We suffered our first frost of the winter overnight with a minimum temperature of -1°C (30°F). Happily the Motley didn't suffer a freeze up in the plumbing and the fan heater kept us reasonably comfortable.
We reached Barraba at about three o'clock. Everything was in pretty good order except for the water heater which had burst in one of the frosts. Sadly that means that we will have to shower in the Motley until I can get it repaired or replaced. I probably should have drained it before we went away but it was supposed to be protected against frost by a special Exogel valve which was supplied with the heater. Perhaps I can claim the repair or replacement on the warranty. The only other problem was the spiders which had decided that Currawinya was a good place to live when there were no humans in residence. One of the spiders was a very big Huntsman which was living in the bedroom. Jean said she would rather sleep in the Motley than share her bedroom with a big hairy spider. I caught him and relocated him into the garden so all was well. The house was quite cold but the gas heater fixed that very quickly. It is nice to have all the comforts of home after five months in the Motley.
It was frosty overnight with minimum temperature of -4°C (25°F) but we were very cosy in the bedroom. I had set the electric heater to run all night and both Jean and I had to push the doona off as we were too hot. I set the heater to warm up the bedroom for a couple of hours before we go to bed and before we get up in the morning.
We slept in and had a late breakfast. We had lots of chores to do settling in to the house. When I went to town to collect the mail and do a bit of shopping, everyone i met welcomed us back which was very nice.
In the evening we had a Lions Ladies Night at the golf club. It was a very pleasant evening and it was heartening to be welcomed back so warmly. A visitor made a presentation about his recent trek on the Kakoda Trail. I spoke to him afterwards saying that I used to live in Port Moresby when it was a nice peaceful place. He told me how bad it s now. They even have to have guard dogs on the roofs of building to stop rascols from breaking in through the roof. I commented that he had told us how wonderful the locals he had met on the Trail were and he agreed that Port Moresby is not the same place as the rest of Papua New Guinea.
I had to take to my bed to get over a dose of the lurgi. I was able to get up and cook dinner.
We went into town to shop. Jean went to the local clothing store and found what she had been searching for for some time and was amazed when she got it at 25% off the marked price.
At Jean's request, I cooked dhal and rice for dinner.
We both slept in and had a late breakfast in the Motley. With the gas hot water system in the house out of action, we use the Motley for breakfast and showers. When i get round to refitting the kitchen we will use the Motley for all meals.
I did the laundry because the day was sunny and warm. It took three loads to deal with the backlog. The nice weather ensured that it all dried quite early. I cooked a yummy vegetable curry based on my version of Korma's Fried Potatoes.