After exactly 4 months on the road we head back south for a few weeks to visit our cousin and friend.  He has recently undergone a mechanical heart transplant while awaiting a human transplant.  He and his family have being doing it tough but you'd never know it if you didn't know.  We admire their strength enormously and just popped but home for a little bit to catch up with them.

May I take this opportunity to ask every reader of this blog to consider becoming an organ donor, talk to your family about your decision and sign up to the organ donor register and save lives.

So back in Melbourne and it's bloody freezing.  Our very dear friends have put us up in the backyard big enough for our bus and looked after us as usual.   I wondered why I am feeling the cold here so much more, having lived here most of my life....then I remembered - ducted heated house, heated car, heated office was my past life. Bus life is a little less pleasant in the cold. 

Regardless, it's nice to be catching up with family and friends and sharing stories of our travels and catching up on the parts of their lives we missed.   We discovered Jamie (our son) bought a motorbike in our absence.  Be safe Jay....  We missed many birthdays, but were here for Casey's 13th.  Welcome to teenagehood Case.   Cookie now has his heart on his hip and the boys try on their spunky shirts Pa bought them back from Germany.  

Brad was busy earning money making custom order furniture and farm work while Lola, Laura and I took a train trip into the Melbourne Museum.  Family dinners and Brad lapping up that meat, it's been a while   Lola started Distance Education while back in Victoria.  The "no school" method was getting really boring, this is working out great.   Brad built Matt a skate ramp which proceeding in driving us all and the neighbours mad....but the kids loved it. 

Discovered my clothes in the back wardrobe of the bus were going mouldy in the cold condensation.  Fortunately the incomplete skate ramp was a useful place for airing while Brad installed some marine carpet and an air vent in my wardrobe.   We had  beautiful afternoon at Wild Dog Winery in Gippsland.  Lola's friend Rosa come along and we had great food, company, weather.  Thanks Poppy!  Brad found himself in hospital with pneumonia and layed up for 3 weeks.  This made our planned 2 week visit 6 weeks long...which gave us more time to eat, drink and be merry with the family

And now it's time to go, but guess what, we have some house guests hitching a ride to Uluru.......