Sunday, 9 August, 2015

It seems like I could just write 'see the past two weeks' for this week's blog from Monday to Friday.  Dad did the classroom component to the practical part of the course this week.  He likes this part of the course as it's more about discussing faults they might find with the airplane and how they would go about problem solving and repairing them.  Also, there are no exams for this part of the course, so he was able to give his brain a break. :)

I continued on with my piano lessons, Auslan lessons, scripture lessons and reading.  I am pleased with how I am doing with my piano lessons - I am now able to read the musical notes in the bass clef without having to transpose the notes from the treble clef.  I am also able to retain a lot of what I am learning in my sign language lessons.  I learned numbers and colours this week.

On Saturday, Dad and I went geocaching.  We went back to three of the ones which we couldn't get last week since they were all two-step geocaches and we didn't know how to enter a co-ordinate directly into the gps.  Dad figured out this week how to do that so we were able to successfully find these geocaches.  Dad and I are becoming better at figuring out exactly where the geocaches are once we have found the general area of the geocaches; for instance, this week, we found one under a rock, another under a rock which was under a bush and the third which was in a tree.  All three items were a natural part of their environment and it was cool being able to figure out where the geocaches were.

 view from the first geocache

 we found the first geocache under a rock in the middle of a clump of trees

 we found the second geocache under a rock which was under a large bush beside a creek

 the third geocache was found in a tree - the branch was not part of this tree, but had been placed to make it seem like it was from that tree

the person who made this geocache drilled a hole in the bottom of a branch which was just big enough to place a rolled up piece of paper in (every time you find a geocache, you write the date and your names in it to show when you found it)

Today, we flew to Sydney.  Dad's course was supposed to be totally in Melbourne, but they couldn't get access to a 777 airplane in Melbourne this week and they were able to get access to one in Sydney.  We are staying at a posh hotel near the airport where Dad will be completing the hands-on part of his course this coming week.

Sunday, 2 August, 2015

Dad's course was very full-on this week.  His boss, Harry, taught the course this week as it was the avionics (electronics) part of the course.  Dad was super busy trying to take it all in - it was quite brain draining for him and he was very glad to be done on Friday and for the exam to be done (which he passed with 100%).  It was a good week for me to be away in Wagga.

I had a very nice week (Sunday to Friday) spending time with Auntie Norma and Uncle Les.  When I had called Auntie Norma about coming, I told her that I would do all the cooking and cleaning while I was staying with them so they would not be put out at all.  However, when I got there, it turned out not to be so simple.  Auntie Norma is a very independent (and stubborn :-) woman and it wasn't as easy as I thought to be able to take over.  Uncle Les likes his routine and so he preferred to do the dishes chore on his own after every meal - I was able to do the dishes once and make only one supper meal during the time I was there.  My cousin, Rosie, and I were able to take Auntie Norma out to lunch twice, but Uncle Les didn't join us as he doesn't like eating out.  He has his daily routine and doesn't like it changed.

Me with Auntie Norma and Uncle Les (Chalmers)

Me and my cousin, Beth Chalmers (Auntie Norma and Uncle Les' daughter)

It was interesting learning about Auntie Norma's growing up years in and around Wagga.  I also asked her some questions about Poppy when they were growing up - he really was a naughty boy! :-)  I also found out the last name of Poppy's best boyhood friend and so I am looking forward to being able to contact him to see if he will share some of his memories of his time with Poppy.  I am looking forward to talking with Nana when I get to Canada and to be able to write both her and Poppy's life histories.

Auntie Norma (Chalmers), Poppy, Auntie Jean (Duncan/Ronne) as children

My cousin, Rosie, and I spent a lot of time this week working on gathering information for our family history.  We were able to get some pictures and written information about our ancestors which we scanned and/or copied.  We were hoping to get some more certificates, etc. which Auntie Norma has, but that was in her garage which is, at the moment, chock full of stuff and Rosie and I were not able to get into it to search for what we were looking for.  Auntie Norma's daughter, Cherylyn, is coming down to their place in September to go through the garage and clear it out, so I am hopeful that the next time I go to Wagga, I will be able to get copies of some important documents relating to my ancestors.

