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It's been a loooong week.

Tuesday 2 Feburary, MIL passed. MOTH is doing okay.

Late last week we were notified the funeral would be Monday just gone. It was a rush to get time off work organised and get packed for the journey.

We decided to leave on Saturday night. That gave the Teen some time to spend with her new boy. And meant we didn't have to hurry.

The car was packed and we left at around 11pm. It was raining. It rained the whole trip up the coast. Almost non-stop for 7 hours. Sometimes it was heavy and we were travelling at 60km. Sometimes it was a light shower.

Traffic was minimal. We hardly saw any other headlights. Not even trucks.

The ride got a wee bit exciting at one point when we came around a bend in the highway and there was a wallaby sitting in the middle of the highway. Luckily it was one lane over and decided to stay in place until we were nearly past.

The only other wildlife was a bandicoot running across the road but we were by before he got across his first lane, and a wallaby in the grass further up the embankment.

We arrived at our destination at around 6am. Luckily they are early risers, but still in their jammies.

Sunday was spent catching up with them and trying to rest. I was expecting the Monday to be stressful. We caught up with the Elder and her fella, met the Teen's boy in person for the first time. Marvelled at how much the niece and nephew have grown. Caught up with sibling Mouse and met her new man.

Monday dawned beautifully. Soft breeze and no cloud. By the time of leaving for the funeral, it had become overcast and started to rain. The service was held in a new area behind the sport ground within newly landscaped parklands. The chapel had a rustic feel with a lot of natural timber and poured floors. It's set in green grounds among the gum trees and looks over the river. It is attached to the crematorium and also has a small area set aside for a lawn cemetery.

The view is stunning and the vibe is extremely tranquil.

The coffin was gloss white set with silver. The service was lovely; I stared out the glass wall and watched a butterfly clinging on the outside in the wind. The rain held off while we were indoors. Not so when we walked the short distance to the graveside. Everyone was drenched, despite umbrellas.

Light refreshments were served at SILs place where we stayed long enough to greet MOTH's other siblings. We were to give a lift home to a niece who needed to be home Monday night.

It rained all the way home. And after we dropped her off, MOTH managed to get us lost. As usual. It wouldn't be a trip if he didn't say Oh! I know where that is! And then proceed to find out that no, it wasn't where he thought it was. We should know by now, but we still get caught and we still laugh about it.

It's good to be home and back to some semblance of normality.