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Day 120: 26 September – Andersons reunited

Author: Mrs A

Location: Perth, Western Australia

Distance walked: 4.5 km

It was an uneventful trip back to Perth from the UK. I farewelled my sister and her family, checked in my bags and went through security. A nice new Emirates airbus 380 flew me to Dubai, then another from there to Perth. Mr A was there to meet me at the gate, and took me back to the mobile apartment to Miss Tassie. So good to see both of them again.

I had a poor night’s sleep, waking at midnight and finally dropping off again at around 5am. Before long the sun had risen and I had to be up again. After a brief visit to a local GP, Mr A and I went to meet our favourite stalkers from Geraldton for brunch in South Perth. Greg and Claire were visiting their daughters nearby and had time to meet before heading home.



It was good to see them and we had a very tasty brunch in a cafe with a fabulous view over the Swan River, looking out towards Elizabeth Quay. Perth feels like a very livable city, very picturesque, full of cycle paths and walking tracks, surrounded by water in all directions. 

Before long, it was time for the next event of the day, the far less exciting visit (especially for Mr A, who spent the time in the waiting room!) to Perth Radiological Clinic for a CT scan of my chest and trachea. Hopefully will get the results of that in the next day or so, revealing whether I need to book in for an operation next week or not. At the very least, it should shed some light on my fluctuating breathing abilities.


Clothes washing and dinner cooking took up the remainder of the day, keeping me busy in order to kick start the correct sleep patterns…hopefully!

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Day 117-119: 23-25 September – A wet and wild long weekend culminates in Mrs A’s return!

Author: Mr A

Location: Pumphrey’s Bridge to Forrestfield (Perth)

We pulled up stumps on a wet and windy Thursday morning and left the little town of Boddington for a short drive inland to our weekend camp at a place called Pumphrey’s Bridge. No prizes for guessing what’s there….


Yup…but its a bridge we won’t be driving over….mind you, our VMS navigation system wanted us to. I just updated the maps before I left Sydney on this after market 4WD navigation system – I’m not sure how they stay in business because the maps are absolutely useless compared to using free Miss Google. She of course had me detour round, as every car has had to for many years. 

I had been invited to attend a club meet of the Toyota Land Cruiser Club of WA, by the organisers – our new friends in Perth, Andy and Caroline Trenfield. I was looking forward to meeting them again, and to be honest having some human company. I was talking rather a lot to our Burmese cat, Tassie.

I was first to arrive, of course, and “Norman No Mates” here parked up and sat in the Zone watching the rain hurl itself at the windows. Soon the other club members starting arriving, all sensibly in caravans or campers given the shocking forecast for the weekend. However, the venue had been chosen not just for its falling down bridge, but it had a lovely old hall that was rented to us for our stay. I was soon mingling, and what a lovely crowd of people., I was immediately invited down for a brew with one couple, he was mid 70’s and she mid 80’s. They are both very active four wheel drivers and gad about in their caravan having a blast. Several other club members were in their late 70’s or early 80’s, and I just was so blown away by how “young” these people are. Is there a direct correlation between owning a caravan and longevity? I bloody hope so! 

We trooped into the hall and Caroline let me light the fire. Little does she know my history….but thats another story. We soon had a roaring blaze, the wine was opened and food was cooked and shared. What a great atmosphere. It’s so depressing to think that you need to behave a certain way when you get older. I watched a “ladies shooters” event kick off. They were sure having a lot more fun than many much younger people I’ve hung out with! Of course I had to show the girls how its done…


A projector was produced and we watched Bran Nue Dae, the 2009 Australian movie with a very young looking Jessica Mauboy, Missy Higgins, and Ernie Dingo doing his thing. The comments from the audience had me in tears of laughter on several occasions. It was hilarious and a cracking evening. The club members supposedly recognised every shot of old pub and stretch of dusty road, and if they didn’t, they just made it up I reckon. 

The weekend carried on in similar vein: eat, drink, laugh, repeat. It was a mainly indoor event given the very ordinary weather, but it was very cosy in the Zone at night with my personal hot water cat. She seemed OK holed up in the caravan, with regular brushes and cuddles, and the occasional brief night time exploration when it wasnt raining. 

