Wednesday and home

we pack up and leave albany. it's a nice cottage.

deb loves albany, she would like to stay longer :-)

then we drive (deb drives) four and a half hours to home.

we stop at the black cockatoo in kojonup for a mid morning coffee and muffin.

we drive past, almost miss the cafe, it looks different coming from the south.

we stop at the Williams woolshed for lunch. always nice but much nicer with just the two of us. our last visit was with the stirlings tour group.

and that's it. home again. phew !

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===


As Conan says: What does not kill you
does not kill you

tuesday in albany

it rains overnight. by morning it's almost fine.

we set maps to take us to Two People's Bay. the system chooses to take us towards betty's beach. it's an interesting road, rather rough. we end up at East Bay campsite. it's a beautiful spot.

miles of clean white sand. gentle surf, choppy ocean. absolute peace.

we decide that it is part of two people bay. today, we are the two people.

we stroll along the beach, then look at some rocks, a bit rough for me to explore.

it's a beautiful day. sunny with a cool wind.

back to the truck, not quite so peaceful.

a campervan has arrived. with plenty of space these idiots park right next to us. the woman stands by their van brushing her teeth. idiots.

anyway, we're leaving. it's been beautiful.

we go to the Garrison restaurant for lunch. It's at the anzac centre. we've been into the anzac centre. no way I'll visit again, too sad.

the menu is fancy, small print, no obvious logic, hard to find anything edible. I'm lost in all the fancy words.

deb orders scallops and risotto to share.

risotto is mushroom, shimezu? i guess it's Japanese for leathery. goes well with salty parmesan. nice but not much of it.

four scallops. with scorched cauli, tastes burnt to me.

all very nice but, as deb says, needs some bread. as we leave we think, wonder where we can get lunch.

this is the third holiday lunch to cost us about $75 for two. the fanciest and the least satisfying.

as we leave i suggest that they should remove the blowflies.

we drive to a walk track at Possession Point. it's a pleasant walk though the occasional rocky bits are a bit difficult. for me.

we stop at fisherman's cove. another pleasant walk to a beach. there's supposed to be a cache, a micro in the bush. we fail to find it.

back to our cottage. a good day, tiring. i sleep a bit. and now it's raining again and we're inside out of it :-)

bread and cheese for dinner. yum :-)

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper

Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===


As Conan says: What does not kill you
does not kill you

monday in albany

it's raining all night. in the morning it's still raining. we decide to stay indoors :-)

for lunch, we drive to Middleton beach, to the cafe, now called three anchors

we walk from truck to cafe across the howling cold wind. when we walk back, a cold drizzle had been added. ah the albany weather :-)

lunch -- fish and chips -- is excellent. we buy a cake, a brownie, for tonight's dessert.

not good weather for exploring outdoors. we drive straight home.

mid afternoon there's a break in the rain. we explore the garden round our wisteria cottage. it's delightful.

flowers which deb says are not wisteria are blowing off the trees, coating the ground.

deb finds a chicken, just one, in a coop

having admired the garden we spend the rest of the day inside. again, it's raining outside.

the cottage comes with eggs so deb scrambles them for dinner.

that's it so far. a very relaxed, pleasant day.

two things i like about this cottage.

only one internal step and that is visible with different floor colours either side.

and the taps are simple. one for hot one cold, twist on and off. so simple. i can operate them without glasses :-)

a very nice cottage. a very nice holiday.

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===


As Conan says: What does not kill you
does not kill you

bang!

did i completely forget to mention... the key stupidity of the day!

we're walking back from the beach. i walk round a tree and bang! there's a steel post next to the tree... is on my left... i completely fail to see it... and bang! crash into it with my forehead. ouch :-( hit so hard that i bite my tongue.

could have been worse :-)  i hit flat, so no great damage. though Deb says there is a bit of a lump on my forehead.

oh well... knock some sense into me... I'll be more careful walking round trees :-)

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===


As Conan says: What does not kill you
does not kill you

sunday

it's evening. we're sitting listening to the rain. not to worry, we're warm, cosy and dry inside our cottage.

most of the day has been fine :-)

today we are going to meet deb's sister and her husband. but...

they have to return to perth. they pass on their restaurant booking. it's in the dog's name :-) she cant get there either...

so we have lunch in a fancy tavern, hybla its called. we share a meat sharing plate. lots of meat! very nice. except for the curry bowl which is too hot for either of us.

theres charred flat bread for carbs, it needs chips :-)

we would never have booked it ourselves. we think kind thoughts of the two (and their dog:-) who did book it.

we drive to emu point cafe for coffee, partly to get out of the rain. just a sprinkle, just as we find a cache, we decide that coffee inside is a good idea.

we aid digestion with a stroll along the beach to the squid house, it seems to be a fish and chip shop. with pelicans resting axross the road.

