The sand and organic matter at the base of the lake form an impervious layer, preventing rainwater from draining away. The sand here is pure, white silica and is not only beautiful to look at but feels beautifully soft to walk on. The sand acts as a filter, giving the water its clarity and helping to make the water so pure it can support very little life (researched from the web as I couldn’t remember what the coach driver told us). The blues and greens of the lake are quite stunning. The coach driver said the water had an acidic quality to it and you could use it and the sand to cleans your skin and jewellery really well. Of course, on with the bather to enjoy a dip and we all had to try out its cleansing qualities. We had about 45 minutes here and the sun was out most of the time but the sky looked distinctly ominous.
From here we went to Central Station, so called because it was the central Forestry Department station from 1920 to 1959. Many cottages were built during this time for the workers and some of the remains still stand today. Well, by this time it was bucketing down so the driver gave us who didn’t have jackets (duh … and we had checked the forecast and knew it was going to rain) a green heavy duty garbage bag each to wear. Even in the rain it was still enjoyable although I found the boardwalk a bit slippery under foot for me. No photos as nobody wanted to get their cameras wet .
On to the Eurong Resort for a buffet lunch which was quite tasty. The whole time we were having lunch the rain had stopped and the sun was shining. As soon as we got back in the coach it started raining again. Yep, just our luck! Not to be deterred we soldiered on up to coloured sands which are known as The Pinnacles and are sculptured by natures elements. Then, just a little further along the beach, are The Cathedrals multicoloured cliffs of red, brown, yellow and orange sands is an array of spectacular colours. The Cathedrals have some best coloured sand formation in Australia and natural erosion have formed cliffs into a series of pinnacles. Geoff did get off the coach here and brave the elements (quickly) and was able to get a reasonable photo.
On to the Eurong Resort for a buffet lunch which was quite tasty. The whole time we were having lunch the rain had stopped and the sun was shining. As soon as we got back in the coach it started raining again. Yep, just our luck! Not to be deterred we soldiered on up to coloured sands which are known as The Pinnacles and are sculptured by natures elements. Then, just a little further along the beach, are The Cathedrals multicoloured cliffs of red, brown, yellow and orange sands is an array of spectacular colours. The Cathedrals have some best coloured sand formation in Australia and natural erosion have formed cliffs into a series of pinnacles. Geoff did get off the coach here and brave the elements (quickly) and was able to get a reasonable photo.
Back to the ship wreck of the Maheno, which we had bypassed on the way to the Pinnacles as it was torrential rain. It was still raining but not so hard so Geoff and Jo got off the coach with a towel and assisted each other in keeping their cameras dry. The S.S. Maheno was originally built in 1905 in Scotland as a luxury passenger ship for trans-Tasman crossings. During the First World War the ship served as a hospital ship in the English Channel, before returning to a luxury liner. In 1935, the ship was declared outdated and on 25 June 1935 the ship was being towed from Melbourne when it was caught in a strong cyclone. A few days later she drifted ashore and was beached on Fraser Island. During the Second World War the Maheno served as target bombing practice for the RAAF and was used as an explosives demolition target by special forces from the Fraser Commando School. The ship has since become severely rusted, with almost three and a half storeys buried under the sand.
Onwards, always onwards along the sand. It was strange to see road speed signs along the dunes. We stopped at Eli Creek, another fresh water creek coming out through the dunes. By this time it was only drizzling so we all braved the elements. I followed the signs for the toilets but gave up in the end as I seemed to walk forever. I met up with the guys further up the track and we wandered back to the coach just as it started to rain again. Lovely! Back on the boat and be serenaded by a baby crying. We had a French Canadian couple with a small child on the tour. We had to put up with a frustrated baby who had had enough and was crying and the parents who changed the diaper on the bus in front of you. How nice … how smelly. Then the computer on the bus started playing up so the boat was having trouble keeping the speed up. But we got there in the end. We got back to the Great Sandy Straits Marina 7pm and then drive back tio Midtown to find the boat was still on the trawler wharf. Stan said they may have had to put her on a mooring if all the trawlers came in.
Thursday, 23rd February 2012
All good plans of mice and men! So, the plan was to try to go down to Burrum Heads today. But there is a strong wind warning which has been brought forward a day and is forecast at 25—30 knots later today. After looking at the USGrib files Geoff thought we would leave the marina and poke our nose out to see what it was like out there. As we left the trawler wharf we saw that there was a boat already in our spot. A bit of a cheek when you think we had paid up three months ahead.. We poked our nose out but it was right on the nose and would have been really slow going and lumpy so we turned into the ‘Duck Pond’ in the Burnett Heads Harbour and dropped the pick. We hadn’t been anchored long when the wind really picked up at around 20 knots so it would have been stronger outside. Never mind. We taught Jo and Mikey how to play Carcassonne (beginners game), had lunch and then had a siesta. Mikey chose to snooze on the back deck bench seat, Geoff went onto the bed in the cabin, I snoozed in the saloon and Jo relaxed and read a magazine. Roast chicken and veggies for dinner and Jo washed up … nice. Then we watched a DVD called ‘Water for Elephants’. Good movie.
Friday, 24th February 2012
We looked at the weather and decided to, perhaps, go back to the marina tomorrow. I rang the marina as I knew there was someone in our spot. Stan rang back and said that he was surprised that Ray had put someone in our berth when we left and said Ray should have checked with him first. He said we may have to go on the trawler berth until they sort something out and would ring back. No big deal so we had brekky and Geoff showed a couple of home movies and then we decided to go ashore and walk into Burnett Heads. It was blowing a ‘hooley’ when we went ashore. We took a shortcut and soon arrived at Burnett Heads and bought some bread and milk and had a coffee in the little café and then had a look around which took all of ten minutes, if that. We then walked back to the Duck Pond and back to the boat for lunch of pasties and sausage rolls. After lunch Geoff went out in the dinghy to clean the hulls of river grime with Mikey hanging on the dinghy for him so he didn’t drift away.
It was then time for Geoff to teach the guys how to play Mexican Train Dominoes which they picked up really quickly and enjoyed, I think. I read for a bit then went down to the galley to peel the green prawns, cut up some veggies. Whilst I was doing this Geoff went back in the dinghy to clean the other hull with Jo doing the duty of hanging on to the rope this time. Then Jo had a go at the spider puzzle and I cooked tea of Pansit Bihon. Yummeee!! Jo washed up again.
Saturday, 25th February 2012
Geoff woke up at midnight and decided we would try for Wathumba Creek as there was no wind whatsoever. But, when we got out there the wind picked up and was right on the nose and we were bashing into it and only making 2.5 knots at the most. After 90 minutes Geoff decided to give it away and turn back and 60 minutes later we were anchored in the Duck Pond again. He was a bit disappointed and it was hard getting back to sleep as the wind got very strong and the wind generator was howling. I eventually turned it off as it was so noisy and we had plenty of power. I woke at 7am and got up because I was just lying there. I did doze for a little while in the saloon . Everyone surfaced around 8am and I cooked bacon and eggs as I was convinced it was Sunday. We up-anchored at 9.15 am and made our way back up river and got back to the marina around 11am. The spot on the trawler wharf looked quite small but Geoff docked perfectly and the space was bigger than it first seemed. We got the boat sorted with power etc and then went up for a shower and then had some lunch. Later in the afternoon we went up to Owen’s to pick up the rain cover, microwave and crockpot and Maryanne had made some scones so we had high tea, so to speak. Yummee, thanks Maryanne. Back to the boat and we were all fullish so we had Yum Cha for tea only. Bad, bad, bad. It had decided to bucket down again.
Sunday, 26th February 2012
Up at 8am to cook porridge for brekky. I found I had left the galley window open overnight so a lot of rain came in so I had a bit of cleaning up to do. Jo and Mikey went up the river walk to the Zoo. As I have said before, you can’t really call it a zoo!!! I got a crockpot meal going, had a shower and put things back in their marina places (as against their sailing places where they can’t fall over and break). By this time Jo and Mikey were back so it was time for a cuppa and cheese on toast for lunch and Geoff showed them some photos. A few rain showers but we went off to the botanical gardens where we tried to feed the ducks and the eels but the rain drove us inside. Geoff and I went in the 1928 café whilst Jo and Mikey went around the museum. We had a milk shake and so did they on their return.
Started to walk around the botanical gardens but the rain stopped us, once again, so we drove around in the car. It stopped raining enough for us to look around the outside of Fairymead House but the museum closed early on a Sunday. That would be right for us!!! We then drove all the way down Fairymead Road to the river as Geoff and “I had never been down there before . More rain so back to 2AB for nibbles and a drink and then Goulash for tea. Then a game of Mexican Train Dominoes which Mikey won, Jo came second and Geoff and I came a miserable third and fourth.
Monday, 27th February 2012
Geoff slept on the air mattress (which he had bought when we went to Childers the other day) in the port coffin bunk last night just to try it out. He said it was a bit short but quite comfortable. How he would go in hot weather would be interesting. We had all got up by 8.30. By the time we had all had a cuppa and a natter it was getting on for 10 am plus it was raining when we first got up. We had decided to go up to a local café in town that did a $3.50 breakfast which consisted of a chipolata, bacon, egg, hash brown, spaghetti and toast. A really good brekky when you consider it only cost $3.50. We only just got there in time as it shut off at 10am. There was another guy in the café when we got there and he was watching the TV and he told us we were too noisy. Whoops! But he ate his brekky and was soon gone so we could talk again. After brekky we headed off to Woodgate, 50 km south of Bundy. We had never been there before. There was not much there but what was there was good. There was a nice beach although the waves were too rough to venture into the sea but Jo and Mikey did make their way in to their ankles.
Over to the general store and buy some Mammino’s ice cream which was hand made in Childers and very, very creamy. Decedent, in fact. Further along, about a five minute drive, we came to Theodolyte Creek which looked very good for tinnies and kayaks. Had a chat to some locals who said they didn’t think it was deep enough to get a catamaran in. I got bitten by sandflies -flies here and will have to remember to put anti bug spray on if I ever go again. The others were impervious to them and didn’t even know they were about. Why do they like me so much??? From here we found our way to the Kinkuna State Park (or was it a national park?) just on the outskirts of the village. Here there was a quick short walk along the boardwalk in the forest. We startled a large Goanna on the way round and it was a nice and tranquil walk which we all enjoyed, especially as it was not too long.
On the way back to Bundy we also saw some wild Emus. We turned off just before Bundy and drove on to Bargara for a quick look around and a cold drink at the local pub. Only Lemon, Lime and Bitters for me. Once again Jo had a wade in the sea. She was very tempted to go for a dip but never got around to it. Back via Aldi to the marina and back by 4 pm. Japanese Curry for tea followed by a full game of Mexican Train Dominoes and both Geoff and I got thrashed again. Didn’t get to bed until after midnight.
Tuesday, 28th February 2012
Up at 7.30 and up for a shower. When we came back Geoff had scrambled eggs on toast cooking. Nice. After brekky we went to the Hinkler Shopping Centre and bought a few things and then drove back to the CDB to park and wander through town as Jo and Mikey hadn’t really seen much of Bundy. I bought a new china mug and some new sandals from the Rivers store and Geoff bought some runners. We also picked up some Tiger Cub rolls for lunch back on the boat. While we were eating lunch, Owen turned up with our new Smart Battery Charger and Geoff spent the afternoon fitting it. Jo and I surfed the web to find accommodation for them in Brisbane for them the night before they fly out to Adelaide. We also had a look at accommodation around Tweed Heads and Coolangatta as Jo and Mikey are going to visit an old friend down that way. Steve and Spuggy dropped by and he was off to Aldi to buy a guitar that was on special from money he had been given by the church to take to PNG. Dion also rang to see how Geoff was. Then it was time to go out for dinner (Jo and Mikeys treat). We went to a restaurant called ‘Thai Tulips’ which we had often seen but never been in. Downed two bottles of wine and it was a very nice meal so we will go there again.
There was a ‘Hungry Jack’s’ next to the Thai restaurant who also sold the 50¢ soft serve ice cream so the tradition was continued. When we got back to the marina we found we could all squeeze through the marina gate which has missing spokes. Saved unlocking the gate.
Wednesday, 29th February 2012 - Leap Year
Up at 7.30, brekky and shower. Jo and Mikey headed off just after 10 am as they had a long drive ahead of them to Lismore in NSW, just over the border. They will stop somewhere overnight and finalise their journey tomorrow. It was sad to see them leave and Geoff got a bit teary. We wish we could have given them a better time and gone sailing but, alas, it was not to be. Once they had left we took back the battery charger back we had borrowed from Gary of ‘Femme’ and had a coffee and chatted, also stopped and chatted to Matt on ‘Osho’, Celia and Gerry on ‘Mululu’ and Shirley and Sam on ‘Priority1’. Now Jo and Mikey have gone it is quite hot and sunny. That would be right, of course! After chatting to the guys on the marina we went up to the office to see when we could get back into a berth in the marina and not the trawler wharf. There is nothing yet and they apologised but they said they would work on it. It is fine on the trawler wharf but there is that lack of community feeling as there is only one other non commercial boat here and they are not very social.
After lunch I went up into town to get some bread and milk and met Di from ‘Fiddler6’ who shouted me a coffee so we had a nice chat. Back on the boat and onto my laptop to update my budget and found that the sandals I had bought were on special and only cost me $15. How good is that? Fish’n chips for tea … a splurge before I go back on my diet. My diet went out of the window while Jo and Mikey were here!
Thursday, March 1st 2012 - Trawler Wharf, Midtown Marina
I had a bit of a bad back this morning so took a couple of Nurofen Plus and was soon fine. I got all of the washing together and went up and did two loads of washing and hung it all out to dry. Now Jo and Mikey have gone it is hot and sunny again! But they are forecasting heavy rain for NSW, Vic and SA which is where they are heading. It seems that they might be taking their own little weather system with them wherever they go. Poor B’s, I hope I am wrong.
Whilst I was up at the laundry Geoff decided to look at the hot water system that had gone awry the day before Jo and Mikey arrived. He had been on the web to look at a replacement but decided to take it apart anyway, as he does. He found that a diaphragm valve had got stuck so he just unstuck it with a bit of Olive Oil and, hey presto, it was back up and running. Clever little boy!
Time for a cuppa and I found that my new China mug was leaking all around the base. I had only had it two days so I wandered up to the shop to take it back. The guy in the shop said he would replace it as a favour to me. As a favour??? I had only had it less than two days! The lady in the shop said they can crack when you put boiling hot water in them! What are they for if not for hot water with coffee and then milk? I mean, I ask you! Shan’t buy from there again as I have never found them very friendly.
I expect the journal will get a boring during the next few months until we head off again so it may take on a condensed version if each day it the same.
Friday, 2nd March 2012
We had an email from Wyn and Ann today wishing us a ‘Happy Anniversary’. Oh yes … it is our anniversary today, thanks for reminding us Wyn. 44 years, wow, where did the years go? Linda and Sailor turned up with some ‘reject’ Paw Paw soap from the complex that Warren works at in Childers … nice. She stayed a while and then I cleaned up my cabin and took all of Geoff’s stuff back over to his cabin. Put the washing away, did some mending and chatted to Fiona and Andrew up at the laundry. We both had a lazy day but still did a little bit of this and a little bit of that. There was a knock on the hulls around 5.45 pm and it was Deb, Gary and the three dogs (Arnie, Barnie and Carnie). They came on board, a first for the woofies, and had lots of treats and back scratches. They were very excited about coming onboard for the first time. Cute little dogs.
After tea we wandered up to Macca’s for a soft serve ice cream but changed our minds and had a hot chocolate instead.
Saturday, 3rd March and Sunday 4th March 2012
There is nothing much to write about now that Jo and Mikey have gone. It is back to the humdrum of normal marina life. Cleaning, shopping, chatting, visiting and that is it!
