Relocation Relocation

Tuesday 21 May. After the exertions of the previous day I took it fairly easy doing some computer catch-up and meeting with Rachael to go for fish and chips and a walk along the waterfront to Brighton pier, which was closed for renovation L It was also much colder and greyer today, no doubt to make me feel like I was in Brighton UK, and Rachael seemed flabbergasted that I had been swimming just yesterday.

In front of Brighton pier

It had been a while since I had taken my vehicle for a spin so I thought it was time to devise a slightly more ambitious route! I headed north and a bit east to cross the longest bridge in Australia – it felt weird having an entire cycle/ pedestrian segment of it to myself. On this occasion, given the inclement weather, the 24 mile journey felt possibly more significant than the sights.

Thursday was a bit of a late start – made worse by forgetting to check train times again so I arrived at the station just as one left. I eventually made it to Milton, just east of the centre of Brisbane, where I was meeting family friend Marie for lunch. My lamb burger was most satisfying. Marie then gave me a quick tour of Milton via a Queensland nut ice cream stop. After pointing me in the direction of the river Marie bad me farewell as she went back to work and I headed towards the centre of town. Again feeling my way rather than using a map, I found Roma Street Parkland, peaceful gardens somehow hidden away in the centre of Brisbane. My last stop of the day, conveniently visible from the edge of the Parkland, was the recently reopened TARDIS-like Brisbane City Hall, home to the museum of Brisbane. From there I returned to Boondall.

The City Hall

I took it fairly easy for my last full day in Brisbane, going for a leisurely walk towards Sandgate to investigate some so called lagoons - although one may have better classified as a large puddle! Ralph beat me in a couple of close fought games of pool, and after a huge and delicious T-Bone steak I spent the evening puzzling over how to fit everything into my smaller bag and leave several centimetres to allow it to squeeze down to regulation aeroplane hand luggage size...

The lagoon

Ralph gave me a lift to the airport, especially kind considering that we had to leave at 5am. I made it to Cairns without issue except for my bag being slightly too heavy for my own comfort, nearly leaving my sunhat at customs, and wearing too many clothes for the destination. Cousin Steve cleverly succeeded in timing his arrival to coincide with mine outside the airport. I was now in FNQ, still the same state as SEQ but over a thousand miles north!  Two very different worlds.

I like to ride my bicycle

The following two days I took full advantage of my newest possession. On Thursday I cycled North to the Tincha Tamba Reserve having heard the area is home to many a kangaroo. I fretted for a while, unable to spot any wildlife, however my fears were unfounded when a little step off the beaten track presented plenty of ‘roos! (Sadly it was a grey day and my photos did not turn out all that well...) I was pretty exhausted by the end of my 18 mile trip...

Kangaroo running away from me

Next day’s ride took me East to Nudgee Beach where I was particularly impressed by the trees (mangroves, which grow in mud flats) growing on the beach. Simple things... The nice cool breeze was enjoyable, until on my return journey I realised it was really a significant head wind. These excursions were very pleasant, especially considering the bike was completely free to me, and certainly much less painful than my previous cycling trip on a hired bike in rather dubious condition!

Mangrove tree at Nudgee

Diane and Lindsay, more of mum’s friends, picked me up on Saturday morning and we chatted on the drive back towards Brisbane, deciding to first stop at St John’s Cathedral, for whom Lindsay (an accountant) does some work. The Anglican architecture looked like it could have fitted in in England, and I found it rather spectacular. Next on the day’s itinerary was a tour of the University of Queensland (UQ; mum had studied here for an Arts Degree) to which I had previously been very close, but had not yet investigated. We stopped there for lunch, during which we needed to fight off aggressive turkeys and ibises! Diane’s sister Jenny, and her husband Richard welcomed us into their home for afternoon tea. (Diane showed a photo of Jenny and family visiting us in London in 2000.)

With Diane and Lindsay

Our late afternoon trek took in some places mum had lived as a university student (the house on STEEP Briggs Street, just above noisy Taringa Station, is no more) and then up Mount Coot’tha to observe the night view over the city. The final stop of the day was Westlake where I said goodbye to Diane and Lindsay and went to visit family friends. My new hosts, Lynda and Rowan, were familiar from visits to England, and will be spending three months in Warwick later this year; after dinner we spent a while talking and later Skyped my parents.  Their silver cat Sacha did not have much to say, but looked great on the video link!