All too quickly and it was Monday morning and time to head back to Perth, and the Discovery Parks caravan park adjacent to the airport, ready to meet Mrs A off the plane.

And here she is, looking far too glamorous for someone who has just travelled for 24hrs. 


\Wow…so great to have her back. And someone else is pretty happy as well…


Now that is a happy look…honestly….and determined to plant herself in the middle of unpacking…just to make sure there’s no ignoring going on. 

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Day 115-117: 21-23 September – (UK) Quality time in East Sussex with family

Author: Mrs A

Thursday 21 September

Location: Hastings

Distance walked: 3 km

I joined mum and her husband Barry in a couple of games of ten pin bowling – the first time I have been in over 20 years! Unsurprisingly I was slightly out of practice in the first game, coming second place to mum, but somehow found my mojo in the second game, with four spares and a strike taking me to the lead!

The rain closed in for the afternoon, so mum and I disappeared into the loft to try to sort through some of the many things from my childhood still left up there. Hours disappeared as I read my way through many letters received from friends in our teenage years, laughing lots at the things we said to each other about our trials and tribulations. I found lots of old photos and other goodies too, and much left to look at in future visits.


Friday 22 September

Location: Brighton

Distance walked: 10 km

After packing up my bags, mum and I drove over to Brighton to meet my sister Helen and niece Isabel after their dancing class. It was a stunning day, a crisp autumnal 17 degrees with blue skies.


We headed down to the seafront so Isabel could have a play at the park down there.


I had to buy an ice cream in Izzy’s shop – she assured me it was vegan:


We had a delicious lunch at Jamie Oliver’s Italian restaurant, before returning to collect Elliot from school and celebrate Mum’s birthday with cake and presents.


Saturday 23 September

Location: Brighton

Distance walked: 9 km

A morning of playing with Elliot and Isabel was followed by some sister time. Stu kindly looked after the children for the afternoon, freeing Helen and I to head into Brighton for some shopping. Its great how something so simple as shopping with your sister can be so special when you have at least 12 months between shops. I’m not sure we had the opportunity when I was here last. We even found a shop with our initials, so had to take a photo!


We had a successful trip, picking up a couple of things each, before returning home via the Royal Pavillion gardens in the late afternoon sun.


Stu is out tonight with a couple of friends, so Helen and I will be responsible for bed time and story reading, before my last opportunity for proper fish and chips for dinner. Final morning in Brighton tomorrow before I head off to Gatwick Airport, flying to Dubai and eventually Perth….Mr A, I’m nearly on my way! ❤️

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Day 114-116: 20-22 September – (Australia) Quality time with a Burmese in Boddington

Author: Mr A

Location: Mandurah to Boddington

Well WA is certainly getting us back for all those months of blue skies in the Kimberley. Three consecutive days of solid rain, gale force winds and temperatures almost in single figures at night, have meant some very quiet times holed up in the Zone with my little furry mate, Tassie our Burmese cat.

Heading off from Mandurah after nearly a week there. I was ready to move on and Tas wasnt so keen on going for walks with all the activity around on the caravan park. Somewhere more bushy was called for. I have been kindly invited to the Perth Landcruiser Owners Club meet this weekend and decided to head out towards the venue for that.

The trip started well, climbrting up though the forested hills south of Perth, but then, a warning light pops on. Now, I have been bragging that the cruiser has done 12,000 plus km from Sydney with not a spot of bother, and given I’d just put it through a major service, I was a little peeved. It turned out to be the indicator for a fuel filter complaining about that mucky diesel its been forced to drink from those out of the way fuel stations up north.

A quick phone call to Mandurah Toyota revealed that the fuel filter doesn’t appear on the standard checklist, even for a major service – a trick for the novice bush driver like myself. I asked when they could look at it, explaining I was travelling through and on a bit of a timetable, but reconciling myself to the Sydney answer of “Oooh we’re really busy at the moment, how about the second Monday after the next leap year mate”. But no, the Mandurah answer was “Right now sir if you’d like”. I was gobsmacked and headed back into town, dropping the caravan at the ever helpful Mandurah Caravan park on the way.

