2009 Christmas Greetings

As you prepare for Christmas 2009 we hope this blog helps us to reconnect and to share a little of our lives in this past 12 months. In posting these messages and news we convey to you our heartfelt best wishes for a joyous and peaceful Christmas and a special time of celebration and relaxation with your family and loved ones.

As you know, blogging is an excellent means of conveying our story through pictures (provided we remembered to take some) and once again we've selected some topics and pictures that we hope you'll enjoy. (You can click on the pictures to make them bigger).

NYE 2008

Sharing and celebrating New Years Eve each year with our wonderful friends Doug and Louise in new, unique and interesting ways requires the elements of courage and luck. This time last year we went looking for a little piece of paradise along the Sydney Harbour foreshore that was not overwhelmed by thousands of other party-goers. We literally stumbled across a tiny reserve above Chinamans Beach (between Balmoral Beach and The Spit) in Middle Harbour. Taking in the $1m views as the sun sent for the last time in 2008 pretty much did it for us.

. . . . so when do we start cooking the prawns?

What an amazing spot, looking east towards Grotto Point, Clontarf and beyond towards New Zealand.

. . . a thousand miles from care?

Cruise to New Zealand

You may recall reading about our cruising holiday to New Zealand in January aboard Holland America's cruise ship Volendam. This exciting time has already been documented pretty thoroughly online already (see http://nzin14.blogspot.com/) but we've repeated a couple of pics of the special moments below.

The weather was perfect the entire two weeks and we were especially blessed with a spectacularly still, clear morning inside Milford Sound which enabled the captain to bring our 61,000 ton floating hotel within a few metres of the cliffs under the waterfall.

Waterfall up close - Milford Sound

Often bypassed on cruise ship itineraries, the very pretty port of Picton was very busy as ferries arrived and departed all day connecting the north and south islands.

Ferries and cruise ship in Picton

We arrived in Auckland after 14 days wonderful days aboard Volendam and flew home a couple of days later. I always planned to finish the blog of this holiday but once you get home life takes over again. Now 11 months later, the final day at sea and the sightseeing around Auckland might forever remain a mystery . . . .

Disembarkation in Auckland

Happy Helicopter Ride

Last year (2008) the family decided to get Roger's dad something completely different for his 80th birthday. Finally, the decision was made (just under 12 months of procrastination . . . .) to arrange a helicopter flight from Hexham to the Central Coast and return. It turned out that there was enough room in the chopper for Harry, Shirlee and Roger to experience the flight together. Taking Shirlee as well came as a complete surprise to both of them.

Thumbs up - ready for takeoff!

The flight took just under an hour and tracked down the Hunter River to Nobby's Signal Station before heading south along the coast line until reaching The Entrance flying at around 500 feet above the beach. The pilot then took a close "look" at Harry and Shirlee's home in Tumbi Umbi before turning north and flying low over Tuggerah Lakes, Lake Macquarie and our home in Glendale and returning to the helipad.

The aircraft (the pilot called it a machine) was a brand new Robinson R44 that cruises at around 200 km/hr.

Brand new Robinson R44

Flying Visit to Tasmania

Roger and Helen took a two day escape to Launceston in April to catch up with her brother Phil and Heather and Lucas. Helen was very keen to spend time with Heather and 2 y.o. Lucas before the imminent birth of Hamish (July). Phil's work project (major expansion of Boag's Brewery) was in full swing and we got to take a look at the progress on the site and from the roof. A quick trip to Hobart gave us a day to explore Mt. Wellington as well as spend time with Phil on the way there and back.

New brewhouse fermentation vessels

Brewery construction with Launceston city in the background

Clear but cold on summit of Mt. Wellington

Jason is engaged!

Surprise and delight at the news of Roger's nephew Jason's engagement to Kellie. Tristan and girlfriend Rah, Helen and Roger attended the engagement party in Batemans Bay in June. A long drive from Newcastle but we were very pleased to be part of the celebrations and to meet Kellie.

happy together

Geocaching adventures



Over the past year or so Roger has become interested in the recent worldwide "hobby" called Geocaching. It's a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online. Geocaching is enjoyed by people from all age groups, with a strong sense of community and support for the environment. The combination of fresh air, beautiful places and technology is such a winner. Add to that the sense of community sharing your findings, specially numbered coins and travel "bugs" that can travel the world from cache to cache and its easy to get hooked.

We now have a hand-held GPS that makes life a lot easier and helps us be a lot less conspicuous when looking for the "treasure" (compared to having to wave the TomTom GPS unit around to get it to register movement hopefully towards the cache location).

Mt. Sugarloaf (near home)

ok where to from here??

