Chapter 7
The Girls came out to play.
Our time in Perth was amazing. It had seemed we had been transported back in time to about 1984. It was time we had that allowed us to forget all about the last 4 months. In Fremantle we stayed at Rosie O’Grady’s Irish Pub, an old pub built in 1890 something right in the middle of town. Our room was bigger than most modern day units and situated on the 3rd floor. That meant we had 4 flights of stairs to tackle! By the end of our stay I managed to do the climb with ease, well maybe not ease, but a lot less huffing and puffing at least. We toured the Fremantle Gaol in its entirety, the torch light tour, the 2 different inmate tours and the highlight… the tunnel tour! I had to climb 20mtrs down a ladder before crawling through the tunnels the prisoners dug out of rock for the water supply that eventually supplied the whole of Freo until as usual, we humans stuffed it by sucking too hard. The greed of a then government allowed the system to be so overused salinity became a problem. After a little boat ride (and trust me, it was a LITTLE boat!) I had to climb that same 20mtrs back up to the surface. Puffing and panting…. I did it! I was both proud and relieved ‘coz the last section was looking like a very long way to go. After a brief photo session of us in our climbing overalls and hats and harnesses we ate WA Crays and I was not disappointed… Bloody beautiful! A great end to a great day...
The next day we hired this cool little motorized scooter pod which drew many stares from the sidewalk as we passed, I think it may have been the squeals that eminated from our pod as we went by… I doubt the tourists had ever seen anything quite like these things, and the locals are more than likely used to them going a bit slower! We drank at every bar at Little Creatures Brewery (and there are a few now!!!), enjoyed my first trivia night which was great fun, we came 3rd and won a bottle of wine. Turns out this was the first of what could become many regular nights back in Brisbane… A monster has been created! By this time Greg was starting to get a bit of a cold but this wasn’t too much of a problem as my immune system has recovered enough to cope should I get it too. After 3 days in Freo it was time to shift to our new digs, another beautiful old pub in Cottlesloe. This was a genine 1930’s art deco pub built right on the beach. The sunsets where amazing, and the Indiana tea house directly across the road made a pizza that was to die for, and had an even better view. It was here that the Girls came out to play. Greg had gone to the beach to take photos of the sunset, it was then I called out to him from our balcony and lifted my top, Gregs quick reflexes and the typical male instinct of copping a glimps of titties, got the snap, a priceless snap at that. The railing of our balcony turned out to be strategically placed right across my boobs hiding them completely. By this stage I had indeed managed to get Greg’s cold so I loaded up on cold and flu drugs to minimize the impact. These 2 days at the beach were indeed pure relaxation, the much needed rest before the hectic pace of the Redbull Air Race in Perth.
Power of the scarf.
We trekked into Perth by train (gotta love Perth and its surrounds for the great rail system) and after checking into the Goodearth Hotel we raced down to the airfield to participate in the “paddock walk”. This was a meet and greet and question answer time. As usual we drew attention to ourselves... Gotta love the scarf, lets talk to cancer girl. Naturally we befriended one of the officials, ya never know when we need this aquaintance again. Sadly we never got to meet Matt Hall that day, however we did have a bit of fun with the other guests. Both Greg and I had our official Matt Hall Racing T shirts on. These where not available to the public yet, Greg managed to buy them through Matt Hall Racing. I was asked where I got the shirt from and without hesitation I replied “From Matt”. This guy was in awe and after he picked his jaw up off the ground he was speechless! Technically it was true, just in a round-about kinda way. The next day was qualifying with all the pilots strutting their stuff in the air. It was magical… Matt qualified of course and the rest is history. We had another go at the public paddock walk to try and meet Matt. Lucky for us the official we had befriended the day before was at the gate. The line was horrendous and it wasn’t something that I wanted to wait in. So, Greg went up and said hi, and asked if we where in the right que. It was then I started to have a hottie and I was waving my hands in front of my face to try and cool down. The official asked if we had enjoyed our day so far and then said, come with me. As we walked in the gate another official stopped us and was told “they’re with me”. We where ushed in ahead of Matt’s wife and kids… Just goes to show it really is WHO you know and ahhh the power of the scarf. We got to walk around before the general public was allowed in. We met the man this time. Greg introduced himself. Matt then replied with, Hi Greg, I know you from facebook. He signed our caps and they had a little chat before he had to go and do some publicity shots. This all made Greg feel pretty special, After all they had been regualarly emailing each other for a while now… I was lost for words, I couldn’t think of anything to say, (a very rare moment as you’ll all be aware!), I was star struck! We enjoyed our Redbull experience meeting a lot of the other pilots but meeting Matt was certainly a highlight.
