Christmas 2020

Well - what a year it has been! From enormous climate-change-enhanced drought and bushfires; to an over-population-induced global pandemic with its lock-downs and faltering economies and a shake-up of the cruise industry; not to mention a New Zealand volcanic disaster on White Island, and an American election and all the Trump-enhanced hysteria that brought. The press must be exhausted and feeling washed-out – we the public certainly are. And more than ever, we flounder in an overly-complex world with no star of truth or reason to guide us. Won’t it all just go away? Unfortunately not - so you had better strap yourself in for 2021!!!! 

Last Christmas seems so far away – we spent it in New Zealand with our daughter Janet exploring the south of the North Island. We started with a visit to Mt Egmont, a spectacular but rather staid volcano. Then we hired two kayaks (Janet brought her own) and spent 7 days floating and paddling about 150 kilometers down the Wanganui River – a fantastic restful and scenic time with virtually no contact with the outside world except a small number of fellow adventurers.   This included having a remote campground to ourselves on Christmas Day, and plenty of space in other campgrounds on the other nights. The Whanganui trip is promoted as one of the Great Walks in New Zealand, and the river itself is sacred to the local Maori people, and a truly special place to visit. The river has enough current to make paddling easy most of the time, and lots of rapids that are reasonably straightforward and fun to run safely.

Getting ready to go - will it all fit??

Scenic camp spot above the river - we each had our own tent.

Looking ahead to a quiet stretch

NZ morning mist - we were very lucky with the weather.

Typical fast water and rapid

Admiring our Christmas tree

After our paddle, we visited the Tongariro National Park with its amazing volcanoes, great walks, the cable car ascent of Mount Ruapehu with great views - not to mention the great buffet lunch at the top.  We spent our final few days in New Zealand with Carol Smith, a Bribie cycling friend who has moved back to New Zealand and now is happily settled in Waipukurau the Hawkes Bay area (SE coast of N Island). and reasonably close to her family.  We returned home on 3 January.

The second-part of February we enjoyed a visit from Joyce’s brother Alan and wife Linda from Calgary, Canada. We spent a few days with them enjoying Bribie, then took eight days driving with them as far as Newcastle where we returned home by over-night train while they went on to visit Linda’s relatives in Sydney. As the growing concerns over the COVID pandemic cancelled the cruises they were booked on to return to Canada, they further explored southern Australia and the bushfire damage for a few weeks before flying back to Canada just as borders were closing.

The next event in our lives was the arrival of Joyce's new E bike.  Joyce's old bike 'died' of old age (16 000 km in just over 3 years) and a bit of neglect (i.e. rust!) during Alan's visit.   Joyce was able to pick up the new bike the day after we got home form Newcastle.  Since the bike was just plain black (with a large Riese Muller logo), Joyce use some of the paint left over from painting a large mural at the Art Centre last year to transform the bike, even before its first outing.   The new bike has already gone over 4000 km, proving its value as a true freedom machine.

Bikes are central to our way of life on Bribie for day to day transport, and both of us ride a couple of times a week with our local bike group, the Bribie BUG .    Probably about a third of our bike group of almost 100 members now ride ebikes.   These bikes help us all keep active and social, and maintaining joint flexibility, especially knees and are especially valuable for hills (very rare on Bribie) and strong headwinds (all too common). 

Our COVID lockdown started on March 23rd and shutdown the Butterfly House and golf and lots more – “State and Federal officials have said people should only leave the house to go to work or study, to exercise, to get essential supplies or medical care.”     We enjoyed our simplified lives, and and especially appreciated being able to exercise freely.  We  kayaked, and went on long bike rides and bush walks together to many places on the Island that Bob had never visited, and Joyce hadn't visited for a long time.  It was great to be able to take time to observe as we wandered, and we became especially fascinated by spiders and spider webs.




During the lockdown, Bob applied for grants for  vinyl flooring in the laboratory of the Butterfly House, and for solar panels. Both applications were successful with installation in the latter part of the lock-down when things were on maintenance and quiet. He also kept busy working to juggle finances to keep the Butterfly House ticking over without visitors to pay the bills.

