On the road again .....

I wish it were true but, in fact, the only bit of road the caravan has been on since the beginning of June is the bit between Hadspen and Deloraine.

I had my last radiation treatment yesterday. After that, there was no reason to stay in Hadspen any longer so we packed up the ‘van and drove away. We had been on-site for 11 weeks so it was quite a change to be mobile again. Because I am working at the election tomorrow (Saturday) we are now in Deloraine thinking about what we should do next week.

Before I get on to that, I should report that my 37 sessions on the linear accelerator (sounds like something from Dr Who) went without incident and the doctor says he doesn’t want to see me for 3 months. Ever the optimist, I read between the lines that all is well and have nothing to worry about.

The only grumble I have is that almost all of my appointments were around 7.30 in the morning. I would drag myself out of bed at 6, creep around so as not to disturb Marilyn, scrape the ice off the windscreen and drive, in the dark, to a deserted hospital where the bleary-eyed staff would tell me to “Go straight on through.” I need to say how impressed I am with the cheerful and professional people that I dealt with. Without exception, their people-skills were outstanding, especially at 7.30 in the morning.

Still, let’s not dwell on that slice of history. More important, what will we do next week?

We fly to Melbourne on Tuesday 31st before flying to Manila on Wednesday. It’s the week before that which worries us. We could just stay where we are, in the house next to the school, with the wood fires, our easy chairs and flat-screen TV. Or, we could get back in the caravan, and set off to find another interesting corner of Tasmania, or go to Hobart to catch up with some long-neglected friends.

The problem is that Tasmania is moving in to the coldest and windiest part of winter. Do we really want to be in a caravan with snow at the door and the awning flapping in gale-force winds? We bought the caravan with the thought of warm summer nights in mind. Sensible grey nomads follow the sun but we haven’t got around to that yet. Maybe next year.

Marilyn would really like to go on a short cruise but there is not much available. We don’t fancy a 4-day cruise from Sydney to Brisbane or 7 days on the Murray and, anyway, what a crazy way to spend money when we’re about to embark on a 36-day holiday in the Philippines.

You’ll have to wait for the next post to see what we will decide to do. For now, we’ve decided to get the election out of the way and try to make a decision on Sunday.

I haven’t reported for a while on what I am reading (which is not much); instead I will tell you what we have been watching on the TV. A friend of Jamie’s gave him the last five series of Dr Who and we have been devouring them. Series 3 and 4 have the best Doctor and Series 5 has the best Companion. See how involved we are?

Did you notice the three music references in this post?