I was greeted by a smile and “Ah…fuel filter sir?” Did I look that much like a stranger? I guess. I was settled down by a very perky young thing who made me a hot chocolate and generally fussed over my well being. This was amazing, and actually exactly the same quality of customer experience I had at Perth City Toyota and Geraldton. Talk about chalk and cheese from Mosman Toyota in Sydney who have provided me over nine years with the Faulty Towers model for the car service industry. (Perhaps my younger readers will need to Google that reference!). I popped into the office of the young service manager and recounted how amazed I was at the terrific service.

An hour later and I was back on the road, complete with Mandurah Toyota cap to complete the experience…bless them.

I collected the caravan and noticed hot chocolate foam all round my nose. My opinion of the service manager shot up even further when I realised how well he did at apprearing to take a man seriously with his last drink splattered round his straggly goatee.

Off we went back to Pinjarra, and climbed up into the jarrah forests once more. It really was a lovely drive, the road winding though the trees and the occasional shaft of sunlight bringing the colours into sharpness. After my recent eye test I had got a Specsavers Special and a new pair of glasses and sunnies for an outlay of $75. You wont be seeing photos of them but the scenery sure looks sharper!

We arrived in the small town of Boddington mid afternoon and headed to the Memorial Park where good old WikiCamps had recommended a free camp getting 4 stars. It really was a lovely spot, given it was in a town, with a view of the river, toilets a short walk away, and an occasional bit of free town wifi when no one else was on it.


Then the rain started and basically hasn’t stopped since. Two solid days and we’ve barely left the van, which isn’t too onerous given I have all the necessary ingredients for a enforced inside stay: a warm snuggly cat, endless choice of T2 teas, some junk food, and plenty of digital content to consume on video and Kindle! Oh..and did I mention the very warm, cosy, snuggly cat?

It’s time to hit the road once again…

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Day 114: 20 September (UK) – Mingling with the A-Listers

Author: Mrs A

Location: London, UK

Distance walked: 11 km

Mum and I caught the train up to London  this morning, then took the tube over to Baker Street. We had lunch in Regent’s Park, surrounded by hungry ducks, geese and a million and one pigeons…which I did not expect to be so bold!From there we decided to head into Madame Tussaud’s for a visit. This was mum’s birthday treat (her birthday is this coming Monday when I will be somewhere flying over the Middle East on my way back to Australia), and we haven’t been together since I was about 10 or 11 years old!

We had a great couple of hours mingling with the celebrities – they weren’t too talkative but were happy to pose for photos.

Mum giving advice to James Bond…


I tried to make friends with my nemesis, Darth Vader:

Mum was almost Incredible Hulked….

And Barack Obama was an absolute pleasure to meet…

Soon it was time for my appointment with Mr Guri Sandhu, my UK airway consultant (I like to scatter them around the globe!). We headed to his Harley Street rooms where he had kindly squeezed me in for an appointment despite being between trips (arrived back from Morocco at midnight last night, off to India in the early hours of tomorrow!). He took a look at my trachea and shared his thoughts about the next steps to diagnose what’s going on with my breathing. Hopefully the mystery will be solved back in Perth, Western Australia.

From there, we headed to Oxford Circus in an attempt to find mum a new dress for the weekend. We found lots of very unattractive dresses for sale, and were unsuccessful in a purchase. We gave up and decided a glass of wine and dinner would be in order. 

We headed to the roof garden at John Lewis – by now the sun was shining and it was lovely to be sat outside (albeit with a heater overhead – it is autumn after all!). We had some delicious food and wine, before heading back to Hastings on the 8.45pm train.

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Days 111-113 : 17-19 September – (UK) Down to Sussex by the sea

Author: Mrs A

From: London to Brighton and then Hastings

Sunday 17 September

Distance walked: Measly 3km!

Sunday morning in London saw Helen and I enjoying another cooked breakfast to see us on our way, as we washed the sheets and towels, took out the rubbish and generally turned Owen’s apartment back into a pre Slater-Sister residence. We decided to head back down to the pool for a final dip, sauna and steam before heading off to Victoria Station and catching the train down to Brighton.


