Possum Galore
A life ‘Down Under’!
Ashby again.
So…last weekend we went down to Ashby in New South Wales to see Tracy and catch up after a long time away. On Staaurday Will and I went for a swim in the ocean on Back Beach at Angourie, we had lunch at the Pacific Hotel in Yamba and then went to Grafton in the afternoon for and art event. We had a lazy Sunday but on Monday we got up early to go looking for Black Swans. Will has an exhibition in Wagga Wagga in August and part of the exhibition is on the fate of the Black Swans on the Murrambidya River. Luckily we found some at Everlasting Swamp National Park near Lawrence on the Clarence River and Will got some recordings that he can hopefully use. We came back on Tuesday after a surprise encounter with a pair of Brolgas…
Easter Sunday at South Bald Rock.
So…Tessa was up for the Easter weekend and on the Sunday we went for a walk to South Bald Rock in Girraween National Park. Will had been a few times before over the years but it was the first time for Tessa and I. From researching the route beforehand we were expecting it be just under 8 kms to walk in, from what other people had said but it turned out to be nearer 10 kms. It was not too hot a day so pretty perfect for walking. We set off at 10.00 and we had our lunch when we got there at about 12.00. Will and I then climbed to the summit before we headed back. We got back to the car at 3.30 and the whole trek was 22 kms.
And now a quick Catch Up.
So…after Mum passed away on the 19th of December there was a lot to sort out, especially informing family and friends of her passing by phone and email and letter. There was the funeral to arrange too and with the proximity to Christmas that had to wait until the beginning of January.
Will and I went away for Christmas for a few days in Whitby. (I’ll post more on that later.) We returned to Mum’s and began to slowly sort through the house. One of the biggest jobs was copying family photos and slides so that my brothers and sister had copies. Will did most of that.
The funeral was on the 5th January, a cold, frosty day Mum. was buried with Dad in Wetheral.
After the funeral we continued to sort the house and arrange probate.
Will and I moved back to my house in Penrith as we started to clear Mum’s house.
We took some time off in February and had a week in Cornwall and Devon. (I’ll post more on that later).
We decided to go ahead and book flights back to Australia for the 16th March even before we knew if we could get everything with the house sorted in time but we just felt we had done enough and wanted to get back.
As it turned out we did get the house pretty much emptied before we left. We took an antique oak settle and the dining table and chairs down to Josh’s in London. Other bits and pieces were taken by my brothers and sister and quite a bit of furniture was donated to the British Heart Foundation.
As the 16th of March approached the war in Iran started and in the end our flight was delayed three times as we were flying with Emirates through Dubai. We eventually left on the Wednesday 18th but from Dubai had to fly to Brisbane via Sydney arriving in Australia on the morning of the 20th March.
I had been out of the country since December 2024 and Will had been in the UK since the end February 2025.
It was good to be back though I will miss seeing my family as much as I have been able to this last year.