Monday, 5th March 2012
We had brekky, then a shower and we wandered up to Wide Bay Volunteers to catch up with Cheryl, meet Rick the new IT guy, and arrange to start back. I’m going to work Tuesdays and Thursdays doing interviews and any other jobs Cheryl finds for me. Geoff is going to work on Wednesday to start but may change to one of the same days as me.
From here we wandered up to the railway station to lodge our Pensioner Concessions Cards with them and pay for our train tickets to Brisbane on the 22nd. We are stopping off at Pialba for a couple of days on the way back and catching up with Tom and Chrissy from the cat ‘Slinky Malinky’ that we met quite a few years ago at Wathumba Creek on Fraser Island one Christmas. On the way back from the station we stopped off at a local café for a ‘2 for 1’ coffee and Geoff had a cake. Back to the boat for lunch and then I was off to Centrelink for my three monthly interview which was painless.
According to the weather forecast we were supposed to be in for some heavy rainfall but, so far, it seems to be just missing us. Just! There is also a chance of a tropical low off Fraser Island developing into a weak cyclone. It is this that is causing the heavy rainfall from Hervey Bay down. Geoff went off to Maryanne and Owens and made them up a ‘master’ for their business cards which they can now change at will. He came back with some wood to make up my saucepan lids rack that he has been thinking about for a while as I am always complaining that I can’t keep them tidy.
Tuesday, 6th March 2012
Up reasonably early and get ready for work. None of my usual hanging around in my PJ’s till 9am. I left at 8.30 am and went to WBV and met all of the people who had started since we left in August last year. Karyn, the other interviewer has only been there three weeks and seems very nice. Not too bad a day although not so busy. I wasn’t looking forward to working again but it made a change and was quite enjoyable. I finished around 2.45 pm and went on to Centrelink to lodge my voluntary work form and whilst I was there I delved more into the amount of assets (money) I could have in the bank and still receive an allowance. It was actually $265,000 between us - I wish - so now I have some thinking to do. Owen had been to the boat while I was at work and had dropped off some of our stored stuff which I then had to find a home for. Geoff had cooked a Mexican Shepherds Pie for tea and installed my pot lid rack as well so I was happy.
Before tea we wandered along to the marina to get our ‘community’ fix. Geoff chatted to Matt on ‘Osho’. Matt said he had a terrible time whilst he was out at Fraser Island and thinks he may have stuffed his engine as the fuel got low and the sludge from the bottom of the fuel tank may have gone through his engine. He was using a lot of fuel to push into a head wind to get back and never quite made it all the way up river before the engine stopped and Steve from ‘Zarab’ went out to tow him in. I went off to ‘Femme to visit Gary and Debbie and the woofs. Fiona and Andrew were also there so I gave Fiona a packet of Filipino Pansit Bihon I had spoken to her about.
Wednesday, 7th March 2012
Up to get Geoff some lunch as he is working today. As usual, he was running late, so he had to go by scooter. Well, that’s his excuse.
My day was boring as it was only the usual boat chores. Had a cuppa with Steve and Spuggy. Geoff came home about 3pm and he said he had kept quite busy with just tidying up the IT room. He was tired and was soon dozing. Deb and the woofs came by to visit about 5.30 so the dogs got their treats. Wyn rang and Jo sent a text. Seems the rain is following them.
Thursday, 8th March 2012
Off to WBV again at 8.30 and I was busy all day with various things. Thankfully Cheryl keeps me in work and I have my full password access back. Not many volunteers have as high an access as Geoff and I which is a privilege. Geoff came in for a couple of hours to borrow the ute to take a lot of stuff to the recyclers. The recycling money has already brought in $300 this financial year to date so Geoff is very happy as he instigated it when he was here before. After work I went to Neato, which was a waste of time as she said she would make another appointment to change my Pathway plan. Geoff went to the doctors at 3 pm and thanked him for his concern when he was sick. The doctor had read his discharge report so is up to date with Geoff’s problems now. Geoff also had a flue jab whilst he was there. His ‘Ubiquinol tablets also arrived today which he is going to trial to see if it combats the side effects of the cholesterol tablets he takes which cause cramps due to the statins they contain. My ‘Clean Up Australia’ stuff also arrived which was for last Sunday so Geoff and I wandered along the river walk to the zoo to see how much rubbish there was. I took Bosun along for a walk with us. We decided we could probably manage the clean up ourselves in the next few days/weeks. The kit contained some very heavy duty rubbish bags, 5 pairs of very heavy duty gloves, a sharps container, posters, certificates and two vouchers for McDonald’s. No inclination to cook so it was fish’n chips for tea. Beautiful sunset!
Friday, 9th and Saturday 10th March 2012
On Friday Geoff worked on the toilet valve that had broken. He made up a new bit and it is now working again. He also submitted our Charter article to a couple of magazines.
Sunday Geoff repaired the glass in the light above the cooker which I had smashed trying to get the frypan out. We couldn’t buy a glass alone as they only came in the complete light at over $50. Luckily, Dave of ‘Purrfection’ behind us was pulling out all of his old lights and replacing them with LED lights. He gave us one of his old ones and the glass fitted perfectly. I shall have to be more careful in future. Spuggy jumped on the boat after we had gone to bed last night and woke Geoff up so he will put up a net tomorrow to stop it happening.
Sunday 11th and Monday 12th February 2012
A lazy day on Sunday with nothing to write about. Monday was washing day and Geoff sanded off some of the imperfections in the paint and re-did them. He also took out the old fridge non electronic thermometer and blocked off the hole with a s/steel round grill. Jo rang and is now at Nikki’s and having a good time. I dropped one of my washed bras into the river which is a muddy brown colour at the moment (like the Yarra) so I had to re-wash it as the water looked nasty.
Tuesday, 13th March 2012
Off to Wide Bay Volunteers for me. It started raining on the way but I managed to walk from shop canopy to shop canopy so didn’t get too wet. I kept busy with phone interviews and then helped Kurt out by ring prospective volunteers to help with a South Sea Island conference being held over the Easter period. Being Easter, of course, a lot of people were unavailable. I still managed to get people for the registration work and a couple for morning and afternoon teas but nobody put their hand up for taking the minutes. Funny that! I bet I get lumbered with it if we don’t go away sailing. After work I caught up with Jan and Merle and we went to the Hinkler Centre for a cup of coffee. I got home around 4.30 and Geoff had been busy finishing the painting of the odd spots that needed doing. Owen had also popped by, bumma - I missed him - doing the mail run again. He came with the 12 volt to USB ports for Geoff, the Curtain Magic (mould remover) and a bangle for me. Geoff cooked a Spicy Fish Potato Bake for tea. He adapted the recipe to suit ingredients we had in stock, and it was yummy - as usual. Game of Scrabble which I won.
Wednesday, 14th March 2012
Geoff went off WBV and I went off to get a haircut (Geoff never noticed when he got back). I used my new polish on the laminated saloon table and it came up a bit better. Today was. work around the boat. doing the female chores. I tried out my new mould remover called ‘Curtain Magic’ and it works really well on the hard surfaces. The carpet type head lining seems to be a bit harder. You can definitely see where I have sprayed it but I think it will take another couple of sprays to really work as it is ingrained and has been like it for a few years. It is a spray on and leave job so is not at all hard to apply.
Geoff came home just after 2 pm and said he had managed to get my login fixed for the interviewer login and has been able to put the Vol Base program on my personal Maz login but not outlook yet as he has to speak to the boss about a personal email address. At least I will be able to login tomorrow and do my work easier. Once he had a cuppa he continued work on installing the two 12 volt USB hubs so we can now plug in our phones, ebook etc to recharge without having to pull out the power supply thingies. He says he just loves doing soldering jobs - I never knew that!
Thursday, 15th March 2012
Off to WBV again and spent most of the day ringing around to find volunteers willing to work at the South Sea Islander conference coming up over Easter. I ended up with about 10 people after ringing about 70+ people. Easter is the problem, of course, as so many volunteers are busy at that time. Ringing people is not really my forte but I got there. I got back to the boat just after 3pm and no Geoff. It wasn’t long before he arrived back and had been out to get a few items to finalise installing two mobile phone holders on the saloon on the mast cover. So now we have the two 12 volt to USB connectors and above them the phone holder. Something he has wanted to do for ages.
He had also been out to Aldi to get some groceries and to Zac’s Meats to buy some lamb loin chops at $20 for 2 kgs (cheap) and a couple of largish lamb shanks which he had cooking away in the crockpot for dinner tonight. It is nice having a house husband on Tuesdays and Thursdays! AND, the lamb shanks were very nice, thank you.
Friday, 16th March 2012
Geoff got a slight cramp last night which was the first time since starting on the Ubinquinol tablets. Bumma! We didn’t do much today, just a few jobs around the boat but nothing to write about. At 5pm Owen arrived to pick us up and take us back to their place. We met Debbie, Gary and Arnie, Barnie and Carnie near the car so they were all able to have some treats before I left. Off to Kinghorn Street where Mia and Fe were very happy to see us. A lovely roast lamb dinner followed by apple pie and ice cream. The boys went off to check cheap internet and mobile phone packages on the web and I washed up and Maryanne dried. Job soon done as we were chatting all of the way through it. We then went in to see how the boys were going and Geoff got me to chat online with an Optus guy. It was getting too difficult so we ended the chat by saying that Owen would go into the Optus shop and talk to them face to face. By this time it was bucketing down with rain. Owen drove us back to the marina and the rain was kind enough to ease up so we could get back on board without getting drenched. Cyclone Lua will be crossing the WA coast in the next day or so we hope it doesn’t cause too much damage over there.
Saturday, 17th March 2012
Geoff went off to Aldi early this morning as they had a one day sale on various tools and he wanted to buy the die grinder tool (very small) and didn’t want to miss out. These really good deals sell out quite early at times. It is a high speed device that allows you to interchange very small grinding wheels, cutting discs and polishing discs. He already has a battery powered Dremmel which is on its last legs and a new one is $150. This one is not battery powered but was only $40 and came with a huge amount of attachments that are interchangeable with his old Dremmel as well. I think he is quite pleased with it. I headed off to the shower and then popped onto the marina to ask if Warren could get me some MacArthur's Paw Paw cream for my arthritis as he works there. My thumbs and little fingers have been very painful lately and Dan (we went there for Christmas) has got a great amount of relief since he has been using the paw paw cream. I have been thinking of buying it for quite a while but have been putting it off as it is not cheap. I chatted with Linda, Deb and Gary for ages and then made my way back to the boat. Geoff said that Tom had rung whilst I was away and said that Chrissy’s dad’s partner had just died and he would have to call our visit off. How sad for Chrissy and no problem for us as there will always be another time to visit or, maybe, catch up sailing. We were going to stop off on the way back from Geoff’s hospital check up visit. We thought about looking at accommodation at Hervey Bay anyway but then decided we would probably spend money we didn’t have so decided to change our tickets. We then walked along the river walk and up to the station, chatting on the way to a large group of backpackers who were celebrating St Patricks Day down by the river. When we got to the station we found it closed at noon on Saturdays. Never mind so we walked back through town back to 2Abreast. Went to see Dave on ‘Purrfection’ berthed behind us to congratulate him on becoming a father to a bouncy girl, Lillian May. Apart from that, another lazy day.
Sunday, 18th March 2012
Up after 8am, drizzling, and it was time for bacon and eggs. By the time this was cooked, eaten and cleared away the rain had stopped so Geoff decided that we should go out on our belated ‘Clean Up Australia Day’ event. We were only two weeks late! We went from the trawler wharf up to the public jetty, all of 175 metres, but it still took a good hour although we were not timing ourselves. We had intended to go from the ‘zoo’ to Spinnakers Restaurant but the little expanse we did took all of Geoff’s time with me looking on, spotting, taking photos and dragging the filled bags back to the marina skips. The river bank area was too rough and squishy underfoot for me with my balance. Geoff ended up with two full bags of rubbish that were very heavy.
We weighed them with our little fish weighing hook but it could not handle the weight. Geoff estimated that we had picked up at least 30 kg of rubbish in the short time we were out. A lot of rubbish was from the park above a part of the river bank where people just toss their rubbish over the fence and down the bank. What grots! How can they do that??? We caught up with Reynold and Kathy from ‘Zacatan’ who said they were going to do their own thing on the day but the rain changed their minds for them. They want to do it with us next year when I WILL BE much more organised. I had put my site in much too late to get the clean up kit in time this year. We still intend to do the river walk on another day as there will not be so much to pick up, hopefully.
Back to the boat for a sanitize (all supplied), a cuppa and then up to the shower to get clean again. Dion from ‘Unicorn’ rang to touch base and we caught up with all of his news. Geoff got on the web when he got back and did a little bit of surfing. He has just told me that he has just been into Panoramio to look at the photos that he submitted and were accepted by Google Earth and his photo of 2Abreast in Tyron Bay has had over 4,000 views, Sabra Island has had 3,532 views, his photo of the Zero fighter plane at Nirvani Island has had 2,025 views and even the photo of canoes at Pambwa has had 2,091 views. So if you feel like having a look at the photos he submitted for the Louisiades in PNG go to Panoramio on this link - http://www.panoramio.com/user/4190048
Monday, 19th March 2012
A very, very lazy day. We were both on the laptops a lot of the day. I went up and paid our berth fees and tried to get a discount for being on the trawler wharf but no discount. Steve and Spuggy popped by with some bread and some rolls. Geoff wrote to the Newsmail about his estimation of the garbage which would be along the whole length of the river. He said he was a bit short of breath today.
Tuesday, 20th March 2012
Off to WBV again and I kept busy doing data entry for Jan and Kurt. I got a call from the NewMail which was for Geoff so rang him and he said that he had spoken to them and they were coming down to take his photo today. Geoff had spent a lot of his day making up a cup and storage shelf for in front of the helm station. He has made and painted it and it is now hanging up to dry. Plus he cooked fish for tea.
Wednesday, 21st March 2012
Off to WBV again and both Cheryl and Kurt kept me very busy which was good. I went into the re-vamped library with Geoff for lunch and sat in the nice easy chairs and read the paper. I will try to remember to attach the article with this journal. It was a good article and quoted other people in town which we thought was good.
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| Border Mail photo |
It rained quite hard from lunch on and was still raining when we were ready to leave. Kurt offered us a lift to the marina which we accepted with alacrity. I had enough time for a coffee before heading back out in it for an interview at Neato at 4pm. Centrelink have been a bit slack and my volunteer work is not on the system yet so we were unable to change my pathway plan. Bumma! A bought a new umbrella on the way back as my old one (cheap) had broken The new one is cheap as well so I am not sure how long it will last. After dinner we braved the elements to go up and have a shower as we had to get up at 4 am tomorrow to catch the 5.15 am train to Brisbane. Rang Deb on ‘Femme’ to let her know we would be away in case it rained harder than I anticipated, which I don’t think it will. Bed early.
Thursday, 22nd March 2012
Grrrrrrr! Got up at 4 am and got ready to head off to the station when I saw I had received a text saying the Tilt Train had been cancelled and they were using a coach in its stead. This meant it would not be getting into Brisbane until 12.15 pm. This was way to late for us as the last appointment at the Thorax dept was at 10.30 am so we rang the station to make sure that we could transfer to another day without paying another booking free. We get four free trips a year but have to pay a booking fee for each leg which, in this case, was $50. He couldn’t tell me why it was cancelled but I am assuming it is something to do with the heavy rain in some parts. So, back to bed until 8.30 am. Geoff then rang the hospital and made an appointment for the first week in April which isn’t too far away. Now we will have to go to the station again and change the tickets. The heavy rain that was forecast seems to have just missed us again. But, due to the rain, it is really muggy today and very uncomfortable. Geoff finished off gluing and screwing down his cup and storage tray and now he will paint it over the next couple of days. Raining like mad when we went to bed and continued all night and, the next day, I saw that we had received 80 ml in Bundaberg.
