The trip from Mount Helen to Mount Martha last Monday certainly added an element of interest to the week.  Usually it takes around two and a quarter hours. The sat nav pretty much always takes us over the Westgate Bridge. (The sat nav likes to take us over the Westgate Bridge whenever there is any possible reason to go that way, but when moving from Helen to Martha that is the most sensible way to go.)  On Monday, however, it abruptly changed the route - so abruptly that I was in the wrong lane and had to move over -  and took us off on the ring road, and then down the Calder Freeway. Not sure why.  It looked as though it was going to take us over the Bolte Bridge but then at the last minute took us on a detour through Docklands and along loads of roads, small roads, and what looked like ramps and back streets.  Jim tells me that the Bolte was absolutely chockablock.  At one point he asked if we should check to see where we were.  In fact I knew where we were all the time we were heading along this weird route. I just didn't know where we were going - if you see what I mean.  Eventually we ended up in the Burnley tunnel (also almost at a standstill) and back on the usual route.  It took us almost an hour longer than usual to get to Mount Martha.

I'm not sure I could duplicate that route, left to my own devices!!!

Stella has had an up and down week. She was quite bright on Monday and very much less so on Tuesday. She's picked up a bit since then. She's still very breathless but quite a bit more animated and a bit more mobile.  She is hoping to go into the rehab unit over the weekend.  Tony isn't too bad at the moment.  Unless he has a horrible coughing fit at meal times he is eating quite well. He positively demolished the (small) plate of chicken and mushroom stew, mashed potatoes and vegetables that I gave him last night.

I have managed to get to work as arranged this week.  I have discovered that driving up and down the Eastern Freeway is a doddle compared to the Monash.  The traffic flows fairly freely and it takes about an hour and a quarter, a bit longer heading back because you set off in Melbourne's peak hour traffic.  Jim and Tony have been holding the fort at Mount Martha. Jim has taken Tony to visit Stella at lunchtime, with lunchtime pies in the hospital cafe. Then when I get back we've all been to visit her in the evening.

So far, so good.  Although I must say that I wouldn't mind a week or two resting in hospital with pneumonia.  Except without the pneumonia bit.  And the hospital!!

In other news I have this very day put in an application for a partner visa for Jim.  The actual application is in and paid for (application fees go up on Saturday and I think the forms change as well and so do some of the immigration conditions).  I have yet to scan and upload all the supporting documentation but I do have it all ready to go. I'll try and get it done on Saturday.  In the meantime he now has a bridging visa which will allow him to remain lawfully Australia until a decision has been made. I suspect that it will be a long long time before a decision is made.  I should imagine a very, very large number of applications have been submitted this week. The upside of the bridging visa is that we don't have to keep leaving the country every three months.  The downside is that the bridging visa he has doesn't allow him to re-enter the country should he leave it.  No overseas holidays for him in the next little while!!

He's a very expensive hobby to maintain, though.  It cost a fortune to put that application in :-S