Day 6 Spoonbill to Karumba

We spent a restless night at Spoonbill.  It was our own doing as we wanted to run the van on battery power for 24 hours to make sure that there are no other problems, hence no air-conditioning.  The daytime temperature was 37 degrees at Spoonbill and it wasn't until around 2.00 am the next morning that it finally started cooling just enough for us to get a little sleep. However it was worth it to wake in the morning to find our batteries still at 57% after running the Engel off them all night.  We should be fine from here on in. (🤞)

We didn't get away from Spoonbill early as we had initially hoped as we wanted time to say our goodbyes to the 30 odd family members. Elaine and James had invited us to have breakfast with them so that was the perfect time.  With that many mouths to feed there was three eating areas set up.  One in the dedicated working mens meal area, one in the formal dining room and the other on the shady patio at the front of the house.  By the time we worked our way around the three areas an hour had passed.

Elaine sent me some photos from the previous day.......

Back on the road and heading north again our destination today is the Sunset Caravan Park at Karumba Point.  It is more than 400km from Spoonbill and it was quite a long day.  We stopped for lunch at the Flinders River and another stop at Normanton for fuel (incidentally the cheapest we had found), eventually arriving at Karumba around 4.00 pm. 

We took the option of a pull-through site that is beautifully shaded and we have really got our setting up down pat.  We have had no more problems with the levelling system and put it down to user fault when we couldn't get it to do the right thing at Koorooyina.  After we had set up the van we sat outside in the cool afternoon breeze and were grateful that we would be here for three nights without moving.  It has been rather a hectic trip so far with not having more than one night in one spot but that will change from here on in.

Day 5 Julia Creek to Spoonbill

We couldn't leave Julia Creek without wandering the Main Street and popping in and out of shops to say hello to the locals.  There have been many shops changing hands over the last couple of years since we were last here so we didn't see as many familiar faces as we would have liked.  However the locals we did see and talk too were full of news.

The town is becoming very much a mining town these days with various mining companies buying lots of Main Street premises.  Everyone is talking about Vanadium and the extremely rich deposits that have been found on properties within the shire. (Vanadium can be used to create batteries that have a large amount of storage and can be useful in renewable energy sources.)

After shopping a few grocery items we once again pointed the car north towards our stop for the night at "Spoonbill" station. We had been invited to Spoonbill for a farewell celebration for one of our much loved locals - "Smithy".  Pete worked at Spoonbill for 42 years after finishing his time as an SAS soldier where he completed two tours of Vietnam.  Smithy was a bit of a fitness freak and would rise every morning and go for a 7km run.  He loved it. Our family, Philip and the two boys, would compete each year in the Dirt'n'Dust Local Teams Event.  Most years they won the event.  The year after Kurt died (he was our runner) Smithy offered to do the run leg for us, an offer that we took up.  We still laugh at the fact that just before the start of the event Smithy did a 5km run, just to warm up!  I can't remember whether we won the event that year but we are forever grateful to Smithy for honouring Kurt.

The farewell celebration of Pete's life began around 4pm where we all gathered on the cool green grass in front of the house to munch on savouries and reminisce.  Around 6pm we moved to the cemetery area where a plague had been laid in Peter Smith's memory.  There were some beautiful moving speeches made by various members of the Spreadborough family and by Peter's family (incidentally they called him Jack). One of Peter's mates from the SAS also had some great tales to tell.  The ceremony ended with a beautiful rendition of Amazing Grace played on the bagpipes by our friend Graham.

The night was balmy and the 80 or so people that arrived for the memorial enjoyed a beautiful meal prepared by our hosts Elaine and James.  It was a glorious day and night made all the more special by being with old friends.

Day 4 Kooroorinya Reserve to Julia Creek

 We woke to the sound of the rooster crowing and no power to the van.  Damn.  We will be relying heavily on our solar system for this trip so this was really bad news.  Fortunately for us our friend Kevin is a bit of a wizz at everything and after an inspection of our system he suggested that one or both of our two batteries may have lost a cell.  The plan today was to take the tourist drive around Eramanga Sea back to Hughenden but we decided that we would take the more direct route.  We didn't know if we would find an auto electrician in Hughenden or the required replacement batteries.