My great grandparents, Harriet and Ernest Dunkley and their children (my grandpa, Ivan Dunkley, is on the right in the back row)

Rosie and I spent some time at the Wagga cemetery trying to find out where our ancestors were buried.  Some of them have been buried without headstones or markers and so we had to find out where they were buried based on where others' were who did have a headstone.  The people in the office at the cemetery were helpful in giving us a photocopy of where our relatives were buried in relation to others in the cemetery.  Rosie wants to get a plaque of some kind to mark where our Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Glennie are buried (they are my Grandma Dunkley's parents) and also where Poppy's brother, Ian, is buried (Ian only lived two days and died due to a heart problem).

area where my great grandparents, Peter and Sophia Glennie, are buried in the Wagga Monumental Cemetery

Poppy's plaque by the 'Serenity Pool' at the Wagga Lawn Cemetery

A wonderful story about finding where Ian was buried.  First, you know that I don't believe in co-incidences.........So, Rosie and I went to the cemetery to see if they had a record of where Ian was buried, which they didn't.  Rosie had a newspaper article stating that Ian had been buried in the Salvation Army area of the Wagga Monumental Cemetery and had been interred there by a funeral home in Wagga. So, next we went to the Salvation Army church to see if they had any record of Ian's funeral.  We talked with two people in the know there, but both told us that the book containing that information was missing.  We were given a book which had a lot of information about other relatives and their service in the church, their marriages and deaths.  So, although it wasn't productive regarding the information we were looking for re: Ian, it did give us some other information which was very useful.  Next, we went to the funeral home where we talked with a girl named Ebony.  We told her our story and she told us that she had 'just happened' to work at the cemetery before coming to work at the funeral home three months previously.  She told us that not all of the information has been inputted into the cemetery database and told us exactly where to tell the cemetery workers to look to get that information.  We felt so blessed to have been able to talk with Ebony as it led us to be able to find out where Ian was buried and we wouldn't have been able to find that out without meeting Ebony. A little story about our 'discussion' with the cemetery workers when we went back there to tell them what Ebony had said. When we told them what Ebony had said, they assured us that all the info had been inputted into the computer system (guaranteed, they said).  We kept telling them where Ebony had said the info would be found and they kept insisting that everything was on their computer.  We persisted and they finally took down the Salvation Army record book and, lo and behold, there was the information we needed. Rosie and I had a good venting with each other after we left the cemetery although we were as sweet as pie while we were talking with the workers. We took lots of photos of where our relatives were buried and felt good at what we were able to accomplish.

It's hard to see, but Rosie and I took two twigs and placed them in front of the bench marking the place where Ian Dunkley (aged 2 days), Poppy's brother, is buried

The weather in Wagga was so cold and I don't remember it being that cold there when I was a kid.  Auntie Norma says it was cold then, but kids just don't seem to feel it like adults do.  I was very glad that Auntie Norma had a heating blanket on my bed - they go to bed very early and so I ended up doing the same each night and snuggling down under the covers and enjoying the heat of the blanket.  I have to say that I am very glad that Dad said that he didn't want to live in Wagga when we moved to Australia! :-)

3 Killara Avenue, Wagga Wagga - the house where I grew up in - although there was no brick on the house then, nor the fence

As nice as it was to catch up with my relatives in Wagga, it was nice to get back to Melbourne with Dad.  As usual, he had trouble sleeping while I was away (he always does) and so he was glad to have me back, too. :-)  We had hoped to go out geocaching yesterday, but the weather was not co-operating - rain, rain and more rain.  So, it was a bit of a stay-at-home day after we did some grocery shopping.

Today, after Sacrament, we went to have lunch with some friends who live southeast of Melbourne.  Wendy and Norm Keilar lived in Wagga for a few months back in the 60s and Wendy and Nana became friends first and then all four of them became friends.  Nana has kept in touch with Wendy all these years and Dad and I became friends with them as well.  They invited us for a lovely roast chicken dinner with pavlova for dessert - how could we resist? :-)  Wendy always puts on a great spread - besides the chicken and dressing, she also cooked up roast potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, carrots, beans, peas and a tomato/onion with bread crumbs dish.  The pavlova topping was very unusual and one I had never seen before.  Wendy made the meringue base, topped that with whipped cream and then topped that with a crushed chocolate bar called 'Peppermint Crisp' - it's a green mint chocolate bar - it was a nice pavlova (Wendy cut me TWO slices), but I still prefer my fruit topped pav. :-)  Wendy and Norm invited their daughter, Marjorie, and her husband, Peter, over as well and we enjoyed a lovely visit with all of them.  They have asked us to come back again next time we visit Melbourne and to stay overnight when we do - we will look forward to that.

 delicious pavlova made by Wendy

Back row: Peter, Marjorie, Me.....................Front row: Norm and Wendy Keilar

Sunday, 26 July, 2015

Another week of much the same as last week.

