On 1 December we headed to Travelhome at Cardiff with the hope of getting some work done on our 5R. We did manage a few minor repairs but after a little sitting and waiting we were asked to come back in January to get the work on the large slide-out done. While there for a couple of days we managed to visit Costco for food and fuel, which got us ready to leave.
On Wednesday it was very hot as we headed off to Nyssa & Brad’s driveway in Granville. We managed to get ourselves all set up before a knock on the door, it was our friends; Richard & Heather visiting for coffee and a chat. It was great to catch up again with all the news of life and adventures. It was also great to see Nyssa, Brad and four teens again, I have missed them.
It didn’t take long for Dean to start with minor repairs/improvements and then accompany Jack into the city to receive an award for his distance-education Engineering course. I got busy sorting out the parcels I had ordered for Christmas and to work out the final purchases needed.
The next four Fridays were already booked on our calendar for Vera and family.
Dance Concert—Vera was in three dances and she did quite well and she loved receiving her first trophy.
Circus Concert—Vera was in three activities, like ribbons, hoops, gymnastics and she did quite well.
Baby sit—while Joel took Beck into the city and while he picked her up we watched over and fed Vera.
Boxing Day Family get together—this was a good time with our family and Beck’s family coming together for a great meal and some pressies.
We have had some very hot days (44ºC) and we took the kids to visit Richard & Heather’s pool a few times. It was quite refreshing for all.
Both of us needed to renew our drivers licences while in Granville and attend some doctors appointments, etc.
While in town we attended Granville Community Baptist Church and it was great to catch up with everyone again, they had missed us.
As we look to saying goodbye to 2025 we again take the time to thank God for all His goodness and leading this year.
We had finally arrived at Tumby Bay, SA, which for us was the primary reason for this adventure. We wanted to catch up with Uncle Malc (Dean’s mum’s brother) & Aunty Raelene as we hadn’t seen them for a long while. During our time there we visited them and went on day trips around Eyre Peninsula together. The time we had there was very special and we made some great memories. We also enjoyed catching up with our extended families and seeing a little of their lives and what they were involved in. It was a very busy visit and we had a a great time.
As we left Tumby we headed up into the Flinders Ranges and this part of our trip gave us a little time to slow down, enjoy the amazing scenery and prepare to return to the east coast.
As we headed east we found some of the travelling was along long open roads and I decided I felt well enough and that I would like to give driving with the van a try. I drove for one hour between Peterborough, SA and Broken Hill, NSW and then again between Broken Hill and Cobar I drove for two hours. Dean said I did OK1 and I felt I assisted him a little.
On Monday we packed up and headed along the A1/Pacific Highway to Travelhome at Cardiff. We parked in the driveway and set up for 2 nights for them to look at some issues with the CARDIS (the lounge-slide needs a little TLC!!) and are re-booked for further work there in January.
Another month, where is the year going? I am continually surprised and thankful, even though it shouldn’t surprise me, how much I see God’s hand at work in our daily lives. In myself I feel a lot better and am able to handle situations more calmly. It actually feels like my body is healing and recovering from health concerns of the last couple of years.
It has been quite pleasing to see how I have managed to cope with the amount of walking we have been doing with our sight-seeing and yes, it is still very tiring but I have increased in the amount I can do. Dean has commented at times that he has been amazed at what I have been able to do compared to recent years.
I have found also that this longer time travelling gives a different feel for what will we do and what exactly do we want to see. I am enjoying it all more as we stay longer in the one place, where there isn’t such a rushed feel for fitting everything into the days.
With the onset of spring and more sunnier days it also gives more desire to want to get out and check out what is happening around us.
August sees us travelling and I thought that this is a good place to talk about the weather. We definitely had lot of rain and wind with a few beautiful sunny days thrown in. Overall it was quite a restful month with bits of sightseeing.
