We had the car booked in this morning to get the air conditioning switch fixed. For some reason, suddenly it will only work on the highest setting, none of the other ones. This makes it tricky when listening to Caleb read while we are driving and doing his school work in the back seat. Having the windows open is too noisy also so the only option was to drive for lengths of time with the windows up and fan off. Very uncomfortable in the extreme Australian heat. 

When we located the auto electrician to fix it, Ray noticed a dentist nearby. I have been putting off going, even though I have tooth pain. ( My faith in dentists has been shattered since my wisdom teeth debacle, resulting in face numbness which I still struggle with daily). Anyway, I rang and got an appointment for “two-thirty”. Everyone knows that this is the absolute best time to visit the dentist. (Tooth-hurty). I saw it as a good omen. 

We dropped off the car and walked to the closest shopping centre to kill some time. Ray got his favourite pink donut for morning tea although he insists that it is a strawberry donut because ‘real men’ don’t eat pink donuts. Caleb and I delight in teasing him about it no end. Soon enough the car was ready so Ray walked back to pick it up, leaving Caleb and I in the shops alone. This would have been dangerous except that all we managed to buy was some wrapping paper for Ray’s birthday presents which we haven’t even bought yet.

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In the afternoon I rocked up at the dentist and walked out 30 mins later and $330 lighter. The wisdom teeth debacle continues to cause havoc for the mouth and the pocket. Another visit needed tomorrow. Joy!
We headed to an op shop to stock up on some more books. We found that there was 50% off all books for the day so I stocked up. The lady in the op shop congratulated me on how well trained Ray and Caleb were as they sat and waited patiently for me to finish. I agreed that I had indeed done a good job in training them. 

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In reviewing our day today I realised that even though we are travelling around this amazing country called Australia, and taking 12 months to do so, we need to dedicate time to provide maintenance on our vehicle, our rig and ourselves. These are important events to document because anyone following along and considering doing their own “lap” will need to consider the possibility of the impact of toothache, maintenance (and possibly worse) on their own timeline and finances…be prepared.