A great start to the day
Monday, July 25, 2016
After a decent night’s sleep the world does look like a much better place.
Sis’s sweet young Air BnB guests moved out this morning and were back within the hour.
They’d made their beds so I had just started stripping them and doing the room when they drove back down the driveway.
Thinking they’d forgotten something, I went out and greeted them.
They got out of the car with flowers and wine for sis – “the perfect host†– for going that extra mile, as she does for everyone.
Back to the Gold Coast
Four friends of sis and Fae were arriving that afternoon for a dinner party, and two were staying, so I turned the room around before getting ready for Gracie’s 1.30pm appointment at Carrara.
She was seeing specialist ophthalmologist, Dr Susan Jacobi, at the AES at Carrara, so I set the GPS coordinates for Angela’s place at Tweed Heads. Ange very kindly drove me and Gracie to the specialist.
Specialist advice
Dr Susan and her capable assistant were very kind and concerned for Gracie. They seemed pleased with how the ulcer was healing after it had been debrided, but wanted to see her back in a week.
That meant up to another week in Stokers. As much as I love my sis, she knew it was time for me to be on my way.
Mother mountain
On the way home, I pulled over on the roadside just outside Murwillumbah and just sat there watching majestic Mount Warning for a while.
I made a phone call, as there is little or no mobile reception out at the property.
It was just on dark and sis rang, worried about me, as the dinner guests had arrived and they’d started nibbles.
Pleasant company
Wendy and Lloyd and Roger and Colleen, the guests, were great company. Really nice people. We had a lovely evening with them.
I’m glad my sister has good people like that in her life.
Lunch by the beach
Sis and I drove in to Murwillumbah, thinking we’d catch up with Guy Kachel playing at the farmers’ markets, only to discover we were a week early.
Change of plans, so we decided to drive up to Kingscliff Beach Hotel and meet Angela for lunch. Went back out to A Slice of Heaven and I prepared Rambling Rose for takeoff.
We had a yummo lunch, dessert and lots of laughs at the pub, so after lunch, Ange and sis went for a walk.
I had a lie down in Rambling Rose – very pleasant. Not sure if I actually slept, but it was a lovely rest.
Quiet night back home
Still full from lunch, sis and I had a cup of soup for tea and then I went back over to Rambling Rose to settle in for the night.
Paradise lost … thank goodness
We drove in to The Print Spot at Murwillumbah at 8.30am and asked what would be involved in removing the red and blue stripes from Rambling Rose.
A really helpful young man, Tradie, had this round, rubber wheel-type gadget he put on the end of a drill and demonstrated how it worked by removing “Another day in Paradise†from over the front of the motorhome.
I’d always thought it looked cheesy, so I was glad to see the back of it.
A makeover for Rambling Rose
Deciding we could probably get the stripes off, we planned to spend the day doing just that , so to give us a little sustenance for the task ahead, sis and I had brekky at The Austral.
As we were heading back to A Slice of Heaven Angela rang and offered to come down and help us remove the stripes.
What sort of a friend offers to do that on her holidays? The very best kind!
The bloke at The Print Spot said it would take two blokes at least five hours to remove the stripes.
This is called teamwork – and dedication. Ange worked like a Trojan on those stripes until dark.
Naked and beautiful
We found three women could achieve that outcome in about the same time-frame with a fair bit of elbow grease, turps and scrapers.
The only problem we struck was when light stopped play, so there was just a small patch that hadn’t been done – and the doors.
I had rung and booked it into The Print Spot the next day to have the stripes removed from both sides of the cabin as we weren’t keen to scratch the duco. We’d been pretty rough with the body of the van, but the doors were another matter.
Without those ugly stripes, Rambling Rose was turning into quite a beauty.
To thank my stripe-removal team, I shouted them dinner at Nam Yeng, then Ange headed back home to Tweed Heads.
Getting ready to roll
Jerome Quinert at The Print Spot admitted to having a little OCD. Now, in a job in that industry, that’s a plus.
He paid attention to every detail and did a great job removing the last of the stripes and any excess glue he could locate.
He didn’t use the gadget Tradie had a few days before. Instead he used a steam pad, which worked a treat.
To my mind, it was $150 well spent, for his two hours’ work and the fabulous end result.
Preparing for takeoff
Back to A Slice of Heaven for one final look around to see if I’d left anything, and I was out of there.
I did leave a mountain of red and blue stripe remnants all around the carport, but sis said she’d get rid of them with the vac.
Before I left Murwillumbah, I phoned Sam, the vet, and she wanted to take one last look at Gracie before we headed out of town.
Last Austral lunch before launch
I left the vet at 1.30pm and sis phoned me just as I got out. We met at The Austral for one last lunch together –
she had the pensioner roast and I had a barra burger – both delicious.
The girls were pretty impressed, too, because they got the leftovers of the pensioner roast.
It’s now Friday, July 29, and I said goodbye to sis and took off up the road, feeling like the umbilical cord had finally been cut.