Mr Wynn in full swing

Beautiful parrots

In the midst of our Christmas Party, these wild parrots came down into the garden to feed. Couldn't resist taking some snaps. Aren't their colours beautiful!

Agency Fusion Christmas Party

So here are some pics of my new work mates from Agency Fusion (with spouses in tow.) We had a great Christmas Party at Warren's house and were treated to the ultimate Aussie barbie with succulent beef and prawns dressed in bacon jackets. Absolutely awesome food - and no shortage of alcohol! Lots of fun and good laughs. Ended up with a late swim and a hilarious game of charades. Its great to be working with such fun people.

So here are the 4 intrepid "Agency Fusioners". Warren (MD) and Louisa (left) are the co-founders. And that's Elsa to the right.

Here we all are tucking into the great food. For my memories sake: Louisa & Steve, Elsa & Val, Warren & Sonya, Me and Ally!

Here's Warren proudly manning that ubiquitous Aussie icon - the Barbie" I'll always have a special spot for the South African braai with its hissing wood and sizzling flames - but this certainly isn't bad either. And there is no smoke in your face.

Warren's two little youngsters are awfully cute, Made me miss little Sammy and Matthew very much. We had a couple of good play sessions.

Warren has a great sense of humour. He went to Germany this year to watch the world cup with some mates. This is the shirt that they designed and wore. So successfuly was it received that they were featured on a couple of TV shows.

Brendan comes to visit

Brendan came to stay with us for a few days during his whirlwind visit from Cape Town. He and Eva and the family are moving out here in January and he came to hunt a home for them. We are so excited about their decision to move to Sydney.

On Saturday morning, we visited China Town and introduced Brendan to our favourite Yum Chow restaurant. Its a real local hang out and we were the only "westerners" there. A constant stream of ladies came to our table to tempt us with their delicasies - and got very upset if we said no (they have that "hurt" look absolutely perfected) - so we ended of stuffing ourselves with prawns, fish, beef etc. and copious amounts of Chinese tea. Absolutley delicious, all of it.



On our explorations of China Town, we came accross someone playing music with beer bottles. He could play any tune you asked for - and it sounded great. Who would have thought beer could be so musical.

Event highlights (2006)

Travel

• Cape Town for Xmas 2005 (including Witels)
• South America trip (6 months)
• Cape Town (2 weeks in mid 2006)
• Fly to Australia via Singapore (one night en route)
• Fly into Perth
• Fly into Melbourne (buy car)
• Drive to Sydney (tour by Doug and Claudia)
• Drive to Brisbane (stay with Glen and Carleen)
• Drive back to Sydney where settle in
• Manly 2 weeks
• Settle into Blues Point Tower, North Sydney

South America

• Argentina
• Chile
• Bolivia
• Brazil
• Peru
• Ecuador

Hiking

• Wit Els (Cape Town)
• Volcano (Chile)
• Torres del Paine (Chile)
• Fitzroy (Argentina)
• Madidi Jungle (Bolivia)
• Inca Trail (Peru)
• Colca Canyon (Peru)
• Myburgh Ravine (Cape Town with Russell)

Settle into Sydney

• Introduction by Doug and Claudia to Sydney
• 2 weeks in Manly
• Week at Enterprise Marketing
• Move into Blues Point
• Start working for Agency Fusion
• New Year fireworks and party

A view of our apartment and neighbouring areas

Google Earth is the bomb!

Evening walk from our flat

That's our apartment block in the distance, overlooking the bay...


Lunar Park, 10 minutes from our flat


And the imposing Harbour Bridge



If we live in this part of town for much longer, we definitely need to get a boat to keep up with the Jones's

Gulls at the Fish Market

Great photos from Cape Town

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Fitzroy sunrise and sunset

The mountain was like a chameleon, adorning itself in different colours at different parts of the day. The photos show pre dawn, sunrise (red, then orange), early morning (all lit up) and late dusk.

The Los Tres Glacier at dawn and dusk. Really beautiful.

El Chalten at dawn

Here the tiny town sleeps while above, nature performs her morning spectacle of red fire. We happended to catch it at the bus stop on our way out. I used to sympathise with the saying that "If God wanted us to watch sun rises, He'd have made them come at 11 in the morning." But I am starting to revise my opinion.

