2008

Dear Friends,

The onset of real summer finds us both fit and well, although like a great many people feeling the effects of the global financial crisis. Michael's plan for retirement in a couple of years is currently on hold with a new 4-5 year working horizon in view. However being healthy and happy and at least debt-free count for a lot.

Over the 2007-2008 period we were able to pay a flying visit with some friends to Hobart staying in a magnificent apartment in Battery Point. We were able to celebrate in quick succession the finish of the Sydney-Hobart, our 40th wedding anniversary and the New Year. Being so close to the yachting action for the first time was great fun - some friends of our friends were crewing aboard several of the Sydney 38 class boats. The shortness of time prevented us catching up with Tas friends, but we plan a more leisurely visit from the end of February next year when we hope to put this right.

On our return home we hoped to start on the long job of overseeing the painting of our villa both inside and out. The very wet first two months of 2008 delayed work considerably and it was not until late March that the outside was done. Again a long wait for the inside to be started and then only with one painter. This one guy then suffered a fall from a ladder with a mini-stroke with the work half done. It took until early October to finish everything - 9 months in all. We won't be painting again for a long while.

During the painting trials we managed a few trips in the Australasia region. The first was a return to Port Douglas in late February from where we were able to visit Cape Tribulation for the first time. We had a couple of other trips inland from Mossman covering new ground, and were impressed by the several Australian coffee plantations that are now producing really good stuff. A highlight was the visit of the new Cunarder Queen Victoria that anchored off our hotel beach in Port Douglas on the day of our departure. We took the opportunity of a boat trip out to QV who was on her maiden round-the-world cruise.

The Macleay Island ferry is only an hour's drive from home but we took the car across for a few days. Margot had found on the Internet a newly-built house for rent with magnificent views over several other Moreton Bay sand islands. Although not small there is not a lot to do on Macleay so we took the ferry on foot to Karragarra Island for a pleasant days walking. However we spent a great deal of time relaxing on the deck taking in the view from our rented house. Our friends joined us for the last couple of days to help the party go with a swing.

A couple of months later saw us depart on what has become our annual pilgrimage to CodeCampOz in Wagga. As we mentioned last year we drove via Canberra to allow us to visit the plaque of Michael's great uncle Robert Sowerby. He was a Gallipoli veteran and his name appears on the Wall of Remembrance at the National War Memorial. Other interesting visits took us to both the new and old Houses of Parliament, the National Library and the Science Museum. Again a highlight on our last day in Canberra was the Chinese Olympic Torch relay that passed within a couple of blocks of our well-known Hotel Kurrajong. Apart from huge crowds of public servants there was a very large security presence.

Despite back injuries caused to both of us moving furniture and emptying cupboards for the painter we managed a week in Dunedin on the South Island of NZ in June. Michael was presenting a paper with a colleague at an international conference on computer-mediated social networks, his current research interest. The mid-winter gales were not exactly welcome but we did some trips before the conference and the day we did the Taieri Gorge rail trip at least it was sunny. Even in winter Dunedin has character and reminded us very much of Hobart.

One momentous event was the visit for only a few short days of Marg and France Ince, now both retired. Frank was best man at our wedding over 40 years ago. We last saw him over 15 years ago on a flying visit to the UK. As you can imagine we a great deal of catching up to do and it was so good to see them again. We did some short trips and celebrated with a few meals, but the weather turned sour with heavy hail on their last full day. On our next visit to the UK, probably when Michael retires, we will be able to spend longer in their company and we are looking forward to it.

Student numbers in IT at Bond are still low but slowly on the rise, and the new BIT degree has come onstream as well as several highly-targeted Master degrees. The switch to all-new subjects requires a lot of work, but Michael was rewarded with the 2008 Vice-Chancellor's Quality Award for Teaching Excellence - a welcome Xmas present. This came about because of a series of educational technology innovations over the last 15 years. The current project he leads is using advanced virtualisation technology to provide students access to industrial-strength operating systems and software not normally able to be installed in general teaching laboratories.

This year we are having a quiet time enjoying our newly painted home over Christmas and New Year, a practice which is coming to be called a staycation. We hope that you have an enjoyable festive season, and send you our very best wishes for a happy and prosperous new year.

Margot and Michael

December 2008

Sunset from Macleay Island, January 2008

Sunrise Beach, Port Douglas with Queen Victoria off, January 2008

Charles Sturt Uni from Little Bunda Cottage, Wagga Wagga, April 2008

Robert C Sowerby plaque on Wall of Remembrance, Canberra, April 2008

Dunedin, South Island in mid-winter, June 2008