Here we are, end of the year and Christmas approaching once again. We hope that 2017 has been a great year for you and your loved ones. It’s certainly been one of highs and lows for the (now extended) Burkett clan. 
Jacky had a “significant” birthday in January and celebrated in a couple of ways. For the actual day she and John were cruising the South China Sea on board the Seabourn Sojourn (sister ship to the cruise ship we went to Antarctica on). This cruise went from Hong Kong to Singapore via China, the Philippines and Malaysia. It was Jacky’s first time in China (excluding Hong Kong of course) and for both of us our first visit to the Philippines. Manilla is a crazy place, they don’t so much have road rules as general suggestions, which are themselves widely disregarded! Think a 3 lane road with 4 or maybe 5 lanes of bumper to bumper – but moving – traffic with Jeepneys jagging left and right. We finished up our cruise in the somewhat more sedate, but still fun, Singapore.
Just a few days after getting back Jacky’s school friend Didy and her husband Steve arrived. They’d travelled halfway across the world to join Jacky’s big birthday celebration. That event was held in central Brisbane with a stunning views of the river and Story Bridge, and attended by friends and family from Sydney, Sunshine Coast, Adelaide, Rockhampton and the Blue Mountains. It was a very special evening, all the children spoke and we had a video of special messages from UK friends edited together by Mark.
In May we headed over to New Zealand’s South Island with our good friends Michael and Joan. We had a few days in beautiful Queenstown before heading off for a short driving holiday to the Marlborough region. We went via the stunning West Coast, seriously if you are thinking about a trip to NZ you must visit the South Island, the lakes are just breathtaking and there’s hardly anyone there! We were particularly taken with Lake Hawea, we were fortunate that the sun was shining but it is just awe-inspiring. After an overnight stop at Fox Glacier we headed up via 
Greymouth and across the island to Blenheim. The Marlborough region of course is famous for Sauvignon Blanc so a day touring some vineyards was compulsory. There is a huge variety of vineyards and cellar doors from tiny family owned businesses up to those run by multi nationals like Cloudy Bay. After a couple of nights in Blenheim we flew up to Auckland for a night to see our friends Jeff and Janice and thank them for letting us stay in their beautiful Queenstown place. After the empty roads of the South Island Auckland was a bit of a shock, while its traffic is no competitor to the chaos of Manilla it certainly gives Sydney a run for its money in terms of traffic jams.
Talking of Sydney, that was our next port of call in June, we went down to see VIVID which is a huge light festival. We stayed at the Intercontinental because of its stunning view over the harbour which was a great vantage point to watch the lighting of the Opera House sails. While there we took the opportunity to catch up with John’s cousins Anthony and Michael Baker, Chris and Aiden Pavey and also Jacky’s school friend Richard.
Unfortunately Jacky’s Dad, Bertie, has had a really tough year battling health issues so we were very glad to head over to the UK in August to spend a little time with him. It was also an opportunity to catch up with friends. Thanks to everyone who was able to get down to Newick to see us. After a short time in Sussex we headed off on another cruise. This time from Dover to Montreal, via Dorset, Wales, N Ireland, Scotland, Iceland, Greenland, Newfoundland and then on down the St Lawrence river via Quebec. 24 nights in all on board the Seabourn Quest – the same ship we went to Antarctica on a couple of years ago. Visiting Belfast was fairly surreal, having grown up with “the troubles” on TV all the time it was extremely odd to be on a bus touring the city and seeing places we would never have once considered as a tourist destination. The highlight in Scotland was a tour of the distillery at Tobermory, for those who don’t know John takes his Whisky fairly seriously, he joined the Queensland Malt Whisky Society a couple of years ago, so he couldn’t pass up a chance to tour a Scottish distillery and of course it would have been rude not to taste a dram or two!
On arrival in Greenland the ship cruised through Prince Christian Sound, we weren’t quite sure what to expect but it was spectacular. We took a zodiac ride and got up close to icebergs and glaciers. We were also fortunate enough to see the Northern lights, after a couple of nights of disappointment we’d almost given up but John persevered into the early hours and we were rewarded with stunning light shows. Over in Canada there were several stops down the St Lawrence River but the highlight had to be Quebec, a beautiful city. We enjoyed a horse drawn carriage tour around the old city. 
We had a one night stop in Montreal which gave us the opportunity to explore the underground city, then back via the UK to spend a few more days with Jacky’s Dad before finally heading home.
As soon as we got back though it was time to prepare for Mark and Emma’s wedding. We were thrilled that Jacky’s sister Jo and her husband Andy came over, as did John’s sister Joan. It was Jo and Andy’s first trip down under so naturally we had to tick off all the first time experiences: cuddling a koala at Lone Pine and whale watching etc. It was the most fantastic whale watching expedition – so many breaching whales we lost count! Then up to Port Douglas for the reef and rainforest experience, but before we knew it we were heading down to northern NSW for the wedding of the year!
