Goughs Bay Goss

 Things are happening.  The framing wood that was stored at Ringwood has now all moved to the block on a massive trailer.

Now Mark has prepared the formwork to finalise the pad for the water tanks that are waiting patiently for relocation.  Meanwhile Lisa has decided to become a piano tuner in her spare time.

Jean Hawken Memorial Service

 Claire's best friend at school was Lesley Hawken.  Lesley lived with her grandparents and Aunt Jean in the Leitchville Post Office where Claire spent many weekend sleepovers.  When Jean's parents died, she took over the running of the Post Office and in her stewardship, the Post Office was operated for over a hundred years by the Hawken family.  So her passing was a significant event for the village.  We had traveled to attend the memorial.

Claire had the opportunity to catch up with friends from the past and learn more of the recent history of the village of her childhood.

Visiting Leitchville

 We spent a little time having a look at Leitchville and surrounds and were pleasantly surprised. A few years ago the town was looking very depressed but it is currently looking in good shape with some new buildings and tidy housing.  Mt Hope picnic area looked the same but with some more vegetation.

Claire's Grandfather, William Nelson, was a stalwart of the Congregational Church in Leitchville.  Every Sunday for years he would ring the church bell to summon parishioners to the services during the day.  The church is now a private house but the church bell has been mounted on the Memorial Hall in recognition of its history.

While in Leitchville we took the opportunity to visit Bryan (Claire's cousin) and Coral Kervin. Both of whom had been in poor health but we found them in reasonably good shape.

Cohuna Calling

 Claire needed to be in Leitchville on Wednesday so we took the van to Cohuna for a few days.  The park and the surrounds have been improved again since our last visit.

Coffee always tasted better once the van has been set up!  The park is in the Gunbower Creek and has been developed as a recreational area.

While in the north we took the opportunity to visit Noel and Pam, neither of whom are in the best of health.

Kate's Birthday

 It had been some time since the last family dinner so Kate's Birthday gave us the opportunity for a family feast.  Fortunately, for the middle of January, the weather was perfect.

We are now at the point where the old arrangement of a long table will no longer fit us all in so the T table arrangement had to be employed.

Great food and wine and more importantly, a wonderful excuse for a family gathering.  Happy Birthday Kate.

Mark in Queensland

 Mark's Aunt Audrey turns 93 so he was able to spend a few days with her in Maryborough. The supported accommodation must be suiting her as she seems to be in really good health and her memory seems better than last visit.

New Property

 After a couple of near misses, Adam and Kate have landed an investment property at Ocean Grove in an ideal location.  After all, Adam had done nearly all he could do on the home block so a new challenge was needed!

Blood On The Clocktower

 Mitchell arranged a game for us on a lazy Saturday afternoon.  Just as well Brett had cooked a barbeque for us beforehand as most of us were dead at the end of the game.

It was a fun game but honesty and trust appeared to be in fairly short supply that afternoon!

High Country

 A small window of opportunity allowed some hardy souls to travel past Dargo to the Victorian high country.  

The scenery in Victoria does not get much more spectacular than this.

Lake House

 Mark has set up the pad at the rear of the property and put the form work in place ready for the concrete for the water tanks.

Dinner on the Harbour

We thought it would be fun to take a "Showboat" paddle steamer on the harbour for an evening.

As we travelled around the harbour we were treated to dinner and show.

The best part was really the evening view of Sydney from the boat.

It was only a short walk back to the apartments from Kings Wharf and Darling Harbour.

The Opera House

The Concert Hall of the Opera House had recently been refurbished and we were keen to attend a performance.  

The new light rail system (trams by another name!) got us there very efficiently.  It was interesting that during the installation of the light rail, they had to excavate the foundations into the roadway where they came across the remains of the tram system that Sydney had removed years ago.

We attended a performance of "Amadeus" in the Concert Hall that can hold 5000 patrons.  Excellent comfort and acoustics.