Wednesday (22 July) the weather forecast was for significant rain. We awoke to heavy cloud and there was definitely rain out to sea.

So we headed out to a local cafe for breakfast on this very hot and steamy day. Whilst sitting there the rain started and it just poured down. We made use of the free internet and checked the forecast for Thursday when we had a boat / snorkelling trip planned. Well, the forecast was for another rainy day with swells and high winds which would not be exactly ideal conditions. So we headed to the tour operator and asked whether we could move the trip to Sunday – this was done quickly and at no cost.

So we decided instead we’d hire a car so visited various car hire companies and, eventually, were able to secure a car for Thursday lunchtime from Gypsy Rentals. Rainy / cloudy conditions may not be perfect for boat trips but certainly OK for exploring inland. Having done a quick stop at Woolworths we headed back to our apartment where we stayed for the rest of the day as the rain just got heavier and heavier……

Thursday morning it was cloudy with rain in the air and was also pretty chilly. We had a leisurely start and picked up the car before heading out. First stop was the Cedar Creek Falls which were very accessible by road and a short walk. The falls were running quite hard due to all the rain overnight and some hardy (young) things were swimming in the freezing cold pool whilst others were hiking across the top. We just stood and watched.

Moving on we headed to Conway Beach which was only occupied by birds and fishermen on this inhospitable day.

Afterwards we stopped at George’s Diner. This is a 1950’s style American diner which even includes Elvis background music. We stopped for a snack (which was delicious) and couldn’t believe that we had found this place here in Australia LOL.

Oh yes and what about this guy who had driven up from New South Wales and clearly didn’t want to leave his tinny behind!

Next stop was Lake Proserpine and the Peter Faust Dam over the Proserpine River with its views over to Mount Pluto. This reservoir was completed in December 1990 to control flooding in this area and was completed just in time for a massive downpour which filled the 10,690 acre site to a maximum depth of 130 feet. Was very beautiful and we enjoyed the peace and quiet, although wouldn’t fancy camping here (which is allowed) as this is the same river that houses the crocodiles…

We then headed to a resort called the Northerlies where we thought we could catch a few rays as the sun was trying to come out. But we were a little late in the day (just before 4pm) and they were closing so we just wandered around and checked it out. All the rooms at this resort are inside boats on stilts and people pay a lot of money for the privilege – not sure this would be one for us LOL.

From there we went to the Coral Sea Marina and had a drink in Sorrentos before heading back to the apartment. We parked in the underground car park and then went to The Pub for dinner. Again there was live music which was fun….

Friday morning we headed out again in our car – first destination was Bowen. We drove into the town centre, then to the marina, and throughout the surrounding area to find it was closed. Felt like a ghost town with cars parked but nobody around at all. All very strange. Moving quickly on we continued on to have a look at Queens Beach and Rose Bay.

Heading back south our next destination was Hydeaway Bay thinking we’d grab a coffee at Montes Reef Resort. So we wound our way up and down the steep roads and eventually onto an unmade one. We continued for a while until we got to Montes to find the resort was closed. We weren’t the only ones who had planned this as at least three cars behind us ended up doing u-turns when they came around the corner. So we continued to Cape Gloucester where we had coffees (finally!) at the Eco Resort. Was quite warm so we sat there for a little whilst enjoying just being out and about.

Leaving Cape Gloucester behind we headed back towards Airlie Beach via Dingo Beach.

We saw some unusual roadkill as we drove through this vast sugar country area ie a dingo and a wallaby. We did, at least, see one live wallaby but it was too skittish to grab a photo. This plantation area of Queensland goes on for miles and is backed by mountains with lots of unmade roads leading off. We also crossed numerous small train lines which is how they move the cut sugar from the fields to the huge sugar mill that towers over Proserpine.

Back at the apartment we cleaned up before we headed back over to Sorrentos for sundowners with Steve and Jody (SV Enavigo) who had pulled into the marina. Great timing or what?!? Was lovely to catch up with them over a drink or two or three…..

Saturday morning we had to return the car so we used our time wisely and went to Proserpine to visit the Big W. We wanted to get a new (cheap) unlocked smart phone to replace the iPhone that had recently died and came away with a Nokia 1.3. We did some food shopping, filled the car with petrol and returned it. We had coffee on the way back to our apartment before we spent the rest of the day relaxing in the sun by the pool. The weather was glorious as the low weather system had continued south and we were left with beautiful blue clear skies.

