Our last week in Australia

As you can see from the previous entries we had a very busy time while in Australia and yes, a lot of the time was spent with our very dear friends and family. We previously mentioned the 'Old Jerra Gang' who are our wonderful friends from our surburb in Jerrabomberra where our Australian home is located.  Here Debbie and Ross are enjoying another social event.    

We always enjoy the opportunity to have our furry friend time and we were are always pleased to see Pooch and Gismo when they came for a visit.

All of our friends made a great effort to come and visit while we were in town and this photo is taken in the backyard of Debbie and John's home, where we stayed for our last week before returning to the USA.  From left to right you will see Fred, Mary,Debbie, John, Kala, Dan and Bev.  Debbie and John have a lovely home and as you can see a spectacular garden.   

As it turns out several of our group celebrate their birthdays in the month of February and as we were departing for Texas on 26 Jan, Australia Day we decided to have early birthdays for all.   We needed to do this over 2 nights as it was difficult to get everyone together so below you will see the smiling faces of lovely Kala, and the two handsome fellows Ross and John.

Ric, our other mate was free another evening for his early birthday and he had a cup cake with a candle.  His lovely friend Ann joined us for the celebration.  We had a great evening.

When we think of Australia we all know about the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge.  Many however, have never seen how many people in  Australia hang out their washing, so for our North American friends in particular, this is a rotary clothesline which is an Australian invention.  It is most effective.

After living in North America for just over 3 years now and seeing road signs warning of deer and moose we wanted to share with you our warning signs - the Kangaroo. 

On the 26 Jan we arrived the Sydney International Airport to return to Texas and we wanted to show our North American friends what a Qantas Club looks like.  As it was Australia Day they were serving excellent meat pies along with a wide variety of other fare, inclusive of a full bar selection.

We had the best time in Australia and were so delighted to catch up with family and friends.  We met so many wonderful people and really appreciated our country of birth.  

For those who have not had the opportunity to visit Australia we urge you to make the trip downunder.     

Best wishes,

Bev and Ross 

Visit to Bathurst

During our last few days in Australia we made a quick overnight trip to  Bathurst (NSW) to catch up with our long time great friends Peter and Jenny. Ross and Peter went to school together and have known each other for at least 55 years. 

On the scenic 4 hour drive from Canberra we stopped at Cowra for lunch and the shot below is the main street, very similar to many small Australian country towns. 

Peter is retired and Jenny is a successful artist with many showings to her credit.

 They have a wonderful home and the images below give some indication of the amount of work they have put into the yard to achieve amazing results.

No visit to their place would be complete without a photo of the real master of the house - Sasha.

Thanks Guys, we had a terrific time with you, only wish we had the opportunity to stay longer.

Cheers Ross and Bev

Catching up with our family and friends

Many of you will have heard us speak of Ross' lovely family and it was so nice to have the opportunity to spend some great time with them.  Happy to say that Lindy is doing well following her bone marrow transplant and Toni's daughter who suffered an horiffic MVA is doing better each day and is about to  have another round of surgery.  From left to right there is Russell, Toni, Lisa, Ross, Lindy, David, Matthew and baby William,  

Below is the addition of Bradley, Bev and Oliver.

We also had the chance to met up with some of our military friends.  The  military provides the opportunity to meet great people who become your life time friends.  We all met the Jerra Fine Asian Cuisine Restaurant which is located in the suburb of Jerrabomberra where we have our home.  We had a great night catching up.  The photo from left to right at the back is Peter, Kerry, Jack, Bronwyn, Peter, middle row is Helen, Bev, Judith, Dayle, Kim, Bev and Marian, front row is Judith and Ross.  Those still serving are all in senior positions and there were 2 retired Directors of Defence Force Nursing and the current Director of ADF Nursing.   

We also got to have afternoon tea with Penny and Steve and this photo is taken in their backyard.  Both Steve and Penny at different times had postings to the USA.  As did Bronwyn.     

We were treated like royality by Mr and Mrs Yam, Don and Ada who own the Jerra Fine Asian Cuisine Restaurant.  On this night our other dear friends

 Debbie, John and Ric (the old gang) were treated to a delightful meal by the Yams.  There will be more about the Old gang later in the blog.  Over the many years we had eaten the Jerra restuarant with our mates we had got to know the Yams and they treated us to a range of dishes from years past. It was just like old times and hard to believe it had been 3 years since we had all been together.  Below you will see Mr and Mrs Jam, Don, Ada, Debbie, John and Ric. It was indeed a great night.    