It was a fairly strained drive towards Hughenden.  I undeservedly kept pointing my finger at my husband and telling him he should have had all the electrics checked before we left.  We had actually had a couple of problems with battery drain on previous trips so we knew there was a problem.  We kept telling ourselves though that the batteries were only two years old and they usually have a life of between 5 - 10 years.  Lesson learnt.

Finding a battery dealership was easy and lucky for us they had two replacement batteries on hand.  The only problem was that they didn't have the correct machine to test the old batteries so we didn't know if that really was the problem or if it was something more substantial. We took the gamble and purchased the two new batteries.  At $400 each if was an expensive mistake if the batteries weren't the problem.

While the new batteries were being installed Philip rang ahead to our electrician friend in Julia Creek to see if he could have a look at the system for us.  We weren't going to get to Julia Creek until late in the afternoon but Trevor said he would hang around for us. Thank you Trev. 

We stopped for lunch at Fred Tritton Park in Richmond.  It is a lovely place but we didn't get to enjoy it as we knew we had a deadline to meet.  So after we gobbled down our salad sandwiches it was back on the road.  Honestly I feel like we are rushing all the time.  I hope this stops very soon.

The drive from Richmond to Julia Creek is a very long two hour drive and when we were living at Julia Creek I really disliked this section of road.  It just seems to go on forever.  It was always my happiest moment when I spotted the twin radio towers near Julia Creek but because the country is so flat and treeless you see them from a long way back.

We found Trevor almost straight away and in less then 20 minutes he was able to run tests on the old batteries and declared them both to be almost dead.  Thank goodness that is the problem.  While Trevor was doing the tests I went inside to talk to his lovely wife Janene who invited us around to their place for drinks after work.  It was great to catch up with old friends and these two are Mr and Mrs Julia Creek.  We chatted for ages about all the comings and going in the Creek and the time raced.  We will catch up with them again tomorrow at "Spoonbill" that is our next destination.

Day 3 Burdekin Falls Dam to Kooroorinya

We decided to meet up with our friends at Kooroorinya Falls Nature Reserve today and spend the night there.  From our overnight stay at Burdekin Falls Caravan Park it was around 400 km to Kooroorinya that was well within our driving range.  We didn't get away as early as we perhaps should have.  It was such a gorgeous place that it was hard to leave but we were on the road by 9am.  The journey back to the Flinders Highway didn't seem to take long at all and then we once again turned west towards Charters Towers where we fuelled up.

We had it in mind to stop at the top of the Burra Range for lunch. It's a great spot with views that stretch out for many kilometres. Perfect for a lunch stop.  We made it a proper lunch with Meat Pie Floaters (Home made pie, mashed potato, peas, gravy). It was so delicious and such a huge meal that we ate not a thing to eat until breakfast the next day! 

After lunch and back on the road to Prairie where we stopped for some honey at a self-serve kiosk.  We had heard good things about this honey so I can't wait to try it. I love these honesty boxes but we did wonder how many people are actually honest enough to leave their money.

We turned the vehicle south at Prairie and headed down the bitumen Prairie Muttaburra Road for around 57km until we reached the turnoff to Kooroorinya.  From here it was a well maintained gravel road for just a few kilometres until we reached the reserve. Kooroorinya comes alive for three days when it hosts the annual Oakley Amateur Picnic Race Meeting.  The caretakers said that up to 500 people find camping spots around the reserve. Kooroorinya is a privately owned property that was donated to the race committee quite a few decades ago and it is the race committee that maintain the reserve along with full time caretakers.

