Spelunking

Sunday:

On Thursday we went on an adventure to the Jenolan caves. Tim and I had both been there before as children. They were a bit further away than we thought, a full three hours drive. We bought tickets to one of the tours while we were still driving, so by the time we got there we didn't have time for lunch and went straight in.

You actually drive through a huge cave to get to the carpark! It is wide at one end but quite narrow at the other, only one car can fit at a time, and it felt very wrong to be driving through there. I didn't get a photo of that bit. This is the wide end.

The tour had been chosen because of the time it started, but it turned out that out of the nine or ten available we were on the most challenging one! 910 stairs in the cave itself (90 min tour) plus lots of stairs to get to the cave entrance. I found it physically exhausting going up, and emotionally exhausting going down narrow steep wet stairs in semi-darkness as I'm scared of heights. But the caves were pretty.

Then we had some late lunch from the very limited selection at the kiosk and drove home again. The first bit was very scenic and beautiful, then dense fog and rain as we went over the Blue Mountains back to Sydney, not so fun. It was an awful lot of driving, but Tim was happy that we'd got out of the house for a day.

The whole pool situation is still ongoing. Nothing much has happened for a month, now at least the workmen are back from holidays but it's still very slow. They come out and look at the concrete hole in the ground and tell us all the things that need to be done before other things can be done. The current issues are getting drainage and retaining walls so that any run-off during rain doesn't carry dirt into the pool (we are on a slope) and getting electricity from the house all the way back to the garden shed where the pump will be located. Expensive frustrating delays!

I've been having some exciting ideas for a new book, not in the same series as the one I've already written. Much darker. I've worked out in some detail the first half, but I don't know what happens after that yet. In my previous book I actually started knowing the ending and worked backwards, so this one is different. The author Stephen King says he generally just starts with a premise, like "what would happen in an evil car came alive?" and just starts writing. It seems to work for him! But I need to know where my story is heading before I begin, otherwise I'd just flail around and waffle on forever.

Visiting dad and rescuing a dog

Sunday and Monday:

Our little country motel offered toast and cereal and the like for breakfast, but we decided to drive the few blocks into the centre on town for breakfast on Sunday morning. We parked and started to wander up and down streets and through the mall. Nothing was open. Siri found us one coffee shop but it wasn't the sort that sold breakfast, just coffee and a few cakes. After a cold and hungry fruitless search, we drove to the outskirts of town and went to McDonalds. I guess we're just city folk, used to everything being open all the time. Who doesn't have brunch on Sundays after a night out?

The good thing about this trip to McDonalds was that we found a beautiful park on the way. It was new since I spent my childhood summers in the area, a created lake and wetlands with a lovely walk around the outside and two children's playgrounds. So after breakfast we went for a stroll. There were lots of ducks and some pelicans in the water

and then we saw this little guy.

He was swimming around and diving, presumably for food. The tail was wrong for a platypus, we don't have otters in Australia as far as I know, and he was too big for a rat although he looked like one. In the end we decided he was a native Australian water rat of some kind.

Then we got caught up in the Million Paws Walk. This is a charity dog-walking event. There must have been 50 or more dogs of all shapes and sizes with their owners, walking along the path beside the lake. They ended up congregated at one end of the park where they held some competitions. Best trick, best costume;

And I thought there should have been a prize for the dog and owner who looked most alike;

After this pleasant interlude we went to the hospital to see dad again. The relief that he wasn't as bad as I'd thought had worn off a bit. He is very sick, and we still don't really have any details. We asked a nurse but she didn't know much. His blood sugar levels are still way too high and they are giving him insulin injections. (I decided against giving him chocolates!) I'm hoping if they can stabilise that then he'll feel better and can start eating more and maybe go home.

At lunchtime we went back to the lovely park. We had lunch at a café next to the lake, the food wasn't great but the view was.

We walked around (I didn't have my fitbit on because I didn't think to take my charger, but I'm sure I did 10,000 steps again) and the kids played while I sat in the lovely sunshine and Tim jogged around the lake.

Then we drove out to dad's house, some 15 or 20 mins out of town to pick up dad's partner Wendy. She doesn't drive so she's been dependant on other people taking her to the hospital and shopping. She must be very isolated and lonely out there without dad. My aunty Pat has been driving her in most days. We went and spent more time with dad. Tim took the kids outside for a while and they chased wild rabbits around the lawns outside the hospital. They both now want a pet bunny. We took Wendy to the shops to get groceries then drove her back home.

