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Day 124: 30 September – A little bit of R&R

Author: Mrs A

Location: Lane Poole Reserve, Nanga Brook

Distance walked: 500 metres!

Distance biked by Mr A: 14 km

Sleep was my friend today and around 12 hours of almost uninterrupted sleep were enjoyed.  Mr A woke up earlier than me and jumped on his bike for a ride through the forest, returning to make a pot of herbal tea and a BBQ breakfast. Nurse Tassie appreciated having a warm body to sleep with and kept me company.

It was a fine day – when the sun shone, quite warm, but chilling right down to around 14 degrees when the clouds came across. We spent the morning drinking tea and relaxing, Tassie even coming outside and relaxing in Mr A’s chair, relegating him to a stool! Its a beautiful area to reuperate in – trees in every direction, and multiple birds frequenting the camp sites, as well as a mob of bush wallabies.


We decided to go for a drive in the afternoon. My airway and vocal chords are still bruised and swollen, so I wasn’t up for anything too strenuous, and to Mr A’s delight, I am barely talking yet either. We explored round some of the other camp areas and Mr A took me down to the River Murray, where he had been kayaking a few weeks ago.


Now, since we have owned this caravan, slightly more than 10 months now, there has not been a Mr A fire story. It’s incredible we have lasted this long without an incident, but tonight, the accidental firebug drought was broken. We were cooking a fish curry on the stove top, and Mr A remembered he had some Roti bread in the fridge which needed heating up in the oven. So he took over that task – after all, the instructions were quite simple – preheat oven to 180 degrees, wrap bread in foil with a few drops of water, and cook for 4-5 minutes. What ever could go wrong? 

Mr A emptied the oven of all unnecessary items and lit the gas. Suddenly we noticed orange flames licking out of the open oven and the smell of burning plastic! Argh! He had left a bag of popcorn in the oven (we often store unopened bags of popcorn and crisps in the oven as they will not get squashed), and it had fallen down the back on to the flame. Burning bag and popcorn galore greeted us! Thankfully, not too great a disaster, and soon extinguished and cleared up by Mr A with no lives or property lost. Thank goodness.

Hopefully that is the worst we will have to contend with. The rest of the evening progressed with no further incident.

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Day 123: 29 September: Escaping from Perth for a recovery weekend

Author: Mr A

From: Perth

To: Lane Poole Reserve

Distance: 98km

Catherine had a rough night, awake for hours with a mix of jet lag and pain from the operation. I made her a nice pot of herbal tea and got us packed up to head south for the weekend. I wanted to show her the Lane Poole Reserve where I had been while she was away, as I was confident she would like being in the forest with all the birds. Normally she takes 2/3 days to recover from these dilation surgeries, so some nice gentle walks and perhaps an easy paddle might be OK, lets see. 

It’s an easy drive south and inland, with the road climbing upo into the jarrah forests that surround the little village of Dwellingup. We stocked up on some firewood, and headed into the Lane Poole Reserve to our camp at a place called Nanga Brook. Yes there is…a lovely little stream there. 

It was a bit noisy with it being school holidays, two children particularly who only had one setting on their voice box…a scream. So we just turned up the music…easy. I’m so glad I ripped all of our music CDs before we left!

Mrs A had a little snooze nad was woken with another pot of tea. She has to keep that throat lubricated. I encouraged her out for a gentle walk around the camp. 


There’s a stunning walk through the forest that we ambled up, spotting birds hopping around in the trees.


 Back at camp Mr and Mrs Fairy Wren were hopping around. The iridescent blue of his plummmage just took my breath away. It was the first moment we had had together where we weren’t thinking about Catherine’s looming health issues. It did us both good to be transported back into the natural world.

We got back to the Zone and guess what, another pot of tea was made, no shortage of lubrication of the throat for madam today. Even young Tassie caught the mood and was enticed out into the afternoon sun for a little sniff about. Big, brave girl. 


To be amongst the trees again is just so rejuvenating and relaxing. You can smell the oxygen they are giving off, and the good vibes. 

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Day 122: 28 September – Escape from the ICU

Author: Mrs A

Location: Perth – St John of God Subiaco Hospital to Forrestfield

Distance walked: 500 metres (ha ha!)