Friday, 23rd March 2012
Well .. today started out like any other day but it didn't stay that way for long.
I spent a lot of the morning doing cleaning chores, mainly the galley and fridge cleaning. Geoff went up for a shower and bailed out the dinghy for a couple who have there motor cruiser out on a mooring. They come down to do it constantly after rain so Geoff doesn’t mind doing it for people who take care of their boat. After all the rain, the river was running very fast and Geoff said he couldn’t see ‘Phencara’ anchored where she normally was so I gave Steve a ring. Apparently he had dragged in the middle of the night, 3am to be precise, and hit another boat and was now on the public dinghy wharf. Geoff went off to the station and changed our train tickets and grabbed a few things from the supermarket for me. He popped into the chandlery on the way back and his MP3 car radio player had arrived so he started installing it. Steve and Spuggy arrived soon after and I was making a cuppa when I happened to glance out of the galley window. I was just in time to see the large Lagoon cat drag its mooring and collide with ‘Apa Lupa’ and ‘Harmony’. I yelled out to Geoff and Steve to see if they could help out. Geoff used the air horn to alert people moored out on the river and also brought the drama to the attention of people in the marina. With trembling hands I rang Ray up at the marina to tell him what was going on who just said “Oh S**t” The Lagoon cat stopped mid river as its back mooring block must have caught, so it was stuck with its stern into the tidal stream. It had made ‘Harmony’ break its mooring so it went off downstream sideways unattended. Fiona and Andrew were on ‘Apa Lupa’ and Fiona managed to cut the ropes that were attaching them to the Lagoon cat. This caused them to swing round onto the motor cruiser behind them. We then saw the little fluffy dog, Molly, off Harmony in the water swimming madly against the current. She made it to the bank and took off up the road at full pelt. I called her but to no avail. The owners of ‘Harmony’ returned just as the marina boat was towing their boat to safety. Geoff went off in our little dinghy to help where he could. ‘Harmony’ had come to rest against another blue moored boat that was closer to the bank so Geoff took the lady off the blue boat as she was feeling a little anxious, which I don’t blame her. The marina boat then went off to help Andrew and Fiona on ‘Apa Lupa’ as she was in danger of sinking the motor boat they were attached to as it had a distinct lean on it. By this time Gary from ‘Femme’ and Matt from ‘Osho’ were out there in their dinghies giving a hand where they could and the marina trawler, Magani’ was helping to tow the boats to the trawler wharf or wherever they could find a secure place to tie them up. Once they had secured ‘Apa Lupa’ they went back and forth securing all the boats that were now in trouble from the domino effect of the first boat dragging and colliding with the first two boats. So now the trawler wharf is full. There are two boats, Harmony and Constant Bay, tied to bare poles (no wharf has been re-installed since the floods) behind ‘Purrfection’. Then there is ‘Purrfection, 2Abreast, Pennant, which Stan had brought in earlier just in case, then ‘Apa Lupa, then the Lagoon cat. In front of them secured to poles where the old chandlery building was (washed away in the Dec 2010 floods) is ‘Windango’ and the motor cruiser that nearly went down. So that is six boats rescued in all. Poor Ray but he did a great job with ‘Magani’ as did the boys in the marina security boat along with Gary and Matt and all the boats were secure by 5.30 pm. As I said earlier, the river was running fast but there was no flood warning in place. Geoff went up the trawler wharf inspecting the dock as it is only a temporary dock and is held together by rope as Ray is slowly getting it back together after the floods. We had visions of dock going down the river with all the boats still attached. He said it was fine for the time being.
All this time Geoff had been trying to install the new car radio but it was a very ‘on again off again’ sort of job, what with all the drama unfolding. He managed to get it fitted by 5.30 pm and it works a treat. The owners of ‘Harmony’ came back shortly after with their little dog, Molly. Apparently Molly had turned up at their girls school and rushed into the classroom all wet and bedraggled. I was very relieved to see her fit and well. So … a very eventful day. I must admit it brought back the floods of Dec 2010 to the forefront of my mind again and I know I am still a little traumatised over that event and I wonder if it will ever go away???
Saturday, 24th March 2012
Wake up at 8.30 to a beautiful sunny day. The river is still running a little fast but so much better than yesterday. Brekky and shower. A bit of a quiet day after the drama of yesterday. Geoff finished off the final touches to his MP3 car radio and loaded on a lot of music. Apart from that we didn't do much. It is election day today in Qld and it looks like there is a Massive swing to the LNP so a new premier and a new party. Can’t do any worse. After dinner, Chicken Parmagana, we headed off for drinks on ‘Apu Lagi’ with Andrew and Fiona. We stayed for about an hour and met Michael off ‘Constant Bay’.
Sunday, 25th March 2012
Bacon and eggs. Pab and Spud came back in with their trawlers and managed to raft up together on the fuel dock as there was no room on the trawler wharf due to the boats from the moorings. Unfortunately, Pab hadn’t done any good with the prawning so no fresh green prawns. We rang Maryanne to say “no prawns” and they said they would come for a visit later in the afternoon. Great. So I got to cleaning and the boat was soon spic and span and shining. We also had a visit from the guy off the cat ’Rosalee’ who was concerned there were two boats rafted up on the fuel dock as he needed to come up for fuel next week. We put his mind at rest as we knew that ’Pennant’, at least, was going back out on his mooring shortly. Then it was up for a quick shower and back to make some pikelets. OF COURSE, Maryanne and Owen were early , one hour to be exact, so the pikelets were still cooling. Mia and Fe came too so there was lots of licks and cuddles and dog treats all round. They said they had come early as it had looked like rain. They brought our mail which turned out to be the new solar torch I had bought for Lebinai in PNG. Cuppas and pikelets with cream and jam and Liver treats for Mia and Fe. They left about 4.30 pm and we walked them to their car.
On the way back we chatted to Stan on ‘Pennant’ for a while. It was starting to get a bit windy with a strong wind warning for the coast. After dinner we wandered up to Macca’s for a 30¢ ice cream.
Monday, 26th March 2012
Up late. Beautiful sunny day again. I went into WBV for about an hour as the three Referral Officers were getting together to ensure we were all following the same procedure. Back at 10.30 and Geoff had just got back from the library and Aldi. Stan took ‘Pennant’ back out to the mooring so Pab, our little trawler man, un-rafted and took his space in front of us. Pab said he had about 4 kg of frozen prawns if we wanted them for $30. Yes please so Geoff rang Owen and said he could have half. We froze 1 kg and kept the other kilo our for tea. I decided to go up to do the washing as it looked like a nice day. By the time Owen arrived to pick up his prawns the weather was starting to look decidedly iffy so I shot up and got in my washing and folded it a brought it back. About 4.30 Linda and Sailor turned up with a tube of the McArthur Paw Paw cream to try on my arthritis. Only $25 as smaller than the tub so I am happy. Walked back along the dock with her and met up with Steve and Spuggy so I gave Steve the towels I had promised him. Chatted to Fiona and Andrew on the way back. Oh … it never did rain!
Tuesday, 27th March 2012
Andrew and Fiona went back out on the moorings this morning as Eric on ‘Shane’ has arrived back from Gladstone after having repairs done. He was hit with a rogue wave off Round Hill which broke his windows and killed all his electrics. He limped back into Gladstone and said that Jim from VMR Gladstone had stayed by the radio until he was safely in. Now that’s how a good VMR is run! Tony from ‘Incantation’ also turned up and had a cuppa and gave me two great websites that you can download free ‘best seller’ ebooks. Great! He said he and Diane had gone their separate ways, amicably, and he now has a new lady friend. Geoff then went up for a haircut and when he got back he took out the port side window which had cracked. It was quite difficult getting it out and he went off to O’Brien’s Glass to get a replacement made. He then sanded the edges and covered it in black plastic and taped it up in case of rain. Lets hope it doesn’t rain. He then went out on the dock to clean all the old sealer from the frame he had removed and Eric came over with a beer for him and they chatted about Eric’s drama and how good Jim was. Geoff told him he had worked with Jim for a couple of years at VMR Gladstone and Jim was a ‘top bloke’.
Wednesday, 28th March 2012
Worked at WBV and kept very busy with interviews. Geoff work at WBV’s too. Carolyn is home today. Apart from that it was one of those nothing kinda days.
Thursday, 29th March 2012
Work again and kept busy. Geoff worked on the window frame getting it ready for the new laminated glass. He and Owen also went off to the Seniors Safety Expo. Unfortunately Stuart Fallis (Regional Manager for Garden Villages who we dislike) was not manning the Jefferis Gardens stand so they were unable to give him a hard time. They then went on to the Hinkler Centre and Owen ordered an Optus internet plan for $49.95 a month for 120GB data. He is now going to cancel his Telstra landline. I got home about 3.30 after getting five tops in Rockman’s for $39.95 (specials, of course). Geoff had started to prepare dinner and I did the last bit as he was busy with the window. I also remembered to send off a couple of blogs on Seawind 1000’s to Christy for her friend who had just bought one. Glad I remembered as the memory is not as good as it used to be.
Friday, 30th March 2012
Up late. I checked the special2 for Woollies, Coles and IGA on the web. IGA won hands down so I decided not to walk to Hinkler for the shopping as I had planned. Geoff went off to pick up the glass and, because it was laminated, shaped, bevelled and ground, it was $153. But we needed it so that’s what we had to pay. After a shower I headed off with my wheelie shopper but bought more than I anticipated. I bought $25 worth of topside as it was on special for $5.99 a kilo. It is good when it is on special as it means the meat component of a meal is only $2.20 and when you are on a budget this is great. But the wheelie shopper was SO heavy as it was loaded to the gunwales, plus the cooler bag was full. I struggled back with it but it was quite an ordeal. I kept thinking of ringing Geoff to come and get some of it by I persevered and made it. Mind you, my back was very sore for the rest of the day.
When I got back Geoff put the sikaflex sealer around the window frame and fitted it in.
Unfortunately, the sikaflex had ‘gone off’ so he had to pull it out again and we had to get rid of all the bad sikaflex, not an easy task, and then Geoff had to go up to the hardware store and buy a replacement tube. Carolyn and Steven came by just as he was re-installing it so I made a cuppa.
Unfortunately, the sikaflex had ‘gone off’ so he had to pull it out again and we had to get rid of all the bad sikaflex, not an easy task, and then Geoff had to go up to the hardware store and buy a replacement tube. Carolyn and Steven came by just as he was re-installing it so I made a cuppa.
Hugh and Lauren from the motor boat ‘Iolana’ also came by to borrow a screwdriver to get his outboard started. We started chatting about wine. He rang later to say he had bought us a cask of wine for looking after his dinghy (emptying it after rain) and keeping an eye on his boat. ‘Naughty Boy’! They are going away for a month and we had told them we would keep an eye on it for them.
Geoff is having trouble with his teeth at the moment. He has a bottom plate with a few teeth on it and the plate has worn one of his back molars away. Now the plate won’t sit properly and is cutting into his gum so he is not a ‘happy chappy’. He is going to look at bottom dentures, I think, as he has had enough of the trouble with them. Big bucks so credit card here we come!
After a nice roast beef dinner we had a bit of excitement when the AGL Rescue helicopter came over and hovered down river near the other trawler wharf just past Grunske’s Restaurant and the Rum Factory. They played their searchlight along the river edge and also into the river. Of course we were wondering what was going on so will have to check the news tomorrow. Dave, from ‘Purrfection’ walked by and said it was a drugs bust … hmmmm … interesting. NO - not interesting at all. We found out a 42 year old deckhand had fallen in the river whilst tying up 2 boats. This was at 6.15 and he was found dead two hours later under the back of one of the trawlers. So, as I said before, NOT interesting at all but TRAGIC. I suppose we will find out on Monday’s local news what happened. Some people are saying he must have had a ‘skin full’ but I think that is not ours to say until we know the facts. He may have hit his head when he fell in or got tangled in ropes … who know!
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| Photo taken from the News Mail |
Saturday, 31st March 2012
Up at 8am, brekky then shower and onto town to pick up some milk. I saw a lot of police on the footpath and noticed a 4WD had also mounted the footpath and had come to rest at the entrance to Priceline. It didn’t look like it had actually hit the entrance and there was no smashed glass. So why were the police measuring and taking photos? They only do that when someone has been hurt so another reason to watch the local news on Monday.
Back to the boat for a cuppa and a nice surprise. Gary, Deb plus Arnie, Barnie and Carnie came for a visit. The dogs just come for their treats of course. Then another nice surprise when Owen, Mia and Fe came for a visit and had brought some passionfruit from the tree in Owen’s back yard. Nice. I made him a cuppa and gave the dogs some treats, of course.
Geoff has been having a fiddle with his plate and is trying to push it into a shape that doesn’t cut into his gums. He’s not having much luck. When he had fiddled enough with them we wandered up town to ‘Bundilicious’ to have their ‘2 for 1’ lunch using the supermarket voucher from IGA. We both had calamari, chips and salad at the grand cost of $7 total. Then we had the ‘2 for 1’ coffee so another $4 in total. But we also bought a couple of ‘full price’ drinks so didn’t feel too bad.
Back to the marina where we went onto the main marina and visited Sam and Shirley then Matt, Rod, Bosun, Gerry and Celia. By the time we got back to the boat it was 3.30 pm. Nothing else of note happened today.
Sunday, 1st April 2012 - April Fools Day
Rabbits!!!!! A nice day but we were kept awake last night by a noisy gathering at the H2O Restaurant or the club next to it until late. Then, at 3 am, three guys on one of the veranda’s of the motel were talking and laughing really loudly. At first I thought it was someone standing just outside of the boat but I couldn’t see anyone. They were so loud they woke Geoff who surfaced and saw where they were straight away. He shone his powerful torch on them which shut them up pretty quickly.
Bacon and egg, it’s Sunday, of course. Geoff went off to Bunning's and I tried to stay industrious this morning as I didn’t do much of anything yesterday. So … I made a yoghurt, got a crockpot dinner going, cooked a Date Loaf, cleaned (well, that’s always ongoing) and then made a cuppa to relax. Geoff came back and finished putting the window frame on the port window in securely.
Whilst he was doing that Hugh, from the motor boat ‘Iolana’ arrived with not just one cask of wine but three!!! Plus a bottle of NZ Sauvignon Blanc. Wow!!! We tried to refuse it but to no avail. Thanks Hugh. He is just pleased that someone will empty his dinghy when it rains and keep an eye on ‘Iolana’. They are away until the second week of May and then they come back and we head off. South, of all directions, when it is a prevailing southerly wind. Ah well, we will just grab the opportunity when it is a variable/light day or has a little north in it. Geoff’s idea, not mine, I might add.
Monday, 2nd April 2012
Off to Wide Bay Volunteers today and I kept busy. Geoff rang and asked me to grab a few bits from the supermarket on my way home so I also popped into Centrelink whilst I was up that way to see how busy they were. Luckily they weren’t so I didn’t have too long to wait until I was called. This time, hopefully, I have fixed up the voluntary work that is linked to Neato. The guy, Derek, said I will no longer have to go to Neato for 12 months although they might call me occasionally. That sounds good. I had a chat with Cathy from ‘Zacatan’ whilst in there as her job provider managed to get her a full time job there. Sounds better than mine although I’m must admit I’m not too fussed to get a job as I only have about 2 years to go before I retire.
I got home about 4.30 and Geoff said he had been to the denture place and got some good advice. They recommend that he hangs on to the remaining bottom teeth as long as he can and get a plastic plate made which means he can add a tooth to the plate as he needs to. He had kept busy fiddling around with small jobs on the boat. A lovely day!
