Snow on the alps - but none in Blackheath

Bleak winter in Blackheath

So, we are back home. Our trip to Perth commenced at around 4:30am and we left home just after 5:30am for the drive down to the airport. At that hour, by the time we reached the suburban limits at 6:30am the morning peak was in full swing. I did take a little over the next hour to complete the remaining 30kms to the car park, about 3 kms from the terminal. As usual, our plane was late arriving from Melbourne where they were having terrible weather and so our flight out was also delayed, but only by about 40 minutes so cabin cleaning had been kept to a lick and spit job. This trip the plane was one with back of seat TV screens and for the most part they were in working order, pity then that of the movies on offer they had reduced selection to one decent film and 9 totally rubbish! So I watched The Ghost Writer for the second time, we’d both watched it on a flight overseas. Otherwise, Top Gear and newspapers filled out the 4 + hours.

Qantas Australia tried to starve me on the way over. For years I have had a permanent request for vegetarian meals. Well, I didn’t know that now each time you book with them, you must make a separate request and so ended up with bread rolls, left over from business class (they get them warmed up). Funny, there were no problems with meals all during our big trip?? Not that the usual vegetarian meals are any good these days, while there are a number of veggie options to choose from; vegetarian, ovo/lacto, vegan, Indian, Chinese, Kosher, gluten free, and more, what comes out is a bland concoction usually with gluten free bread and cake - both nearly inedible due to over sweetening. Makes the complimentary wine very tempting. At least they have returned to serving a decent ice cream. For a short time in their extreme money pinching period, they served water ices which were not popular at all.

I tried to update via internet but there is always something about the Qantas that proves impossible, confirmed by a quick phone call to them, but I’m pleased to report that I did not go hungry on the return flight. We’d used a discount car parking service this trip and the outfit seemed to fit the bill, a bit ragged around the edges. The service though, was good and we will used them again as the charges were around half that of the “executive and business” car parking services.

Perth was a nice break for us. Mother and Father Wheatley are both in good health and spirits. We stay with father in his apartment, while mother is a five minute walk away in a high care nursing wing of the retirement complex. Father visits her twice each day and takes her out for a picnic lunch in his car once a week and they have Sunday lunch together in a private dining room there. Dad has even managed to take her to a film (within the complex) once and said that he would try this again. Mother’s dementia seems to be holding steady, she still plays the crosswords better than dad, but doesn’t venture past her room door without father. Otherwise, father is enjoying bachelor life and still practices violin for his part in a small local string orchestra.

We caught up with Howard’s sister Ann, brother-in-law Andy and younger brother Courtney, always a pleasure and had a long restaurant lunch with them while outside the weather was trying to emulate ours from back home. Perth is having an unusually cold and long winter.

Howard and I try to visit the Kings Park botanic gardens in Perth each trip, and this time we were surprised to find that there were many spring wild flowers beds already in full bloom. A beautiful, colourful scene to be treasured. We also took a short walk on the Bibbulmun Track which runs 1000km from the Perth hills to Albany in the south west. (www.bibbulmuntrack.org.au). We have managed a couple of short walks from different stages of this track before, always with great delight.

The August winds are playing with us. In fact they started in July. On our morning walks we often pick up small branches and sticks from the road we walk most often. There is tree debris all over our garden and sometimes we wonder when the winds will stop so that when we clear the debris, we don’t have to turn around the next day to start all over again. We just had a father and son SERVAS pair visit us and the wind/cold devastated them when they went on a guided overnight camping trip near here. They said that they never encounter this kind of weather in the north of France where they live.

On our morning exercise walks, we’ve been exploring some nearby tracks - yes, we are that close to the World Heritage Wilderness Area of The Greater Blue Mountains National Park ( www.environment.nsw.gov.au), and as we improve our times and fitness we walk further afield and now have started weekend walks to better familiarise ourselves with those close by tracks, which we haven’t walked often or, avoided due to the heavy tourist traffic. We tend to take our visitors to more remote areas, after we have shown them our local lookouts. Anyway it has been fun so far. Doesn’t get the housework or garden looked at.

We have just taken delivery of a new latex mattress in the hope of ironing out my neck and lower back pains. Back in the days when I used to swim very regularly I had no pains, but age and the results of a misspent youth are indeed catching up. I am feeling very guilty for not insisting that we buy natural latex made from grain oils, rather than from petrochemicals. The only excuse on offer is the distance needed to travel to find a supplier of the natural fibre mattresses.

This afternoon Howard will pick up the grandchildren and tomorrow very early, we have a four hour drive to the Western Plains Zoo ( www.taronga.org.au/western-plains-zoo ) near the country town of Dubbo, with an overnight stay in a cabin at a caravan park. Should be a lot of fun even if the weather is still miserable, which it is today. Yesterday there was a mixture of rain, hail, sleet and snow, with occasional bursts of sunshine.

Did I mention that Howard has booked us on a 3 day pack walk over the October long weekend in the Snowy Mountains. The ski resorts have had a tough time this year with little snow until this month, so there is the possibility that we will be in the area just in time for late snow falls. The walk will not be a difficult one, with just a three hour walk to the camping spot where we will spend two nights. We will then be able to take several shorter walks in the chosen area. Should be good although I (nor my bones) don’t enjoy sleeping on the ground in very cold conditions. Wednesday 1 September is the beginning of spring down here in Australia. No signs of any change here yet. None of our bulbs have done more than send a few green shoots up so far.

So, that is all for today. I will let you all know how the weekend went.

Cheerio.