Countdown started.

  30th March to 4th April

So much for the Aussie sunshine! It's been wet most days so we centred most of our activities around my brother's place. When the odd afternoon became dry we made  a break for a place called Brooklyn located at the entrance to Hawkesbury River. A super walk through bush and next to the river, Hank went swimming to the annoyance of my Brother! No towels in the car so you can imagine two people squashed in the back seat next to a smelly wet dog, it was not the most pleasant of experiences to be had!

 

With the looming trip on the Ghan coming up we headed for Newcastle to drop Hank off to Jen's (niece) and Matts place. For once the sun was shinning although the 90-minute trip to Newcastle was horrendous. Torrential rain which made road conditions treacherous. Quite a few aquaplaning cars, ours included and visibility was almost non existent! On a 110 kph freeway most cars were crawling between 40 and 50 kph! Anyway the nearer we got to Newcastle the better the weather so it was lovely to feel the warmth as we got out of the car. After the usual greetings we set off for the park to fly kites. Gosh, what memories this activity brought back. When our kids were young it was a regular occurrence. Ian particularly took to Jens lad Bodhi, both seemed to hit it off straight away and he became the honorary 'Grandpa.' to both Immy and Bodhi.

 

 

 

 On arrival back to Thornleigh we were greeted by a Huntsman! Never one seen when Hank is around, how did it know the dog had left? Anyway I was freaked out again, my brother tried to remove it with a cutter brush, that didn't work so our brave niece Lizzie captured the thing under a container and threw it outside!

Packing has been done, several attempts made, I of course packed too much! I did allow Ian quarter of the bag, he was not happy so I removed one T Shirt, well a girl needs a change of clothes every day, doesn't she? Tomorrow we set off really early. A train from Hornsby to Sydney airport at 5.45 am, the flight to Darwin is at 8.30am.  We have three days then before boarding The Ghan on Saturday. Exciting times ahead.

And I had yet another encounter with the Lorikeets

 And wildlife

Corella

 

The spiders are big!!!!