Helen is Still Here

Helen was supposed to have gone back to Adelaide last Wednesday but following a visit to the doctor's we have postponed it.  Last Wednesday week she had a blood test done which, although quite good, showed up an infection.  She was sent for chest X-rays which showed up a nasty lung infection and emphysema.  Obviously flying is out of the question until the infection clears up.   She will see the doctor again tomorrow after which, if things are OK, she will go home.

Here are some photos of Helen's tribute in memory of Margaret.

Margaret loved Gerberas

I arranged a Coast'n Cruise excursion for us to Harry's Hut.  It is normally Cruise'n Coast but the tides meant that we did the coast bit first.  The following link shows the route.

http://www.noosaevergladesdiscovery.com.au/Cruise-n-Coast.html

I took some photos of the coast bit.

 Noosa North Shore and roadway to Rainbow Beach

 The entrance to Red Canyon

 Our 4WD bus

 Red Canyon

 Helen exploring the Coloured Sands Cliff Face

 Passing Traffic

 Helen actually walking!

After the 40 mile beach drive we had a very rough drive to Harry's Hut for lunch and the cruise back down the Noosa  River to Noosaville.  It was a great day and Helen made friends with the driver.

I also took Helen for a drive to the local man-made lake which provides Noosa's  water supply

 Lake Barumba

 The memorial to Elisa Fraser at Boreen Point

see http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/AS10171b.htm

Boreen Point Jetty - I told her to lose some weight!

We have also made several MOW rounds together and I have been cycling and attending my computer club meetings.

A Busy Few Days

Since my last blog I have been quite busy.  I have made a few extra MOW deliveries, been riding my bicycle with my club and doing my shopping and also giving talks at my computer club.  I appear to have completely filled up my week!

One thing that I have done is book myself for a supported bicycle tour around the Adelaide hills in October.   It is a nine day ride, camping each night but having our gear carried from campsite to campsite.  All meals are also provided. I have ridden in the Adelaide hills over many years so it will be nice to go back a visit old cycling memories.  The tour is being organized by my old cycling club, Bicycle SA .  In the 1990s I helped organize several of theit Annual Tours but things have grown a bit since then.   A brif description of the ride is at http://www.bikesa.asn.au/RideGuides_Tours_AnnualTour_RideInformation .

Another big event is that Helen is paying me a visit but she got off to a bad start.  I drove down to Brisbane Airport on Wednesday 4th May to pick her up but the plane arrived without her!  I phoned Anne who said that Helen had been dropped off at Adelaide Airport 90 minutes before her flight.  The airline would not tell me if she had booked in and missed boarding of if there was another problem.  It was only after a a couple of hours that they told me that she was not booked on any flight to Brisbane that day!  I phoned Anne back and she started looking for Helen and reported her a missing person.  I drove home and finally, at 3.30pm, Helen phone Anne from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital which is close to the Airport.  Helen had last been seen by Anne at 7.30am.  It appears that she had checked in and gone outside for a cigarette before going back to the departure lounge.  She collapsed back in the lounge and the Airline called an Ambulance,  took her of the flight list, recovered her luggage and refused to let either Anne or I know about her predicament.  Helen had been unconcious until 2.30pm and I think that she just checked herself out of hospital as she had no sign out instructions.  I called her when she got back home and she asked me to book her on another flight on Thursday morning which I did and she arrived safely at 9.15am. She is going to see Margaret's Doctor  next Wednesday to determine the cause of her collapse.

We have been taking it easy since she arrived but today is Mother's  Day in Australia and Helen wants to float a couple of flowers in the Noosa River where we scattered Margaret's ashes nearly six month ago.