By June 28th lock-down provisions relaxed sufficiently for the Butterfly House to reopen to the public under a SafeCOVID plan and with provisions limiting visitor numbers. Bob announced at the midyear AGM that he would be standing for his last year as Secretary and Treasurer of the Bribie Butterfly Volunteers (five years is enough), and he has started handing over his treasurer duties to a couple of enthusiastic helpers. The greater freedom has allowed him to increase his golf

playing to 3 or 4 days a week. 

Happy backyard frog

Our backyard pond - which fills about half of the backyard of our townhouse.

A few weeks into the lockdown, we had curtail on our happy 'exercise' explorations to give us time to drain, rebuild and reline our backyard decorative pools after a seam in the original 18 year old liner started leaking.  Many of our little frogs have returned and both they and us are enjoying the renewed vegetation in the pond.  So far we have seen up to 8 of them croaking loudly in the evening and early morning.  We also finally had time to do some paving of a weed-infested garden in the body corporate area, which now looks much tidier.

Most of Joyce's activities have also resumed post-lockdown - playing the recorder weekly with both a small group on the Sunshine Coast, and the Bribie Island Orchestra, a weekly Laughing group on the foreshore (now in its 13th year), a Christian meditation group, a weekly Wu Tao exercise group and a meditation group at the Art Centre Labyrinth which has evolved to include a very rewarding poetry sharing and lunch group.  Her poetic musings for this group, which summarise much of
her philosophical journey over the past months can be found here.  

Backyard greenhouse

A New Zealand snowman!!!

With Christmas approaching, we have some snowy scenes to share - though they are from Janet's garden in NZ of a late (and very short lasting) snowfall in September. Janet has now been in NZ for 2 years, and is enjoying life there - except that the current travel barriers to Australia are making her aware that NZ is not Australia, and she is slowly having to learn to love two homelands at the same time and like all of us, to face a world where our freedom to travel is greatly reduced. Craig is still happily living in Toronto Canada where he moved to just over a year ago.

Our civilisation this year seems to have reached a real turning point, whether you interpret the year as focusing on controlling a dangerous pandemic that has been reasonably well managed in Australia (as Bob does), or as economical and socially destructive hysteria and unnecessary and ineffective lockdowns over a virus that is not particularly deadly, and has resulted in little if any 'excess mortality' world-wide (as Joyce does).  This bringing to focus the long-standing major questions on why people choose to trust (or not to trust) a particular source of information - and the big mystery of 'what is the truth'?  And in the background of it all are very worrying changes in the Arctic and our weather patterns that will probably affect our future much more and much sooner than the virus ever will.

Perhaps the best way to close the year's musings in a world where our uncertain future makes every day is a blessing is the words of Lennon and McCartney:

When I find myself in times of trouble

Mother Mary comes to me

Speaking words of wisdom

Let it be

And when the broken-hearted people

Living in the world agree

There will be an answer

Let it be

For though they may be parted there is

Still a chance that they will see

There will be an answer

Let it be

And when the night is cloudy

There is still a light that shines on me

Shine until tomorrow

Let it be

Christmas 2019

Christmas 2018 was celebrated at the family farm near Toogoolawah. Once again we camped on the way to minimize Christmas Day travel on the busy roads, this time at Archer Campsite 3 on Neurum Creek.

 This year our primary exercise was again cycling, both about the island and on rides in the region with the Bribie BUG (our cycling group of about 100 members). Regular island rides of 20-25km are becoming much more popular - perhaps with the proliferation of e-bikes. Our favourites are with 5-15 riders on Wednesday mornings and 20-30 on Saturdays. We also enjoyed many of the "away" rides in the region especially those on the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail which connects Ipswich and Yarraman ( a total distance of 162 km, which we have ridden most of in 20 to 40 km sections ) and a particularly memorable Woodford-Peachester ride on which the rain came tumbling down for the latter three quarters - what a bunch of drowned but happy rats we were on our return to Woodford.  Bob was president of this group until August, when he switched roles with the then treasurer.

