Sydney Opera House

On the stairs at the Opera House

From Tuesday, March 27

When I went to get dad for our excursion to the Opera House, he commented on what a gorgeous day it was. 'Would be a nice day to go on the ferry...' Oh dear, what have we done!?!?  I told him we would be doing something just as nice... we were going to the Opera House for lunch and we could watch the boats going in and out of Circular Quay from there.

(At the Opera house, he wanted to take a ferry back. When I told him that it would depend on the tides, he told me that would be easy enough to check.  Haha... he obviously remembered L checking his iPhone on Saturday for the tide charts.  Can't always pull the wool over dad's eyes apparently!)

Our taxi vouchers arrived last week, which means reduced fare with wheelchair taxis.  It was a breeze to call them up and hitch a ride directly to the Opera House steps.  We were treated like royalty... security breezed us up as close as we could get.  (Indeed, as we were leaving, some tourists were staring in the window, laughing and waving.  Needless to say, I bought into the joke and laughed and waved back, though for some reason, they didn't want my autograph!?)  Handicap accessibility at the Opera House is great.  The lift takes you to the lower mezzanine and the main foyer above... where you can pop out onto the upper stairs and study the architecture of this gorgeous place.  The wheelchair maneuvered around without any issues.  It's a stunning building... I'm happy just to stand around and gape... along with the thousand other tourists!

Lunch was at the Opera Kitchen... an upmarket food court of sorts.  I was ready to dive into dumplings and spring rolls from Miss Chu, thinking dad would like the same as he has been asking for Chinese food.  There's no telling him what he's going to eat... so when I asked him what he wanted, he said, "I've not had a meat pie yet."  Hahaha... how does he remember that!?  Fortunately, Becasse is in the lineup at the Opera Kitchen, so I was able to fulfill his wish!  Silly me forgot to order chips with his meat pie... duh... have I not learned anything!?  I popped up to order him some chips at the counter and came back to find him carefully cutting the top off his meat pie in order to pile on the ketchup (tomato sauce) under the upper crust.  Nothing wrong with his memory!  I laughed at him and he gave me a slight smile back.  What a character!

All in all, a successful visit to the Opera House.  Very thankful for concessions made for handicap accessibilty.  As limited as dad is in his movements, it's nice to be able to get out and do some sightseeing.

PS... Please excuse poor quality iPhone pic... it was the best pic of dad that I had.  I didn't want to cart around my heavy SLR while pushing a wheelchair!

For more pics on the Opera Kitchen, click here, or here...

Sparkly Sydney Saturday

Sitting on the dock of Rose Bay

Circular Quay

Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House

Dad's view on the ferry ride out of Circular Quay

"Do you want to take dad for a walk down to Rose Bay?"  Is the first thing my brother said to me Saturday morning.
"I suppose I could," I responded, one eye open.
It was a sparkly Sydney Saturday, the sun twinkling on the water as we whizzed over to grab dad from the care home.  We walked down Newcastle Street, then down to New South Head Road to pick up coffees and hot chocolate at the cafe in the park.  Sitting on the edge of Rose Bay, we watched the seaplanes take off and land, and the numerous boats enjoying the stunning day on the harbour. 

The Rose Bay ferry came into view, L looked and me and said, "We should take dad on the ferry!  It looks like the tide is up... we're here now."  We had been wanting to take him on the ferry... but had concerns about wheelchair access in low tide.  A quick search of the tide charts on the phone indicated the tide was up for a while.  We watched the ferry a few moments longer, looked at each other and said, "Let's do it."  So we trotted off to the ferry in time to watch in dock, and on we jumped.  Off we went to Double Bay.  I looked at Loren and said, "Oh no... dad's Sinemet... it's due in an hour."  Yep... hard to be spontaneous with a Parkinson's patient.  But then I remembered... I still had a pill in my purse from back in BC days... cuz you never know when you are going to need some Sinemet.  Quick call to Wentworth Manor to let them know the revised plan and that the pill would be taken on time, and we were all good!

From Double Bay the ferry took us to Circular Quay.  We considered getting out at Circular Quay and heading over to the Opera House... but didn't want to risk the tide and having to drag dad and the wheelchair up the stairs at the dock in low tide.  So we sat at Wharf 4 and watched the boats in the harbour.  I said to L that I thought dad could sit there all day watching them.

We just did a reverse harbour cruise then... back to Double Bay and then Rose Bay, and out for yummy Portuguese chicken for lunch.  All is well in the dad camp for now!

