Tues 27 Oct 2011
The day started off with my 45 minute walk than my weight exercises before brekkie. The final packing completed and a mate then picked me up for the airport. The check in at the Cairns Domestic Terminal went very smoothly and I was soon sitting in the Qantas Club having lunch and a drink to fill in the 45 minutes before boarding the flight to Melbourne.
Cairns Airport
Thank God for noise reduction earphones or I would have been a grumpy old man as the plane had a few young infants that screamed all the way on the 3 and a half hour flight. I watched the comedy movie ‘The Bridesmaids’ had the served lunch and arrived in a very cool Melbourne.
It was very windy and breeze coming from the snow covered Victorian Alps a vast contrast to the very warm 30C in Cairns. My sister Frances and brother in law Reno met me at the airport and on the way home we called into the Sunbury Bowls club for a drink, the pokies and dinner. The Victorian pokies were a little kinder to me than the Queensland ones.
Frances & RenoIt was a restful evening just chatting and having a few cuppas before bed. The freezing wind was howling outside. My sister gave me a pair of Essington (footy team) long warm pyjama pants to wear as she thought I would be too cold sleeping in my Aussie satin boxers. Thank goodness she did.
Wed 28 Oct 2011
The day dawned a sunny windy cool (15C) day with the crows squawking loudly in the nearby trees. I think last night was the first time I had ever slept in long pj pants in my life and my sister was right, they did keep me warm. The max temp for today will be about 20C and they are predicting rain by lunchtime.
After a lot of chinwagging Frances cooked up a beautiful chicken stir-fry with bokchoy, it was yummy. After lunch it was time to go down town to get a few things. After we went into the second shop a large electrical storm quickly came up. I have never seen it turn dark so quickly and the rain was bucketing down accompanied with lightning and thunder. Francis thought it was better if only one of us got drenched getting to the car in a car park about 300mtrs away. I being a good brother let her make the dash and I minded the goods under the bus shelter. (There was no way she would let me drive her pride and joy Toyota SUV. I got a bit wet jumping the fast flowing gutter and the heavy rain in getting the 3 metres from the bus shelter to the car.
It was extremely dark by now and still bucketing down with the lighting seeming to strike just outside the car. It was good to get back home and Reno made a nice hot cuppa just as we lost power. The power was off for about 2 hours and came on just in time for us to get ready to pick up my nephew Nick from work and to go our to his place at Gibson for dinner. The 20 minute drive from Sunbury to Gibson was a bit of an adventure because of the storms.
On arrival we were met by Katherine, Nick’s wife who I had never met before. They were married last February while I was on the world cruise and couldn’t attend the wedding. It has been about 6 years since my last visit down here. Well the young couple have a great house and Kat was a charming hostess. The meal she prepared of stir-fried calamari and salad was to die for the blend of flavours was fantastic. As Kat is 12 weeks pregnant, the young couple had only today been to the hospital to have the scan of their baby. So there was lots of excitement and we watched the video of the scan.
Nick, Kat & Myself
After a delightful evening it was back out into the wind and rain for the trip home. After a cuppa it was off to bed.
Thursday 29 Sept 2011
It was still raining when we woke and had brekkie before we started to get ready for the family reunion this afternoon. Reno and I were sent of to the supermarket to get the last minute supplies and drinks. By lunch time the sun was trying very hard to get out of the clouds. Frances and I went over to the airport to pick up Bernadette my youngest sister.
Frances, Myself, Bernadette and Elizabeth
On return to Frances’s house many of the family had arrived for a family get to gather. My sister Elizabeth and her husband Bob came with their daughter Ladine also my nephew Matthew his wife Theonni and their 2 young boys Zander and Harrison so the setting was ready for a good shindig. This is the first time I had met Theonni and the boys.
Ladine, Elizabeth & Bob
It was a great night with heaps of food, drink and laughter. Reno had done roast lamb and pork to perfection in the Webber BBQ.
