Off to Newcastle and then Adelaide

Flew out today to Newcastle where we'll pickup this 2003 Landrover Defender 130 Ute that Paul has bought.

Plan is to drive it to Adelaide to see Amber (and Craig and Lynn!) and then up the centre back to Darwin.  Our nephew Lee Harley also has bought a camper trailer in Adelaide that we said we'd tow back for him - hopefully the old truck is a good one then!

The guy with the landrover kindly picked us up in our new car and left us with it.  We then drove to Gwenny's cousins Dennis and Heather who kindly put us up for the saturday night.

We started our drive early Sunday morning and met up with Baggsy and Robby and Jessie who we travelled with for a while and had lunch together.   They were on their way down to Jessie's niece's engagement party from memory.

We stayed at ?? Sunday night on the way and arrived in Adelaide early afternoon on Monday the the 30th of December.  Mum and Dad had a spare room in their accomodation in the city so we stayed with them, and Nadine and Troy.

Was good to catch up with everyone including Craig and Lynn but unfortunately Paul couldn't visit Amber as she was in the premmy ward and he had the flu pretty bad!

Gwenny got to go a couple of times and took plenty of photos etc.

On new years eve we went to watch a 20-20 match between the Adelaide Strikers and Perth scorchers which was a lot of fun.  The city was very crowded for New Years Eve celebrations and Paul and Gwenny were happy to escape the crowds and go back to the unit after the match.  The rest went to a couple of pubs and the scene was pretty crazy - the next morning they seemed think Paul and Gwenny had the right idea retiring early!

On news years day we picked up the camper trailer that Lee and Susy Harley had bought and parked it at Craigs place.  We therefore slept at Craig and Lynn's on the last night and left very early on the morning of

Thursday the 2nd of January.   We made it to Cooper Pedy that night and then to Aileron the next.  With no aircon it was very hot in the centre so we left Aileron at 1.30am to make the most of the cool night.  Was quite a good drive and we were blessed by cool overcast weather all morning from over night rain around Daly Waters and it only cleared up by the afternoon.  By that time we were in the top end and it wasn't so hot and dry.  We got home at about 7pm on Saturday the 4th.

Monica and Toby move to Darwin

Monica with a dodgy dockers top on

Monica has moved to Darwin and Toby has sort off - he still works in Wyndham but travels between the two when he has time off.   He is looking for work in Darwin though.

Monica has got work in a youth support program with the YWCA.  They are living at Aunty Nadines new house with her.

Jessie's 50th

We had a great time on the harbour sunset cruise celebrating Jessie's 50th birthday.   All the family came along and it was a big crowd on the boat.  We got on at Stokes Hill Wharf and cruised around into Fanny Bay watching the sun set and having a nice dinner.

Amber Grace Thomsen born!

Brother Craig and Lynn are the proud parents of little Amber!  She was born very premmy but healthy and mother and her are doing well.

A very exciting time for the family!  We are all planning to get down there for Christmas or New Years to see the new little family.

More info to come.

David's year 12 graduation

We had a lovely night at the Mararra graduation ceremony celebrating David and Rachelle's graduation.

Mum Pattemore has another stroke

Sadly Gwenny's mum had another stroke this morning.  We weren't sure how it affected her for a few days

but it has unfortunately impaired her movement even more.  Even sadder is it has had some affect on her speech and mind - the bright sharp lady we knew just yesterday now struggles to think of words and find it hard to remember certain things.  We hope and pray its just temporary but months later hasn't shown much improvement if any.

Mum is still able to hold a conversation but will often pause or stop mid sentence.  She jokes to us that "I can't live forever you know" and that its just part of getting old but it is hard for the family and those who she is so precious to.   She does seem in good spirits still and doesn't complain - which has always been her way!

Dad Pattemore too is struggling with his age and is quite forgetful and weak of body these days, which is fair enough for being in his 90s!   So mum's lessened mobility is an extra burden on him also, and especially Dorothy and Colin who are caring for them.

May God just give them joy and peace even with their current situation.

Long weekend in Cooinda

Gwenny and I had a lovely "glamp" (we were slack and hired a room - as we borrowed Graham Pattemore's boat and therefore couldn't tow the camper and the boat) at Cooinda November 22-24th.

More info and photos to come.

Reynolds River 4wd track

Did the reynolds 4wd track on October 19th just for the day.  More info/pics to come.

