A small group of residents, four from Maryknoll and three from Mount Carmel, enjoyed ‘Looking Forward Looking Back’* when they said ‘G’day G’day’* to staff at the Slim Dusty Museum in Kempsey when they visited on Friday 7 June.

John, the bus driver, never even gave a thought to ‘When the rain tumbles down in July’*, not only because he was travelling in June, but also because the weather was lovely on the day of the excursion.

The museum features a lot of memorabilia from Slim Dusty and his wife, Joy McKean’s careers as musicians and their time on the road travelling between shows.  One of the most popular exhibits with the residents was the 1971 purple Ford Fairlane which Slim called “Old Purple” and the old caravan he and Joy used to travel around Australia in, looking no doubt for the ‘Lights on the Hill’* as they went!

There were also some of the costumes worn Joy McKean when she went ‘Waltzing Matilda’* in their shows, the detail and design of which was of real interest to some of the ladies in the group.

The Lifestyle staff, Suzi (Maryknoll) and Maree (Mt Carmel), who accompanied the group were in a bit of a quandary about having chosen the Great Northern Hotel in West Kempsey for lunch – had they chosen ‘A Pub with no Beer’*? And if not, would the residents meet a man named ‘Duncan’* and, just how many beers would they’d love to have with him?

They needn’t have worried about the beverages or the company as many of the residents opted for fish and chips for lunch and one kind resident shouted the whole group some garlic bread to go with it.

In keeping with the spirit of the day, it was unanimously agreed by the group on the way home that ‘We’ve done us proud’*!

*All the name of songs sung by Slim Dusty