Paper trail.
We had grandstand seating for the main event. Now to share something I haven’t told. Not even to Greg. After we found our seats in the stand I decided to visit the portaloos. Having never used these contraptions sober before I was a little unsure of what I could expect to find. I found them extremely hot and small, not to mention no way of flushing them after use. I was pretty pleased with myself that I managed to get out alive. As I was just about to walk up the stairs to my seat, I felt something brush my arm, thinking it was my scarf I quickly tried to readjust it only to my total embarrassment and horror it was the longest piece of toilet paper tucked into my jeans leaving a long trail gently flowing in the breeze for all to see. Mortified I grabbed and tugged and the stuff just kept coming. How much could I have used? By this time my back was against the wall and right on que I was having a hotty making the task of removal even more difficult. Finally it was removed enough so I could continue hoping that everyone was blind and didn’t see as I strutted my stuff from portaloo to grandstand. Its not like I blend into a crowd easily these days. In my embarrassment I walked up the wrong stairs and I couldn’t find Greg or my seat, panic was setting in my this time but I was trying to hide the fact I was lost let alone the event that had just transpired, and desparately tried to make it look like I was just surveying the area, it was then I spotted Greg and made a dash. I didn’t leave my seat again all day. I wasn’t game. So I sat there baking in the hot sun fanning myself with my hand. The racing was tight and after improving his time in every round Matt went on to post the fastest time of the entire weekend beating Paul Bonhomme’s time (the favorite for the event) before being pipped by Hannes Arch (the current world champion) by less than ½ a second and coming 2nd overall.
Back to 2010.
After getting home and back to 2010 I still had some time off and it was back to reality. I could really get used to this not working capper. We have another celebration, child number 4, Nick’s 21st birthday. Just 2 more to go… Thankfully the next one wont be for a few years, these birthdays are getting rather expensive, But worth it. My hair has started to grow back and I’m sporting a number 2 buzz cut! I felt the tumours had enjoyed the same growth spurt because I could feel them again but perhaps this isn’t actually the case. We have an appointment with a new surgeon Dr. Chris on Thursday (not before time I feel). My visit to my new surgeon was finally here. We pretty much knew what the results were going to be, but I wanted answers. Answers I got that day and in a strange way I was content. He spoke to me with real compassion, he understood the need for me to have a boob, (two for that matter) and Although he will be taking a whole one off he reassured me that a reconstruction is not just possible but will happen. So by summer I will not only be sporting a new boob but a tummy tuck as well! This is how they fashion a new one. I wonder if a brow lift is out of the question while I have his attention? Dr. Chris is very positive of my long term health unlike the previous surgeon. Despite some reservations about having done the right thing by cancelling the previous surgery date I am now very sure I have made the right choice. He has reassured me that it was unlikely the tumours had actually started to grow in the time since chemo had stopped and that we know for sure that the chemo was effective, and he rates my chances of no recurrence and a clean bill of health at around 90% so it’s all good. May 11 is the new date and I’ll be in the Mater Private rather than the Wesley. After reading all the admission forms I’m very happy! It says my menu will be carefully planned and prepared by the “Hotel Service Staff”… I thought I was going to hospital… how excited am I… well sort of…