Lady MacQuarie's Chair

We went for a walk today at Lady MacQuarie's Chair. It's a gorgeous park right in the heart of Sydney with great views of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. Just 10 minutes from our flat, I think we will come here a lot. Brides and grooms flock here for their photos - we must have seen over ten bridal couples the gardens in just two hours. And apparently this garden is THE spot to see the fireworks on New Year's Eve. If you can find space that is...



Squirrel morning commute

Ally in her Saturday hat, enjoying some very nice weather...

...as were the Sulphur Crested Cockatoos. They're noisy buggers but make up for it with their charm. Very tame they are too.

You know you are in Australia when...

...you've got parrots (not pigeons!) coming to your window for treats. The fact we are up on the 14th's floor doesn't phase them at all.

Ivor and Janice's little ones

Ivor sent us pics of Jessica and Mat. What little heartbreakers. Really nicely taken photos too.

Welcome Shirley, to the blogosphere

And talking of cute youngsters, Shirley has just set up a blog for Keira. Keira's looking adorable.

So glad you are blogging Shirly, we'll be following little Keira's journey with tremendous interest. And make sure you include lots of pics of you too!

Spiritual moments (2006)

Photography

• The joy of photography, especially in the mountains.
• Really feeling the photographic muse.

Coherence and meaning

• The sense of coherence I felt when editing the blog and adding information from my life (e.g. tribute to dad, mum, Jo)
• Reading Power of Now worksheet (by Eckhart Tolle) on a long bus journey.

Places

• Symphony of birds and insects by the river in Cuyobeno.
• Galapagos Islands (Snorkelling with turtles and seals)
• Iberia and Mindo
• Uyuni Salt pans
• Torres del Paine
• Fitzroy Mountains at dawn
• Two weeks in Manly

It's Mr Musoni!!

I was delighted to see Hubert, one of my favourite Volvo colleagues, the other day - here in Sydney. It was a great treat. We met up for a beer and meal. He's here on vacation and popped through Sydney on a road trip. His fun Australian mate who Hubert is travelling with is a committed Melbournite and wasn't too complimentary about Sydney so I did my best to put the story right!! Hope to see you here again Hubert - and stay longer in Sydney next time!

Beautiful words from Glen about Gran

One of the many great memories I have of Granny began many years ago when we were little boys. As the sun went down and the sky went dark she would get us to look at the first star in the sky. The evening star she called it.

Ever since then wherever I have been in the world, I have always thought of Granny when I have looked up to search for the evening star. I have since told our two little boys about the evening star, so your tradition Granny now lives on. Every time we look up and search for the evening star, we will think of you.

Goodbye Granny (Ally)

Granny and I have spent most of our lives separated by vast distances. Yet, I have always felt a tremendous sense of connection with her throughout my life and she has inspired me in many ways. And the brief and wonderful family re-unions where we spent time together are memories I will always cherish deeply.

As kids we would always receive a telegram for our birthdays (she never forgot a birthday) and Christmas parcels were eagerly awaited as she would make us knitted bed socks with ribbons. I loved going to bed at night with those warming my feet.

My clearest childhood memory of our trips to Zimbabwe is of us all sitting under a tree having sundowner drinks and just chatting and laughing together as a family. Needless to say sundowners is a great family tradition and it lives on.

Granny was not a demonstrative women but when her blue eyes sparkled and she gave her chuckle you knew you had delighted her deeply. Ker and I were able to spend time with Granny over this past Christmas and enjoyed making her laugh and catching up with her so much. It is a memory we will hold close to our hearts forever. Sparkly blue eyes run in the family – only last year, when it was dad’s birthday, she was reminiscing about how time had flown. She said, in her exact words, she “couldn’t think that it was 60 years since a curly haired, blue eyed, two dimpled little person was running around”. I am sure she was reminiscing about all her children.

Granny loved all her family very deeply and was very proud of us. She took great pains to trace our family tree and the photo collage she received for her 80th birthday was very special to her. It was particularly special for me watching her get to meet her great granddaughter, Lovelle, at Christmans. She commented to me that she liked the idea that more girls were being born into the Hoar clan. She loved all her boys very much but was tickled with the idea of balancing all that testorone with a little bit of feminity.

The friends she made at Blue Kerry were like a family to her too. She was always telling me how they shared magazines, family stories and photos. Whenever someone travelled, there was huge excitement as letters could be anticipated. It was wonderful to know that she was surrounded by such caring and generous people.

