HI TO ALL OUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY NEAR AND FAR . . . . . . we wish you good luck, good health, happiness, and all the
very best that life has to offer as we head into the festive season and 2016.
This was going to be the year of connection – a mid-year letter, a long chatty phone call, a Facebook post – but in the end I never got a Round Tuit (they’re obviously in short supply), so here is the Christmas letter again.
The year was routine, more or less, except for the month of August. We went to France via Dubai – where we spent an evening dune bashing in landcruisers and watched a gorgeous belly dancer. For 16 days we were in Lyon where Ralph competed in the World Masters Athletics Championship. Lyon was a joy – best of food, efficient public transport, friendly, helpful people, new sights of all sorts – we needed at least another week there! Highlights: the Lumiere Villa which houses the Lumiere Museum; the Confluence Museum, a striking modern building with diverse displays; and the Cathedral. Ralph won bronze then silver medals, in the 5km and 10km walks, and reluctantly traipsed around for a fourth place in the 20km walk, having eagerly consumed far too many French pastries and mumbling about having to race in very hot weather (> 30 degrees C). I saw a little more of Lyon and beyond than Ralph managed – to Perouges (a medieval village), and a cable-car ride at Chamonix and the awesome Mont Blanc.
Then a week on the Midi Canal (southern France) with fellow athletes on a 7-berth self-drive boat where Ralph honed his boat-driving skills and navigated most of the locks. The countryside was beautiful; small villages, wineries, interesting locks along the canal, warm friendly people, fresh baguettes daily, and many more of those French pastries! Carcassonne, at the end of our cruise, is a medieval citadel famous for its 53 watchtowers and double-walled fortifications. The first part, Le Cité, was built in Gallo-Roman times; major additions were made in the 13th and 14th centuries. Château Comtal, a 12th-century fortress within Carcassonne, was amazing.
We stayed three nights with terrific hosts, cousin Ruvée and husband Michael at their magnificent Chateau in Parisot, an hour or so from Toulouse. Michael and Ruvée took us to the beautiful village of Najac with its lovely medieval houses and stunning ridge-top position – just 11km away. A train trip ended with us in a briefly wet Paris where we spent a couple of days wandering the streets and sampling the sights (and food, of course), then home without a stopover. The jet lag set in – our worst so far!
It was great to catch up with the Sideys at Toni’s 60th, at a lovely winery in northern Victoria, although Ralph’s reaction to the countryside was a severe bout of hay fever and coughing for five weeks!
Dawn is still working full time at Cheltenham Secondary College (paying off the mortgage), still scouting, but has handed over the Cub Scout leader’s (Akela) badge. Ralph is race walking and running, walk judging, coaching, operating timing systems for athletics clubs and schools, athletics officiating, and supervising exams at Cheltenham SC. Ralph was honoured to receive the Victorian Race Walking Club’s lucrative walk-season award sponsored by Runners World (the shoe shop in Kew, not the magazine).
Craig left Mazda after 15 years and is enjoying a break from working.
Alistair and the Warrandyte Bennetts are fine – the grandchildren and mum Katrina all enjoying their sports – BMX, cricket, Aussie rules, soccer, netball, etc. Zali starts high school [Luther College] next year!
All the best for Christmas, and here’s to a strife free and enjoyable New Year (at least in your part of our mixed up world!)