An Island Off an Island

A huge shout out to all who contributed to making my ‘significant’ birthday so very special. The past two weeks have been a delight and it has been enriched by all the celebrations, messages, gifts and champagne. Time now to move ahead but before I do, a few memories…

The day itself was cool and gusty – which is to be expected as the first half of ‘the party’ was at our house and tricky weather seems to be the go whenever we say ‘party’s on’ which is a bit squishy. Regardless, close quarters didn’t dampen the spirits as 45 + of our friends joined together to wish us happy birthday. And yes, I did say ‘us’ as it was a joint celebration with our friend and neighbour, Wally, who shares the same date of birth as me – how spooky is that!

The first part of the evening started at Wainui ( ie our house) with drinks and savoury nibbles before we staggered down the drive and across the road to Wally & Giselle’s for cake and liqueurs. It was a blast back to the progressive dinners of our Wollongong days! There was much laughter and telling of tall tales, and naturally the Southern Ocean Sirens performed. Hell we’re talented, just ask us.

Among the beautiful gifts I received was a trip to Launceston and an early morning balloon ride from Marcus. As I write we have just returned. We had perfect spring weather and we’re able to explore Tassie’s second city by foot and by water. Our hotel was a fabulous example of building reuse, it was the former grain silos. You can image my joy when I realised that The Silos has a Canine Ambassador (Archie) , a black Labrador who ‘works’ in reception. When I popped in to see him he was mostly snoozing and the tell tale embroidered collar with ‘do not feed’ said it all.

Sadly the balloon flight will have to wait for another day, thick fog having stymied flight plans. Still we did get to tour the countryside in the back of a 4WD bus with some total strangers looking for clear air before the call was made.

What did go ahead was a perfect birthday dinner at Stillwater, one of Tasmania’s acclaimed restaurants. A perfect mix of relaxed ambience, delicious food, fine wine and the perfect dining companion.

Home to our girl today via the lakes of the spectacular central plateau. I’ll leave the description of that to the geography teacher!

A perfect start to a new decade.