Happy New Year & thank you

Happy New Year from the Millers and Rasmussens in Canberra. YIC enjoyed New Year's Eve with some excellent pizza from Peter and Alison followed by Alison's special chocolate cake. At the dinner table, all the children wanted their parents to sit next to them. YIC felt slightly left out, until his good friend Mr Hahn (premium light) volunteered to sit next to him. Here are the troops watching Alison cut the cake.

When YIC asked them for some cheesy grins, he got this. Really. Happy New Year.

YIC is now leaving Australia for New Zealand. It just remains necessary for YIC to thank all those people who have showed him such wonderful hospitality during his time here:

Peter & Alison, Patrick, Tristan & Natalie - in Canberra

Rob & Gill - in Melbourne

Rick, Kiz, Tasman & Nyah - in Hobart

John & Barbara - at Malua Bay

Mike, Michelle, Callum & Declan - waterskiing on the reservoir

Cheerio folks. You are welcome in Tynemouth any day.

Uncle Dan supplies the photos

Here are a couple of photos courtesy of Dan Rasmussen. The first one was taken on 23 Dec as the assembled Miller/Inglis/Rasmussen/Duff choir exercised their vocal chords and belted out numerous Christmas carols.

This one was taken on Christmas Day. Would anyone like to supply a caption?

From Rev T - "John hams it up again".

And from James Duff - "I know there's a joke in here somewhere..."

Waterskiing Wednesday

YIC rounded off his Australian trip with some waterskiing at a reservoir near Yass courtesy of Mike, Michelle, Callum and Declan Inglis. After a couple of false starts, he managed to stand up and ski a couple of lengths of the reservoir. Here he is in action. He'd like to say that he was travelling at the speed of light as it certainly felt fast, but Mike assures him it was only 15 MPH.

Mike and Michelle were experts and whizzed back and forwards on a single ski - as these photos show. Declan and Callum were also at home in the water, taking great delight in "tubing". This involved clinging on to an inflatable raft for dear life as Mike put the speedboat through its paces.

Tidbinbilla Today

Today YIC joined the troops on a visit to Tidbinbilla nature reserve. Thanks to our professional spotter (Peter), we did see a koala. It was sitting in a tree, not doing a lot, looking like a brown football. Here is everybody looking at the koala.

Then we headed to the wetlands area where we spied a musk duck putting on a mating display. Apparently it might have a while to wait - it is the only musk duck on the reserve. Here are Tristan, Sarah and Patrick on a rock at the reserve, with Kristin and Natalie in the background.

On the return journey, Patrick and Tristan requested some songs in the car, including "I am the man, the very fat man, that waters the workers' beer" and YIC was happy to oblige. However Natalie wasn't so enamoured with YIC's singing - she ate her ice-cream then fell asleep.

Music Group hits new heights

Word has reached YIC that Holy Saviour's Church Music Group is expanding its musical repertoire. It now boasts a shawm played by Chris Smith. For those unsure if a shawm is a good thing or not, consult Psalm 98 verse 6 in the psalter.

The music group is gearing up for a ceilidh in January. Buy your tickets now - they are sure to sell out fast. Not content with this, they also supported Maddy Prior on her recent concert at The Sage. YIC has it on good authority that when Steve, Ian, and Patricia got on stage to provide percussion accompaniment to Ms Prior and The Carnival Band, the audience went into raptures.

Christmas at Malua Bay

YIC spent a very enjoyable Christmas with the massed ranks of the Inglis/Miller families at Malua Bay. For those whose Aussie geography is not quite A1, Malua Bay is on the coast east of Canberra and south of Sydney. The photo above shows Peter & Alison with Patrick, Tristan and Natalie, and Alison & Dan with Kristin and Sarah opening presents on Christmas Day.

The Inglis/Millers obviously knew YIC's tastes for presents. He received:

vegemite - from John & Barbara

rooibus [red bush] tea from Peter and Alison

toblerone - from Rick & Kiz.

Here he is with his rooibus.

YIC attended The Anglican Church of The Ascension in Bateman's Bay on Christmas Day. The priest showed the crib to the children with shepherds angels etc, but there was no Jesus. Fortunately the priest had the baby Jesus in his pocket. As the priest commented, everybody needs a pocket Jesus - he can go everywhere with you.

And finally, let nobody say that YIC doesn't enter into the Christmas spirit. Look below. Need YIC say more?

Tasmania Farewell & Christmas Greetings

YIC has been exploring northern Tasmania. He spent 2 days in the Walls of Jerusalem (pictured above) - a beautiful alpine area stacked full of biblical names such as King Solomon's Temple and Damascus Gate. The former is a mountain and the latter a pass. YIC climbed both.

YIC took advantage of a beautiful day to climb Mt Roland and Mt Van Dyke. Dick wasn't there, in fact no-one else was either. This hills are like the Cheviots versus the Lake District: beautiful but quiet. There were A1 views over Cradle Mountain, Mt Ossa, and northwards to the Bass Strait.

Looking north to the Bass Strait from Mt Roland


Looking towards Mt Van Dyke from Mt Roland. Click on the picture for distant views of the Overland Peaks - Mt Ossa on the left, Barn Bluff and Cradle Mountain on the right.

This was YIC's last day in the Tasmanian hills. He heads for Canberra/Malua Bay on Saturday for Christmas with the Miller/Inglis family. In true style, YIC hasn't sent any Christmas cards this year. Rather, he simply says "Merry Christmas" to all his readers, and promises to buy them a Deuchars when he next sees them in the Tynemouth Lodge.