Another year gone!

January 1994 was more than the usual whirlwind of activity.  Kerry got the painters and carpet layers in and turned the place upside down.  But it was worth it and was finished just in time to welcome Donna, our Canadian exchange student.  We had a big party in February to celebrate everything we could think of, before taking Donna on a camping trip around the state.  Just to be contrary the weather was perfect on the West Coast but it poured the night we walked into Wineglass Bay and all the next day when we walked out!  By the end of the month everybody was settled into school again -Grades 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11 respectively.  David was back at work and Kerry decided to take short term work with the Antarctic Foundation rather than pursue further studies at uni.
Donna’s great love is soccer and it wasn’t long before she was training hard for selection in the State U19 women’s team.  Once selected it was three nights a week and most of the weekend devoted to the game that culminated in a carnival in Canberra in September where Donna helped the State get third place.  Quite an achievement!

Alex continued to do well at school and participated in lots of science and maths competitions through the year.  He is still giving the old piano a hard time with his bent for boogie-woogie.  Through the winter he played soccer and for a change joined the school netball team for summer sport.  We managed to get him to a barber twice this year.  It was a lot easier before he reached 6ft.

Chris had a great year for sport.  He represented the school in the cross country events and played soccer through the winter.  He joined the indoor soccer team for the summer and took out the trophy in his division.  Well done Chris!  He has coped well with the move to high school, except for losing things!  Chris’ ambition at this stage is to be a primary school teacher.  His piano skills have improved nicely this year with a wonderful new teacher from the Conservatorium.

Phillipa has been quite a star this year.  Her school soccer team was unbeatable and she was selected for the regional representative team.  Once summer came she got stuck into netball and played centre for what became a formidable team.  She represented her school at the Athletics and Swimming Carnivals.  In music she continues with piano and switched from violin to viola, which she plays in the Primary Schools’ Orchestra.  Something of a social butterfly too she manages to fit in a little sewing, knitting and needlework around her busy schedule.

Victoria got her hair cut off this year and grew a couple of centimetres as well.  This year saw a great improvement in her piano skills and she learns the cello and recorder at school.  She was picked for the school swimming team and played netball and soccer too.  Victoria would be perfect if she could keep her room tidy.

Poor Kerry spent long weeks as an invalid this year having hurt her back badly -don’t laugh- on a rowing maching at the gym!  Still, she read lots of travel books and knitted some warm jumpers for the coming world tour.  When she wasn’t at the physiotherapist she helped get the Sandy Bay Historical Society up and running, coached the Under 7 soccer team, wrote articles for the local papers, sat on committees for the Barracks Museum, and was active in the Professional Historians Association and the local Sydney Uni Alumni Branch. She gave talks on local history and architecture, costume and Oral History and studied the violin.  When the Antarctic Foundation finally closed, Kerry applied for a few jobs, got down to the last two for some (including a job in Thailand) and then gave it away as David’s travel plans started to firm.  Kerry’s plans for next year include long periods of rest and relaxation.
Stewart Cameron, David’s nephew from Wynyard came to stay with us late in the year. He is working as a kitchen hand at a local restaurant, and helping David out with the renovations. The house is quite busy with eight people living here.

David has been busy at work, with the usual two cruises this year. In April he spent a few days off Sydney. The highlight (or was it the lowlight?) of this cruise was watching the CTD fall off the end of the cable on the video monitor! (It’s still there, just off Bondi Beach).

In September, he flew to Colombo via Singapore to join the Franklin for a leisurely 3 week cruise back to Fremantle. Colombo was memorable for the Morris Minor taxis. The weather was a bit lumpy, but he didn’t throw up once, so it can’t have been too bad. Before coming home, he stayed with his niece Janet in Perth for a couple of days.

David is still involved with the union at work, the IREE (he is now a Vice President), the local resident’s associations, the Neighbourhood Watch, the Battery Point Advisory Committee, primary school soccer, the ALP,and a newly formed committee which acts as a bridge between the community and the police.
Kerry and David had a nice weekend in Sydney and Newcastle in July when they attended Kerry’s parents 50th wedding anniversary, as well as visiting friends and dropping in on a Morris Minor picnic.  Sad news was the death of Kerry’s host father in the USA, Dick Stengal at the age of 79.

The big decision of 1994 was for the whole family to go overseas in 1995. We will be leaving on 17th January, 1995, and flying direct to Los Angeles, where we will take in Disneyland and other similar touristy things. After a side trip to San Diego, we will arrive in Toronto on 24th January.
David has organised some work at the University of Toronto upgrading an underwater camera system, so we will be based there for about 2 1/2 months. During this time we hope to visit Donna in British Columbia, Len Zedel in Nova Scotia, Corrine Potter in Rock Island as well as seeing lots of North America. Our address at this stage will be care of Dr Steve Scott, Russell St Campus, University of Toronto, Toronto Canada, from February to the end of April.

After leaving Canada, we will spend a month in England, a month or so in Europe and a week in Hong Kong, arriving back in Hobart about the 24th July, 1995.

As a result of the travel plans, David has finally got around to doing some work on the outside of the house. The front has all been painted (five heritage colours, lots of fiddly stuff), and he is busy tidying up lots of small things. During our absence, we plan to rent out the house in Hobart as well as the shack, so a new verandah at the shack is in the pipeline as well.  Deja vu for Kerry - the house in Sydney only got finished in time for the tenants to move in!
As we fly off to colder climes, we send our warm wishes to all our relatives and friends for a wonderful Christmas and an exciting year ahead in 1995.