It was like a roller coaster ride this weeks, with a series of buoyant highs and depressingly low lows.

The first high was on Wednesday when the money for the Patrol came through, giving our bank balance a healthy kick, albeit for a very short time. It’s later today when I have to go into the bank and transfer it all, plus a bit more, back out of our account, into the Trucks ‘N’ Toys coffers to pay for the new truck.

Back to Wednesday though, with the money in the bank, I spent the rest of the day sitting around waiting for someone to actually come and collect the Patrol. You would have thought that having handed over the cold hard cash, that they would have been in a bit of a hurry to pick it up. But no, I waited literally all day, only for the car carrier to turn up at almost 5:30. I’d about given up. I almost shed a tear as it rolled out of the driveway for the last time. I didn’t expect it to be a sad moment, but it was. I did enjoy the Patrol and now I just have to hope I have made the right decision to replace it.

Of course, that did give me the whole day to work on further travel plans, which whilst progressing nicely, still leaves a ton of work to be done. Thus far, we have our itinerary pretty much figured out, as well as a list of Vets along our route. We are about a quarter of the way through making a list of places to park the van each night, and I haven’t even started to work out a budget. Truth be told, I’m sticking my head in the sand somewhat on that one, because I’d rather not know.

I also spent some of  Wednesday shooting emails back and forth to the guys at Trucks ‘N’ Toys, about the truck, and excitingly it will be ready to go by next week. I can’t wait to get in it and drive, which will be happening next Wednesday. My flight up to Sydney is booked for Wednesday morning, so the plan is for me to pick it up, then drive on home. I should be back by Thursday night. That means a whole week of taking to the paths on a push bike, or bumming rides from whoever will listen, until I pick the beast up.

So that was Wednesday. Thursday on the other hand was a low day. I can’t really put my finger on it. A mixture of getting too little sleep, having to work, worrying about Bethany and just letting the enormity of the tasks that still need to be completed over whelm me. When I think back now though, the most stressful tasks are the ones I don’t have a whole lot of control over. The bits and pieces that I need to rely on others for. I think that is the key. I know where I am at with my planning, but to be calling companies to get work done and being told that jobs will take 3 times longer than expected. That’s a hard pill to swallow.

We also found out that the condition from which Bethany is suffering is most likely a birth defect that may or may not be progressing. There is no way of telling until we get some comparison tests done in a couple of months time, but in any case it is not something that is able to be treated. It wasn’t terrible news, but wasn’t the best news either. So after a night of sullenness and sulking, Rebecca and I spoke over my worries and we put a few plans into place to get everything done on time. Fingers crossed now that they come to fruition how I hope.

Part of that was taking Friday out, and using it to de-stress. A round of golf with mates in the morning, where I played a great game (for me). 60, off the stick! Just don’t let on that we only played 9 holes!!! That was followed by a lovely lunch with the guys and a quiet night at home, and a great nights sleep. Was just the ticket. By Saturday I was ready to take on the world again. Or at the very least tackle Australia.

That brings us to today, Monday, which is a bit of a 50/50 day. I don’t know whether to be elated that I’m going to pay off the new truck, or scared that I’m about to withdraw the bulk of our savings to do it.

On a final note, Rebecca has at last written a little blurb to go onto the ‘Meet Rebecca’ page, which has been updated and we now have our own domain name. With, I think (hope), all of the bugs worked out, we can now be found at: myramblingtales.com

Until next time, stay safe, have fun and don’t forget to write.