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On Monday, last week, Grace and I were at Sydney Airport to meet Mary and Lance off their flight.  It was lovely to see them and we have spent a wonderful week together, and more to come.

From the airport we drove straight up to Newcastle, arriving just after Jack had gone to school.  Unfortunately after a week of glorious weather the rain had started, but some of us were able to have a walk along the Fernleigh Track and go to see our land, which is almost ready for us.

On the Tuesday there was sightseeing in Newcastle for some, but work for me, boo.  Mary and Lance went on the ‘World Famous Newcastle Tram’!!  It’s just a lorry made to look like a tram that does the sights of Newcastle.  Still raining on Wednesday, so they took the 4WD for a spin through the Watagan Mountains.  I think they had a good time, the car certainly came back dirty.

Thursday was lovely as I took the day off and the 4 adults went out to lunch in the Hunter Valley.  We also went to a couple of winery before a delicious lunch and then had a slow meander around the Hunter Valley Gardens.

Mary, Lance and I had a very busy and fun day on Saturday.  First thing in the morning we drove up to Nelson Bay.  We were booked on to go Whale Watching, and though the weather turned out good, the sea was quite rough.  The boat still went out and we were all OK (could not say the same for a lot of the other passengers who looked very green).  We did not have to go very far offshore till we were in the midst of a pod of hump-back whales.  We think there were 5 who were diving down and surfacing every 7-8 minutes.  They gave some very impressive displays of their jumping and splashing abilities, especially once they were used to the boats.  One whale swam right alongside and under the boat, it was huge!.  As we were leaving to return to shore we were joined by a group of dolphins who enjoyed surfing the bow wave.  It was a most amazing trip despite the rough seas.

After some fish and chips we decided to drive back along Stockton Beach.  I hadn’t driven on the sand and dunes before and was a little nervous, but there were a lot of other 4WDs around.  We went onto the beach at the northern end and drove about 25 kms down the coast.  This took us to a wreck which has been corroding away on the beach for the past 30 years.  Then we tried to find our way out.  The tracks took us into the sand dunes, and over some steep dunes we thought we wouldn’t make.  But after having to reverse back down a couple of times, I went into Low Range and built up the confidence to drive faster, then we just sailed up the hill.  I’ll know for next time.  It was a relief to be back onto the road, and I’m sure I’ll enjoy it more next time.

Then, back home for a barbeque with Carol, Bob, Dave, Rachel and Blake to round the day off.

Mary and Lance have now gone off for a few days touring by themselves and we’ll meet up again to fly to New Zealand on Saturday.

It was a roller coaster of emotions 2 weeks ago. Sarah’s grandmother, Muriel, passed away on Wednesday 29^th August. She was 92 and had been fading away recently and so, I do not think it was a surprise when she did not wake from her sleep. The time was difficult for all her family, most of whom were able to get together to say their farewells at her funeral on the following Saturday. Her remains will be taken out to Parkes in Central NSW to be buried with her husband and daughter.

At the other end of life, there were 2 babies born to friends of ours during that week. Ian and Anne-Marie had a baby boy, Kieren, in Manchester. And Dave and Cassandra also had a boy named Xavier, in Sydney. Grace and I have already met Xavier and we hope to see them again soon, but it might be a little longer till we meet Kieren.