New Car and Other Stuff

Lachlan brought Amy these cute little felt parrots for Christmas- they are so cute- I love them and Amy was delighted!

This is our little red Getz that we have had for around 8 or 9 years and the car Amy learnt to drive in and the we have shared for that period. There were a few things that needed fixing and we were tired of tying up the sun visor with a piece of string so decided it was time to upgrade. We got a 2016 Hyundai 130, we are very happy with it, it has a reversing camera, bluetooth, cruise control and a bit roomier- most importantly the sunvisor stays up and I can listen to ABC Canberra on the radio.

I was asked to go down for a speaking assignment at Merimbula Branch at short notice this week. So Bill and I drove down to Merimbula on Saturday and stayed overnight. It was 22 degrees in Merimbula and when we went for a walk on the beach I needed to put on a long sleeve shirt, it felt wonderful after a week of 40 degree days in Canberra! I spoke and Merimbula Branch Sunday morning then Bill and I headed back to Canberra, it was a nice little break away.

That is Bill in the water- too cold for me!

 Each time I go down to Merimbula I enjoy a walk along the boardwalk around the edge of the lake. It was a lovely morning.

Mallacoota

Bill, Lachlan and I went down to Malacoota for three nights between Christmas and New Year. Bill's two sisters and their families hire holiday houses down there over Christmas and January so it was a good chance to go down and catch up with them. It is approximately a 4 hour drive.

One morning Bill and I did a lovely walk along the edge of the lakes near Hilary and Stuart's house. It was a warm day but there was plenty of shade and being close to the water helped keep things a bit cooler as well.

While we were out walking, Lachlan went out on the boat with Hils and Stuey. They spotted us walking along the lake so pulled in close to say hello.

Bill walking in his fluro gear- no wonder they didn't have any trouble spotting us.

While they were out on the boat, Lachlan took over driving the boat so Hil's and Stuey did some trawling and caught 8 Taylors- they were very impressed with the good luck that Captain Lachlan brought them!

We did some other walks including one along the open ocean beach. It was a nice little break away and nice to catch up with Bill's side of the family.

Bird Themed Presents

Amy brought me a lovely scarf for Christmas, I wore it to church today. Has lovely bird wings over the scarf.

Lachlan gave Amy these very cute felt birds for Christmas that look very much like Beau and Lyra.

If Beau and Lyra ever have babies this is what they might look like!

Christmas 2018

I really like our quiet Christmas's at home and not having to go away- must be getting old! Not sure if we will ever have any grandchildren to bring the magic that little kids bring to Christmas but enjoy this stage of our life. For the last few years we have gone out somewhere nice for dinner Christmas Eve as a family. This year it was Blackfire in Braddon. A Mediterranean style cuisine, cooked on a fire pit or in a wood fired oven. I use the kid's board money to pay for the dinner, it is a present to them and a present to me not having to cook Christmas lunch. We then came home and opened presents with the 'grand birds'. Bill has always been a bit of a humbug about Christmas and never very enthusiastic about presents, but the last couple of years there has been a bit of a bird theme to his presents, so if you give him something with a macaw on it he is usually pretty enthusiastic!

Birds helping to unwrap the presents!

 Even Luna came to join us and see what was happening!

 We had Christmas Brunch on Christmas Day, nice and relaxed and nothing too difficult. A friend of Amy's who has recently moved to Canberra joined us. Mars was a real character, she had lots of stories to tell about working for Air Services and her life in Indonesia before she came to Australia for her schooling.

Christmas Lights at Sydney Temple

I was supposed to go up to the Sydney Temple on Friday night with my friend Louise but she came down with a sinus infection, I still went but on my own. I left Canberra around 5pm and the traffic on the road was pretty quiet. Once I arrived at the temple accommodation  I walked up to check out Temple Christmas Lights which I have been wanting to do for a long time. It was lovely seeing the temple all lit  up and the displays. 

I then headed back to the accommodation and had a good night sleep before heading to the temple early the next morning then driving back to Canberra, there was a lot more traffic on the way home. I enjoyed the time away by myself, a bit like a mini retreat, felt a lot more relaxed and ready for Christmas after having some time alone.

Tassie Part Two

We did a 3 hour cruise around Tasman Island and up the east coast of Tasmania. It was spectacular. We left from Port Arthur and headed to Eaglehawk where the bus brought us back to our starting point. We were lucky with the weather, it was cool but still so there wasn't much swell.

We stayed in one of these cottages which was very comfortable and well set out.

  

A cute letterbox on my morning walk.

 There were two boats like this that seated 43  passengers each. The drivers and guides were just great.

 Spotted some dolphins a couple of times, was great to watch them jumping in and out of the water and near the front of the boat.

The coast line was pretty stunning.

They gave us each a full length water proof jacket to put on. It also kept some of the wind out, it was about 20 degrees that day but felt pretty cool out on the water.

Tasman Island

  Cliffs along the east coast were pretty stunning

  Some of the sea lions along the way

  We saw some rock climber in this location.

After we got back to Eaglehawk we headed to the Lavender Farm for some lunch.

After the Lavender Farm we had a three hour drive up to Launceston, it was an easy drive up the middle of Tasmania and was a pretty drive. We arrived in Launceston around 6pm and settled into our hotel- it was the Peppers Silo Hotel and we had got an opening special. We got upgraded to a bigger room which was nice. They have built the hotel in the old silos and are redeveloping the whole area.

There was a nice waterfront to walk along in the morning, I went for a morning walk before breakfast, we had a late checkout, so after breakfast we took Archie the resident hotel dog for a walk!

I walked down to the entrance to Cataract Gorge, Amy and drove back there later and went for a bit of a wander.

Amy and Archie- having a hotel dog made Amy's stay even better!

 Once we were back in Canberra on Amy's actual birthday we went out to Space Kitchen for breakfast which was very nice. 

Amy had pea and feta pancakes with smoked trout and corn salsa- very nice.

 We took home a raspberry mango cheesecake for her birthday cake later that night!