Mark Smalley

Thursday, 24 Mar - Melbourne
Problem. Camera packs up. Lens won't retract, it whirs away, sounding like there are a few teeth in an cogwheel missing. Try putting it in the freezer for 10 min (this sometimes can cure a problem, or so I've heard) but it still whirs away. Take it apart and re-assemble it but no joy. Almost 18 months old and 5000 pictures shot, it should more life in it than that. We have a spare with us but it's only 1.3 megapixels so pretty privative by today's standards. Dilemma is now whether so get a new one here or sing it out with the old one and get things sorted out when we get back. The most we could expect here is, if we should find a repair shop, a quick diagnosis if it's a known problem. No time for a repair I think as we're only here for another night.

I do manage to fix Paulines doorbell for her, so that partially restores my confidence that I'm not completely incompetent.

There are people running about outside. Seems like a resident has 'escaped', says Pauline, and sure enough, after a while they return triumphantly with someone in a wheelchair.

We take a little walk out the back, where they are some wetlands with pelicans, black swans and other birds that look pretty exotic to us. Just outside your back garden! Fair number of flies about, the first time insects have been a minor irritant.

After our walk I retrieve the camera out of the freezer for the second time - it's now been in there for 45 min - and I can't believe my luck but it works. Trouble now is that there's so much condensation that everything's blurred, so now it goes in the oven for 5 or 10 min and everything's back to normal again. What a relief!

Pauline takes us for a little tour of the communal facilities that the privately run retirement village (www.primelife.com.au ) offers, very impressive.

We have a light lunch outside and talk a lot about various subjects, just like yesterday evening, after which we get treated to an interesting tour of Williamstown. One of the amusing stops is where people are feeding swans in front of a "Don't feed the birds" sign. Pauline can't resist asking one of them whether she's seen the sign and gets a reply "That's just one the stupid things the council has thought up".

In the evening we visit Paulines daughter and son-in-law, who has a number of Morris Minors in various states of restoration and he kindly treats us to a ride in one to a friend who's restoring a thirties Riley.

All in all a very good day and grateful to be able to spend some time with such interesting and interested people.

posted by Mark Smalley @ 5:20 PM