The second half of this year’s trip to Australia saw us flying to Sydney for a few days, staying at Finger Quay, just a twenty minute walk through the Botanical Gardens to the Opera House. We managed to get tickets to see La Boheme that very evening; fabulous.

The next day was very hot so we hopped on and off the ferries at Circular Quay to places such as Manley and Watson’s Bay, there was a cooling breeze on the water. The next day the lovely daughter joined us and we began a five day trip driving along the coast back towards Melbourne. Highlights included a night in Kangaroo Valley, a lush, hilly area where we enjoyed a walk through the treetops. Three nights were spent in an isolated cottage at Bawley Point, near Bateman’s Bay with just kangaroos and lots of bird life for company and a scramble through the bush to reach a deserted, white sandy beach. We lunched one day at Rick Stein’s fish restaurant at Mollymook which was a real treat.

A week later we were back in Sussex to the beginnings of an English springtime, and a big change in temperature. Time for me to start taking the gold star treatment for Parkinson’s; dopamine. To avoid unpleasant side effects including nausea the build up is very slow. The good news is that so far I feel fine. The not so good news is that there is no improvement whatsoever in the spasm and tremor in the left arm, my main problem. However, this morning I swam an extra 7 lengths without much difficulty. Maybe I am being impatient and more time is needed, I hope so….. I see the Parkinson’s Nurse in three weeks.