Wednesday 4^th

A leisurely start as Nancy had to take Natalie and Nicholas to school and then stay on to do guided reading. When she returned we set off for the Parliament Building. Had a coffee and then walked round refreshing our memories of this wonderful modern building. As usual Barry and Nancy bumped into somebody they knew – one of the tour guides.  After we’d seen all we wanted we returned to the café for lunch.

On the way back we stopped at Lake Burley-Griffin to enquire about cruises and then looked at the Captain Cook Memorial Fountain. Back to the house and had a swim in the pool before Mike arrived for the evening. After a chat we went to the Tuggeranong Rugby Club. Excellent meal and Mike was in good form telling Nancy and Barry about his Irish background and his London childhood. Mike came back with us and we sat around chatting until about 10pm.

Thursday 5th

Barry took the grandchildren to school this morning. We pottered around as Caz was bringing Jasper over to stay while she had her hair done. We took the opportunity to get our washing done.

After Caz left Anne & Nancy went shopping while Barry cleaned his car and Les did computer bits. Eventually Anne came home after lunch, with Nancy in a bad state. Her leg was incredibly painful, and Anne had needed to use a wheelchair to get her back to the car. She had to crawl into the house. Nancy took painkillers but refused to let us get a doctor. About 4pm we went to Caz’s for Nancy to have her hair done. She was in so much pain that she eventually agreed to let us cancel the meal at that Hyatt.

As we went to leave Nancy collapsed screaming in pain. We made her stay on the floor and Caz called an ambulance. When they arrived they had to give her all sorts of painkillers just to get her onto a stretcher. Barry went with her and we came home, using Stuart’s satnav. We stopped and bought a takeaway.

They took Nancy to a hospital in north Canberra, as the local one would be full of trauma cases, but it was a long drive away. Phil came to the house and collected Barry’s wallet and some night clothes for Nancy. Stuart was also driving up to the hospital.

All arrangements now in flux. Phil and family were coming round tomorrow night, and the rest of the family on Saturday, for barbecues. As we write (10.45pm) we’re waiting for more news from the hospital. Emailed friends at home who know Nancy & Barry.

We eventually went to bed around midnight. We found out that Barry and Nancy got home around 2am.

Friday 6th

We got up just before 8am as we heard movement. It transpired that Nancy had to return to the hospital for an x-ray and they had advised her to get there early so they wanted to be away by 8.30am. We offered to drive them there but Barry was adamant that they would go on their own.

We waited until they had left, then we showered and had breakfast. We didn’t know how long they would be so we went down to the Erindale shops to collect our cleaning and buy some bits. We took our time and when we got back Barry and Nancy were back home. They hadn’t eaten since yesterday breakfast so we made coffee and shared the pastries that we’d bought. Obviously Nancy was still drugged up and they were both very tired so we didn’t argue when they insisted we go and do the planned boat trip. 

We followed the satnav instructions until we were almost there when we saw a tourist sign for lake cruises. This turned out to be the Southern Cross Club with a very large boat, far bigger than the one we'd planned to go on. It was actually cheaper as they offered concessions and we were also able to go into the club and have an excellent lunch and a cold beer. The cruise was great. Sat outside on the front of the top deck. Interesting chat with the captain who knew Dorset and Hertfordshire, and with some American passengers from Ohio. Really good cruise with excellent commentary including lots about the foundation and history of Canberra.

After the cruise we had another cold beer and then returned home and had a quick swim before Phil and Mel arrived with Emily, Caitlin, Maddy and twins Liam and Erin. They stayed for a couple of hours but we failed to take any pictures. When they'd left Barry fired up the barbie and cooked the salmon. It was only when he asked Les to take over as he went to refresh the drinks that Les realised Barry had left the paper wrappers on one side of the salmon cakes!

Had an early night as we were all still tired. All slept extremely soundly and didn’t wake until 8.30am.
 

Saturday 7th

Nancy still in great difficulty so after breakfast they insisted we went out again. Drove to Blundell’s Cottage on the shore of Lake BG. Interesting talk by the guide although cottage is very small and doesn’t take very long to look round. While we were looking we were asked by another visitor whether we’d come by bus. As we were leaving he and his wife were being given directions to the War Memorial by the guide. We offered to drive them (Stuart and Kirsty) and had a long interesting chat. She was an Aussie from Queensland and he was Welsh. They were amazed by the fact that Les had lived in Stotfold close to where they had been living. Dropped them at the War Memorial and returned to the lakeside by the Carillon to have a coffee. Then walked up to the Carillon and around the island. Someone was playing the Carillon in practice for tomorrow’s concert.

Returned to Barry and Nancy’s. Julie (Gary’s wife) was already there. As we sat Murray & Kristy arrived with Natalie, Nicholas and Emma, and Stuart & Caz with Jasper. We had nibbles while Barry fired up Barbie and did a butterflied leg of lamb plus the usual sausages and chicken, etc and some Barramundi for Anne. A really nice afternoon playing with the children in the pool. Later Gary arrived – he had been coaching baseball – and his sons Scott and Dale.

They had all left by 7pm and we finished the clearing up and sat inside with Barry and Nancy and showed them some of our Dorset photos. Had a sandwich around 8.30 and went to bed around 10pm. Les slept well and was completely unaware that Anne was up and down all night as something had obviously disagreed with her.

Sunday 8th

Anne still very slow. Nancy produced some tablets which helped. After breakfast we started slowly packing and checking for last minute emails and after another coffee we set off for Sydney airport around 11.15am. Google Map instructions very misleading but we managed to find our way onto the main highway and after that it was straightforward. Stopped very soon after leaving Canberra to fill the car and then drove gently through to Sydney. We stopped a couple of more times, once we just bought a snack and the second time we topped up the car and bought some biscuits. Just as we got within a couple of miles of the airport it started to rain really heavily. Fortunately the car returns are under cover so we didn’t get wet. Checked in and went through security fairly easily even though the airport was really busy. Had an apple juice and shared a slice of pizza at a café. Went to the gate where we read the paper and typed this up. Plane is 20 minutes late as we write