Sunday morning we headed over to the Port of Airlie to pick up our boat with GSL Marine. We were all checked in and then boarded – the seats were allocated to us at the start and would remain ours for the day to ensure no cross contamination which was fine. We enjoyed the fast drive out around between Hayman Island and Hook Island – keeping an eye out for whale sightings. This area is so similar to the BVIs with numerous islands and lots of charter boats, just without any density of population as most of the islands are uninhabited (other than high-end resort islands) and are part of the national park.

We came to a stop at Chalkies Beach which is located on the western coast of Haslewood Island. This was to be our snorkel stop. The sea temperature was way too cold for our liking so we enjoyed the peace and quiet of the boat on the bow while most of the tourists jumped in and swam around being escorted by a rib and a stand-up paddle boarder just in case of difficulty.

Once they were back on board (shivering) we were fed our lunch. Because of Covid there wasn’t a self-service buffet just one of the guys making rolls to order like Subway. Good selection of fillings but one roll per person really wasn’t enough and there were a few grumbles about it. There were also no hot drinks which had been promised.

After lunch we headed over to the famous Whitehaven beach which is on Whitsunday Island. The sand here is 98% pure white silica and is beautiful so we can understand why it has been voted the best beach in the whole of Australia. We had one and a half hours here to enjoy so we just lazed around taking in the sun and I even braved the terrors of the water (stingers / sharks / crocodiles and stonefish to name just a few) to do a bit of bobbing which was fun although very cold and didn’t go above my waist! Richard declined the invitation to join me briefly LOL.

All too soon it was time to get back on the boat and we motored around the corner to the Hill Inlet and climbed up the path to the viewing platforms at the top. I struggled a bit on the steps but we did make it and enjoyed the views although it would definitely have been better if it had been low tide when the swirling sands would be much more visible.

After that it was a fast ride back to the Port of Airlie and we returned straight to our apartment. We got the last bits of laundry done whilst we cooked and ate dinner then packed our bags in preparation for the morning.

Monday morning, at 6.50 am, we were at the bottom of the steep drive ready to go.

The airport shuttle bus picked us up and we left Airlie Beach behind. We made good time and got our boarding passes from the desk despite checking in online – which meant that we had the front row seats again – so pleased about that.

We took off just before 9am and landed into Brisbane about an hour and a half later. We were met by our Uber and then were driven back to the Boatworks. Morpheus was looking very clean and tidy (having been rained on heavily over the weekend) and we unpacked quickly. At 1pm we picked up our courtesy car and headed to the Coomera Medical Centre for Richard’s latest doctors appointment. That all went very well and he remains very happy with his progress. Whilst Richard was occupied I did some shopping for fresh provisions and then back to the Boatworks where we had a lazy evening on board reading and relaxing. Felt very good to be back on Morpheus although we had really enjoyed our explorations elsewhere.

This morning, Tuesday, and Richard picked up the outboard which was finally ready to go. Yay! We got it up and secured onto the rail, so was happy about that. Afterwards we treated ourselves to breakfast at The Galley which was nice. Richard then filled up the bilges with fresh water to flush them through and has also just emptied the water tank completely and refilled while I’ve been down below blogging. Afterwards he started reinstating all the lines in preparation for getting the genoa and staysail on.

This week will be about completing our boat jobs and getting Morphie ready to move down the river to Sanctuary Cove Marina so we have a list of things to keep us busy.

Bye for now, stay safe and well everybody,

Jan

Wednesday morning we did our final bits of packing, said farewells to Morphie, before we headed to The Galley to meet our Uber ride to Brisbane airport. The traffic was kind so we arrived in good time and, although we had already checked in online, we had to go to the counter for the boarding passes to be issued. Guess it was just to check ID and to make sure no-one was trying to get around the daily-changing border restrictions in place here in Queensland.

Job done we headed through security and to our gate. There wasn’t a lot of people around as we sat and had a drink while we waited for the flight to arrive. We had brought face masks with us just in case they were required but there was no sign of any at all in use throughout the airport where everything had now been laid out to enable social distancing with lots of hand sanitiser stations.