Interior of St John's Cathedral

On Sunday morning (19 May - Happy Birthday Dad!) we attended the local church where I met another couple of mum’s friends, Russell and Lynette, with whom I exchanged contact details in the hope that we can meet longer in the future. After a long morning tea to mark the retirement of a pastor we rushed home to prepare what was an excellent late lunch of (traditional Australian) roast lamb. In the late afternoon we ventured over to Brookfield where Lynda and Rowan were pleased to again catch up with Max and Freda, and I collected a few things from the stash I had left there. Once we were done Rowan kindly drove me all the way back to Boondall! Brisbane tends to have sprawling suburbs, seemingly only limited by the coastline.

Lynda, Freda, Rowan and Max

Early next morning I Skyped home to 'personally' deliver birthday greetings as it was the first time that day (well, woring on UK time!) that neither dad nor I was asleep or out! Soon after Kim, a school friend mum had not seen since schooldays, arrived and took me on a tour of beautiful Bribie Island. It was still early in the day, and standing on a beach in my shorts, sheltered from the sun, it felt pretty fresh - I was unsure whether I might have to renege on my promise to myself that I would swim in the sea today! Following around the section of the island accessible by car took us to an area where hundreds of jellyfish were ‘swimming’ (a great excuse for not braving the sea), and then to the unsheltered, and usually choppy, side of the island which today was looking rather calm. I dipped my feet in the water and it wasn’t just too cold, but being a good citizen I was saving my swimming in the open sea for later, in a patrolled area! We continued up to Caloundra (pronounced a bit like Clown-dra!), the start of the Sunshine Coast, where we paused for lunch – I had a huge burger that was a struggle to fit in my mouth and largely required civilized use of knife and fork... We surveyed a few beaches and settled on one with a lifeguard and safe zone markers and the time for postponing the inevitable was past. There was only one other ‘crazy’ person in the water, but while I cannot pretend it was warm I would hardly have classified it as freezing – it was certainly warmer than the last two times I had been swimming in the sea in England in mid-summer...

Amazing (empty!) beach in Caloundra

The Sunshine State

Not too long since the last post, and boy, wait until you see what I’ve been up to!

Saturday 11 May. As usual I woke up early in the morning, feeling pretty well and, given the look of some other people, glad I hadn’t drunk too much! Originally Bill had kindly offered me a lift back to Brisbane, however after a leisurely breakfast Jez, Bill’s flatmate, became my driver as he was returning slightly earlier, and Brisbane hosts Anthony (son of Max and Freda) and Theresa (who I had not yet met despite spending several nights at their home) had a spare ticket to an AFL game! It transpired that Jez was in fact a West Ham fan, and had even watched them in action! After some heavy rain, a traffic jam caused by a crash, and getting somewhat lost, we were a bit late arriving at Indooroopilly... As I was joining Max and Freda and grandson Matthew for the game, I was disappointed to again be the cause of inconvenience to these gracious folk.  Thanks to granddaughter Genevieve’s tactical driving we made it to the game before the end of the first quarter, although regrettably the Brisbane Lions were losing by this point. The Lions made something of a comeback and were level going into the final quarter but were beaten after a poor display towards the end (seemingly jinxed by Max’s talk of how well the Lions tend to do in the last quarter) and the home crowd dispersed feeling rather dejected.

A grey day for the Lions

Sunday was Mothers’ Day in Australia and seemed to be a day off for the rain! I wished mum her second Happy Mothers’ Day before again attending St Peter's service, notable for  a couple of tunes (Sibelius’ Finlandia and Beethoven 9) put into hymn form. Lunch saw Mark and Robin and their daughter Melinda join us in celebration, followed by a trip to Scarborough (similar to how I imagine the English counterpart only warmer) to see Theresa’s mother! We started the return journey as night time crept in and I was given a short tour along the coast home, passing familiar names including Brighton and Margate, in the diminishing light. Apparently these beaches are not favourites of the locals, compared with vast expanses of white sanded competition (such as the Sunshine coast to the north), although relative to our beaches at home they looked pretty good...

