Yet another week has passed, with very little getting done in respect to trip preparation. Our trip planning again took a back seat in favour of getting our laundry back to a useable condition. So much for my suggestion of a days work left to have it all completed. I was in fact ready to put the finishing touches on it by Wednesday, or at least I thought I was. Bec came home from work, took one look and decided that there were a few extra things that she wanted done in there. More things than what I’ll ever have time to do before we depart, and so it looks like it will now be put aside for our return. Not a bad effort, since when I began the renovation way back in October, I had envisioned (and made promises) that it ought to take me a week. Two weeks tops! Now, it’ll take a massive effort upon our return to have done within 12 months. Maybe I should have said one or two years right from the beginning.

In other news, we are all mostly over our assorted illnesses. My cold/man flu has abated and Bec is back to normal, although she did require a day off work during the week due to her ongoing bouts of gastro. I think I got the better end of the sickness stick, as she was pretty much laid out for 5 days.

I had thankfully recovered enough that I was able to get out on the golf course this week at last. A mate and I spent an enjoyable morning on Thursday, getting more exercise than expected as we zig zagged our way around nine holes. Even for me, it was a pretty average round, but a whole lot of fun. Plans were also made for him and his wife to hopefully visit us whilst we are in Darwin.

To make our trip preparation even more difficult this week, my time off came to an abrupt end seeing me heading back to work on Thursday, just in time for Bec to have 4 days off over the Easter break. Being in a job that doesn’t recognise public holidays, I am only back at work for a total of 8 days and then that’s all she wrote, I’ll be off for almost 7 months in total.

Bec on the other hand only finishes up at work a matter of days before our departure date. She has made the most of her time off over Easter however. Amongst other things, she has gone through the cupboards to see what food stuffs we can take with us, and which are already well past their used by dates and need dispatching. The fridge and freezer underwent a similar clean out. She then spent a few hours shopping, searching for a few bits and pieces that we had decided would make our time away a bit easier. Just little things like hooks and mirrors for the van. On top of all that she has done all of the housework, getting the place all spick and span as well as getting out into the garden. Then, she has even managed to cook up an assortment of meals, which we are planning on vacuum packing this evening. What a girl!

The vacuum packing idea is a boon that will enable us to just throw all of the pre-cooked meals in the freezer for easy dinners while we’re on the road. We’ve had the vacuum sealer just sitting there in the cupboard for ages, and never used it apart from the other week to try it out. The idea is that we decide in the morning what we want for dinner that night. Defrost it in the fridge during the day, then heat it up at night simply by throwing the whole bag in a pot of boiling water. Sounds simple in theory. I’ll let you know how it goes in practice when we actually try it out.

Since there was no way I was going to be able to keep up with Becs exploits over the weekend, about as much as I managed to do in relation to the trip was to re-write the first couple of weeks of our itinerary. I needed to make sure that we are able to make a stop in Sydney for a day or two at Trucks ‘N’ Toys, where ‘The Beast’ came from, so I can get a few things done. The plan was, to pick up a second spare tyre that I had ordered when I picked ‘The Beast’ up, and get a few little niggly issues sorted out. Unfortunately I also found out this week, that the tyre is still sitting in a container, which in turn is still sitting on a dock somewhere over in the States. So, as if I don’t have enough to worry about, it now seems like I’m going to have to try to organise to have the wheel freighted to us wherever we may be, when it hits Australian shores. Despite this set back, Ben has ensured me that the few other little things that need looking at will be all sorted when we get there. I will also be picking up a range of spares and supplies to take with us, both for the 2 or 3 services that we’ll have to organise whilst on the road, as well as for those “Oh s%$t” moments. It’s fingers crossed that nothing goes wrong, but I sure want to be prepared for if it does.

As for the dogs, Bethany is back on her solid food like nothing was wrong. It’s still too early to see if taking the teeth out has had any effect on her otherwise though. Then there’s Alvin. After wrapping him up in bandages all week to stop him from scratching at his stitches, we finally came up with the idea of putting a t-shirt on him. Now why didn’t we think of that earlier? He has spent the last few days strutting about in a childs t-shirt, which has worked a dream in stopping him from scratching. Just a shame that the only T-shirt we had in his size was bright pink. He didn’t seem to mind however.

Tough enough to wear pink.

We were back down to the vets with him on Saturday to get his stitches out, as well as to collect the pathology results. It was a grand relief to find that they did not indicate any cancer or anything else that should concern us.

So, that was pretty much our week.

On a side note however, I just want to mention a cause which a couple of close friends are extremely passionate about. It relates to the possibility that the tranquility of the picture perfect Bacchus Marsh, west of Melbourne, could be destroyed if a Western Australian company is allowed to mine coal from a planned open cut mine. Have a look at the ‘No New Coal Bacchus Marsh’ web site for more information on what is happening and how you can support the campaign. I have to say I’m not one that usually gets overly concerned about such matters, but it would be an absolute disaster for the area if these plans were to succeed.

NO NEW COAL for Bacchus Marsh sticker adorns ‘The Beast’.

By the way, sorry about the late posting this week, but it was a public holiday after all! With any luck I’ll be back at the regular time next Monday morning.

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