CHRISTMAS-NEW YEAR GREETINGS 

Having decided to continue with the decision we took in 2015

which was that we would use the internet to send

Christmas and New Year Greetings to friends wherever

they may be in favour of our making an annual 

Donation to the Cancer Foundation’s Pink Ribbon Foundation
www.pinkribbon.com.au
and encourage others to do the same, we would like to

let you know what has been happening in our lives
during the past year and welcome the opportunity
to hear from you in the same regard.

It seems such a short time since we sent our last Christmas greetings

that the old cliché  “Hasn’t the year flown” certainly applies to 2016.

This year started with eldest grandson Tom departing for Amsterdam

to complete the final six months of an Industrial Design Degree at
the Netherlands Tilburg University ending with Tom returning this
week together with Amelie, a Swedish European Law student who
Tom met at Tilburg University and who we have just had
the pleasure of meeting for the first time.

Tom and Amelie are only here for a short stay sharing Christmas with
us/family before returning to Amsterdam in late December for a
few short weeks prior to relocating to Sweden, where Amelie
will hopefully find employment as a lawyer and Tom
working/relocating for an indefinite period.

We hope that things work out well for Tom and Amelie and look forward
to Tom returning home when the time is right for him to do so.

Our other five grandchildren who each continue to be a delight to
us in their individual way are all doing well as
they continue their formal education.  

Joe, who will be 21 in February is going great guns at University and
being quite the entrepreneur, has a bright future to look forward to.
Joe is very supportive of his mother (and Lyn and I) and his

pleasant demeanor and friendly personality holds him in good stead  

Georgina, soon to be 18 has another year at St Catherine's before
deciding upon her future career. Possessing a bright bubbly personality
 which has brought her many friends she continues to do well.   
We are confident that with these wonderful attributes she will
travel well along whichever path she decides to take.

Susannah, who turned 14 in early December is enjoying her
time at MLC and about to commence year 9. As part of her schooling
Susannah will be relocating to the Gippsland Campus for the
major part of term 1 followed by a two week exchange visit to Japan.

Georgina and Susannah are the loveliest of girls who never fail
to greet you with a smile and the warmest of welcomes.

Nick, who will be 16 in February has grown into a very personable
young man and is doing well at Trinity.  Nick loves his
sport particularly tennis and is a proud and passionate
Bulldog as is his father and grandfather before him.

Tim, who will be 9 in March is also at Trinity will be going into
Grade 3 in 2017.  Tim who favors the Cats as does his Mum
is developing a strong personality which will hold
him in good stead in the years to come.

We are very proud of all our grandchildren and
very much enjoy the time we spend with them.

Our children Carolyn, Julie/Justin, Anthony/Megan are all
doing well and getting on with their busy lives and
generally speaking are blessed with good health.
We trust that this remains the case for many years to come.

Lyn and I and Carolyn flew to Amsterdam in late June to

see Tom following which Lyn and I extended our holiday
to revisit the UK and Ireland. 

We were away for six weeks, had a great time and particularly
enjoyed the part of our holiday where we were joined by
Carolyn and Tom for eight days in the Scottish Highlands.



Eilean Donan Castle-Dornie Scotland

Lyn has Scottish ancestors as her paternal 3rd great grandparents
William Robertson (1795-1896) and Marion McGilchrist (1793-1866)
left Edinburgh in 1833 with their six young children
were early Victorian settlers who established a homestead
at what is now New Gisborne, (Vic) in 1837
http://wrobertsonwooling.blogspot.com.au/

We hope that all is well with you and your family
and you have a really great Christmas,

We alos hope that the New Year brings to you and your's
an abundance of Health and Happiness,

and

We look forward to hearing your news.
  
Best regards 
Lyn & Alan

"Oops", almost forgot to mention that one of the best things to
happen for us in 2016 was that stirring Bulldogs
victory over Sydney in the Grand Final.