View from the waterfront at Scarborough

The subsequent two days continued fairly rainy and miserable, hopefully not setting a precedent. In between showers (which I am informed were not really rain by Queensland standards; a very wet summer has just passed) I went for a short walk along the river, thankful not to get caught out by the weather, and managing to get only slightly lost. Conditions were even less enviable on the Tuesday morning so I stayed inside, spending the time catching up on Internet related activities. The afternoon saw me journeying to the other side of Brisbane, again thankful for a lift from Genevieve. Although the rain had eased off, the ‘short’ walk to Indooroopilly station may have been a struggle given my luggage and the gradient of Brisbane hills! I successfully completed the trip without any hiccups and met my host Ralph who drove me home from Boondall station. Dinner was an Indian takeaway for ten – Ralph had his four offspring and their partners over to celebrate son-in-law Matt’s birthday; post-meal I was relieved to be able to provide a couple of answers in their newspaper quiz tradition!

Wednesday morning brought a nice surprise! On an early morning outing Ralph passed an abandoned bike with a sign reading ‘please take me I am in need of repair’ and soon after I returned and collected it - sure enough, it did need some restoration! Mercifully Ralph is an old-hand when it comes to mending bikes and successfully fixed a punctured inner tube and oiled some parts (it was pretty rusty). As a break from the repairs we took a drive up to Sandgate for a short walk along the seafront and a tour of local scenery. On our return Ralph made some wheel adjustments and a short test drive showed my 'new' bicycle to be in reasonable working order!

My 'good as new' bike

Officialdom

Fearing some of my posts have been rather lengthy, I shall now attempt more frequent short items!

Wednesday (8 May) and Thursday were spent visiting sites of historic significance for my family. This included trips to Haden, Doctors Creek, Glencoe, Crows Nest and various churches and cemeteries courtesy of Jenny and mum’s cousin Ruth. 

Me with tour guides Ruth and Jenny

As well as finally getting my Medicare number, albeit only a temporary one on a piece of paper, and declining the chance to open a bank account for which I would have to pay at least $4 a month in charges, I had some light relief sampling the goods on offer at Wedgetail winery in Kingsthorpe.  It was wonderful to meet my great aunt, and her daughter Ruth who visits Lourdes Home daily.  Annie, my maternal grandmother's sister, is 97 and the last of her generation! 

Me with mum's Auntie Annie and daughter Ruth

These two days were exhausting for me so I dread to think what it must have been like for my guides.  In the evenings Jenny introduced me to some quintessential Australian cinematography with The Man from Snowy River, about 4 hours of spectacular scenery offering ideas of some beautiful places (the Blue Mountains for example) I may manage to visit.

Waterfall near Picnic Point

Friday was my last day with Jenny, who is soon jetting off to England where she will see my mum. I was sad to leave, but pleased to have the opportunity to give Jenny a few things I had already accumulated to take ‘home’ to England! I had hoped to spend some of the morning exploring Toowoomba on foot, but by the time I had opened a bank account (Heritage, who I am happy to name as they do not have charges; I also learnt, as one does, that my advisor was a month and eleven days older than me) and applied for a Tax File Number I had no spare time. We stopped briefly at Jenny’s daughter’s house for a cuppa on the way to mum’s cousin June (one of comparatively few relatives I have met on mum’s dad’s side of the family). We talked as June showed family photos she had looked out for me to view.  Too soon I needed to leave to meet Rachael's friend Bill who was hosting a cocktail party at his abode to celebrate the end of exams for medics. Not knowing anyone I was a little nervous but they were a friendly and easy going group, and I was even able to be helpful in making infamous B-52 cocktails (sadly not flaming). Needless to say, my last evening in Toowoomba (for now) ended later than my usual bedtime...

A Tale of Two Cities

No doubt you are astounded to have heard from me again so soon! I am hoping to post each week although of course this depends on future internet access. Anyway, back to what has been happening...

Tuesday was an early start, commuting with Mark on the bus. Surprisingly and anti-stereotypically Aussies seem better at queuing for buses than we British, even stepping to the right if not wanting to board the approaching bus. (I was impressed, but maybe one had to be there to understand!) Despite being rather packed the temperature aboard was excellent – Australians, well Queenslanders at least, are serious about air conditioning. (Maybe London transport could take a leaf out of their book...?) Although the start of the journey was slow we soon reached a point where buses have their own lane and then speedily progressed to the centre of town. Mark showed me around a little before we said our farewells; Mark went off to work, and I began a solo tour of the city, feeling slightly touristy/ idiotic carrying around my unused sleeping bag that didn’t fit into my backpack. Wary of the prospect of getting lost (it was too early to pick up a map from the tourist centre) I aimed for and followed the Brisbane River. After a brief exploration of the old Botanical Gardens (with a view of the Kangaroo Point cliffs), University (QUT, formerly QIT and mum's alma mater) and South Bank I regretted having so much luggage as the warm weather was once again making sightseeing tiring work. Only right at the end of my day did I explore museums and galleries which I discovered insisted on holding items in a cloak room (all free of charge) and were nicely air conditioned to boot!