In February the two of us, and a friend Kim Bennie, enjoyed a weekend camp at Booloumba Creek. It also rained but just a little - and that was almost the last of the rain  for this year. As a result Australia has experienced  record high temperatures almost every month, a devastating drought, and in the last three months truly horrendous fires up and down the east coast of Australia the likes of which Australia has not seen in living memory.

Mid-February we spent six weeks in St Arnaud, New Zealand  helping Janet settle into her "company house" and exploring the area around her new home.  We ended up camping in the lakeside campground for a couple of weeks while the house was being freshly painted, and were kept busy cleaning up the yard,  unpacking many boxes from Geraldton, and building a chicken house and run.  Janet is enjoying her work as a biodiversity ranger focusing on threatened plants that includes being helicoptered into remote areas for plant surveys, weeding and trapping feral animals. She too is captivated by the beauty of the environment - though still getting used to (and fit for) their love of tramping vertically up and down the nearby mountains.

Joyce's energies this year have focused slowly continuing to develop the Labyrinth at the Art Centre, and an associated collaborative mural painting project (see also BribieLabyrinthProject.blogspot.com)  which has led to lot of intense discussions on pathways in life as well as having fun creating a bright and playful feature at the Arts Centre.  Music has continued to be an important part of her life, with weekly trips to Bli Bli on the Sunshine Coast for to play recorder duets and trios, and continuing participation in the Bribie Island Orchestra, and the Island Celtic Fiddlers.  In May Joyce enjoyed a week camping on North Stradbroke Island at a inspirational seminar on 'Elderhood in a Troubled Age'  presented by a Canadian, Stephen Jenkinson, who is best known for his writings on grief and dying (https://orphanwisdom.com),  Later in the month, she enjoyed a long weekend as part of a BioBlitz doing a wide range of ecological surveys just south of Fraser Island.

Bob continued with golf 3 times a week (including being treasurer of the social group Dad's Army), and treasury duties at the Bribie Butterfly House. These meant a fair bit of time in his "pod" with a fair bit of coffee.

The Butterfly House (https://www.bribieislandbutterflyhouse.org) continues to be very popular, turning over in excess of $200,000 p.a. with almost three quarters donated to local and overseas charities.

Joyce came home from New Zealand wondering what winter would be like amongst the mountains. So of course off we went again for two weeks in St Arnaud in late August cuddled around the wood stove at night with morning temperatures in the yard below zero admiring snow on all the local peaks while we did odd jobs for Janet. We included a visit to a local ski field and a few days down in the Franz Josef glacier region. Global warming has drastically shrunk the glacier - a stark reminder of our changing world.

On the glacier trip Bob admired the clean gravelly rivers of the west coast and was heard to unwisely wonder how they would be for kayaking. No sooner were we back in Australia, Joyce was organising yet another cross-Tasman trip over Christmas including a six-day 150 km  kayak trip down the Whanganui River on the North Island with Janet (pictures next year). This has also resulted in us getting our own kayaks out here on Bribie as much as possible for the last couple of months to build some paddling fitness for this adventure - which has been great as the kayaks had been languishing unused for many months.

In the midst of this Bob had a couple of rectal bleeds and was put through the colonoscopy torture. Fortunately he only lost three polyps which proved to be benign. The worst part was having to do it all again if he survives Joyce's holidays for three years.

Now we are again well into Christmas Party and Christmas Card time which signals the end of our 2019 blog.

As we finished last year, may your countries struggle on through 2020 without too much climate-induced damage and may your politicians not cause too much angst.

All the best for 2020,

 Bob and Joyce

And as a postscript - a poem (by Joyce)!

 

 

Christmas 2018

Newell Family News 2018

2018 was a special year for us as we celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary on 3 August.

As part of the celebrations we spent a few days at O'Reillys Rainforest Retreat with Janet.