Many will have heard us speak of Jack whom we visited China with in 2005.  Well Jack has just opened another fantastic restaurant called Wild Duck and he has spent considerable time and attention (not to mention money)to ensure that his restaurant is fitted out with authentic Chinese funiture and fittings.  His restaurant is spectacular and the food was fantastic.  Here we are with the Old Gang again with Jack at Wild Duck.     

Jack even has beautiful Chinese wash basins in the restrooms.

We had the best time with our family and friends.  We were treated to delicious food, enjoyed the fellowship of our mates and truly hope that they will come and visit us in the USA so we can return the hospitality.

More to follow,

Best wishes,

Bev and Ross

Canberra 2012

Canberra, Australia's National Capital is Australia's only planned city and it was designed by Mr Burley Griffin, an American.  The view below is looking up towards our Parliament Houses.  The white house in the front is the Old Parliament House which served as the seat of Government from 1927 to 1988 when the New Parliament House was opened.  New Parliament House is the tall building situated behind.  To know more about these buildings have a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Parliament_House,_Canberra and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament_House,_Canberra

 Looking back from our House of Parliament is the Australian War Memorial which is a museum commemorating the sacrifices of Australians who have died in war.  It also has displays and one that is currently showing is titled Nurses from Zululand to Afghanistan.  To see more about the AWM have a look at  http://www.awm.gov.au/

The road that aligns the AWM and Parliament House is called Anzac Parade and located on either side of the road are memorials to those conflicts Australia had been involved in.  The memorial below is to those who fought in the Korean War.

Across from this is the memorial for the Australian Services Nurses.  These are just two examples of how we in Australia remember those who have paid the supreme sacrifice so that we can have the freedoms we enjoy.
On 25 April which is our Anzac Day the Parade marches up Anzac Parade to the War Memorial and the official salute is taken by the Prime Minister or his/her delegate.  

Canberra is a pretty city and has lots of fountains.

The inner city is easy to walk around as it has lots of open spaces so no need to avoid cars. 

There are a variety of interesting art pieces around the city.

On day one of our return to Canberra as we were walking through the city centre, John our friend whom we had not seen since leaving Australia called out to us.  He now has his own cafe in Canberra.  We were so excited to spend time with him. 

We had breakfast at his cafe on the 2 days we stayed in the city and this is an example of a hot Australian breakfast.  

and of course a great cup of coffee.

We had a great couple of days in Canberra and it was nice to see John once again and to see him doing so well.

More to follow.

Best wishes,

Bev and Ross  

Queensland and Northern New South Wales Visit

Brisbane is the home town for Beverley and it had been many years since we had been back to Queensland so we took the opportunity to spend a lovely evening with dear friends.  The one night we had in Brisbane we all met at Wendy and Phil's home.  We were treated to great food which was made so much more pleasant because of the company.  Looking from right to left is Julie,Wendy with her beautiful puppy, Lola and Phil with Lilly their other baby.  It was as if we had never left and the conversation flowed ever so well as we caught up with all of our live events since our last get together.        

From Brisbane we travelled to Northern New South Wales and here we met up with our much loved Loren and her partner Jono who is in the Australian Army.  We have know Lauren since she was a very young girl and it was so nice to see her now grown up as a lovely young lady.  Along with Mavis and Allen,  Bevereley's cousins we enjoyed lunch.  

From here we travelled back to the Jumping Red Ant Rose farm which is owned by Kathy and John.  Kathy is the daughter of Mavis and Allen and for those of you who have met Bronson he is Kathy and Johns' eldest son.

This is Kathy, our gracious hostest.  

This is John who like us enjoys a good red.

The farm covers many acres much of which is dedicated to commercial rose growing.  The roses are grown in huge sheds which also houses different varieties of tomatoes.

The roses are magnificant.

The farm has a deverse array of produce including advocados, passionfruit, lemons, peppers, olives, tomatoes and just about everything else........  much of which we enjoyed eating. 

The view from their home is spectacular and for those who know the area, the two areas of habitation in the photo where the ocean meets the coast are Kingscliff on the very left and Salt in center right.

Mavis and Allen spent each day taking us different places and on this occassion we were having another great lunch at Marina Mirage which included ribs.  As you can see Ross and Allen were about to tackle the delicious fare. 

No visit would be complete with out popping into Versace's resort which we did on the way back to the car.

We had a great time visiting with out family and friendswho made us so very welcome and it was sad to say farewell.  However, they all know that we will return to Australia sometime in the future.

More to follow.

Best wishes,

Bev and Ross