We got back into town ready for dinner. Only to find the same problem as we had in the morning. Everything closed (or non-existent) on a Sunday night. Siri directed us to places that had either shut down or were so closed and dark that we couldn't find them. We ended up going to a Thai restaurant even though that is what we'd had the night before. It was that or take-away pizza eaten on our motel beds. Luckily we all like Thai food.

Tim and I both slept very poorly our second night there. My shoulder was aching quite a lot. In the morning we blearily managed to find a café that was actually open, being Monday, then we hit the road early for the long drive home.

Seeing dad sick was sad, and the driving was tedious and hard on my shoulder, but some parts of the weekend were really nice. I hadn't seen dad for a few months so it was good to talk to him, and I saw my aunty Pat (some other family members who live down there were away, and I didn't feel up to seeking out the others) and the park was really nice. The kids would have happily spent all day there. Very glad we went, but it's nice to be home.

...

I had just finished the above at 5pm then Tim called me outside. There was a dog roaming around trailing his lead, and I am good with animals (and babies). I went out and called him and he ran over to me. I caught him easily and set to work calming him down.

 He looked like maybe a Rhodesian ridgeback cross, medium size but very strong. He was obviously very scared and worried. Once I had his lead he sat and leaned against my legs. He was agitated by someone walking down the path on the other side of the road and by a lady with a pram. My hand is still hurting from holding him! He barked and even growled a bit so I tried to keep the kids at a distance for a while but he wasn't actually aggressive, just scared (which is still dangerous with dogs). After a while he seemed comfortable with them.

We stood outside for a while in case an owner turned up looking for him, and gave him a drink which he seemed very grateful for, then after a while called the appropriate authorities. They said they could either pick him up at lunchtime tomorrow (!!) or else we could take him to a vet who could check his microchip to find his owners. He didn't have a tag. I didn't want to put him in the car, not knowing how he would react, and not having any appropriate restraint, so we walked him the 2 km or so to the nearest vet.

Tim had the lead, I just wasn't strong enough. He wasn't very obedient, pulling ahead hard or else stopping to sniff and urinate. But he seemed like a nice dog. At the vet, they said he had a microchip and his name was AJ (I had guessed Max), and said he lived in Evatt which is a couple of suburbs away over several main roads in peak hour! No wonder he was scared. They couldn't get through to the owner right away but took him out the back to hold him until they could, and we walked home. I felt like we did a good deed for the day. And got our exercise too!

I was very late starting dinner, Wendy called while I was cooking with some good news. They'd managed to speak to a doctor who thinks dad is improving a bit. He ate today (food Wendy took in, not hospital food) and although the hospital doesn't expect to release him until the end of the week, still it is good news.

My cousin's wedding in a heatwave

Saturday:

 

Yesterday was my cousin's wedding. We left the kids with a friend for a sleepover, taking them over before school so we could drop off overnight suitcases. Then Tim and I set off for the four hour drive. It was a stinking hot day, 37 degrees C (98.6 F). And an hour into the trip there was a weird rattle from the engine, a bit of plastic may have fallen out (or I may have just driven over a bit of plastic on the road, not sure), and the steering became very sluggish. I pulled over and we looked at all the tyres and under the hood but there was nothing for our inexperienced eyes to see. I drove on cautiously and we realised that the air conditioning was no longer working. And Tim connected this to the resistant steering wheel (power steering gone) and that something must have gone wrong with the electrics. Not much we could do on the road in the middle of nowhere.

We continued on, the steering seemed safe enough it just took a lot more strength than usual to turn the wheel, especially at very low speeds like trying to park. Losing the air conditioning, on that particular day, was much more of a problem. The car got hotter and hotter. Opening the window was like opening an oven door, and the fan just blew hot air around. We had drinks, but I felt very dehydrated and horrible.

We got to mum's, dripping sweat and exhausted. There was no option of a different car as mum's had recently been rear-ended and hadn't been fixed yet. A drink and a quick cold shower was the best we could manage before getting into our wedding gear and back into the hot car. Tim had a stressful 45 minute drive through unfamiliar territory but we found the church and made it just before the bridal party.

The ceremony was nice if very short (less than 15 minutes, cut to the bare bones - it was a Catholic church for the groom and I would have expected something much longer) then we stood outside under the shade of trees for as long as we could bear before Tim and I with mum and my brother headed off to a nearby pub to sit in the air conditioning and have about six cold drinks.

Mum was coping amazingly well with the heat, considering. Actually she was getting cold easily and carried a shawl around. She has been really tired again lately. Very worryingly, her whole abdomen has swelled up and is hard and uncomfortable. She looked pregnant. Her GP (family doctor) had no idea what was going on so she is waiting to see her oncologist (she has breast cancer that has spread to her bones) in two weeks to have a new round of tests.

