Listons Down Under

POSITIVELY PERTH To be perfectly honest, I didn't know what reception we would get in Perth. Bob and his wife, Barbara (my actual cousin) immigrated to Perth just after Linda and I got married 35 years ago (was it something we said?) and we had rarely been in touch since. Sadly, Barbara passed away two years ago, but her memory is very strong. There is a marvellous picture of her, Bob and their whole family hanging on the wall. This was a great way to start Australia as we were made to feel so very comfortable and welcome and Bob looked after us really well. We took the local train into Perth, an impressive city; we went to Fremantle (or Freo as the locals call it) and then up to Cottesloe Beach (see picture 1 left). Bit windy. On Saturday, we again took a trip into Freo (it really was worth seeing the older style buildings with their wrought iron balconies - see picture 2 right),visited the Roundhouse which was the old jail, and walked through the wonderful old market resist...

RETURN TO SINGAPORE Singapore was short and sweet. The city had certainly grown since we were last there. Land reclamation had increased its size by 25%. - how did they build such tall buildings on reclaimed land? Our hotel was excellent, on the 7th floor with a view over the pool (picture 1). The wonderful 'hop on, hop off' bus took us up to the old Botanical Gardens, where Linda once again (35 years on) bought an orchid dipped in gold on a chain but added ear-rings this time. Then a walk down Orchard Road to view some of the many varied shopping plazas. Super to travel on the mass transit railway (MRT), which was not built when we were last in Singapore 30 years ago. We had good food experiences, in a Hot Pot restaurant in Chinatown the night we arrived, lunch at a Taiwanese restaurant in a shopping centre (must go and try their new Covent Garden venue). Dinner at LeVel 33 - a restaurant recommended by niece Debbie because they sold Fromm wine (one of her clients), on...

IT STARTED WITH AN EARLY CHRISTMAS Normally we enjoy Christmas Day with our friends the Flawns and their family, plus our co-godparents Lynne and Billy and our cousins Erica and Hendri.  Then, on the day after Boxing Day, we celebrate with my niece Sue and her husband Kevin, plus Matt, Dom and Gemma as well as my sister in law, Brenda. This year, we will celebrate Christmas with my niece Debbie, husband Mark and soldier son Will, in New Zealand, so we decided to start Christmas on November 10th, a week before our departure. We have an exciting agenda - forest fires, sharks and earth quakes permitting. First, we fly into Singapore for a couple of days before arriving in Perth to stay with my cousin Bob, who we haven't seen since our wedding over 35 years ago. Then we cross Australia to  Queensland staying at Port Douglas and Hamilton Island for the Barrier Reef experience before coming back to the mainland at Brisbane. There we pick-up a car and drive down the eas...