We also dug up our original wedding portrait, and decided to have a 'proper' comparison portrait taken by Craig Rohse .  Can you guess which portrait is which?

We also indulged in getting a couple of individual portraits made:

Artwork this year featured a coffin for Bob (see following blog), and stained glass panels for a new front door, and a stained glass panel for the main bedroom.  The birds on the door are (from the top) a rainbow bee eater, a golden whistler, a variegated fairy wren, and an azure kingfisher - and the panel is an artistic depiction of a whistling kite.

We also fare-welled our faithful Nissan Xtrail (2002) and replaced it with a Subaru Forester - and have enjoyed discovering that technology over the years has really improved...  We were so impressed with the Forester that we persuaded Janet to buy an almost identical (but 2 years older) vehicle when she moved to New Zealand this month.  

We succeeded in our plans to holiday close to home in a more relaxed fashion with a 2 week kayaking and camping holiday in May, and 10 days camping and exploring rainforest in October, both mainly in northern NSW National Parks within about 300 km of home.    

Joyce did however give into the temptation to fly, and spent a week in Melbourne in June at a choral workshop and visiting friends, and another week in Geraldton in early November helping Janet get ready for her move to a new permanent job as a biodiversity ranger for the New Zealand Department of Conservation (DOC) in St Arnaud in the north of the south island (Nelson Lakes National Park).  We are wishing her the best in her new adventure.

And to finish, the poem Joyce wrote for our Christmas card, which well summarises our hopes and fears for 2019.  We both feel that in these increasingly uncertain and rapidly changing times, it is important to be appreciative of each day.  Main references for abrupt climate change and the potential disasters we may well be facing can be found here and here.

The fragility and mystery of our lives has just been emphasised for both of us with the sudden death / probable suicide of Robert Minns, a core member of our social bicycle group - the Bribie BUG which is central to both our lives.  We were aware that Robert was facing personal struggles, but not that his problems would result in such a decision.  We accept his decision and the courage it must have taken to make it - and thank him for this powerful reminder that we know so little of other people - and ourselves, and of the uncertainty of the future.  Farewell Robert - thank you for being part of our lives. 

The End Approaches

Is this a misguided refusal to believe mankind is omnipotent and that we can 

live forever as individuals and as a civilisation while destroying our 

environment...

Or a simple statement of our current predicament?

A realistic evaluation of the now rapidly evolving results of our refusal to 

protect and cherish our environment.

Our separation from nature will soon destroy us all.

How can we respond to the looming death of our life support, and hence us, 

and our civilisation?

By shutting our eyes and hoping it won’t happen?

Or by living fully and openly for our remaining time be it days, weeks, months 

or possibly even years,

Celebrating the mystery and beauty of life

Cherishing the wonder of each day

Rejoicing with gratitude in all we have.

Which do you choose to do?

Remembering that what we see as endings are also new beginnings,

both for ourselves, and for the earth.

Love to you all - thank you for being part of our lives,

Bob and Joyce

Bob's Coffin Easter 2018

Bob's Coffin Easter 2018 

Following my coffin building in 2017, I wanted to build a coffin for Bob, as I feel that if I have created something beautiful and meaningful for my death (see Nov 17 post on this blog), then I should create something similar for Bob, especially as we will be celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary in August.

The designs I used are drawn by Bob and used for making stained glass windows and hangings - and the butterflies are added as butterflies have become important in our lives because of Bob's pivotal role in the building and running of the butterfly house on Bribie . The coffin is covered in calico, and the mysterious green strips hanging out of the sides can be used as handles.

The design on the top is used in the window above our staircase - and the three parts of the design correspond well to the words on the top of my coffin:  Awareness - It Is As It Is; Awe - Wonder at the Mystery of it All, Acceptance - All is Well.

