The Big 60

Rose starts off the birthday celebrations

Murray & Rose

Farewell coffee with Tom & Betty - check out their view!

Murray & Larry (No Diane - not Larry Murray)

Opening cards & gifts at Audrey & Grants

Birthday Cake alight

Murray with Jeremy & Step at Main Beach

Bill's Birthday Cake and Gem's patty cakes

Gem Bill Aunty Dympna Murray & Trish

A special & memorable birthday gift from Marie & Eric

That's right folks, hard to believe I know, but Murray turned 60 within a few weeks of us returning home to Australia. His celebrations kicked off with a festive lunch near Brisbane with my sister Rose - Murray couldn't believe the trouble she went to with decorations, restaurant booking, cards and gift. A very pleasant couple of hours. From there we attended a wedding on Bribie Island at an Abbey chapel that houses some of the oldest stained glass window works in the world (courtesy of relics from overseas) and stayed overnight with friends Tom & Betty in their beautiful waterfront home on the North Coast. Wonderful hospitality and their home theatre set up made us envious. We then headed home via Caloundra and called in on Larry & Carmel - their waterfront unit has a stunning view too. They nourished us with Carmels's treats and we made it to our next destination which was lunch with my brother just south of Brisbane. Then it was back home for me to put in place the finishing touches for the next celebration.

What Murray didn't know was that I had arranged a surprise birthday party for him on the Gold Coast for the weekend before his birthday. Friends Grant & Audrey have a lovely property with a spectacular view to the mountains (Joe Bill that was where we called in to admire the view on our way to Tamborine Mtn) and their home with its big verandah is ideal for entertaining. They generously agreed for me to host the party there. To put Murray off the scent, I arranged another party at our place for the weekend after his birthday, and he knew about that one.

Anyway, to cut a long story very short, Murray thought we were going to Grant & Audrey's for a dinner for just the 4 of us. When we come home from our 6 months USA travelling, it is great to go there and see the renovations they have completed in our absence (always amazed at what they accomplish each year) and we share our stories. So this year was no different - we drove up to the house, walked in the door greeted by their two corgis, Bella & Billy, and to his utter amazement, Murray was surprised by about 20 friends. After he had greeted each one of them, he turned around and an old mate from his early Air Force days, John Wockner was there - Murray was so happy to see him. Then the Piece de Resistance - two of his kids, eldest son Jeremy, and only daughter Stephanie walked out of the pantry to give him the ultimate surprise. I have never seen him as gobsmacked as he was at that moment. He stood there for what seemed liked several minutes before he could comprehend what was going on. It was worth all the subterfuge! His middle son Adrian also wanted to be there, but his wife Danielle was about to present them with our second grandchild - in fact Heath Dylan arrived safely on the 19th - just over a week after Murray's birthday. What an exciting time. The day after the party we drove Jeremy & Steph down to Ballina as they hadn't seen our new home - we called into Byron Bay so they could say they had been there. It was a glorious day so the beach parking was hectic, but we jagged a park and had a walk around. After a late lunch in Ballina and a scenic drive to check out our beaches, they returned to the Gold Coast to fly back to Melbourne.

The party celebrations at our place went off well the next weekend, and the neighbours didn't even complain when we had a few singalongs with songs from yesteryear. Mind you, half of the neighbours were with us, and in fact Denise helped me out with keeping the food coming. As usual, I over catered, but that's life. My brother in law Bill had made Murray's birthday cake, a large fruit cake. He iced it and decorated it as well. Thanks Bill! His wife, my sister Gemma made delightfully decorated patty cakes and bought them in on a lovely display stand. The guests were very impressed, as was the birthday boy. We have seen or heard from several of the guests from both parties and they have all commented on what a great night they had. So that is good to hear. Just when we thought all the excitement was over, Murray received a package in the mail. Marie & Eric from Sacramento are the couple who had travelled within Alaska for 2 months with us on our last RV trip - they had sent him a carved wooden bowl. The 4 of us had visited a wood carving business in Fairbanks, and watched as they used laser to burn images into wooden articles. In fact, I guess we even saw them burning the one Murray got, but were told it was for a friend of theirs back home. Marie had done a wood turning course during our trip so we had a good understanding of the laborious process it takes to make a single bowl and the laser imprinting was interesting to watch. The gift will always be very special and bring back wonderful memories of our time in Alaska together.

All in all it has been a busy homecoming and I for one am looking forward to chilling out a bit now all the parties are done & dusted. However, my sister and Aunt have each bought a new Apple product, so we are having regular Mac lessons as we learn more about our laptops, iPads and Iphone 4S. Technology is fun, but boy, there always seem to be updates to take care off and data to migrate and new operating systems or applications to learn how to drive. Fun, fun, fun.