Gus Chapman Gus was a wonderful friend, we, his friends and his wonderful family, are lesser without him. The memories will remain always Gusso. Love you mate.
Hello Hi, just received your Chrissie card, turned it over but no return address. Do not know how to contact you? Sad to hear we missed you when you were down in Oz, come back soon we would love to catch up. Planning a big trip up north then down the west coast you should meet up with us like old times. Anyway I do hope this reaches you sometime as I would love your address. Love the Kids (Craig, Andrea, Annabelle (billy bob or aj) and the newest addition Sarah xxxx
we are the champions Hi you two
really enjoy reading the blogs funnily enough when I stayed near Ularu
we had a very loud group on the same site and when we came back from an evening out we played We are the Champions and woke the buggers up. keep up the blogs love kate and nick
Thanks Hi Jo and Dave
Thanks for the amazing trip I loved every minute and wasn't at all bothered it wasn't scorching every day. I miss all the O'Clocks and am introducing them here. Miss the fires too, but have the chimenear to fire up. Miss you too but can't make a cut out so will put up with it.
See you soon, watch out for the scorpians in the bog.
p.s. have just about managed to stop slamming down the toilet seat!!!!
Catch up Just got out of hospital after the best part of a month staying courtesy of the NHS so catching up!
A wee story.... In 1983 I was working in London and I looked after a chap called Edgar Percival who was an aircraft designer. He never spoke, never responded but had a fedora in his locker that i later found out was his trade mark when he flew. He invented the Percival Gull and the Percival Proctor, one of which won the Schneider Trophy. Anyway one day my colleague Aiden and I decided to take him to the Imperial War Museum to see one of his planes there. It was the only time I ever saw any response from him..he had severe Alzheimers. We found the plane and I said to him...do you recognise this and he spoke the only two words I ever heard him say which were "It's mine". He died a few months later in 1984 and his obituary was a long feature in The Times and all the other broadsheets. Anyway the point of all this is that he was an Australian and in his obituary it said that the Percival Lakes in Western Australia are named after him. I would love to know if they are if you're passing that way!!!!! Glad you're having a great time but don't like the look of those bugs!
Our Cruise We have just returned from a 10 night Caribbean Cruise from Tampa Florida to Panama. We enjoyed it all including the masses of excellent food they force fed us and would do it all again in an heatrbeat. We are now back in our trailor RV park in Sarasota called Sun N Fun and just doing nothing much at all except walking eating swimming and American telly watching oh and as many dollar movie shows as we can. We are following all your blogs with interest and keep wondering if you will ever turn up at the RV spots next to us one day. Mum Pauling and all of us are well and wish you a very happy gap year and see you in old blightie on your return.
Sea safe to swim in OK Fizz....I'm warming to a bit of the country it's safe to go in the water.....so is there anywhere safe in the lil bit I'll be visiting???? Can't wait to see you both in May......hugs to Maureen O'Leary as was. Keep safe and well.
Sending all our love. Hello Mum and Dad ! Sending all our love via the medium of Electronic Mail !! I'm not sure how this all works and wether you're able to feel my love? I'm showing it to you now - can you see that ? To be honest I don't think this will catch on. I prefer more traditional methods of communication - such as txt ! Any hoo - speaking of tradition I was glad to find out that I had missed another of fathers' birthdays !! and it was the big 60 !! Bugger !! But what could I possibly give the man who has everything - and then I realised - KNOWLEDGE - That's what the loves - needs - his unquenchable thirst for knowledge ! Well, it would be easy for me to tell him that Captain Cook wasn't a captain but a lieutenant and that the Dutch dicovered Australia 150 years earlier !! But the Dutch are always ahead of us - just look at their attitude towards Santa's little helpers.. anyway every school boy knows this. the KNOWLEDGE that I wish to pass on to my father is that when I'd just left school at 17, I thought my father knew nothing of the modern world and had all of his prorities wrong !! but when I turned 21 and sat down and had a chat with him Man to Man, I was surprised to see how much he had learnt in 4 years !! Take good care of each other and if you're ever near a phone, please call as I miss hearing your voices.
XXXXXXX
from one short to another Well gooday there!
I have been reading your blogs, and have to say how bloody impressive you both are! i'm looking forward to my gap year now!!!
also good to hear how the boys etc are doin - hi to all!
waiting for the next instalment already!