   

Overall view

Left side

Pelican

Dancing brolga

Brush turkey

Osprey (with colouring more similar to Brahminy Kite)

Right side

Azure Kingfisher

Golden Whistler and Rainbow Lorikeet

Rainbow Bee-eater

Top

Christmas 2017

2017 Newell Family News

2017 began for us in Geraldton visiting our daughter Janet who was just settling in again after her 7 months in Mauritius. We explored the local desert-like landscapes by foot and kayak, built a movable hen house for her two "frizzle" bantams, and enjoyed the time together.

Most of the year we were "stay-at-homes" with Bob being very busy as President of the Bribie BUG (Bicycle Users Group) and Secretary/Treasurer of the Bribie Island Butterfly House (https://www.bribieislandbutterflyhouse.org). The first half of the year he played builder's labourer and the photos below showed the butterfly house and breeding laboratory in the early stages of construction.

         

It finally opened in June and is attracting many enthusiastic visitors (5000 in the first six months of being open two days a week).

When time permitted there was the usual cycling trips and golf games.

Joyce continued developing Lucky's Labyrinth at the local Arts Centre, adding many rocks, some plants, and new signs, and starting a Tuesday morning meditation group to enjoy the peaceful surroundings (http://bribielabyrinthproject.blogspot.com.au). The peak of her artistic year was an installation 'Reflections on Life and Death' as part of the annual printmaking exhibition. (See following blog). She has also been putting more energy into music, singing in special concerts with several choirs, and playing recorder with the Sunshine Coast Recorder Group, the Bribie Island Orchestra and the Island Celtic Fiddlers group – and is looking forward to attending the week-long Recorder Boutique in Armidale in early January. Her enthusiasm for cycling to more remote corners of the island has been renewed with buying an electric bike (a pedelec that you still have to pedal to get assistance). An additional adventure, internal instead of the more physical ones she has enjoyed in recent years, has been to learn the common and Latin names of about 300 species of Australian birds by connecting them with a specific place using techniques discussed by Lynne Kelly (http://www.lynnekelly.com.au). This has been an exciting journey as somehow using one's memory in this way also increases ones enthusiasm for life in general.

 In May/June we did take four weeks off on a trip to some of the western Queensland rivers and parks to be able to enjoy nature and birdwatching. We visited the Bunya Mountains (left) and Carnarvon Gorge (below right) with friends who then returned while we ventured further west. We continued westwards through Emerald and Jericho where our car Snowy stopped for three days while the local garage mechanic diagnosed, flew in and fitted a new "crankshaft position sensor". Luckily we just happened to be at a great campsite (below) and the mechanic was one of the last two businesses left in Jericho which is declining like so many of Australia's small regional towns.

Finally we continued to Longreach, Lochern NP (below left), Jundah, Welford NP (below right), Windorah, Quilpie, Curriwinya NP, Cunnamulla and Bowra Bird Sanctuary, Bollen and home.

In October/November we found ourselves again in Geraldton helping our daughter Janet move from one rental house in Sunset Beach to another in Bluff Point. The bulk of the heavy furniture moving took only a half day thanks to a platoon of Janet's friends. But of course there was lots of packing, cleaning, moving, more cleaning, unpacking and quite a few small handyman jobs. Janet does like the little old houses with "character", but the new one does have a great position overlooking the Indian Ocean and lots more interesting birds.

Back home there was the Rugby League World Cup to watch (on TV) and the pre-Christmas celebrations which will this year culminate with Christmas Day at Bob's sister's future retirement home in Mount Beppo, between their farm at Toogoolawah and our old house on the Esk-Somerset Dam road.

In December while we face increasingly hot summers, Janet sets off on a winter adventure to Canada to visit Newfoundland where a friend she met in Mauritius lives and Calgary where Joyce's brother lives. She is hoping there will be enough snow for some skiing. She returns in mid-January for a whirlwind 24 hour visit to Bribie on her way back to Geraldton.

After our Christmas at Mount Beppo there will be the New Year and who knows what future for us, Australia and the world. At our age we can only grin and bear it, and only get worried about things that we can personnally do something about – not a lot these days.

Hallelujah!!!