When we arrived we were met by the caretakers who are a delightful couple and we were shown to our campsite where our friends were already set up.  It didn't take us long to set up the van and then settle down for drinks and chat. When the heat had left the day around 4.30pm we took the short walk to the Kooroorinya Falls.  The falls only flow when it rains so we weren't lucky enough to see that but just to look at the rock formations and the lovely waterhole was in itself a treat.  We walked a short distance to see if we could get down to the waters edge but we found out later that we should have been on different track altogether.

 

After our walk we headed back to the camp where the caretakers had invited us to join them for sundowners near the race track. It was very interesting to hear the history of Kooroorinya and our friends were particularly interested as Kevin's father was the patron of the picnic race meeting north of Julia Creek called Sedan Dip.  The caretakers showed us around the various race club buildings full of historical interest and as the sun set in the west we made our way back to our campsite.  We sat and chatted a little while longer before saying our goodnights and heading into the coolness of our vans.

Day 2 Townsville to Burdekin Falls Dam

 We were awake and on the road by 8am today for an appointment with the mechanic who installed our levelling system. We just needed him to show us again how to operate the system.  It's easy peasy and we were simply over thinking it.

We decided to head to Burdekin Falls Dam Caravan Park for our second night.  We have driven past the turnoff pointing to Ravenswood and Burdekin Falls Dam a thousand times when we were living at Julia Creek and en-route to Townsville and always promised ourselves we would visit one day.  Today was finally that day and it did not disappoint.  

Ravenswood is around 40kms south of the Flinders Highway and what a lovely little town it is.  It is a mining town and the mine is right in the heart of Ravenswood. What do they mine I hear you ask.  GOLD, and lots of it.  It is in fact Queenslands largest gold mine. 

 The heritage listed town has won many awards for its beautifully restored buildings including two of the original 48 hotels.  We were invited into one of the hotels to look around and were very impressed by the level of restoration.  Philip was particularly taken with the dedicated billiards room.....

We spent a good hour wandering around the little town before once again setting sail to our overnight stay.

 

There were no bookings taken for the Burdekin Falls Dam Caravan Park. You just rock up to the pay station and select how many nights you need, how many people and whether you require power, all for the princely sum of $19.  It was by far the cheapest place we have stayed and also right up there with the best.  Lovely green campsites with cement slabs are placed spaciously apart. The trees have all been lopped but showing re-growth.  They were lopped because of the hundreds of thousands of bats that invaded the trees every night.  It was a nightmare for campers who had their belongings covered in bat poop each night.

After we had unhooked the van and eaten a light lunch we took the scenic drive to the Burdekin Falls Dam after a recommendation from one of the caretakers.  It was certainly worth the drive.  As you wind your way around the hills you are quite suddenly confronted by the massive dam wall.  The road goes right along the base of the wall.  I actually found it quite frightening knowing that there were millions of litres of water behind that massive wall.  There was a huge amount of water being released at one end of the wall that flows downstream towards the coast and the Burdekin Irrigation area.  We kept driving past the dam wall and stopped on the other side to walk along the top of the wall.  I also found this confronting and tried to look out and not down. Back in the car once again we drove back to the van park and on to the boat ramp and the day use area.  This is also a well maintained area.  A big shout out should be given to the SunWater staff who caretake the area.  They really do a magnificent job.

By the time we arrived back at our camp it was time to sit outside with a beverage in our hands and watch the sun slowly sink to the west.  This is livin' Barry.

Day 1 Palm Cove to Townsville

And so it begins.  After months of preparation we have finally set off on our road trip around Australia.  How far will we get?  We have no idea and no expectations.  We will head west into the Northern Territory and then into Western Australia.  From here we will head south until we can't go any further and then turn the car and van eastwards towards South Australia. We will probably head home after South Australia and plan on being home early 2023.