Helen’s fiancé Stu met us at the train station, along with my nephew and niece, Elliot and Isabel, and took us back to their home. Elliot wasted no time advising me that I was staying in his bedroom, while Isabel was busy ensuring I became well acquainted with all her princesses and toys in her room.

Soon it was bedtime for the kids, and time for me to head out to meet Claire, a friend since uni days – around 25 years – gee we are getting old! We tried for a pub dinner but nobody was serving, so opted for a local Italian and a bottle of Chianti. A great catch up and laughs had as always. It may be a long while between drinks, but it sure never feels like it!


Monday 18 September

Distance walked: 4.5km

I was woken bright and early by an excited nephew and niece, getting ready to head off to pre-school and school. I observed Helen and Stu whirlwind around and get themselves ready for work and the kids fed and dressed and out of the front door. I have no idea how they manage it every day – it is organised chaos, but seems to work. I had to go back to bed for a nap after they’d gone!

I caught the train along the coast to Hastings, met by post-art class mum at the station around midday. I was pleased I brought along my winter clothes, as it was no warmer than about 14 degrees centigrade, with looming black clouds in the sky. Mum and I went for toasted panninis for lunch, only emerging once the hail and rain was easing.

We did a little shopping and then headed back home for a relaxing rest of the day.

Tuesday 19 September

Distance walked: 5.5km

A bright sunny day greeted us, so mum and I decided a walk was in order. We drove into Hastings and strolled along to Hastings Old Town.


George Street was still full of flowers, despite the autumnal day, and as always the pubs brought back good memories of days gone by. It was a bit too early for a pint in the Pump House!

 

We strolled up through All Saints Street before turning and walking along the seafront to the pier for a cup of tea.



After a bite for lunch we decided to head over to Tusker House, the home where my 95 year old grandma resides. It was great to surprise her sitting in her chair, and see her face light up and say “Ooh, it’s Catherine from Orstralia!” in her terrible Australian accent. So pleased she still knows who I am. The conversation was a little repetitive, but I think she enjoyed our visit…probably long forgotten now. Lots of the other dementia patients all seemed to think I was one of their relatives too – at one point it was like day of the zombies with several shuffling oldies trying to hold my hand or stroke my hair! Arghhh!


Mum and I needed a vodka on our return home to recover.

A relaxing evening ahead with pork ribs for dinner.

 

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Days 107-113: 13-19 September (Australia) – One small cat arrived; one only slightly larger still away

Author: Mr A

Location: Mandurah, 70kms south of Perth

If you are not one for cute cat photos, then I suggest you move to the last paragraph of this post rather quickly.

Last week our beloved Burmese cat, Tassie (or Miss T to her friends) was packed off by her loving step-parents Rosemary and Richard, for her flight from Sydney to Perth, a not incesequential flight time of 5 hours. A number of other anxious fur parents were waiting for those crates containing our loved ones to be unloaded and distributed amongst us. It was the 13th – I am superstitious. 

After what seemed an age she was delivered in her little yellow crate (sorry no pictures was so stressed I forgot!) and had arrived safe, in need of a brush and a cuddle, but otherwise in good spirits. Once I had her installed in the Zone, her tail was up, water was drunk, food was consumed at a rate of knots, and the brand new litter tray christened. All the boxes ticked. 

She has been away in the caravan with us a few times before, so familiar smells put her at ease, and she was soon resting up. She does a lot of that, around 23 hrs a day by my estimate. Well she’s no kitten any more, ageing gracefully at 13. We left the Discovery Parks site by the airport, which was pretty good actually, and headed south to Mandurah, Perth’s second largest city and growing fast. We rocked up at Mandurah Caravan Tourist Park, and were guided into our tight spot (site 13….) where we stayed for 6 nights. 

The days have flown past, with plenty for me to do, mostly cleaning and maintenance on the car, caravan and bikes. Miss T has adjusted pretty well, enjoying the ever changing view from the Zone’s big windows.  Birds, dogs, ducks and a miniature horse (yes you read that right), all have occupied her from the viewing platform of the queen bed. Occasionally she even ventures to the door to keep an eye on things and make sure all is in order. 


