Heading South

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The last blog was written in Douglas Daly as we prepared to return home for Lib’s 50th in Bathurst. We had a great time catching up with Lib and Greg - they had just returned from Turkey so had lots to tell us. We have put Turkey on our list for future travels. All the adult members of the family except Michael, Leigh & Ryan, made it up to Bathurst for the party so a great time was had by all. Lib loved having everyone there and especially enjoyed showing off her new garden. We stayed an extra few days and in that time saw the fountain frozen over, twice. Just a tad cold in Bathurst. Got back to Sydney in time to have a 22nd birthday lunch with Ryan. It was just great seeing him and having him to ourselves for a couple of hours. He is still very happy at Cruise Bar at Circular Quay even though things are a bit quiet through the winter. We caught up with him again on the Friday night at the Cruise Bar where he looked after us like a real pro. He was working on a private event so put us into little side lounge area that looked out over the Quay to the Opera House. Almost made us miss Sydney - for about 10 seconds. Just remembered what the trip into the city was like, Imagine this - middle of winter on a wet Friday evening trying to get into George Street by 6 p.m. John had the ‘Tom Tits’ big time so I guess I was lucky to get there at all!!

The end of the week saw another birthday celebration. This time it was Kieth’s 70th so we all gathered at Kate and Brett’s place for a birthday afternoon tea. It was a lot of fun with the grandkids having plenty of people to push the swings in between the odd glass of beer and champagne. We were due to fly back to Darwin the next day but my very dear friend Anne Back lost her sister to cancer whilst we were home, so we decided to stay on for the funeral. It was a very sad time but we managed a few days at Gerroa to keep out of everyone’s way. The wind was howling and the rain poured almost in keeping with the sadness of the time. The funeral was on the Thursday and we were able to spend our last two nights with Anne and Trevor discussing our proposed trip to the Rugby World Cup next year and flew back to Darwin on Monday 24th July.

Stayed one night in Darwin catching up with Wayne and Jill and then took off back to the van at Douglas Daly. Everything was AOK, so spent the next day washing and getting everything ship shape to hit the road again. There are terrific hot springs at Douglas Daly so spent some time cooking ourselves and getting into the relaxed travelling mode required for the next stretch of our big trip.

Went straight from there to Katherine, which was only a 200 kilometre run. We have been to Katherine before so didn’t have to bust a boiler to see everything. Took advantage of the bike tracks and rode around to most things including the museum, the old railway station and the School of the Air. The Bledisloe Cup was on Saturday night so went to 6.30 mass and headed off to the Country Club to catch all the action over dinner. What a treat!! They had 2 televisions in the dining area, one showed the Wallabies losing and the other had the Swans winning. Throw in some oysters kilpatrick and a huge steak and a girl is in her element. What a night!!! The only thing missing was a 3rd TV showing ‘The Bill’. Anyway we left Katherine on Monday morning and headed south to Alice Springs. Stopping at Mataranka and Banka Banka, and Ti Tree along the way. Will write again from the Alice.

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Photos

Lib and the boys
Lib, John, Peter, Jo and Kate

Lib's nieces
Kate Ridley, Jo Stubbs, (the other one) and Natalie Stubbs. Kate and Nat are both pregnant, due Oct and Sept respectively.

Lib's lovely garden
This is the fountain that froze over whilst we were visiting.

The three of us.
At Cruise Bar on Friday 14th July

Kieth's 70th
Kieth and Toni and our collective grandkids.

Grandpa and Hannah
Isn't she gorgeous?

Comments

[Jan and Gene]

Small Trip
Cancer Dr. out of town, went to Colorado for 4 days, stayed at Lake City, 8800 Ft, went over 12,oooft passes, thru 14,ooo peaks, pretty but cold, Gene had trouble breathing in high altitude, back to treatment on Mon. It's still 100degrees here, thanks again for the map, got you located, Love, Jan

[Tricia and Kieran]

Fantastic diary Jo and John. Excellent to see you at Katherine! We have a good photo of you - will try to get it to you. Love Tricia and Kieran.