Peter Matthews will say good bye to his Griffith family after more than eight months stranded here during COVID border closures.
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The Victorian resident, who has been keeping himself occupied at Griffith's Mens Shed during his time here, will finally be able to travel home Friday after the Victorian borders opened this week.
Mr and Mrs Matthews usually travel every year to Griffith to spend three months with their daughter Rau Syed and their grand children. However, after rushing to New Zealand to be by her dying brother's bedside, Mrs Matthews found herself stranded there, unable to get home.
"I went over in May and the doctor said he had weeks, fortunately he had another two and a half months after that," Mrs Matthews said.
"Getting back was the hard bit, I had two flights cancelled."
Meanwhile Mr Matthews, stuck in Griffith found himself a bit lost for what to do during so much uncertainty and this is how he came to be a part of the Griffith Men's Shed.
"I'm glad my daughter brought me here because if I hadn't had the Men's Shed I would've gone a bit stir crazy."
Before joining the Men's Shed, Mr Matthews had never previously worked with his hands, however he soon discovered new found skills and enjoyment in working on projects.
"We do a bit of everything here. They give me a task to do and I go and do it," Mr Matthews said.
"My last project was to sand down some wine barrels and clean up the metal rings to prepare it to be stained and sent back to their owners."
Mr Matthews presented a traditional Maori souvenir canoe to the Men's Shed on Wednesday as token on his appreciation for feeling so welcome during the difficult year. Ang Maloni, Men's Shed president then presented Mr Matthews with a hand made timber bowl by shed regular Doug Melville.
Mr and Mrs Matthews will take the nine hour journey back to Casterton, Victoria on Friday.
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