Ahh Victoria Point - we are home!!!

Hi all,
Hoping you all had a very happy Christmas and a safe New Year.
May 2015 be a healthy, happy and prosperous year for all.
Our brother Ian, wife Wendy and daughter Holly arrived in Wallerawang on Christmas Eve.  Darryl and I managed to meet up with his cousin Warren, wife Sue [who managed to get off work a little early :)], son Robert and Aunt Margaret along with his son Aaron and grandson Noah.  We also got to meet Aaron's wife Cassie.  Was a great afternoon and as we left there was a storm rolling in.
We got back to 'Wang in time for a BBQ dinner and a great night with the extended family.
Christmas day we had a fantastic breakfast feast whilst we waited for other family members to arrive.  At 10.30am we all sat in the lounge room whilst 'Santa' [aka Trevor] handed out the Christmas presents from under the tree.  We finished in time for lunch and then another fantastic feast awaited us with 23 for lunch.
Boxing day was a REST day with watching new DVD's.
28th December Beckie and the 4 grandchildren arrived safely at 2.15pm and then Lyn, Meghan, Jaden and Charlotte arrived at about 5pm. We then had a great time giving these family members their Christmas gifts also and seeing the joy on their faces.
30th December - Today is my Cousin Pam's birthday.  Bradley and Holly drove to Orange to bring her boyfriend - David - back for New Years.  They arrived at about 3pm. 
31st December - would have been Mum's 82nd birthday so a little sad today.  Said farewell to Lyn, Meghan and children as they left for home and arrived there safely at 4.30pm.  We went to the Blue Mountains and the Three Sisters as a special treat for Brad, Gemma, Max and Luke who had never been as they live in Qld.  We all enjoyed a picnic lunch at Silver Mist Reserve before going to the Chocolate Shop for a treat before driving home to 'Wang.  We arrived at 3.30pm just as Darryl's cousin Warren and wife Sue and son Robert arrived.  Didn't take long before most were in the pool cooling off and having a load of fun.
We ordered in Pizza for dinner and then we all sat around and chatted waiting for the elusive MN to arrive.  We were joined by Lee, Greg and then their family to be with us as we watched the Sydney fireworks on the television and counted down to Midnight.  Most of us made it and then we all went our ways to our own beds. 

Happy New Year 2015
Most of us were up and about by 8am which was great.
Lots of messages sent to as many contacts as I could remember, to wish all a Happy New Year - so am sorry if I missed anyone.
We had another day in the pool with the family and then watched some more DVD's during the hottest part of the day.  We were joined by Karen's Aunty Sandy and her family from Seaforth.  We then had 28 people for dinner and as usual - Karen had excelled.  Thank you Karen. :D
2nd January.  Today we said farewell and safe travelling to Ian and Wendy and Holly and David as they headed back to Orange before Ian, Wendy and Holly continued with the rest of their holiday.
The rest of us packed up and headed to Penrith to do some shopping whilst the older boys went to the movies.  We then waited for them to come out and headed to our Motel before heading out to dinner at a Teppanyaki restaurant.  This was a different to the one to the restaurant that we went to in March - and was a BIG disappointment to everyone.  The restaurant had moved locations from a fully air-conditioned premises to the rear of another building with no AC, no serviceable fans and we were given lots of water to drink but then we were to full of water to enjoy the meal.  The serving of the meal was very haphazard for the first part of the menu but then seemed to come together.  We were all done by 9.30 and we returned to our hotel and had a cool drink on the terrace in the cool breeze.
Next morning we had breakfast before driving in Convoy into the city and parking not far from Circular Quay.  We then walked down to the quay and got our tickets for the Manly Ferry and awaited our transport.  The journey took just over 30 minutes and the children had a blast watching all the water craft on the harbour, the Opera House, Pinchgut and then arriving in Manly.  We walked down the Corso and met up with Sandy and family again.  The children went for a swim on the very busy beach and then we went down to near the ferry terminal where the water was not as rough as the ocean side.  We then caught the Ferry back to Circular Quay and back to the cars before we all made our way back to Wallerawang.
4th January - our son-in-law Matthew has his birthday today. Message sent to wish him a Happy Day.
On the 5th January I was not having a good day with my Meniere's, but Karen, Beckie and the Children, Julie and her two children all went to 'Dinosaur Park' in Bathurst for the day.  The Children had a ball and Luke is really getting used to all at 'Wang.
6th January.  Beckie and the children were all in the car by 7.10am and on their way back towards Jimboomba.  Hoping to make Glen Innes tonight.  Darryl and I packed up the van and headed on our way by 8.30am.  We were going to stop out of Mullaley but as it was only 1.30pm we decided to continue on to Bingara.  We arrived there at 4.30pm and were disappointed to find that where we had camped in September has been fenced off.  There are now three large areas fenced and sown with some sort of crop in wide furrows.
We were camped on the rocks down by the river that was flowing very well and we were told that the river had risen by 6inches (15cm) that day.  We were enjoying a quiet time in the shade when were joined by our friend Neil Morton who was camped further down the river.  What a surprise - we had not seen Neil since 2012 - so it was a big surprise.
7th January we were packed and ready to travel by 9.30am so headed on our way up to Warialda before headed up to Yetman and across to Texas.  Arriving in Texas at 12md [NSW time] but going back to 11am [QLD time], so we continued on our way and arrived home at 4.30pm.
We parked the van out the front and went into the house and opened it up and checked out our home.
We will need to give it a good spring clean and wash curtains etc and find some of the furniture but otherwise ok.  We will really need to chop back some of the trees along the eastern side of the house as they have gotten really BIG and are over the roof and possibly filling the gutters with leaf litter.  To do that we will have to hire a green skip - but is something that we will try and get done before I have my surgery in February.
We were visited by three neighbours - welcoming us home, and giving us news on their families etc.
So good to see them and so nice to be home as well.
Looking forward to catching up with old friends over the next couple of weeks and then getting organised for 2015.
Keep safe all