View across the river to Kangaroo Point cliffs

Research the previous evening had shown that the bus I needed to catch to Brookfield ran once every hour, so I hurried for the pre-rush hour service, just making it in spite of having to top up after being overcharged that morning. Again, I was pleased at the cool relief the bus offered. (Ok - last time I will mention that today - some have said it was a good thing I did not arrive in January!) Sadly the idea of the bus running once an hour was too good to be true – only SOME of the services reach the point I needed, effectively meaning the service was really only every other hour... Wherever it was that the bus had terminated, Max and Freda graciously came and collected me.

Next day Max gave me a tour around their property, showing various plant life and areas that were to be poisoned to remove weeds. I also went for a walk to familiarise myself with the local creek, and observed the first (and to date only) snake of my visit. I kept my distance although later discussion revealed it to be the harmless, and even potentially friendly, carpet snake. I think this was also the first time I experienced rain since arriving, if you can call a few drops of water rain – the sun was certainly still shining! The rest of the day was spent relaxing, and I even played (read 'bluffed my way through') some Beethoven piano sonatas...

My friend the carpet snake

On Thursday we drove up Mount Coot-tha to admire the views offered by the highest peak in Brisbane followed by a stroll around the nearby Brisbane Botanic Gardens. It was Brenton’s birthday so a huge dinner of Johnny Mosetti was made in industrial size pans, with everyone working well as a team; my cheese grating skillz were second to none!

Max and Freda on top of Mount Coot-tha

Late next morning we drove to the river to catch the City Catamaran into town (complete with luggage). Having learnt my lesson I left my bags in the Art Gallery cloak room. I spent a short while wandering around the gallery then sauntered over to the nearby university campus (QUT) to meet with Rachael. I was a little unsure of our rendezvous location and had cleverly managed to leave Rachael’s contact number, not yet saved in my phone, behind in my bag. Similarly Rachael was having problems as my phone was pretending to be unregistered. We met up ok in the end and I enjoyed a guided tour of central Brisbane; we even saw some Buddha’s birthday celebrations along the South Bank.

Now at this point I hope to hear from anyone who can tell me why celebrities look different in British and Australian newspapers - I am pretty sure I am an not making this up (although Rachael seemed to think I was). See photo below - if you have trouble recognising them then I guess they look different!

All too soon Rachael and I needed to head our own ways; hers back to Uni to hand in some work, mine to the train station via the gallery to collect my heavy possessions.  My train was a slow one to Loganlea as, not having mastered the system, I found myself on a service with around 20 stops rather than just 3.  This meant that Steve and Tanya (who had just flown down from Cairns) and Steve’s father Warren were waiting a little while at the station. Despite this they still seemed pleased to see me and soon after checking into a motel for the night we ventured out for some refreshment.

Early next morning after a quick breakfast of bacon and eggs we began the drive up to Toowoomba. Warren chose a different route from the one I enjoyed earlier in the week, avoiding some of the delays; we arrived at mum’s cousin June’s house in time for a cup of tea. (Despite it supposedly being an English 'tradition' I seem to be drinking much more tea now I am over in Australia than I ever did in England). We were under orders to deliver June to the nearby Highfields Lutheran Church Hall at precisely 12 noon for her ‘surprise’ 80th birthday party. After standing outside talking for a while we moved inside for some food and speeches, with a number of people recognising and approaching me through the afternoon. I stayed the night at the house of mum’s cousin (once removed!) Todd, along with his sister Desi, her husband Ross and their 3 lovely children. Todd makes an excellent homebrew!

