I have spent the past couple of months marking time and getting ready to leave. I've been on the medical merry-go-round being flicked from one specialist to another - heart, lungs, respiratory specialists. You name it I have had almost every part of my body scanned and poked and medicated. I finally got the all clear last week, with reminders about follow-up visits. I will ignore the 3 month recommendations as I really don't expect to return by then.
We had a couple of family events to see me on my way. It was my baby sister Karen's 50th birthday last month and her trip to Brisbane coincided with brother Tony's birthday. In typical O'Rourke fashion, a mob of us met at Tony and Lyndall's place and sent out for seafood and chips to be eaten on the verandah - lovely! Lyndall had two birthday cakes prepared and, as she has now got used to our family's penchant for sweet and creamy food, followed this with pavlovas (plural!) Tony took on his usual barista role and made dozens of cappuccinos and lattes to finish the evening.
The following day we had our annual family get-together in the park. This tradition began after Mum's death when we no longer had our huge Christmas gathering at Mum and Dad's. As most of us have kids and grandkids, we tend to spend Christmas with them. By meeting on the long weekend in October, we make the effort to stay in touch. I suppose we had about 50 there this year. (PHOTOS) I don't think that we would lose touch as we are constantly connecting with each other, either in small or large groups.
Finally I was able to hit the road. I have eight-year old Hudson with me for a few weeks. Cory travelled with me last year so Hudson felt it was his turn. His parents thought it might be more sensible to send him for the last term of the year rather than the beginning of next year when it is important to settle into a new class with new friends. I did wonder for a couple of days how it was going to work out but he has settled in and realises that we are travelling companions and he has to do his share of the work. He is gradually getting some jobs under control.
Although we were heading south, our first stop was west of Brisbane. We spent the night at Pittsworth visiting Father Thomas Areekuzhy whom I had got to know well when he first arrived in Australia and was working in the Toowoomba area. We spent a fair bit of time talking although, as Parish Priest, he had constant visitors and phone calls.
Our next major stop was with friends Annie and Les in Maclean. The highlight for Hudson was going fishing with Les. He caught a catfish within minutes of tossing his line in and another couple the next day. (Check out his blog through the link on mine or at hudss100.blogspot.com. He loves to get comments - as I do!) It is always hard to leave Annie and Les as they make us so welcome. Their place is peaceful and their pace of life is relaxed. (Well, Annie may not see it quite that way as she is working, finishing a law degree, running an airbnb and tending to her garden. However, it looks like a lovely life. With a large property, Les is always busy with maintenance but always has time to talk. He and Umar would get on well as they are both passionate about life and current events.) Tea and biscuits feature prominently in my visits.
Tonight we are free camping at Bellingen, nice spot with about 10 neighbours but rather close to the road so it may be a rather noisy night.
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