Dundee trip

Went to Dundee on October 12-13th.   Robby bogged a quad bike but we got it out before the tide got it!  More info/photos to come.

Wyndham camping trip

Another placeholder that needs more info and photos.  We went August the 2nd and back on the 5th.

Lorella Springs Trip

We did this trip from June 29th to July 11th 2013 - just a placeholder - will add more info and photos.

Pauls goes sailing to Dundee for an overnighter

Paul went with John and Sandy and their family (John is a work colleague) to Dundee for the night.

John wanted to give the boat a run as he is planning to do the Darwin to Ambon in August.

It was Paul's first real trip in a sailboat and it was fantastic to cruise along just using windpower.

We went into the Lodge of Dundee for dinner and then back out to "Sirocco" to sleep very comfortably for the night - albeit in a wet and rough trip back out in the little zodiac tender.

Was a little bit rocky at night initially, even in a 60' cataraman, but was good cool sleeping weather and the wind eased later in the night.  We motored most of the way home as the lighter wind on the sunday was pretty much on the nose.

John and his son Paul with me up the front of the little tender heading into the lodge

Sanra, John and their other son Stephen.



Overnighter at Douglas with some of Pauls work colleagues

Paul had booked a trip to Douglas Hot Springs with a few work colleagues a few weeks ago to show them the place as they had never been there - well one had been there years ago.

 

Just went for the one night but had a good time and some more practice with the camper trailer.  We took the scenic route home and the others enjoyed the view at the top of the Telstra Tower hill near Robin Falls.

 

Was good sleeping weather without being very cold - although it was cold enough for some nice steam early Sunday morning when we all went down for a swim around sunrise.

 



Monica "hops" into a new job

Monica started her new job today where she works for a WA government program with troubled youth in Wydham.  She's always been interested in following her mum in this kind of work so this is hopefully a great foot in the door.

She was working for Toby's family business helping out in the office which is in the same building as her new office.

Unfortunately she hurt her knee quite badly in netball the week before and is on crutches at the moment.

Testing the camper at Douglas

We spent the long weekend at Douglas Hot Springs and used our new old camper trailer for the first time. It went well although we're still learning how to set it up etc.

The weather was a bit hot during the day but cool enough for sleeping at night.  Water was nice and there wasn't too many others there.  A few of the family went including Rob/Jessie, Tim/Tania, Baggsy, Kevin/Jo etc.

Uncle Wilson's funeral

Today we joined family and friends in Maryborough to celebrate the life of Wilson Thomsen.

 

It was a big turnout and Uncle Wilson was obviously very respected and loved in his community.  The service was really beautiful.

It was great too to catch up with cousins Paul , Craig and Peter hadn't seen for ages or in some cases ever met (eg some of Aunty Hazel's children) - they would've loved to see more of them.  It was really good to see Uncle "Nookie" also who is in poor health.  Uncle Nookie is Uncle Gilbert's older brother and son of Sophus (Dick).

Was really awesome to have Craig with us as he hadn't caught up with the QLD relatives for many years and was able to spend some time at Traveller's Rest etc.  Peter had to go back on the Tuesday but Paul, Gwenny and Craig stayed until the Wednesday.

Rosanna and Shannon's wedding

 

The big day has arrived!

 

 

Well was a beautiful day - even if it didn't go quite to plan!    The plan was to have the ceremony on the beach but a very rainy day made that out of the question - fortunately as you can see we were able to get a few photos later at the spot.

So the ceremony was held inside where the reception was held later (this was always the backup plan) and it was a lovely intimate occasion.  Family and friends were wonderfully helpful and it was great to share the occasion with them.  A special thanks to the likes of Jessie (doing photography), Ree-Ann (make-up etc) and Nadine (general organising and support) who all worked very hard!  There were of course many others who helped out a lot and we are just very thankful to those who made the trip to celebrate the big day with us.

Shannon and Rosanna Beath left early the next morning to their honeymoon in Thailand.  They'll be passing by Darwin on the way back home in a couple of weeks where we'll have a bit of a get together for those who couldn't make it down to the wedding.

Farewell Uncle Wilson

Wilson with his young brother Ivan in 1940

My father's brother passed away this morning. This old world has lost a very special man and won't quite be the same without him. I believe he is in a better place however, although we'll sorely miss him - especially Aunty Narelle, Karlie and Kim and their families. Our thoughts and prayers are with you all!

