Christmas 2009 update from the Burkett’s downunder
It’s hard to believe another year is about to disappear over the horizon. Seems like yesterday it was 1999 and we were all wondering what would happen once the year 2000 started, certainly as John let off the fireworks at Highfield House we had no idea we would be moving to Australia!
I wonder if this year has gone so fast because John, Jacky & Amy spent June travelling around the UK. It was a lovely trip, so good to catch up with a lot of friends and family but sad that there were so many people we didn’t get to see. Aside from seeing family and friends the highlights of the trip included Ian and Anne McQuattie’s 40th anniversary party at the RAC Club, the day out on the Thames on Ian Quint’s boat and for Amy visiting her old school, Cranford House, and speaking to the students in assembly. The trip was a bit of a blur with so many stops and different beds to sleep in. Amy stayed on for an extra week by herself and had a great time, special thanks to the Clegg family, Cathy in Oxford and Joanna Jacobs in London who made her so welcome. She adored her time in London, she managed to pack in seeing seven shows and fell in love with the London theatre scene (not really a surprise!).
For Mark 2009 was a year of change and excitement with the move to Sydney in January to undertake the Graduate Diploma of Cinematography at the AustralianSchool of Film, Television and Radio. Mark was very fortunate as his partner Emma moved down with him. They spent the year in a miniscule apartment in central Sydney, a stone’s throw from Hyde Park. Mark had a fabulous time at AFTRS, making films and undertaking master classes with some very famous cinematographers and directors. On Friday 4 Dec he graduated and we all went down for the weekend to attend the ceremony and congratulate him.
Mark and Emma have decided to return to Brisbane at Christmas so they can live somewhere where they can at least swing a cat. So they will be staying with John and Jacky while they hunt for somewhere to live and of course look for work!
David has enjoyed much of his year with his hectic social life, lots of camping around Queensland and enjoying the beach. He is still working for the department store chain Myers and is now on their one year Management Training Program and is Sales Manager at the Brookside store in North Brisbane. It’s very hard work, lots of long hours but a great opportunity to learn all areas of the business.
Amy started the year hearing that she had indeed passed the International Baccalaureate Diploma – a great achievement. She decided against taking a year off (she missed studying!) and commenced a Fine Arts degree in Drama at Queensland University of Technology. She wants to pursue a career in theatre production, starting with stage management. In May Amy’s short play “Losing It” was selected for performance at the Capillaries Festival. Amy became very involved with the student theatre company at QUT, and in August was Assistant Stage Manager for a run of the play “Like, Dead”. This was a great grounding for her major course at uni this year when she was Stage Manager for The Caucasian Chalk Circle.
Amy has just completed a round of interviews all round Australia (Perth, Melbourne,Brisbane and Toowoomba) applying for Production degrees to specialise in Stage Management. The really big and exciting news though is that she has just been offered a place at NIDA (National Institute of Dramatic Art) in Sydney. NIDA is the top theatre school in Australia, it’s where the likes of Cate Blanchett, Baz Luhrmann and Mel Gibson learnt their trade. It’s the Australian equivalent of RADA, so as you can imagine Amy is as pleased as punch.
However it does mean a move down to Sydney so as Mark moves back Amy will have to head down, she starts on the 1st February so there’s not a lot of time to find her somewhere to live.
In September Joan and Sandy came over for a visit which was lovely and we kept them very busy with trips out on the boat, seeing relatives, attending the Rotary Club’s 70th birthday party and a cruise on the Great Barrier Reef. We went on the Reef trip with some friends from Rotary, the cruise was from Cairns down to Townsville on a boat that only took a maximum of 50 guests. It was great fun, a bit windy the first day but the next couple of days were lovely and we managed to do a huge amount of snorkelling. The ship stopped at Dunk, Pelorus and Orpheus islands – fantastic! 
Way back in February Amy decided she wanted to celebrate her 18th birthday with a fancy dress party where the guests had to come as their favourite Disney character. Amy went as Sleeping Beauty while Jacky made the mistake of dressing as Maid Marion in a long velvet dress on what was one of the hottest days of the year. In a case of serious overacting, John became Captain Hook. Which was fine until David also arrived as Hook – you don’t want to know what happened next!
John has been really involved in Rotary this year, he’s president of his Rotary club and it’s keeping him busy and occupied – maybe a little more occupied than he would like sometimes! But it’s great fun and they are a great bunch. The club celebrated it’s 70th Anniversary this year so there’s been plenty going on.
Jacky is still managing the schools touring program at Queensland Arts Council. That’s much the same as usual, battling to try and do more and more with ever dwindling budgets! Jacky is also now secretary of the Brisbane Women’s Club, although John rather uncharitably thinks that she really does this just to score a parking space at the club’s offices in downtown Brisbane, which means of course that Jacky can get to Myers really easily to make even more use of David’s family staff discount card!
We have managed to get out and about on the boat reasonably frequently. The current plan though is to move out to be by the bay in the first half of next year. We have a contract in on a house in a place just outside Brisbane called Raby Bay. The house has a pontoon so John can moor his pride and joy at the end of garden and not have to do the hour’s drive to and from the boat. Of course it’s a completely rational house purchase, just as John and Jacky get to the point where all the kids will have left home, they buy a five bedroom house, well no real surprise there really!
No move date fixed yet, we just have to sell the house in Laurel Avenue first – which is currently proving to be easier said than done!
So that’s about it from us for another year. We hope you and yours have a great Christmas, and a safe and fantastic 2010.
Much love from us to you. Jacky, John, Mark, Dave & Amy