bye for now
I'm alive !!!! Hello Mum and Dad - Laura and I are well. Laura only has three months of college remaining and she's getting top grades in all her assignments (such a smartass) My new job is going fantastic. I get on well with everyone and am really enjoy climbing all over the Chinooks and fixing them. They are quite easy to work on and I've not had to spit or kick the helicopter once !!! Chrismas was lovely in Holland - ate chips, saw familly and just generally relaxed whilst Lauras familly ran round catering to my every need and whim. Very exciting on B'mth beach, apparently the council heard that chloe had trouble burying her gran in the sand !!! so they have invested millions and had an international team of workers, machines and boats working around the clock for weeks, moving thousands of tonns of sand along the seafront !! It looks so strange to see the pier with mostly sand under the length of it, and at the weekend the crowds of men just stearing at all the diggers and pipes, whilst there wives and girlfriends tried to drag them away (including my beloved) Laura and I have been to a few gigs resently and love being able to walk home and be tucked up in bed before most people have realised there won't be another encore ! This year for my birthday we hope to go up to Edinborugh with Kieron and stay in his brothers penthouse over looking the city, as that weekend they have some strange fire festival, street party thing !!! I wouldn't of thought that Fire and Street party make good bed fellows -but after enough Buckfast and deep fried cream eggs it probably seems the next logical thing to do. And what better way to impress the tourist than the medium fire !!!? We really miss you both, it seems so strange not to speak to you and cant wait to see you again. Take good care of each other, give each other a hug from laura and little old me - your favorite golden child XXX
give em hell hi terry and debs what a shock getting an email from your dad, good to have you on board, can't believe how many people are reading this!!!
stuck in melbourne for a few days while the van has a new cam belt fitted, then we are off to tasmania.it didn't break we had it in for a service and the mechanic said it was nearly due for one, so thought we would get it done before we go bush again love jo and dave
give them hell.. gooday,it's terry or should i say kerry for you,only just found out about the fun,got blogg from micheal..really pleased your having a great time, and proud of you.. wish i could do the same..read all your bloggs.will keep watching for next entry..give em hell and take em by storm..
Have an amazing Xmas Dear Jo and Dave, Mum and Dad!
thank you so much for my present, it was just wonderful. I have got presents for you too but lost your address, shall I keep them for you? I'm also going to bring back some treats for you from Holland. There, I've said it, so I can't eat all the biscuits even if I wanted to! I miss you and so does Chris but we know that you're having a great time and you're coming back next year. Have a lovely Christmas, we'll be thinking of you, and an amazing New Year filled with sunshine and love.
Take care, I'll write again soon. All my love to you both
Cold Cold Cold Hi Folks, great to read your blog, facinating !
I too spent last evening star gazing- on Epynt ranges, close to where we all spent a snowy evening in March this year Marshalling.
The cars had ice on them before the start,
Graham has now taken to driving ( came 3rd overall last night in the Corola out of 90!!)
Still miss you both Tuesday nights, Your house looks great !
Seasons greetings, take care
Rob
Welkom in de echte wereld!! Hello Mum and Dad,
Thanks for sending Laura and I presents for Christmas. As you know Lauras english isn't so good and she unwrapped them !!! And a bloody good job she did !!! The koala you posted looked like it needed a meal !! We've nursed him back to health and called him Bananas. He's a very sweet looking bear, but is actually very naughty and is getting the blame for alot of things that are not entirely his fault, with the lack of eucalyptus leaves I don't think his tummy is used to our food !!!
Other News... I'm starting a new job tomorrow !!! Its working at DARA Fleetlands in Gosport and I'll be repairing helicopters. I've been to the site and it looks really good and the pay is slightly better than Smiths ! YEY ! I'm really excited ! It's about time I moved on, I can only help these giant global companys out so much befor they have to go it alone, stand on there own two feet !! Yes they'll struggle but " Welcome to the Real world" I say !!
Laura loves her new neckless and she looks very beautiful in it, the stone really brings the colour in the teeth.
We are missing you loads.
XXXXXXXX
What a winter!!! Hi there,
It's wet and windy as hell here and dark by 4...also need car lights on going to work in the morning....can't imagine how wonderful it is there. How are you going to come back here??? Keep the blog going.....gossip here is that you have a book in you fizz. Miss you.
MERRY XMAS Hi Dave and Jo, have a great christmas, we are all thinking of you, enjoy yourselves, love from Sara, John, Lewis, Luke and William (AKA the Helms!!)
Frog Protection League Hi Jo and Dave,
Enjoying your reports from sunny Australia here in wintry Ontario. But why do I feel more sympathy for the frogs tucked up under the ledge of the toilet bowl than for my own dear sister?
Best wishes,
Robert, Sandra and Sam
Scarey Beasts Wow...my sis is an intrepid explorer!!!!!!
You just take care fizz.....seems a scarey country to visit....if it aint things in the bog waiting to bite the bum of the unsuspecting wee-er it's things with nasty stings or big mouths waiting to bite the said bum off in the sea!!!!
I can't wait to join you....allways had a wish to die an interesting death!!!!
All at the Cricks ask after you and we just had a great hallowene quiz night....Poppy won the best dressed doggums.....will mail you pics.
Take careXXXXX
Life is not a rehersal you only get one shot do what you have to. We have waited 30 + years to have a gap year, they hadn't been invented when we were in our teens, so this is our gap year,we have visited australia twice, it is so big and there is so much to see, we were inspired by Bill Brysons book Down Under, I bought this book on our last trip down under .We were always a chapter behind , thus missing some of the wonderful things he had come across, but we did go to Cowra,and we went to the visitor centre and were as mesmerised as he was at the presentation of the cowra outbreak during the... full info
Anon
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Gus Chapman
Gus was a wonderful friend, we, his friends and his wonderful family, are lesser without him. The memories will remain always Gusso. Love you mate.