We needed to get back to Brisbane for a lunch on Saturday so we set off quite early. It was a strenuous days driving with the only good thing about the drive being the new stretch of highway from Brunswick Heads. to Chinderah. This bypasses the worst stretch of the old highway which used to be a nightmare with a fine, flat, smooth, fast road which is a joy to drive on. The view isn't as good but it is a great relief after the hilly road from Ballina.
We needed to do the laundry and I had breakfast at Macas in Kallangur while I waited for the washing machines to do their thing. In the afternoon I had a bout of vomitting which left me feeling pretty second rate.
We went to Patricks Rd to have lunch with the Marretts and with Maree, Lily and Noah. We hadn't seen the children for a couple of years and they had both changed quite a lot. Lily who is now nine is getting to be quite grown up and Noah at just three is a typical little boy, very shy for half an hour and then into all sorts of loud games with Ross. It was really good to see them again.
Sarah's stove had dropped its bundle and blown the circuit breaker and she was hoping that the failure was terminal. I found the fault was a simple mechanical one, easy to fix, and the thing is now better than ever so a new stove will have to wait a while which is kind of sad.
A lay day.
Jean, Alain and I went shopping in town for a new backup disk drive for Sarah's system and for birthday presents for Kelly. We inevitably finished up at Cafe Zanetti.
Alain came to Lawnton to help me wash the Motley and the two cars. His help was much appreciated as I would have been cactus if I had had to do it all by myself. In the afternoon we had happy hour with a local couple who are planning to do the round Australia trip in their caravan and who had met us on the web. Arthur admitted that he devours every page of the Motley web site and that it gives him enthusiasm to go on the road himself. It's good to know that the site reaches farther than the family. I have had nice emails over the years but this is the first time a reader had sought me out and I was quite chuffed.
A lay day.
Sarah was presenting at a big morning tea run in aid of Breast Cancer Week and Jean went to hear her speak.
It was Kelly's birthday so we had a birthday afternoon tea and dinner at Patricks Road.
We decided to avoid Patricks Road today because the place was going to be invaded by little girls have a sleep-over and go instead to the Caravan Show at the Ecca. We walked miles and saw lots of things we didn't want. We did buy a water filter which will save money in the long run because we won't have to buy spring water from the supermarket when we have picked up dubious water in the tank.
Lance who is parked next to us had a problem with a leak in his hot water system so I had a look. It took some time to figure out the plumbing but when I did, I was able to determine that the pressure relief valve was the cause of the trouble and was able to mend it. I also fitted a stop valve to the fresh water feed to the water heater so that it can be isolated if the trouble recurs. Lance had always had trouble draining the fresh water tank because there was no dump valve so I corrected that too.
By time all this was done it was time for happy hour.
I have used up my present enthusiasm for plumbing so the fitting of the water filters to the Motley will have to wait a little while.
We went to Cafe Zanetti for an Indulgence Day breakfast and spent the rest of the day at Patricks Rd. Sarah cooked a lamb roast for dinner so we indulged twice today.
I needed to repair my shore water inlet and Lance's also needed repair so I did them both together.
After lunch we were entertained by a banjo duet from Lance and Bob Hall, a mate of his who plays banjo too and who frequented the same places as we did in London in the fifties; places like 100 Oxford St home of Chris Barber and Lonnie Donegan.
We went to Patricks Road for lunchtime and I went with Al to Woolloongabba to get some spares for the new water filter installation.
I spent the morning fitting the water filters I bought at the caravan show. It took until lunchtime and I was very tired when I finished.