Saying "I Do" again.

Wednesday 21^st December to Saturday 24^th December 2016

Our primary reason for the trip north as I have explained previously was to attend the renewal of the marriage vows by Diane’s parents.

This was to take place on Friday 23^rd which also happened to be her mother’s 80^th birthday, although these days she is not keen on being any older than 39.

Anyway, Sam, ever mindful that she needs to remain the favourite grand-daughter (of course, she is the only one), made the flight from Melbourne to Maroochydore; we duly picked her up from the airport – it is still hot and humid here, by the way.

We had not made any plans other than to spend the day with Sam – we did make use of one of the three pools where we were staying; caught up with Robert and Sonia; but mostly just tried to stay a bit cooler than was usually possible – the air conditioning helped some way for this.

Thursday we had planned for a family Xmas BBQ out at Mooloolah Valley where Diane’s parents lived; just a quiet time with all of the family there (almost all).

But the big day was going to be Friday, and we went over the last of the plans to make sure that we wouldn’t have any problems.

Dad was still apprehensive about it all, secretly waiting for anytime after 12  noon to suddenly appear so that it would all be over.

Mum, however, was keen to make sure that it lasted for as long as possible.

Not even a huge downpour of rain on Friday morning had any chance of upsetting the day – it was gone almost as quickly as it came; we all headed off at an appropriate time to make it there in time – it was a 45 minute trip from Kawana to Montville (near to the Glasshouse Mountains) – we made it with plenty of time to spare – well at least 5 minutes.

Mary, the celebrant was just making the last of the touches to the preparations; Mum and Dad were ready – looking really well, health-wise, and looking resplendent.

 

The happy couple - no pre-vow nerves

Diane (r) with her sister Vivienne

All the kids together - brother Robert in the middle 

Favourute grand-daughter - Sam

It was a lovely ceremony and with the weather being cool but not wet, it all went very well and the backdrop was truly magnificent.

It was fair to say that we all enjoyed it, but the day belonged to Mum and Dad and they did enjoy it as well.

After it was all over we all adjorned to the restaurant there – all pre-booked – we had the gallery area all to ourselves,the remainder of the restaurant was conveniently just away from where we were.

The food was very good and well presented – even the two chefs amongst us – Robert and Sonia – were impressed.

 

We managed to transport this stained-glass panel all the way from the UK
and then have it framed for them both.
But it is special thanks to Dot for creating this for them and they both loved it.

After a leisurely lunch we were ready to go home for a few drinks and just to relax a bit more.

It had been a longish day for all of us and we slept well that night; the following day – Saturday (24^th) – the three of us flew back to Melbourne for our Xmas.

We were in bed relatively early (before 10pm) – with Diane eagerly anticipating Santa coming with her presents – she really is a big kid – and she still believes.

Melbourne O Melbourne

Thursday 11th September to Friday 25th October 2014

We have quickly fallen back into the routine of life on land again - without missing a beat; but to be fair the abundance of cafes and coffee shops as well as restaurants just minutes from the front door and public transport on our doorstep has made for the easy transition.
 

These guys were in the tree next door

And just a short tram or train ride away we have any number of the same from the centre of Melbourne to Lygon Street and other areas as well - it really reinforces all of the things that we love about Melbourne

It remains a lifestyle that we will come back to one day, but we miss the boat and the freedom that it provides.

There have been a number of decisions made about what we will be doing with the house after Mitch and Sara head off to the US and we really have done a complete turnaround - well really Sam has done the about turn.
 

A reminder of where they are from

She has now decided that she will stay in the house and has a house-mate in mind who will share the bills, so most of the horrible job that we thought that we have had to do i.e. pack up the whole house, will no longer have to happen.
 

there's my girl

and she made the dress

at work - now where's my coffee

The weather has also picked up and the BBQ has been cleaned up and "re-gassed" and getting plenty of use.

The process of changing billing names over; stopping other things as Sam decides what she will and won't continue with is going smoothly.

We have a list of critical issues now that we must get done, but they are gradually being crossed off.

There seems to be a sudden increase in catching up with more people and a number of invitations out for meals or coffee or snacks.
This hasn't interfered with our plan to shed a few more kgs, which is continuing quite well - our doctor is most pleased and Diane is reducing the quantum of medication that she requires - a definite healthier outcome.

A visit to see Brenda down at Warrnambool for the weekend and lunch with Heather, Rob and Anne made for a very lovely time.
 

on the coast at Warrnambool...

.... and catching up with Brenda

Diane has had a couple of nights out with old work colleagues - chatting about old times; what's been happening to everyone; and talking about life on the boat.

The latest things that we have crossed off the list include disposing of the car - no more expense on that - registration and insurance costs now gone - we very much doubt that we will own a car again; set in place the ending of the Foxtel subscription and our internet package - the things we kept just for the kids - now about to go.

aahhh - the chickens feet at Yum Cha

very tasty

at least Sara tried them

We are off to Queensland for just over a week to see Diane's parents and her sister.

We will head off from weather in the high 20's to more of the same.

A Change of Venue

Wednesday 3rd September to Wednesday 10th September 2014

We have travelled just a bit further than the usual, so much so that by Friday morning we had landed in Melbourne to be greeted by Samantha, our daughter - yes we are back in Australia.
And it was Sam's birthday as well - I won't give away the age, but next year it will make her mother feel old(er).

The flight was relatively uneventful - we did have a 2 hour delay taking off from Dubai as first the baggage system failed and then the onboard air-conditioning system had a fault and finally the tug that pushed us back from the terminal stopped and we couldn't move until it had been removed.

The 13 hour part of the flight then went by fairly quickly.

A swift 20 minutes to clear immigration and customs and we were out - the air was a bit chilly for 7:30am but the sun was quite lovely.

We caught up with our son Mitchell and his wife Sara at home - Diane and Sara had not met before but it was pretty evident as soon as they did that they would get on like a house on fire - and it has been that way since.

We have a fair bit to do with the house as we are going to clear it out arrange for it to be rented out.
Mitchell and Sara will be off to the US in a couple of months to live and Sam is after something a bit smaller - so we will look around for her.

Saturday came and we went off to watch Mitch's club play in a finals match - if they win then they play in the Grand Final next week - well after looking like being a sad day for them, they rallied in the last 5 minutes and kicked 3 goals to win it and we have another match next week.

Some work has been done along the way; there has been some visiting of people and more to come; we have started with some packing and chucking out; there was some minimal cleaning needed at home, but we are happy to be here and seeing everyone, but at the same time missing being on the boat, which is having some work being done.

With it being the start of spring here we have some finer weather to look forward to which will certainly help to further enhance our tans.