Visiting Dad

Many people have made the trek to visit dad in Rose Bay... and we would like to thank everyone for their efforts.  While dad may not be able to to communicate very well, he enjoys the company.  One day when a few of us were there and about to leave, he didn't want us to go and wanted to take us out for Chinese food.  So cute!  He has had a hankering for Chinese food since he moved in there!  We are waiting on his taxi vouchers for a reduced fare, and then we can explore a bit more.

With regards to communicating with dad; even I am having a hard time understanding what he is trying to say, let alone anyone who is not familiar with his speech.  For me I have found it helpful to take something with me to do, such as knitting or reading.   Dad has Parkinson's with dementia, not Alzheimer's. Generally he remembers who people are. It is his short term memory he struggles with... such as remembering what the conversation on hand is, or who visited him that day. His long term memory is pretty good... and he can recall quite a few things.  (My brother was stunned to find out that dad remembered the street address of a house he built in Sydney back in the early 70s.  L did a Google street view search and found the house... pretty much the same as dad built it, with a simple change to some railings and the front door!)

Having said that, on our visit to the neurologist, he prescribed an Exelon patch for dad to wear.  Exelon is used to treat Alzheimer's patients with mild to moderate dementia, and is also used to treat Parkinson's patients with dementia.  The patch is worn for 24 hours and releases medication to help with cognition: memory, understanding, reasoning and communication.  We had originally spoken about the patch with the elder health doctor in Canada, but since the patch needed to be applied daily at the same time each day, with everything else going on, it was too much too coordinate at that time.  The patch looks just like one of those little round, beige bandages.  Amazing to think that it releases medication into the body to aid with brain function.  We have a six week follow up with the neurologist and he will do more testing to see how dad is responding to the medication.

The seasons are shifting to autumn here.  The sun is definitely lower in the sky, but we've been having some gorgeous weather.  Making up for the wettest summer in 50 years!!  We have been able to sit out in the back garden with dad and soak up the beautiful sunshine.

Pontiac Parisienne.... But I Digress...

Thumping and bumping down New South Head Road today... dad strapped into the back of the wheelchair taxi... brought back memories of childhood.  From childhood to graduation, my parents owned a flesh colored Pontiac Parisienne.  The car couldn't have been further influenced by France if it tried!  If it was a Parisienne... then I was a Nobel prize winner or ?!?!?  ... (Sidenote: dad used to tell the story of me bailing out the door halfway down the block when he used to drive me to high school.  I was so embarrassed about being driven in a car the same color as human flesh and as long as a boat that I used to jump ship a mile out at sea!)  He would pick up visitors at the airport in this car, and always, they would marvel.  "Wow Norm, this car drives so smooth."  And dad, proud as punch, would always smile quietly to himself.  How could it not drive smooth... it was a boat!

These were the thoughts running through my head as we bumped down the road to the doctor's office towards St Vincent's hopsital.  (All those years of dad picking out cars that had a smooth ride.  And indeed... when he rode in my Honda Civic's... he would always complain of the lack of suspension... "Was that a speed bump?  Oh, we only crossed over the painted line.")  Here dad had been so particular about a vehicle's performance, and now he was relegated to the rather bumpy backseat of a wheelchair taxi.

We went to dad's first neurologist consult here in Sydney.  I was very impressed with how thorough the doctor was.  And realized how much dad's Parkinson's has diminished him in the past 6 months... from living independently with assistance, to full care.  The doctor was asking questions about certain functions... I commented that we were dealing with memory loss when urology complications took over.  We were dealing with urology complications when a fall and a long hospital stay.  At which time we moved overseas, then another fall occurred.  Then we had to get him settled into full care.  Whew!  Is it any wonder we've come out the other end, worse for wear!  Poor dad.  (Poor me... haha!)  Seems like there is a course of events to take place... with a follow up visit in another 6 weeks.  More taxi rides.  I don't mind.  It sure beats the waves of panic and nausea I had in Canada prior to dad's neurolgy visits, where his life had yet to be sorted out and I felt the weight of responsiblity and the unknown on my shoulders.

Post doctor visit, we lunched at the hospital, then had coffee down the road.  Dad handled both quite well, slipping in and out of cognition, which is normal these days. He seemed to understand where he was... with me updating him every five minutes as to the area we were passing through... it wouldn't be hard!  Since the wheelchair taxi is so handy and helpful, I started to foresee future outings.  Like his daughter following him, dad has always had a love for the Sydney Opera House.   Coffee at the Opera Bar coming up!