Time's been whizzing by and we've been having fun!

Surfest was as exciting as it is each year, some of the world's best surfers converging on Merewether Beach for a week and the associated hoop-la set our little beachside hamlet alight. Many of the drone shots on the coverage captured our unit overlooking the action, but try as we might, we couldn't quite time it to be on the balcony when it was flying over!

Our nephew, Michael is a delightful, uber-intelligent young man who has carved a professional niche for himself in Canada after following his equally charming sweetheart back to her home country. Lucky for us, the couple decided to wed in Australia, and we were able to attend the ceremony on a clifftop in Merewether and a reception in town when they made a flying visit for the nuptials. It was a lovely day and evening and Helen and Neil as well as Michael and Arielle spoke eloquently to entertain the assembled family and friends.

Cassy's birthday was celebrated with a lunch at the "hatted" Yellow Billy restaurant in the Hunter Valley. They served us one spectacular morsel after another, each surprising and innovative, using ingredients in different ways and clever combinations. Their home garden provided most of the vegetables and we were full in the stomach and happy in the soul by the time we hit the road in the afternoon after a bounteous three course feast with accompanying wines.

A catch-up phone call with Ross in Dunedin highlighted the fact that they would be travelling the following week to their "wee batch" in Queenstown for the school holidays and suggested we needed to see each other soon. After a quick check with Cass, I texted Ross back and suggested we could crash the second week of their holidays if it suited. He and Ains were very enthusiastic, so we booked flights then and there. They picked us up from the airport, just a 10 minute drive away from the bach, and we had a very special stay in their recently renovated A-Frame. We spent hours chatting, eating Ross' beautiful home cooked dinners, drinking red wine and generally having a good laugh and solving the world's problems! Each day we had adventures that were variously enervating, invigorating and fun, including hiking up to an alpine lake in The Remarkables, catching water taxis across the sound, checking out historic villages like Arrowtown, or catching cable cars up vertiginous mountains before flying halfway down again on a luge!!

We attended a MusicaViva concert with Mark and Erin recently and were mesmerised by the elegant, impossibly young and ridiculously talented Esme Quartet from Germany as they transported us away to other-worldly realms with some sublime music. Just recently, we dined with Wayne and Josie to celebrate our birthdays at Bella Italia before going to King Street Hotel to see Pseudo Echo, the second time for us in just a few months. They were similarly skilled and polished as before, but both the two and a half hour wait for them while standing in a crowded venue, as well as a mind-blasting, crazy-distorted sound mixing made for a less than spectacular result. We felt sorry that Wayne and Jose hadn't seen them at their optimum with us in Launceston!

Oh, and I did the obligatory birthday push-ups again: did I mention that it gets harder every year?! Up top for a while and here later.

 We've taken on a full yearly subscription to the ACO as well as MusicaViva this year. Mum is unable to go these days and we'd always enjoyed the tickets she'd gift us from time to time. We decided to get our own seats and be able to go to all the concerts at our leisure. We went to the first ACO concert, an interesting collaboration between filmmakers and the orchestra as the live orchestra played in front of a full length film, River, on the theme of water in the world. Didgeridoo player and vocalist, William Barton, joined the usual brilliant talents of Tognetti and company and it was a delightful evening. We also attended the first MusicaViva concert in February, a bank of cabaret songs with a supremely talented vocalist and pianist. Not our favourite genre, but the skill levels were off the charts.

With Valerie, we attended the Civic Theatre for a night with Kevin McCleod of "Grand Designs" fame. We're massive fans of the show having watched all 20 plus seasons plus many of the spinoff shows! He was suitably eloquent and entertaining as expected and we had a lengthy evening of clips, quotes, chats, surveys and stories. Great fun!

Chris and Val had gifted us a "doors off" helicopter flight for our 60th birthdays, but we'd left the voucher withering on the shelf for years as we worked up enough courage to exchange it. Prompted by its imminent cancellation due to time, we bit the bullet and booked the flight. Wow, what an experience! I'm massively acrophobic and Cass only slightly less so, meaning it took every bit of our courage to board. The sensation of initial lift, the hovering, then the bare knuckle ride including banking at speed at great height with doors off was something else again....suffice to say we were abuzz for days afterward! We zoomed down the Hunter River from the Steel River base, down the coast nearly to Swansea then back. Wow, just wow!

