Oops looks like it has been a VERY long time since I last wrote our blog.

We are currently in Coomera, about an hour south of Brisbane, staying with Russell’s older sister Yoga and her hubby Boop. Edwin called him Boop when he first met him at 18 months of age and the name stuck :) Sadly the weather has been very wet, so we are turning into prunes rather than the healthy tanned nomads we had been hoping for. Still life is beautiful here and we are enjoying spending time with family.

December seems a long time ago and came way too quickly. We managed to get Ta-b onto the hard and tucked up for the winter, at the same time enjoying Marmaris; while seeing old and making new friends. It has become a special place for us, in a way a home away from home and we look forward to our return. Sadly we have just found out that Turkey are going ahead with their new Visa rules; which they have managed to avoid up until now. It means that we will not be able to spend as much time in Turkey because from 2 February we will only be allowed into the country for 90 days out of 180 unless we become residents. Will make for some fine tuning on our sailing plans.

Leaving sunny Marmaris mid December we went to Istanbul for a couple of days and then onto England for a long weekend to catch up with family. Not long enough, but we wanted to get to Vancouver to see the kids for a bit before Xmas and I am going back for a couple of weeks on my way back to Marmaris.

We house sat again for our friend Ken, whilst in Vancouver, which worked very well for all of us. It was lovely to be back in our old neighbourhood, I kept bumping into people I knew and it was an easy walk to socialise of an evening with old friends. It was a busy time, out every night and catching up with the kids as much as we could, fitting in as many appointments as we could during the day and of course Otis the dog to walk twice a day. A week up at Whistler with the kids coming and going with friends after New Year was also a lot of fun.

Then it was off to Auckland. We caught the Wednesday direct flight which is 14 hours, but so much better than having stop offs all over the place. We had a long weekend layover with Russell’s younger sister Jillie (left on Wednesday, but with time change do not arrive until Friday – not sure where Thursday went) and managed to do a lot in a very short period of time. New Zealand and Auckland are two of my favorite places and they did not dissappoint.

Finally we arrived in good old Oz – yet again another place dear to my heart. Having family here certainly makes a difference, but I love the vastness of the place and the tropical rainforests just minutes from where we are staying in Coomera up in the hinterlands and nearby national parks are magic. The wild life is amazing too and the birds on the feeder are so brightly coloured I could watch them for hours. However, I am not used to the rain – every time I have been here before it has been warm and sunny. I suppose they have to get the lushness from somewhere, but it is a tad early this year – not in our plans!!

We are due to go down to Coffs Harbour in New South Wales for next week, just hope the weather gets better as we are taking our great niece and nephew with us. So keep your fingers crossed for us and hopefully I will be able to add some more “sunny” pictures to the blog next month. In the meantime, take care everyone, have fun – love J&R