Eventually the flight was called and we claimed our seats (1A and 1B). This Fokker plane had a seat configuration of 2-3 across so we didn’t have any immediate neighbours. The three seats to our right had one lady only and both rows behind were empty, so was happy with that as the plane was about half full. The stewardesses only served a single glass of water throughout the flight and, although they had gloves on, they weren’t masked either. We landed and then had to wait in line to talk to the customs and immigration guys – they were a bit perplexed that we were British and not Queensland residents, but gave us the all clear to proceed once we told them we hadn’t left Queensland since our arrival in March. The people on the plane that flew in from Sydney were given a much harder time and those people who had been in ‘hot spots’ or didn’t have their ‘border passes’ correctly issued were physically turned around and sent straight back to New South Wales….. Tough regime here but keeps everyone safe and infection levels low.

We met our pre-booked coach transfers at Prosperpine airport and drove the 45 minutes or so through to Airlie Beach. Of course, we were the last drop off so arrived a bit later than we had hoped. Never mind, we checked in and unpacked. Our two-bed / two-bath apartment is pretty spacious but a bit tatty around the edges although it has everything we need like a washing machine / tumble drier / full kitchen / lounge / safe etc. We got it on a great deal so we were happy but wouldn’t have been had we paid full price for it! The best thing about it, though, is its position. Just high enough to get balcony views over the town anchorage and not too high that you have to be a mountain goat to reach it. Most apartments here are nestled into the hills for the views but so glad we don’t have to walk to them the slope up to our resort entrance was enough to challenge us each day! We headed over to the Woolworths (which is just across the main road at the bottom of the property’s drive) and did some shopping. Then we walked back up and stowed away our supplies, got changed, and headed into town for a walk. We found The Pub (yes that is really what it is called) and had dinner there. The food was surprisingly good…..

Thursday morning we walked the town and visited the beach, the port and the lagoon.

We had a coffee and popped into a few travel agents in the small high street. We booked three trips – a crocodile safari, a scenic plane ride and a day trip out to the islands for some snorkelling and a BBQ. We’ll probably hire a car for a couple of days too. Pretty happy with our plans we headed back to our apartment block and took up residence by the pool – no-one else seems to use this area so it is like our own private domain. The pools are pretty but freezing cold!!! Don’t think we’ll be using them somehow…..

After dinner in our apartment we headed to The Pub for a few drinks before bed (although only soft drinks for Richard as he remains alcohol free at this stage).

Friday morning it was an early start as we were heading out on our Crocodile Safari. This had received great write-ups in various places so we were looking forward to it. We arrived – had a safety briefing – and then took our seats / tables in the camp. These had all just been sanitised and would be ours for the remainder of the day so that worked well…..

It was now time to go on the first part of our adventure, the trip up the Prosperpine River, which has the largest density of Salties (Australian for salt-water crocodile) in the whole of Queensland so we hoped to spot a few. First job though was to put the boat into the water.

Then it was time for the safety briefing which was quite funny when they pointed out the lifejackets with the reminder that we wouldn’t want to use them in this environment as being in the water would result in certain death! Sobering reminders of keeping arms within the confines of the boat etc and we were off.

Without even turning the first corner we met our first male crocodile swimming down the river on the surface. He swam along without any concerns about us and it was amazing to see how effortless he moved virtually making no ripples at all. The ranger has named all of the regular crocs and this one was called Muddyguts. When he submerged, he was just like a submarine, and in the murky brown water you couldn’t tell he was there….. Scary stuff!!!! We were told this river was good for Barrimundi fishing and also had large bull sharks in it, so definitely not a swimming destination LOL.

We continued meandering up the river and saw numerous regulars (like Lenny the old guy and Knucklehead) plus a croc mum Sofie and some of her brood. We also saw a few new crocs who had moved into the territory recently and didn’t have names yet and were pushing Lenny further and further up the river away from his favourite females. The males fight very hard for their territory plus to keep their females to themselves so a number of them had battle scars and missing teeth from head butts and bites. As we motored around the guide kept up a really interesting commentary of crocs habits. We certainly didn’t know that they were so territorial, would eat each other’s babies, and didn’t eat much when it was cold. We were told that winter was the best time to visit the crocs here in Queensland as they spent a lot of their time on the mud banks of the rivers to increase their body heat whereas in the summer, when the water temperatures are higher, they spent more time just lazing around in the water. We saw loads of crocs ranging from babies to two-year olds to adult males and females…..some more concerned about our presence than others. Was amazing!!!

We then headed back to the camp and had a BBQ lunch which had been prepared whilst we were on the river. Was lovely with loads of choice and even seconds….

Then we headed out into the bush on the train safari…..