Tuesday, 3rd April 2012
Work at WBV and kept busy once again. I got back to the boat just after 3pm and Geoff said that Owen had visited because he couldn’t get his Bluetooth hands free device working in the car and wanted Geoff to have a look at it. He also brought our mail, Genie Bras for me and retractable USB cables for Geoff. Geoff had kept himself busy and had also prepared tea, painted round the side window where he had damaged the paintwork the window out. He had also sanded around the front windows ready for the last (I wonder if it will be) bit of painting with 2 pack.
Wednesday, 4th April 2012
This time it was Geoff who went off to work. I had brekky then went to put in a load of washing and have a shower. Chatted to Jan and then Fiona and Andrew for ages. There was no room on the washing line so I took the washing back to the boat to hang up to dry on the back deck. I also cleaned all of the brass work as it was looking decidedly tarnished. The washing was soon dry, folded and put away and then Geoff was back. He was quite late as he had been to the library. He also said he had worked his ‘butt’ off today … Poor little B!
Thursday, 5th April 2012
Up at 4am (YAWN), have brekky and walk to the station to catch the Tilt Train to Brisbane. It must be the slowest ‘Fast 'train ever. It normally takes four and a half hours to go from Hervey Bay to Brisbane, so slow, but today it was even 25 minutes late coming into Roma Street in Brisbane. Plus they showed a news that was over a week old. Geoff told the staff the news was really old and the female attendant got really snooty and said there was nothing they could do about it as it was automated. Then Geoff said “and you couldn’t give a shit!”. The older male attendant then said I will ring head office and get is sorted and got straight on the phone.
As the train was really late getting into Brisbane we grabbed a taxi and headed off. It wasn’t long before Geoff was in doing his lung capacity test. It was good news with his tests coming in at 85%. Apparently it was 50% when he arrived at the Royal Brisbane and 70% when he was discharged. So this is a huge improvement. The doctor wants him to continue taking the steroids, taking 25mg for two weeks, then 20 mg for a week, then 15 mg and then continuing on with 10mg until his next check up in three months time. It looks like they are going to be right on top of this Scleroderma from now on. Geoff hates the steroids because of the side effects. The doctor is adamant that the lung improvement would be from the steroids as it is too good an improvement in such a little time. Even athletes do not improve that quickly, even with intense training. He has to compliment the steroids with Calcium and Vitamin D so we shall see. We put the scripts in at the hospital pharmacy which was a mistake as after two and a quarter hours they we still not ready. Some of that time was spent having lunch but what a waste of time that was.
We caught the bus into the city and wandered around but didn't buy anything as we were watching our pennies. One thing I did get done was to change my PIN on my St George savings card, which I couldn’t do in Bundy. We then wandered back to the Roma Street Transit Centre after trying to follow the route back on the GPS. Unfortunately, because there were high buildings all around and we weren’t in the middle of the road the GPS had trouble picking up a signal. Plus, when he had it on walk mode the icon, shoes, was hard to see to which way they were pointing. When he put it in car mode the GPS tried to make us walk all around the one way streets, something we didn't have to do as we were walking. Anyway, we eventually made our way to the transit centre to board the Tilt Train at 4.55. We watched the movie ‘Johnny English Returns’ and had a good laugh. This time the ‘slow’ fast train was on time into Bundy. Its top speed was about 163 kph for about 5 minutes with the rest of the journey averaging around 63 kph. Even the normal suburban trains were going faster than us.
Getting off the train and walking through Bundy at 10 pm at night was a bit of an eye opener as a lot of the homeless were around plus a lot of the ’brain dead’ were hanging around. I wouldn’t have felt at ease walking on my own.
When we got back we had a snack and watched a little bit of news before heading for the sack. A long and tiring day!
Good Friday, 6th April 2012
Not much to report today. I did a bit of work around the boat and Geoff was on the computer much of the day. Mid afternoon he went up on the front deck to mask up various bits and the windows to put the undercoat on later. ‘Purrfection’ has gone out sailing for the Easter break as has ‘FiddlerV1’ and ‘Leisure Lee’. We are now all alone on the trawler wharf apart from the empty trawlers and an occasional trawler skipper to keep us company.
Saturday, 7th April 2012
Not a good night for me as I was woken up with a very ‘iffy’ tummy during the night with constant visits to the head. I expect I kept waking Geoff up. No, he said he never heard me! And I had to visit the head about seven times. He must sleep well! He is fine so the only thing different I ate than him is some macadamias. I got up at 5am and put my computer on to take my mind off things. I got the emails and there was one for Geoff from a guy in Portugal commenting on his photo of Fitzroy Island (that Geoff had put on Google Earth) and it was in Portuguese. When Geoff got up he made me a coffee and I told him about his email. There was a little icon saying ‘translate’ so he pushed it and the message read “Beautiful, love it, Greetings from Coimbra Portugal”. Isn’t it amazing what you can do on the computers these days?
I’ve decided to give food combing a go again as it really worked last time. It won’t hurt to give it a go again. Geoff finished off the 2 pack painting around the front windows. I then sent him off to IGA to pick up a few things (he picked up apples from Nightingales - an orchard near Bright). He met Lyn from ‘Osho’ there and she said they were going out sailing for a few days but she gets seasick. Geoff told her to come round and he would give her some Sturgeon so she turned up at 5.30 pm and had a drink with us and left just before 7pm. Geoff decided to give me an easy time of it and had a frozen lasagne and I just had a tomato and cucumber sandwich. We went to bed just before 10 pm and then heard a tinny come quietly in to the dock. Something about it didn’t seem right to Geoff so he got up. The guy walked very quietly up the dock and we heard him at the gate and watched him walk up the hill. Geoff went to check that he had locked the padlock and found he had broken the gate close to where Stan had done a weld-fix. So now we probably know how it got broken in the first place and he must not have a key. Geoff went up and took photos of the damaged gate and then took one of the tinny’s registration number. The guy came back within 30 minutes and back through the damaged gate. He took ages coming back along the dock and Geoff said he was just standing and looking into the trawlers. We waited for him to get into his tinny and leave but he just sat in it for ages just smoking. Then he got out a swag, got into it and went asleep on the dock. It was very weird and we felt very vulnerable as we were the only other inhabited boat on the dock. We shut the saloon doors so we would hear him if he tried to get on the boat and into the saloon. Geoff said he left about 5am and headed off downstream. I wonder what all that was about?
Oh … one thing Lyn told us was that someone had tried to break into ‘Macs Pride’ boat in the main marina the other night but was seen by someone who called the police and they took him away in handcuffs.
Easter Sunday, 8th April 2012
Spud and Pab went out in their trawlers today so we were all alone until a large blue trawler ‘Stella’ came in and docked.
After brekky of bacon and eggs it was up for a shower but first it was a chat with Andrew and Matt who were also up at the laundry area. After the shower we also chatted to Shirley and then saw Arnie, Barnie and Carnie walking with Deb and Gary towards our boat. They were on their way for a visit so walked up the hill instead. Luckily I had dog treats with me as it was our intention to visit them after our shower, so the woofs were happy. Deb gave us a Ferrero Rocher Easter egg which she said was from the dogs. Clever dogs! So the laundry/shower area was a hive of chat this morning.
On the way back down the hill we saw that a lot of the boats had gone out for Easter but were only down at Burnett Heads as the winds were a bit strong outside the harbour. We couldn’t be bothered with just going that far again as that is all we did when Jo and Mikey were over. The little yacht ‘Isis’ is also back and they never made it to 1770 as their mainsail pulley/block had jammed and they couldn’t get the sail up. These things happen when you are new to sailing, they happen too when you are experienced.
Geoff applied another coat of paint around the front windows and front deck and it looks really good. In fact, the whole boat looks really good now, outside at least.
In the afternoon Andrew and Fiona came over to see how the lads from ’Isis’ had got on so we had an impromptu dock party with drinks and nibbles. By the time we had finished it was 7pm so we had our good old standby of chunky soup and fresh tiger bread (thanks to Carolyn and Steve) followed by a dessert of Easter eggs.
Monday, 9th April 2012
A beautiful day. I pottered around for a bit getting a crockpot meal ready and Geoff masked up the side window to spray paint the black surround. We also have a 47 ft navy, shiny, brand new Easterly cat ‘Siena’ berthed behind us that was launched today from the slip over the other side of the marina. Dave, the owner, said he had taken four years to build it himself. We were going to move back to the end of the dock to get a better view but we have missed out now so no view still but never mind. ‘Purrfection’ who were behind us are going out on a mooring when they get back.
At 12 we headed off to walk to ‘Grunske’s by the River’ for lunch and met Maryanne and Owen there. Crumbed Mackerel for me, Crumbed Barramundi for Geoff and Seafood baskets each for Maryanne and Owen. A nice lunch out with enjoyable company. They brought us back and we saw the new cat had gone. Geoff said he probably wanted to take it out for a sail for the first time. I should say for a ‘motor’ as they do not have any sails yet. They came back just after 4.30 pm. ‘Leisure Lea’ arrived on the fuel dock a few minutes later as they will ask Ray to take them back to their berth tomorrow as it is quite narrow and they need to get past ‘Femme’ which is a large house boat.
Tuesday, 10th April 2012
Off to WBV but spent quite some time chatting to Linda on ‘Leisure Lea’ and the lady on ‘Stella’ so was a bit late getting there. Work wasn’t so busy today. Bought sushi rolls for lunch which was a nice change. I got back to the boat just after 3pm and saw the big blue trawler ‘Stella’ was now rafted up to ‘Magani’ on the maintenance wharf. Geoff had kept busy during the day by modifying the overflow vent/pipe for the two under-bed water tanks. He had also been to the library and read all of the papers and got some books. He came back and started to modify the storage area behind the port cabin seat to take his laptop. Jim gave us some prawns which Geoff soon consumed. We also chatted to the people on ‘Sea Dragon’ that had taken a mooring the day before. Their cat has two main masts with junk sail configuration and no headsail. He said they worked well and he had got them made in China as they were about $2000 cheaper and he was very happy with the quality of them. Good to know.
After dinner Maryanne rang with some very bad news. Their little fluff ball of a dog, Fe, was in a bad way. Owen had taken Mia and Fe to the park and, as usual, they were on their leads. A couple with two large dogs, one was a Great Dane, came along with their dogs off the lead. The Great Dane came bounding over to play and he playfully jumped on Fe, who is a delicate little thing, and has crushed some ribs and a lung. She is in at the vets and has already cost around $800. Owen and Maryanne have been to the council and will be chasing this up. Owen is really broken up, as you can imagine, and is very tearful. So very sad as she wasn’t quite six months old.
Wednesday, 11th April 2012
I woke up a lot during the night with my first thoughts being on little Fe. I was wondering if she would make it through the night and sincerely hoped so. But, my wishes were not to be fulfilled. I rang Maryanne only to be told she didn’t make it and died just after the vet came in to open up. When Maryanne and Owen brought her home Mia was, at first excited, and then realised that things were wrong. When they buried her little Mia cried. I had a good cry too and kept crying on and off all day. I am crying as I write this.
So I kept busy! I got all of the washing together and headed up to the laundry and put a load on, showered whilst it was washing and then it was ready to hang out. Head up to IGA to get some supplies and grab a cheap sheet from the Op Shop to use as a drop sheet when I de-mould Geoff’s cabin. Lunch then get the washing in and relax for a while and write a bit more of the journal and have a cry again. I then watched a bit of daytime TV, something I seldom do. Geoff rang (he was at work) and said he was going to Owen and Maryanne’s with some flowers so I was glad. He had a coffee with them and said they were coping, as you do, and would get another puppy after they come back from Brisbane, after the wedding of Maryanne’s daughter Natalie, which is in early May. We are puppy sitting for a few days. Last time we puppy sat for them Geoff got really sick and ended up in the Royal Brisbane Hospital. Keeping our fingers crossed the time.
Thursday, 12th April 2012
Off to WBV this morning and kept reasonably busy. Geoff kept busy too doing odd jobs around the boat, as is normal. There’s nothing much to report. We both did a bit of fishing off the dock and Geoff caught a legal Bream which he kept. I caught two small fish that went back. Geoff cooked fish for tea (frozen fillets) plus the Bream. Yum.
Friday, 13th April 2012
Get up, shower, brekky and then walk up to the IGA bus stop to catch the bus to Agro trend, a yearly agricultural show which was held just past Sugarland Shopping Complex. $2.80 in total for the both of us. We got there about 11am and wandered around trying not to spend any money. $2.50 for a sausage roll and $4 for a salad sandwich. “So far, so good! But, alas, we wandered into a big tented area where a lady spent a good 45 minutes with us discussing feet problems and why moulded orthotic foot beds are not good for the feet. As she explained, and it makes sense, when you have a foot bed moulded to your foot you are only moulding the problem in and not correcting anything. Even though we told her at the start that we wouldn’t be buying them as we couldn’t afford them ($360 a pair but guaranteed for 10 years) she didn’t seem at all worried and spent a long time examining our feet and telling us of our problems. She said I was in danger of getting ‘Morton’s Neuroma’ and I said ‘Too late, I’ve already got it”. She then went on to explain how the foot worked and what nerves affected what and what my feet were trying to do to compensate for the problem. She let me try a pair of demo ones and my posture was better straight away and it was noticeable as I was standing much straighter. She also told Geoff what his problem was. She said that when she got back to her office she would look for a demo pair in our size which she would let us have for $150 each. This is still dear but I would definitely think about it if it can help with my feet problem. We left her and carried on walking around the stalls and then around 2pm Geoff got a call from the Dental Dept at the Base Hospital saying there was an appointment free so Geoff took it. We walked from Agro trend to Harvey Norman shop, where we called a taxi and headed off to the hospital. He came out about 30 minutes later minus a tooth as they were unable to save it. He also has to make another appointment to get another one out the other side so he is not a happy chappy at the moment. This means he has no teeth to secure his plate to, so has to have another one made which is not free as has to be done at a normal dentist. Bumma. We wandered back to the marina via the zoo and the river walk and sat down to rest our weary legs on the way. Whilst we were walking the lady from Agro trend rang to say she had a pair of demo orthotics in the boot of her car if I wanted them. As we couldn’t really afford them at this moment we said we would think about it and get back to her. I think Geoff thinks it is worth giving it a go.
Saturday, 14th April 2012
Up at 8am. We have decided that Geoff will buy the orthotics for my birthday which is next month so he went up and got $150 from the bank and headed off on his scooter back to Agro trend to pick them up. Whilst he was away I went up to pay our berth fees for another month, went on line and paid our phone and internet bills and transferred funds over to our credit card. We try to keep a zero balance on our credit card as we don’t like paying interest. When Geoff came back he listened to the radio and was soon snoring away. Because he can’t chew very well at the moment I made him some porridge for brekky and macaroni cheese for lunch. After lunch we wandered up to the main marina to visit. We dropped a book of to Sam and then visited Lindsay and Di on ‘FiddlerV1’ for a coffee and a good chat. On to Gary and Deb on ‘Femme’ for another visit. I had taken nibbles with me for the dogs so they were pleased to see me. As was Bosun and Page who we saw on the way. After the nibbles it was a back scratch for the woofs and we left about 5pm after a quick hello to Warren, Linda and Sailor (Sailor missed out as all the goodies had been eaten by then). Back to 2Abreast to think about cooking tea.
Sunday, 15th April 2012
Scrambled egg with bacon, very finely chopped, and Geoff managed to chew it enough. We noticed that the boat was looking a bit dirty so we washed the boat. Then Hayden from ‘Purrfection’ and his mate, also Hayden, came to ask for a drink of water whilst they waited for Dave to return. We invited them onboard and Geoff taught them how to play the basic game of Carcassonne, which they enjoyed. Apparently Hayden is not allowed to stay onboard their boat when there are no adults onboard. I suppose I can understand why but it must be boring for him at times. Whilst Geoff and the two boys were playing Carolyn, Steve and Spuggy arrived bearing gifts. Cake and a bread. Cuppas all round. The boys left about 2pm with Geoff winning, of course. Carolyn and Steve left about 3 pm and I went back to cleaning up some pumpkin seeds. I then oiled and seasoned them and baked them in the oven for 20 minutes. I was not impressed with the results so maybe I need a better recipe. I may try one more time and if it doesn’t work that will be the end of it for roasting pumpkin seeds as far as I am concerned!