... this all seems to be out of order... no worries... whatever i say, we do it at some time today. probably.

we walk along the track that circles the hill. from middleton beach. we find a couple of caches, fail to find others.

its a very pleasant walk, views across the ocean or possibly harbour. the day is fine, sunny, cool, the views are worth seeing.

half the walk is enough exercise, we walk back.

we drive to the old whaling station, the cafe, for coffee and cake.

enjoy a walk along the groyne but fail to find the cache that should be there.

on the way back we look in at goodes beach, where debs sister once stayed. very nice beach... with a cache nearby but too far for our enthusiasm to search.

we drive home via a supermarket, to buy some food for the next few days. mostly milk so we can drink copious amounts of tea and coffee.

were staying at bayonet point, so we drive home via the lookout, there should be a cache.

theres a bin that badly needs to be emptied. signs that something may once have been nailed to a tree. but no cache. not one we can find...

the lookout has an amazing view. now we know where green island is. and weve seen it. we alk down the steps to the water level lookout, still a nice view, then up those stairs again.

today deb is amazed... after many visits to albany, today we visit places she has never seen before.

we drive home. bread and cheese for dinner. now we sit listening to the rain. getting heavier. we are very comfortable :-)

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===


As Conan says: What does not kill you
does not kill you

friday, Saturday

deb takes the adults off to their fancy lunch. I'm left with the kids. i survive.

the rest of the day is deb, me and the two kids. we survive.

deb drives us to Swings and Roundabouts. it's a battle of phone GPSs. Deb's just locks up and refuses to speak. mine, well, noone trusts me to navigate.

still, we get there. it's a winery with cafe and playgrounds. the playgrounds are solid logs and thick ropes. scary for adults but the kids are fine. we have lunch there. a somewhat light weight thin crust pizza, not much for the boy's growing appetite. nice though.

then we drive back. there's some confusion organising to pick up the adults, there's no phone signal at the holiday home.

deb goes to pick up the adults, I'm left with the kids. much screaming and struggling. my sympathy is with the older kid. he would dearly have loved to play jenga but settles for building a tower. the younger kid just wants to knock down the tower. i keep them separated.

do it again? never.

we play a lot of raining wombats. the kids run upstairs, drop a stuffed wombat off the balcony, run downstairs, repeat... good fun, lots of energy burned.

dinner, sleep...and that's it, time to leave.

i do try to have a shower before packing. the shower tap is all in one. it turns left right for hot cold but i can't read which is which. I'm dressed for a shower, my glasses are in another room. after a few minutes of cold water i give it up as a bad job.

we pack up... wave goodbye... drive off... with a challenging start, no phone signal so google maps is no help.

it's a pleasant drive, says Deb. nice bush, not much traffic.

first stop is Nannup. we have muffins and coffee in the garden of a health food cafe. last year we had a vegan lunch in the same cafe, muffins are much better.

We buy sandwiches in manjimup and eat them for lunch at a small farmers market. sandwiches are big enough that they will also do for dinner. especially after we buy icecreams :-) plus some local bread (it's delicious) and pickles from the market.

it's afternoon when we arrive at wisteria cottage, on the edge of albany. very cosy, pleasant and peaceful.

one small worry... like a rogaine, as time passes... we/I could almost belive that we enjoyed looking after the kids... :-)

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===


As Conan says: What does not kill you
does not kill you

driving south

we're heading off for a week in Albany... but it's not that simple.

First.. a long day of child minding.

A relaxed start to the day. It's almost ten am when we set off. deb driving, of course.

Down the freeway. onto greenlands road to cut across to SW highway. We could go further and faster on the freeway. We prefer sw highway. less traffic, better scenery, more little towns to add interest.

No need to make the decision, this is always our preferred drive. today, I sleep through the automatic decision. i wake up for Waroona. there's a short sharp shower of rain but it clears.

for lunch we stop at a favourite, Stirling cottage, just north of harvey.

deb orders a BLT, Ihave the same. long experience has taught me to order the same food as deb. when I try to be different... i always look at what deb is eating and wish that i had the same. and yes, the blt is delicious :-)

after lunch we take a short stroll, it's an interesting tourist stop, with gardens and history.

and a geocache. which we find with the caching app. still getting used to the app, it works well.

at harvey we fill up with fuel. then drive on...

to margaret river. our at least to a pleasant area with walks and a cafe. deb tells me we are on the edge of the town, i have no idea, I'm just enjoying the ride.

we walk towards the cafe. i think, ouch, a bit of a cramp in my big toe. no it's not... i've been bitten by an ant. it hurts like expletive deleted. still, by the time we've finished our coffee the pain is fading.

dang ant. back at the truck i put on shoes and socks...no more walking in thongs.

Deb and Robbie exchange a few messages. we're joining robbie and his family in MR, that's where the child minding comes in.

deb says we are almost there. I'm dubious, my phone tells me we're nearly two hours away... oh... the phone has decided that we are walking. stupid phone.

and so we arrive. to join son, daughter and two grandchildren for a couple of nights.