We admired the wetlands, lots of birds, and even cows. The cows are of Indian heritage as they are a hardier breed for the tropical conditions here in Queensland. We were introduced to lots of plants and were told about their many uses, including medicinal ones, and husbandry of the land using fire. Oh yes and a few critters including ants which are sometimes used as flavouring in food – yuck! – and a couple of shy wallabies.

Back to the camp and this time it was for afternoon billy can tea and damper (a sweetish bread with a consistency of a scone). Was absolutely delicious.

While we were eating that the ranger came across a python so pulled it out of the bush for us to have a look at before placing him carefully back on the rock where he had been sunning himself.

Finally it was time to leave so we said our thanks to the guys before we headed back on the bus to our apartment.

We went straight to Woolworths to do some shopping (for picnic lunches) and then headed back up the hill and enjoyed a quiet night in having watched the sun go down on our balcony. Had been an absolutely great day.

Saturday morning we headed out with our picnic to the lagoon. This is a salt water man-made lagoon. There aren’t too many tourists around so, although the area (which is free to use) had limited numbers allowed there wasn’t any issues with that. We made up camp on the grass overlooking both the beach and the anchorage, and settled down to enjoy the sun.

The wind picked up later on so we headed back to the pool area of our apartments to get some shelter. Later on, after dinner, we headed out for a few drinks and tried the Maka Bar which has great views but was way too young and too noisy for us. So we quickly moved back to The Pub which is our favourite. And there was live music too – really good fun! Before we came back to the apartment I tried my hand at the Pokies (casino slot machines) but I didn’t do very well so won’t be trying that again anytime soon.

Sunday we headed back to the lagoon in the morning. We enjoyed lazing around and having our picnic before we headed back to The Pub to listen to the live band in the afternoon. They actually weren’t that good so we only sat there for about an hour before heading back to our apartment for another quiet night in. I also did some laundry…..

Monday morning we headed to the GSL Aviation office where we waited for everyone to arrive. They even had a decorative wall dedicated to the famous Heart Reef of the Great Barrier Reef which we hoped to see.

We were then taken to the airport to meet our pilot. We were issued with life jackets (that we had to wear around our waist) and then we boarded our Cessna 208B Grand Caravan plane and were seated in row four with the layout meaning that everyone had a window seat.

We took off and admired the coastal scenery, the Whitsunday islands, the silica beaches, the fancy resorts and then the Great Barrier Reef and our glimpse of the world-famous Heart Reef. We even saw whales playing in the waters below and have to admit to a twinge of jealousy watching the boats out there sailing in this beautiful place. What a fantastic experience and so glad we did it. Wow, just wow! The photos really don’t do it justice.

We even got a shot of Airlie Beach from the air as we headed back to the Whitsunday Coast airport at Prosperpine.

Back to our apartment we chilled out on our balcony before having dinner. Then we headed to The Pub again for a few drinks before turning in for the night.

This morning, Tuesday, and it is a cloudy day here so we’ve set up camp by the pool (without anybody else around again) and I’m blogging while Richard is reading….. Don’t expect we’ll do much more than this today. Having a great time here in Airlie Beach. Stay safe everyone and take care.

Bye for now

Jan

Wednesday morning we washed, cleaned and waxed the topsides together. Then it was time for me to tackle the laundry while Richard serviced the generator. It took a little while to get it going but, once started, ran very well. The generator hasn’t been used for at least nine months so pretty happy with that.

Overnight it rained really hard and continued into Thursday so we just spent the whole day chilling out down below.

Friday morning we had Harry along to do a rigging inspection. Last insurance renewal we had to prove that our rigging was sound – as Morpheus is over 10 years old – and they accepted a complete rigging report so we are pre-empting this annual request and had this done now whilst we have access to all the trades. All was good apart from some wear in the goose neck, so he promptly removed it and took it away to get new bearings fitted.

We then washed, cleaned and waxed the cockpit. Afterwards we had a late lunch in The Galley.

Saturday morning we headed next door to the Boaties Day Out at the Gold Coast City Marina. Not much to see apart from some Sunseekers and we enjoyed trying one of them out for size – shame we don’t have the AU$1.6mn available to purchase LOL.

Thought the floating Yot Club was pretty good and fancy having that tied to the end of your pontoon?? Would be a great venue for a party….

Some big private boats around in the marina for us to check out too along with some cute small ones for sale. Oh yes and even some live music.

