Well, we had a big change of plans since my last blog entry.
We continued down the coast stopping at Fardooley’s as mentioned. As usual we were warmly greeted by Peter and Robyn and had a few good happy hours with the other travellers. This trip is turning out to be a repeat of previous ones but still enjoyable.
When we got back to Tweed Heads we booked into Boyd’s Bay caravan park then caught up with family and friends.
I was able to visit with mum at Raffles and had noticed that she had deteriorated since I saw her last.
We celebrated Chris’s 70th birthday with a big party at Jo’s house. All the family were there except for mum and Emma and her family as the big trip up from Boorowa for a weekend was just not practical for so many reasons. We fully understood but they were sorely missed.
The day after the party, Kerry and Yasmin tried to see granny but Yasmin tested positive for Covid so they couldn’t visit. That also meant that as a close contact I wasn’t allowed to visit either. Then just as my week came to an end I caught a cold which meant I still couldn’t visit mum. It was nearly 3 weeks in between visits and when I saw mum again it was obvious she had deteriorated more and she was in so much pain.
I requested a visit with the doctor along with my brothers Chris and Roger, to discussed mum’s health plan. As my Chris and I were due to head off to Darwin soon, I wanted to get things sorted before (or even if) we left.
Talking with Dr Sarah, we were told that mum was doing ok, all her vital organs were ok and it was just a case of jigging her pain medication. With this news, we decided that maybe we would head off again. Always knowing that mum could hang on for years or go suddenly. Little did we know how suddenly as only a couple of days later she was in a terrible state, not eating or taking her pain medication. It was decided that the only thing was to put her on morphine and that’s then the beginning of the end.
Poor mum lasted from the Saturday to the following Wednesday, snoring away in the best pain free sleep she had had for years. She eventually passed away at 1.05am on 22/6/22 as I sat beside her. Mum was 92 and had had a good life apart from her later years when her health issues had meant a poor quality of life. Of course, mum’s funeral meant that we did get to see Emma and her family after all which was one positive.
Family was everything to mum and we will all miss her.
While back around the Tweed area we managed to get our caravan fixed from all the hail damage of last year. It has taken a while but now we have a new caravan roof with new hatches and vents and a new awning. I also had my check up after my operation last year and with a good result, I’m all good again for another year.
After leaving Tweed we headed to Noosa to my brother Simon’s to look after the kids, house and dog while Simon and Kerry had a few days away. We took Olivia and Ruby with us and they had a good time playing with Murphy before Jo and Phil drove up on Saturday to pick them up.
Before leaving Noosa we went to Rice Boi, an Asian restaurant in Mooloolaba. The food was as good as we had been told and the queue to get in on a wet Wednesday evening was evidence of the popularity of the place.
So now our plans have changed. Instead of a slow journey through Darwin and down to Alice Springs, then visiting friends in Victoria and a stay with Emma as planned, we are now heading up to Cairns and Cape York. We have long wanted to get to the tip of Australia and this is the year for it so we are again heading up the coast. We have decided to go swiftly up until we get passed Mackay then slow down a bit as we have until the 16/8 to get to Cairns and we want to explore the road less travelled.