Monday 16th and Tuesday 17th April 2012
On Monday I went of to work and was extremely busy. Geoff masked up the blue sections of the back deck area underneath the carpet. Cooked dinner and that was it for Monday.
Tuesday and we both went in to work and I was extremely busy again. Non stop interviews all day. Geoff went off to the scrap place and received $76 for all the computer scrap. He has also found that he can get 80¢ a kilo for computer fans as well so that is now another component the boys can keep for re-cycling. He also went out and picked up some donated computers.
It was supposed to rain today so I carried my big umbrella to work and back to ensure it didn’t rain. In fact it turned out to be a lovely sunny day.
Back to the boat by 3pm and Stan and Paul were working on the new bit of trawler wharf (still tied on with ropes) and it looked like very hard work. Jim gave them a bit of a hand as well. After dinner there was this funny squeaky noise coming from outside the boat. We went out to investigate and it turned out to be a tree branch making a noise as it made its way along our starboard hull.
Wednesday, 18th April 2012
Another beautiful day when it is forecast to be raining but whose complaining?
Geoff went off to Owen’s then to Dan and Marg’s to set up their 4G Bigpond modem. He said he had to call the Telstra technician and actually learnt something useful. He was away ages. I got into the cleaning and did a thorough job of the galley, my cabin, saloon and the head and shower area. I also had a go at the mould on the wall of Geoff’s cabin and finished around noon. Still no Geoff but he arrived back about 30 minutes later. He said Maryanne and Owen were ok and the people who were dog sitting the Great Dane had paid half of the vet bill and were paying the rest in instalments. They were very upset at what had happened and were pensioners so it was a very expensive exercise for them but at least they are doing the right thing. When Geoff got back he finished with the last coat of paint so when it is dry we can put the carpet back. Thursday, 19th April 2012
Geoff’s other tooth is very painful so he rang for an appointment at the Base Hospital but they said they had nothing available, even though he told them he was in a lot of pain. Of course it is making him feel a little down in the dumps.
I got a call from WBV asking if I was free to come in and I said I would be there in about 30 minutes. I kept busy all day. I was chatting to two of the other volunteers who come in about Geoff’s tooth problem and they said that if you had a chronic illness you could get free dental, including plates, but needed to be referred by your doctor. I said it was worth trying and told Geoff. Geoff had been around to a dentist and was told that he had to ring at 8am the next day to get an emergency appointment. I then made an appointment for him to see the doctor at 8am the next day and Geoff would ring from there. He is living off Panadol Forte at the moment. We have also joined a dental health insurance scheme which is $119 for the two of us for two years. He will save this amount in the first appointment with having his tooth pulled. I cooked fried rice for tea so he didn’t have to chew much. Poor B!
Friday, 20th April 2012
Geoff went off to the doctors this morning but was told he doesn’t qualify yet as he has to have a care plan from his doctor plus be under two other specialist, of which only one can be a medical specialist. So he has his local GP and he has his medical specialist in Brisbane but he needs to be under another non medical special like a dietician, physiatrist or similar. I think the doctor may have started this process, according to Geoff, but I’m not really sure. Carolyn and Steve arrived at 1pm with a cinnamon bun and a loaf. They left about 2pm and then Geoff headed off to his 3pm appointment with the dentist. He seemed to be ages and he came back minus another tooth. He was hoping that they could save it but no! He said he was happy with the dentist and had used our new health card. An x-ray and tooth out cost him $164 instead of $300. If you take away the two years subscription of $119 we are still $17 better off. For a matter of interest I looked to see how much it had cost me to have an x-ray and a tooth pulled in 2009. It was a whopping $375 so it was a good saving. The down side of it all is that Geoff has four more appointments. Two in May, one in June and a third in early July by which time he should have a new bottom partial plate fitted. This is all going to cost $1097 which is about half the price of what we would have to pay without the insurance. It also means we really can’t go out sailing till July, although we could go out to Lady Musgrave, Hervey Bay and the Great Sandy Straits for a while and come back for the appointments. It also means we can’t make it down to Brisbane area to catch up with Sue and Arno. I rang Arno and he said they are staying with his sister in Caboolture and she said it is not too far to come and visit up here so all is good as we would hate to miss them when they are so near. So a hiccup to our plans but it is better for Geoff to get his teeth fixed.
Saturday, 21st April 2012
Quite a lazy day and hot considering that winter is only five weeks away. The temperatures have been around the 28ºC mark every day. Nice.
We walked into town to get a few things from the chemist and IGA but mainly to get off the boat and stretch our legs. We also watched a DVD that Geoff borrowed from the library. Nothing much more to report apart from Geoff getting suspicious of all the tinnies that were coming and going to the public dinghy jetty. This seems to happen a lot of Friday and Saturday nights and after dark so he wondered if it was drug deals going down. He went for a little walk along the river walk to check it out. I told him to be careful but he said it was just fishermen doing some cast net fishing unless that was just a cover! Sunday, 22nd April 2012
Up late. Another hot spring day. Dan and Marg came around with their laptop to see if Geoff could see why their new 4G modem was not picking up their old email address. In the end I got onto the Bigpond online chat and found out their new email address was working but their old email address hadn’t been transferred over as a second email address yet and would take another week. So there was nothing that Geoff could do to help them with that as it was a BigPond issue. Still, now at least they know. Marg said how nice the boat was looking. They also let slip that Maryanne and Owen had a new addition to their family. A black Shiatsu/Silky Cross (or was it Shiatsu/Maltese???). They told us they were going to wait until they got back from Brisbane so it now looks like we will really be ‘puppy’ sitting early May.
After they left we had lunch and Hayden came over for another game of Carcassonne. Geoff won, of course, me second and Hayden last, as was to be expected as it was only his second game. But, we also taught him Mexican Train and he picked it up really quickly plus he WON! Jeanene came over at 6pm to pick him up and I think he had a good time.
Monday, 23rd April 2012
Up at 8ish and loll around in my PJ’s for about an hour until we saw Andrew in his dinghy slowly towing Steve’s ‘Zarab’ up the river. Geoff quickly got dressed and helped them tie up behind us. ‘Zarab’ is not a large trawler but is still quite a heavy fishing boat to tow with a small outboard and an inflatable dinghy. Steve had to replace an oil filter and then he was soon back in his berth in front of ‘Femme’. (Steve was the fisherman who towed us to safety during the floods)
Time for me to do the weekly chore of the washing so I left Geoff to fix the floor in front of the oven which was feeling spongy. He found the stainless steel screws had snapped so it wasn’t too hard a job. He was still doing it when I got back and eventually finished the job about an hour later when I could get down there and make some lunch. Owen rang and invited us for dinner tomorrow night as he wanted Geoff to install his new modem for him. We asked him if he had any more news to tell us and he soon worked out that Dan and Marg had spilled the beans on the new puppy. It is mostly black with lighter eyebrows and they have called it ‘Megs’, after Ginger Megs. He said that Mia started to eat and smile again when they brought it home. Geoff went off to the library and Hayden turned up, back from school, so I showed him how to play Sequence while he waited for Dave to arrive, which was about 4.30 and just after Geoff arrived back.
Tuesday, 24th April 2012
Work for both of us. Geoff went of to the scrap metal place with more computer stuff. I rang around for volunteers to be wait staff at the Bundaberg Race Club meet in early May. I rang 61 volunteers and only managed to get 2 people. Mostly because it was the Labour Day long weekend and also because it was something that most volunteers didn’t fancy. It was a bit of a frustrating job.
Owen picked us up at 4pm and we went back to his place where we met the new puppy ‘Megs’ who straight away has started to be called ‘Meggsy’. She is a lot quieter than ‘Fe’ but she has only been there since Sunday so is still getting used to the people, Mia and her surrounds. I had a good play with her but making more fuss of Mia so she didn’t get her nose out of joint. Megs actually got braver and braver and more active as the night progressed. She is so different to Fe, not only in colour, which is probably a good thing as it won’t be so hard not to compare.
Geoff sorted out Owen’s modem and still has a few things he needs to fix for him, like scanning and attaching. Chicken Laksa for dinner, yumee! Owen dropped us back about 10 pm.
Sunday, 22nd April 2012
Up late. Another hot spring day. Dan and Marg came around with their laptop to see if Geoff could see why their new 4G modem was not picking up their old email address. In the end I got onto the Bigpond online chat and found out their new email address was working but their old email address hadn’t been transferred over as a second email address yet and would take another week. So there was nothing that Geoff could do to help them with that as it was a BigPond issue. Still, now at least they know. Marg said how nice the boat was looking. They also let slip that Maryanne and Owen had a new addition to their family. A black Shiatsu/Silky Cross (or was it Shiatsu/Maltese???). They told us they were going to wait until they got back from Brisbane so it now looks like we will really be ‘puppy’ sitting early May.
After they left we had lunch and Hayden came over for another game of Carcassonne. Geoff won, of course, me second and Hayden last, as was to be expected as it was only his second game. But, we also taught him Mexican Train and he picked it up really quickly plus he WON! Jeanene came over at 6pm to pick him up and I think he had a good time.
Monday, 23rd April 2012
Up at 8ish and loll around in my PJ’s for about an hour until we saw Andrew in his dinghy slowly towing Steve’s ‘Zarab’ up the river. Geoff quickly got dressed and helped them tie up behind us. ‘Zarab’ is not a large trawler but is still quite a heavy fishing boat to tow with a small outboard and an inflatable dinghy. Steve had to replace an oil filter and then he was soon back in his berth in front of ‘Femme’. (Steve was the fisherman who towed us to safety during the floods)
Time for me to do the weekly chore of the washing so I left Geoff to fix the floor in front of the oven which was feeling spongy. He found the stainless steel screws had snapped so it wasn’t too hard a job. He was still doing it when I got back and eventually finished the job about an hour later when I could get down there and make some lunch. Owen rang and invited us for dinner tomorrow night as he wanted Geoff to install his new modem for him. We asked him if he had any more news to tell us and he soon worked out that Dan and Marg had spilled the beans on the new puppy. It is mostly black with lighter eyebrows and they have called it ‘Megs’, after Ginger Megs. He said that Mia started to eat and smile again when they brought it home. Geoff went off to the library and Hayden turned up, back from school, so I showed him how to play Sequence while he waited for Dave to arrive, which was about 4.30 and just after Geoff arrived back.
Tuesday, 24th April 2012
Work for both of us. Geoff went of to the scrap metal place with more computer stuff. I rang around for volunteers to be wait staff at the Bundaberg Race Club meet in early May. I rang 61 volunteers and only managed to get 2 people. Mostly because it was the Labour Day long weekend and also because it was something that most volunteers didn’t fancy. It was a bit of a frustrating job.
Owen picked us up at 4pm and we went back to his place where we met the new puppy ‘Megs’ who straight away has started to be called ‘Meggsy’. She is a lot quieter than ‘Fe’ but she has only been there since Sunday so is still getting used to the people, Mia and her surrounds. I had a good play with her but making more fuss of Mia so she didn’t get her nose out of joint. Megs actually got braver and braver and more active as the night progressed. She is so different to Fe, not only in colour, which is probably a good thing as it won’t be so hard not to compare. Geoff sorted out Owen’s modem and still has a few things he needs to fix for him, like scanning and attaching. Chicken Laksa for dinner, yumee! Owen dropped us back about 10 pm.
Wednesday, 25th April 2012 - Anzac Day
I didn’t hear the dawn Anzac Day parade bagpipes this time, probably because we are further away, but Geoff said he did. We were up about 8 am and it wasn't long before there was a spitfire and two defence force helicopters doing a fly by down the river. Geoff said the light wasn’t good for photos but he managed to catch them enough for me to put in the journal.
Up for a shower and I just wore my sandals without bothering to put in my new foot beds. It isn’t far to the shower but my hips were aching when I got back so it just shows they must be working.
Geoff spent the morning researching the places in Pompeii, Italy, we had visited in 2007. He had borrowed a few books on the subject from the library and has been able to identify many of the photos he took that were untitled. Also, he has been using Google Earth and has managed to get a good idea of the range of the places we visited during our half day tour there. This is the sort of thing he is right into.
Thursday, 26th April 2012
Off to Wide Bay Volunteers again this morning and I kept very busy. When I got back Geoff said he hadn’t done much except for going to the library, caravan and camping place and Aldi. We met at the library for lunch and we also met up at IGA on the way home. A cold morning but a nice day until evening when it got cool again. A nothing sort of day.
Friday, 27th April 2012
The rowers were vey noisy this morning. We were supposed to go to see the financial planner this morning but he rang asking if we could change the appointment as he was sick (and he sounded sick too). He sounded terrible so we now have an appointment for Monday instead. So what did we do? Geoff tried to ring the Friendlies Hospital for a free dental x-ray and couldn’t get through so went up to book directly and they did the x-ray straight away and it is covered by Medicare, great! He went to the library again as well.
Cleaning for me, what’s new? I did some mould removal in Geoff’s cabin, sorted out some clothes, went through my old filing file and threw out all of the old stuff. Even the old Bright Hikers company stuff as it is now over seven years since we closed the business. Geoff came back and helped me sort out the filing and is going to burn it all later as there is some very personal stuff with it. After lunch we went onto the web to look into getting vinyl stickers for the boat. We found two sites quoting approx $280 and then we found a third site quoting $121 which sounds much better. We didn’t order them yet as the laptop went on a ‘go slow. Some rain!
Saturday, 28th April 2012
It rained on and off all night but not too heavily. It was overcast and showery all day and there is a strong wind forecast for tomorrow. So we fiddled around until lunchtime. We then decided to go to Bundylicious for their ‘2 for 1’ lunch deal. On the way we popped into the marina to tell Sandy we would be available for stocktaking at the end of June, if they needed us. She said she would pass the message on to Jan. Onto Bundylicious but Geoff said he doesn’t think she likes it when you give her the shopadocket with the deal on it. He says it is her body language. I said that she shouldn’t advertise the deal if she didn’t want to honour it and she can always take the deal off. I had Nachos and Geoff had fish’n chips. The meals cost us $7.50 in total. It is the coffees that make it a bit more expensive. In fact the coffees cost us more than the meals did. We took the umbrella with us as it was raining and we needed. We also popped into Dick Smith on the way back to have a look at ebook readers as I have dropped mine and the writing is now negative and there is about ⅛ of the screen missing. We saw one there that was $69 and also looked at the Kindle. I like the type I already have as it is back lit and it is good for reading in bed with the light off. I do most of my reading in bed and hardly ever read in the direct sunlight. I don’t want a fancy one with all the ‘bells and whistles’ either, just a plain ebook reader as I can’t be fussed with any of the extras. Onto Dymocks Book Shop and back to the boat where I didn’t do much more at all. Well, apart from getting a few things together for when I go to see the financial planner on Monday. Oh … I did make a bread pudding. We had a light tea as we were still full from lunch.
Sunday, 29th April 2012
Bacon and eggs. It has stopped raining and where are those gale force winds? They never did arrive. We decided to wander up to the main marina to visit Deb, Gary and the woofs and took dog nibbles, of course. The woofs were pleased to see us and we sat on their back deck with coffees all round, well not for the dogs. We also popped up to see Gerry and Celia. When we got back to the boat Jim told us we had just missed Maryanne, Owen and the woofs. Bumma! So I rang them instead. Carolyn, Steve and Spuggy then turned up so it was more coffees. They stayed for a couple of hours and Geoff went for a snooze so I read on the back deck for a while until he surfaced.
