September to December

September saw us tidying up the garden (long neglected), some of which you can see below.

Back corner of the house - before

Back corner of the house - after

October kicked off with a day trip to Sydney to catch up with Pam, Robert and Regan, and mutual friends visiting from Perth - Rod and Wendy.  The drive there was uneventful and we had a very pleasant day.  We had drinks on Pam and Robert's boat (the Poseidon - we kid you not) and lunch at their house.  The boat is very impressive as you can see from the photos below.



Wendy, Rod, Pam and Rhonda

The Poseidon

Another highlight of the last third of the year was a short trip to Hong Kong in October.  We had hoped to catch up in New York with my cousin Malcolm and his wife Cathy during our USA trip, but they weren't free at that time.  They did, however, have a window of opportunity to visit Hong Kong (where Malcolm does business) in October.  Rhonda and I were free so we thought "why not?"  My sister Carol was also free so she joined us.  Photos from the trip are below.

The view from our hotel room

Sign near the lifts in the hotel.  We'd have been happier if it read: IF THERE IS A FIRE .....

Carol, Malcolm, Richard and Cathy out for the day



Malcolm and Richard at the peak overlooking Hong Kong

A Dog Latrine, on a walking track near the peak.  Hong Kong dogs must be very clever to read

Richard and Cathy somewhat fearful, Malcolm well under control

Carol, Cathy and Malcolm on the hydrofoil to Macau - we went for a night - as you do

The hotel opposite ours - much better looking

View from a room - not sure whos

Portuguese-style architecture near the centre of Macau

The inside of one of the gambling resort hotels - brilliant



Rhonda took a selfie on our way across water, on the cable car, to the Big Buddha

The quite long stairway to the Big Buddha

Malcolm, Cathy and Richard at the top

The Big Buddha waving goodbye to us - glad we didn't leave anything at the top



Cathy said I couldn't have another ice-cream

Couldn't resist including a shot of the poster below, displayed at the local Hyperdome shopping centre.  Hope that none of you were given the gift of guilt on Christmas day.

If only they taught hyphenation at school

 

We were fortunate enough to go out to lunch yesterday ,and had a guilt-free time (not to mention preparation-free and cleanup-free).  We joined Lynn and Craig, and Robin and Joanne.  Haven't done this for quite a while, but wouldn't mind doing it more often.





Christmas lunch with Robin, Craig, Lynn, Joanne and Rhonda

That's pretty much it for the year.  We'll be sleeping from 2014 to 2015 again, at the end of the month.  Hope that anyone reading this blog has a happy New Year and a peaceful, healthy and successful 2015.