Mat's first day of wearing a blazer

Thanks for the photo, Jo.  He looks so smart!

Favourite movies & TV watched (2013)

•  Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
• Blue Jasmine  (2013)
• Django Unchained (2012)
• Kon-Tiki   (2012)
• Gravity  (2013)
• Samsara  (2011)
• The Great Gatsby  (2013)
• Life of Pi  (2012)
• Les Miserables  (2012)
• Looper (2012)
• The Secret in Their Eyes (2009)
• Searching for Sugarman (2012)
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)
• A Separation (2011)
• Cloud Atlas (2012)
• The Intouchables  (2011)
• The Place Beyond the Pines  (2012)
• Breaking Bad (S1 - 4)
• Walking Dead (S1 - 3)
• Game of Thrones (S1)

Matthew's birthday braai (Cape Town)

Thanks for the photos, Jo.

Non fiction books read (2013)

The map of consciousness

• Power vs. Force: The Hidden Determinants of Human Behavior (David R. Hawkins)
• The Eye of the I from Which Nothing is Hidden (David R. Hawkins)

Mindfulness

• The Happiness Trap: Stop Struggling, Start Living (Russ Harris)

Spiritual principles

• Worldwide Laws Of Life: 200 Eternal Spiritual Principles (John Marks Templeton)

Relationships

• The Way of the Superior Man: A Spiritual Guide to Mastering the Challenges of Women, Work, and Sexual Desire (David Deida)
  
  

Purpose and passion

• Find Your Passion: 25 Questions You Must Ask Yourself (Henri Junttila)

Wisdom for life

• Life's Greatest Lessons: 20 Things That Matter (Hal Urban)

The family spend Xmas in Bloemfontein

Thanks for the photos, Jo.

Two photos I'd dearly love to have taken

Source:  Most perfectly timed photos

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Mudgee

Mudgee was our last stop on our trip before heading back to Sydney.  This town is most famous for its surrounding vineyards.  Needless to say, we visited some of them and tasted some lovely wines.  My favourite was the Sparkling Shiraz - absolutely delicious it was.  The chap in charge of the final cellar we visited was presidedly tiddly (it was New Year's Day after all) and he allowed us to pour our own wine to taste while belting out some loud songs.  

The town itself was very attractive with some lovely buildings and churches.  On New Year's Day it was like a ghost town with everything shut except a local pub where we enjoyed a nice lunch.

Dubbo Zoo

We chose a very hot day indeed to explore the famous open plain zoo in Dubbo but had a great time cycling around checking out all the animals.  I used my big 400 mm lens and Dani borrowed my almost as big 200 mm one, so we looked like professionals.  Thanks goodness the bikes had handy baskets to keep the camera in, or our necks would have been very sore by the end of the day.  Dani's favourite animal is the Zebra and it was wonderful to see her enthusiasm when we came across them.

And the award for the cutest goes to...

... and a close runner up 

Award for the best rear end was tied three ways

The big cats were out...

... as were the buck

The last remaining African elephant in Australia

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Rhinos

And yet more animals

Wild birds we saw

Intrepid cyclist

Giraffing around

Next stop

Mudgee