2 Mauldon Street,
Chifley, A.C.T. 2606
2
December 2005
Hello to all and a
very
Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year from our house to your house
Our
garden is beautiful at present, all the spring flowers are out and the summer
trees are budding; the rain we have had in the last month has helped the garden
(and me from watering every second day) flourish. Our old flowering cherry tree
is holding up under the strain of the bird feeders and all the birds that come
visiting each day. I have gone mad again and photographing the birds at every
turn. John is thankful I have been using the digital camera most of the time.
We have had a busy year; John turned 70 this year and the children gave him a
present of meeting a Cheetah at the Canberra Zoo. John and I arrived at the Zoo
early to fed the animals and then at about 11am John was taken into the Cheetah
cage. There were three young Cheetahs in the enclosure. We had watched them
being feed an hour earlier so they were not hungry. John enjoyed patting one of
the Cheetahs.
In March we took advantage of the pensioner’s scheme and took a
free train ride to Sydney and stayed the night before taking a flight to
Christchurch, New Zealand. We drove south and stayed with John’s cousin in
Dunedin for a few days talking about the family tree and looking at the sights
of Dunedin.
I won three nights at a Motel in Queenstown so we had
a relaxing time watching
the lake and the mountains from our window at the Motel and seeing the sights.
On to Te Anau, where we stayed in a B and B run by another distant cousin, John
Von Tunzlemann; John and his wife took us into the wilderness to see
where their
ancestor had a station on the River Von, near Mt Nicholas on the south west side
of Lake Wakatipu. It was a rainy day but it didn’t stop us from having a good
time forging swollen river on
the way; the mist added to the beauty of the surrounding Mountains and Lake.
A school had built a cabin round the original double fire place and we had our
lunch in there with the spiders etc. John Von Tunzlemann helped Peter Jackson
with some of the locations for the film “Lord of the Rings” near Lake Mavora and
the forest near by. These were in the first movie.
We travelled up the west coast to Nelson and did some research there about
John’s father who was a pupil and a teacher at Nelson College.
In the cemetery at Nelson on a hill with a beautiful view of the bay we found
the graves of his ancestors.
On to Pelorus Sound where we had a day’s trip on the mail boat sailing round to
all the jetties and delivering mail and other goods to the people who live on
the
sound.
In one bay they were harvesting green lipped mussels and reseeding the
lines. It was a beautiful day and the waters very calm; a p
od
of Dolphins came to see us and surf in our wake. It was very relaxing and there
were only about 20 people on the boat.
In
Kaikoura we saw the seals sleeping in the car park among the long grass. Boy, the smell was terrible. We didn’t know if it was the seals or the seaweed
that smelt so horrible.
The seals were lying in the large seaweed sleeping or rolling around trying to
get comfortable and didn’t take any notice of all the tourists trying to get the
perfect photo of them; back to Christchurch and Home.
In May, for my birthday John,
Hilary and Timothy took me to The Hyatt for a large and scrumptious afternoon
tea with Champagne.
In July, we celebrated Hilary’s
39th Birthday and then
went on to see the Gang Show where Hilary’s three youngest girls were
performing. We have been going to the Gang Show for quite a few years now and
this year was the best. All the children, scouts etc. and audience enjoyed the
evening. Timothy started back to school doing an Enrolled Nursing course full
time and working every second week on evening shift at the hospital as an
orderly. So far he is doing very well and enjoying both; still living at home
with his dog, Sampson. John and I take Sampson for a walk before breakfast each
morning.
In
September, Catherine came down from Brisbane to spend some time with us and she
was here for Fathers day. We took John out for a Brunch on Father’s Day at one
of the Hotels in Canberra and it was good not having to cook or clean up after
ourselves.
October, John has resigned from the PCUG and we hope that our
lives will get back to normal again; instead of John spending 10 hours on E-Mail
he might get to do some work round the house and finish our bedroom cupboards.
During the year I have finished putting my travel diaries on the computer and
scanning all the photos taken on the trips. Also, scanning family photos and
doing CDs for My brother and sisters and our children.
Hilary is working at the Hospital as an Enrolled nurse three days
a week; Amanda, Hilary’s eldest is living with her father; Hilary has the other
three children at home. They all seem to be doing well at school and at home.
Penny is still teaching at Bruce College and is only doing massaging on Tuesdays
at home. Terry had four weeks in LA for work and he is at the Tidbinbilla
tracking station and in the spare time he is finishing their house extensions as
the builder disappeared. The two girls are doing very well at school and all
other activities they partake in. Everyone have busy lives; guess we were very
busy when our kids were small too. Pleased we are retired and enjoy the
grandchildren when they come here.
Catherine and Michael
seem very happy; Catherine is in day surgery and teaching on the side; she is
doing a Masters in Teaching for nursing; Michael is on call for Organ Retrieval
and is called on day and night and he is an Enrolled Nurse at other times.
Michael’s two children come to Catherine’s house every second weekend where
Catherine has her children. Samantha and Andrew live with Catherine and Michael
most of the time; they are doing very well and Andrew has settled down since
they have changed his diet. (Photo; Chris and Samantha Hollis; Michael, Andrew,
Catherine and Samantha McLauchlan)
On the third of
November John and I will
celebrate
40 yrs of marriage so we are having a short holiday to see the Great Ocean Road
in Victoria. I saw the sights with my parents in 1961 when London Bridge was
still intact and there were more apostles; just hope the weather stays fine when
we are there.
23rd
November John and I had a fantastic trip, staying at Bendigo the first night and
visited the Art Gallery; they have some great pictures there old and new.
To Port Fairy next
night and then along the Great Ocean Road, and at all the stops to see the
sights it was WOW! And WOW! Again; the weather was perfect just a little hot at
times.
The
Victorian Government
had
done
a
great job to enable the tourist to get the best views of all the sights,
especially the 12 apostles and beyond.
We did have a rainy
day in Apollo Bay when we visited the Cape Otway Lighthouse and the Otway Fly
tree walk.
John didn’t go on the
tree walk as he felt it was a bit
expensive and in the rain, so I walked into
the forest and eventually came to the fly; It was an easy walk and the rain was
just a sprinkling; it
was wonderful to walk to the
tree tops and hear the birds and the wind in the trees. I was a bit pooped on
the walk back up the hill, to the café and along came a people buggy so I was
able to get a lift and arrived 15 minutes early, much to John amazement. We
caught the ferry from Queenscliff to Sorrento which took
about
45 minutes so we could relax and watch the Port Philip Bay traffic go by.
We stayed with my
sister Joan and her husband Ted in Melbourne for a couple of days and went to my
great niece’s 21st birthday and meet up with a few relatives I had
not met before. We drove through magical forests round Healesville on the way to
the Hume Highway and we stayed with friends in Wodonga on the way home.
Guess I have bored
you all silly, so hope you have a very Happy Christmas and A Happy New Year.
Love, Betty, John,
Timothy and Sampson, the dog.
Home Up 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 B 2004 B 2005 B2006 B2007 B2008 2009