Monday, 3oth April 2012
Geoff had a bit of a tummy ache last night. I also had a restless night for some reason. Owen, Mia and Megsy turned up (Maryanne’s in Brisbane) so nibbles for the woofs and coffee and cake for us humans. After lunch Geoff and I headed off to the bank to see the financial planner. It seems I am getting a really good return on my superannuation (10%+) which surprised him so we have decided to leave it where it is unless we really get into strife. When I got back I rang my superannuation company and found mine was a defined benefit and I have to pull the whole sum out and can’t get a little at a time unless I roll it over to an accumulation fund. The returns are about the same and I can then draw on it when I want. The down side is that it is no longer govt guaranteed and the fees are about .92% on the total per annum which means I would lose about $850—$900 a year. So we will definitely leave it where it is for the moment.
Tuesday, 1st May 2012
Off to work for me and off to the dentist for Geoff. Another $188 to find! I was kept busy at work with data entry. Another fun day with Karyn, the other referral officer, as she is such a ‘hoot’! Geoff didn’t come for lunch as he was re-painting the spinnaker pole. I popped in for a hair cut on the way home as I felt like I was wearing a bushy mop on my head and my fringe was curling skyward. Another nothing sort of day.
Wednesday, 2nd May 2012
Geoff went off to Wide Bay Volunteers and spent the day moving telephone lines from the foyer area to the reception area to tidy up the place. I packed a bag of clothes and got the dirty washing together for when we were off to Kinghorn Street to dog sit later. I then quickly went into town to buy Geoff an electric toothbrush and spare heads and to pick up a tiger roll for lunch. I surfed the web looking at new credit cards as I really wanted to change mine but there was always a minimum requirement for income which was too high for us. Geoff came home about 2.15 pm and
I got the rest of the packing done. Hayden and Hayden arrived at the boat around 3.50 pm and sat on the back deck doing their homework until Dave (Hayden’s stepdad) arrived back from work and they could go over to their boat. About 6pm Owen arrived and our first stop was to pick up fish’n chips for us as Owen was having a subway as his stomach was still a bit off from a trip to the hospital the other day with his normal complaint of diverticulitis. He thought he should stay off the fatty foods. The woofs were really pleased to see us so lots of cuddles. We watched TV but my eyes were getting really heavy. Ian from ‘Blue Pearl’ rang and played a joke on me saying he was from a retirement company and he really sucked me in. Anyway, he said he would be down this Thursday and Friday so we said we would catch up with him there. It will be good to see him again.
I got the rest of the packing done. Hayden and Hayden arrived at the boat around 3.50 pm and sat on the back deck doing their homework until Dave (Hayden’s stepdad) arrived back from work and they could go over to their boat. About 6pm Owen arrived and our first stop was to pick up fish’n chips for us as Owen was having a subway as his stomach was still a bit off from a trip to the hospital the other day with his normal complaint of diverticulitis. He thought he should stay off the fatty foods. The woofs were really pleased to see us so lots of cuddles. We watched TV but my eyes were getting really heavy. Ian from ‘Blue Pearl’ rang and played a joke on me saying he was from a retirement company and he really sucked me in. Anyway, he said he would be down this Thursday and Friday so we said we would catch up with him there. It will be good to see him again.
Thursday, 3rd June 2012
Owen left early this morning. They, being Maryanne and Owen, are staying at a lovely B&B in Brisbane near Natalie’s place and Maryanne said everything was on track for Natalie’s wedding. This is probably a big relief to Maryanne. Owen had left us their little car so Geoff dropped me off at work. I then had to call him back as the phones had a hiccup so he popped back. It was only the phone plug in the wrong hole and was soon fixed. I kept busy until after lunch and then it was a bit slow. Geoff picked me up and said he had got a lot of varnishing completed on the boat and had also been to Bunning’s to pick up some items to change an electric power point for Maryanne. On the way to Kinghorn St we popped into the Bundy Rum Distillery as they had sent me 2 adult tour tickets for my birthday which were worth $50 in total. The finish date was 31st May and we wanted to give them to Sue and Arno who don’t arrive until 1st June and they were happy to extend them. Both Geoff and I are Bundy Rum Ambassadors so each time we encourage visitors to the Rum factory to do the tour we also get in for free and also get the free tastings at the end. When we got home Mia and Megsy went Berserk so lots of hugs and kisses all round. Geoff then worked on the new power point whilst I went into the garage to sort through all the stuff we had here in storage. Ian from ‘Blue Pearl rang and said that he would be coming tomorrow.
Friday, 4th May 2012
It rained hard overnight. Mia took up a lot of the bed and snored most of the night. Megsy got up too, not sure how, and eventually settled down wrapped around my head, just like little Fe used to do.
We decided the day was too miserable to go out touring today so we went to the boat and Geoff put on another coat of varnish. I stayed outside whilst he did it. When we left we chatted to Andrew off ‘Apa Lagi’ whose boat was on the trawler wharf rafted up to another boat as both boats were waiting for someone to quote on work that needed doing after the river fiasco the other week. We left him in a hurry as there was a sudden torrential downpour. Onto Sam’s Warehouse, Spotlight, The Good Guys and Bunning’s where we bought some plastic clear material to make up new side clears as the old ones are getting decidedly chatty. We thought we may be able to use Maryanne’s sewing machine but decided against it and may have to get them stitched professionally. I sent a text message to Natalie from Mia and Megsy wishing her and Michael all the best for their wedding tomorrow. Got a message from Ian and he is not coming now until June … bumma!
Saturday, 5th May 2012
I was hot during the night and the dogs take up way too much room!
After brekky we headed off to the boat so that Geoff could put another coat of varnish on. I went up to the main marina and had a chat with Linda and Warren on ‘Leisure Lea’ and fed Sailor some dog nibbles. On to Gary and nibbles for Arnie, Barnie and Carnie. It was then time to go back to the boat and Geoff was just finishing up. We grabbed an insulated jug of iced water and some fruit and headed out on our ‘touring’ day. We were heading to our first stop of Mt Perry but saw a sign for the Boonbooral Tunnel which was only a detour of 2km. I had read about it in a tourist magazine in the 1928 Café whilst Jo and Mikey were in the Hinkler Hall of Aviation. According to the sign it was cut out in 1884. It was interesting and was full of bats which flew around the car as we drove through the tunnel. Unfortunately, we had left the camera behind so was only able to take photos on our phones which never come out so good, but you can get an idea.
Then it was do a U-turn and drive back through, disturbing the bats once again. They must get disturbed a lot in the day as road (even though it is a side road) is a through road through the tunnel to the farming community thereabouts.
On to Mt Perry. BLINK … almost missed it! A few houses, a small general store, a pub (of course) and that was, basically, it. Oh, there was a Leopard Tank on display which had been donated to the local RSL (Returned Servicemen's League).
I think there are also a few mines about, mainly copper, but we didn’t see any sign of them. Something squashed, white and fluffy on the road which looked a bit like a koala … sad! We did go up to the lookout here and have a look at the surrounding scenery but we didn’t stop other than that. So, on towards Gayndah but passed a lovely caravan and camping site at Mingo Crossing situated beside Paradise Lake. Paradise Lake is one of the catchment areas that gave us all that grief during the Burnett River flood on December 2010. Still, it is a very pretty spot and we will have to remember it when we are cruising in our motor home. By this time we were travelling on a 34 km stretch of gravel road with unfenced edges and roaming cattle so we had to keep out eyes peeled. We got into Gayndah just after 1.30 pm and it was much bigger than I thought it would be and was very neat and quite appealing so we parked and wandered up the main street. Of course, it was Saturday afternoon in a country town so there wasn’t much open except for the newsagency, a couple of cafes and Wayne's World, a discount store. It was in here that Geoff found some fluoro coloured cable ties that he had been looking for over the last few months. We got a takeaway lunch and drove up to the lookout and ate it whilst looking over the nice views. There was a short and sharp path that ran up to the summit so I puffed my way up it. Nice views, as all lookouts have otherwise they wouldn’t be lookouts! Back down to Gayndah and look in the real estate window to see if we could spot Carolyn and Steve’s block of land which they had up for sale. There was one in the window that had a shed on it which was also out of town so we guessed that this would be it. It was in a little settlement called Byrnestown and was on our way so we stopped and had a look at it. Now we will be able to visualise it when they are talking about it.
Time to head back to Bundy and we followed the GPS which took us on a different route than we would have chosen so we got to see different things. We got back about 5.30 pm to a tumultuous welcome from Mia and Megsy. We got dinner going and then the lady from across the street turned up with her dog ‘Bailey’ who we were also dog sitting overnight. So now there were three!
Sunday, 6th May 2012
The new dog, Bailey, seems content enough but hasn’t eaten anything yet. I suppose one day without food isn’t going to hurt her. After brekky of bacon and eggs (you can’t break a good tradition) we left Bailey out in the garden with her food and took Mia and Megsy with us to the boat. I wasn’t sure if Megsy was lead trained yet so I carried her everywhere and it was amazing how heavy she got as I carried her down to the main marina to show to Deb and Linda. Alas, neither of them were there so I will have to go back another time. By the time I got back Geoff had finished the final coat of varnish so it was head back. We filled the car up on the way and it cost us $56 for our day out plus lunch! Still, we don’t do it very often. Geoff washed the car when we got back and then we cut the clears out using the old clears as a pattern. Fiona from ‘Apa Lagi’ said she has an industrial sewing machine and would sew them for us so we shall see. We looked at the things we had in storage and did a cull. Geoff also went onto Google Earth to track where we had visited the day before. I used up the rest of the turkey mince I had left over and made a Shepherds Pie Shepherds Pie, or whatever. I don’t know what the name is for a turkey herder so I don’t know how to name the meal. Gobble Gobble Pie??? Baileys owners came to pick her up at 8pm (she still hadn’t eaten anything) … so then there were two!
Monday, 7th May 2012
Mia snored again all night but neither dog came up on the bed until early morning.
Get up, Brekkie, strip the beds and get them in the washing machine along with the last bit of our dirty washing and then onto the line to dry. Put the towels in to wash, tidy up and then we got a text from Maryanne saying they were at Gympie so we estimated they were about two hours away so we should see them around 11.30 am. Off to the boat with a load of stuff stopping at IGA to get bread and milk for both homes. Multigrain bread and full cream milk for us and lite milk and wholemeal bread for them. Back to Kinghorn Street where Geoff washed the car to get rid of the bug splatter from our touring day and I put the towels on the line to dry. Time to relax for 45 minutes and then Maryanne and Owen arrived home. The woofs were out the back with me helping me to get my dry washing in, well … getting under my feet … so the didn’t hear Maryanne and Owen arrive. We called them in and Mia was very pleased to see them and Megsy joined in, why not. Maryanne said she thought Megsy had grown and that Megsy didn’t realise who she was as they had only had her four days before Maryanne went down to Brisbane.
I had forgotten that! So she got a big cuddle from Maryanne. We, that is Geoff and I, had a coffee and heard all about the wedding which went off without a hitch. We then packed up the rest of our things and Owen dropped us back at the marina and gave us a hand taking things to the boat. Chatted to Dave on the new cat ‘Siena’ berthed behind us for quite a while and then I went to unpack. I soon heard the anchor chain being let out and I knew exactly what Geoff was doing. He was marking the anchor chain with the new fluoro cable ties he had bought in Gayndah last Saturday.
I had forgotten that! So she got a big cuddle from Maryanne. We, that is Geoff and I, had a coffee and heard all about the wedding which went off without a hitch. We then packed up the rest of our things and Owen dropped us back at the marina and gave us a hand taking things to the boat. Chatted to Dave on the new cat ‘Siena’ berthed behind us for quite a while and then I went to unpack. I soon heard the anchor chain being let out and I knew exactly what Geoff was doing. He was marking the anchor chain with the new fluoro cable ties he had bought in Gayndah last Saturday.
Tuesday, 8th May 2012
Off to Wide Bay Volunteers as usual. Cheryl asked me what Geoff was up to and I said nothing much so she asked if he would be willing to come in as Emerson was sick and Ricky was on a training course. This meant she had nobody to supervise the IT boys. I rang him and he was soon in. She also asked him if he could run a Word Basics course for a small group tomorrow and she said she would pay him for both days. Nice, as we are a bit short on cash at the moment due to Geoff’s dentist bills. I kept busy and I love working with Karyn, the other Referral Officer, as she is such a ‘Hoot’, as I’ve said before. I left for the boat at 3 pm with Geoff not far behind me but going by scooter. He was not there when I got home and was quite a while and he said he had caught up with Jan and Merl in the car park and had been chatting all this time. ‘Apa Lagi’ is back out on the moorings but ‘Isis’ is still on the trawler wharf as they are off tonight to Burnett Heads and leaving for Lady Musgrave tomorrow early. Geoff cooked a new Filipino dish called Adobe (or something like that) but we found it a bit too tangy for our taste.
Wednesday, 9th May 2012
This morning we had a slight disagreement about what we both wanted to do in the next couple of years. Would you call it a heated discussion? Maybe!
Geoff went off to Wide Bay Volunteers to teach the Word Basics course and I spent the morning cleaning the boat, yet again. Carolyn and Steve arrived to ask if I could store some of their shopping for a while so the chicken and yoghurt went into the fridge whilst they went to do their final top up of fuel, shopping etc. I went up for a shower then continued on to the marina as I wanted to speak to Jan. She spoke first, which was good, and asked if we were still interested in doing the stocktake for them. This is what I had wanted to discuss and it was decided we would work for berth fees so we won’t pay anymore and we will fix her up when we eventually leave for the sailing season. This suits us fine as Geoff is paying his dentist bills at the moment but I’ve told you that before. Back to the boat and try to read the last bit of my ebook on my laptop. I only had about 30 pages to go when Carolyn and Steve arrived back so I put the laptop away. They were just about to leave when Geoff arrived back so they stayed another hour and then they really had to leave as their boat was down near Port Marina and they were travelling by dinghy which would take a good 90 minutes if not more. They are off to PNG again tomorrow. Geoff has bought me a new ebook reader from ebay for $59 and similar to what I already have which is just what I want. I asked him how his teaching went and he said he thought it went ok,. He said he spent most of his lunch hour talking to a Columbian lady in her late 20’s to early 30’s. Geoff really took to her and found out she and her husband were here on a two year study visa. She is an Environmental Scientist and is looking for work experience/voluntary work in that field. Geoff told her I used to work for the National Parks and would probably know how to go about finding things out for her so I will give it a go. They have only been in Bundy for about a month and have no friends here so Geoff invited them down to the boat Saturday afternoon. She sounds interesting.
Thursday, 10th May 2012
Work again and I was kept busy by Cheryl. Geoff went to the dentist and popped in to see me afterwards and he has four teeth that need to be fixed. They had an appointment free at 11 am so he took it and got two fillings done. Money, money, money so he was feeling a bit down about it all.
I rang DERM (Dept of Environment and Resource Management) here in Bundy and told her about Connie, the Columbian lady, and spoke to the HR person who has told me to get her to send her CV in and to say what she is actually looking for and they will see what they can do. She also said it is a good time for her to contact them. Sounds good. Nothing else to report.
Friday, 11th May 2012
Fun and games and a rude awakening this morning with a rowing coach yelling at the top of his voice just outside our cabin window at 5.50 am. Then there was more noise as Geoff catapulted out of bed and abused him with “Shut up you noisy ‘B’, go and yell somewhere else”. Geoff was p’d off and was thinking about putting the dinghy in the water ready for when they came back. By this time they were on their way back so he called them over to talk to them to say there were a lot of residents in the marina and on the moorings and they should be more considerate. The guy replied that is why they do not use a megaphone. Anyway, Geoff decided to go down to the rowing club on his scooter so I will find out what transpires. Everyone on the marina and on the moorings is fed up with them. Geoff was soon back and said he had spoken to a committee member and they had a polite talk about the problem. As Geoff told them, we are pleased that the teens are out on the water rowing and not causing havoc in town but the rowing community and the marina community need to get on together. Apparently there is a committee meeting coming up very soon and it will be discussed then so let’s hope it gets resolved as there is a lot of river and just a short stretch of it is the marina area. I have heard Jeanene on ‘Purrfection’ yell at them as has Andrew and Fiona on ‘Apa Lagi’, Linda from ‘Leisure Lee’ and Matt from ‘
Osho’ so it is definitely not just us!
