Autumn Colours

I don' t know about you but I love the change of seasons ... I can't say I love the cold of winter, but I just love the colours of Autumn ... the leaves are just spectacular and I couldn't resist capturing a few of these beautiful hues ...







God is amazing ... he made the leaves of trees to be perfect and in tune with the seasons and they are such a beautiful, visual reminder to us of how the year is progressing ... enjoy your Autumn to Winter change!

African Angel Princess ... and Big Brother grows up ... more photos!

My darling little niece Nicola is now nearly 3 months old ... and I've been meaning to post some updated photos that I have of her from a while back ... she's a cutie!!







Daddy's little Angel ...



And her Big Brother Guy growing up fast ...

Vanoosh ... joins the Brunette Brigade!!

Having been a blonde for 33 years ... I finally decided it was time to see how the other half lives ... so today, I took the radical step (for me!) and joined the Brunette Brigade ... check it out ...





You will have to excuse the "self-portrait" shot photos ... and if you don't like what you see ... deal with it ... this is the new look me!

Congratulations!! Kaz & Atholl ... get engaged!!

I received a very excited txt message from Kaz saying that Atholl has proposed ... I just wanted to wish them all of God's richest blessings & hugs for their future life together ... I'm very excited for them too!!

Escape to BrisVegas . . .

On Wednesday last week, I had a spontaneous notion to fly to BrisVegas for the weekend to visit Ode and the crew up here ... so I booked my flights and I flew up here on Friday, 21 April!!

Wow ... what fun I've had ... and how relaxed do I feel! I can't wait to get home to download all my photos from my trip! I arrived late on Friday night so I didn't do too much except to catch up with Odes over a coffee before hitting the sack! Ode went to work on Saturday morning and I spent the morning with Nikki (Ode's sister) watching Tristin (Ode's nephew) play his first soccer game for the season!! They won 1-0 so everyone was happy and it was so cute to see these little guys playing with all their hearts ...

Ode & Tristin ...



Tristin's first soccer game for 2006 ...



Tristin in action ...




A personal touch of coaching ...



Then we went into the city and met up with a bunch of people (about 30 of us!) to celebrate Janis' birthday. Janis is Martin & Zelda's daughter and I used to work for Martin at the Golden Hawk Spur in Durban in 1991 so I've known them for years and years! We had a lovely lunch and then we spent the afternoon playing lawn bowls ... and my team won !! It was such a laugh!!

Martin and friends ... lawn bowls ...



Ode ... gives it her best bowl ...



On Saturday night, we went around to Martin & Zelda's place for possibly the hottest curry in the world ... fortunately, for those who know me well, Zelda had catered for the fact that I don't eat hot curry and had made a completely separate dish for me ... some were wishing they had had my special dish too by the end of it ... it was a lovely relaxing evening!

Martin & Zelda ... at home ...



Tristin, Nikki & Ode ... contemplating how to eat the hottest curry in QLD thanks to Zelda!!



Sunday morning, Ode and I got up about 8.30amish and we trekked up to the Sunshine Coast for the day ... got into Noosa Heads and walked around chatting with locals, soaking up the sun and had a lovely lunch there ... the weather has been superb the whole time I've been here and although there was some cloud cover, it was sunny and warm for most of the day! We made our way slowly down the coast on the way back, stopping in Coolum, Moolaba and Caloundra before getting back in time to go to church.

My dream house at Noosa Heads ...



Noosa Head ...



Ode, Nikki & Tristin go to the Albany Hills Christian Centre in Warner which is a lovely church and we had a top evening ... great teaching and lively worship!

On Monday, I dropped Ode off at the station ... then bravely drove myself back to the "complex" where they live ... basically Ode lives in a 4 bedroom house on her own right next door (literally) to Nikki & Morne & Tristin which is lovely for all of them! Anyway, I made it home safely, had some brekkie and freshened up and then hit the road to visit Gina, Cullen & Jade ... got slightly lost along the way but nothing major!! I spent the day with Gina (nee Skordis - went to school with her!) and with Cullen (3yrs) and Jade (4wks) ... it was lovely to see Gina again and we had a good catch up chat about life, love and everything else ...

Cullen Haua ... Gina & Wiki's little man ...



Cullen ... enjoying a choc bikkie ...



Jade Haua ... the latest addition to Gina & Wiki's growing family ... isn't she a cutie!





Little feet ... the world awaits her first steps in months to come ...




