The First Week in Darwin - some picture

Bridget was birthing partner with Mark and I loved this photo of her and Erin.

Mark is settling in quickly with his new daughter. He is a very hands on dad and his daughter loves him.

Of course Bailey and Georgia are so excited with the new arrival. They are still celebrating and Bailey is delighted that she is no longer the little sister - she is now middle sister.

This is Grandma with her latest grandaughter about fifteen minutes after she was born.

THe family photo of the support crew! We are all happy and excited and looking forward to the settling in of the little family. MOre news later.....

Welcome to ERIN VALERIE ANZIN - born at 4.30 pm on Friday 30th November. She arrived with a text book delivery and was home in her own home four hours afterwards. She weighed 8lbs 1oz by the old measure and very healthy and happy. I was delighted to be able to deliver her and Mark was a great father, cut the cord and supported Rosie through a short but hard delivery. She never made a sound! Rob and LJ came over for a visit as Bridget was in Katherine. LJ was glad to catch up with his grandparents.

At Mass on Sunday we ran into Marie Loy and had a nice gossip with her. She looked well, is permanently resident in Darwin and loves her airconditioning.

We did get a chance for a bit of shopping - Rose took us around our old haunts at Casuarina and we got some supplies in.

On Friday morning after we arrived we took the girls to school and then helped them celebrate their mission day with a visit to Miss Ryall. Anna looked happy and well and had her classroom under control. We hope to catch up with them when things have settled down.

Love to all....

Dante at Ballina

Mornings with Grandma on the River

The Dolphins Ally found and Dante saw!

Kissing cousins..

Telling daddy a good joke

Checking the tide with Grandad

Helping Mummy find the best shells

Watching the tide come in on Grandma's riverside.

Reading a story to Grandad before bedtime.

Checking out Grandma's crabbing spot.

Saying goodbye at Cooloongatta Airport.

Four generations - Dante, Ally, Gemma and Thelma

The Paolino's outside Cafe Aqua looking back to Surfers Paradise.

The coffee break at Byron Bay.


Beyond Excitement - the trip in Grandad's boat.

Well I think the most exciting thing Dante did in Ballina was go for a ride in Grandad's boat. He was beyond excited - the little video tells the story. He slept well that night!

We did many trips to the beach and dined at Shelleys and at Pelican 128. We drove up to see my Mum at Southport and to take the compulsory four generation photos. Mum was in good form and we had a lovely session with her.

We had some quiet mornings on the riverside while the others slept and we had some great family feasts. Most days we went down to the beach and walked along the wall. Dante quickly sighted the dolphins and was able to see new sightings quickly.

Dante loved playing in the sand but wanted someone else to go and put the water in his bucket! He was excited about the crabs in the river here at Crowley but not so interested in the many pelicans and seagulls that were constants. It was lovely for me to walk him over the road to sit by the river and watch him explore along the river bank in safety while his parents had a sleep in.

A visit from cousin Billy Bellenger was great fun and it was lovely to see the two boys together. They seem to enjoy each others company and vie for the attention of their grandma and grandad. They both like their food so it is always easy to keep them occupied. they are both active but gentle little boys and I am so looking forward to seeing LJ again and getting three little boys in perspective before the next babies come along!

Another major enjoyment for Dante was to drive up to Southport in 'Grandad's truck'. He only got to get in the truck (the Discovery) on the last day but it was a wonderful day with morning tea at Byron Bay and lunch at Southport and afternoon tea at Marina Mirage. It was a long fun day and we all behaved. We dropped the Paolino's off at the Coolongatta airport and Bill and I were home in bed by the time their plane took off for Canberra.

It was a lovely visit. Monica and Steve - you are next!!

Visitors in August

Dante and Billy watching their own show and eating Grandads Naan bread.

Claire and Billy watching the big boats come in.

Dante visiting Dympna and checking out her Red Cardinal!

Ret and Dante enjoying a casual stroll along the boardwalk.

Having some quiet time before bed !

Some of my Theology Group members at afternoon tea at the Shutters.

Billy enjoying the sunset on the North Wall.

Lighthouse Beach in the late evening - I love to walk along this beach.

Well August is over and we are having fun going over all the memories. That is one benefit of the blog - I need to check all the photos to select the few that I share! I am trying to get at least one blog out each month. When it is exciting I am too busy to blog and then I need time to recover. At the moment I am trying to throw off the flu bug. It is quite persistent but I hope it is nearly gone.

We had Claire and Al down one weekend and got the boat in the water. See two previous blogs for story and pictures. Then Ally and Joe arrived and we had a very busy time fitting in all the visitors coming to see them. It was fun and Ballina provided the usual wonderful weather for us all. We had lots of fun on the beach, on the waterfront and on the river.

Family feasts featured strongly in our entertainment. Ally cooked up a storm several nights, Joe served up a tasty Laksa and Bill did his lamb curry with all the trimmings. I think it was the favourite. Joe's claim to fame was his willingness and ability to clean the kitchen every night. Come back Joe!!

We celebrated Ally and CLaire's birthdays with a dinner and a picnic. Ret and Pete came down for the picnic and while the weather was less than perfect (blowing a gale in fact) we had some fun down on the boardwalk.