Osho’ so it is definitely not just us!
Chris Danger rang this morning and we, Geoff, Chris and me, had a really, really long chat. She has an article being published in the next Multihull World issue of when they picked up their new (to them) cat ‘Take it Easy’ and sailed from Sydney to Paynesville. She also has another two submitted. One being the overhaul of ‘Take it Easy’ and one of their trip to Deal Island. We will buy copies as we see them so will have to start looking out for the next issue in the shops. After this chat Geoff started looking at how he was going to fit some new LED lights on the front safety rails. I went up for a shower and the hot water tap came off in my hand. I managed to put it all back together, but very badly, I think. Told the marina boys about it and they said they would fix it up. On to IGA to get a couple of items Geoff needed to cook tea. Jim from the little boat next to us had given us a couple of bugs (Moreton Bay Bugs) and Geoff was going to cook Marinara Pasta for tea. We were supplying the prawns etc. I needed fish stock and I had never seen it in the supermarket, I had probably never looked before, but there it was on the shelf. Back to the boat where I found that Geoff had modified the Spinnaker pole brackets so the pole was held above where he was going to situated the LED lights. He didn’t want the Spinnaker pole to throw a shadow. We chatted to Fiona and Andrew who had their dinghy high and dry on the dock as they were making a cover (condom) for it. And a very good job she was making of it as well. It will look professionally made when she has finished. Oh … we also found out that they had both yelled at the rowers this morning!
Saturday, 12th May 2012
Geoff says he feels a little gout coming on so this seems that the seafood could definitely be the culprit. We have visitors today so a big clean up and polish. It wasn’t too bad as I had given it a good going over last Wednesday. This time I also cleaned up the back deck. Geoff spent the morning modifying the water tanks overflow systems. The system he has already doesn’t cause any leakage but means it takes a very long time for him to fill up the front water tanks.
Geoff has a small leak around the inspection hatch under his bed where he knelt on it which he will have to sort out. He changed his bed linen whilst he was at it as the bed was very messy so I will have a big wash to do tomorrow. I fiddled around whilst I was waiting for him to finish up so I could clean down the port side of the boat. At 1 pm we went up for a late shower and then I sorted through my loose recipes and putting them into some semblance of order and putting them in a loose leaf file. At 3 pm Connie and Hernando arrived (from Columbia) and we had drinks and nibbles on the back deck and chatted away. We had to concentrate with our listening as their accents were quite strong but their English was good considering they didn’t speak a word of English when they arrived 5 months ago. They had only been in Bundy a couple of months. She is an Environmental Scientist and he is an Economist and the are here on a 2 year study visa. Our Government has decreed that he has to study to become a fitter and turner as this is the skill that Australia is looking for due to the mining boom. So he is studying something that is not a natural talent to him. It also costs him $7000 every 6 months and this is money they have to find so they live very frugally (tell us about it!). She has been going from business to business with her CV looking for any job but so far no luck (she did cleaning in Brisbane). She must be in her early 30’s. I gave her the information I had obtained from DERM and she was over the moon although I did warn her not to get her hopes up too much. They were a delightful couple and we chatted until 7.30. We did say they could stay for dinner but they declined and were off but I expect we will see some more of them.
A quick meal for ourselves and then we rang Sally and Martin and had a long chat. Sally is coming up to Brisbane in the 2nd week of June as her really good friend Willy (also our friend) is very sick. It would be good to meet up if it is at all possible. Then Sally and Martin are off to Vanuatu later in July. Sally will de doing her normal medical clinics, with our friend Kay who went last year, and Martin is going to be the Project Manager of a desalination and water supply project. Good on em, I say!
Sunday, 13th May 2012
Another beautiful day and a lazy start to the day but if you can’t do it on a Sunday, when can you do it. Bacon and eggs, of course. Up to the laundry and get the clothes and bed linen in. Luckily the machines were not in use and there was plenty of space on the washing line. Geoff has almost completed installing the LED lights on the front deck. He has also made some ‘undoing’ tools for the deck inspection plates and one water tank hatch as well. He has done this as sometimes, once he has done them up tightly, he can’t undo them because they’re flush to the deck with only 2 indents for your fingers. Geoff sent a Mothers Day email to Maryanne from the woofs including Fe who he attached angel wings to and sent it of. He then went to use the hose and found there was no water to the marina but he couldn’t find where the fault was.
Monday, 14th May 2012
Off to WBV today. “I am doing 4 days straight this week and the same next week and then
I am having two weeks off. This method really suits me and also suits WBV as well as Kurt, my boss, says he can give me more substantial work to do in the 8 days instead of a bit of work every day or so. I will continue this system after the cruising season this year as it means we can go out sailing a bit more when the weather is good during the summer (rainy season) Dec through to April. It also means I will not be working when Sue and Arno are here in the first week of June. Kurt kept me very busy so the day rushed by, great. When I got back home Geoff had finished the last little bits of the front lights, had sent an email to ‘The Coastal Passage’, had been to the library and had fiddled around with numerous little jobs. I rang my dad in the UK and chatted to him and my youngest sister, Kay. Kay and Dave’s work on their bungalow (as in one storied house in the UK, not a sleep out!) seems to be on a go slow which is very frustrating for them and costing them a deal more money than they anticipated. Poor B’s as the longer it takes the more in debt they become.
I am having two weeks off. This method really suits me and also suits WBV as well as Kurt, my boss, says he can give me more substantial work to do in the 8 days instead of a bit of work every day or so. I will continue this system after the cruising season this year as it means we can go out sailing a bit more when the weather is good during the summer (rainy season) Dec through to April. It also means I will not be working when Sue and Arno are here in the first week of June. Kurt kept me very busy so the day rushed by, great. When I got back home Geoff had finished the last little bits of the front lights, had sent an email to ‘The Coastal Passage’, had been to the library and had fiddled around with numerous little jobs. I rang my dad in the UK and chatted to him and my youngest sister, Kay. Kay and Dave’s work on their bungalow (as in one storied house in the UK, not a sleep out!) seems to be on a go slow which is very frustrating for them and costing them a deal more money than they anticipated. Poor B’s as the longer it takes the more in debt they become.
Tuesday, 15th May 2012
My birthday today but, would you believe it, I had been up half an hour before I remembered. Geoff forgot too! How’s that? Geoff gave me a Royal Flying Doctors pen (a silly present) and a new Noritake mug. I think this is mug No 4. I love this mug. Beautiful, delicate, classy and of fine porcelain. I wonder how long it will be before I break this one. Geoff had to get it from the actual Noritake factory in Sydney as no one sells them in Bundy anymore.
Off to work and busy all day. I finished at 2.30 today as Emerson needed to do some work on the server. I hadn’t been back on the boat long when Owen and the woofs arrived. Owen to give me a kiss on the cheek and the woofs to give me licks and cuddles for my birthday. NICE! Saw Stan working and also found out it was his birthday the day before. I knew I liked him for some reason, yep … we are both Taureans! Geoff said we would go to the RSL for dinner so we headed up just before 6 pm and I got my old card transferred over to the new system. I like this new system as you get 1,000 points when you swipe your card during your birthday month and another 1,000 points if you swipe on your birthday. This gave me 2,000 points which was $20 which we could use towards our dinner. Being as we both chose the Schnitzel specials at $9.95 each we didn’t have to pay a thing. That is until we bought some wine. We chose a Wolf Blass pink Moscato at $15 a bottle which we thought was very reasonable and $4.50 for a dessert for Geoff. We stayed until 9 pm to see if we won any of the 30 minute cash draws but we were not to be lucky this time around. We may go up every Tuesday night, who knows. Wyn, Michelle and Maryanne rang to wish me a happy birthday … thanks. Back to the boat for a bit of TV and bed.
Wednesday, 16th May 2012
Off to work and worked steadily all day. Geoff also worked today and remembered to put in his time sheet for last Tuesday and Wednesday. He was only going to put it in for one day but Cheryl insisted he put it in for the two days. It is quite a bit cooler today so I had to wear something long sleeved over my blouse. Brrr!!! An uneventful day and back to the boat just after 3 pm.
After dinner the water pump kept going off so we investigated. It wasn’t a leak from any of the water tanks, it wasn’t a leak under the saloon seat where the valves are, it wasn’t the back deck shower, it wasn’t the head or shower area, it wasn’t the galley … oh yes it was! It was leaking under the sink and there was quite a bit of water laying on the shelves in the cupboard. Bumma.
We turned the pressure water switch off and I mopped it all up and then checked just before I went to bed and found it just as bad. I mopped it up again but it was still leaking. Ah well, I can’t worry about it tonight, Geoff will have to look at it tomorrow.
We turned the pressure water switch off and I mopped it all up and then checked just before I went to bed and found it just as bad. I mopped it up again but it was still leaking. Ah well, I can’t worry about it tonight, Geoff will have to look at it tomorrow.
Thursday, 17th May 2012
Off to work again and leave the leak to Geoff. Kurt says he definitely likes this arrangement of two weeks on and two weeks off as he can give me a lot more work to get done. Kept busy and headed off at 3 pm and popping in to ‘Best and Less’ to see what tops they had on offer. They had a couple of zip up cardigans so I grabbed two. One in black and one in red which will do me for work as I am very short on winter clothes as the winters up here are pretty mild and you don’t need warm clothes for very long. When I got back I got onboard and saw an empty faucet box and I said “Hm, this looks expensive”. Geoff had just finished fixing the water leak. He had gone to Bunnings and weighed up whether to just buy new hoses at $46 or buy a complete new tap and hoses for $99. He really didn’t want to spend the extra money but decided it was the better option as the tap we had was showing rust areas. We don’t know how old the tap was as it was already on the boat when we bought it. I am very happy with it as it is higher and you can easily get the kettle under it, even when the sink has a few items in it, which it often has due to conserving the fresh water.
Friday, 18th May 2012
A good nights sleep and a beautiful and warm day. The days are lovely but the evenings and nights are getting a little nippy now. Good for sleeping!
The first thing we did was go onto BigPond to see if we could update our 3G modem to the new 4G modem. Nope, too new for any specials yet. They could offer it to us for $49 which we thought was ok but then they told us we would have to pay $172 to get out of our 3G contract which has another year to run. Weird really as it is still the same company and the same plan. Anyway, we will wait till May next year.
Time to have a quick clean up in case Karyn, from work, turns up for morning tea. Shoot up for a quick shower. We were just walking onto the dock back to the boat when she turned up, with cake I might add. Yum. We had two coffees and we demolished at least ⅔ rds of the cake whilst she was here. We had a good chat and she left about 1.30 pm. We then chatted to Dave on ‘Siena’ behind us and had a look around his new cat. He still has quite a bit to do on it but he is getting there. It is mostly cosmetic now, well … apart from getting sails. They are heading off to cruise the Great Sandy Straits next week for a couple of weeks and I think he is hoping his Genoa will turn up at Tin Can Bay whilst they are down that way.
Time for some cheese on toast. Geoff decided he would make a couple more slices and forgot to toast the bread first. It’s called ‘Cheese on Toast’ Geoff! We had just finished eating when Owen turned up with some mail. He said he had been to see the Financial Planner at Centrelink and was very please with what he was told. He didn’t stay long as he had to get back to get the caravan and dinghy ready as they are off to Hervey Bay for the week and going to a policeman’s reunion. Then Clayton and Margaret walked by hoping to catch Dave and Colleen on ‘Siena’. Siena is an aluminium cat as is ‘Shining Light’ their cat. Dave and Colleen had left so Clayton and Margaret had a coffee with us. They left and Hayden turned up so came on board for a coffee and cake whilst he waited for Dave to turn up and give him a lift back to ‘Purffection’. So a very busy day with visitors.
Saturday, 19th May 2012
Geoff has $250 in his bank account overnight from Wide Bay Volunteers so that is 12 hours work so not bad pay. Geoff made a bread and then headed off to Aldi to get me a few bits and pieces. Once his loaf had risen enough I popped into the oven. We are quite impressed with the new sandwich bread pan we bought. It has a sliding lid and crisps up quite well and comes out rectangular so makes a good sandwich and is great for toasting in the toaster. Whilst the bread was cooking I made up a bread pudding and that went in once the bread was out. When Geoff came back he went up to work on his scooter trying to fix the needle in the fuel gauge which had stuck. No good, it broke, so Geoff says he will have to look in the petrol tank now to see how full it is. Andrew and Fiona came by to pick up their rechargeable vacuum cleaner that was on our back deck getting a charge. They had never been onboard before so had a quick look around. I also got some limes and lemons from Colleen on ‘Siena’ behind us. Nice so it is lemon, lime and bitters with dinner.
Sunday, 20th May 2012
Up at 9 am and then bacon and eggs. Up to the laundry to put a load of washing in and then out to dry. I forgot my toiletry bag and towel and couldn’t be bothered to walk all the way back to the trawler wharf to get them so made do with hand wash and paper towel. Shhhhh … don’t tell the marina! Dave and Colleen popped down to ‘Siena’ and came onto our boat on the way to look at the USB ports Geoff has installed as he was interested in them. The Fisheries patrol slowly camepast and Geoff called them over to talk to them about maniac who goes past the marina at night flat out and without lights. They said they were very short staffed, as we know, and can only do what they can do! They told us to ring MSQ next time we see him go hurtling by.
I had to keep an eye on the weather as it would cloud over occasionally and looked like rain and I didn’t want my washing to get wet. After lunch I dragged Geoff off the boat and up to the main marina to find it in a bit of an uproar with gossip and rules. All the residents had been given a letter saying they were not allowed to hang up washing on their boats and they weren’t allowed to store stuff on the marina pontoons and had to keep their boats tidy. We were also told that Rod had been told he had to move to the trawler wharf as he is doing a lot of work on his boat and it is an eyesore (which it is). We were also told that we were coming back into the marina, something we hadn’t been told but expected. A few people are a bit p’d off with the marina no washing rule but I always hang mine up at the marina clothes line, keep our boat tidy and don’t store stuff on the marina pontoons so it doesn’t affect us. I said we hadn’t received a letter as we were “JUST PERFECT” but, in reality, it was probably because we are on the trawler wharf. Although it is sometimes lonely down on the trawler wharf it has its pros as it is quiet and we don’t get involved in the politics that sometimes goes on. We visited Deb, Gary with nibbles for Arnie, Barnie and Carnie, chatted with Linda and Warren and nibbles for Sailor. Caught up with Gerry and Celia, Nicky and Wayne and on up to the end where we saw Rod. Rod was very upset at having been told to tidy his boat and that he had to move and was threatening to put Bosun in the pound as people were blaming his dog for a myriad of things. He blamed a certain person in the marina who will remain nameless. I can’t see Rod moving to the trawler wharf as Jim is there and Jim and Rod do not see eye to eye and I can foresee some fireworks if this occurs. We also chatted to Blue and Terry on the motor boat that took our spot when we went out with Jo and Mikey. Terry thanked Geoff for not making a fuss when they were given our spot. No problems as we didn’t blame them and Terry uses a walking frame and I couldn’t see her manoeuvring along the trawler wharf that has loose bolts and screws and hoses and trawler junk all over it. It would have been too dangerous for her. It was one of the reasons we didn’t cause too much of a ‘stink’ when it happened. Whilst we were chatting Di and Lindsay returned so we went onboard for a cuppa and a chat. By 4.30 pm I left Geoff chatting as I wanted to get my washing in before it rained as it was looking decidedly ‘iffy’. (It never did rain). He was still chatting when I came back with all the washing folded and packed away. Boy—that boy can talk!