What a great result for us patient Bulldogs,
62 years is a long time between drinks

We will continue to enjoy the win throughout 2017
as we revel in the well earned title of
"Reigning Premiers"

Yes - "one swallow does not a summer make",

but one Premiership certainly sets the tone for what
we hope (without being greedy) will be another
successful year for the Western Bulldogs.
"The Team From The Mighty West"

OUR FEW DAYS IN CANBERRA

Tuesday Feb 2
(Click on individual photos to enlarge/enhance image)

Having decided on the need for a few days break we left home to visit Canberra to see
the Tom Roberts Exhibition consisting of 133 major works from public and private
collection from Roberts early days studying at London's Royal Academy in 1883
until 1931, including the May 9, 1901 opening of the First Parliament of the
Commonwealth of Australia by HRH The Duke of Cornwall and York-King George V 

We plan to visit some of the many other things that our capital has to offer, including:
The National Gallery, The Australian War Memorial
Parliament House (Old & New), National Portrait Gallery, etc

We decided to take the more scenic route via, Lakes Entrance - Orbost - Cann River -
Bombala - Cooma as against the shorter/quicker but uninteresting Hume Freeway.

Our plan was to stop overnight somewhere along the way on Tuesday night leaving us
with an easy drive to Canberra on Wednesday where we stayed four nights at
The Annexe, Mugga Way, Red Hill which we sourced through our first venture with Airbnb. 

We also caught up with Lucy and Luis Val, friends and neighbours
from our Sydney 2000 days who live in nearby O'Malley.

Lucy, Luis and family which has grown since we last met them, lived two doors away
from us in Leichardt when Luis was the Sydney 2000 Olympic/Paralympic Games
Judo Competition Manager and I had the same role with shooting.

Stayed overnight at Lakes Entrance then on to Canberra arriving around 3.00pm where
we met our host Tim at The Annexe, Mugga Way, Red Hill. Tim who was very
welcoming showed us our accommodation with which we were both delighted

View from front door

The Annexe contained an impressive collection of military
memorabilia and awards bestowed upon:
Sir Francis George "Frank" Hassett AC, KBE, CB, DSO, LVO
the father in law of our host Tim. (see later under War Memorial)

Thursday Feb 4  
After a good night's sleep in our very comfortable accommodation we started the
day with a visit firstly to the “Old” Parliament House

"Well may they say God Save The Queen because nothing.....


Protesters are still in place as they have been for many years 

We spent an hour or so wandering the corridors which we both found to be of great
interest considering the history that it has witnessed in it's relatively short life

We appreciated the many satirical drawings that graced the walls, including;

 My Favourite

 New Parliament House
Had to go through the usual security check and forgot that I had a small pocket knife on my
key ring which I thought may be confiscated if discovered but somehow or other it escaped
unnoticed and has lived to see another day-so much for Parliament House security.

We were fortunate to find both houses of Parliament sitting and had a very interesting
guided tour before taking up our seat  in the public gallery, firstly in the
 Legislative Assembly (no photos allowed) which was in question time most of
which were not overly interesting while we were sitting there.

 
From there to the Senate (photography not allowed) where we spent
a little more time as the proceedings were a little livelier but still not enough
to hold our interest for any great length of time

Some of our illustrious Prime Ministers only one of which (Billy Hughes)
although a Member of Parliament until 1952 was not Prime Minister during our lifetime

 The story with Gough Whitlam is that having lost the Prime Ministership before
having his portrait painted, he refused to sit for an official portrait and instead
offered this one which had been an Archibald Prize entry on a"Take it or leave it basis"
 

  
Tested Parliament House security a second time when we were leaving after 
taking what turned out to be an incorrect exit path because someone
(not us) had removed the no entry barrier.  Found ourselves a little way down
the corridors before security came to direct us to the correct exit after first

suggesting that we must have removed the barrier.

 

Departing View

Next was a whistle stop at Yarralumla for a glimpse of the Governor General's home
which was approached through a beautiful stand of trees

 

On to the National Portrait Gallery where we were suitably impressed.
Took a lot of photos some of which are shown here.
No need to put a name to them but "just in case".
 