Granny and I saw each other far too seldom but we did connect regulary through letters. I would always eagerly await her next epistle (a word I learned from her!) and it was often through her written words that I learned what a truly resourceful, determined, optimistic and remarkable women she was. To illustate, here is one of my favourite quotes from a letter she sent me just last year:

“Fuel has been so short here in Zimbabwe. I managed to get 30 litres the other day. I spent 5 hours in the queue, which was about a mile long. It was great that I got fuel as I was able to go to work, hadn’t been for nearly a month. My boss works from home and it is like being in the country. But sadly I have to give it up – mainly because I will be selling my car. This is too luxurious to keep, mine’s a Renault 12 1974 and spares are almost unobtainable or costing thousands. I’m not looking forward to it, my independence will be gone which I have so enjoyed, but that is life. Sorry to tell you all this but we all keep smiling and mustn’t loose our sense of humour and so we jog on”

What inspiring words from an 86 year old!! Her resilience and optimism is a legacy that inspired all who knew and loved her.
And so we jog on with a smile on our faces – and a twinkle in our blue eyes - thankful that we all knew and loved such a wonderful person. She will always be part of me.
Beautiful words from Glen
One of the many great memories I have of Granny began many years ago when we were little boys. As the sun went down and the sky went dark she would get us to look at the first star in the sky. The evening star she called it.

Ever since then wherever I have been in the world, I have always thought of Granny when I have looked up to search for the evening star. I have since told our two little boys about the evening star, so your tradition Granny now lives on. Every time we look up and search for the evening star, we will think of you.

Gratitude (2006)

 Travels

• South America experience: it was heaven
• Financial abundance to travel
• Managed to find replacement camera for one stolen (in time for Galapagos)
• Taking a PSION to keep track of expenses
• Russell able to join us in Bolivia, Brazil, Peru
• Finding out about Mindo

Sydney

• Meeting Doug and Claudia and Chile: the perfect Sydney guides
• Our Manly experience
• Deciding on Sydney to move to
• Finding our Blues Point Tower appointment

Halloween in Brisbane

Ally flew up to Brisbane for Glen's birthday party - which had a Halloween theme. Halloween is pretty big in Austrlalia and is on the 31st October - so it was a good excise for everyone to dress up in ghoulish costumes. Even the food was dressed up, like the avocado dip spewing from a grinning orange mouth. Uuuuugh. It was lots of fun and Ally was on a high when she got back.

Matt and Sam

Insights (2006)

The Power of Now (Eckhart Tolle)

• I am not my body or mind but the witness of my thoughts and emotions.
• Consciousness I am. The same Consciousness we all are.
• The power of the present moment. Allow it to be as it is. Be the aware space for what is.
• Rest deeply in awareness (Presence).

The Departed

We went to see Scorcese's new movie last night: The Departed with Jack Nicholson, Leonardo Di Caprio and Matt Damon. What a brilliant movie!! If you don't mind a bit of violence (Ally just shut her eyes), its totally enthralling and some of the best acting I've see in a long while. It captivates you for its full 150 minutes. Not suprising it currently has a score of 8.5 / 10 on the IMDB Top 250 List. Go see it!!

Our New Sydney Apartment

Now that we are both gainfully employed, we have settled into a lovely apartment overlooking the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House. It's very relaxing to come home and look out over the views. There are some beautiful walks along the shore and vibey restaurants close by, so its a great spot. Feels so good to be settled again after so many months on the constant move, living out of a backpack. Just packing my underwear into a proper drawer was a very sweet experience!

View from our front door

Not a bad view when washing up (kitchen view)

Bedroom view

Lounge view

View from our workstation

This is of course all part of our intensive Sydney recruitment campaign. We have a lovely spare bedroom and you are all very welcome to come and stay with us if you want to pop by to explore the city. The city and botanical garden are just a 5 minute ferry ride from down our road.

Ally's new passion

Ally has started beading and is absolutely loving the shapes and colours and varieties. It's a great creative outlet and you end up with beautiful necklaces and bracelets at the end. Beading is all the rage in Australia at the moment and there is a mindboggling number of beads to choose from. Here is a small assortment of her recent "creations."

Global warming - what can we do?

Well, I don't often get evangelical, but after seeing Al Gore's excellent documentary about Global Warming called "An Inconvenient Truth" , I certainly feel a tad concerned. I really would recommend seeing the movie. It might not be uplifting, but it's brilliantly done and certainly a very important message for all.

Here'a an action list from the movie's web site. The conclusion of the movie is that we should all do our bit, wherever possible, to cut down our own carbon initiatives, and that collectively it can make a huge difference.

See the movie!