EXILLIS PARK

Readers may remember that I used to walk in Daisy Hill Forest every morning, well as we have got older we have found the tracks have got a bit unstable for us with washed out grooves from the rain and loose stones and rocks underfoot was getting a bit dangerous for us oldies. So now we walk in Exillis Park and Dorset Park where we still walk through bushland but on a concrete path which is more stable for us. We still enjoy the bushland, the creek and the wildlife. We walk about four km round trip it takes us an hour. 

Wallabies are a small kangaroo. We see lots of them in the mornings. They are well camouflaged. Can you see her and her joey in her pouch?

Zoom in and there you are! So cute.

After rain the creek is muddy and full.

The vines love the rain.

The rain washes the seeds into a pile.

My neighbour has the most beautiful flowers. She is over 80 and spends every day in her garden.

We are having very hot and humid weather while in the northern hemisphere a lot of bloggers are having loads of snow.

AUSTRALIA DAY 26 JANUARY

 So 256 years ago Captain Cook planted the English flag in Sydney Cove and claimed the land for England. It wasn't until 18 years later that the first settlers arrived in eleven ships with Captain Arthur Phillip in charge. Most of the settlers were convicts and Marines. After a very hard start when the settlement nearly starved waiting for supply ships  from England, things slowly improved and our wonderful nation was born. Every Jan 26 we celebrate Australia Day. Many people have parties and BBQ's. Many go to the beach and others go to special luncheon functions. Unfortunately, the weather is extremely hot especially in the south, Adelaide and Northern Victoria are expecting temps in the 40's C. We are also having hot humid weather here in Brisbane. Our village is putting on an afternoon of activities and a sausage sizzle. Hopefully things will cool down by then. Luckily, our hall is air conditioned. 

So we started off singing Aussie songs like this one:

Then we played games:

Thong throwing. (In Australia a thong is a flip flop not underwear) We had to get it into a bucket. Prizes were given to the winner.

We played ball games that I can remember playing at school.

We had an Australian Trivia Quiz. Our table did very well but we didn't win. We were entertained by the line dancers.

We finished up with a sausage sizzle dinner. Sausage, bacon, onions and cheese in a hot dog roll.

The party was organised by the social committee and the food prepared by the Workshop Boys. The bar is manned by volunteers. It was a good night of fun.

HOLIDAYS AND A NEW HOUSE

 We celebrated Christmas early so that Sonya and family could start their road trip with ancient caravan to Rye in Victoria about 1,800km/1,105miles south of Brisbane. They enjoyed stopping at beachside parks on the way there and different ones on the way back. While they were in Victoria they visited Carol and David, our other daughter and SIL as well as Bernies family. Carol and David are very excited because they have just bought their dream house in country Victoria but only a 90 min drive from their unit in Melbourne. So they can work in Melbourne for a few days and work from home in the country for a few days. While Sonya and Bernie were in Victoria they called in to see their sister, brother in law and the new house. Bernie's sister, Margaret and BIL, Jason also visited the new house.

Banjo fishing at one of their stops.

Sonya and Bernie relaxing on holidays.

Sonya and Bernie enjoying a boat trip with his sister, Margaret and BIL, Jason on their boat in Rye.

David and Carol's new house. It includes a vegetable garden and orchard.

 

View from house 

Sonya, Fox and SIL Margaret enjoying the view.

The happy home owners.

  Then Sonya and family started their road trip home. to Brisbane.

The happy holiday makers.

It makes me happy to see our kids happy.

AN INVITE TO A HOUSE WARMING PARTY.

 Regular readers will remember I told you that our lovely managing director and part owner of our village had to sell the village because the other owner wanted to retire and needed the money. So Chiou See sold the village to a hotel company called Hunter. Luckily, not much has changed and we are all still happy here. Chiou See was sad to leave us but she has stayed in touch and is enjoying her new little grandchildren. She and husband, Brendan have bought a beautiful house on the Sunshine Coast, north of Brisbane. She invited most of the village residents to attend a party at her new house. She organised a bus to pick us up and return us later in the day. It is about a one and half hour journey.

When we arrived, we found somewhere to sit and we were plied with drinks and snacks. Her friends and family did the serving.  It is a beautiful house on the edge of a canal with a golf course next door. There was a musician singing for us. We did lots of chatting with those we hadn't seen for a while. Here are some memories from the day.

The entertainer is in the corner

Chiou See catching up with residents

Bill enjoying a red.

The pool deck

Paella for lunch. I had seafood

Bill had chorizo

Brendan in the blue shirt

Bill enjoying Tiramisu dessert.

Some of the girls got up to dance while we were waiting for the bus to return to take us home. It was a lovely day.

FAMILY CHRISTMAS

 I should catch up with myself and get into 2026. The older I get the lazier I get. I'm ashamed of myself. Anyway we had a disjointed Christmas because half the family were going away. The grandsons are on Summer Holidays and Sonya wanted to get them out of the house and away from screens. So she planned a road trip to Rye in Victoria. It is 1858 km so they hooked up their ancient caravan and headed off for a three day drive stopping at beaches on the way. Then they would stay at Rye where Bernies family have a beach house and celebrate Christmas there. So it was decided that we would celebrate Christmas early before they left. Carol and David flew from Melbourne to be with us and also to spend Christmas Day with David's family and Christmas Eve with us (Like he Swiss celebrate on Christmas Eve). 

So we had a family Christmas on 19 Dec. The young ones prepared the lunch. We had prawns and salads, it is too hot for traditional English fair but David's English parents still do the traditional turkey lunch.

When Carol arrived she baked us a Swiss breakfast bread (Züpfe). We ate it with cheese and cherry jam like  the Swiss do.

 

Gruyere Cheese and Camembert.

Carol also cooked us an Apfelkuchen (apple pie). She enjoys keeping her Swiss heritage alive.

A few days later we celebrated Christmas at lunch time. Sonya, Bernie and the boys arrived with caravan in tow so they could depart early the next morning for Rye in Victoria. They all helped put the lunch together.

Then we played secret Santa.

Sonya and Fox

After lunch Banjo played Santa and gave out all the presents. Here he received a potato from his make believe cousin, Virgil. Carol and David chose not to have children but they invented make believe children, Ruby and Virgil. They are in juvenile detention (so the story goes).

Carol received a gardening book. They have just bought a country house with a huge garden. It was fun to have all the family together. The next morning Sonya and family left for their road trip. Carol stayed until Christmas Eve and then went to stay with David's parents on the other side of Brisbane.We are so blessed that they all come to celebrate with us even if it was before Christmas Day.