Tuesday,
1st - January, 2013 - Midtown Marina, Bundaberg
We
woke up to an overcast day. The day turned out to be one of those 'just fiddle
around' type of days as they often are when we are stuck in a marina during the
summer months when cyclones can disrupt the sailing scene.
We
went onto the Bigpond website and went onto 'Bigpond Live Chat' and organised a
change over to the 4G Wi-fi modem from our 3G modem with a 'one off' fee of $48
and no charge to leaving our existing contract early. We always find that we get a better
deal when we go on the Bigpond ‘Live chat’
site than when we go into a shop or use the phone. The last time we rang and they said we
would have to pay out our contract first. Which was $49.95 for 8 months. Strange when it is the same plan
anyway. So we will get the new modem in the
next 5 working days and Geoff’s happy. I also went on a few sites I could
remember to change my credit card details for the new card. I’m sure I will have missed quite a few. We then got a bit of cabin fever so
wandered up the arm to see who we could annoy. First was Vicky and Don on ‘Dumnaglas’
where we accepted an offer of a cuppa and then onto Deb and Gary for a chat. And that was our exciting day!
Wednesday, 2nd January 2013 - Bundy
We
left the Air/con on overnight and we slept much better. Well …
it is the middle of summer and it is the first time this summer that we have
had it on overnight as it has been quite hot!
After
brekkie and a shower I packed up some clothes and food as we are dog sitting
for Maryanne and Owen for four days whilst they go down to Inverell. A big dog fix coming up~
I
decided to lend Geoff my new Nook ebook reader whilst we are away to see how he
gets on with it. I will use my old cracked one which
still reads fine. So,
he spent the morning loading on non fiction books that he wanted to read.
Owen
turned up at 5pm and we loaded all of our gear into his car. You would think we were going for four
weeks instead of four days. We had a lovely BBQ tea and Geoff got
instructions on how to work the TV as their system is complicated and it always
stuffs up for us once they are out of sight.
Thursday, 3rd January 2013 - Dog sitting at Kalkie
Both
dogs arrived on my bed during the early hours. Meggsy, of course, soon had her tongue
out trying to find somewhere to put it but my face was under the sheet by then. Luckily they soon settled down.
Owen
and Maryanne were up at 5am and on the road by 6am as they had a 800 km drive
ahead of them.
Put
the TV on as instructed to catch up on the news and, as usual, nothing so we
will have to ring
Owen later.
Geoff
had a bath, why … because he could and I started loading
some ebooks onto Maryanne’s computer for her. I have so many that I is going to be a
long job.
Whilst
I was doing this a courier arrived and it was a parcel for me. It turned out to be the new modem. Wow …
we only organised it on Tuesday. How’s
that for service? This was great as we had forgotten to
bring our old modem with us. Geoff was soon installing it and it
went on well with only one small hiccup, there always have to be a hiccup,
doesn’t there., a soon both our laptops were
connected via the Wi-fi. Geoff said it was so quick that he was
having trouble stopping it to change a few things.
After
lunch we headed out as Geoff had a dentist appointment as he had a soft gum
which he was a bit worried about. And so he should be as we came out a
bit shell shocked as he found out that one of his back teeth that anchors his
partial plate has an abscess as it is not man enough for the jovb it has to do. This now means he has to have root
control work and we have to find $1150 to have it done. The normal price is over $1500 so I am
so glad we joined that dental scheme which helps a little. We have well and truly saved the
joining fees already.
Back
to the boat to pick up a few bits and pieces and then back to Kalkie where we
were greeted enthusiastically by the two dogs. Owen rang and the TV is back working
again … great!
Friday, 4th January 2013 - Kalkie
Up
at 7.30 am with a couple of warm dogs draped all over me!
Geoff
had a look at Owens small stereo unit and thought the fuses had blown. I got a crockpot meal cooking so I
didn’t have to think about cooking later. About 11.30 am we went out to fill up
our diesel containers whilst we still had the car - $94 …
ouch … and that was with a ‘10¢
per litre off’ voucher from Woollies. Back to the boat to drop of the full
diesel containers, pick up a recipe, some ingredients, strip the beds, grab
some fuses and pick up the multi meter. Back to Kinghorn St via Zacs Meats to
buy some lamb shanks and loin lamb chops and Aldi for a couple of things.
Back
to Kalkie where Geoff installed the fuse. Crackle, crackle and smoke and blow
the fuse. Hmmm …
maybe the unit is cactus? Replace the fuse and it is fine …
weird! I did the bed linen washing and got it
hung out and then surfed the net. Then, when it had cooled down a bit we
took Mia and Meggsy out for a quick walk. For small dogs they really can tug on
the lead.
Up
at 7.30 again and just fiddled around until just after 11 am when we decided to
take some bits back to the boat and take the woofies out for a walk. So, as I said, the first stop was the
boat where we dropped of the clean washing and I picked up some spuds for
tomorrow night. A quick chat to Shirley on ‘Priority
One’ and we were on our way again. We decided to pop in to say hello to
Connie and Hernando, if we could remember where they loved. A couple of drives around the block
and one false start and we eventually found their unit. They were pleased to see us and
invited us in. Just as I was going through the front
door I dropped Meggsy lead and she was in like a flash and on the lap of Connie’s
visitor, also Columbian.. I apologised but he was happy and had a good cuddle. So did Connie as she loves gods, like
me. Mia, being the little lady that she
is, behaved herself perfectly. We didn’t
stay long as we had the dogs with us and they had visitors but we arranged for
them to come for a BBQ on the boat next Saturday.
Onto
Bunnings where the dogs and I sat in the air conditioned car whilst Geoff went
in search of an outside light that would do the job for Owen that wasn’t
too expensive. Now it was the woofies turn so we
drove past the Base Hospital and down to Queens Park which abuts the Burnett
River. It is a large woodland type park with
lots of seat, shelters and BBQ’s. It is also relatively quiet so we were
able to let the dogs run free and they loved it. My eyes were everywhere looking for
foreseeable problems but there weren’t any.
Back to Kalkie for some lunch and just relax for the rest of the day.
Alas ... on the 27th January 2013 Bundaberg was hit with its worst floods ever when Tropical Cyclone Oswald stalled over the city. The winds were cyclonic and horrific and the river rose to its highest ever, 11 metres, within a few hours. There was no warning given in time by the government weather departments. 2Abreast, along with 70 other boats was sunk and destroyed. This is the end of the 'sailing adventures of 2Abreast '