We enjoyed being able to spend time Dean’s brother, Geoff & Lois and Lyndell who live up Port Macquarie way. It’s been a very long time since we spent time together.
On Sunday 17 we travelled down to Granville to spend the day with family and celebrate with Brad on his 50th birthday. It was great to have our whole family there, with the 12 Sydneyites and Brad’s son, Matt who lives in Redbank, QLD. We also took the advantage of having family photos which was an adventure in itself. For dinner we dined at a restaurant in Parramatta that had great GF meals for Charlize & Harry. It was a hectic but enjoyable day with everyone.
Dean and I were chatting as we drove and one of the things we have noticed is that my health and stamina has improved immensely. I have been walking around sights and working around the 5R so much easier/better. Thank you Lord for your continued presence and strength.
Hitting the road again for a few weeks, we left Granville at 1030 hrs on a sunny day and headed to Tea Gardens, a favourite of ours. We arrived at 1330 hrs and set up in the car park of the Baptist Church as the grass was still too wet. At 1600 hrs we headed off to Bible Study and afterwards went with the group to the club for dinner. When we got back our 5R we found that the key would not unlock the door. Not sure if it is called luck, more likely God’s intervention I think, as earlier in the afternoon I had opened the kitchen side window which allowed Dean with a little ingenuity and climbing, a way to break into the van. On Wednesday Dean investigated the issue with the lock and found it had actually broken. He rang Travelhome and again God’s hand was at work, as they had had a door returned which had the same lock as ours. On Thursday, in heavy rain, we travelled to Cardiff to pick-up the lock. Dean installed it when we got back and it all worked well.
August is a busy month for birthdays in our family and on Friday 1st, Dean celebrated his 67th, Wow! and for lunch we headed to Tea Gardens Hotel because he wanted a steak, which he really enjoyed. As seems to be normal for this year it rained again and of course the carpark commenced flooding again. By Sunday we’d had about 100 ml of rain and our 5R was surrounded by 15cm water. Tuesday was travel day so gumboots were needed to hitch up and leave, we were heading to the Bonny Hills (near Port Macquarie) Ingenia Caravan Park. It was a sunny day as we drove into our space #111 and set-up for nine nights. After searching Google for where to have dinner we found the Beach Hotel, not far away.
On Wednesday we visited Geoff (Dean’s brother), Lois and Lyndell and had lunch at Lake Cathie Offshore Coffee Bar with them. Thursday found us working around the 5R. Friday was Reen’s 65th birthday and we headed to Timbertown Historic Village at Wauchope for the day. It was great to explore and ride on a steam train, a horse and cart and on a miniature railway. Lunch was very exciting—pie and drink—but we made up for that and dined out at the Family Chinese Restaurant, which was great.
Saturday morning was overcast with showers and we headed to Lyndell’s AFL game at the local ground. She plays for the Magpies, but they didn’t win; no finals for her. On Monday it was sunny and we all headed to Tacking Point Lighthouse, lovely views and photos. We left there and headed to Port Macquarie to walk along the Breakwater path overlooking the water, well set-up. Dean and Geoff walked to find a Fish & Chip shop for lunch and we sat in the park overlooking the water, nice spot to catch up.
On Tuesday Dean and I were off to to Laurieton for morning tea of scones with jam and cream at My People Cafe, it was recommended by Geoff. We then drove up to the North Brother Lookout which included a very steep hill climb. There was lots of really interesting information and it had great views over the coast. We also visited the Big Axe at Kew and then it was off to lunch at Geoff & Lois’; Lyndell was cooking.
While we were in the area we caught up with Geoff, Lois and Lyndell most days. They even brought Kiko (dog) with them and they especially enjoyed our coffee. We farewelled our family on Wednesday, took more photos and started packing up.
On Thursday we hitched up and at 1030 hrs we were ready to drive to Morisset Showground, where we stayed for five nights. On the Sunday we drove to Granville for Brad’s 50th birthday—family photos in Parramatta Park and dinner at 317 Cafe, which specialises in GF1 meals.