We have discussed sharing the housekeeping load, but bed making was frankly dismissed with a haughty shrug.


To be honest, life with a cat in a caravan is pretty good. No heating up a hot water bottle, no need for comedy programmes as she attempts various improbable manoeuvres to find the sunniest spot in the Zone.  Mind you, I have been relegated to Chief Brusher,  Tempting Treats Chef, and the queen bed doesn’t seem quite as roomy now. Yes that’s me buried at the back, one hint of a photographic opportunity and I’m toast. 

Now you may think that’s a grumpy look…and well…it often is. For instance if the temperature falls below 28.5 degrees (yes centigrade)  in the Zone (thank goodness for the insulation), approporiately chilled freshwater has not been added to her bowl in the last 15 minutes, the Coles roast chicken isn’t basted quite to her liking, or heaven forbid the mayo forgotten. The latter requiring at least 7 minutes brushing to restore the honour of her deigning to sit on my lap. 

Just one more photo then I promise I will stop. I came home from shopping today and couldn’t find her. Searched everywhere and anxiously ran through my locking up process – did she escape somehow? All the windows have strong fly nets, no escaping there. Now in an 18 foot 6 caravan you’d think there was only so many places a cat can make you work to find them. But really, she had me going. Finally, I saw my thick goosedown, winter sleeping bag by my bed, having omitted to pack it away after sorting out yesterday. I went to lift it up, and it felt unusually heavy. She had climbed right inside. 


Now, I admit the sun isn’t shining today, but its 23 degrees for goodness sake. 

So now let’s turn to Mandurah, and some impressions of this place I’d frankly never heard of. Well its not a wine region. I’ve done some cycling around, and super impressed with the dedicated infrasctucture for riders. Paths are everywhere, along beautiful foreshore, canals and lakes, which Mandurah is graced with in abundance. 


The marina area is very swish, restaurants line the waters edge, boutique shops are open for business, it was really buzzing, even on a Monday. 


The canal side housing looks tempting, and a friend assured me that with the highest mortgage default rate in the country, bargains can be had! 


However, you move away from this area and it soon looks pretty shabby. I was warned to keep alert, I checked the crime stats,  Mandurah has the highest number of robbery reports recorded in the greater Perth area. I’ve certainly locked everything up tight at night. 

One of the great things about the caravan we like over our camper trailer is that security of being able to lock all the external hatches and the door. Mind you I do have that fearsome looking Burmese on guard. Imagine coming face to face with that look on a dark night. If they can wake her….

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Days 108-10: 14-16 September – Farewell Chicago, hello London

Thursday 14 September

From: Chicago, Illinois, USA

To: London, England, UK

Distance walked: 8 km

Distance flown: 6351 km 

It was time for me to say farewell to Chicago, but first get some final kilometres under my belt before heading to the airport. I headed out to find some Chicago wildlife with my telephoto lens, not knowing quite what I would find in the city parks. My first discovery was a complete surprise – an escaped Australian parrot – a little blue female budgerigar which wasn’t quite tame enough to fly to my arm, but wasn’t far off. I hope she finds her home soon, otherwise she will not survive the winter.

More birds revealed themselves as I strolled through the gardens, often munching on native seedheads:


As I turned to return to the hotel, I walked back past the Art Institute of Chicago, where the cutest little squirrel was dancing around on the steps looking for snacks to bury for the winter.


And so I showered, completed my packing and headed out for lunch at a recommended local diner. A delicious chicken and noodle salad and I was ready for the off.


The flight from Chicago left on time and I managed to sleep about 4 hours on the way across the Atlantic to London.

Friday 15 September

Location: London

Distance walked: 7.5 km

7.30am at Heathrow, I collected my luggage and made my way to the London Underground and across the city to Vauxhall to friend Owen’s apartment. Owen had extremely kindly offered the use of his home to Helen (my sister) and I for the weekend, while he travelled in France with friends. He was busy with calls when I got in, but seemed relieved I was there safely, advising me there had just been a potential terror attack on the London Underground in West London, very close to where I had been travelling. I had been blissfully unaware of this, having neither phone signal or data on my phone. Phew – if that device had gone off one station later…anyhow, it didn’t and I am all fine.