So, back to Day One. We spent most of Monday shutting down the apartment in Palm Cove. We washed all linen and re-made beds.  We cleaned two fridges and emptied the contents into cold bags/eskies. We then turned off those fridges.  We packed the final pantry items into bags.  Almost every item of food in the apartment is now in the caravan. The caravan is groaning.  We have been packing the van over the last week, always anxious that everything is going to fit in but miraculously it has.  Thank goodness for a caravan with lots of storage. We decided to sleep the first night in the van that is still inside the storage shed.  It was a wise choice as it is always difficult to get the van out of the storage shed if there are vehicles parked in our exit.  There were but because we were up early we asked that the vehicles be moved and the owners obliged.

We finally set out at 7.30 am today.  We were both a little apprehensive.  Have we done everything we needed to do?  (We have) Is the caravan going to be too heavy? (It isn't) All these little things were running through our mind.  But it didn't take long for us to settle into the journey.  By the time we had negotiated the Coral Coast Drive we were well settled.

We skipped breakfast as neither of us were hungry.  Maybe too excited? So by 11.00 am we were starving!  Thankfully Bilyana Rest Area was just ahead of us so we pulled into the area and readied the van for our lunch break.  Unfortunately the mozzies here were atrocious and as careful as we tried to be, they followed us into the van. We made ourselves Ham and salad Rolls and ate them way too fast, all the time slapping away the mozzies.

Back on the road it was an easy run into Townsville where we are staying the night at the Townsville Gateway Holiday Park.  We have stayed here before and it is quiet and quite pleasant.  We have stayed hooked up as we have an early departure tomorrow morning. We have just returned from a walk around the block (that turned into a three km walk) and now feeling a little weary.  We will have some leftovers for dinner and then hit the sack.

I am going to try very hard to keep this travel diary updated on a daily basis.  Well that is the plan anyway.

Just before I sign off I want to show you the "backyard" at our apartment block that was transformed for 50th birthday celebrations of two of our residents last week.  It was a beautiful night with great food, wine and company.

 When we flew back from Brisbane we brought my mum with us for a mini holiday.  Mum is almost 85 and I was a little worried about the heat in the tropics at this time of the year.  I need not have worried as it was quite a pleasant week with showers of rain each afternoon to cool things down.  I think there was only one day when mum said that she was sweating around the neck.  We keep the air-conditioning turned off throughout the day (we do that most days) and only turn it on in the evening. We rely on ceiling fans during the day that work surprisingly well in the humid conditions.

Mum has Wegener's (also known as GPA) that affects the immune system.  It is not a life threatening disease anymore and 80% of diagnosed people, taking the recommended medication to suppress the immune system, go on to live a long life.  Mum is certainly one of the 80%.  However one of the side effects that mum has is cold feet.  This is because of restricted blood flow to some organs and is directly related to the Wegener's.  Mum doesn't handle air-conditioning very well.  Airplanes are a problem where the crew insist on keeping frigid conditions in the cabin.  Why they do this I have no idea.  I have learnt to always carry a wrap but I forgot to mention this to mum who was shivering within the first 20 minutes of our flight.  I handed her my wrap and swapped my seat for Philips seat that was in the sun.

When mum was here we drove to Port Douglas to pick up mum's oldest sister, Shirley, who is now in the nursing home at Port.  We arranged to pick up Shirl and have lunch at one of the local restaurants and return her to the nursing home afterwards. Finding a restaurant that was open was quite the drama.  Our first choice was closed for renovations and our second choice, beside the ocean, had a very bad ocean smell due to the extremely high tides and the rotting seaweed.  Our last choice was the Courthouse Hotel that was thankfully open.  It was a very hot day but we managed to find a seat under a fan that made it comfortable.  We all ordered light meals and enjoyed sitting back and catching up on all the news.  Aunty Shirley is very settled in the nursing home and gave us a run down of the various daily activities.  There is certainly plenty to do if you so wish.  This seems to suit Aunty Shirley who, up until her fall, was very active. We look forward to taking her out again before we head off on the big lap.

After lunch, and back in the comfort of the air-conditioned car, we did a few touristy drives around Port Douglas before taking Aunty Shirl home.  It was a lovely day and nice to catch up with family. 

