Season’s Greetings!
Here we are nearly at the end of 2018 and as always, we hope this Christmas letter finds you well and happy.
2018 has been a busy year for us involving travels within W.A. and the birth of a new grandchild! There have been highs and lows along the way, but December finds us well and in good health and ready for an exciting 2019.
We are now four years into retirement and there are no regrets! We think we were born to retire! Life does (and has) thrown in some curved balls along the way, but when things are going well, life truly is good!
January saw us heading to Albany with our friends Pam and Roy camping on our block. The weather was kind and we spent our time relaxing and doing very little. After Pam and Roy left we caught up with friends from our Kalgoorlie era, Julie and Steve. It’s always lovely to catch up with old friends when we head to Albany. Some photos can be found here.
We also had our beautiful Tyler to stay over the January school holidays and spent time going out on picnics, swimming in the pool and just enjoying the company of our kids and Tyler. Photos here.
In late February and into March, we headed on a little road trip to Dongara, Sandy Cape and Cervantes in our caravan. We were away for about two weeks, but had such a good time exploring places old and new. We really loved Cervantes and what it had to offer (especially food options) and we will certainly be going back for another visit next year. It was also lovely to catch up with Glenn when we were at Sandy Cape.
Friends Sandra and Peter, who we met on our European holiday in 2014, flew into Perth during March and we took them around to see the sights. We actually headed back to Cervantes for a wonderful seafood lunch at the Bowling Club and then went to The Pinnacles. We had a great time with them. It was lovely to see them both.
Sophie and David were expecting their first child in May and in mid March a baby shower was held at our house. It was a lovely day with about 40-50 of Sophie’s friends attending. There was a lot of laughter, wine, bubbles, and so much food. Photos here.
April saw us celebrate David’s 30th birthday at the Left Bank in Fremantle, organised by Sophie. Where did those years go? What a fabulous day we had with the family and David and Sophie’s friends. Again, wonderful weather, company, food and drink. Photos here.
Great excitement came on May 8th with the birth of David and Sophie’s little girl and our precious granddaughter – Poppy Mae. David and Sophie are both dark haired and have dark brown eyes. Poppy is very fair skinned and has beautiful red hair! She has such a gorgeous nature and just smiles all the time. She is now nearly 8 months old and has everyone wrapped around her little finger. Watching her dance to music and laugh is pure pleasure. We’ve been lucky enough to do some babysitting stints and it is such joy and fun. What a treasure and a time waster! Photos here.
Late in May we headed north to the warmth of Cape Keraudren again. Friends Ann and Mike came to stay with us for several days and then Pam and Roy called in and stayed about 2 weeks. Mud crabbing was successful and delicious! It was lovely to catch up with people staying at the Cape we had met from years earlier. There were lots of laughs with Mary, Bill, Doug, Leslie, Doug, Delma and Peter over a wine and a campfire and the magnificent backdrop of the setting sun. Old friends Kevin and Marie were also at the Cape and it was lovely catching up with everyone. Photos here.
August saw us heading to Busselton to stay with Pam and Roy. Fantastic hospitality and wonderful friends. More drinking, eating, laughing and sight seeing. Highly recommended.
Late in August and into September, we headed to Kalgoorlie for a week with Steve’s 81 year old Dad, Denis. Denis was born in Kalgoorlie and the Yates family has strong ties to The Goldfields. Coincidentally so does Paula’s family on her mothers side. We caught The Prospector to Kalgoorlie and had a fabulous apartment for a week. We hired a car went out everyday exploring and reminiscing covering over 1000 km during our week there. We visited Denis’s parents house and places of significance to him as well as going to the Boulder Cemetery and finding his Grandfather’s grave which he had not seen before. Time was spent visiting Kambalda, Coolgardie, Gwalia, Niagara Dam, Menzies and Kookynie. A tour of the brothels was on the list. Interesting! And what would a trip to Kalgoorlie Boulder be without a pub crawl? Well a Boulder Pub crawl was completed! We had such a good time and Denis is such good company. Photos here.
School holidays in September saw us having Tyler for a few days. This was an excuse to go to The Royal Show one day and The Zoo another day. We also drove out to Canning Dam and Wungong Dam to check out the water levels. On another day we had a picnic in the park close to home. It is so rewarding spending time with Tyler. He’s such an easy going boy and it’s hard to believe he will be eight next year. Time is flying by.
During October, we headed to the wonderful wine country in the Porongurups for a week staying at The White House, which is part of West Cape Howe Winery. We went with Rod, Vicki, Ann, Mike, Ron and Lyn, celebrating Rod’s birthday while we were there. Another week of eating and drinking! West Cape Howe was very generous with their wines and food. It is well worth a visit if you’re heading down that way. Highly recommended. Photos here.
We continue to head to Albany and work on our block regularly. We have had some interest in the block, but the real estate market is slow.
Steve was diagnosed with another Melenoma in April. (His first was back in 1986!) It was detected early and removed and he has been given the all clear thankfully. He has regular checkups and sees a skin specialist, but it is a reminder not to be complacent when out in the sun. We have been so busy this year, that he hasn’t spent much time at all working on his photography. He has a backlog of projects he wants to do. Maybe 2019.
Paula continues to have yearly breast screen checks and ultrasounds but has been well this year. When time permits, she keeps herself busy in a little vegetable garden and continues to work on sewing projects.
David recently became a supervisor at Austal Shipping in Fremantle doing marine electrical work. He enjoys this and in this current employment climate, is just happy to have a job. Sophie is on maternity leave. She is doing a great job with Poppy. Sheplans to go back to work at Mimco by the end of May next year.
Mark left All Type Engineering during the year and picks up work doing shut downs. He does the best he can. He has Tyler regularly and we are able to have Tyler whenever we want and just ring Vanessa who has been fantastic with this. We love Tyler. He is a delight in our lives.
Ashleigh is still at Hammond Park and is in a Pre Primary class for this year. 2019 will see her in the Kindy for the first time. She is looking forward to this challenge and working alongside the other Kindy teacher whom she gets on well with. She is a born teacher and loves her job. The displays in her room are always amazing and the amount of glitter and sparkle she leaves behind will be legendary!
We have become members of the WACA and are heading to the Test next week with Pam and Roy. Glenn who is also a WACA member may also come up for a day or two at the Test. Rather than travelling into the stadium daily, we are staying in a Motel in Perth. We are looking forward to it.
Next year we are heading off early in March with Pam and Roy to South Australia to visit all those lovely little beaches and towns we keep hearing about. From there, we will head to Katherine and then across to Kununurra for April to go Barra fishing again as we did in 2017. Glenn will hopefully meet up with us in Kununurra along with our friends Peter and Les. We’re also spending time hopefully at Cape Leveque, Cape Keraudren and perhaps Carawine Gorge after going on The Duncan Highway. The plan is to be back in Perth July sometime. In time for a cold winter!
All the best to everyone for a safe and Happy Christmas and holiday season and a wonderful 2019.
