Caloundra to Little Mountain

I woke to the sound of currawongs crying out their bubbly good mornings. All very Australian. And, of course, it was another perfect weather day (though a bit warm for me) with a light breeze beneath blue sky.

I slept well and, naturally, woke early (stupid jetlag) to sit and work on typing up blog posts then adding bibliographical stuff for Mirinda’s thesis while sitting at the excellent dining table in my accommodation. Speaking of which…

It’s all very comfortable and ridiculously convenient. For instance, the bus that takes me all the way to mum stops directly across the road, dropping me directly outside mum’s residential centre. The bus is lovely, as well, being typically air conditioned, comfortable and close to empty.

I really have no idea why more people don’t take buses. The route used by the bus I took this morning takes in just about everywhere between Caloundra and Little Mountain and should be far better used. Mind you, having a bus almost to myself is a bit of a luxury when compared to the usual scramble for seats in Farnham.

I arrived at the residential centre just as they were finishing up with their morning tea (10:30) and mum and I went for a little walk. I insisted that we walk around the grounds first so I could get a look at the bush surroundings.

Given there’s a big multi-lane highway out the front, the place is remarkably peaceful. Best of all, mum loves it. It is very comfortable, spacious and the staff seem nice and caring. I met a few of the residents though not Judy who doesn’t like being there and enjoys a few glasses of wine…so I’ve heard.

Our walk ended halfway up the highway when we turned around and walked back to the centre, stopping in the lovely cafe out the front for a couple of hazelnut lattes.

The residential centre is not long opened. Mid-February was the first intake after it was completed. Mum is the first person to ever use her room and one of the first in her ‘wing’. Incidentally, the ‘wings’ are all named after local beaches. Mum is in Shelly. Next door is Golden, where I said she should have been, given she and dad lived at Golden Beach for 20 years or so.

I dropped mum back in the dining room for lunch while I sat out on the verandah, reading. It was such a lovely spot. It overlooks a bit of a gully that comes down from the bush and though mum reckons it could do with a mow (it’s scrubland) I love the natural setting and the sounds of various birds swooping in and out and calling abuse to all and sundry.

They even had a kangaroo come down from the bush the other evening. It was just near the fence behind where I sat today. It was happily nibbling away at some fresh young plants recently put in by the gardener.

Mum had decided she wanted a cup of tea and left her room only to be summoned by one of the night shift people. He hushed her and pointed out the window and they watched the cheeky sod chewing away, denuding the plants.

Denise picked me up on her way home from work. We had to grab mum’s hearing aids and rush them to her old hearing aid person back in Caloundra because they needed de-waxing. The hearing aid place closed at 5pm so there was little time for pleasantries as we zoomed away.

All was well and I even had time to get a couple of avocados before returning to the flat where Denise had a cup of tea and I thoroughly enjoyed a beer.

Naturally, sleep was wanting to claim me from 6pm. I managed to last another couple of hours.