Dad's course continued to go well and he continued to ace the course exams.  He has one more week of theory before he begins the practical component of the course.  We are enjoying our two housemates here with us - they are both instructors with QAC - Niles is teaching this course and Garth is taking the course like Dad is.

Garth, Dad and Niles

I continued on with learning Auslan (Australian sign language), learning piano (played 'Oh When The Saints Go Marching In' this week), knitting (working on a doll's sweater), reading (another whodunit) and scripture reading (Sunday school lesson and Book of Mormon study).

Yesterday, Dad and I decided to spend the afternoon doing some geocaching.  We were able to find half of the ones we tried.  We are newbies in this adventure and that's likely why we had some trouble finding some of the caches.  There is usually a hint given if you can't find a cache, but sometimes the hints are obscure and really aren't helpful.

 house beside the path we walked along to get to our first geocache

 cricket game being played in the field beside the path we walked along to get to the geocache

 geocache find under the bridge

 view from the top of the hill where we found the geocache

 Dad holding the gps searching for our next geocache

 Me standing behind a wooden sculpture in the park near a geocache

 galahs on the field near a geocache

Geocache we found - it was 'in the open, but camouflaged' - someone had taken a piece of a small log and screwed the top of a container to the underside of the log and then dug a hole for the container to hide under the log - thus, out in the open as it looked like a piece of a tree, but camouflaged as it really wasn't part of the 'real' environment - an amazing creative idea

This morning, Dad dropped me off at the train station and I took the train to Wagga.  It took four hours and was really relaxing.  The seats were comfortable and there was a buffet car where I was able to buy lunch.  When I got to Wagga, I decided to walk to Auntie Norma and Uncle Les' house since I had been sitting for four hours.  The weather was cool in Wagga and the walk took just over an hour, but it was a good walk.  It was nice to see Auntie Norma and Uncle Les again.  Auntie Norma is 84 and Uncle Les is 88 and their age is starting to show.  They are still in their own home, though, and still doing their own cooking and cleaning.  My cousin, Rosie, came in from Sydney today and came over this afternoon for a catch-up before heading to her hotel.  We are both excited about doing some family history this week and I am looking forward to learning more about Auntie Norma's life growing up in Wagga which will help me when I start writing Poppy's life story.

Sunday, July 19, 2015

Dad's course is going really well - he found it easier this week as the subjects he was learning about were familiar to him since he has experience on both the 747 and 767 airplanes.  He only had one exam this past week and he passed it with flying colours.

I spent my days this week knitting, studying my scriptures, playing the piano and reading on my e-reader.  I have set myself up a schedule and it's going really well.  I was finding it too easy to just waste the day away and so, putting myself on a schedule, helps me to get a lot of things accomplished.  I am doing pretty well on the piano and am starting to play with two hands.  The latest song I have learned is 'Oh When The Saints Come Marching In'.

On Wednesday, I started my Auslan (Australian sign language) course online and I am enjoying it so far.  I learned how to do fingerspelling and also learned how to say hello, goodbye, how are you, I'm well and I'm not well.  I had my first quiz and I got 100% - although, I do have to admit, that I had to look at the people fingerspelling out their names a few times before I could figure out what they were spelling.  It is nice that we can take the test until we get 100%.

On Friday, I went to the doctor's to get my stitches out.  When the doctor took a look at how the stitches were doing, she told me that there was a little inflammation and asked me to go on antibiotics for three days.  She will check the stitches out again tomorrow.  My back is still quite tender, so I am looking forward to it healing.

Yesterday, Dad and I went geocaching so that we could drop off a geocaching travel bug which Terri-Ann had found in Orangeville.  A travel bug is a trackable tag that you attach to an item and then place into a geocache.  Dad looked online and found a geocache not far from the unit here in a place called Gellibrand Hill in Woodlands Historic Park.  The geocache was pretty easy to find - it was in a tupperware container under some rocks which were under a bush on the hill.  Dad wrote his ID name in the logbook in the container and put the travel bug into the container.  It was a little bit of good exercise for us and we have decided that we would like to do some more geocaching.  Dad is now looking at some different gps receivers in stores here and online.

