We're just settling back into a work routine this week, having taken a couple of weeks off over Christmas and the New Year.
Calum and his girlfriend Jess made the trip over to spend the festive season with us and see something of Australia. So in contrast to last year we had a family Christmas, complete with the swapping of presents etc. plus stockings for the kids (yes, despite the fact that our sons are now 22 and 23!!). We couldn't quite go as far as trimming up the flat, it still doesn't feel right in 30 degree heat, but it did feel like a joyous time this time around. We did the expat thing of meeting friends at the beach on the big day. So we joined the Forrests, Flowers, Atkins plus Goran to swim in the ocean followed by a shared Christmas dinner al fresco. All in all, a perfect day!
This was followed with a busy week showing Calum and Jess the highlights of Sydney, culminating in a New Years eve in a perfect harbour-side vantage point to watch the spectacle of the fire works.
We began the new year with a family trip to see the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland and then Uluru in the so called 'Red Centre' of Aus. Highlights of the Queensland leg were undoubtedly the two dives on the reef itself. First up we did a Scuba dive from a pontoon anchored close to the Agincourt reef. There's nothing like joining the fish to weave in and out of multi-coloured coral stacks several metres high. It is literally another world! Then a couple of days later we went snorkeling off Cape Tribulation. The reef is less spoiled there and is teeming with marine life! We swam with multicoloured fish, stingrays and turtles. We even saw shy clown fish (aka Nemo) and reef sharks hiding in the coral. Northern Queensland has a tropical climate so it was no surprise to get some rain there most days - I guess it was fitting for what is a rain forest region. That said, we didn't expect it to follow us into the desert! The weather in Uluru was a big surprise. It was cool from the moment we touched down, by the next day it was raining and didn't really stop until after we left. According to the locals this is a once in a decade occurrence. It was a mixed blessing as we were able to do a few of the more energetic activities we'd dismissed as unsuitable for summer heat. So we were able to cycle around the rock itself and to take the rim walk around Kings Canyon for example. On the other hand we never saw the star filled night sky we were expecting and only got a brief glimpse of Uluru in all it's sunset glory. Such is life, we experienced the red desert under conditions few people get to do.
We returned to Sydney and Calum and Jess flew back home on Wednesday. So the flat is feeling a little quiet now with just the three of us. Niall continues with his tele-sales job, Roz and I are back to developing medical courses for imaginary students for a living. Next up is a trip to New Zealand - plans already in process.
I've put together a couple of photo sets if you're interested:
