Birthday, Family & Friends

Yep, you guessed it - the birthday dinner!

Having my birthday on St Patrick's Day makes it difficult for the family to forget. Lucky for me! The Gold Coast family (Ret, Pete, Tony & Yudian) travelled to Ballina to help me celebrate along with our Ballina family (Murray, Gem, Bill & Aunty). My eldest son Benn also flew in to spend a few days. His visits are usually bad news for my liver, but I take the punishment and just enjoy every moment! Just as we did last year, he took me to a local riverside restaurant, plied me with champagne & oysters and we spent several hours just chatting and appreciating the way our lives are unfolding. Kim did a Skype from Copenhagen and my youngest son Mark rang from Darwin. My birthday dinner was at our favourite Chinese restaurant, and as usual, we had a great evening, with our aunt regaling us with a typically Irish tale - although this one was a true story experienced on her last visit to Ireland along with Gemma & Bill. The birthday celebrations didn't stop there...a few days later Murray & I joined my eldest brother Tracy and sister Rosemary for brunch on the Gold Coast. Once again, another few hours passed very pleasantly and we had a chance to exchange family news.

Benn, Oysters & Champagne

Tracy, Me and Rose

That same day I boarded a train in Brisbane, and after a 5 hr journey North, I arrived at Bargara, near Bundaberg - famous for its Bundaberg Rum. I was met there by Heather, a nurse who joined the Air Force on the same day as I did, 25 years ago this November. I had arranged to spend 3 nights with her. Murray had a few friends to call in and spend time with on his way up, and he arrived to join us on my last day - and was in time to cook us a delicious BBQ dinner! Heather & I had a most enjoyable catch up - we went out to lunch for several hours with a few of her friends, another day we had coffee at the botanical gardens, and also spent hours chatting and looking through photo albums of our time together in the RAAF. It was great for Murray & I to see her two children growing up into delightful young adults. Trying to capture our time together, we asked Murray to take a photo of us on a hammock - pity the wood had rotted underneath which caused the whole thing to collapse and we got tipped out - we had our laughing medicine quota that day. The drive home looked so lush after the rain the area has had in recent months - the sugarcane & banana crops looked very healthy. 

The Hammock Collapsed!

Heather on left and me on right of photo - taken our first year in RAAF

 Healthy Sugarcane Crops

Lynne & Cuddly Friend

The week before my birthday I had my girlfriend Lynne come to stay for a week while she recovered from shoulder surgery. Lynne & I worked in Labour Ward at a Private Maternity Hospital on the Gold Coast for a few years before I joined the Air Force. While Lynne was here, she joined Gem, Bill, Dympna and I at the opening ceremony of a friend's Art Exhibition here in Ballina. 

Since getting back home we have been to see the movie "The Exotic Marigold Hotel' with Judi Dench. Quite entertaining. My other enjoyment has been reading the book 'French Women Don't Get Fat'. A friend lent it to me and it has been an interesting read. The book has some very down to earth concepts that I know we have all learnt in our lifetime, but I, like many others, have failed to adopt them. The way the author (CEO of Veuve Clicquot champagne) explains them has hit home to me. Thanks to the book I have quadrupled my water intake per day, and taken stock of simple improvements I can make in other areas such as incidental exercise and posture. I have also ordered the book for myself so I can re-read it whenever the mood grabs me and lend it to family & friends - as well as try several of the recipes included.


Murray & I are about to go and have a hit of tennis, and all going well (i.e. no rain) I will play tennis socially with about 4 others this evening. Tomorrow night we have dinner out with friends at a restaurant in Lennox Heads, and the next day, Friday, I fly to Sydney with my younger sister Ret for 2 days to join in the celebrations of her grandson's first birthday. Who said retirement was boring????