Tristan and Rah, Angus is replacing the logbook

the geogang admiring some engineering art

Angus finishes High School

Looking back over the digital photo album it's pretty clear this has been a big year for Angus. There has been much interest and energy spent completing his Industrial Technology HSC project - an outdoor bar / storage unit that was designed to compliment the BBQ and match our deck and outdoor furniture.

the Bar

With the (pesky, inconvenient) HSC exams finally out of the way, there was time to concentrate on some serious party going. The year 12 formal was preceded with some photos in the park then instead of taking a limo we took the short stroll along Newcastle's famous beachfront to the function room.

Emma, Angus, Helen and Roger

Roger and Angus

Angus and Helen on the way to the party

The HSC results have been released yesterday and today. Angus was very happy with a Band 6 for Industrial Technology (includes design and construction of the Bar) plus Band 5 for Engineering Studies. He learnt today that he's achieved an ATAR ranking of 71.55. The excellent result for Industrial Technology got his name on an Honour Roll in the Newcastle Herald.

Angus also came home with a swag of trophies recognising his significant contribution as a member of several bands and music ensembles during the last 4 years at school. The family are really proud of the level of respect he has earnt from the staff at HSPA.

Perpetual and personal trophies

Angus has plans to do Engineering at Newcastle Uni (his ATAR ranking when added to a Newcastle Uni incentive mark (bonus points) should be enough. He plans on working for Austpower Engineering with Tristan (his gap year) plus part time work with Scion Audio (a Newcastle based sound and lighting company) for the next twelve months.

The Wedding

Jason and Kellie's wedding was held in November. Coincidentally this was the first weekend the new catastrophic bushfire danger rating was used in parts of NSW but the temperature and wind in Batemans Bay was very mild right through Saturday and most of Sunday. The ceremony was held on Maloney's Beach and they were married by Roger's sister Karyl. Roger took some great photos on the day and they can be found on Photobucket

Harry, Shirlee and Helen before the ceremony

beach wedding ceremony

Karyl, Kellie and Jason signing the certificates

Steve & Lerae with Kellie & Jason

Band Champion

The highlight of Emma's 2nd year at uni was to become a member of a local (Lismore) band which entered and won the National Campus Band Competition finals held at Sea World in September. The band called The Downstairs Mix-Up was largely formed through friendships at Southern Cross Uni. The triple j unearthed web site describes the band's style as "compared to that of 1970’s identities Steely Dan and Frank Zappa and the band’s sound is a bit of a salad; some funky grooves tossed over a heap of blues with a hint of rock’n’roll."

Sea World Performance

collecting the winnings

Emma moved out of college accommodation this year and shared a house with friends. On top of that she picked up some regular part-time work in Lismore, has bought her own car and will be participating and working at this year's Woodford Folk Festival over the summer holidays. Luke (Emma's boyfriend) has made the trip to Lismore many times this year to visit. I'm sure that his presence has made being away from home a lot easier for Emma. I between trips he is working at Newcastle Uni in addition to steadily developing his own Graphic Design business.

Next year is Emma's last in Lismore - who knows where to after this.

Tristan moves out

Following a recent first home purchase (with some help from Kevin) by friends of Tristan's, he and close friend Caitlin moved out of home and into a share house arrangement in nearby Jesmond. The current "deal" is particularly attractive financially but is only expected to last for a little while before the owners get started with redevelopment on the site. They're really enjoying the change and the sense of independence however one major downside of the current arrangements (especially for Tristan) is the lack of a broadband connection so we still get lots of visits.

Helen's job is changing

The "Parents as Teachers" program Helen has been working with since her appointment as a Parenting Education consultant with DET is being wound up at the end of this year. Although not a complete surprise, the news still came as a bit of shock to everyone, especially the families who've been connected with the program for a long time.

Helen's continued employment with DET is not an issue however it is still unclear whether she will be appointed to a new position in the region that will focus her expertise and resources in the pre-school and transition to primary school or remain at Hamilton PS as an infants teacher.

Summer Holidays

We're in the middle of research and packing for a two week holiday in Tasmania starting next Friday. It'll be the first time we've had a chance to have a good look around and an opportunity to take things a bit slower. The visit to Tassie also allows us to be with Phil and Heather for Christmas. Tristan is already over there and will meet up with us. Angus is coming with us as well. We plan on spending time on the West Coast, the Cradle Mountain/Mole Creek area, Phil & Heather's place in Launceston and then around Hobart (coinciding with the arrival of the yachts) and will be back in NSW in time for New Year's eve.

______________________________

We hope our stories (occasionally cryptic) have given you a bit of an insight into what life has been like for our family this year and would love to hear from you in some form - be it a comment posted on this blog, an email, snail mail or even a phone call.

We wish you a very happy and safe Christmas and a wonderful 2009. Love and best wishes,

Roger, Helen, Tristan, Emma and Angus.

PS. You are most welcome to post comments on this blog (click on the blue link below).