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We have just had the most amazing (and busy) Australia Day weekend.  As Australia Day fell on a Tuesday, I had the Monday off work and we went to Sydney for 4 days.  We camped in Lane Cove National Park, which is only 15 minutes from the city centre but set amongst the trees of the National Park.

The first day we went to the Powerhouse Museum which is having a ‘Back to the Eighties’ exhibition.  This was fun, but even better (at least for Jack) was the learn to dance to Michael Jackson thriller workshop.  Jack plays Michael Jackson almost constantly and knows all the words so it was heaven for him.  It was extremely hot and humid that day, so after a short walk around Darling Harbour we headed up to Dave and Cas’ house for a barbeque.  Great to see them and Xavier who is growing up quickly.

It rained during the night and wasn’t a sparkling day on the Sunday so we stayed around the campsite and Lane Cove.  We went for quite a long walk up and down the river and had a long play in the pool.

Monday was the not best of days as we had to drive down to Nowra for the funeral of Don Pollock.  Don was Bob’s best friend and has always treated Sarah, and so the rest of us, like family.  There were a lot of people there for a very moving service, and we heard all about the work he did as president of Basketball Australia amongst other things.  All of Sarah’s family were there and we had dinner with Don’s children before we headed back to Sydney.

The next day was Australia Day and we were up early packing up the tent before heading into town.  We had tried to catch up with Sarah’s cousin Annette and her family over the weekend, but as they were away they invited us to their boat for Australia Day.  So we arrived at the wharf where their boat was moored and found an amazing luxurious motor launch.  Also a lot of Annette’s family who we hadn’t seen for a while.  Tod, Annette’s husband, steered us out of the mooring and into the harbour with thousand of other boats to watch the ferry race and other events.  Then after a couple of hours of this, we let down anchor in one of the bays and spent the afternoon with a barbeque, diving and swimming off the boat and playing in the tender (jet boat) and kayak.  An absolutely amazing day, we were so lucky to have been invited.

We drove home in the evening and collapsed straight into bed after a very tiring but great 4 days.

Lance and Mary arrived in Australia the weekend before Christmas and we welcomed them with some wonderfully hot weather.  We spent the first few days going to various beaches and enjoying the sea and sunshine, we also set up the croquet set for a few games on the lawn.  Lance also went to Newcastle Croquet Club for a game one morning.  On Christmas Eve, we all went to the Cathedral and then, after the kids had gone to bed, Lance and I spent a few hours putting up a trampoline in the garden.

Christmas Day started off with church for the Grandparents and breakfast for the others.  After a huge pile of presents we had some fun in the garden with new water pistols, badminton and of course the trampoline.  We had cheese and biscuits for lunch and then all went for a walk along the break-wall beside Newcastle Harbour.  The clouds started to come over then and the rains started.  Once home, we cooked up our Christmas dinner of prawns, lobster, ham, finished off with a delicious pavlova.  Very Australian and different from the usual English Christmas dinner.

Next day some of us went for a swim before breakfast and then a wet walk through Glenrock Reserve.  The sound of the cicadas was almost deafening at times.

Between Christmas and New Year we went up to Forster to stay with Carol and Bob.  Even though it rained every day we still had a great time and managed to go to the beach and Seal Rocks lighthouse.  When the rain was at its hardest we went ten pin bowling which was great fun for all.

Back to Newcastle for New Years Eve and we decided not to go to Sydney for the fireworks but to go to the display in Newcastle instead.  This was a much easier and more relaxed event.  We parked near the river, sat on the river side and watched the fireworks with no pressure and crowding from others.  Then it was an easy trip home.  When we’d got the kids to bed, Sarah and I went for a walk around the estate.  There is a family who’ve moved in a couple of months ago who set up their band in their garage.  The street had been blocked off and half the residents were having a party in the street.  We left about 1 but apparently the band kept playing till about 6am!!!

We spent the next few days building a vegetable plot in the back of our garden which we then planted with cucumber, beans, leaks, carrots, butternut pumpkin and watermelons.  Some are beginning to come up now so we’ll look forward to these and others we will plant soon.

After saying goodbye to Lance and Mary on the Tuesday, I went off to work and of course it was the first sunny day for about 2 weeks!!.  At least they had some good weather in Melbourne and India.