We had a roller coaster ride through 2009. Some very sad times and some very exciting times.

On 18 January my brother, David, succumbed to liver cancer. He lived in London with his wife Ann. The last time we met was in September 2008 in Switzerland (above). I was lucky to spend 6 wonderful days with him.

In February Sonya flew from Sydney to have a birthday lunch with her father. Her sister Carol-Ann was also visiting us from London. It was one of those rare times when we were altogether (except for their partners)

In March we did a road trip to Sydney, exploring new roads and new places on the way. We stayed at Bondi Beach (above) with Sonya and Bernie. We had lovely walks along the coast line.

In April we flew to Townsville (tropical far north Queensland) with a group of friends and Birthday Bear to surprise another of our friends for her birthday. We had loads of fun for the 4 days we were there. Also in April, I took on a 10 week contract at school teaching children with learning difficulties.
In May we did some day trips. One was to the country town of Kooralbyn to visit Martin and Judith. Above is the view from their house.

Martin and Bill went to Kindergarten together in Switzerland. Sadly Martin had an accident recently. He fell from his roof while doing maintenance and broke his back. He is still in hospital now. May wasn't a good month for me as I had to have an ovary and cyst removed. There were a few complications and it took a long time to recover.
In June it was my turn to receive Birthday Bear. She was dressed in her gardening clothes with a barrow load of lemons.
July: Winter is here and it is a great time for walking. We went on many river walks. Above we met friends, Joan and Norm, at the Ipswich River Heart Parklands for a walk.
August is another great month for walking and exploring. We found quite a few new wetlands in our area with nice walkways. I also got a new camera,Canon EOS 1000D. So I have much learning to do.
At the end of August and the beginning of September we went on a memorable trip to The Kimberley and Top End. A trip I have wanted to do for years. It was fabulous.We flew with six friends to Broome and then joined a small group tour to Darwin in a 4 wheel drive small bus/truck.
We had a helicopter flight over the Bungle Bungle Range.
We went for many spectacular river gorge cruises.
We did some walks into gorges too. It was very hot reaching 40C sometimes. A trip we will remember forever. The scenery, wildness and remoteness was unbelievable.
In October I got hooked on photographing birds.


In November we got wonderful news. Our daughter and her celebrity partner are going to have our first grandchild. Bernie is in a TV soap and also the host of "Beauty and the Geek." So the news was written up in New Idea magazine. We were a very proud. (click on the pages to make them readable)

We even had more good news this month. Carol-Ann and David, who have been living in London for many years have decided to come home and start a new life in Australia. So we are are really excited about this even if they live in Sydney or Melbourne, which is likely due to their occupations, we don't mind. They will be much closer than London.


Well, we reached December, which is a bonus when getting older, so we partied hard. We had many reunion dinners and friends group lunches. Great fun and good food and fatter tummies. Guess what my New Year's Resolution is?
Tonight we are going to the New Year's Pop Orchestral Concert at QPAC Concert Hall, which is at South Bank Parklands where 100,000 people are expected for the fireworks celebration. We are going by train as there will be nowhere to park. So this will be an interesting night especially as I'm not fond of crowds.
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE