Birthday celebration...

It was lovely to head to Sydney on Sunday 8th December to celebrate my sister-in-law, Deirdre's 60th birthday. It was such a special afternoon catered by her wonderful daughters and daughter-in-law. They are so good at parties.

Celebrations...

It has been busy since we returned from holidays. The house is now decorated and we are getting ready for Christmas. I wish someone would do my cards for me! We have already had a few events. On Thursday last week the littlies had their Christmas concert at the school. It was fun though quite hot!

 That's our Benny behind the mask!

On Friday we had a lovely Book group party though I didn't take any pictures. Thanks, Jan, for hosting such a nice afternoon. On Saturday we had our church Christmas party. Delicious food as always.

Queensland

On our way back to Sydney we first visited Cairns on Wednesday 27th November. We caught the local bus to Palm Cove and enjoyed a lovely swim.

 Back in Cairns, we walked past the art gallery and enjoyed seeing this display of the work of Patricia Piccanini.

On Thursday we visited Townsville and caught the ferry to Magnetic Island. We hired a car and had a lovely time checking out the island and of course enjoying another swim!

 When we were back on the ship there happened to be a fly past!

Our last port ended up being Airlie Beach as we were unable to tender in to Moreton Island, which was a shame. We were lucky to get into Airlie Beach and had a nice time visiting the market, having a coffee and a swim.

 I didn't get up to capture these pictures in Sydney but thought you would like to see them.

We then arrived home on Tuesday evening. It has been busy since!

New Guinea

We went on this cruise to visit New Guinea. Our first port was Alotau in the Milne Bay province on Friday 22nd November. The men went on a tour of WW2 sites and we went on a cultural tour. It was very interesting and amazing how the locals live almost completely from what they grow and catch.

On Saturday we visited Kiriwina Island. There were lots of locals selling their handmade goods and the water was so beautiful for a swim. The snorkling was good too (I didn't do it but saw the videos).

On Sunday we were in Kitava and again the locals were friendly and it was lovely to see the children singing. We donated to the schools and I had some pencils and pens to give away. The water was so clear and beautiful. We also took a boat over the the island.