SAD

We are not going to Australia.
All our plans are up in the air right now.

We will still go on holiday.
But right now we are still trying to work out where/when and so on.

At the moment we are just feeling really flat.  Everywhere we think of going is like...  IT'S JUST ANOTHER BEACH.
And we have visited/done a lot of beaches.
And in New Zealand they really do start to all look the same.  

Visiting the South Island?  Yep... more beaches really, with mountains thrown in.  We don't want to spend half our time driving from one place to another down there either.  And we ain't into hiking or climbing mountains!

So right this minute, we are stumped on what to do.

Sorry this is such a downer post... our country is BEAUTIFUL and I love it.  But right now?  I'm just in a funk.

I suppose we will have plenty of time to paint that studio extension now.  

NOT exactly what Stew had in mind for his long awaited holiday.

I'm still just so sad we can't go and visit Mum and Ron.

But... We WILL visit them later on in the year.  Go freeze that apple OLD MOO... I will have it with me porridge eventually.  Love you Mum.

ABOVE:  I'm really happy with how the sun room looks now.  Much roomier, and when I want to put clothing racks out here, to dry the washing in winter, I have the room.
And I can now access the windows to open/close them much easier too.

The bar leaner and stools look wonderful there, they are not blocking the 'flow' so much, and you still get the lovely view out the windows.

Right, after breakfast we need to go to the travel agency and cancel a few things.

Air New Zealand have given us a year to use our tickets to Australia, we don't lose the money!  That's one huge relief.

Now just have to try and get refunds for travel insurance, internal travel in Australia and Parking fees at Auckland Airport.

ONWARD...

How quickly things can change.  With one phone call this morning ... we are SO THANKFUL we are not going ANYWHERE right now.

Our son Steve is on his way back to hospital.
More later, once we know what's going on.

1.48 pm:  To kill time until we knew what was going on with Steve, we went for a walk along the river.

ABOVE:  We ended up doing a 4.77 km circuit.  It was the longest walk I've done in months, my feet are sore.

After our walk we had lunch at Iguana in the city.

ABOVE:  It was deserted!  We shared a small pizza and some chips.  Then we came home to this lot:

ABOVE: They are behaving... just.
Though Lacy is going to die soon if she doesn't stop saying 'Fudge Packer'.  It's totally doing my head in.

STEVE:  Is being admitted overnight for now.  They are running heaps of tests on him.  They think his current pain is being caused by PANCREATITIS.  So add that to his Pancolitis and he's not a well man right now.

I'm sure they will eventually get to the bottom of it (OMG excuse the pun).

I'm trying to be optimistic in that he won't require surgery.

More:  he's now awaiting another Cat Scan and Ultrasound.
  
-Gallstones can cause an inflamed Pancreas, but if that's the case they can't operate to remove them, because he's on steroids.
- The steroids also could be the cause of his pancreatitis!  And he can't stop taking them due to his Pancolitis.

What a mess.

We are staying home today, but might head up there tomorrow.  Not sure yet.

I've not unpacked my bags yet!  

And obviously we have given no thought to going 'on holiday' AT ALL.

So I am sitting here thinking... well I could wash the windows, paint the studio exterior, do some sewing, housework ... bla bla bla.

And STEW?  Well he's sitting at the dining room table on the laptop... working!  WTF?

So much for having a quiet, relaxing holiday.

4.10 pm:  And after a few phone calls and emails and a visit to the travel agency, we have been given refunds for all our expenses.  That's Travel Insurance, Airport Parking, and Bus/Train fares in Australia.  Not to forget the plane tickets, which are being held in credit.

Such a relief.

This evening has been OK.  I had a good yak with Steve and Mike over Messenger.
Steve is feeling a bit better.  More test results due tomorrow, and he will be seen by the specialists in the morning too.  We might have some answers after that.  Fingers crossed it's positive, not negative.

Mike is doing good.  We are looking forward to seeing him and Joyce in the next week or two, all going well.

I'm winding down for the day now.  Catch you tomorrow.