A Girly Cousins Weekend

Hello from the land of Covid Isolation.  Yes. Both Philip and I have tested positive in the past week, Philip on Monday and me on Wednesday. We have very mild cold-like symptoms so the booster we received last month has certainly done the trick.  Thank God for vaccinations.  It now seems that the vast majority of people in ICU on ventilators are the unvaccinated.  There is no cure for stupid and that's all I will say on the subject.

What a month it's been with lots of travel, food and good company. The month started with a flight to Brisbane and then a drive to Marcoola on the Sunshine Coast for a girl cousins long weekend hosted by my cousin Debbie at her beautiful beachfront home.  Only six of the nine cousins were able to make it but that is understandable.  We all have commitments that are sometimes hard to break away from.  Deb's mum, my Aunty Ann, also came along.  She is, and always has been, everyones favourite Aunt and has really kept the whole Mitchell clan together, hosting many family reunions at their farm, "Hawthorn", near Pittsworth.  She also phones everyone regularly filling us in on each others news.

The weekend began on Friday for a late lunch of fresh prawns and a variety of delicious salads all made by Debbie.  She is a bit of a wizz in the kitchen and I admire her unflappable nature as she puts together delicious meals.  I would be a blithering idiot if I had to cater for that many people for three days!

The whole weekend was a talk fest.  It was emotional at times and other times we were splitting our sides with laughter.  Laughter is so therapeutic.  There was a copious amount of alcohol for those who enjoyed a tipple.  I enjoyed a glass or two but on the whole refrained from drinking too much, although cousin Vicki's Sangria on Saturday night was AAAHHMAZING!  I think the secret was soaking the fruit for many hours in Liquor 43.  I avoided the fruit knowing how much of a punch it would throw.  We played games to slow the drinking down a little but we were in stitches playing "Bullshit" (or Cheat).  None of us knew the rules except Debbie and she kept changing the rules!  I might say that uhhhmummm, some of us got a bit flustered about this 😩 (I'm looking at you Cousin Vicki 😂).

On Saturday we all made our way to Noosa where we were booked to have lunch at Season restaurant right on Noosa's main beach.  Oh....my.....god!  The food here was sublimely delicious.  Every single one of us ordered the Snapper and not one of us was disappointed.  It was so fresh and pan fried to perfection. It sat delicately on a bed of potatoes accompanied by a creamy garlicky lemony sauce all topped with a mix of micro greens.  Some of us only ordered a main meal but I couldn't resist starting my meal with the scallops topped with pancetta and onion served on a champagne foam while Philip decided to have the fresh prawn salad. Both were excellent choices.  

I said goodbye to Philip at Noosa as he was going to spend a night with Marco & Suzie at Gundiah so that he wasn't in the way (he was't) of the girls continuing their "girly" weekend.  After lunch and arriving back at Marcoola we all had a mini nanny nap before partying well into Saturday night.  Leftovers for dinner as we were all so full from our delicious lunch.

Sunday came all too fast and after another delicious lunch of BBQ meats and salad we started saying our goodbyes all vowing to continue this tradition each year.  I did offer to host the next get-together but everyone declared it too hot in the tropics in February.  They are probably right so we might have to change the date sometime in the future.

Deb's beach house is right behind the pool in this photo

Life back to normal

Was it only a week ago that we entertained guests for Philips birthday?  Seems like forever ago. We finished off on a high note with a drive to Port Douglas with our friends Lynn and Graham to dine at Sassi La Cucina on Macrossan Street in Port.  We had been here some time ago and were disappointed in our meal but we were interested to return with new owners and chef.  

We weren't disappointed.  The menu has retained its Italian influence using fresh Australian seafood. Think Hervey Bay Scallops and Smoky Bay Oysters. My entree choice of grilled fresh prawns on a papaya and watermelon salad with cucumber was perfect for a first course.  Other choices around the table were the Burratta Caprese Salad, Beef Carpaccio and Oysters Natural with finger lime.  Everyone enjoyed their respective choices.