Me with Steve and Tanya

Sunday was Toowoomba Motor Show day and Todd drove me to the airport in his excellently restored classic 1953 Holden. Through the day I saw many makes of car and also helicopters and planes, including a Spitfire in flight, but sadly I did not manage to spot any Aston Martins... This was compensated for by a chance meeting with Alan and Trevor, cousins of my mum and noted in the family for their vintage cars which have been used for many a bridal party! All in all it was an enjoyable but tiring day, and also the first time I managed to get an unreasonable amount of sunburn, considering that I was wearing a hat. Despite insisting he would not be in line for any prizes, Todd received the very first one given. Soon after, Todd dropped me off at friends John and Judith where again much drinking of tea ensued!

Todd and his Holden

Confusingly, Monday May 6th did not appear to be a bank holiday (long weekend in local speak) in Australia (not that it made much difference to me), and John and Judith decided to venture to Jondaryan, where we happened upon an Australian Heritage Festival. This step back in time included demonstrations of sheep shearing, whip making, blacksmithing, farm equipment, and a parade of farm vehicles. In spite of my tiredness after a long day I managed two (intended to be only short but actually reasonably long) Skype calls that evening.

Tuesday morning saw me revisiting Richard and Trudy and being given a quick tour of a couple more of the Garden City’s finest parks. They had a Queensland nut (macadamia) tree in their garden, displayed the process of opening these treasures, and gave me some as a most welcome, and tasty, gift. John also showed me round his garden and the many fruit trees he has growing, including a few I had never heard of before. In the afternoon I was picked up by mum’s friend Jenny and spirited away to Meringandan’s renowned pub where I succeeded in finishing a rather large and delicious genuine beef T-bone steak. Thank you Jenny!

Me and the huge steak!

That's it for another indeterminate period of time (probably a week). See you soon!

Walking slowly...

Once again, apologies for the lengthy silence! Without further ado let me return to the events of 21st April! 

After a rushed packing session my trip started at 4pm English time, with the greater than usual fear of having left something behind due no doubt to the distance I was about to travel. Mum drove us to Gants Hill tube and I know was wishing she was the one setting off for Queensland.  Alas, about half an hour from home I realised my laptop charger was still... at home! At least it wasn't one of my passports or I might still be in London! After waving bye to my dad at Victoria it suddenly sank in that it would be quite some time before I saw any of my English friends and family :( I was hoping Australian contacts were about to live up to their hospitable reputation. (They have!)

Several hours later, once I had boarded the plane (flying under a new Qantas-Emirates partnership) I was in a much better mood, possibly thanks to the screens with PS Vita-esque remote controls. (Sadly there is no photographic evidence of this as the second plane offered something of a downgrade to an old-school Nokia style!) Needless to say I didn't sleep a wink on the first flight and snoozed a minimal amount on the second... I did however manage to get through a fair few films, including The Hobbit, Toy Story 3 and A Few Best Men (the plot summary sounded rather interesting...), and talked to some people from around the world – a banker on his way to Harare who proceeded to show me around Dubai airport and told me to get a job in banking, an Iranian woman headed on holiday, and an Arts student returning home to the Gold Coast.

Brisbane sunrise

I was relieved to be off the plane and grateful to find Rachael waiting for me at sunny Brisbane airport. Our first port of call was a local supermarket. Only as we approached the entrance did it occur to us that it was several hours until opening time. As I was feeling somewhat queasy and not relishing the prospect of more travel, we went for a walk in nearby Shaw Park. It was quite early in the day and pretty hot already, although the locals described this weather as pleasant. Everywhere was green and litter free. It was amazing! Would you believe it – after this walk it was still too early to go shopping, so we drove to New Farm Park for another walk, this time incorporating the Brisbane River, a gallery and a breakfast stop. I was not really hungry but Rachael insisted on buying me a slice of cake!

Next stop was Indooroopilly Shopping Centre (good luck with the pronunciation!) via some sights. I acquired a Go-card (Brisbane’s answer to TfL’s Oyster) and enquired about sim cards. Sadly Australian phone companies appear to enjoy making pay-as-you-go as confusing as possible, and in my knackered state the best option seemed to be to take a price chart from each store to peruse at my leisure. The last leg of the journey was a rather exciting steep climb, my destination offering an excellent view over Brisbane. Rachael accepted Mark’s offer of a quick cup of tea and introduction to the peafowl before dashing off. Soon after I took a more than overdue nap - not especially refreshing in the blistering heat! I woke up shortly before Carrie arrived and it was dinner time. Sadly I was still not particularly hungry – made more disconcerting by the fact I had barely eaten in a day - and only managed a few bites.  It was not long before I was ready for another sleep... 

