Tag: Life in Australia

trees in backyard

The End of the Year 2012

So, the end of the year is very near!

Today is Friday, 28th December 2012. This afternoon I’m going to play Rummy Cub as well as Scrabble with Irene and Erika at Erika’s place. Marion, who usually plays with us, is still up north in Ballina. I remember Ballina. It’s a beautiful little town not far from the Queensland border. That reminds me, Baby Lucas is at present up north too. Peter just noticed a picture of him on his Mum’s arms in front of the Big Banana in Coffs Harbour! His Dad and Uncle are with him too. It’s his first holiday away from home!

Tomorrow Peter and I are going to Wollongong. We’re invited for coffee and cake to our friends’ place in Wollongong. They are very longtime friends. We first met them in Balgownie Hostel in 1959! They had come from Germany to Australia on the CASTEL FELICE half a year before we arrived in Australia. They had a 20 months old daughter, so had we. This daughter, who is 55 now, came to see us in Berlin and she said her parents live in Wollongong now. Well, surprise, surprise, this is only a few minutes away from where we live! So Sylvia, the daughter, arranged for us to meet her and her parents in Wollongong tomorrow. We are very much looking forward to this!

Sylvia is also corresponding with our daughter Monika, who is one year younger than Sylvia. She remembers also our son Martin and our daughter Gaby – – – – who would be 55 now, but sadly is no longer with us.

On Sunday I might get a chance again to go to Mass. Last time I went was on Christmas Day, Tuesday, the 25th, early in the morning at 7,30. It had been a beautiful Mass. Instead of a choir we had four young people playing their instruments. On Christmas Eve it had cooled down already quite a bit after a heat wave of around 33 Degrees Celsius. The celebrations on Christmas Eve went very well at our place. Ebony and Ryan did bring Baby Lucas along. All in all there were 14 people at our place. Daughters Monika and Caroline with some help of Matthew saw to all the catering. Peter read out a story he had written about our life in December of 1957. Everyone was very interested to hear a bit more about what we had been up too. On previous Christmas Eves Peter had been telling about earlier Christmases from his childhood. They always want to hear more stories about these early years.

This year we had told everyone to bring only one Christmas gift. Monika and one of her daughters had randomly chosen the names and worked out who was going to buy a gift for whom. We suggested everyone should spend only ten Dollars on their present. I think on the whole people stuck to this. Maybe a few people spent a little bit more. Baby Lucas, this Christmas being his very first Christmas, did get a few extra gifts. Nobody actually was to know who their present was from. On the labels was written the receiver’s name plus: ‘From secret Santa’ or ‘From Santa with Love’. Peter was chosen to hand out the gifts in the name of Santa. While the gifts were being handed out quite a few jokes were made. Everyone was having fun!

So now New Year’s Eve is near. The last day of the year is to be next Monday. Peter and I have planned to travel by train to Sydney on that day and spend the day in Sydney but be back home in the evening. Of course there are going to be big fireworks again at Sydney Harbour. People are reserving themselves spots near the harbour already the previous night! We prefer to spend New Year’s Eve at home and watch some of the going ons on television. By the way Christmas Day and Boxing Day we were home all day. It had cooled down very much and was raining a lot. We played games with Caroline and Matthew, listened to music, watched a few DVDs, talked and relaxed. For food we had a lot of left overs! Plus Caroline made us yummy scrambled eggs. On Boxing Day we had soft boiled eggs for breakfast and Caroline provided a very well cooked meal for lunch with roasted duck, (falafel for me). kale, baked sweet potatoes and baked potatoes. I made some red cabbage, which everyone loved also. We also had mangoes, nectarines, bananas, lots of sweets and German ‘Lebkuchen’ and ‘Stollen’ as well as beer and wine, cups of tea and espresso. It was a very relaxing joyful Christmas.

And now, wishing everyone a very HAPPY NEW YEAR 2013!

Anniversary on the 21st of December 2012

Our 56th Wedding Anniversary is coming up. Last year we had an early celebration of our anniversary. We invited the family on Sunday before the anniversary to have a banquet lunch with us at the sahra restaurant in Parramatta (Sydney).  It was a day to remember. Gaby was still with us then.  We saw Gaby again three days later on Wednesday, the 21st of December 2011. We met her at Merrylands Shopping Centre. Our daughter Monika came to meet us there too for she hadn’t been able to come to the banquet on Sunday I was so happy that both Caroline and Gaby could be with us on the 21st of December.

On the 23rd of December, a Friday, we traveled by car to Melbourne to spend the Christmas days there with our son Martin. After the Christmas days we left with Martin and his daughter Lauren in his rented car to go along the Great Ocean Road to Apollo Bay to spend one week there in a holiday cottage. Kristan and her mum Margaret spent also the holidays with us. It was a great holiday. A lovely surprise for us was, that Martin’s son and daughter-in-law were able to visit us for one day at Apollo Bay and they did bring their two little sweet daughters (our great-grandchildren!) along.

On Christmas Eve we usually have all the family at our place. To celebrate Christmas Eve with gift giving is a German tradition which our children always favored! Our grandchildren here in NSW regretted that last year we had gone away on holidays and therefore they missed out on the Christmas celebrations at their grandparents. (We had tried to make up for it  by celebrating with them our 55th wedding anniversary.)