And suddenly August 2009 was gone..........oh dear!

!

The Boat in the Water

Billy found this crab...

This is the men moving the furniture around for our home mass.

Billy Bellenger has fun at Lighthouse Beach.

Claire, Alan and Billy - waiting for breakfast.

Captain Bill getting the boat in the water.

The view from the Back seat.

Heading down the river.

Well we finally got the boat into the water. Not much further than that but now we know we can do it. Yes we Can!! Allan and Claire put in a long day and finally the boat was launched. There was a bit of a problem with one motor so they didn't go very far. Hope to get it in again next week when Ally and Joe arrive.

We had a lovely weekend. Had a home mass on Saturday night and Claire sang like an angel for us! After that we had twelve to dinner and enjoyed Bill's special Lamb Korma curry with lots of condiments.

On the Sunday we had a lazy day at the beach - walked in the sand, climbed the rocks and Claire was so relaxed she did some handstands! Billy was getting used to the roar of the waves but he did get excited when he found a crab in the rocks.

We were sorry to see Claire and family go but next week we welcome Ally and Joe and Dante and with a bit of luck we can talk Claire into coming back down so we can have some fun at the beach with the two little boys.

Watch Clairie doing her handstands!

Opera at the Channon

Members of Opera Queensland's Young Artist Program who entertained us!

Judy, our hostess, and I checking out the music program.

After a very luscious main course.....this was our dessert!

Bill checking that there was room at our table!

Some of our party including our hosts Judy (4R) and Don (6R).

Well we had a wonderful day out when we headed for the Opera in the Channon on Sunday. We dressed in full evening wear and were picked up by a large bus in Ballina about 9.30am and driven through some wonderful country - lush rolling green hills, pretty valleys and lots of spectacular autumn australian bush which really appreciated from the large picture windows of the bus! Our destination was the Channon about forty kilometres from Ballina via Lismore.

The event was an Opera in the bush - an annual event staged by Rotary to raise funds for the Westpac Helicopter.

On arrival at the Channon (I think it is a little river?) we were welcomed with champagne and strawberries and had a little time to chat with our other guests before we were seated in the big marquee for lunch. The tables were beautifully decorated and the whole setting was relaxing, rural and so sophisticated.

We had a wonderful lunch and very interesting conversation with our table guests. We were served our luscious food and wine by very capable waiters, and, being on Judy and Don's table meant we got extra special service. After lunch and our coffee we headed over to the area where we had seats in the front row for the Opera singers. The first half of the program was very operatic . The young singers had wonderful voices and the setting lent itself to the arias they chose. We listened to renditions from Rigoletto, Cosi fan tutte, La boheme etc. The compere was especially entertaining and informative.

We had a coffee break in the middle and then the singers returned for a program of songs from the musicals. Wonderful...songs like Vilia from the Merry Widow, You'll Never Walk Alone from Carousel, If ever I would leave you from Camelot etc. they even had Danny Boy as a tear jerker before the finale which was an amazing rendition of Amigos para siempre from Andrew Llyod Webber reminding us of the Olympic Games..

The music was wonderful and the autumn leaves fell as the drums rolled and at one stage a noisy rooster from the next door farm shouted his approval too! Wonderful Day.

We were driven safely home in our big bus where we wanted neither dinner or wine..we had had our fill.

The quality is not good but you might like to hear to a bit of Danny Boy. Keep your eye out for David Kidd, the tenor, he was one of the Ten Tenors but has returned home to Brisbane for a while to be with his young family. He was so nice to watch and so good to listen to!!

South Australian Colour

The Pro Hart mural on the Church at Yankalilla

The questions you were asking about the windfarm!

The view of the image of Mary on the wall of the Yankalilla Church.

The old flour mill where we had a very delicious lunch.

One fo the big 'fans' at the windfarm.

The setting sun on Aldinga Beach on my walk home last night.

The street where Francis and Jess live....in the Scrub!

The Church where Our Lady of Yankalilla visits.

Some of the big trees near Myaponga.

Tour Guide Bill checks if we can drive through the rushing creek.

On Tuesday Bill and I took Tom and Grace for an outing to see the big windfarm. It was a lovely day and we had spectactular weather for seeing such a wonderful Australian enviroment. We keep thinking the the East Coast is the best place but the scenery we passed through on Tuesday rivals it for beauty.

We headed for Sellicks Beach and then onto Yankalilla where we visited the little Anglican Church that has a history of being a modern day 'appearance' of Mary. It has a lot of support. Pro Hart has done a special fresco for the entrance, and it has been treated with some respect by the locals and tourists alike. There is a mark on the wall beside the altar that clearly resembles an outline of Mary with Child.

We then headed up a country lane and found some wonderful old trees beside a fast running creek. It was beautiful country - how we all like to think Australia is!!

The Windfarm was spectactular. I was amazed at how close to the big 'fans' the sheep and cattle were grazing. I understand there is lots of opposition to having a wind farm near your home but this one looked very amazing on top of some high mountains looking out to sea and there was no sound at all from our position just beneath them.