It S That Festive Time Again and Yet Another Year Has Shot Past

The Walker-Scott Family

66 Middle Harbour Road

Lindfield, NSW 2070

AUSTRALIA

Merry Christmas from Australia

It’s that festive time again and yet another year has shot past. Temperatures are rising and the beach is looking good.

It has, as always, been a busy year, Matt is still ferreting away at work on a secret project, but he manages to cycle to work a few days a week and get in one or two sail race days a month.

The year started when we took the kids and the Landrover down to Tasmania for a month. Tasmania is a spectacular place - the trip was excellent, wilderness camping, lots of walking in the mountains and being up close and personal with all the Aussie wildlife. The furry and prickly creatures were fine but, it was unusually hot, and snakes were out in abundance, particularly the aggressive, venomous ones. There were some stops on the walks when we encountered large brown snakes, luckily Cam was with us and he alone, sounds like a heard of rhinos so they didn’t hang around. We had wombats and echidna lumbering past the tent in the night. The only creature we didn’t see was the Tasmanian Devil – so we will have to go back sometime.

The kids were delighted when we were camping on a beach, in the middle of nowhere, and one morning not only was a wallaby drinking our water supply but a large whale was in the bay where the kids had just been swimming.

There are no big trips planned this holidays, we are planning a trip back in Christmas 2007, although the kids are desperate to go back to Scotland this year.

The kids are fit and well. Ihona is doing well at school; next year will be her last primary school year. She is still doing flute and ballet and has started jazz dance this year. She still loves squad swimming and is back at nippers again. Both kids did a surfing course last holidays and are keen to do it again this summer.

Cam loves the ocean, it is his first year in the ocean swims in nippers, he has no fear, the bigger the surf the better. He is still swimming but does not cope very well with the monotony of pool lessons he much prefers the surf. He is enjoying playing the trumpet and earned a place in the concert band, although practice is pretty painful for all around. Reggie, the dog, has taken to singing along with the trumpet, just to add to cacophony. Cam is doing well in Taekwondo and has managed to get a place in the national sumo-wrestling championships, we are all laughing, poor child, luckily there is no costume involved.

Carolyn and the kids have just done the Climate Action Protest March this year, so they are harassing about walking more. Matt has swapped to using bio-diesel in the landrover but it smells like frying chips whenever we travel. Hopefully our water tanks will be installed this year as it is so dry much of our garden died in the crispy heat wave last week.

We had an addition to the family, which is also keeping all of us fit, Reginald, the golden retriever. He is a pretty boy and has won us more wine glasses from dog shows than Matt managed to win from sailing comps this year. The breeder lives a couple of blocks away so he gets taken off to shows all clipped and trimmed, nice life for this dog.

Carolyn is still lecturing at Newcastle University, which she loves, and teaching at college (which is frustrating by comparison) – she is still running every day and indoor rock climbing a few times a week (more like extreme yoga). Hope this finds every one well.

Have a great Christmas and New Year.

Much love,

Carolyn, Matthew, Ihona and Cameron.