This year Peter and I are going to take off  by ourselves on our special day. We’re very much looking forward to this! We plan on going up to the Highlands for the day and to spoil ourselves with a nice luncheon and later on afternoon coffee at a very special place! So this Friday is the day we are looking forward to. We kept ourselves pretty busy the last few days. So time passed quickly.

And then of course there’s is Christmas to be looking forward too. This year Christmas Eve is open house at ours.  Up to sixteen people might spend the evening with us. It’s good to be able to celebrate Christmas with family!

Here is now what I wrote last year about our wedding anniversary. As I pointed out then, the pictures were of course taken in 2011 (not 2010 as it says on the pictures).

 

 

Our Anniversary in December 2011

On Sunday, 18th December 2011, we had the banquet for our 55th wedding anniversary. Two daughters and five children of one of the daughters joined us at the restaurant. Three more people, who originally wanted to come, could not make it because they had to work on this Sunday before Christmas. The restaurant was Lebanese. It is situated close to the Parramatta River in Sydney. We took photos outside the restaurant near the river and also inside where all the delicious food was served.

The camera was set onto the wrong year. It should of course say 2011, not 2010.

A Sunny Sunday in Sydney

We arrived at 10,30 am at Martin Place station to meet Angie and Roy at 11 am. We walked along Macquarie Street to their hotel and Peter took some pictures along the way. When we arrived at the hotel they offered us refreshments straightaway. And we soon got into talking amiably.

Later on we had Japanese lunch with them at the Opera House. The sky had cleared for the day. In beautiful sunshine we walked up to the Opera House. Peter took some pictures. When my lunch arrived Peter took a picture of that too. I had ordered a vegetarian roll. It looked beautiful with the avocado on top and cut up in small pieces. Somehow I managed to eat all this with chopsticks! I spiced every piece with soy sauce, horseradish and ginger. Delicious! The others had ordered something with fish. They all commented that my dish looked much more colourful.

After lunch we walked through the Botanical Gardens and Peter took some more pictures. By 2 pm we were back in Macquarie Street where Angie and Roy were staying at the InterContinental.They had tickets for a concert for later in the afternoon at the Opera House. So it worked out well that they could have a little rest before going out again. Peter and I wanted to catch our train back home from Martin Place. We had had a lovely day with two people we had never met before. But some of Angie’s family are known to us. They all were emailed some photos of yesterday’s meeting. One of Angie’s sisters, who lives in England, already emailed back saying she and her husband were planning to travel to Melbourne next year to see their two sons there and meet other family members. It’s such a small world! Peter worked out that a lot of the descendents of his paternal grandparents already live in Australia.

Angie and Roy travel today, Monday, to South Australia and to the Barossa Valley. They stay in Australia for two weeks only. During this time they also plan to fly to Alice Springs (to see ULURU), as well as to Cairns and from there back home to America. I think in Sydney they had had only three days.

Picnic at Bronte Beach

What a lovely day: 28 Celsius, no wind, mostly sunshine. It was picnic-day at Bronte Beach in Sydney.

For this perfect picnic-day we have to thank N since she was the one who suggested it. N is in Sydney on another visit from Berlin. She stays here with friends. Recently  she contacted us and asked:  Would we like to meet her? She also contacted C and M. This is how Peter and I came to have this picnic yesterday with N, C and M.

We had plenty of food and drink set out on a roof covered picnic table right at the beach. A swimming pool was nearby and all of us went for a swim in it.. Later in the day C and M invited us to their place for coffee and  home-baked scones with plenty of fresh cream and strawberry jam.Yummy!

It took us 90 minutes to drive back home to Dapto. We happily arrived home at 6 c’clock in the evening.

Banquet for our 55th Wedding Anniversary

On Sunday, 18th December 2011, we had the banquet for our 55th wedding anniversary. Two daughters and five children of one of the daughters joined us at the restaurant. Three more people, who originally wanted to come, could not make it because they had to work on this Sunday before Christmas. The restaurant was Lebanese. It is situated close to the Parramatta River in Sydney. We took photos outside the restaurant near the river and also inside where all the delicious food was served.

The camera was set onto the wrong year. It should of course say 2011, not 2010.

Apollo Bay 26th Dec. 2011 to 2nd Jan.2012

We were six at Apollo Bay: Martin, Kristen, Lauren, Kristen’s Mum as well as Peter and I. Kristen’s dog Darcy was also with us. In the previous blog is a picture of Martin, Kristen and Lauren, which Peter took just before they all went off on a seal watching tour. More pictures I’ll try to include at a later date.

Apollo Bay turned out to be a marvellous holiday place. But all good things have to end. So now we’re back home again and getting used to the daily routine. We have good memories of seeing Martin’s daughters as well as Martin’s son with his family.

Kristen’s Mum, Margarete, who turns 80 this year, was often great company for me. It was a thrill for me, to have a fair dinkum Australian to talk to and compare memories of the distant past.

Peter made hundreds of pictures during the holiday. I hope to be able to publish some of them soon.