We’ve stayed here in the showground before and explored the area, so not a lot of that this time around. Good thing, as the weather is not fantastic and the grounds are very muddy.
We’ve had a fuse in the truck blow—the one that feeds the “house” battery for the fridge, etc—a couple of days before we arrived here. It’s not your average vehicle fuse; it was a 60A large blade format and failed fairly spectacularly, melting the plastic inline fuse holder and cover to slag and producing a cloud of horrible-smelling smoke. Have used some of the quieter time to replace it, with a more robust “MIDI” type.
On Sunday 17 we headed to Granville for the day for Brad’s birthday and family time.
The day before we were leaving it rained a lot and on travel day we woke to heavy rain and lots of mud; another messy pack up.
2—19—30 Aug—Cassilis, NSW
Leaving Morisset we travelled north on the M1/Pacific Motorway and we turned left onto the Hunter Expressway and then left onto the Golden Highway toward Cassilis—pronounced (according to locals) as “CASS-ilis”, not “ca-SIL-is” (although naturally Google only understands the former!). We stopped at Merriwa Bakery and had pies and a pasty for lunch; delicious. Between Merriwa and Cassilis the truck flashed up the warning light for overheating, and we had to pull over three times to add coolant and water to keep us going; although that didn’t really help much as most seemed to go straight through onto the road.
Eventually we turned right off the Golden Highway onto Cassilis Rd and limped into the Cassilis Bowling Club campground and set up. It was a lovely spot to stop with the Munmurra River out our kitchen window. The river was a trickle when we first arrived, but after 30+mm of rain in 24 hours on the second/third day there it looked more like a raging torrent!
I had a poke around the engine on the following day and couldn’t find anything much other than pink coolant everywhere. We weren’t keen to start the motor to investigate further so called for the NRMA. They were really quick (he was just down the road on another job) and having seen similar before he suggested it was a seal on the coolant line needing a workshop to repair. As it’s still under warranty, we called Iveco and the Mudgee dealer sent out a tilt-tray to collect it take it back to them – 80+ km away. I went into Mudgee with the towie and hired a car as the dealer reckoned it would be a few day at least, with a weekend in the middle.
So we’re up to Day 6 at only our second stop – with probably will be a few more days yet. However, we can highly recommend the Cassilis Bowling Club campground – although it did get a bit muddy when we had 30+mm of rain in 24 hours. The pub has good food a couple of nights a week, Erika’s Café does an excellent breakfast Thursday and Friday and the Club has pretty good meals two nights also. All in all, quite impressive for a town of only between 100 and 200 people! And of course, everyone is fantastically “country” friendly.
We explored the area during our stay including a hike through the Goulburn River National Park to the The Drip, it was quite beautiful and peaceful. Merriwa is an historic town where they have painted silos, and it’s planet—Pluto—is the end of that leg of the Virtual Solar System drive. Gulgong is an historic town with a great bakery cafe and very narrow streets. Coolah is another small historic town where we visited the Info Centre, explored the Black Stump areas around the town and checked out their part of the Virtual Solar System drive—Neptune—along the Merriwa leg. It was also good to visit the bakery for coffee and lunch.
It’s Friday, Day 11 of our trip and we’ve travelled to Mudgee to pick-up the repaired truck at last, it only took eight days to finish it.
3—30 Aug—3 Sep—Forbes, NSW
Leaving Cassilis at 1035 hrs we travelled along Cassilis Rd and turned right onto the Golden Highway to Cobbs Rd Dubbo and then turned left onto Erskine St/Newell Highway and travelled on to Forbes Showground; we stayed for four nights. It was very windy as we drove and it took about four and a half hours with a few stops along the way. The showground was quite easy to find with a helpful supervisor and it is quite well set up and even includes a laundry. All the sights are grassed and well maintained, it’s beautiful.