I've also taken delivery of a spanking new Taiwanese motor scooter! The ancient Harley was becoming too much to handle, so I reluctantly sold it via some motorcycle wholesalers (the process was incredibly easy and stress free) for a decent price for a 26 year old bike, then all cashed up, bought the scooter. Cass and I have also invested in 2 new modern helmets with quick release straps as well as in built sun visors and we're both really enjoying zooming around on the new bike, "Whitey". It gives us a real thrill each time and reminds us of scootering around Taipei city for all those years on our old clunky scooter over there. I scooter to my exercise class in Adamstown, to see mum in Mayfield, and we're planning to take it to the football as well: should solve some parking issues!

We've celebrated Sue's unusual "15th" birthday as her leap year birthday was on this year. We went to somewhere special for this and we couldn't go past the Roundhouse once again...it didn't disappoint and Sue had a great time. We ate out with Valerie at Scratchley's and I've had a couple of coffee morning with the boys as well as some beers on a Sunday arvo at Dixon Park with Mark C.

Surfest is on again next week and we've already been watching the temporary judging stand and competitor's area be installed as well as some early surfing professional arrivals carving up the waves off the point. That'll do, over and out! (The second photo is a shot, taken from our veranda, of the crowd milling outside the Beach Hotel recently, waiting to get in. The refurbishment is really spectacular but it certainly attracts a crowd!)

 Apologies for anyone tuning in to this blog expecting some kind of regular update....I've procrastinated to the point of inertia, so I'll try to do some sort of catch up for the last few months!

October was full of events, starting with a hilarious show by one of our favourite comedians, Kinne, at the Town Hall and lots of dinners and lunches with Wayne and Josie, Thurza, Mark W and Mark C, as well as coffee mornings with the old boys. I'm doing some exercise physiology classes as well, so that continued every week as well as our daily walks. The month culminated for my niece Ellen becoming "Suddenly 30!" and a special party she hosted, along with and amazing event where an actual Beatle graced Newcastle with his presence!

Ellen's such a sweety, and she was delightful as always in hosting her birthday bash, with Vince's band providing live music and lovely speeches delivered by all. Paul McCartney rocked the football stadium in a spectacular light and sound show, defying his advancing years by energetically attacking all sorts of favourites for hours without a break. We'd secured great close up seats on the main floor and we had a ball. Hard to believe that both McCartney and Elton John played in Newcastle last year.

We'd been threatening to "do the loop" of Tasmania for many years, but in November we finally did it, Spirit of Tasmania crossing and all! The new car purred down the highway to Gundagai for the first night before we arrived in the Geelong terminus for the ferry the following evening. It was an experience to load the car and quite an exciting and different one. Our luxurious queen cabin was on the corner of the ship and even came with some wine and chocolate!

Stanley was our first stop and we cruised the northern beaches and towns on the way to this quaint outpost. Our cottage nestled below the famous Nut and we did the steep climb of same before dining on lobster (crayfish) and seafood at Hursey's. The following two days we spent hiking in Cradle Mountain and staying overnight at Ulverston. The scenery was picture book perfect, more incredible than our imaginations had conjured up, and the trails were challenging but manageable. We negotiated our first and only spot of rain on the trip down the winding mountain passes to spend the first night of three in Strahan on the rugged and isolated west coast.

We were both marvelling at the different feel of this island state. It's natural beauty was a part of it, the small and spread out population was another, but somehow it felt like another country entirely. It was so laid back and languid, giving us vibes of the remote areas on the south island of New Zealand. Our day on the Gordon River on the luxury deck of a motor yacht in whisper mode, was one of life's special experiences: the fine food and free flowing wine and drink adding to the ambiance of the ancient forests and mirrored surfaces of the river enroute to convict penal islands echoing with history. We had an on-train experience and a high tea the next day on the West Coast Wilderness Railway before leaving to experience Queenstown's denuded lunar-like landscapes, high lookouts and the beauty of more hiking at Lake St. Clair, a lunch at a remote pub in the middle of the island before motoring onward to our accommodation in a rustic cabin in the middle of nowhere at Bronte Park. We visited a tiny, ramshackle store down the road and bought some soup for dinner, which we ate in front of a roaring wood fire that night!

Our beautiful car was looking very dishevelled after negotiating some dusty sections of dirt road so we felt it was about time to head to civilisation again. Enroute to Hobart we stopped by picturesque Richmond for some lunch and touristy visits before checking in for our two night stay at the ultra luxurious Henry Jones Art Hotel. Wow, what a room (almost a suite) it was! Shaun came and picked us up later and took us to their beautiful home in Battery Point. It was so wonderful to see Shaun and Katie and we dined on a cheese plate and had some drinks before dining that night with them at the much vaunted Pepperina. Fantastic, and a perfect entrée for our trip to the iconic MONA the following day!