I showered, did some washing, and made arrangements to meet Helen off her train from Brighton later, before rushing out to Farringdon to meet two ladies from the support group I run. We had a delicious lunch and great catch up. My next stop was Paddington Station to meet a doctor friend, Reza. He is an airway specialist and has been in New Zealand the last few months, teaching doctors in Auckland how to conduct the surgery I had about three years ago. He offered to review some videos of my trachea and share some thoughts about my recent airway issues, and I in return offered to help him refine a patient questionnaire he is designing. A fair exchange of skills I think!

From that catch up I leaped back on the train across to Victoria Station to meet Helen, and from there back to the apartment. We decided to have a quiet night in with a bottle of wine and fine dining from Tesco supermarket! It was great. The view from Owen’s apartment is truly five star. We had our own music and no interruptions from anyone – the perfect night to just catch up on everything.



Saturday 16 September

Location: London

Distance walked: 17 km

After the best night’s sleep I have had in about two weeks, I was woken with a cup of herbal tea by Helen at around 8am. Lovely. We cooked breakfast and began the day slowly, drinking in the ever changing view out of the window.  The clear breaking dawn did not last last long, with London as always reminding us that as a small island, the UK’s weather changes swiftly, bringing grey skies and occasional showers.


Our next destination was 28 floors below us, the spa. We headed down for a swim, steam and sauna, spending a couple of hours enjoying the luxury with no other folks there. I think all long flights should have this at the end of them! The perfect way to spend a grey morning.


Following showers, we headed out for a stroll along the Thames Path, clocking up a 9 km circuit, before returning to the apartment to get ready for the evening.


Our evening commenced at L’Opera Tavern for delicious shared tapas plates – the likes of wood pigeon and king prawns tantalised our tastebuds, accompanied by an Italian Syrah. Onwards then to the Adelphi Theatre to see Kinky Boots. It’s the tale of a Northampton Boot and Shoe factory which is going out of business, and finds a niche market making boots for transvestites. Funny, clever, incredible singing and dancing on six inch heels by six foot blokes – definitely the best musical I have seen. If it’s playing near you, don’t hesitate – go!


After the show we went on the hunt for chocolate sorbet (for me), finding it in a popular little gelato shop near Covent Garden Market. Absolutely delicious and presented as a rose. Here’s Helen modelling her hazelnut chocolate ice cream and berry cheesecake ice cream combination:


A fantastic evening out, and home to sleep by midnight!

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Day 106 & 107: 12-13 September – Exciting times ahead

Author: Mrs A

12 September

Location: Chicago

Distance walked: 21 km!

Finally managed to get some sleep last night – a total of 8 hours, albeit with a couple of hours wide awake again in the small hours of the morning, just like humans used to do in the Middle Ages! Sunrise was fabulous as always, seen from my 10th floor lake view room. 


I left the hotel before 8am and walked to Dr Gelbard’s hotel in the city, joining him for a walking meeting to the conference centre. We had a good 45 minute walk and chatted about plans for the future, ideas for publicity and stories, and also some advice on my own health situation. He then went off to the conference, and I returned to my day, enthusiastic and optimistic about the direction ahead.

My first port of call was Chicago’s oldest residential house. Dating from 1836, this house was here before the civil war, and has seen a lot of changes. When it was built it would have been surrounded by prairies, whereas now it is dwarfed by tower blocks but still set in stunningly landscaped gardens. It’s a beautiful, peaceful retreat, and a good spot to sit and reflect on the whirlwind of the past few days.


I then wandered in to the city via some of the many sculptures around. Over 100 bronze giants without heads or arms in one part of Grant Park, and water toting video brick walls at the other end in Milennium Park.



After a bite to eat I continued my tour, making my way through more parks and along to the Riverside Walk. The giant silver coffee bean is something everybody mentioned to me, so I had to check it out. It made me laugh how everyone was taking photos of their reflection as though they had never seen it before…


More innovative sculptural art in the form of a picture frame, made from old tyres:


What amazes me is that there is absolutely no graffiti to be seen, despite the large availability of clean concrete walls and underpasses. It’s not like it has been painted over either, it just is absent. It makes for a very attractive and safe feeling city.

