JANUARY 31

Today was a washing and cleanup day and late in the afternoon we managed to get Mike a Drs appointment for his foot.
More tabs later and there doesn't appear to be much improvement.
We stayed home for the next three days as Mike was not well and the weather was so hot and humid.
Our time is getting closer for more Dr's checkups so decided to fly back to WA. Have made bookings for the 4 March.

FEBRUARY 4

Weather looked better so decided on a day out. We visited The National Portrait Gallery and saw many and varied portraits, none of them that great except we did see a magnificent portrait of Sir Charles Court and Richard Court together.
From here we went to the  National Gallery of Australia to view more art works. Saw the famous Blue Poles, can't see the true value but there must be a few hundred tubes of paint that were used. I'm sure some of the elephant art works we see from time to time are much better. There was a Monet and even that was not one of the better ones that we have seen. Some of the Asian art work was fantastic and so intricate. Very fine carving in marble, sandstone and timber and much of it extremely old going back as far as 8-10 century.
Our final visit for the day was to the High Court of Australia where national rulings go if all else fails.
we stayed for about an hour and most of that time was spent discussing the several meanings of  the word AWARD used in the court case between two insurance companies. The building was quiet luxurious and there was an amazing wall mural but no photos. The entrance hall is 7 stories high, all the court rooms and admin are around the outside. great views of Lake Burley Griffin.
We counted up the number of people involved in the one court proceedings. Mike made comment about what three million dollars a year (5 Justice and the Chief Justice) looks like but wait there is more, There was a junior behind each Justice to provide any information they requires and then in front of the Bench   
there were 5 lawyers for the defendant and 6 for the respondent plus there were 4 junior lawyers behind each side of the front bench and then behind each group of juniors there were several gophers (probably lawyers as well). Phew there was quite a gathering of lawyers of all ranks and here they were debating the true meaning of the word AWARD and whether an Award can be appealed.

FEBRUARY 6

Waitangi Day.
Not much on but I did manage to make 4 Hose Tidy bags and went and booked in for another week.