 road we walked on to get to Gellibrand Hill

 bird we saw on the side of the road on the way to Gellibrand Hill

rabbit hole which a rabbit disappeared into on the way up Gellibrand Hill

 kangaroos on Gellibrand Hill

 interesting looking tree on Gellibrand Hill

 view of the city of Melbourne from Gellibrand Hill

 view of the Melbourne airport from Gellibrand Hill

 me holding the tupperware container from the geocache

 Dad writing in the log book from the geocache

 Dad holding the travel bug

 Dad placing the travel bug into the tupperware container

 another view from Gellibrand Hill

more kangaroos on the way down from Gellibrand Hill

After checking out a new local market (which turned out to be not much to write home about), we went to Big W (like Walmart) to buy a bike for me to use when we are here in Melbourne.  We chose a very basic bike - an 18 speed one - and a helmet - both are pretty red ones.  :-)  Dad will have to put the bike together with a few tools, but he won't worry about that for a little bit yet,  until my back is feeling better and has healed.

Sunday, 12 July, 2015

Dad's course is going well, although he is finding it a hard slog with having to study (as a student) and also to prepare (as a teacher - for when he teaches this course in the future).  He had two exams this week and he got 100% on both. :-)  There is a different instructor teaching Dad's course for the next three weeks and he is staying here at the unit as well.  Niles is originally from Jamaica, but has lived in different places around the world.  Niles knows some guys from Canadian Airlines and Air Canada who Dad has worked with in the past - it's a small world!  Niles taught a course for Air Canada in Toronto last year and many of the guys on the course remembered Dad from when he worked there.  Dad is hoping to be able to teach one of the courses in Toronto at some point so that he can catch up with these past workmates.

On Tuesday, I went back to the doctor's to have the nurse look at my incision.  She was really pleased with how it's healing and told me that I should have a doctor in Melbourne take out the stitches this coming Friday.  My back is still quite tender and I still find it hard to sit back against it - I tend to lean to one side or the other when I am sitting in a chair.

On Wednesday, I flew to Melbourne.  On the flight from Brisbane to Melbourne, I sat next to a woman who I got to talking with.  I so often find out how small our world really is.  This woman was a retired teacher and had spent two years teaching at Helen Wilson P.S. (where you girls went to nursery school) in Brampton.  We did a lot of reminiscing about living in Brampton/Bramalea and talked a lot about teaching.  She had also travelled a lot and so we talked about the various places we have been to in the world, as well.

Dad and I had a lovely, enjoyable day together yesterday.  After walking around the mall (we decided to walk there as it was just too cold to go for a walk outside) and picking up a few things, we checked out the bikes at Big W (like Walmart).  I have decided that I want to buy a bike here since we are in Melbourne quite a bit.  It will be so nice to be able to get out and bike ride around the neighbourhood as well as to use it to ride to the gym where they have yoga classes a couple of times a week.  We didn't get the bike there as we wanted to also check out K-Mart (which we did later that day) to see what kind of bikes they had.

When we got home, I went online to check out if anyone had a good deal on a used electronic keyboard and I found one which came with a stand and a piano book.  The girl who was selling it said that the price was negotiable and so I sent her an email offering her a price and she accepted it.  We drove right there and picked it up and it's now sitting in the loungeroom here at the unit.  I am really looking forward to continuing my piano learning.

my new electronic piano

I also registered yesterday for a sign language course - it's called 'Auslan' (Australian sign language) - it will take me 7 weeks to do and it's all online.  I am really looking forward to it as I have wanted to learn how to do sign language since I was a teenager.  I debated whether I would take ASL (American Sign Language) or Auslan since they are different from each other, but I figured that I would be (hopefully) be using it in Australia so it made sense to learn Auslan.

It was nice to see our Canadian friends, Debbie and Trevor, at church again today.  They just arrived back here from a three week visit with their family in Alberta.  We plan on having them over for dinner again before we head back home.

Sunday, 5 July, 2015

Well, this blog will be quite boring - not much happened this week and no pictures to add, either.

Dad's course is going really well in Melbourne.  He has been able to understand everything taught to him so far and he did extremely well on his first test this week.  Harry (Dad's boss) and Harry's wife, Dawn, took Dad and Garth (another instructor on the same course as Dad) out to dinner this week to a really nice Italian restaurant.  Harry often does that when he is teaching which is really nice.  Garth left on Friday and Harry and Dawn left yesterday and so Dad has been on his own all weekend - quite boring for him, although he did go to church today which was good.  Niles, the instructor for the next three weeks, will be coming in to Melbourne tonight and Dad will pick him up from the airport.