Princess Mary of Denmark

Chief Justice Kirby

 
Hugo Weaving

 
Dr Charlie Teo

Phil Coates

 
Lola Montez

David Jones

Dr (Doc) Evatt

 
Margaret Court

 
Sir Arthur Roden Cutler VC, AK, KCGM, KCVO, CBE

 
Sir Charles Kingsford Smith

 
Don Dunstan

 
Yurrupindi

 
Tom Uren

 
Sir John Kerr

 
Clyde Cameron

 
Lady Sonia McMahon

Julia
 
and last but not least
"The Man"

 
Good friend Lucy Val from our Sydney 2000 days kindly volunteered
to be our tourist guide for the morning

Had drinks with Lucy and family before heading to the airport to pick up Carolyn who is
joining us for the weekend, mainly for the Tom Roberts' Exhibitio

  National Gallery/Tom Roberts Exhibition

Had a great time viewing the collection which was beautifully presented at the 
National Gallery where photo's were allowed

Mentone Beach (More like the Beaumaris cliffs than Mentone)


Rickett's Point (The artist skinny dipping) 

National War Memorial

The time spent at the War Memorial was nowhere near long enough
as there is so much history to see and read about. We will definitely return at a later
date to spend more time at this very moving place.
 

 Signing the surrender of Singapore

 

Tomb of the Unknown soldier

Wall of Remembrance


Benjamin "Ben" Roberts-Smith, VC, MG (born 1 November 1978)
 is an Australian Army Reserve soldier and a recipient of the

Victoria Cross for Australia, the highest award in the Australian honours system.

Ben Roberts-Smith was awarded the Victoria Cross for Australia for his
actions during a helicopter assault into Tizak on 11 June 2010 as part
of an offensive in the Shah Wali Kot region, while serving with the
Special Air Service Regiment during the War in Afghanistan 

At the time, his Victoria Cross for Australia, together with his Medal for Gallantry 
awarded for actions during a tour of Afghanistan in 2006, made Ben Roberts-Smith
the most highly decorated member of the Australian Defence Force 

In 2014, he was further honoured with the award of a Commendation for Distinguished Service 
for his leadership as a patrol commander during a 2012 tour of Afghanistan.

Ben Roberts-Smith was presented with the medal by the 
Governor-General of Australia, Quentin Bryce,
at a ceremony in Perth on 23 January 2011

 
General Sir Francis Hassett AC, KBE, CB, DSO, LVO (1918-2008)

was an Australian General who rose to the position of
Chief of the Defence Force Staff,
the professional head of the Australian Defence Force serving in
this capacity from November 1975 until April 1977.

Francis Hassett joined the Australian Army in 1935 upon gaining entrance
into the Royal Military College, Duntroon. Serving with distinction in the early
stages of the Second World War, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in 1942
at the age of 23, and posted as a staff officer for the remainder of the war.
  

In 1951, Lt Col Hassett was appointed to command the
3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment in Korea,
where he led the unit  through some of the toughest fighting of the war.
 

For his leadership and planning during the Battle of Maryang San,
he was granted an immediate award of the Distinguished Service Order.
Promoted to Brigadier in 1960, Brigadier Hassett commanded a brigade in
Malaya for three years, before returning to Australia and serving in a variety of positions,
culminating in his appointment as Chief of the General Staff with the rank of  
Lieutenant General. Promoted to General after two years in this role,
he was appointed Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee, which was
 reorganised as Chief of the Defence Force Staff the following year.

A very moving ceremony takes place at 5pm each evening at which the
nation’s fallen are remembered at a wreath laying ceremony with a lone piper
followed by a bugler playing the last Post 

National Gallery of Australia 
Including works from the Sydney Nolan Ned Kelly Collection

 

Blue Poles

       

All in all a great visit to Canberra made all the more memorable by the company
of our daughter Carolyn who joined us for the weekend, as well as that of Lucy and Luis Val
and family from our Sydney 2000 days coupled with the hospitality of our excellent
host Tim who looked after our needs at The Annexe so well

With our time in Canberra over we returned home the same way  as we
wanted to call in to see Lyn's sister Carole who lives in Traralgon 
The photos that are shown represent a small number of the ones taken during our stay.

Unfortunately there was not the time to record much by way of detailed information, 
something we intend to do on our next visit.
       
Had a few camera problems while away (dropping it

doesn't help) so it's probably time for a replacement, however
as we were only taking snaps for our memory album we were able to achieve our goal. 
 
OUR TIME IN CANBERRA WAS SIMPLY NOT LONG ENOUGH 
THERE IS SO MUCH TO SEE AND DO THAT A RETURN
VISIT IN THE NOT TOO DISTANT FUTURE IS A MUST