The reception was at a restaurant right in the middle of the city, almost directly under the end of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Poor Tim had to drive us through the middle of the city in heavy traffic as people left work for the day. It was nice being right on the water, by that time we were starting to get a little breeze as relief from the horrible heat. My outfit looks hot but actually it was light and floaty with air vents and I don't think I was much hotter than in shorts and a T-shirt.

The reception was nice with good food, funny speeches and a good band. I didn't overeat and I drank a lot of water as well as some juice and a couple of soft drinks. I was chugging down liquids all day but hardly had to go to the bathroom at all, I guess my body wasn't willing to give up any of that precious fluid! No alcohol, it only makes me feel a lot hotter.

Of course my cousin looked lovely. And very slender.

Almost as soon as the formal part of the evening was over and the dancing started, mum said she was tired and the music was too loud and she was ready to go home. So we drove back in the much cooler evening and stayed at mum's house. She tried to check we had everything we needed but after she went to bed I found I didn't have any sheets. I was sleeping in the spare room (where my kids usually sleep) and Tim had the tiny futon that we usually share all to himself. I just draped the quilt thing over one leg and that was fine. I was too tired and hot to care.

Today was much cooler, thank goodness, and we made it back to pick up the kids before lunch. And came home to find our hot water heater had sprung a leak and the laundry floor covered in water. I rang and organised someone to look at the car Monday morning and Tim rang and organised someone to come and fix the hot water tank Monday afternoon and then we both collapsed.

The new expansion for the computer game World of Warcraft just came out on Thursday. We tried to log in then but there was a long queue because so many people are playing, and I went to bed before we got to the front of the line. Tim stayed up and played a little bit but we like to play together, as a team. As soon as we got home today we logged on to get in the queue. That was two and a half hours ago. Tim's computer currently says "Position in queue: 2121. Estimated time: 822 minutes". So I don't know if we'll get on before tomorrow! Oh the estimated time has changed to 316 minutes (it changes a lot), so maybe tonight? It will all settle down in a week or two, usually there is no queue at all, but right now everyone is excited about the new content. We'll get to play eventually. I just glad to be home in the cool.

Stolen bikes and the beach

Monday:

We planned to go to the beach on a day trip - the coast is about 2 hours drive away - but were running rather later than planned already when we discovered that my husband's and my bikes had been stolen. They were just in the garage, which has the broken roller door propped open. I'm not bothered about mine, really, I've only used it about five times in 3 or 4 years since I got it. But my husband had an expensive one that he rides to work every day so that is a real loss. The thieves left a kid's scooter in our driveway, which they had presumably nicked from somewhere else. They had also opened our (unlocked) shed door, it's mainly a junk room and it looks like they were daunted by the treadmill blocking the doorway and the stacks of boxes and piles of old toys scattered over everything. Or maybe they took stuff, we'd never know. We hung around for a while so Tim could call the police and the insurance company.

Then we drove to the coast. Canberra is in the mountains so it is mainly downhill, with the final section steep and winding down the escarpment, quite tiring to drive (I was doing that leg of the trip). We had lunch then a lovely afternoon at the beach. It was so hot, yet with a cool breeze. As far as I can determine no one got sunburnt. The kids splashed in the gentle surf and made sandcastles and stuff while I napped. I usually never "sunbake" - it is dangerous and hot and boring - but I was really sleepy with the heat and just after lunch. I was just enough awake to flip over after a while, and then sit in the shade instead. But I couldn't get any energy up so I sat all afternoon watching the kids on the beach and then in the adjacent playground.

We had a nice dinner as night fell outside then drove home, with my husband at the wheel this time. In the dark the steep bit of the drive was terrifying! Up and down and round tight curves and then moderately tight curves which were even worse because you could go a bit faster. Tim is a great driver and drove very safely, and even more slowly than he otherwise would have because I was so scared, but I was still gripping my armrest and seat in terror and wouldn't take my eyes off the road to talk to the children in the back seat. It was my concentration, you see, that was keeping us safe! I have a vague memory of the last time we did that trip - we don't go to that nearest beach often, we usually go away somewhere for several days - vowing to never do it again.

I feel like a bit of a coward, really. Scared of heights, dentists, public speaking, driving off the side of a cliff in the dark, spiders ... oh yeah, there was a big spider next to the front door when we got home. Have you seen Australian spiders? They keep the venomous snake numbers down.