The journey up the Derwent on the dedicated ferry was made even more colourful by a sighting of the band The Brian Jonestown Massacre onboard as well as in the museum. We spent the day scouring the underground levels of this spectacular jewel in Hobart's crown and it didn't disappoint. We can both tick this off our bucket list now. We met up with Shaun for a couple of beers and a chat that evening before getting ready for a final night at Henry Jones and a trip to the atmospheric Port Arthur the following day. It was an incredible site full of shocking history both from the early days of Van Diemen's Land penal colony and the more recent shooting massacre which changed our gun laws. Both aspects of history were subtly acknowledged and we did an extensive walk of the grounds as well as a ferry ride to fully appreciate the remote location and the privations experienced by the prisoners. It was yet another glorious day, weather wise, and we fully enjoyed our experience. We left in the late afternoon to drive to Spring Beach to check out Shaun and Katie's beach "shack" enroute to our accommodation at Orford overlooking the river where we prepared for a short drive the next day to Triabunna and the ferry terminal for Maria Island.

We got a tip from am ex-student to see Maria Island and it was yet another in the highlight reel of this trip. A long ferry ride delivered us on to the island where we spent hours trekking across grassy plains that plunged precipitously into aquamarine waters on the edges of the island. There were ancient fossils, wandering wildlife including wallabies and wombats, restored colonial buildings and sculptured foreshore rock formations. It was a treat for all the senses and yet another mind-blowing day. We drove further along the east coast on the famous drive, next stop our next luxury stay at Freycinet Lodge and more hiking around Wineglass Bay.

Our apartment was luxurious, the food mouth-watering and the hiking scenery spectacular at Freycinet National Park. Our trek up to the top of the mountain the next day was a thigh burner but nothing compared to the return journey from Wineglass Bay, where we elected to cross the isthmus then scramble across the headland back to our lodge. We hiked nearly 17km across rough and unforgiving terrain: no wonder we enjoyed a couple of drinks that evening. How beautiful the mountains and beaches were: we couldn't stop taking photos! The following day we embarked on yet another luxury cruise covering a lot of the same ground but this time from an ocean perspective. Sea lions, dolphins and whales frolicked but we couldn't enjoy our seafood lunch as Cassy succumbed to a bout of queasy seasickness and we spent a long time at the bow gazing at the horizon. The cruise staff kindly packed our lunch and Cass recovered sufficiently to have it for tea...winning!

After our cruise we travelled further up the scenic east coast highway all the way to St. Helen's, gateway to Binalong Bay and the famous "Bay of Fires". Yet another superb apartment for the night, we camped in, enjoying the luxury and had our packed lunch before a good night's sleep and a long and interesting drive the following day taking in the fiery rocks and crystal clear waters of the remote beaches, cute coastal towns and inland forests, farms and re-invented mountain towns including the famous mountain bike mecca of Derby, and a delicious coffee with jam and scones at a farm café in the depths of the north-east forests. Our final destination was Launceston, and after an aborted mission to sample Tasmania's "best" scallop pie (sold out!), we pulled in to the fancy Country Club golf course and hotel where we checked in and prepared for our planned funky evening!

Originally we'd planned to stay in the city but as fate would have it, iconic 80s pop-rockers Pseudo Echo were scheduled to play that night just outside Launceston at the country club, so on Cassy's urging I cancelled that booking and rebooked the show and room at the other venue. Much to my surprise, It ended up being one of the great musical/concert moments of my life when they gently warmed the crowd with an entertaining, up-beat set then clouted them over the head with a bell ringing, extended version of their famous version of Funky Town. We were drugged with the majesty of Tasmania's beauty and wonder at the end of a superb and successful trip so I suspect this has a little to do with the euphoria, but despite all that, it was a polished, professional and fun-filled concert!

We eased out of our Tasmanian experience with a leisurely day in Cataract Gorge, riding the chairlift and enjoying the sights before driving to Devonport to meet the ferry for our overnight trip back to Geelong. A little hiccup when the thermostat light came on necessitating an extra night in Victoria to check the car at Mercedes, Geelong, before the all clear to travel to Gundagai, dinner at the pub then breakfast again at the beautifully restored Paragon Café prior to driving back home to give the car (and us!) a much needed rest.

Phew....I haven't written this much for a while! Since our trip, December and January have seen various Christmas celebrations which were lovely, meetings with friends (including a fun New Year's Eve at Wayne and Josie's brand new harbour apartment!), dinners for anniversaries and lots of lap swimming for me in preparation for the annual harbour swim. My goal was to make it across and not need to be rescued....mission accomplished!

Here is the Tasmanian album....