Well, to be honest I had hoped that all this airway dilation malarkey was behind me, but apparently my body has other ideas, and once again scarring has appeared in my trachea (I suffer from rare disease Idiopathic Subglottic Stenosis*). So frustrating, but what can you do? I am so fortunate to have forged good relationships with the expert doctors in this field, and was able to call on one here in Perth to help me. I have to admit yesterday was a bit of a whirlwind, with a post breakfast text message from Dr Shyan Vijayasekaran (Dr Vijay for ease!) letting me know the disappointing result from Tuesday’s CT scan (for those who missed it – my trachea a healthy 1.5cm wide most the way, narrowing to 6mm – think drinking straw – with scar tissue in one area. Explains my breathing issues), and followed by a call letting me know he could pull some strings to get me into surgery that evening. Just incredible. My head was spinning all morning, questions about how the scar tissue could be back, anxiety about more surgery on my airway, what this means for my long term future, and what it means for our trip.

I was wheeled down to theatre around 6pm and was next aware of being in recovery about 8.30pm. I was told I was allowed water, but no food due to the drugs they had given me during the surgery. I didn’t mind though, my throat was so swollen I could barely sip water, let alone imagine anything else.

I was moved into the intensive care unit for the night. The nurses were absolutely lovely. I could speak no louder than a whisper and they were extremely patient and caring with me. On the flip side, the ICU means no sleep. I managed a couple of broken hours, but the inflatable leg warmers which massaged my calves to negate blood clots inflated and deflated every ten seconds and the half hourly blood pressure test also kept waking me up. But I was kept safe and well all night.

The very patient Mr A arrived around 10am this morning to break me out, and brought me back to nurse Tassie. Soup was duly heated up for lunch, and multiple cups of tea provided. He also rushed around Perth picking up the CDs of my CT scan to send to the UK, back to the hospital to pick up the before and after photos of my airway that I had forgotten (doh! – don’t worry, won’t share them here – if you want to see, please message me!), and organising a take out dinner from a local highly rated Chinese restaurant.

Miss Tassie of course was a fabulous hot water cat, snuggling up with me and keeping me warm as I caught up on sleep.

Breathing is not great yet due to the swelling, however I anticipate it will improve over the weekend. Both Mr A and I have our fingers crossed this is just a one off blip in the scheme of things, and we can go back to our adventuring with a nice big airway and no more breathing worries.

*Definition of Idiopathic Subglottic Stenosis – Idiopathic – ‘We don’t know the cause’, Subglottic – ‘Below the vocal chords’, Stenosis – ‘Narrowing’. It’s a rare disease impacting mostly adult women over the age of 25 – in Australia it is estimated around 40 women per year are diagnosed. For more information see here: Beginners Guide to iSGS

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Day 121: 27 September – Mrs A in Subiaco Hospital for surgery

Author: Mr A

Location: Perth

Distance walked: 6.5 km

Life sure throws some medical curved balls at Mrs A and I.  Results from Catherine’s CT scan yesterday weren’t good – her airway has narrowed again and she needs an immediate dilation. So bit of a change of plan today from the one we had of a nice potter around the city shops, to checking into the ENT Centre at Subiaco Hospital. 


And Catherine being Catherine manages a lovely smile. She is one brave lady, although a few cracks appeared today. A strange city and suddenly you’re told your airway is back to what it was before her major surgery a few years ago in the UK. Very disappointing  – but at least this surgery should make it easier for her to breathe again so she can enjoy the rest of our trip. 

Meanwhile Tassie and I wait anxiously in the Zone. 

At least she is back sitting on my lap after completely relegating me to food and litter tray monitor duties after Catherine came back on Monday night. Mummy’s girl definitely…

Have to just add that the WA health system, of which we have become more familiar with than we expected, has been impressive. Everything has happened with little wait time, efficiently processed and beats NSW hands down on that front. Whether they can continue to afford it as their economy struggles, lets see. But if you’re going to need medical attention then Perth has our vote. 

Just rang the hospital and she is in intensive care but ok…the world turns. 

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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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