The Riverside Walk was all the more interesting having done the architecture tour on Saturday morning. My new perspective from the side of the water meant I could stop and appreciate the buildings. The white building with the clock tower was built by Wrigley – of the chewing gum fame. Did you know that they originally made soap as their primary product? One day they did a special offer with some chewing gum attached to the soap, and it was so popular they completely changed product focus and made a mint (pardon the pun)!


I returned to the hotel for a chilled out evening and another early night to try and catch up. The last thing I want now is to get run down and catch a virus!

13 September

Location: Chicago

Distance walked: 7km

A weather system has been pushed up the country by the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, and Chicago awoke to fog and light rain this morning. Again I had slept fitfully last night, this time worried about Miss Tassie making the five hour flight across a continent on the other side of the world. Once I heard she had landed in Perth safely and was being cuddled, I was able to catch an hour or two’s shut eye, but not much.

I decided to keep today fairly relaxed and headed to the Art Institute of Chicago. The building is surrounded by fabulous landscaped gardens which welcome you to the foreboding building.


The gallery was varied and interesting, and I ended up spending nearly 5 hours wandering around, with a break for lunch. Some of the most inspirational artwork was based on Chicago’s history, plus a wide range of European and Asian art and photography from across the ages.

Some of my favourites include the following:

Newly renovated and fashionable Paris in the 1800s:

Voted the USA’s favourite painting of the early 1900s – showing a farm labourer in a romantic light at a time when rural residents were flocking to cities for work, displaced by modern farming machinery:

Tackling the issue of slavery, painted to bring an intelligent and human light to a slave by an artist who was against the trade in humans:

A favourite I was surprised to see – Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks:

And a vibrant jazz club scene:
I finished off my afternoon at a Chicago fast food institution – right next door to McDonald’s – a small burger joint which probably hasn’t changed in 50 years. They make all their burgers fresh every day, and I must say the one I bought was delicious, and filled the hole my art gallery crab salad definitely failed to fill.


I returned to the hotel for the evening to hopefully have one final good night’s sleep before heading off to the UK tomorrow.

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Day 104 & 105: 10-11 September – Doctors in Chicago 

Author: Mrs A

Location: Chicago

Sunday 10 September

Distance walked: 7km

I managed a whole 6 hours sleep on Saturday night, waking around 4am on Sunday morning, bright eyed and bushy tailed. Frustrating. Got to love jet lag eh? It was another stunning blue sky day here in Chicago and I decided to get out there. As I left the hotel I had no plans for my day, but spontaneously decided to join the crowds of Chicago Bears fans heading to Soldier Field to watch them play.

The atmosphere was great, with hundreds of people all in their football shirts walking through the parklands, with the occasional cycle rickshaw bombing past playing their varying theme music. I was tempted to go in and watch, but having absolutely no idea about what I was potentially going to, decided to give it a miss.


Instead I turned and took a look inside the Field Museum.


This is Chicago’s Natural History Museum, famous for Sue the largest and most complete (90%) Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton currently known. It has a large collection of taxidermied animals and birds from the early 1900s – I had a quick look around this but found it quite eerie and uncomfortable, somewhat like walking through a zoo where all the animals have died. It gave an interesting insight in the world of the 18 and 1900s where collectors would bring animals back from around the globe, many of these creatures are now extinct. One sad tale which had photographic evidence was that of the passenger pigeon. They used to flock in their billions. Yes, billions! One flock could take 17 hours to fly past. Now there is not one bird left alive.


An interesting exhibition was that following the continent of North and South America in terms of civilisation from the Ice Age onwards. A fascinating study in anthropology, looking at human life as it became more sophisticated, changing from hunter-gathering, to farming, and gradually building up a society with hierarchy and buildings (such as the Aztecs and Mayans). This was more my cup of tea.

