A sleep in was envisioned for this morning, which I was looking forward to. It was all going well too, until Alvin decided to sprint about the van barking madly. I awoke to the cacophony, screaming at him to shut his little yapper and get back to bed. I mean it wasn’t like we were under attack or anyone was trying to get into the van or anything and I just wanted to sleep, so once we cajoled Alvin into getting back onto his bed, I followed suit, falling back to sleep almost immediately.

It wasn’t until several hours later that we surfaced again, me well rested and ready to face the day. Bec on the other hand complained of sleeping poorly again, because she was too hot. Well fool on her, as I had asked her to turn the heater down a couple of notches before we went to bed last night. It’s not easy to sleep when the heater is set to roast.

With no great hurry to get underway, we meandered about having breakfast and getting ourselves ready to go out. We have first to go down to the main street of Horsham to make a complaint at the phone shop, before calling in on Becs step mum, Mary for lunch.

So lethargic were we, it was already almost lunchtime by the time we eventually left the van. So near to lunchtime was it that Bec thought it prudent to call Mary to let her know that we were still coming, despite the slight delay.

Parking ‘The Beast’ in town, we just happened to come across one of Becs uncles, who wondered where we were this morning when the dogs were barking savagely at him through the caravan door. Whoops, so someone was trying to get in after all. Apparently he figured he’d let us sleep after he heard me yelling at Alvin, fearing I would continue my tirade had I have opened the door on him. Nah, I might have calmed down a bit I promised.

We only chatted for a few minutes, as we were in a metered car parking space and had no idea how long we might be waiting at the phone shop to have our complaint heard. We’ve all watched the current affairs shows about bill rage and how people have been charged hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in fees for surpassing their allowed allowances on their phone. I always thought that you’d have to be a bit of an idiot to let that sort of thing happen, but Bec got two messages on her phone the other night.

The first at 1:00AM to inform her that she was approaching the limit of her data allowance. That was no worries, because we had finished with the Internet for the night anyway. The second one came through barely half an hour later, although we didn’t find it until the next morning, to say that she had exceeded her allowance and would be liable for the excess cost. Now that didn’t rub so well with us, so we were off to have it out with Goliath.

At the phone shop, the assistant was pleasant enough, despite not being able to assist us, as we apparently can’t dispute the bill until the bill is actually compiled and issued. She was nice enough to let us know that the source of our bill rage would probably only cost us in the vicinity of $3.00 in excess data charges, but that’s not the point, it’s the principle of the whole matter. We stormed out in a manner that I hope conveyed that we would continue the fight once the bill is issued.

We did eventually make it to Marys place for a late lunch, before we tried to introduce Alvin and Bethany to Charlie, the miniature dachshund. Bethany got herself all worked up, getting so excited that she frightened poor Charlie, who stands barely half the height of our two. Out in the backyard, Bethany and Alvin chased Charlie around until he grunted and scratched at the back door, too nervous to play in his own yard. As a result, our two mongrels found themselves locked in the back of ‘The Beast’ for the rest of the afternoon.

A little later, while I caught up on some much needed banking on the Internet and maybe just a few minutes of shuteye, Bec and Mary went down the street to do some shopping. By the time they returned, laden with the spoils of their labour, it was getting near time to start thinking about dinner. So while they busied themselves in the kitchen, I took Alvin and Bethany back to the van. We didn’t think it fair that they spend all afternoon and evening locked in the back of ‘The Beast’, not to mention that it was time for them to have their dinner also.

With them all fed, watered and walked, I rang Bec to make sure that nothing else needed to be picked up on the way back. Nope, everything was under control I was assured, so back I went. I was literally pulling up the drive when the phone rang. It was Bec. “Can you pick up a loaf of bread on your way back?” she asked. So back out I went, thinking that I was glad we are in town and not free camping out in the middle of nowhere, somewhere that bread might be a little hard to come across.

Dinner followed a similar vein to last night, as aunties, uncles and nanas joined us for a salubrious meal, accompanied by a bottle or two of good red wine, which loosened the jowls as the stories flowed with as much abandon as the wine.

Meet the family: That’s Uncle Kevin, Auntie Sue, Mary is hiding behind Charlie, you all know Bec and ‘Nan’ is on the right.

It was again a late night by the time we ebbed back to the van made even later as I sat down in front of the computer and tried to figure out how to stretch out doing nothing all day into a comprehensible essay befitting entry into my blog.

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