We checked out a lot of the sights around town and drove about 10 km out of town to follow the Sculptures along the Lachlan River, we sat in the bird hides and watched the wildlife on Forbes Lake. We drove and walked around town finding the murals and small sculptures in parks and on the streets. We really enjoyed our time in Forbes.
4—3—4 Sep—Finley, NSW
Leaving Forbes we continued on the Newell Highway through to Finley Showground for the night and we decided to stay hitched ready to leave as we’ve stayed here before and explored the area, it’s just a lay over and we were on our way again. It was a long day with five and a half hours driving with a couple of stops.
Once we had found a spot to stop a man from the show society came across and said the ground is supposed to be closed and when Dean told him that the Facebook page said it was open for camping until tomorrow he was ok for us to stay. There were lots of trucks parked around further all getting set up for the Finley Annual Show on Saturday.
5—4—8 Sep—Bendigo, VIC
Leaving Finley we travelled on the Newell Highway and then onto the Northern Highway to Elmore and then we turned onto the Midland Highway heading to Epsom (just a little way out of Bendigo), where we stayed at the Golden Nugget Tourist Park for three nights.
While in town we had quite a bit of shopping to do. We also needed to sort out a battery issue; after needing to be jump started at Forbes, Finley and Bendigo so we had the battery replaced, it all works great again. We visited Super Cheap Auto, Woolworths, Spotlight, Anaconda, a Chemist and Jaycar. We decided early in our stay that we would be back here to do the tourist thing as this trip we were both feeling our age so we stopped.
6—8—11 Sep—Geelong, VIC
On Monday as we left Bendigo we continued on the Midland Highway through Ravenswood and then onto Daylesford Rd at Daylesford and then turned onto Geelong Rd through to Geelong and travelled through town to the showground. It was very windy as we set up and this meant we didn’t put the awnings out at first. We stayed for three nights, all set up on a lovely grassed area. Dean was quite impressed with position of the van as the kitchen window overlooked the train track. After a long day of travel and finalising shopping we decided to venture out and ate at the Kardinia Cafe, a delicious meal.
On Tuesday we travelled to Torquay and visited the Information Centre where we collected info about The Great Ocean Road and started exploring this amazing piece of Australian history. The road was built by the hands of more than 3,000 ex-servicemen who returned from WW1 and it took 13 years, 8 hours a day-in treacherous conditions, to complete.
As we travelled along the road we drove past and stopped to photographed Torquay Town Beach, Danger Point, Torquay Surf Beach and Bells Beach. We ventured off track a bit to visit The Great Ocean Road Chocolaterie & Ice Creamery where we enjoyed a delicious ice-cream and looked at the amazing chocolates and saw them being made. Back on the road, camera ready, we travelled to Anglesea’s Loveridge Lookout and as we left we had to drive down a long undulating road to the ocean. It was then on to Aireys Inlet and past Urquharts Bluff. We stopped at Split Point Lighthouse/Eagle Rock for our lunch of home made sandwiches and walked up quite a long hill to the lighthouse. Continuing on, we stopped at the Memorial Arch for photos and information about the builders. As we continued driving along the road to Lorne Reen took photos from the truck window of the cliffs and surf.
As we headed back to Geelong we travelled through the Ottway Ranges to Deans Marsh—an amazing drive—and then on to Winchelsea where the landscape of rural lands were a beautiful expansive panorama. We turned onto the Princes Highway and headed back to the showground.
On Wednesday we woke to light showers and lots of cloud, so much that the satellite TV would not work. We ventured out to do some shopping and worked at packing up in preparation for leaving tomorrow. We reflected on our stay and decided that the showground was a good spot to stop.
7—11—15 Sep—Pt Campbell, VIC
We woke to rain on Thursday and got ready to leave Geelong, we turned left onto Breakwater Rd and then left onto Settlement Rd/High St/Colac Rd onto the M1 for 1 km and then onto Anglesea Rd and turned right onto the Great Ocean and then all the way to Port Campbell where we stayed at the Port Campbell Recreation Reserve campground.
