The Big Smoke

Compared to Cairns, most places can realistically be called the ‘big smoke’. Sydney and Canberra give us two big highlights and one constant smokey challenge.

Seeing our scattered family is special. An early Christmas celebration with the extended Quadrio clan is a treat. Richard’s brother Scott and his wife Jenni welcome fifteen family members for an early Christmas lunch. An annual tradition that started almost ten years ago, provides a memorable tribute to the year. Each family produces an i-movie which showcases the year’s highlights. Set supposedly to only one song, each movie features achievements, birthdays, sporting highlights, travels, moves, births and much more. Richard’s eighty-five-year old mum, aka Gran and Great Gran is the only member of the family that appears in every presentation. No one can really believe another year has flown by. The day finishes with a memorable afternoon tea with our youngest son Pete and his wife Ashley in a very tiny space (full explanation in the next blog).  

Heading south we catch up with Wendy’s eldest brother and his wife at Picton. We enjoy Marg’s delightful lunch and inspect Glenn’s stylish barnevelder chooks. Canberra is our next stop where we visit the home of our son Tim and his family. It is great to see Hannah and the boys, but miss Tim as he is currently deployed overseas for the Navy. We challenge our three and five-year-old grandsons to guess why we are taking them to a farm. Matthew, aged five, doggedly interrogates us on the thirty-minute drive with many questions before he cleverly deduces that we are going to a Christmas tree farm. Selecting our tree from ninety acres of Christmas trees is a challenge that the boys gamefully accept. Amos enjoys the goats in the next paddock who rush across in hope that we have some food to offer. Anything would be better than the dry grass of their pasture.

Our constant challenge in the ‘big smoke’ is the big smoke. For over a week, from north of Toowoomba in QLD to south of Canberra in the ACT, bush fire smoke is our unwelcome companion. We are grateful that fire has not threatened us, but our constant dry eyes are a stark reminder that much of the east coast of Australia is ablaze. We remember with concern the fire fighters, those who have lost property and loved ones and Richard’s ship mate Trev (and others) who are still doing it tough on the south coast of NSW.