Sadly just two days before the wedding we received the news that John’s mum, Sheila, had passed away. As you may know she had suffered a major stroke some years ago and was in a care home, we knew she was not in great shape, so it wasn’t a total surprise, but still sad. Mark and Emma had already planned to display photos of all the parents and grandparents on their wedding days at their reception, so having those pictures there was extra poignant in the circumstances.
The wedding was a spectacular success, it also turned into a bit of a pommie invasion with lots Mark’s friends from our old village, North Moreton, attending. The wedding was at a secret location in the Byron Bay hinterland and it did not disappoint, a beautiful, natural location, it was a fabulous day. Mark and Emma’s joy shone bright and was infectious.
All the kids are now back living in Brisbane, in February Amy brought a small townhouse in Coorparoo, an inner city suburb. She’s spent the year working on her natural makeup business – Bluebird Natural Beauty. Mark and Emma brought the house they had been renting and plan to renovate it. Mark’s video production business – Inverse Imaging – continues to do well, they now have their own premises. Dave and Rachelle also brought their first home together this year, they opted for a swish 2 bedroom city apartment. It’s right in the middle of the city with great views of Brisbane river, the outside deck is actually larger than the inside – ideal for the Queensland climate. The 2nd bedroom is going to prove useful as they are expecting the patter of tiny feet in March 2018! The idea of grandparenthood is something we are both still adjusting to but for different reasons, John seem to think he’s still too young to be a grandparent – clearly he’s in need of a reality check. Jacky though is far more concerned about what she will be called, Grandma, Granny, Nonna – she’s been trying them all for size to see which one fits best!
One of the great highlights of this year has been the catching up with UK friends, Jacky’s school friends Didy and Vivien, the afternoon tea in Newick, Jacky’s old boss Tony Hiller and his lovely Australian wife Leigh – driving through central London to see them certainly brought back lots of memories! On our cruise the first stop was Portland in Dorset where we met up with Jane Sneesby, the kid’s old nanny who now calls Weymouth home.
Jacky is keen to spend some more time with her Dad, so we will be heading back to the UK for Christmas. We hope that over the Christmas period we’ll have the opportunity to catch up with more friends and family. We’ll be installed in Manor House Cottage in Newick for 4 weeks, so if you’re around and up for making the trip to Sussex do please get in touch, and we promise we won’t mention the cricket!
Have a great festive and holiday season – from the Burkett’s downunder!
Mark and Emma’s Wedding Day family line up – from left to right:
John’s cousin Ron Austin and wife Lynn, John’s sister Joan, David and (a slightly pregnant) Rachelle,
Mark and Emma, John and Jacky, Amy, Jacky’s sister Jo and husband Andy.
Jacky had a “significant” birthday in January and celebrated in a couple of ways. For the actual day she and John were cruising the South China Sea on board the Seabourn Sojourn (sister ship to the cruise ship we went to Antarctica on). This cruise went from Hong Kong to Singapore via China, the Philippines and Malaysia. It was Jacky’s first time in China (excluding Hong Kong of course) and for both of us our first visit to the Philippines. Manilla is a crazy place, they don’t so much have road rules as general suggestions, which are themselves widely disregarded! Think a 3 lane road with 4 or maybe 5 lanes of bumper to bumper – but moving – traffic with Jeepneys jagging left and right. We finished up our cruise in the somewhat more sedate, but still fun, Singapore.
Just a few days after getting back Jacky’s school friend Didy and her husband Steve arrived. They’d travelled halfway across the world to join Jacky’s big birthday celebration. That event was held in central Brisbane with a stunning views of the river and Story Bridge, and attended by friends and family from Sydney, Sunshine Coast, Adelaide, Rockhampton and the Blue Mountains. It was a very special evening, all the children spoke and we had a video of special messages from UK friends edited together by Mark.