As we travelled along Reen again took photos of the coastal views, the Great Ottway National Park drive and the farm landscapes. There were so many different scenes as we travelled and the road wound up, down and around hills, we went from 15m on the coast to around 700m through the national park.
Once we had finished setting up camp in the bushy reserve we headed into town to the Visitor Information Centre and collected more brochures. We spoke with a very helpful young lady about local sights.
On Tuesday we headed off early to visit the Great Ocean Rd sights starting with the 12 Apostles, which we could only see around 6 or 7 as some have broken and others are hidden behind bigger ones. I had a mishap with losing my phone which caused sightseeing to go on hold for a few hours until someone handed my phone back. The only thing missing was some money; all OK and thank you Lord for your work in this. With sightseeing happening again we visited Loch Ard Gorge; some amazing cliffs and coastline. We visited the local takeaway shop for dinner and took photos of the sunset from the foreshore.
On Saturday we ventured out to see the Bay of Islands and the Bay of Martyrs; absolutely beautiful scenery. Then on to the Grotto and then London Bridge (which broke in 2005), the rock formations are great and really interesting. We then headed into the hills and local farms on the Food Artisans Trail where we had lunch at the Schulz Organic Creamery & Cafe which was delicious, next on the trail we sampled the wares at Timboon Fine Ice Cream and then tasted cheeses at the Apostle Whey Cheese and also had coffee. After all this food we were quite overfed so it was time to head home.
Our time in Port Campbell was really great and we also enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere of the camp site. For lunch on our last day there we headed into town to support a local cafe, the Grassroots Deli Cafe, where our meals were delicious.
8—15—19 Sep—Mt Gambier, SA
We were on our way again and travelled on the The Great Ocean Rd heading toward Allensford and turned onto the A1/Princes Highway to Warrnambool. Just out of Tyrendarra we turned onto Mount Clay Rd and travelled on a beautiful, scenic, well maintained country road. We re-joined the A1/Princes Highway at Heywood which took us all the way across the border into Mt Gambier. We arrived at the showground at 1335 hr according to us but had forgotten that we had lost 30 minutes, so had to change some clocks. It had been a hard day’s driving with the strong winds blowing across the roads and pushing against us.
Once we were all set up in the high winds; we went looking for lunch, fuel, Ad Blu and a gas bottle refill (don’t want cold showers). With all this done we settled down for the evening.
It was overcast and still windy as we woke to attempt some sight seeing. We drove up to the Blue Lake—it is supposedly the youngest volcano in Australia—it was was quite pretty and then around to Centenary Tower (closed, no flag out) and then off to a tour of Engelbrecht Cave. This includes lots of steps down to a platform where you go to the East and West caves, continuing down to about 29 metres. It was all quite fascinating and had lots of history.
On Thursday we drove down the road to check out Umpherston Sinkhole, it is situated in a park on the main highway. It is beautiful and green and has been transformed into a tiered garden and picnic area for people to enjoy, including lots of steps.
9—19—22 Sep—Keith, SA
As we set off for the day we travelled on the A1/Prices Highway and turned right onto the Riddoch Highway to head to Keith showground and it was very windy for the whole trip. After we had set up we went driving around town, a very small country town. We found a bakery open and it was across the road from the hotel where we had dinner. It was great to see how busy it was with lots of the locals dining.
We ventured out on Saturday morning and after visiting the park with a Land Rover up a pole and getting photos of the CFS (equivalent to RFS in NSW) mural we visited the Morning Loaf bakery for coffee and cake. On Sunday we visited the hotel again for pizza for lunch and then drove to the Mount Monster lookout. We had a short hike up the mountain and as it was very overcast the view wasn’t very clear. It was still quite beautiful to lookout and see the fields of green ( lucerne) and yellow (canola). The Keith area is the largest producer of lucerne seed in South Australia and also produces about 80% of Australia’s lucerne.