Today, Tuesday (ANZAC Day - 25 April), we had a BBQ lunch at a picnic spot called "Bullocky Rest" - everyone came along to join us ... Natachia and her mum, Gina & Wiki with Cullen and Baby Jade and Gina's mum, Denise, Martin & Zelda, Nikki, Morne & Tristin, Mike & Reagan and Ode and a bunch of her friends from church ... Carly, Troy & friends ...

Girls get it together ... (L-R) Gina, Natachia's Mum, Zelda, Natachia, Denise, Reagan, Ode, Noosh & Nikki



Gina, Nikki, Zelda, Denise & Ode ... a reunion of note!



Boys at the BBQ ... Morne & Martin ... cooking up a storm ...



Wiki & Jade ... lullaby rock ...



Ode, Tash and Reagan ... the QLD Girls!



Ode & Nikki ... a superb "Sister Act" !!



At 3.00pm Ode and I went to the Coffee Club at Aspley and we caught up with Narelle & Craig who I was in East Africa with ... what a laugh ... it was brilliant to see them both again ...

Craig & Narelle ... looking buff and healthy ... a catch up with East Africa mates over coffee! It was great to see them again!!




And then I flew back to Sydney at 18:15 ...

At the end of the day ... I've had a relaxing, fun, breathe of fresh air ... cleared my head and revived my thinking ... and I'm ready to change my world ... watch this space! It's amazing what a dose of spontaneity can do for one !! Love it!!

Easter in Huskisson, Jervis Bay with Rach

On Thursday, 13 Apr 06, Rach and I left for Jervis Bay ... we left at about 8.00pm and very soon we spotted Brad on the road so we stopped and a bite of dinner with him ... before we carried on our way down the south coast to Huskisson, Jervis Bay. We were also spotted by Grant, Thjis, Thomo and Bevan which was hilarious as Rach and I thought they were some local boys playing games with us ... hooning around ... until we realised who it was?! We arrived safely at 11.00pm which was excellent going ... 2.5 hrs was a good run ... and our holiday had begun ...

We stayed at the Huskisson Beach Holiday Resort in a modest little cabin which was really fun ... we were a hop, skip and a jump from the Jervis Bay beach ... and we spent our first day driving around to Vincentia and Hyams Beach for a look see at the beautiful beaches ...





I took some sunset shots of Jervis Bay as part of improving my photography skills ... I tried a number of different techniques by changing the aperture and watching the depth of field ... the moon rose and it was pretty spectacular once the sun had gone to sleep for the night ...




That night, Rach and I went for very flash dinner at a gorgeous little brasserie called "Seagrass" which is owned by Nathan Fay (my friend Gina's brother) who looked after us so well which was really lovely ... we had a delicious dinner there and I highly recommend that anyone who goes to Huskisson for a bite, head to Seagrass! We spent Good Friday night watching "The Passion of the Christ" movie on TV and we were reminded what our precious Saviour, Jesus Christ had done for us ... and we were thankful!

On Saturday, Brad joined us for a day and night ... we showed him around the place and went down to the Lighthouse near Moe's Rock and also to Cave Beach campground to see where it was ...

Murray's Beach




Views from the lighthouse North ...




And South ...




Cave Beach look out ...



We spotted some fairly tame Kangaroos down there ...




Then as the afternoon kicked on ... it was a case of "Let the games begin!!" ... we played Poker and I whipped their butts ... then we played Changing Jack and another card game that Brad taught us ... we had such a laugh ... in fact ... we didn't stop laughing for most of the day ... it was a hoot !!!



We experienced more wildlife ... possums ... a mum & babe ...




On Sunday morning, I braved the cool morning air and got some sunrise shots which I really love ... check them out ... a tall ship was in harbour and the surf was up ...





Then, after brekkie, Brad headed back to the Gong while Rach and I went to an Easter service at the little Huskisson Anglican Church which was packed to the rafters with approx. 40 people ... it was a lovely service ... Rach and I spent the afternoon on the beach relaxing in the sun and keeping an eye on the massive surf that was pounding the rocks ... an usual sight in Jervis Bay which is a huge inlet and doesn't often see such big surf ... the surfers were eating it up ...








Later, Rach and I had a quiet dinner at the cabin and settled in for a few more card games and we watched the first part of the movie - "The Ten Commandments" which was really good ...



We decided to head home early and left Jervis Bay at 10.00am and were home in Sydney safely by 1.00pm which was a really good run considering it is Easter Monday and traffic is always heavy on the roads ... I was able to go and spend some time with Al, Ror, Saph & Kendra on Manly Beach ...

Saphy ... cleaning up the last of the Easter Eggs ...




Kendra ... getting down to sandy business ...