MR is a flash tourist area. this is a flash tourist house, all smooth, shiny and modern.

deb reads stories to the kids, she's good at it. the parents get the kids ready for bed. the kids riot then sleep. and that's it...end of day one.

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===


As Conan says: What does not kill you
does not kill you

feeling fine

I'm very cautious crossing roads. I wave my arms... in the hope that drivers will think, look out for the idiot on the road, and avoid me.

Now I wave my arms *and* my white stick. So drivers can think, look out for the blind idiot on the road. And avoid me.

I don't know about the drivers but the stick gives *me* extra confidence.

Today we are in Kings Park for a run. Re-learning the park with dodgy vision. Also practising stairs, on just 100 steps of Jacobs Ladder. Enough to get me breathing heavily.

The last few months I've been miserable. I'm feeling a lot better now. Not dancing in the streets... but feeling good. Life and its little ups and downs eh :-)

It really helps that I have "positive" things to do. My app is making visible progress, that cheers me up. A feeling of satisfaction.

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

===

If you always see your glass as half empty, try getting a smaller glass. (Alfred E. Neuman)

Dying for you to read my blog, at https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com/ :-)

odd points

I feel a bit annoyed that I was not able to walk up those mountains in the Stirlings.

I'm more annoyed -- still with myself -- that I spoilt the trip for Deb.

Who, incidentally, bounded up those mountain trails like an athletic and attractive gazelle :-) 

===

I find myself doing something a certain way -- because that is the way I always do it. Thinking, perhaps that is the way I *must* do it. What I mean is:

I have lasted five years since cancer diagnosis (woohoo :-)

Is this just luck? Or... am I doing something right?

I have honey on my porridge, is honey a magic cancer cure? I keep having honey.

At night I drink several glasses of water. Is this -- by magic -- washing away cancer cells? I won't stop drinking.

I walk and run. Is this helping my body fight cancer? I keep on walking -- just in case.

It's stronger than "habit" -- I am reluctant to change. Even though I "know" that these things are (probably) not related to survival.

It's called "superstitious learning" and it's very common in business: an unjustified, possibly false belief that there is a cause-and-effect relationship.

But... just in case... Send me a lot of money and I will reveal the secret to curing cancer... It involves walking. Drinking water. Honey on porridge. And sending me lots of money.

It's a sure thing! A sure thing for making money off suckers :-)

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

===

If you always see your glass as half empty, try getting a smaller glass. (Alfred E. Neuman)

Dying for you to read my blog, at https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com/ :-)

the white stick

Today we finally buy me a white stick :-)

Yes, the blind person's white stick, the short version.

It seems that a full white stick needs to be bought after proper training and fitting. I'm not using it to guide me. I want to let other people know that I may not see them.

I've had near misses nearly walking into people on my left. Where I can't see them.

When I cross a road I wave my arms in warning. The white stick provides a more meaningful warning.

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

===

If you always see your glass as half empty, try getting a smaller glass. (Alfred E. Neuman)

Dying for you to read my blog, at https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com/ :-)

Home again

yes, we've been Home since Saturday. what a relief :-)

Saturday. we leave Kendenup at 9am. reach Perth at 3pm. looking for a taxi, looking for a toilet... not enough stops on the way.

At the start: we've told the group about geocaching, they are interested, we stop at the cache Deb and i walked to before. a nice cache that gives a guaranteed find, everyone is impressed.

Next stop is Kojonup for morning tea. time for a half cup then we're off again. there's a cache across the road but... no time to look. anyway the road is a busy Highway, too much trouble to get across.

Next stop is Williams Wool Shed for lunch. crowded, service is slow, we have time for a very relaxed lunch, phew, a very nice lunch. then the final drive, non stop to Perth.

A pause in typing. I was on the apple tablet. such a pain. It's easier to dump it and continue with a PC and proper keyboard. So:

We start driving. The guides play a podcast over the bus sound system. It's a woman telling the story of Grace Bussell, famous bit of WA history, a good choice for a bus with a couple of non-WA tourists. Except:

The reader does vary her tone, a little bit of up and down... but with absolutely no excitement. No drama. No feeling. No emotion. Absolutely boringly awful. (I guess I should say that Deb didn't think it was bad.) Any classroom would have been asleep within minutes.

To me, it sounds like a Vogon poetry recital :-(

====

This trip is a test, are we ready for a trip to NZ? To walk the Routeburn? Lessons learnt:

1. No, I am not ready to walk up any mountains. The climb is okay, barely. But I cannot handle the uneven slippery stuff.

2. There is no way I can travel with a group of strangers.

So Routeburn is doubtful, for me :-)

Later, a friend asks me what I can't stand about travel with a group. It's hard to explain, to justify. I just can't stand it.

So we are safely home. Doing the usual home things.

So very nice to be -- just us -- home again.