Sunday 5th January 2014 - Away to our second home

We love our second home in Broome - even in the humid heat of the wet season. David packed his bike in a bike box to fly up and has been venturing out with the local cyclists. It's fast and flat up here in comparison to the hills he rides with MDBC.

We enjoyed flying over Ayers Rock/Uluru on the way across Australia.

Nothing much has changed in the main street except for Christmas decorations.

Cable Beach sunsets still happen every night to entertain us too.

Cathy has kept busy with clinics and ward rounds, but also found some time for teaching. In a resuscitation situation, one should always begin by checking for "Danger". It would appear that also applies to going to the outdoor play area on the Paediatric ward in Broome Hospital where a 2m King Brown Snake has been spotted!!

On her first day at work, Cathy suggested we had enough staff to avoid a neonate being transferred out, so she's had fun playing neonatologist this week with the team and seeing baby do well. It means she didn't get to play flying doctor though :( The list of patient problems up here is quite different to Monash with snake bite, infected traditional circumcision, finger abscess, various febrile children and some unusual rashes mixed in wth complex psychosocial situations, obesity, obstructive sleep apnoea and tiny babies.

Mornings start early up here with an alarm at 5am to ensure we fit our run/ride in before it gets too hot. Once the sun is up, the temperature goes above 30 very rapidly. There's usually an early morning breeze on Cable Beach to keep us comfortable. We have a plunge pool here to cool down afterwards before shower breakfast and reading "The Age" online to keep up with Victorian news. Cathy tries to do Monash work emails before ward rounds begin at 8am, then manages to come home for lunch most days. Unless on call, she usually gets away by 4-5pm so an evening swim or walk to the beach is possible.

Melbourne Observation Wheel - Monday 30th December 2013

Cathy's eldest brother, David, arrived from New Zealand on Sunday night. At last, we had the whole Jones family in one place at the same time. I think it is 9 years since that last happened. We didn't quite get all the partners and grandchildren there.

We met at the Melbourne Observation Wheel in Docklands and enjoyed pizzas at "The Groove Train" before our half hour flight. We took a few family photos - which was lucky, as Chris chickened out of the flight citing fear of heights(and getting stuck on a wheel that has a notorious history of technical problems!)

We safely made it around. It needs a slide show to let you enjoy the fun we had, so please watch via this link:

2013-12-30

Sunday 29th December 2013 - Joshua's 1st Birthday party

Joshua shares a birthday with Ere. Again, the sun shone on a celebration with family - this time at Jenny and Rod's home in Kangaroo Ground.

Joshua enjoyed the icing off the top of his birthday cake!

Christmas Day 2013 at Flinders - Jones style

Cathy's brothers have scattered around the globe. Her younger brother Chris lives in Newcastle. Chris and Katrina took a house at Flinders for 2 weeks over Christmas and hosted Christmas dinner for all the family. It was a perfect sunny day and we had 23 for lunch with 4 of the 5 Jones kids there, along with Katrina's extended family. Chris handed out the presents, and all helped out with dinner on a beautifully decorated outdoor table. After that, there was an Aussie cricket match for the boys whilst the girls watched on and played with their Christmas gifts. Cathy was on call for Monash CHildren's so she couldn't help Katrina drink all the champagne. The kids in hospital all woke up to lots of gifts and visitors to wish them well. We hope that your Christmas was as lovely as ours. Here are some pictures of the fun on the day!

Arrival of the Mexicans!!!

Cathy's youngest brother has been living in Mexico for over 5 years now and has not been back to Australia for 3 years. We were very excited when visas came through for Phil and all the family to visit Australia. Phil, his wife Sandy and her cousin Ere arrived with Romy(aged 11 years) and Joshua (11 months) early in December. They came over for afternoon tea and Joshua enjoyed exploring the back lawn whilst we all played bocce nearby.

Later, we went out for dinner at our local Mexican restaurant!