Our waitress was very friendly and Graham had a wonderful time bantering with her.  It just added to the already great atmosphere inside the restaurant.  Our beverages were all chilled to perfection on this very hot and humid day, thank goodness, because even though the restaurant was air-conditioned the humidity was just too high for it to cope successfully.

It took just the right amount of time for our second course to arrive.  Lynn and I chose to share our dish as we knew it was going to be large.  It was called Zupa de Pesce and it was a selection of the best, freshest seafood including fish, prawns, bugs, baby octopus, calamari, mussels and clams cooked in white wine and fish stock with a touch of tomato, herbs and lemon. The seafood was perfectly cooked that we all know is not easy with so many varieties of seafood.  Everything has to be added at just the right time so that nothing is overcooked.

We were tossing up whether to order dessert but the Panacotta was calling Philip and my name.  Lynn declined dessert and Graham ordered the Tiramisu.  Once again, the desserts were spectacular and just as they should be. We all know how much a  little sweetness on the palate completes an enjoyable meal.

So that's a little roundup of our week.  How has your week been?  No covid I hope.

Judi x

Philips 66th Birthday

On the 22nd January 1956 the love of my life was born. His entrance into this world was quite noteworthy as his delivery was by Dr Lady Phyllis Cilento, a pioneering great in the medical world and also the mother of the actress, the late Diane Cilento.

Philip wanted to keep his birthday low key but I had other thoughts on that.  Let's face it, we don't know how many birthdays we will be able to celebrate! I had found a company called Amazing Co who put together Mystery Picnics were you are given a bunch of clues to solve. The solved clues were places where you picked up food to add to your picnic "hamper".  It sounded like a lot of fun.

I invited ten of our bestie friends to join us for this adventure.  Some of our guests drove quite some distance and the first of the couples arrived on Thursday then another couple on Friday.  The other four lived locally. I asked that everybody meet at the Pier Carpark in the centre of Cairns at 10.30 on Saturday to solve our first clue.  The forecast for the day was scattered showers.  I was a little disappointed to wake to this forecast but as it turned it we were very thankful for the overcast conditions.

Our first clue was quickly solved by my very clever friends and we made our way to Mooz Gelato and Juice Bar where we were given a menu to chose our own juices.  They were delicious, healthy and very refreshing.  While drinking our juices we solved our next clue that took us to Pantry 15 on Grafton Street.

Mooz Gelato and Juice Bar

At Pantry 15 the rain really pelted down so we were grateful to sit and wait while the chef prepared our hamper addition that was an Indian Cauliflower and Tofu dish with Pappadum's as a side. This was a hot dish and in hindsight it would have been better to have this clue at the end rather than the beginning as it was difficult to keep hot. 

Our next clue was a little harder to solve. The clue was that it was an anagram and the two words we were given were OVERPAID ROOMER. We had to google what an anagram was 😊. The last word was Italian for "love". The answer was Provodore Amore! I still don't get it.......

It was around a kilometre walk to Provodore Amore and the rain did not let up.  Fortunately we all had umbrellas but our shoes were all soaked as the gutters we crossed at each intersection were flooded!  At our destination we picked up two huge boxes full of antipasto ingredients as well as the wine that I had pre-ordered.  We found a coffee shop next to our stop and all sat down, ordered coffee and set to work on our next clue.  This time it was a wheel of fortune where we had to fill in the missing letters.  It was not too difficult to work it that it was Victors Gourmet Delicatessen.  A quick google search and we were disheartened to see that it was around a 1.5km walk to this destination and also that they were closing in 20 minutes.  I decided that it was easier to leave everyone to enjoy their coffee while I made the dash to this place.  My dear friend Karen decided to join me.  