We really enjoyed our time in Keith, the whole feel of the town was great with the people being so friendly and it had a pleasant calmness about it.
10—22—29 Sep—Ironbank, SA
We travelled along the Dukes Highway/A8 then at Tailem Bend we joined the Princes Highway/A1/M1/ South Eastern Freeway which we travelled on until we took a left exit to Stirling then travelled up through the Adelaide hills (very winding and with tight bends) to the Shiloh Hills Park at Ironbank. While we travelled we noticed that there was very little wind and the trip was so much better/easier.
It was great to be able to set up camp in a beautiful bush area, high up on the mountain (400m) with views of a pond and gullies from the front door, it was so inviting. This was the first camp for a while we were able to put the awnings out for most of our time that we were there.
For dinner we travelled 20 minutes into Aberfoyle Park to Karen (Dean’s cousin) & Phil and spent the evening with them, it was great to catch up with them after, we think, around 27 years. It was great to share with them and get along as if it hadn’t been that long. We also went out for dinner to Hub Tandoor on Wednesday with them.
On Thursday on the drive to Karen & Phil’s we stopped at a small lookout to get photos of the Happy Valley Reservoir (474 m) and then drove down to the reservoir (154 m) and took more photos. Karen had contacted lots of cousins for a family get together for dinner and it was great to share the evening there with 14 of us sharing stories and photos. We also had some terrific sunset photos from their back yard which also looks over the reservoir.
On Friday we travelled to Hahndorf, an historic village in the Adelaide hills showing it’s German heritage. We walked along the road taking in the scene, we had morning tea at the German Inn and we met Uncle Ross (Dean’s uncle) and Chrissie at the The Old Mill for lunch and a catch up; it was great to see them again. After lunch we visited Gavin (Dean’s cousin) & Sarah’s home at Kanmantoo (between Mount Barker and Murray Bridge). We thoroughly enjoyed all the views over the fields and valley’s. We had a great day and we were quite exhausted from the busy day.
On Sunday we attended Grace Life Community Church at O’Hallaran Hill with Phil & Karen and got to meet some of their friends. For lunch Karen had arranged for all her kids and families who live in Adelaide, to come and meet us. We had a great time together catching up and even managed to get photos.
11—29 Sep—3 Oct—Port Augusta, SA
After a fantastic week of catching up with extended family it was time to move onto the next town. We headed out through the mountains, through Stirling and left onto the M1, which took us on the eastern ring road around to join South Rd/M2 north west of Adelaide. This lead us back onto Highway 1 and all the way to Port Augusta. For the whole trip we were running into a hot and gusty headwind which made the trip very tiring and on arrival it was 35⁰C, the hottest day yet as we drove to the Discovery Park to set up.
As we drove through Lake Bumbunga we noticed all the pink lakes so we stopped to get photos and the towns people had added a Nessy monster (very cute) or 2.
We headed out early on Tuesday morning to the JM Deli & Bakery for morning tea and then on to check out the Water Tower Lookout; it was a little hazy. We visited the Australian Arid Lands Botanical Gardens hoping for colour but it was very dry and no colour so we drove to the Red Cliff Lookout and looked over the town and Dean liked seeing the train leaving Port Augusta.
The Information Centre was at the Wadlata Outback Centre which was well set up with brochures and info and a metal mural of ‘Ships in the Desert’ (camel & South Australia). We then drove to the Mural on the Hill and took lots of photos of the continuous mural which went around a corner of the All Saints Catholic Church (Dean is working at making it a long line of all the photos). We couldn’t leave without visiting the Pichi Richi Railway centre which had wall murals and lots of interesting items on display.
