To Australia for Christmas

I was last home in Australia for Christmas 2015, so it was with great relish that I got on a plane to head home for a summer Christmas and a long overdue catch-up with my wonderful family and friends. For the first time ever I was able to fly directly to Canberra from Singapore, skipping all the faff of changing planes and terminals in Sydney.

Mum making mince pies for Christmas.

It was amazing to get back to the warm open skies of Canberra, everything wide and well spaced, birds in the air and squawking, gum trees bending gently in the wind. Christmas day itself was only a few days after I arrived and was a beautiful low-key affair with a quiet lunch of great food. We are lucky.

In Canberra I did Canberra things: drank flat whites in the hipster cafes, visited my stomping grounds in the inner north, walked up Mt Taylor to see kangaroos and the view across the city.

My sister Anna in her studio.

My brother Alex on Mt Taylor.

After Christmas I went down to the South Coast for a few days over New Year's. The forest on the Clyde and at the coast is the type of country I particularly miss and it was wonderful to see it and breathe it in. At the beach we were treated to a visit from friendly king parrots; we swam in the sea and enjoyed the forest, ate fish and chips and saw in the new year with the world's smallest firework display from Bateman's Bay.

King Parrot!

Beach roos.

Cicada shell on ferns.

Eucalyptus forest.

Keytie at the beach.

Anna.

Then it was time to go and catch up with Tanya and her family in New Zealand, but that is another story to come.