My next visit within the museum was to collections usually not seen by visitors. By now I was concerned it was going to be more stuffed animals, but I was relieved to see that although dead, the animals were preserved for scientific purposes. The collections are constantly being revisited and often reveal surprises. One recent look at a collection of thousands of bugs collected on a night during the 1980s revealed a totally new species of centipede, and testing of seagulls collected at the turn of the 1900s and compared with seagulls of 2017, revealed that today’s ocean scavengers are 4,500% more polluted than their predecessors – predominantly with heavy metals such as mercury. It makes you wonder whether the world can ever recover from such damage.

I finished up with an exhibition which demonstrated how the museum’s scientists spend their days conducting research to help create a more sustainable world. Finishing on a note of hope before I strolled back to the hotel for an afternoon nap.

I caught a bus along into the city to meet some of my Vanderbilt University team colleagues for dinner. I had the fortune to have a lovely bus driver who allowed me to pay whatever coins I had (about 80 cents!) into the ticket machine as I had no change and the machine didn’t give any. Very kind.

It was fabulous to meet Cheryl Kinnard in the flesh – she and I have been emailing one another for about two years on an almost daily basis as I recruit members for the research study. There were also three patients there. Shaunda, Kesi and Robin were recruited as patient partners by their doctors. It’s not very often I get to meet another ISGS sufferer face to face – I had forgotten how good it is to be able to share experiences with people who truly understand. Dr Alex Gelbard also joined us for dinner – he’s the leader of the grant research program, and who recruited me back in 2014.

Monday 11 September (9/11)

Distance walked: 8km

After a fun evening out I had a terrible night’s sleep. I woke up after only two hours, and lay in bed for the next three with my mind whirring and unable to still. Eventually I got up around 4am and started refining my presentation to the North American Airway Collaborative.

As a recap for those who have forgotten and an update for those who don’t know, the North American Airway Collaborative is a group of medical institutions across the USA, UK and Australia who have joined together to conduct a shared research project into a rare disease, idiopathic subglottic stenosis. The disease affects predominantly women (around 98%) and involves scar tissue appearing in the trachea (airway) and gradually closing up the passage. Nobody knows why this happens, and there are a wide variety of treatments, all with varying success rates.

I was invited to join the team at Vanderbilt University back in 2014, and together we submitted an application for a rare disease grant, which we won. Since then we have been busy enrolling patients into the longitudinal study via their doctors, and via the Living With Idiopathic Subglottic Stenosis Facebook Group I manage.

The aim of today’s meeting was to offer some interim results to the participating doctors, some highlights of what is being found in the research. The presentation was being held in the basement of a gastropub called The Gage. I put some finishing touches to my presentation and chatted to the two key doctors involved in the research, Alex Gelbard and David Francis about how it should all proceed. Before long doctors began arriving and mingling over finger food and cold beverages. It was amazing how many I knew from over the years – I have emailed most of these people telling them about the support group I set up and sharing research I have conducted. Some even asked for photos with me, as if I was the celebrity, rather than them!

The event was professionally filmed and photographed, and all attendees interviewed to capture their thoughts about the importance of the research. A really well organised occasion.

I was really pleased Dave Veivers, my surgeon from Sydney, also made the event, as he got a mention in my presentation! A photo below with two of the USA doctors, Robert Lorenz and Paul Bryson who treat a large number of patients with this condition in Cleveland, Ohio and considered experts in the area.


I think all went well – I got some lovely emails and messages after the event:

“…Thank you so much for making the effort to come over. It was truly inspirational.” Dr Robert Lorenz, Cleveland Clinic, Ohio

“It was a pleasure to meet you, thank you very much for coming all the way from Australia to Chicago to present your work on iSGS with your social media group…” Dr Marshall Smith, University of Utah

My afternoon was spent with the Vanderbilt doctors, drinking rosé wine and eating delicious oysters in a nearby bar, talking about the opportunities ahead. The grant finishes at the end of next year, with final results to be presented next September 2018 in Atlanta. Everyone has urged me to attend that – so I guess that means I will be back! The challenge is to find funding to continue the research beyond 2018. Now we have this fabulous database of 1,000 patients participating in research, it would be terrible if all that learning stopped next year.

The evening concluded with a delicious Italian meal with Cheryl, Kesi and Shaunda, and in bed asleep by 8.30pm!

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