Monday, March 26, 2018

This year in travel

Image result for cairns to green island time
image from Big Cat Green Island Reef Cruises

After our trip to Singapore and Hong Kong at the end of 2017 we decided that this year we would not leave Australia. Hoping to save up for a trip to Europe to visit Rhy's Dad next year. A trip we keep saying will be "next year" but we're waiting for our youngest to be ready for a busy and long holiday. I've so many places I want them to see, and I have a few places I'd like to add to my country count. 
Usually when we holiday at home we go to Adelaide, Melbourne or Sydney - all places that family and dear friends call home. But this year we are heading north and I am so excited. 
We are planning to go back to where I was born, a place I haven't been back to since I was 6 or 7. Since I was my daughters age. Darwin. We're spending a week in Darwin with my mum. She's going to give us a little bit of a tour of my childhood. And we are going to spread my grandparents ashes. My Grandma and Pa both died in the 1990s, they died in Melbourne but both said they'd like their ashes scattered in Darwin. I only heard this three or four years ago. I was a bit shocked to find my grandparents had moved around the country with us. In little containers in the garage. I want to see their final wishes granted. The last of them to pass away - Pa - died when I was 11, so I never really did anything for them while they were alive. Other than bring them that unique grandparent joy only grandchildren can bring. 
After Darwin we are heading over to Cairns to visit some friends who moved to Cairns in January. We're spending a few nights on Green Island (the pic above) and I cannot wait to take Imogen snorkeling now that she is a much stronger swimmer. 

So this is what I am looking forward to this winter.  
 

Sunday, March 25, 2018

2018

Image result for 2018Welcome to 2018. Ok, welcome the the 85th day of 2018. I'm clearly doing a brilliant job at writing everyday.  This year is going well, so far. We moved into our new home at the start of the year, my health is back on track and my PhD is steadily chugging along. I'm deep into the recruitment phase. It's been an interesting learning curve. Most people are so polite and don't want to say no straight away. Being "part-time"  has also added another level of difficulty to recruitment, initially I thought it would just be an advantage as I would have time overall to recruit, but I have less time in the week. Let's see if I can come back tomorrow and expand on the other things I've been up to,
Cheers.

2018 family holiday part one: Darwin

Much to my distress I still had the flu all the way up until when we went to Darwin. I didn't get to go out for dinner wit...