Robert@PNG

Another year behind us, 2006 of to a flying start and the sentient beings of planet earth still suffering like there is no tomorrow.

They say bad luck comes in three's and going by my experience over the past couple of days : so true.

Firstly, our family xmas gathering developed a complication : 2 of John's girls come down with Chicken Pox (awful word : 'pox') and  the family decided to  break the  get together into two stages, lunch at Yolande's in Ashfield and then on to Dural for dinner.

Secondly, yesterday morning I went down to Pearl Beach for a quick swim and locked the keys in my car (Andrew's car). After my swim I got back to the car, unlocked it, put the keys in the ignition, closed the door and stood outside the car having a smoke. The car was locked!!  (Renault : european ingenuity!). my brother in-law Rick (mechanic) to the rescue!  With a coat hanger and a screw driver we managed to do the impossible : keys were still in the ignition and with the wire we lodged the keys free, worked these up to the top of the window and then with a screw driver were able to to press the release button! 

And thirdly, with the bush fires yesterday and the closing of the F3 freeway, got stuck in Sydney for a few hours. In the end they re-opened the road and I was able to head backup the Central Coast at about 8pm last night.

Circumstances beyond our control : always opportunities to flow with what is.

This morning….   after a quick shower, I will be heading up the north coast for 4 days. Picking up my mate Brett from Woy Wo station and dropping him off at Kempsey. I will be staying with Cameron and Amanda at Grafton tonight.

Really looking forward to a few days away and on the road !!!

May we all stay safe.

And lastly, I have setup a new photo album “Family gatherings XMAS 2005“. This album includes photos from the sibling day last week and also from our family xmas get together.

All other photos from my xmas 2005 holiday downunder can be viewed in the “XMAS 2005” photo album.