Murrumbateman and Canberra

Murrumbateman

We said our farewells to friends at Lane Cove, Sydney and travelled along the M2-M7 and Hume Highway where we intend to stay for a few nights at a small place called Murrumbateman. We were given the details of this lovely Recreation Ground by friends we had made. It is free and we can hook up to electric but no water hook up. Richard had filled our water tanks to the top! This lovely little town was 35km north of Canberra and was such an easy drive a big welcome for us compared to the past 5 weeks in Sydney.

The local hotel/motel was opposite the camp ground and of course we spent some money in there. Friday evening was a big night for the Hotel as all the local families were eating and enjoying bouncing castles etc and waiting for Santa who arrived in a Fire Engine....
A farmers market was also set up on Saturday 13 December where once again we spent lots of money all good for the local community Santa arrived on a Pink water truck!!
We travelled into Canberra a number of times and visited as many of the sites included Parliament House, War Memorial,  Museums, Telstra tower, Mint,  tourist bus ride etc.

The War Memorial is the most amazing building, epitaph to all Australians who were at war.
 See photos below

We are now based in Ulladulla for the Christmas and New Year break. Posting of the blog will continue from the Library here in Ulladulla. Wishing you all a very merry Christmas.. x






The Senate based on the colours of the House of Lords, London

House of the Representatives

Rooftop of Parliament House

War Memorial, wall of remembrance

Old Parliament House



View of Anzac Parade

Staircase at the Mint with $750 worth of 
 5 cents pieces embedded into it.

Telstra Tower

View of Lake Burley Griffin






































More of Sydney

We continued our stay at Lane Cove but encountered some bad thunderstorms that continued for 8 days.
Richard and I did some babysitting, Ikea visit again! building new bookcases, picked up a Christmas tree and did a few Bunnings trips...Helen and Jenni went to see the musical "Wicked" this finished very late with Helen travelling on train at Midnight but she arrived back home safe and sound.

Sunday 7 December
We went to a Memorial Service at the local Chapel before travelling to Watsons Bay for a meet up with friends and it will be the last time we see Dee.
The weather was stifling hot and the train with air con was a welcome relief from it. We caught the ferry to Watsons Bay which was absolutely overflowing with people. An afternoon of eating and drinking with friends was very pleasant until the storm arrived....

A very sad farewell was done and a few tears shed as we said our goodbyes to Dee.



Barney had a wonderful afternoon




Thanksgiving, Sydney Harbour Sail

Toby with granddad Dee

Jenni and Chris Cochran
 



The last Thursday of November we were invited to celebrate Thanksgiving at a friends house in Manly, North Sydney. We joined our daughter Jenni and lots of American friends to eat a very large turkey, ham, various traditional American vegetables. Of course the bubbles flowed too!!

Turkey



Saturday 29 November Sydney Harbour Sail
Ali and Jenni had organised a surprise sailing afternoon for Ali's father Dee and brother Chris. How we all managed to keep it a secret is anyone's guess but we did! We managed to include a young man from our village in England, Tom was working in Sydney and had the weekends free... He did join us at Manly Bowls the weekend previous, so it was really good to see him again before he left for England on Monday afternoon.

Here we are, Toby on board

Jenni, ready to go

Tom Wilson aka Tom EQ









Dee



Still with the Mo!

The sailing gang!



Richard, will he jump in??



Yes he did...blimey!!

Toby came too!!

Dee and Chris

Tom and Jenni



Dee, steering us back into the harbour

There's that bridge again!




Sydney/ Auckland October/ November/ December 2014

Lane Cove National Park, Sydney.

Our first stay at Lane Cove lasted for 3 weeks. This park is quite central to Sydney and yet it is a lovely oasis from city hustle and bustle!
We found getting around the city is best by rail and bus. Our NSW Seniors cards make this incredibly cheap and we enjoyed lots of ferry trips, looking at this iconic place.
Our main reason for being here at this time has been the arrival of our lovely Grandson, Toby Robert Bell. We enjoyed a birth celebrations afternoon at Paddington Bowls club, having drinks with friends of Jenni and Tom.

Auntie Ali at Paddington Bowls

 



Toby Robert












Our little parcel asleep on Grandad and Grandma's bed



Meal at the Chiswick

 


The garden at the Chiswick



After this short visit to see Jenni, Tom and Toby, we took our caravan to a storage facility that was recommended to us by some people we had met on our travels. We then spent a lovely week in an apartment, directly opposite to Jen,Tom and Toby. We really enjoyed being able to see our new family addition!

After this lovely week in Woollahra, we got on the plane and went to see our dear friends in New Zealand for a nice 3 week holiday. We will miss our new baby!!

The main reason for visiting NZ was to join in the 90th birthday celebrations of our dear friend David Thom.


Sea Shepherd getting ready to fight the whalers

Helen, Karen and Janine on our NZ visit at Maraeti boat club.







Iconic Sky Tower

Quirky caravan at Mount Maunganui, Bay of Plenty, NZ

Mount Maunganui







Howick RSA was the venue for a wonderful birthday party for our friend David's 90th. The day was full of music, talented fencing displays and lovely food and drink. David was well and truly complemented on reaching a great age!!!!!



Just one of the fantastic fencing displays

David Thom

Andy and Tracey our ex neighbours

David cutting his cake

Yours truly

Helen lunch with friends. Amrith, Helen, Delwyn and Chrissie

 





 



We said our sad goodbyes to our wonderful friends in NZ and flew back to Sydney, picked up the caravan and went back to Lane Cove National Park for another 5 week stay. During this time we spent lots of time with Toby and travelled around on the train extensively. NSW has good a train network and we used our Seniors card to travel around. Car travel in Sydney is however often gridlocked! We had a great time at Manly Bowls where a large group of friends gathered all arranged by Ali...

The winners

The competitors

Grandad Dee, Uncle Chris and Auntie Ali

We also did the Coogee to Bondi Sculpture walk, we stopped for a nice quiet drink in the Icebergs Club but couldn't get out of Bondi because of the sheer amount of traffic.

Now back at Lane Cove

Mummy and Toby at the Lane Cove pool

Grandma and Toby cooling off in the pool



A little sleep after his swim

Our little friends Kyle and Iona "Lane Cove"

Now thinking of what lies ahead. We are moving off to Canberra soon!!!!