It was with an iron heart and gritted teeth that the last-minute decision to take Kev away for the weekend was made! This offer was generously suggested and funded by Carers Respite. Well, what a great decision!
Four hours after a lovely meal (in the ‘romantic’ setting of the ute), I finally convinced Kev to come inside the unit. He consented with an “Oh, OK.”
Well, there we were nestled in bed at 9.30 – oh, for an early night!! Well, that lasted a good 5 mins before Kev decided he was far too excited and was up and off for an adventure! (How did I miss the fact that we were so close to a full moon????) So the wheeling and strolling began, along the many paths under the peppie trees, along the beachfront. Kev pushed himself determinedly up the slopes, and chuckled with delight as he gathered speed, navigating with precision down the other sides. Great fun for Kev and would have been for me too, but after being up for 18 hours it just didn’t have the same sparkle!!
So finally back off to bed, with Kev getting his back rubbed. I dozed off, but woke with a start to find Kev was halfway out the back door again!! If you can’t beat ’em join ’em, so off we went again, this time in the opposite direction, to explore the grounds of the resort. Well, all this is excitement was just too much for poor Kev, who developed a belly ache and ended up in the shower, which was not too user-friendly for him; so there I was helping him to shower and propping him up with my right shoulder, while he hung on to the slippery vertical hand rail for grim death. Once this ordeal was over Kev just cracked up laughing and gestured with his hands “whatever”. Humour is such a great thing!! We both had a bit of a laugh then got back to bed, but then he was up again for a spot of TV and rice snacks!!!! His speech blew me away as he asked how long we would stay, and where we were. We both finally both crashed at 2.30 am.
I was woken at 7 am by Kev, who was in great spirits, sitting up in bed and turning the clock radio on for some music!! I made a cuppa for us both and heard Kev yell out “Come on!!” I did a double-take when I got to the bathroom – there he was, standing, holding onto the vertical handrail, wanting the shower on and ready to freshen up for the day!
We went for a long walk through the grounds before Kev asked a passer-by for directions to the cafe for brunch. Prompt service was available, which was just as well as Kev’s window period for waiting is pretty minute! Scrambled eggs, toast and a coffee, then Kev was off independently to the car, while Paula, who had just arrived, and I caught up.
We had a really nice day, with a drive around to Meelup, Bunker Bay and around Eagle Bay, with great scenery of crystal clear waters and Kev steering the car for short times and doing far better than I could from the driver’s seat. Some lovely people took the time to chat to Kev, and this gave him enough of a boost to get out of the car and go shopping in Dunsborough. We browsed around and he was happy to look in the pet shop, and then with only a little assistance he got some cash out from the ATM!! We went for a late lunch and Kev ordered by pointing at the menu; he then got his money out of his pocket to pay and grabbed a number for our table with no prompting. We really enjoyed this outing, as the cafe was one that was a fave in the past. Back at the unit, Kev enjoyed a good snooze.
Pete and Carol arrived for the evening. Kev was very chatty and led us on an enjoyable, long walk along the beach front around to the road at dusk. Kev really loved chatting with many people and even befriended a couple of dogs on the way. He showed great verbal skills with obvious concentration, after a bit of a tune on the guitar in the evening and a long drive with Pete for some ‘bro time’.
Kev was keen on another midnight walk, but this time I managed to persuade him into bed and literally had to drag him out the next morning at 11 am.
I am so glad we went away together. The moral of the story is: “A change is good, but not always a rest!!” (lol) It was so great for Kev to get this stimulation. As we say here in Oz: “Life. Be in it!!”
For more photos of this weekend, click here. Read more!