On Thursday it was a lovely sunny day with a cool breeze blowing and we drove 45 minutes to Quorn to go on the Pichi Richi steam train ride up through the Flinders Ranges. We stopped for lunch at Woolshed Flats station and enjoyed a sausage roll and scones with jam and cream; very delicious. We thoroughly enjoyed the ride and the scenery and how the volunteers made it seem like a train ride back in the good old days.
July finds us still in Tea Gardens for a few more days and the weather bureau has issued a bomb cyclone warning. We had strong wind all day with our weather system recording wind gusts at 75 kph and heavy rain, quite a storm cell. The water around us in the carpark had continued to edge closer and we were like a 5R island, see photos.
It’s Thursday 3 and it was time to pack up to head back to Granville. Not only did we have to compete with the wind, we also had to work in gumboots as the water was deeper than our ankles. This made for quite an interesting pack up.
Our fist weekend back in Granville was quite busy with a drop in visit on Saturday afternoon from Joel, Beck, AJ & Vera who were travelling through after spending time at Penrith Flip Out for Vera’s 5th birthday and on the way to another friend’s party. On the Sunday we were celebrating Vera’s birthday with a family lunch at at The Rustic Secret Garden at Mulgoa. It was great to have Nyssa, Jack, Charlie, Harry & Andy with us.
On Tuesday it was time to celebrate Andy’s 12th birthday and Nyssa cooked lasagne & chips for dinner with an ice cream cake.
While in Granville we were kept quite busy getting the children to doctor visits, scans and follow ups for the first couple of weeks. Dean was kept busy with odds jobs for Nyssa and I worked at tidying clothes cupboards and checking the kids uniform needs. I also had an appointment at Blacktown hospital for a yearly check up; all good. During this busy schedule we both managed to get a cold which knocked us about a bit, we must be getting old. We also had the opportunity to visit Joel & Beck and take Vera to her swimming lesson before enjoying dinner together.
It’s Tuesday 29 and we are packed up ready to leave again, first heading to Tea Gardens for a week where we will again stay at the Baptist Church.
As June arrives we actually noticed that winter is here and we are not happy. We are busy packing up in preparations for travelling on Thursday for about a month. Our first port of call is Singleton Showground where we have some work to do. On the day we arrived it was sunny and fresh but when we woke on Friday morning there was a gale force wind blowing and it got worse over the next week until it stopped on Friday, just in time for the funeral service.
When Brett passed away (13/5/25) I wrote on Facebook (Doreen Sandry Bassett) ‘We were 6 (3 girls, 3 boys), then we were 5 (2 girls, 3 boys) and now we are 4 (2 girls, 2 boys)‘. I don’t like how this is going and I feel very sad.
The service went well and afterwards it was really great to catch up again with many of my family who were here for the funeral service. We were able to have lunches at the hotel and club and have visitors to the 5R to chat and remember.
During our stay at the showground we were able to observe a poultry auction (lots of clucking happening) and a horse show where all the riders were children and teens displaying their skills. It’s quite a busy showground.
Before we had to pack up ready to leave Dean spent some time up a ladder doing some minor repairs to the awnings and he did a little clean up around the 5R.
On Thursday 19 we were busy packing up ready to travel to Tea Gardens. When we arrived at the Church we were advised that the grass area was still to soft from previous rain so we set up on the edge of the carpark, which we did for our two week stay. During our time here we experienced all types of weather—sun, overcast, lots of rain and wild winds. It is always interesting at Tea Gardens and we always enjoy our time there as it’s also a good time to slow down and recover.
We are on the road again (sounds like a song), all packed up and heading to Singleton for a couple of weeks. It’s 1050 hrs on a brisk sunny morning and there is quite a lot of traffic for the whole trip. At 1350 hrs we arrive at the showground and are settling in for our stay.
Dean has been asked to lead the memorial service for Brett and after talking with Liz it appears that I will need to assist with the design of the service handout. As we both settle down to bring together the service we trust and pray that the Lord will use us to share his message with the people who will attend.