View of Brisbane from the hill

I then woke at 1am. I was cold - mornings can actually be pretty chilly! Other than savouring the night time view of the city’s lights I didn’t feel up to much. I attempted to return to sleep then gave up and had an Internet session with the laptop Carrie kindly let me borrow. Breakfast brought higher spirits: I had regained some of my appetite and thought I was ready for anything; a 'walk in the park' could not possibly pose problems. Mark and I headed into the quite hilly D’Aguilar National Park, so although we apparently only walked 8 miles it felt a lot more. Our ramble took us round Gold Creek reservoir and demonstrated the different atmospheres within tropical and temperate rainforest. While I did not see much by way of dangerous wildlife we encountered and heard many bird varieties, and saw an infamous cane toad, large spiders and fire resistant trees. The cobblers peg weed made a natural enemy, leaving clothes, especially socks, looking like hedgehogs. The remainder of the day was spent recovering, relaxing and removing pegs from clothing.

Mark next to Gold Creek Dam

On Thursday 25th April I woke at 1am! Grr. Cue early morning routine. If you had yet to figure it out, today is ANZAC day, which commemorates the service of Australian and New Zealand soldiers in Gallipoli. Mark and I were planning to attend a dawn service but despite both being ‘awake’ we managed to miss it and so instead attended the morning service in nearby Kenmore. At this point, with the sun blazing in my eyes, I had yet to learn how helpful a sunhat is outdoors, whatever the time of day. Post service we returned home and contemplated some gardening, planting a fig tree which led to more cobbler peg covered clothing. The afternoon saw Mark depart for six weeks work (captaining a cargo ship between Cairns and Darwin), and Carrie had some friends over for dinner.

On Friday I woke at 2am! On her way to work Carrie dropped me off with some distant relatives and good family friends, Max and Freda.  Having rushed grandson Brenton to work in Coles (something like Australia’s equivalent of Tesco plus Sainsbury’s) following a mix up in times, they gave me a tour of the local area and Lutheran school.

Saturday I easily woke in time for an early trip over to Wynnum to see grandson Ben playing two rugby games (well, the second game we watched the correct team!), winning one and narrowly losing the other – a good result since they were significantly beaten by the same team last year. We then hastily continued to the airport to send Ben off on a flight; I also discovered that airport cash machines charge $2 to check your balance (so I didn’t check it). 

The following morning I attended church at St Peter's; Max and Freda were giving readings, and introduced me to a friendly crowd over cakes and coffee. At lunch (celebrating the birthday in his own home of an absent Anthony) I met Max and Freda’s son Mark and his wife Robin, with whom I went to Eight Mile Plains as part of a (cunning) plan to get to mum’s hometown, Toowoomba. En route we stopped off at a superstore where I finally got my hands on a sim-card (on Amaysim network, recommended as being a third of the price of others). It was a bit of a pain to set up as they insisted on taking passport details, which I had left behind, to activate my phone number! On the upside, once home Mark found a power cord that worked with my laptop,  and introduced me to Aussie rules football.  While we watched the Brisbane Lions claimed their first win in some time. In the evening I Skyped home for the first time, no longer having to worry about available computer battery!

I was picked up bright and early on Monday morning by Ros, one of mum’s friends who had visited us in London not all that long ago. We had heard there were delays travelling to Toowoomba due to damage from recent flooding and were pleasantly surprised by the time it took to do all but the last few kilometres up The Range – at this point traffic came to a standstill as single file traffic attempted the steep ascent, the speed dictated by trucks crawling up the incline. We still arrived in plenty of time for Ros to show me Picnic Point, a pleasant area with an excellent view from the mountain we had just climbed (and a sign showing distance to London as 16,486km), and drop me off at my first port of call. Through the day I met some of mum’s friends and family, and was shown such sights as mum’s childhood home and school, and Queens Park, host to the famous Carnival of Flowers in September. Not long after reaching my final visit of the day Ros (who had attended a funeral) arrived to collect me for the drive back to Brisbane.

View from Picnic Point

You may have noticed a gradual decline in detail of activities. This is to increase the likelihood of regular posts from me. The observant will also be aware that this post doesn't quite catch me up to the present, but I will hopefully get there before too long! As always feedback is welcome. I shall return here soon (hopefully)!