In May we headed over to New Zealand’s South Island with our good friends Michael and Joan. We had a few days in beautiful Queenstown before heading off for a short driving holiday to the Marlborough region. We went via the stunning West Coast, seriously if you are thinking about a trip to NZ you must visit the South Island, the lakes are just breathtaking and there’s hardly anyone there! We were particularly taken with Lake Hawea, we were fortunate that the sun was shining but it is just awe-inspiring. After an overnight stop at Fox Glacier we headed up via Greymouth and across the island to Blenheim. The Marlborough region of course is famous for Sauvignon Blanc so a day touring some vineyards was compulsory. There is a huge variety of vineyards and cellar doors from tiny family owned businesses up to those run by multi nationals like Cloudy Bay. After a couple of nights in Blenheim we flew up to Auckland for a night to see our friends Jeff and Janice and thank them for letting us stay in their beautiful Queenstown place. After the empty roads of the South Island Auckland was a bit of a shock, while its traffic is no competitor to the chaos of Manilla it certainly gives Sydney a run for its money in terms of traffic jams.Talking of Sydney, that was our next port of call in June, we went down to see VIVID which is a huge light festival. We stayed at the Intercontinental because of its stunning view over the harbour which was a great vantage point to watch the lighting of the Opera House sails. While there we took the opportunity to catch up with John’s cousins Anthony and Michael Baker, Chris and Aiden Pavey and also Jacky’s school friend Richard.Unfortunately Jacky’s Dad, Bertie, has had a really tough year battling health issues so we were very glad to head over to the UK in August to spend a little time with him. It was also an opportunity to catch up with friends. Thanks to everyone who was able to get down to Newick to see us. After a short time in Sussex we headed off on another cruise. This time from Dover to Montreal, via Dorset, Wales, N Ireland, Scotland, Iceland, Greenland, Newfoundland and then on down the St Lawrence river via Quebec. 24 nights in all on board the Seabourn Quest – the same ship we went to Antarctica on a couple of years ago. Visiting Belfast was fairly surreal, having grown up with “the troubles” on TV all the time it was extremely odd to be on a bus touring the city and seeing places we would never have once considered as a tourist destination. The highlight in Scotland was a tour of the distillery at Tobermory, for those who don’t know John takes his Whisky fairly seriously, he joined the Queensland Malt Whisky Society a couple of years ago, so he couldn’t pass up a chance to tour a Scottish distillery and of course it would have been rude not to taste a dram or two!
On arrival in Greenland the ship cruised through Prince Christian Sound, we weren’t quite sure what to expect but it was spectacular. We took a zodiac ride and got up close to icebergs and glaciers. We were also fortunate enough to see the Northern lights, after a couple of nights of disappointment we’d almost given up but John persevered into the early hours and we were rewarded with stunning light shows. Over in Canada there were several stops down the St Lawrence River but the highlight had to be Quebec, a beautiful city. We enjoyed a horse drawn carriage tour around the old city. We had a one night stop in Montreal which gave us the opportunity to explore the underground city, then back via the UK to spend a few more days with Jacky’s Dad before finally heading home.As soon as we got back though it was time to prepare for Mark and Emma’s wedding. We were thrilled that Jacky’s sister Jo and her husband Andy came over, as did John’s sister Joan. It was Jo and Andy’s first trip down under so naturally we had to tick off all the first time experiences: cuddling a koala at Lone Pine and whale watching etc. It was the most fantastic whale watching expedition – so many breaching whales we lost count! Then up to Port Douglas for the reef and rainforest experience, but before we knew it we were heading down to northern NSW for the wedding of the year!
Sadly just two days before the wedding we received the news that John’s mum, Sheila, had passed away. As you may know she had suffered a major stroke some years ago and was in a care home, we knew she was not in great shape, so it wasn’t a total surprise, but still sad. Mark and Emma had already planned to display photos of all the parents and grandparents on their wedding days at their reception, so having those pictures there was extra poignant in the circumstances.
The wedding was a spectacular success, it also turned into a bit of a pommie invasion with lots Mark’s friends from our old village, North Moreton, attending. The wedding was at a secret location in the Byron Bay hinterland and it did not disappoint, a beautiful, natural location, it was a fabulous day. Mark and Emma’s joy shone bright and was infectious.All the kids are now back living in Brisbane, in February Amy brought a small townhouse in Coorparoo, an inner city suburb. She’s spent the year working on her natural makeup business – Bluebird Natural Beauty. Mark and Emma brought the house they had been renting and plan to renovate it. Mark’s video production business – Inverse Imaging – continues to do well, they now have their own premises. Dave and Rachelle also brought their first home together this year, they opted for a swish 2 bedroom city apartment. It’s right in the middle of the city with great views of Brisbane river, the outside deck is actually larger than the inside – ideal for the Queensland climate. The 2nd bedroom is going to prove useful as they are expecting the patter of tiny feet in March 2018! The idea of grandparenthood is something we are both still adjusting to but for different reasons, John seem to think he’s still too young to be a grandparent – clearly he’s in need of a reality check. Jacky though is far more concerned about what she will be called, Grandma, Granny, Nonna – she’s been trying them all for size to see which one fits best!
One of the great highlights of this year has been the catching up with UK friends, Jacky’s school friends Didy and Vivien, the afternoon tea in Newick, Jacky’s old boss Tony Hiller and his lovely Australian wife Leigh – driving through central London to see them certainly brought back lots of memories! On our cruise the first stop was Portland in Dorset where we met up with Jane Sneesby, the kid’s old nanny who now calls Weymouth home.
Jacky is keen to spend some more time with her Dad, so we will be heading back to the UK for Christmas. We hope that over the Christmas period we’ll have the opportunity to catch up with more friends and family. We’ll be installed in Manor House Cottage in Newick for 4 weeks, so if you’re around and up for making the trip to Sussex do please get in touch, and we promise we won’t mention the cricket!
Have a great festive and holiday season – from the Burkett’s downunder!
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