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Melbourne

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^24 year old me with my Dad. I married Andrew in the Kildara Chapel, Malvern, Kildara was my secondary school. Sadly, the Chapel, Convent and school were all demolished a few years later. Well…this month has also been dominated by my Dad’s recent death. I typed “death,” thought it sounded too harsh, erased it, typed “passing” and then thought…Dad didn’t pass (by)…that sounds transient, like he passed by on the way somewhere. Maybe that’s what has happened..I don’t know.  I erased “passing” and typed “death” again.  More concrete; absolute. Final. As is my stage of life, the sadness of Dad’s death has been coupled with the excitement of my eldest child who has relocated to Oxford to study an MBA at Oxford University (very proud parents!) and the happiness of his fiancée who has joined him for the year. We will see them both next month. Also occurring was the happy event of our youngest’s 21st (and her long-time boyfriend’s as well). G’s 21st was sandwiched in amongst funerals but we man
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September 2024 (Melbourne)

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  ^My Dad as a young man My final words last month, “Looking forward to a quieter September” ended up meaning  something different than I had intended. First of all, we celebrated my Mother-in-law’s 80th birthday. Twenty-one of us had a lovely  lunch at Crown and then another, smaller lunch on her actual birthday. After a recent health  scare for her and a couple of nasty surgeries, it was lovely to all gather and to celebrate her  life together. #Trigger warning re death# My Dad, who received a terminal cancer diagnosis a year ago ended up going to hospital by  Ambulance on 10 September with Covid. That became palliative care and, on 27 September, he passed away with me at his bedside. There is a lot more to say but I will leave  that for now whilst I process his passing and the wider family angst and drama that has surrounded it. Suffice to say that I spent 17 days in The Alfred Hospital. Dad never complained but he had  good and bad days. He was able to say goodbye in person to each
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August 2024 - Croatia, Istanbul, Melbourne and Papua New Guinea (there's an unlikely combo!!)

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^Kayaking in Dubrovnik The Croatia cruise was……AMAZING! It was with Azamara and called “Croatia Intensive.” Starting in Venice, stopping in Opatija, Zadar, Šibenik, Split, Korčula, Dubrovnik, Kotor (Montenegro) and finishing in Athens, there was only one sea day and one amazing destination after the other. Coupled with amazing weather – cobalt skies every day – and glassy seas, it was divine! We had a lovely dinner in Venice and both got up the next morning a bit nervous. It was my first Press trip. What would the others in the group be like? What was expected of me? Would I be run ragged? Would I be excluded by the others as I was so new to all this? I needn’t have worried. The entire group – one couple from London and the others all from Sydney or Melbourne – was lovely and welcoming and excited! We all gelled from the start and had a lot of fun! Yes, it was busy but it was fun busy. We had a few “mandated” dinners together and one “mandated” activity. The dinners were fine dining in
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July 2024 - Europe (Italy, Turkey and Croatia)

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^ A photo taken by one of my Press Trip colleagues before dinner on "White Night." It radiates the "new me!" Thank you Tash! It has been a busy month of catching up with emails and family in the morning (Europe morning and Australia later afternoon and evening), sightseeing most of the day, dinner and bed. The heat has been relentless. Every day 30 -35. Although we knew that’s what the weather would be, I often feel like a wilted lettuce! We have now started our Croatia cruise with Azamara. This is a Press Trip and we are part of a group of 11. I was apprehensive coming in. Not only suffering “imposter syndrome” but worrying that the group would be cliquey and unfriendly. Nothing could be further from the truth – one pair is from London, the others a split of Melbourne and Sydney. Each person is lovely and interesting and friendly. We are fast friends already 😊 The cruise itinerary is busy plus there are shore excursions and group dinners and I am not sure I will h
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June 2024 - Europe (Italy and Malta)

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^The Grand Canal, Venice I survived the ASTW event (everyone was very welcoming!) and, a couple of days later, Andrew and I flew to Milan via Singapore. Given that we do not have the constraints of work or school terms any more, we decided to break the journey and transit in Singapore. We thought that meant not leaving our Singapore airport hotel but there were actually two, different, free tours we could choose from which both had different Singapore sightseeing opportunities. It sounded like a great idea to me but also to a few others as the tours were booked out! The hotel worked well – we arrived in Singapore late so went straight to bed then wandered around the airport for a while in the morning and spent the rest of the day at the hotel (outdoor) pool. We had rented the hotel room for the 23 odd hours we were there so we showered and flew to Milan late that night. Our cases were checked through from Melbourne direct to Milan so we did have to plan what we took with us in our day
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