I rested on Monday and Tuesday as my back was still tender from the incision last week.  Then, on Wednesday, my friend, Denise, drove me to the doctor's to get the second procedure done.  I had to get more needles done this time (and they hurt!) to freeze the area which the doctor had to work on.  Dr. Schnetler is such a great doctor - he is very gentle, understanding, patient and thorough.  It took him a lot longer to perform the procedure than I thought it would, but that was fine with me - I am good with him making sure that he got everything he needed to get out.  He prescribed some painkillers for me (Panadeine - like Tylenol with codeine) and also suggested I get some Nurofen (like Advil).  He told me that this incision would hurt more than the previous one as he had had to go deeper on this incision - he was right!  I took the painkillers for three days and then found that I didn't need them after Saturday morning - I was glad about that, especially since I hate taking medication.

On Friday, I drove to the doctor's office again so that the nurse, Nat, could look at my incision to see how it was looking.  She said it looked good and changed the bandage, too.  I told her that I couldn't see it and she asked me if I would like to, to which I answered 'yes'.  She held up a mirror, but I couldn't see it since the incision is in the middle of my back.  She asked if I had a phone and said she could take a pic with it - I told her that my phone didn't take pics (it's a 'dinosaur' phone :-)

I, like Dad, have been bored all on my own - I have been mostly just watching tv, reading and piddling on the computer.  Dad and I can't wait until Wednesday when we will be together again. :-)

Sunday, 28 June, 2015

What a week!  That phrase just sums it all up in three words!  More appointments and one dinner out with our friend, Robyn.

On Monday, Dad had a doctor's appointment for a skin check.  Since so many Aussies love being out in the sun, skin checks are done on people here every year (at least, our doctor does them every year).  He found one spot on Dad's back which he wants to take out - that will happen in August.  Our doctor is very cautious, but we are okay with that - better safe than sorry, I say.  We also had a haircut appointment and a chiropractor appointment today.  I wanted a shorter haircut and Dad wanted to get 'cleaned up' so that he looked presentable on his course in Melbourne.

Our new haircuts

On Tuesday, Dad and I had a dental appointment - just a clean for me, but Dad needed more work on two of his teeth (and had another appointment later on in the week).  After that, we had to take Garfield back to the Animal Rescue - that was a bit sad.  I know that he will be well taken care of by Maree, the woman who runs the place, but it was still hard to take him back.  He was so cuddly being with us on his own and also was following us around wherever we went in the house, including sleeping with us at night (well, for part of the night, anyway).  Maree asked me why we couldn't just take Garfield on our trip with us - somehow, I don't think that Dad's boss, Harry, would be happy about that. :-)

Our 'baby', Garfield, getting comfortable in my chair

After lunch, it was my turn for the doctor's appointment - this was to have a piece of a spot on my back taken off so that it could be sent away for testing.  Dr. Schnetler said that he didn't think it was anything, but he was going to be cautious.  I had to get a bunch of needles to freeze the area on my back and, as usual, I held the hand of the nurse while the doctor was doing it.  It actually hurt more than usual, although it really wasn't much on the scale of 1 - 10, but, for some reason, I have this psychological 'fear' of needle pain.  It doesn't make sense, I know, but it doesn't really matter - if it worries me, then it's real.  Thankfully, the nurse and the doctor are amazing people and are very patient and kind with my 'fear'.  I had to go back on Wednesday as the bandaid that had been placed over the stitches was covered with blood and had to be changed.  Then, I went back on Friday and the doctor checked it again and said it was going well.  It's been a bit painful and I have had to change my sitting position and sleeping position often during the day/evening.  It has also been quite itchy for a couple of days now - Dad says that's good cuz that means it's healing, but it's a bit annoying since it's in a place which is hard to reach without a backscratcher.

Wednesday was a relaxing day with only two appointments: one for the car service and one for our eyes.  Both our eyes have changed and so we will need to get new glasses this year.  It will have to wait, though, as we didn't have time to get the prescription filled and returned before our Melbourne trip.

