Here’s to 2012

It has been such a long time since I updated my blog. It has been a crazy year end to 2011. After a lovely spell of dizziness for nearly 6 weeks I felt better and was looking forward to our first xmas Down Under! My husband had a couple of weeks leave and so we were going to have some short day outings and sightseeing. The plan for xmas day was to go to Kiama where there is a lovely blow hole and volcanic coastline. We planned to take a picnic of some snack and Christmas cake and of course water… but if there was a shop open we could get some cold drinks.

With this in mind I defrosted the muthia and woke up early to get them refreshed with tempering and heated. Cut out huge chuck of the Christmas cake that was made of loads of dry fruits and nuts plus booze and a little flour to hold it all together. All who eat it are fans for ever of this cake. My nephew came just after 9 am and we put the folding camp chairs and food and drink in the back of the car and started off. It was a lovely hot and sunny day. It felt strange after so many years of winter Christmases. The drive was good and we also stopped at a scenic viewing point along the way.

Kiama also has an odd small sandy beach but the attraction is the blow hole, the rocky coast and a lovely lighthouse. There is a huge garden around the lighthouse and lots of trees. We managed to find parking right near the lighthouse itself. That was lucky as afterwards people were parking all over the grass and any nook and cranny they found. Had a nice wander round the headland and found a lovely cordoned off rocky pool by the side where waves brought in the fresh water into the pool. While I did not go in for a swim we did manage to walk about on the ledge up to the rocks and get feet wet. The water was lovely and cool. Finally got a nice spot under some trees and put out the chairs. We could see both sides of the headland from where we sat. Lovely breeze and relaxing time.

Around 2 pm we started back and got home about 4 30ish. The plan was to relax, have a drink and decide where to go for dinner. But all the best laid plans of men and mice…… I thought there was so much fine volcanic sand clinging to my legs especially since I had applied a fair amount of sunscreen that they needed a wash. As I stepped into the bath to put my legs under the tap I slipped. The next thing I know is my head has smashed into the tile shelf at the tap end of my bath. OUCH! Well then blood poured off my forehead and my right shin was twice the size. Other scratches and bruises failed to attract my attention. So with an icepack pressed to my head off we went to spend the xmas evening at the local emergency room. Had a speedy allocation to a trolley, as after all I had had a head injury which had fortunately stopped bleeding.

To cut a long story short I had over 5 hours of fun with a head scan and 16 stitches and only a small handful of hair chopped back. My husband was a rock throughout…. Expect when he fainted right at the end of the stitching! I think he found that more gruesome than a bloody icepack. We laughed about having a christmas special – 2 for the price of 1! So there we were 10 30 at night with no food or drink. Well I had made the guys go get some chocolate or drink from the machine.

This meant Boxing day was a wash out. Spent mostly at home relaxing. The rest of the hols went fast with a couple of days of drives to Windsor, Penrith, Blue Mountains and Kurrajong. We also needed to go look at houses as we had to move in the new year. As the last kick 2011 still had a surprise my mother fell off her chair and broke her hip and had to have surgery on the 31^st. Well all in all 2011 was a mixed bag. Health went from bad to better to head injury. Life went from UK to OZ, from London to Melbourne to Sydney. So here’s to 2012 – may it bring peace and health to all and that definitely will make us happy.