Day 2 and 3

Very limited internet availability so yet another reason to detest Telstra...surprisingly good weather for our second day of travel as no rain at all with even a chance to put on sunglasses for a short while. Spoke to some of the riders after Tuesday's very wet ride and one fellow said the best part of the day was getting to Mildura and being able to take his boots off and pour the water out of them! overnight in Mildura good with excellent dinner. My little kittens are already saying that there is way too much food, but I notice that every plate is empty after each meal. So far, I'm the only one that hasn't dessert with every meal! Wednesday morning and after breakfast most of us headed to the nearby Macca's car park for the riders' briefing. Caught up with even more 'old' faces that I have previously worked with and not seen for years. There was quite a bit of hugging and even some chaste kisses.... And you all know I don't do hugs!!! Thankfully the weather has turned out much better than expected so even have a few patches of blue skies with no rain. Yippee. Morning tea at Balranald and what a lovely place it is was to stop near the Visitor Info Centre. Met up with some Northern Territory riders who clearly didn't enjoy yesterday's ride in the cold and rain. On to Hay for lunch - still no dessert for me and time for a wander down the Main Street which was really pleasant. Then to Shear Outback which is the national Hall of Fame for Shearing - who knew that before today??? It was quite interesting and we saw one of the sheep being shorn with lots of explanation on the history of shearing in Oz along the way. Back on the coach and then on to Griffith for our overnight stay. Frugal had been coughing much of the latter part of the day and at one stage I'm sure she dislodged part of a lung, so it was no surprise to me that when we finally got to our hotel she told me that she needed a chemist. I assumed, wrongly as it turned out, that she wanted Codral or cough medicine or similar, so offered to go to the chemist for her as it was almost 6 o'clock, getting dark and I'd found out that the late night chemist was a good 10 minute walk along the highway. You can imagine the look on my face when she told me that she needed incontinence pants, extra large! Ye gods.... But being the perfect tour escort, off I trudged in my parka and gloves, rugged up against the cold fortifying myself for the inevitable having to ask where to find these items in the store. Thankfully it was a young girl serving behind the counter and no one else nearby when I asked where I might find the objects of my shopping mission. Items duly located and purchased, placed discreetly in a plastic shopping bag and back to the hotel I go. 40 minutes later from when I set off I go to Frugal's room where there is no 'thankyou' offered, just a 'how much were they?'. I then patiently wait for her to count out the money to the last 5 cents. Back in my room I have a much needed cuppa and calm Dow, and then straight to dinner, where everybody else is waiting. Frugal has decided not to have dinner so at least we don't have to deal with her barking cough. why do people insist on going on a holiday in a group when they know they aren't well and likely to infest everyone else? I'm going to be uber cross if I get Frugal's kennel cough before my Europe holiday..... Grrrrrr... However dinner was lovely and a couple of Sav Blancs later I have significantly de-stressed. Sadly, rain again overnight and then grey mist and rain forecast for most of Thursday.