December 30th .....

When we came to stay with our friend, Robyn, on the evening of December 21st, she was showing us details of a cruise she is taking in May next year. She is very excited and is looking forward to the experience.


Something must have triggered in Marilyn’s brain because less than a week later she announced, ‘I feel a cruise coming on.’ Half an hour on the Best Cruises website and we’ve decided on a Sydney to Fremantle cruise on the Sun Princess leaving on April 16th, stopping at Brisbane, Townsville, Port Douglas, Darwin, Broome, Bali, and Geraldton. We’ll be able to visit friends in Brisbane, Townsville and Perth as well as see some parts of Australia we haven’t yet visited.

We left Mudgee on Boxing Day just after 7am, hoping to be in time for lunch at Sharon and David’s home in Pennant Hills. Sharon is Marilyn’s niece and is just about the same age as Jamie. They have two small children.

There were more than a dozen adults and half a dozen children and it was great to be part of a large-ish family gathering after too many years of spending Christmas on our own. Sharon and David were generous, with wonderful food and outstanding wines. The desserts were a particular triumph. Of course, the guests contributed to the feast and that’s how it should be.

We stayed there overnight and left early to meet other old friends for lunch. Marilyn has known Barry since he was a child and his wife, Lynne, is her cousin. They were both in our wedding party and it is too long since we caught up with them. Our resolution this year is to make every effort to see the friends we have neglected over the years and at least we have started the process.

Our GPS, Dorothy, decided we should travel back to Wollongong via Campbelltown and the Picton Road. This is not the way I might have chosen but Sydney traffic has developed significantly since we moved to Tasmania and Dorothy chose a route which had no hold-ups and was fast all the way.

We’re now back in Wollongong, again staying with Robyn and seeing Mum and Uncle Archie when we can. I saw them this morning and we’ll take morning tea in to them tomorrow to celebrate the New Year.

Yesterday, Marilyn and Robyn decided we should go to see the new movie, The King’s Speech. It’s just been released and hasn’t got to Wollongong so we had to travel to Cronulla to see it. We caught a train at Oak Flats at 11.20, changed at Sutherland and were in plenty of time in Cronulla to catch the 1.50pm showing. After a nice afternoon tea we caught a train at 5.27 and were home by 7.30. A great day out!

The King’s Speech is a wonderful film. The audience clapped at the end, and rightly so. The story was fabulous and the acting superb. Jeffrey Rush never ceases to amaze and Colin Firth was a very believable Duke of York. I was surprised to see Guy Pierce as Edward VIII but he did the accent very well. I can never think of him without remembering Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, but he has had a more varied career than that.
All of us thoroughly recommend the film.

Tomorrow is New Year’s Eve. Sandy and Janet are meeting us in the evening and we’re going to the Oak Flat Bowls Club for dinner. We’ll probably come home in time to watch the fireworks on television. Last year, we celebrated Christmas and New Year on the Diamond Princess but this years’ celebration will be a little more low-key in comparison. However, that can only be a good thing.