Trevor and Erica’s Christmas Letter for 2021

It’s been a full year for us.  When we retired at the end of 2017 we planned to seize the opportunities that were available while we were still youngish and healthy(ish) and before our grandchildren came along and changed our lives for ever.  Since then we have travelled lots, both in Australia and overseas.  This year was no different, except the travel was in Australia only.

For some time we had been tossing around the idea of getting to the Kimberley, in the far north-west of Australia.  This rugged area seemed so remote and so far away from us in SA that the whole idea was almost too big to consider.  We were fortunate to have two other couples who are good friends and were also keen on the idea, so the planning began in earnest.  We ended up buying a Hilux with a camping box on the back in September last year, and this vehicle was our home away from home for the 97 days that we were travelling. Most of this trip was done together with them.

This map shows fairly well where we went.  From the Flinders Ranges, we headed up the Oodnadatta track, and the Ghan Heritage road to Alice Springs, before heading to the North-west on the Tanami road.  We stopped in at the amazing Purnululu (Bungle Bungles) before visiting Kununurra and Lake Argyle and then headed on to the Gibb River Road to see the Kimberley region. 

The remote roads, isolated gorges, beautiful swimming holes and stunning red soil and rock formations were jaw droppingly beautiful. 

We made our way across to Broome, before heading slowly to Karijini NP and across to Cape Range NP and Ningaloo Reef and then down the WA coast to Perth.  We were lucky with the weather on the Gibb and then with the wildflowers inland from Geraldton. Erica spent her birthday with Auntie Joc in Perth before we headed on to catch up with various other friends and relatives as we tracked across the southern part of WA.  The last treat was a stop at Tozer’s Bush camp to go orchid spotting with a botanist, and then the wonderful trip back across the Nullabor and home. A Blog of the trip can be found at https://wordpress.com/view/luvapuzzle.travel.blog if you with to read about it more.

While we were planning the trip we found out that Ben and Jasmine were expecting their first child, and Sophia was duly born in the start of May as expected.  She is now 7 months old and an absolute delight.  It was a painful tear to leave them in early June to go on the big trip, but we decided that it may never happen if we didn’t do it then, so we decided to go ahead. Jasmine kept up a stream of updates which delighted us each time we had reception on the trip.

By the time we left we also knew that Thom and Laura were expecting a child in November, and that they were hoping to come home.  We left an empty home behind, but are so very thankful that we came home to find them in SA, having taken an Australian Repatriation flight from London at short notice and come home via Howards Springs in NT.  James was born in Adelaide on November 13^th.  They will move into their own house in Coromandel Valley in mid-January and will continue to stay with us until then. This means that every day we get to enjoy the heart-warming pleasure of cuddling a grandchild. 

As you can guess the grandchildren have changed our life.  Grandparenting suits us very well so far, as we imagined it might.  Having both our kids and their families in our city again also suits us very well indeed.  

Trevor’s Mum, Grace, continues to live independently in her own unit and to complete jigsaws at a great rate. 

Erica’s Dad also continues to live happily between his own and Peggy’s places, and to cover many km as he drives to Encounter Bay and to Baldina (near Burra) with Peggy.  We are thankful that they both remain in great health.

Trevor turned 60 in October, but they say 60 is the new 40, and maybe it is true.  He certainly seems much more active and young than 60 year olds used to be when we were kids.  He is holding his brand new seniors card in this photo.

We continue to be involved in Orienteering, although the pressure is less since Erica gave up the secretary role.  Most weeks there is an event for us to attend, which keeps us thinking and active. It’s still the best sport ever.

We also continue to be involved in our walking group, with Trevor, in particular recording the walks for the members of the group to enjoy, and consistently walking on Tuesdays and every second Friday. Read more at https://walkingwith4seasons.wordpress.com/

Erica has had a problem ankle in the last few months, meaning time off from both of these activities, but is now on the road to recovery after an arthroscopy and removal or bone spurs.

With Trevor off walking, Erica has had a bit of a chance to get into more quilting, with a number of quilts completed this year. She particularly enjoyed making baby quilts for the expected grandchildren.  It was a lovely way to express all that hopeful anticipation. The current project is a hexagon quilt for the double bed, made up of the many hexagons which were handsewn as we travelled on our big adventure

We have also continued to deliver meals for Meals on Wheels every first, third and fifth Monday of each month in the local area, which gives us a chance to give back to our community.  The recipients of the meals, for the most part, are very very thankful for the service.  The more involved we are, the more we see the value of this daily check in visit.  “More than just a meal” is very much a fitting slogan for this service.  If we are lucky we even get to take some leftover food home to eat for lunch as well.

We look forward to 2022.  Watching Sophia and James grow and change is a constant joy that we hope to make the most of. At this stage we are hoping to travel to Victoria in September for the Australian Orienteering Champs, but we will see how that turns out as we watch the development of this COVID virus which is causing so much trouble. 

We are thinking of you all, and wish you much love and happiness.