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2024
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I was looking through all of last year's
posts on our blog website, and it gives one
the  impression
that we are always going away on a trip
somewhere.
This is not so. Most of the time
we are home in Castlemaine, with a weekly
trip to Melbourne; which used to be so that
Alison could go to Women's Circus (and will
be again), but has for the past half year
continued in the same manner, despite her
having been unable to go to circus because
of her broken thumb. But this is at last
getting much better.
 All
of December was spent like this, apart from
two nights away in the Grampians a week
before Christmas. We were lucky! there was a
fire at the other end of the National Park,
but it had little effect on us; but a week
later, the situation was much worse and the
whole park was closed.
While we were there, we walked up Mt.
Stapyleton. The track notes said to go to a
large flat area near (but below) the summit,
but no further without "rock climbing
experience". The yellow triangle markers  we'd
been following ended here, and the way on
looked rather too precipitous to consider.
But a man of about our age walked up, and
showed us the way on - following indistinct
red markings painted on the rocks, which
initially went down before going up around
the side. It really wasn't very difficult at
all and we were very glad to have been shown
the way.
 On
the way home, we drove through Murtoa and
went to the "Stick Shed" - the only
surviving wheat storage shed of its type,
built in the 1930's, and a most impressive
building.
We had a lot of trips to Melbourne over
Christmas; firstly trying to take Alice,
Rose, and Sidharth to the airport for them
to go to India for 3 weeks. We couldn't;
Alice had  lent
her car to a friend while they are away, was
not very precise with times and dates, and
while we were there the friend came and
drove the car away, while we were all inside
the house! So they had to take a taxi
instead.
 Christmas
Day back to Melbourne for lunch with Louise,
Netty, and the other grandchildren; back to
Castlemaine; back to Melbourne 3 days later
to look after the grandchildren for a while.
We took them on the tram to see the Myer
Christmas windows and other things in the
city.
It was too much backwards and forwards, in
that week.
And I went to a 50 year reunion of my
graduation.
It makes you feel old, but I think I've done
better than a lot of my old classmates.
Especially the near 10% who have died
already!
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Now, it's January. Hot
and dry, and holiday time for much of the
country; so we feel on holiday too, as most
of the things we do during the week have
stopped for the month. So we are holidaying
at home, and we both feel "retired", for the
first time since we stopped work over two
years ago; we've had a lot on in that time.
We've no major trips planned till May, when
we plan to drive the motorhome across to
Western Australia (5,000km away) and leave
it with Alison's sister there; fly home
mid-June, and ten days later fly to Japan,
where we've rented a little campervan for
three weeks. (I have to pay an extra 50%
security bond, for being over 70 years old;
and if I was over 75, they wouldn't have
rented it to me at all! A sobering fact.)
It should be an interesting three weeks;
it's a long time since we've thrown
ourselves into something like this. I am
going to have to learn some basic Japanese,
which I expect will be harder than Spanish;
though I have been told (but find hard to
believe) that the Japanese language has no
irregularities.
We may have to then go and retrieve the
motorhome, but some friends may do it for
us. We'd have no problem retrieving it; it's
just that driving there and back again in
the one trip seemed a bit excessive.
But we are both very aware of our good
fortune in our both being in good health and
reasonably fit, and in being able to live
where we do.
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