It’s the end of the year again!  Another great year for the Edwards family, which is getting bigger all the time.  We welcome with love Sean Alexander, born on 12 November, a brother for Laura, and congratulate Alex and Alicia on another wonderful effort. With five of the six Edwards either studying or working at the University of Tasmania for the first half of 2006, that was pretty much the centre of the family’s orbit this year.

Let’s begin with Alex:  Alex has returned to university to do a Bachelor of Teaching, a two year course which will qualify him to teach primary school.  By all accounts, Alex is a natural in the classroom and has done very well in the academic side as well, with some High Distinctions among his results.  Alex still plays soccer with the Taroona club and enjoys a round of golf.  He and Alicia celebrated their formal engagement at a party in July which was a great opportunity for both families to get together.  Alex enjoys brewing and his interest in gardening grows.  They have a great orchard under cultivation on their acreage and all their animals are doing well.  Laura is a beautiful 20 month old toddler, bright as a button and stringing words together well.  And we all love Sean, who is a big, healthy boy and who may have auburn hair.  Alicia has had an offer from UTAS to do nursing…we await developments.
Christopher has been in the wars this year.  He started off well enough, with his usual rounds of working at Customs House, nights out with his friends and surfing.  He had another two month holiday surfing in Indonesia which he thoroughly enjoyed.  Not long after his return however, he managed to break some bones in his foot, which put him in plaster and out of action for six weeks.  He went back to work, this time a permanent job as chef at the Mercure Hotel in Hobart.  He likes working there and is kept busy.  When he was out late one Saturday night in December, he and his mate were attacked by two thugs, beaten up and robbed.  Chris’ face was unrecognisable and we hope there has been no permanent damage.  Police, thankfully, have laid charges and we hope that justice takes its course.
Phillipa had a very successful year.  She completed the Graduate Certificate in Legal Practice in the middle of the year and applied for various positions.  From 22 applicants, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court chose Phillipa to be his Judge’s Associate for the next 12 months.  When Phillipa was admitted to the Bar, members of the Edwards family were invited back to chambers to meet her new boss and see her office. Phillipa has worked very hard at her academic studies as well as working part time to support herself and we look forward to news of her advancement throughout her legal career. Phillipa continues to play soccer and basketball and gets a mention in the paper every now and again.  Phil and Nick have been together nearly five years now.  Nick continues with his university studies.

Victoria completed her second year of Biotechnology at UTAS with lots of credits and distinctions.  She works part time at a gift shop in Salamanca and during the winter plays soccer.  Tory has moved around a bit this year and had a bit of a disaster with rainwater pouring into her flat.  The resultant mould grew so quickly so had to return home, but eventually she found a nice flat in South Hobart, where she enjoys uninterrupted views of the river.  Tory and her fiance Chris will both finish their degrees in 2007 and they have great plans for the future.

At the beginning of the year we hosted an exchange student from New York. Andrew Maryniuk is studying anthropology, and was in Hobart for several months. He fitted in very well to our family, and enjoyed helping out with the chickens and ducks. We were sorry to have him leave.
So now that all children have left home, some for the second and third time, what will Mum and Dad without them?  You guessed it, start a new life!
David continued to lecture at Utas for the first semester of 2006, and kept up with his usual pursuits, such as billycart racing and bike riding. At the March billycart races at the Technopark, his revamped cart had unstable steering, and unceremoniously tipped him out on his first run. For the next few months, there was much designing, and at the September races at Baskerville, David’s new cart was ready, even if he was still finishing it the night before the race. This cart has true Akerman steering and four wheel brakes, and is much longer and lower than his other carts. There were no accidents this time, and David managed a third place, and a top speed of about 55 kph.

David has been enjoying his role as president of Bicycle Tasmania, and has consequently been riding his bike more often, and also loosing weight. In November he finally achieved a long term goal. In company with several other intrepid cyclists, he explored the old convict road from Buckland to Orford. It was only a distance of about 15 k, but it took about 6 hours, as after 180 years there was not much of the road which you could cycle on. David is now quite good at bike walking in the bush, and can lift his bike over fallen trees quite easily.

As president of the Battery Point Sullivans Cove Community Association, David continued with his planning and community activities.

David continued as a casual lecturer at UTas during the second semester. Once again he helped out with the Weir Warman Competition, where the UTas team, cheered on by both Kerry and David, came second at the Australasian championship at the Power House museum.

Job wise, however, David found casual lecturing unsatisfactory, both financially and intellectually. So with some help from Kerry, he started looking for work. In no time at all, there had been several interviews, the upshot being that David decided to move back to Sydney where he is now working as an Applications Engineer for CHK GridSense Pty Ltd.

So at the end of October 2006, David and bicycle went off to Sydney. After staying a few weeks with Alan and Dianne in Epping, a 2 bedroom flat with garage was rented in Top Ryde. David cycles to and from work each day, and also cycles regularly on the weekend. He has a new bike, with stronger wheels, more gears and disc brakes.

Kerry thoroughly enjoyed working at UTAS all this year:  great projects, great colleagues.  Unfortunately, some of the craft pursuits were put aside, but she had fun doing some tailoring for Phillipa who needed business clothes for her course and eventually her new job.  Phillipa certainly looked the business going off to her Supreme Court interview in her new black wool crepe suit, designed by Montana and made by Mum!  She did manage a new quilt for Chris and her niece Kristi and some knitwear for Alex, Laura and Sean.

Kerry had a research paper published this year and continued to enjoy activities with the Sandy Bay Historical Society.  She represented the Society at a tribunal, opposing some ill conceived Hobart City Council plans to divide the area currently protected by the Battery Point Planning Scheme. (David was also involved in this, in his role as president of the Battery Point Sullivans Cove Community Association). Needless to say, the Council lost, but they continue to plot.
Kerry and David enjoyed their 4 week trip to the USA in July.  Catching up with old friends in Rock Island, Flint, Los Angeles, San Diego and Santa Barbara was great fun, even if the heat was punishing.  The Egan Rally in Dallas was memorable and several people have photographic evidence of Kerry dancing a jig.
When David decided to take up his new position in Sydney, Kerry thought she would stay in Hobart and rely on occasional visits to see David.  The University offered her a new research and evaluation position and the temptation to stay where children and grandchildren were, not to mention animals, house and garden was very strong.  However, five weeks of separation, combined with the offer of a position in Sydney, persuaded her to join David.  She commences work at the Dust Diseases Board mid January.

We are sure that all our friends will wish us well as we go off on our adventure. On New Year’s Day we will load up the Traveller and catch the ferry to Melbourne. Please keep in touch. Our email addresses will not change ( david@dedwards.id.au and kerry@dedwards.id.au ). We wish all of you the very best for 2007, and look forward to catching up with friends and relatives in Sydney.