As each year ends I fully intend writing one of those terrific, informative “bulk mail” letters that summarises our year. I plan to send it out (by email, of course) to friends near and far, offering season’s greetings at the same time. And almost every year I fail miserably in meeting the deadline. So for my first ever blog, I’m creating a new year version of the-year-that-was. We packed so much into 2015 that I’ll be gentle with you and bring you two installments 😉

In January we returned from the marvellous ancient town of Hoi An in central Vietnam and within days the relaxed holiday glow faded so dramatically that the MOTH and I decided we should begin planning in earnest our escape from Manila. As we approached the eight year mark in the Philippines (plus 2 previous years spent in Micronesia) we were really beginning to pine for home. A decade away is too long! After a couple of years of casual real-estate searching online, it was exciting to find what looked like just the right property for us. Despite having a trip home already booked for February, the MOTH suggested emphatically that I should jump on a plane straight away and check it out before we were pipped at the post. Long story short: on the first day of February the vendors accepted our offer and suddenly we were buying our “retirement home” in Buninyong, 15 minutes south of Ballarat, Victoria.

February was a bit of a blur as we tied up the contract for our new house and I returned to Manila oh-so-briefly before heading down-under once more. This trip began in Darwin to see Kate, our gorgeous, zany daughter and her family, then continued south to Geelong to see middle son Jake and his family.

In March we welcomed the news of oldest son Justin’s engagement to his wonderful Katherine. Meanwhile our resolve to leave Manila was galvanized and we now had a departure date in mind – early August. Life was looking up! The process of buying (yet) another property kept us busy, as did a long-postponed trip to Batanes, the Philippines’ northern most islands, with dear friends Anthony and Dom.

As we sleepily bought an early morning coffee at the airport the day we went, our barista told us Batanes had been likened to New Zealand. Frankly, I was sceptical … but she was absolutely right. I must confess right here that I’ve never been to NZ but I’ve seen the pictures and Batanes is breath-taking in the same kind of way.

 

In April, ever mindful that we were on the downhill run for our time in the Philippines, we travelled to the amazing landscapes of Coron. As this was likely to be our last island-paradise trip we made the most of the sparkling turquoise waters and snorkelled till we were wrinkled all over (or is that just advancing age?)

 

May saw the settlement (handover) of our new castle in Buninyong. Very exciting and the countdown was on till we could take up full-time residence. The other big news for the month was Jake’s engagement to Kyra – two engagements in the family in as many months!!!

 

June saw me back on a plane to our beloved Oz again, and abandoning the MOTH in Manila one last time. I camped out for a week and a half at our (now freezing) new home, which was actually rather fun. It took a couple of days to get the heating and the hot water systems working so it was a very cold start to the stay! I didn’t freeze to death though, so stay tuned for the second half of the year, coming up soon …