Home again at last

Home at last, thank goodness, after our long drive to Brisbane and back.

We left home at 4.30pm on the Friday afternoon and drove to Echuca, arriving just after 9pm, dining in the not so fine establishment of McDonalds. We had been lucky enough to be given directions by Wazza which allowed us to avoid Bendigo, thus shaving about 40mins off the trek.
Mim and her i-podge

We stayed at Echuca/Moama Holiday Villas. They were simple, clean and the service was wonderful and friendly. Would definitely recommend them to anybody wanting an overnight stay or base point in the area. Gomez slept in the car quite happily, after I'd walked him around the block.

We left Echuca at 4.30am Saturday morning and drove, and drove, and drove.

Sunrise near Jerilderie

Stopped for fuel in Jerilderie, breakfast (Maccas) in Forbes and a very late lunch (KFC) in Moree. Stopped for fuel again in Bogabilla, just shy of Goondiwindi. Pulled into Margaret's driveway just shy of 10pm on Saturday. Not a bad drive, and the girls and Gomez were very well behaved.

Spent Sunday celebrating Michael's birthday. Mum and Dad came over for a BBQ lunch.
a very scary birthday boy

Caught up with people from PT on Tuesday morning, whilst Caitlin and her friend Hope did some window shopping in town.

Spent time with Carla, catching up her life whilst the girls played. Caitlin (and Mim) learnt how to play Carla's new Wii, and now Caitlin wants one for her birthday. Mim is quite good at the balancing games, and Caitlin likes the ski jump game.

little angels Grand Central kitchen

Had dentist appointment on Wednesday morning, Caitlin needs a mouthguard for sleeping to stop grinding her front teeth. Went to optometrist on Thursday, need to change the lens of my glasses. So spent Thursday afternoon to Tuesday afternoon wearing contacts full time. Yuck.

Took Caitlin to Dreamworld on Sunday, but will blog that one separately!

Had Caitlin's check up for her heart on Monday, all is doing well, she'll always have a heart murmur and we need to keep an eye on one of her valves which is in the wrong position but is working normally. Great news to hear. We were lucky to get to this appointment, there was a long saga behind it full of computer programs losing appointment details, swaps from the Prince Charles hospital to the Mater, etc. Luckily, we got a letter on the day we left for Brisbane, reminding us of an appointment for her when I'd been told on the phone weeks previously that she didn't have an appointment and there were no vacancies. Sigh. Still, we got to see the wonderful Dr Rob Justo who, with Mr Peter Pohlner, was responsible for her being alive today.

Mum gave Mim a present, her very own i-podge (well, it's just a cheapie MP3 player but Mim doesn't care). She also gave her a portable DVD player. It doubles as a present for Caitlin as well, so Mim is not "borrowing" Caitlin's i-pod or DVD player. It was a gift well received!

Mim and her DBDB

Left Brisbane around 8.30am on Wednesday morning. Stopped for petrol again at Bogabilla then again at Jerilderie. Lunch was on the run (I'd packed some breadrolls) and we reached Gilgandra around 6.30pm. Stayed at Gilgandra Motel, half the price of anything at Dubbo and would recommend it. They were happy for dogs to stay in the car or be chained up outside the room (but it was a bit too cold for Gomez to be outside overnights. The owner of the motel is a Vietnam Veteran as well as a Freemason, so Michael was in his element.

Dined at Tattersalls Hotel, Gilgandra. Excellent pub food, meal for four cost under $60. Michael's steak was melting in his mouth. Mim ordered sausages and then she and the waitress discussed what vegies it should be served with. They agreed on the carrots, corn and beans, but no peas (and of course, chips).

even truckers hate caravans!
the long paddock

Left at 4.45 Thursday morning and pushed on to Narrandera before stopping for breakfast and to dress Mim. Then a refuel at Jerilderie (again) and a horrible experience at Rotten Ronnies, Echuca for lunch. We drove into the driveway here at 6.30pm. We were back down at the pub for dinner by 7!

Somewhere between Jerilderie and Echuca, there were roadworks occuring and we had to stop at a single red light. There we sat for a few minutes before a voice piped up from the back seat, "this is boring, Dad, just go!" Michael advised her that he couldn't go until the light turned green..."so, say Change, you bastards and see if it will". She did, it did and we were on our way. Let's see if she tries it again at the one traffic light in Hamilton!

"Change, you bastards!"

The other amusing highlight was breakfast at Narrendera. We were finishing up some toasted sandwiches for breakfast and flavoured milk when Michael asked Caitlin if she needed to use the facilities: "Need to wee?" (shake of her head), "Need to poo?" (shake of her head), "Need to blow gas out of your freckle?" (she almost spat coffee flavoured milk all over the table).

All in all, whilst it was great catching up with family and friends, I'm so glad to be home. I'm very glad to be back sleeping in the king size bed rather than in Margaret's double bed. Michael was just too close for comfort in there!

changing this for this