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| Tinny going by way too fast! |
Monday, 21st May 2012
Work again and kept busy. When I got back to the marina Geoff said he hadn’t done much. He had fiddled around with little things and said he wasn’t bored. So a nothing sort of day. Pad, on our favourite little trawler, is back and has some prawns for us.
Tuesday, 22nd May 2012
Sent a text to Deb letting her know that Pab was back as she likes the prawns he gets. Then off to work and kept busy, as usual. Cheryl told me that the board have told her that they are going to advertise her job. Apparently they can do this as she is employed under the banner of ‘co-ordinator’ and not manager. She has done the job for the past two years and feels like she has been kicked in the teeth as she puts in twice the amount of hours she is paid for. They have told her that there will always be a job for her at WBV but how can she stay? I feel so very, very sorry for her. Went to Centrelink after work for my three monthly interview. Painless as usual. Got to the marina and saw that Geoff had moved us back a berth into Siena’s spot as they are away for a couple of weeks. Now we have a much nicer view. When I passed Stan he said we may be moving back to the marina in the next few days as they are moving a few boats around in the marina. They are putting us on the outside in one of our old spots, behind ‘Shining Light’. Personally, I would prefer to be on the inside opposite ‘Fiddler’ in the last spot as it is quieter and easier to get in and out but I don’t think this will happen as they want to keep that berth for temporary boats. A little rain today but not much.
Geoff spent the day pulling the old toilet motor apart to see if he can fix it to keep as a spare. After working on it most of the day he found it was irreparable as the magnets grab the motor. It is now abandoned and he is going to use the bits as spare parts. He did find time to go to his dentist appointment. No pain involved today as it was to get the start of a mould done for his new plate. As I came back from Centrelink I passed Dale on the walkway. He had been to see Geoff to tell him that his boats had been broken into for the third time in the week. Now that we were on the last berth with our cabin looking out onto his boats he had asked Geoff to keep an eye on them and to call the police if we saw anything suspicious. Dale owns the ‘Bundy Bell’ and the ‘Burnett Queen’ which are two river cruise tour boats. They are on their own locked jetty and he believes the thieves are getting in by dinghy. Poor Dale, he is only just recovering the business from the floods.
Wednesday, 23rd May 2012
Work again and reasonably busy. Karyn said she had a job interview later in the day so I wished her luck. Cheryl wasn’t at work today, I don’t know if she had taken the day off or was working out of the office. It was Geoff’s day to work as well so we met up for lunch and then went onto the library. After work it was back to Centrelink again as I saw that they had made my reporting dates every fortnight instead of three monthly, which is a bit of a pain. It was because I had notified them that Geoff had earned some wages and they hadn’t put in that it was a ‘one off’ payment. It was soon sorted and my reporting date is August again.
Back to the boat and Fiona was on the boat picking up our new clears to stitch them for us. She didn’t hear me come on to the boat and when I said hello she levitated. Snigger, snigger! Andrew turned up so we had nibbles and drinks on the back deck and chatted for a while until it got nippy. Karyn rang and said she had got the job and sounded over the moon. Great news for her but I must admit I will miss her at work. Now we will need a new Referral Officer to replace her as I am also off in July. I will see what I can do.
Thursday, 24th May 2012
Off to work. Kurt gave me the job of ringing all the volunteers on the Fraser Coast event spreadsheet to see if I could get volunteers to work at the Portside Food and Wine Fest and the World’s Greatest Pubfest in June. Once again it was a frustrating experience as you have to ring a heap of people before you get any volunteers. I did find the 5 volunteers needed for the Food and Wine Fest and got 6 of the 15 needed for the Pubfest. Another thing I did achieve was to sign up a new Referral Officer, Rosanne. She starts next Tuesday and Graham is going to come in to train her.
Geoff also rang to say we had moved and were back in the spot behind ‘Shining Light’ and in front of ‘Osho’. I am not so sure I really wanted to move back there now as it is so quiet and peaceful where we were on the trawler wharf. When I got back I couldn’t believe how noisy it seemed but I will soon get used to it again. One of the up sides is that Arnie, Barnie and Carnie arrived for nibbles. They either remembered the boat or they caught our scent so how’s that? Clever little woofs!
Friday, 25th May 2012
Raining … bumma … so, basically confined inside. Up for a shower and when I got back Geoff had disappeared onto ‘Gunmalgas’ to work on Don’s laptop. He had to reload the operating system and then they couldn’t get the internet. Don has an old Telstra modem so Geoff may have to download some drivers. He came back and grabbed his own laptop and modem and I haven’t seen him since and it is now 3pm (spoke too soon as here he comes). Me, well I cleaned and polished but it was only really a surface clean as I couldn’t be bothered to do a big one. So I then caught up on my journal, typing wise and put some warmer clothes on cos it is b’dy cold. It is supposed to get down to 7º overnight which is very cold for here. Geoff came back just after 3pm and said he had finally fixed up Don’s laptop. He then fiddled with both of ours trying to get them to share a modem with a program he had just down loaded. He managed it so we can now surf the interent on the two computers at the same time. Saw on the news that Christchurch had just had another earthquake … poor B’s.
Saturday, 26th May 2012
Up at 8am. A bit overcast and cold this morning but the rain is supposed to clear this morning. Which it did but is stayed really cold all day. It was so cold that I emailed Sue and Arno telling them to bring some warm clothes with them. They emailed back saying it was 7º during the day there so our 22º is quite warm to them. I went up to IGA to get the weekly shopping and Geoff met me there to take most of it back to the boat in the cooler bag. After I had cut up the meat into daily serves and put it away in the freezer we chatted to Lynn and Matt on ‘Osho’ and they invited us onboard for a look around. It is a 50ft trimaran with heaps of room inside. It has seven double beds which, personally, I think is too much as they take up all the floor space. When you are up on the deck you feel that it is enormous. I said it was like an aircraft carrier. Another sort of ‘nothing’ day. Chicken Parma for tea and then watch the DVD ‘The Iron Lady’. Gee, that Meryl Streep is a great actress.
Sunday, 27th May 2012
Up late, bacon and eggs. It is much warmer today so I got the washing together and shot up to the laundry whilst the machines and lines were free. Now that people are not allowed to wash and dry on their boats it is harder to get a machine and some line free. Had to get all my pegs back from other peoples washing. I came back and found Geoff was on ‘Dunmalgas’ to see if Don’s laptop was behaving himself. Yes, it was. He came back to help Matt on ‘Osho’ buy got waylaid by Nicky on ‘Nickwane’ who was having trouble down loading a game. No luck there as it would start down loading and get three quarters of the way through and then stop. By this time I was on ‘
Osho’ having a drink with Lynn. Geoff arrived and helped Matt solder wome wiring for his new LED navigation lights. We left there after 3pm and I finished reading a book I had got from the library called ‘Sweet Poison, The Quit Plan’ which is all about the dangers of sugar in our diet. You know me, always trying to find a reason for my rotundness (if that is a word). I’m not much of a sweet tooth anyway.
Osho’ having a drink with Lynn. Geoff arrived and helped Matt solder wome wiring for his new LED navigation lights. We left there after 3pm and I finished reading a book I had got from the library called ‘Sweet Poison, The Quit Plan’ which is all about the dangers of sugar in our diet. You know me, always trying to find a reason for my rotundness (if that is a word). I’m not much of a sweet tooth anyway.
Monday, 28th May 2012
A cold night and I could have done with an extra light blanket on. Up for a shower which took absolutely
ages as I chatted with people on the dock, chatted again up at the laundry and chatted to more after the
shower. Deb drove me back to the marina (slack) and I went onto ‘Femme’ for a cup of coffee and chat
and to cuddle the dogs. I eventually got back to the boat and found Geoff had Wayne onboard and Geoff was loading C-Map onto Wayne’s laptop. After Geoff had finished we went onto ‘Priority 1’ to see Shirley and Sam who had just arrived back from being away on a bike trip. They are in their 70’s and very fit. We were there when Andrew found us to say they were having a BBQ at 4pm up at the marina verandah and all were welcome. We wandered up there and found Fiona had set up her industrial sewing machine up there and had just started sewing our clears. We checked with Ray to make sure it was okay to use the BBQ, yep, and to invite Any of the marina staff along. By the time I got back to the boat it was quite warm and I had to change out of my jeans. I got some rissoles and snags out of the freezer, made up some salad and then it was time to head on back up. Fiona had just finished sewing our clears and had made a very good job of them, even adding leather around the areas that might chafe. Thanks Fiona and $40 is soon coming your way. We had a lovely BBQ with Fiona, Andrew, Gerry, Celia, Margaret and the kids and Paul and Vita.
ages as I chatted with people on the dock, chatted again up at the laundry and chatted to more after the
shower. Deb drove me back to the marina (slack) and I went onto ‘Femme’ for a cup of coffee and chat
and to cuddle the dogs. I eventually got back to the boat and found Geoff had Wayne onboard and Geoff was loading C-Map onto Wayne’s laptop. After Geoff had finished we went onto ‘Priority 1’ to see Shirley and Sam who had just arrived back from being away on a bike trip. They are in their 70’s and very fit. We were there when Andrew found us to say they were having a BBQ at 4pm up at the marina verandah and all were welcome. We wandered up there and found Fiona had set up her industrial sewing machine up there and had just started sewing our clears. We checked with Ray to make sure it was okay to use the BBQ, yep, and to invite Any of the marina staff along. By the time I got back to the boat it was quite warm and I had to change out of my jeans. I got some rissoles and snags out of the freezer, made up some salad and then it was time to head on back up. Fiona had just finished sewing our clears and had made a very good job of them, even adding leather around the areas that might chafe. Thanks Fiona and $40 is soon coming your way. We had a lovely BBQ with Fiona, Andrew, Gerry, Celia, Margaret and the kids and Paul and Vita.
Tuesday, 29th May 2012
Up reasonably early for a change. Stan and a diver were out in the river trying to locate the lost poles that went over during the floods but with no luck. Geoff went off to buy some new fittings for the new clears and I unpicked the old zips from the canvas sides, a very fiddly job. When I got back from having a shower Geoff was back and was slowly getting the clears done but not without a few expletives. Then more expletives as he knocked his drawer out from under the saloon table and the stuff went everywhere. After some lunch I went onto the web and managed to order Geoff a birthday present (I normally leave it to the last minute). By dusk the clears were finished and up and just in time as the heavens opened and down came the rain.,
Lasagne for tea, a recipe from the web which uses cream instead of béchamel sauce. Geoff thought it was a bit too rich so I will have to adapt it next time.
Wednesday, 30th May 2012
It rained on and off all night. Up at 7.30 and make up Geoff’s lunch as he is off to WBV’s today. He came back at 9.30 to pick up a computer and printer that had been dropped off to us over the weekend. This computer had been donated to a ‘not for profit’ organisation from WBV and it did not work. The IT boys will get a slap over the wrist for that, I should think. I made up a crockpot meal and did some work on my blog. When I looked up I could see Stan doing some whipper snipper work on the bank making it look neat and tidy.
Time for a bite to eat and then I went up the town to see if I could buy a new oil dispenser. I had seen one that you put in an oil bottle like a spirit nip dispenser. I got it from ‘Red Capsicum’ and now I have to find a bottle it fits. The ones in Red Capsicum are long and thin and I think they would knock over easily on a boat,. On the way back I checked for mail at the marina and my new ebook reader had arrived from Hong Kong. It was really well packaged and looked like a good unit. I tried to read the manual but it was written in bad English which I couldn’t get my head around it so just put it on charge. When Geoff got home he worked it out straight away but agreed the manual was bad. He showed my how to operate it so I am very happy. He was home quite late as he said he was very busy at work installing stuff onto the training room computers.
Time for a bite to eat and then I went up the town to see if I could buy a new oil dispenser. I had seen one that you put in an oil bottle like a spirit nip dispenser. I got it from ‘Red Capsicum’ and now I have to find a bottle it fits. The ones in Red Capsicum are long and thin and I think they would knock over easily on a boat,. On the way back I checked for mail at the marina and my new ebook reader had arrived from Hong Kong. It was really well packaged and looked like a good unit. I tried to read the manual but it was written in bad English which I couldn’t get my head around it so just put it on charge. When Geoff got home he worked it out straight away but agreed the manual was bad. He showed my how to operate it so I am very happy. He was home quite late as he said he was very busy at work installing stuff onto the training room computers.
It has been really windy here today as there is a strong wind warning in place. From St Lawrence to Double Island Point. It must be strong out here to be this windy this far inland.
Thursday, 31st May 2012
It is Bundy Show Day today and a local public holiday. The day started out fine but ended up with drizzly rain. I popped along to Deb to give a book back and ended up having a coffee and pet the woofs. Geoff was on his laptop for most of the day although he did clean the china graph pencil marks off the clears. I worked hard giving the boat a thorough clean. You know, pulling up the rubber matting in the galley and cleaning underneath, cleaning all of the coffee, sugar, tea canisters etc etc … you get my drift. So the galley is now spotless as is the head and shower area and saloon but the galley matting still has to be scrubbed out on the dock and it is raining … that’s my story and I am sticking to it. Oh, I also cleaned the brasses.
I got a very belated text from Sally wishing me a happy birthday … thanks. Geoff worked on his Panoramio photo album on the web and said there had been 40 views of ’Narrow Boat at Camden’ since he uploaded it a week ago. I expect quite a few of them would be Glynn and her friends as the boat in question is her boat ‘Humbug’. I worked on my blogs. 2005 to 2006 is finished, 2007 is still under construction. Haven’t started on 2008 and 2009 yet. The Louisiades part of 2010 is finished. 2011 is finished and 2012 is up to date. It is slow work as there is so much data to upload. Now if you do a search for 2Abreast my blogs should come up. Neat!
Friday, 1st June 2012
Geoff washed off the boat. Di popped over to have a look at my new ebook reader. She had only just left when Owen popped in with our mail. Geoff went off to Dan Murphy’s to buy some white wine and came back with four reds as he said he couldn’t remember what he had gone there for even though he is the one who said we need the drier whites … hmmmm … bit of a worry! From the 4 reds we chose a good McQuigans red for Fiona and Andrew and wandered up to the trawler wharf to give it to them. A little extra thank you for making such a good job on our clears. We chatted for a little while until the sandflies drove us away!
Sue and Arno should be well and truly on their way now.
Saturday, 2nd June 2012
Up at 8am to a rainy day. Sue, Arno and Jacoba turned up at 10.30 and we had a cuppa on the back deck. Luckily the rain behaved itself and stopped whilst they were here. Arno wanted sushi rolls for lunch so we wandered along the River Walk to ‘Yummy Noodles’ only to find there were no sushi rolls so it was back to the ‘Sushi Train’ and we had lunch there although it was much more expensive. Geoff had soup as he is not so keen on sushi. We then walked back to the boat and they left about 30 minutes later and were off for a long walk at the Mon Repos beach. A little while later the skies opened and down came the rain and it then bucketed down all afternoon. They said later that they had just finished their walk and were back at their apartment at Bargara when the rain arrived … lucky them. They are off to the Rum Factory tomorrow with the two free tickets I was given for my birthday and then they will pick us up.
Sunday, 3rd June 2012
Wow, did it rain overnight? Dan rang Geoff this morning asking advice on getting a power point installed. Their Bigpond internet is still not working so Geoff told them to bring it round, which they did. Geoff worked on it for quite a while and Dan and I walked up to the ‘Busy Bee’ and bought fish and chips for lunch - Dan’s shout. They finished about 2 pm and, before they left the marina, we asked Lindsay and Di if they could show them around Fiddler. They were dutifully impressed, Dan especially with the engine room and Marg with the spacious house like interior. By the time they left it was 3 pm so Geoff rushed up to the shower and I cleaned up and put on some decent clothes. Sue, Arno and Jacoba arrived at 4pm and we went off to their unit in
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