Uncle Wilson is the 4th and second youngest child of Noble and Jessie Thomsen (Paul's father Ivan being the youngest).   The five children in order of age are Nora, Hazel, Clyde, Wilson & Ivan.   Uncle Clyde has lost all his brothers and sisters now.

Uncle Wilson has had a long and brave struggle with serious health issues the last couple of years and we knew things were pretty dire.  The news was still a shock and very heart wrenching.

We know Uncle Wilson would not want his passing to effect our wedding celebrations and we'll therefore endeavour to enjoy things albeit with heavy hearts.  Paul, Gwenny, Craig and Peter Thomsen will extend their trip and go up to Maryborough for the funeral next week.

The rest of us off to the Gold Coast for the wedding

Well this is our view the first night from the hotel - not a bad location!  Well that was until we realised that the construction site at our feet had very noisy machines during the day!

Ah well all the more reason to get up early and do stuff instead of sitting around the hotel :)

Me and David joined Gwenny and Rosanna the first night at Shannon's place and then drove down the next day.  Daniel and ReeAnn flew down with us but we dropped them off at Ree's sister's place for a couple of days as they were attending a cousin's wedding.  They drove down her sister's car a couple of days later.

Well it was a great week - as the girls fussed and stressed about the wedding the boys went swimming heaps at the beach and just relaxed.  Was good to spend time with family and friends who were down also from Darwin and many other places (eg Troy from Brisbane and Craig/Lynn from Adelaide, Michael and Leanne from Maryborough etc). 

We did have an interesting time on the Thursday when Daniel and David got in a rip and needed a bit of help to get back on the beach!  I didn't tell Gwenny about that one until after the wedding!

Was great to catch up with the new very-soon-to-be-inlaws too! 

Gwenny of to Brisbane to help with wedding preparations

Shannon and Rosanna's big day is only 2 weeks away now and Gwenny has joined them in Ipswich to help get ready etc.  Paul and the boys (and Ree-ann) will be joining them in another week.

Shannon and Rosanna at Dooze and Michelle's wedding

Upper Butterfly Gorge

A few of us went into Butterfly Gorge today from the Stuart Highway side.   The road wasn't too bad as it hasn't been much of a wet season and there were some beautiful places to see.

It was my first real offroading in the new Landrover and as I feared the factory road tyres weren't up to the job - I burst a steel belt on the rocky road which resulted in a bubble in the sidewall of the tyre.  I do have new rims and tyres on order that will be much better for offroading.

We were basically just doing a bit of exploring searching for new potential camping spots.  Rob and Jessie took a couple of quad bikes and we also did a bit of exploring on these which wasn't good for my hay fever due to all the spear grass!

Gwenny to the Hillsong "Colour" conference

Gwenny went to the "Colour" woman's conference in Sydney with Jessie, Rochelle and Suzy and had a good time.  Was also a bonus to catch up with her daughter of course!  Rosanna attended for most of the conference as it was only a short trip from Brisbane.  Dates were March 6-10.

David 17 today

Our little boy is 17 today... makes us feel old.   Mum made up some pretty awesome home made subway :)

Rosanna and Shannon engaged!

Well some of us sort of knew it was happening and a lot more of us suspected, but today they were "officially" engaged!  We had a little get together at Rob and Jessie's place and it was great that many of the family could get along and celebrate it with us.   After deliving the new Landrover Shannon had to fly back the next day for work but Rosanna was able to spend a few more days with us before heading back which was great.

The planned date of the big day is Saturday April 13th 2013 so they are not mucking around!

 

Bought another disco

The suzuki is a cool little 4wd but I miss my Land Rover too much.  So I've gone the whole hog and bought a new one!  

Daniel has bought the Suzuki of me.  Shannon and Rosanna drove the new car up for me as I bought it in Toowoomba.  I think it'll be good timing anyway as they might have something to announce when they get here!

Lots of mods are planned for the disco - including bullbar, winch, snorkel etc.

Sold the boat!

Well the big boat experiment is over - but as Gwenny says its probably good I tried as I'd still be wanting one.   It just ended up being too expensive to own - eg Marina Fees and maintenance, and we weren't using it enough to justify it.  This pictures are of Condamine out of water for the eventual buyer to inspect her.  The hull was actually in pretty good nick.  I hope she'll be a good ol boat for the buyer.  I'm a bit sad about it all but ah well.. its been a good lesson and good experience.  There'll be some good memories still - even if short.