Flight to Cape Town

A 26 hour journey from Sydney to Cape Town on Singapore Airline. I was delighted to have three seats to myself for 2 of the 3 legs. Wonderful! 

3 seats to myself for two of the three legs

Blissfully reunited with Jo

Memorable moments: The ecstatic return

Every year, I’d travel back to South Africa for several weeks to visit family. During these trips, my dog, Mack, would stay with Liza, who shared "custody" of him with me. It was a perfect arrangement, but the separation always felt like a lifetime.

The absolute highlight of my return to Australia was the moment I walked through the door to be reunited with him. It was a scene of pure, unadulterated chaos.

There was frantic panting, heavy slobbering, and a series of high-pitched, desperate whines. There was uncontrolled jumping, a fair amount of spinning, and enough vigorous bum-shaking to power a small village. It was a display of emotional vulnerability that would have made a Zen master weep.

And honestly, once I calmed down and stopped licking his face, Mack seemed pretty excited to see me, too.

Catch up with Ross after 30 years

A wonderful get together with Ross, a friend of mine at university, who I haven't seen for 3 decades. Fascinating to hear all about his career as an ornithologist. I met up with him at his home in Gardens and we went to a local cafe.

A lovely evening with Rory and Russell

Lovely to see Rory after so many years and to meet his wonderful wife, Angela.  I had the fish and chicken curry with lychees.  Delicious!

Meeting up with Julian and Juliet in Durbanville

It was wonderful to see Julian and Juliet after so many years. We drove out to there beautiful home in Durbanville with its enormous garden. We got to see Antonio and Alessandro who are all grown up. Then Julian joined Antony, Jo and I on a visit to two local wine farms for a wine tasting and a delicious cheese platter. 

Wine route

Dinner with Shirley

 So wonderful to catch up with Shirley and to meet her delightful daughter, Keira.

Walk with Ivor at Silvermine

It was so lovely to see Ivor after so long.

 

Catching up with Nicola and John

Wonderful to see Julian again

Jo reunited with her good friend, Eva

So much to catch up on!

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Nicola and John visit us in Sydney...

...much to our delight!! We went to Watson's Bay for fish and chips. It was fantastic to see them again and catch up. Nicola and John are recently engaged. So wonderful to see a couple so much in love.
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Andreas, Ingrid and Sebastian arrive in Sydney

...much to our delight!!
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Brendan and Eva arrive in Sydney

Brendan, Eva and Ella have arrived to live in Sydney - much to our excitement. They are living in Mosmon, right on the ocean and its a real treat to go over and have a swim. I think we'll be finding many an excuse to visit! Ella is the most delightful little thing and we've had lots of fun playing in the pool.


View from the pool - doesn't get much better than this!


View from the balcony - where we have already enjoyed two great barbies

Ally and me swimming off the rocks at the bottom of the garden. The water is pristine and the perfect temperature

Dorothy visits us in Sydney

Its been a great treat to see Dorothy again. One of my absolute favourite people at Volvo, she inspired me to go on healthy lunch time walks, was always a great lifesaver in assisting me with the somewhat scary budget process and loves cinema and movies as much as I do.

Dorothy stayed with us for 6 days and it was great to show her some of the great sites around Sydney.

Highlights:

• Doing part of the Manly scenic walk and salivating over some of the houses to be found there.
• Genuine Yum Chow in China Town
• Picnics overlooking The Opera House
• Visiting the famous Sydney Fish market
• Walk along the cliffs at Watson's Bay, followed by delicious fish and chips
• Being treated to a delicious Thai dinner
• Getting to know Dorothy better - she is pure sunshine

Watson's Bay

Picnic with friends overlooking Sydney Harbour Bridge



Meal at Thai-riffic

The Manly Scenic Walk

Brendan comes to visit

Brendan came to stay with us for a few days during his whirlwind visit from Cape Town. He and Eva and the family are moving out here in January and he came to hunt a home for them. We are so excited about their decision to move to Sydney.

On Saturday morning, we visited China Town and introduced Brendan to our favourite Yum Chow restaurant. Its a real local hang out and we were the only "westerners" there. A constant stream of ladies came to our table to tempt us with their delicasies - and got very upset if we said no (they have that "hurt" look absolutely perfected) - so we ended of stuffing ourselves with prawns, fish, beef etc. and copious amounts of Chinese tea. Absolutley delicious, all of it.



On our explorations of China Town, we came accross someone playing music with beer bottles. He could play any tune you asked for - and it sounded great. Who would have thought beer could be so musical.

It's Mr Musoni!!

I was delighted to see Hubert, one of my favourite Volvo colleagues, the other day - here in Sydney. It was a great treat. We met up for a beer and meal. He's here on vacation and popped through Sydney on a road trip. His fun Australian mate who Hubert is travelling with is a committed Melbournite and wasn't too complimentary about Sydney so I did my best to put the story right!! Hope to see you here again Hubert - and stay longer in Sydney next time!

Hoar family reunion

 

Llandadno beach with Nicky, Shirly and the family

One of my absolute favourite beaches in the whole world.

Playing on the beach






Fire juggling on the beach




Free Spirits



Mood shots



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