Leaving the marina we headed north just for a drive. The forecast was for a miserable day but, so far, it was pretty sunny so we continued driving. We ended up at the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron in Manly (where Steve and Jo usually berth but were out sailing for the weekend so sadly we didn’t get to see them). Was a very nice place and we enjoyed sitting in the bar watching the world go by.

Sunday morning, the forecast was for bad weather again, but it looked fine so we headed south to Paradise Point and had breakfast out and a few hours lazing in the sun watching the world go by. We left there around lunchtime as it was getting chilly so we headed to the Westfield Mall in Coomera to do some fresh fruit and vegetable shopping before returning to Morphie.

Monday morning we were up early and did some more laundry. We also got our bags out of their storage area and started getting things ready to pack. And that was about it for the day. Oh yes and my Kindle decided to give up the ghost!

Tuesday morning we were up early and headed into the mall. I managed to pick up a new Kindle plus we also had our old iPhone battery and screen swapped out as they were both failing. While we were waiting Richard went for a walk and I got my hair cut. We then returned to Morpheus so that I could blog and, guess what, the phone didn’t work!!! So frustrating, especially as this phone is used specifically for our internet hotspot. So I quickly ordered another courtesy vehicle and this time ended up driving a UTE (truck) back to the mall. The guy said that he thought my mother board may be damaged and I explained that, although the phone was tatty and needed a new battery and screen, it worked perfectly well before they started playing with it. So in the end I walked away with the phone plus a full refund. And yes it isn’t happy….but we will try charging it up completely to see if that helps. Oh yes and on our return to the office there was a letter waiting for us and, OMG, can you believe it, our Medicare card has actually arrived!

Now back onboard I’m blogging while Richard has just been out and about and checking on the outboard. And, yes, they found something else wrong and are waiting on parts…..so Richard has told them when we are due back and told them it must be ready by then as we are moving on and need it….. But at least the riggers are on the ball as they had been on board and reinstalled the goose neck whilst we were out!

Richard is now cooking dinner (I know, what a treat!)…while I’ve just checked in online for tomorrow’s flights. Very excited about our little holiday to the Whitsundays.

Bye for now

Jan

Wednesday morning (1 July) Richard worked on the old stainless steel cabin lights that he had removed and replaced. Some needed fixing and they all needed a good polishing. They came up looking pretty nice.

While he was doing that I got a call from Medicare thanking me for the certified copies of our passports but they still need sight of our application form and visas. Well this was the straw that broke the camel’s back and I lost it a bit with the operator as I went through the whole sorry saga (again). She said that she’d investigate, would resolve the issues and then call me back. Putting the phone down Richard told me off and said that they would definitely not fix it for me now. I knew he was right but these people are so damn difficult to deal with! So I was very surprised, less than an hour later, when she rang back and had actually got it all sorted. A card had been issued to us, the expiry date had been extended to March 2021 (in line with our current visas) and she even supplied an ‘access code’ so that I could use their online service. OMG I think we have finally reached the end of this long and winding road…..

So while Richard continued working on the old saloon lights up in the cockpit, I used the access code to sign up online with Medicare and started the claims process for the medical bills we have paid to date. The website is slow and restrictive in terms of its upload limits so I had to do these pretty much one at a time so it took most of the afternoon. Finished that, so then I started on the prescription medication refunds system. Got all that completed and printed ready for posting (yes this bit couldn’t be done online). Had been a frustrating day but it felt good to make some progress.

Thursday I did the laundry after I had made posters for the various notice boards to see if anyone wanted to buy our old 12V lights. Richard headed out and wandered around the chandlery and found a black Hella 12V fan which we were told had been discontinued – so he came back very happy with his purchase as we had broken one over a year ago and had not wanted to replace it with a different type or colour.

Richard then got on with servicing all the winches in the cockpit while I cleaned all the ports on the starboard side and removed / serviced the ‘peek-a-boo’ blinds. And that was that for the day.

Friday, Richard finished servicing the winches on the mast (he’d done 10 in total) while I completed the ports on the port side. We finished working around the same time and decided to take the rest of the day (and weekend) off so headed to the Galley for a nice lunch.

