Tuesday, August 23rd …..

It seems that Spring has sprung in Tasmania. The wattle is in full bloom and we noticed that a couple of daffodils had raised their heads while we were out yesterday. It’s certainly warmer and we don’t need any heating on in the house during the day.

Last week, when it was so cold, we looked deeply into available cruises to see whether we could arrange a few days in the sun. We had always had in mind that, in retirement, we would grab any last-minute cruises which came up, expecting that they would be cheaper. And, there they were: a 7-night cruise out of Brisbane, and an 8-day cruise out of Sydney, both to Pacific Islands. Of course, they were last-minute: the first leaving on August 27th and the second on August 29th, but the prices were great: less than $800 each! A quick ‘phone call to Best Cruises, full of anticipation, just to find they were both now fully-booked. Oh well, back to the drawing board.

September is out so we are now looking at October. We are very interested in a 16-day cruise following the tracks of the Bounty mutineers, calling in to several ports in Tonga, Fiji and Norfolk Island but the dates are not suitable. The best option is a cruise to Vanuatu and New Caledonia, leaving on October 9th and arriving back in Sydney on October 20th, just in time for us to get to Canberra for our Nepal Reunion on the 22nd. It all looks good but we’ll let it mull around in our heads for a couple of days before we make a decision.

There’s a surgeon here in Launceston who could have a world cruise on what he will make from the Christie family this year. Marilyn has been putting off having her shoulder done but it’s becoming more urgent; I’ve been putting off an operation on my knee but, with the pain I’ve been having with my hip, I suspect that will have to be done sooner rather than later, and Jamie is going in to hospital at the end of the month for an operation on his right elbow. I’m not sure what the problem is but it looks like a bursitis and might be a repetitive strain injury. Anyway, he’ll have at least two months recuperation. It’s just as well we have medical insurance.


I’ve started reading a book by a Scottish author, Grace Munroe. She dedicates it to what I assume are her grand-children, whose names are Gordon, Caitlin, Patrick, Brogan and ….. Keanu! With all the glorious Scottish names to choose from: Hamish, Duncan, Angus, etc, the poor child gets Keanu. I can’t imagine a Prime Minister called Keanu Munroe.

Having said all that, I now discover that Grace Munroe is not a person at all. In fact, it’s the name of a writing team whose real names are Maria Thomson and Linda Watson-Brown. Maria has four children, I imagine called Gordon, Caitlin, Brogan and Patrick. There’s no mention of whether Linda has any children at all. God knows who Keanu is. It might be Linda’s cat!