I rang the establishment and told them that I was on my way and please to hold their closing until I picked up the picnic hamper addition.  Karen and I walked very fast but didn't seem to be getting any closer.  At one of the traffic lights while waiting for the walk sign I spotted a taxi waiting at the red light.  I asked if he was free and he was!  We jumped in and headed to Victors that was only 200 metres from where we were. The taxi waited as I quickly ran inside to collect our goodies - Chocolate Dipped Almond Bread and two varieties of Halva - and then he drove us back to the coffee shop where everyone was waiting.The taxi was the best $10 I had ever spent!

As soon as Karen & I arrived back we solved our final clue that was also our final destination.  This tested everyones spelling ability but the answer was Esplanade BBQ Sea Eagle. So off we set again, still in the pouring rain, to find our picnic table.  When we reached the Esplanade we realised that our designated destination was the opposite direction to where our vehicles were parked so we made the unanimous decision to walk back towards the car and look for an available undercover table.  This was harder than it looked but we eventually found one.  It was still raining but had eased slightly so it was quite comfortable to be finally able to sit after our long walk.

As we laid out all our collected food items we were quite pleased with the quantity and quality.  We were all a little dubious about the Cauliflower/Tofu curry but it turned out to be the crowd favourite. We opened the wine and those that brought beer enjoyed them.  

Our final picnic destination

We all agreed that it was a lot of fun and we were very grateful for the rain because if it had been hot and humid as it had been for the past few days, it would have been very uncomfortable. We probably walked around 4-5 kms but as we chatted all the way it didn't seem far at all.  I will however tell the company that it would have been much better to walk in a circle to solve the clues and return to your original destination.

After lunch we made our way back to our place at Palm Cove for Birthday Cake and of course the "happy birthday" rendition. It was lovely to have our friends join us for this special occasion and I hope that together we can enjoy many more.

Happy New Year

New Year.......New Beginnings.  This is my motto for each and every new year.  I don't make any resolutions anymore as they just seem to slip by the wayside.  I will continue to live a healthy and happy life because I firmly believe that you can't have one without the other.

So, how did we bring in the New Year?  With friends of course.  Friends who have played a big part in our lives for a very long time and we are very lucky to have them in our lives.  We hosted New Years Eve at our apartment where we had the perfect spot for people watching and also a birds eye view of the fireworks at 8.30 pm. Well it would have been a great view if the scaffolding on the new development beside us didn't block our view 😩. Next year it will all be gone!  

Everyone arrived around 5.30 pm and we enjoyed drinks and nibbles until 7.00 pm when we sat down for our main meal.  

.

The Menu.
(I didn't end up cooking the sausages as our friends brought along a lovely chicken selection).

I tried to make it as simple as possible but still seemed to spend quite a bit of time in the kitchen. I was trying out the Air Fryer for three of my plates and in hindsight it would have been better to use the bbq for the Rack of Lamb.  The Air Fryer seems to work best of all for vegetables as the hasselback potatoes browned and cooked beautifully.  Jane made the Basque Cheesecake and it was very creamy and delicious served alongside a berry coulis.  The PP treats were sweets that were included in our Pumphouse Point Christmas hamper. They are soooooo sweet!

The rain tumbled down just as the fireworks started and our friends that wandered over to the beach for a vantage point view came back drenched!  We are so lucky that the rain in the tropics is never cold rain and it is what I love most about living in the tropics.  I love those heavy downpours.

Most of our guests were well and truly tucked up in their beds before midnight but Philip and I decided to sit up and see in the new year.  We were very wired after our guests left so sleep would have been impossible.  I didn't have any alcoholic drinks on New Years Eve even though I had given myself permission to do so.  I just didn't feel like it 👊👊👊 

So what are we looking forward to in 2022.  For a start it would be nice to see Covid19 downgraded from pandemic to epidemic.  I think that will happen.  In the meantime we will get all the booster vaccines that our esteemed medical teams recommend and then hopefully by Easter we will be on the road for the rest of 2022.  Fingers crossed.

Take care in whatever you do,

Judi xx

PS

My sister sent me this lovely photo of my mum (aged 84) and her youngest great grandchild - Douglas.