At 4pm I headed to the office to collect our booked courtesy car and then drove to the doctors in Coomera Medical Centre. I am running low on my prescription medication so, now that it was possible to visit a doctor without paying per visit, the timing was good. The doctor thought my blood pressure was a bit high and was concerned over the length of time I had been taking some of the medication especially ‘at my age’ LOL. So he changed my medication around a bit to try and help me manage the pain better. He also ordered a full range of blood tests to make sure everything is working OK. Once he has the results he’ll consider whether I need blood pressure tablets too as most ‘older’ people need them. So nothing to worry about just the doctor doing a great job – it’s a shame we don’t get this service in the UK, or at least we don’t from our local GP. Trying to get blood tests done by him on a preventative basis is like getting blood from a stone!

Saturday morning we were going out for the day but, first, we headed to Garage 25 to see if anyone was still around from the early morning car meet. Was fun checking out all these cars while we had a coffee.

Afterwards we headed to the beach at The Spit at the end of Seaworld Drive in Southport. We found a little spot and made ourselves comfortable. It was pleasant for a little while but the wind picked up and it got chilly so we literally crossed the road to the other more sheltered beach (Bum’s Bay). This was lovely until a few hours later we were descended upon by a large family group who seemed to want to sit very close so we decided to get out of there.

We drove into Southport and headed to the Marina Mirage and wandered the boardwalk there before taking a picnic table to eat our packed lunch.

Afterwards we headed to the Southport Yacht Club and had a lovely few hours relaxing in their waterfront bar. And very nice it was too.

Sunday morning we headed out to Paradise Point and made camp on the grass just above the beach. Lovely outlook and lots going on, including some kids trying to sail their dinghies in very light airs against a current. Was fun to watch and we enjoyed relaxing and having our picnic. About 3ish the wind picked up a bit and there was a chill in the air so we headed back to Morpheus having had another day of rest and relaxation. A smashing weekend.

Monday morning and we started early. Richard had a physiotherapist assessment at the heart clinic in Helensvale so I dropped him off first then headed to the nearest pathology collection centre in Oxenford to get my bloods taken. Mission accomplished

I then headed to Australia Post to post the prescription medication refund form and supporting documentation. Afterwards I headed to the Westfield at Helensvale to pick up some fresh fruit then headed back to the clinic to collect Richard. Richard had done amazingly well managing to walk 10% further than they would expect from a person recovering from a heart attack. This was on a measured six minute walk while they monitored his oxygen levels, heart rate and blood pressure. So he continues on a strong upwards trajectory.

We then came back to Morpheus and started to do some internet research for our next trip away. We had hoped to spend time with my family in New South Wales (now that the borders are confirmed to be opening on the 10 July) but sadly there wasn’t a whole week we could all get together as the family juggle busy jobs and child care during the school holidays. So we now plan to see them all in the next holidays in September / October instead (by which time we should be down in NSW on Morpheus anyway fingers crossed).

Right now we are not able to go sailing (as the medics have not given their approval) and as the boat jobs are almost finished we want to make the most of our time here in Australia as Covid restrictions continue to be eased (other than in the state of Victoria). We had thought about flying to Cairns and then returning, via a few stopovers along the way, on the Spirit of Queensland train or vice-versa. Neither of us fancied the driving option as the distances are huge. But we really couldn’t get everything to come together with dates / prices of accommodation / train / plane schedules etc despite spending many hours on it. Domestic flights and trains are subject to social distancing so there is much less capacity. Plus low demand levels have reduced services available. For those wondering, we did check that Richard is allowed to fly domestically and the answer is ‘yes’ so we are good to go – woo hoo!

In the end we decided to do something more straightforward instead and fly to the Whitsunday Coast airport from Brisbane. We are going on a new-to-us airline (Alliance) which has just started up in this region and is doing great introductory deals.

We also reserved an apartment in Airlie Beach on the coast. This area is the gateway to the Whitsunday Islands so there are lots of things to explore while we are there. We really want to go snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef for a start! So that’s all booked for the middle of next week so very excited.

This morning, Tuesday, and Richard is off to see the outboard guys again. We made the mistake of telling them we weren’t in a hurry to get this resolved so guess they took us at our word LOL. So time to put some pressure on, we definitely want it back secured to the rail before we go away again.

This afternoon we are back off down the M1 to the Gold Coast University Hospital as it is time for Richard to get his bloods checked again so will probably do a bit of shopping on the way back. Oh yes and we have started to receive some medical refunds into our Australian bank account from Medicare – who would have believed it?!?

So that’s it for now. Sending love as always to family and friends.

Jan