10/02/2022 Gladly Going Backwards!

 For the past 6 months we've never parked the car anywhere that didn't allow us to exit in a forwards direction.  There were a few stressful exceptions to this: that clifftop lookout on the east coast of the Eyre Peninsula; the dead-end street behind the cinema in Semaphore, Adelaide; and the driveway outside Daughter's house in Melbourne where the stupid piece of machinery just flatly refused to go into any gear at all and had to spend the night on the street in disgrace before it decided to behave.

We knew what the problem was, but part of the problem was that the requisite part would take 3 months to come all the way from France (presumably on a boat, via Siberia).  

"We have to do something about this," we said.  "Melbourne surely has a decent mechanic who won't panic at the sight of an elderly Citreon with gear issues."  We got out our trusty Google maps and were amazed to find that not only did a suitable mechanic exist, but that he existed just around the corner from us and the SFDs.

He insisted on diagnosing the car again, not trusting some wild and woolly mechanic from the back blocks of Queensland.  The car, of course, behaved impeccably as we drove it to the mechanic.  The mechanic saw through its tricks and told us it needed the same part that the mechanic in Queensland told us about 6 months ago.

"Cool", we said.  "Order the part and when it gets here from France we'll pop back and you can fix it."

The mechanic was better than that.  "Goodness me no!  We don't have to order it from France!  There's one in Sydney and they can freight it overnight."

Which is why Roger, after a last exuberant morning greeting from the SFDs, fed them and patted them goodbye before dropping the car at the mechanics and leaving with hopes of a future filled with whimsical moments of reverse.

Be good now, and make sure to do what you're told.

 

While I slogged away at work in the AirBnB Roger collected the car and confirmed that it did, indeed, now have a reliable reverse gear.  He celebrated by running errands which required him to use reverse, culminating in reversing into our parking spot at the AirBnB. Then he celebrated some more with a glass of wine overlooking the river while I slogged away at work inside.  Humph!

Just as he finished celebrating, Daughter arrived fresh from her work day, so they celebrated again by eating cheese and biccies while I slogged away at work inside.  Finally the clock ticked over to 1630 in Queensland and I was released from slogging away at work.  "Hi Mum!" said Daughter, as she popped the last piece of cheese into her mouth.  "I've gotta go now.  Bye!"  And off she went.

Sans cheese, I went for a walk to stretch my legs.  Roger came too, presumably to work off some of his recently consumed cheese, biccies, and wine.  We explored the Docklands waterfront along with a sociable crowd of roller skaters, joggers, walkers, bicyclists, and cricket-players playing a high-stakes game in front of the big glass windows of the library.

Roger found a bicycle to ride,

and a pink sculpture to look through,

and a purple building with a yellow... teepee? in front.

We made sure to come home in time for the sunset but of course the clouds rolled in and the sunset was a fizzer.  Oh well.  I had dinner without any cheese.

And finally, a last farewell from a small fluffy dog.