Thursday was a very exciting day!  It was the day Dad received his Australian citizenship!  The ceremony took place at the council offices and was conducted by the mayor of Hervey Bay, Gerard O'Connell, who was accompanied by the deputy mayor and one of the city councillors.  There were 19 people receiving their citizenship that day, including one little girl aged 8 and one couple who have been living in Australia for 51 years.  We wish we knew why that couple had waited so long to take out their citizenship.  After saying a pledge, each person received their citizenship certificate, a Fraser Coast pen and an uncirculated Australian $1. coin.  They then had their picture taken with the mayor and with any of their guests.  Robyn came with us to the ceremony - she actually put off her trip to her daughter's to come with us to the ceremony - we were so happy that she could join us on Dad's special day.  At the end of the ceremony, we all stood and sang the Australian national anthem, 'Advance Australia Fair'.  After that, we were all treated to a lovely morning tea of sandwiches, scones with jam and cream, tea, coffee and orange juice.  It was really tasty.  Each new citizen was also given an Australian plant (Robyn chose the one she thought would be the nicest for us).  There was supposed to be a photographer there to take a group picture of the newest Australian citizens, but they never made it.  I was a bit disappointed at that cuz I thought it would have been nice to see Dad's pic in the local newspaper.  Robyn bought an Australian flag and gave it to Dad to celebrate him becoming an Aussie citizen.  She is such a thoughtful friend. :-)

 Dad sitting at the table in the council chambers where the citizenship ceremony was held

 'Advance Australia Fair' - the Australia national anthem

 Mayor Gerard O'Connell addressing all the new Australian citizens-to-be

 Dad reciting the pledge

 Dad holding his citizenship certificate (with me and Mayor O'Connell)

Robyn, Dad, me and Mayor O'Connell

 Dad standing under the Australian flags in the council chambers

 Scones with jam and cream (part of our morning tea)

 The $1. Australian coin given to all new citizens

 The pledge Dad had to take (you can click on the pic if you want to read it)

Dad's Australian Citizenship certificate

 Dad holding the Australian plant which was given to all the new citizens and the  Aussie flag which Robyn bought him

After the ceremony, Robyn, Dad and I went to Hogsbreath Cafe to have a celebratory lunch - we even treated ourselves to a nice non-alcoholic drink to cheer Dad on his special day.

Toasting Dad on becoming an Aussie citizen (me, Dad, and Robyn)

 Dad with his celebratory meal at Hogsbreath (ribs and prime rib)

 Me and my tasty ribs - yummy!

Dad wearing his bib which is mandatory when you order ribs at Hogsbreath :-)

 While we were eating our delicious meal, I got a call from the doctor's office - I thought it was odd to get a call, but then thought that they must have been calling to confirm my appointment on Friday to check out my stitches.  When I answered the phone, it was actually my doctor.  He told me that he had received back the results of the biopsy from the procedure he had done on me on Tuesday.  The first thing he said was that it was 'early stage one melanoma'.  My stomach fell and I started sweating and I didn't hear much of what he said after that.  He said something about 'cure' and doing it 'now' and 'making a decision' and 'changing my flight'.  When I got off, I just wanted to cry - it sort of put a damper on our celebration.  I didn't feel like eating after that news, but I didn't want to ruin Dad's celebration, so I tried my best to be cheerful.  I managed it for a bit, but then I told Dad that I wanted to go and talk with the doctor to see when I could fly out since I knew that I would have to change my flight to Melbourne.  When we got there, the doctor invited Dad and me into his office.  He told me that he normally doesn't give that news over the phone, but he knew that I was supposed to be leaving on Friday morning and he wanted me to know before I went so that I could decide what to do then.

Let me start off by saying that my doctor is fabulous, amazing, wonderful, etc., etc., etc.  He patiently explained to me what was going on and he told me right away that everything was okay and that I had nothing to worry about.  He drew a picture of what he was going to do on my back (basically take the whole spot out which is about 3mm) and that once that was done, the melanoma was considered cured.  He said that he knew that we were supposed to be going away the next day, but he really would prefer for me to get it done sooner rather than later.  I had made the decision to put off flight to Melbourne already - I wasn't going to be taking any chances and I really trust my doctor - if he said he wanted to do it next week then that was what I was going to do.  I felt so relieved and happy about everything at the end of our meeting with our doctor, that I gave him a big hug.

Dad filled out an Australian passport application with Robyn signing it as a guarantor that Dad is who he says he is. :-)  He then had to go for an interview with someone at the post office - it was actually just to check that he had filled the application out properly and that he had all the necessary documents for them to cite.  All went well and he should have his Aussie passport in about three weeks.

On Friday, Dad flew to Melbourne  and has settled into the unit.  It's been kind of boring for both of us being on our own for the past two days.  Dad's boss, Harry, and his wife, Dawn, arrived in Melbourne tonight and another instructor, Garth, who will be taking the course along with Dad, will arrive later tonight as well.  Dad will have no time to be bored starting tomorrow when he starts this seven week course.  We are both looking forward to me being able to fly to Melbourne in ten days.