Australia Day 2016

Happy Australia Day everyone!

It was on January 26th, 1788 that the first fleet from England landed at Botany Bay (pretty much where Sydney airport sits today) to take up permanent residence - some by choice and quite a few others that had less say in the matter that arrived as convicts in chains.

As the public holiday is celebrated on January 26th, and that was a Tuesday this year, I booked a vacation day off for the Monday and made an extended long weekend out of the situation and we went camping.

Setting out on Saturday, our destination was Innes National Park on South Australia's Yorke Peninsula about 300km from Adelaide.

Our beachside camp set-up at Innes National Park

This park has a lot of rugged coastal scenery to admire, plenty of hiking trails to take and some nice fishing places where you can throw in a line and try your luck.  We did a little bit of all of that over the three days we were there.

Wide, empty beach and rugged cliffs at West Cape. We saw a pod of ~ 20 dolphins playing in the waves here.

Heading to the Stenhouse Bay jetty to try our luck fishing

All we got was some sunburn despite the hats and long sleeves

As you can't do any metal detecting inside the national park we drove to a beach just outside the park where Heather was able to do a small amount of hunting.  We didn't catch any fish or find our fortune but the outing was fun nonetheless.

On Tuesday we broke camp in a wind that made things challenging to say the least but we got the job done and loaded everything into the car.  The drive back to Adelaide was uneventful.  We washed off the grit and grime that comes with camping at a beach location and suited up in our Australia Day gear before heading around to my mothers house for an Australia Day BBQ.

In the backyard in our Australian flag hat, t-shirt, shorts, and dress

Heather, Grant and Sue (Grant's mum) waving the flag on Australia Day

After a lovely BBQ lunch at mums house we went home and listened to the fireworks going off in the nearby city parklands before retiring for the night.  All in all it was a fun weekend with plenty of fresh air and outdoor activities to keep ourselves busy.  The next scheduled long weekend is in early March but we will have to see if we can manufacture another one before then...

Until the next issue of WTF? - Where are The Farrows?, stay happy and safe.

It has been a while... and we have some bad news to report.

It has been a while since our last blog posting in October of last year and it is only now that I can bring myself to letting you know why.

While most people already know what has transpired, for those that do not, here is a brief summary to bring you up to speed...

In November our beloved dog and an integral part of our family, Bernard, was diagnosed with cancer.  Tests determined it was already widespread through his body and inoperable.  The vet thought we would have between one and three months more together.  We spent every possible minute with him during his remaining days.  Heather never left his side night or day and we both slept downstairs with him every night he was still with us with a hand on his back, butt or belly to give him comfort that we were there with him always.  If love were medicine he would have made a full recovery - but as powerful as love is, unfortunately it was not enough.

Just four weeks after being diagnosed he was gone.  He went to sleep on December 21st 2015 just about a month short of turning 7 years old.  We are devastated that he is no longer with us and is dearly missed.

Bernard loved the snow - he was made for it!

Honouring Bernard's memory.

The best times of all for the three of us were without doubt whenever we packed up our truck and hit the road to go camping.  Those road trips whether quick weekenders or three week tours were something special for us and were where the first 'travel game' postings of WTF - Where are The Farrows? originated.  Feedback from friends indicated you enjoyed seeing and reading about what we were up to.  As a result of that, and as a means of maintaining some form of contact with our friends across the globe given our relocation from Canada to Australia in May 2015, this blog was created.

So after a few difficult weeks and a very sombre Christmas period while our feelings of loss and hurt have been so raw, we now think that we are ready to (need to) get back into some camping and to re-start the creation of more good memories - he would have wanted that.  It won't be the same without him but to honour Bernard's memory we have committed to getting back into the road-trip and camping saddle again.

Standby for new blog postings to recommence in the near future.

You brought great joy into our lives every single day and will always be with us in our hearts.
Rest In Peace my beautiful boy.