Family Get Together

Canberra - (Monaro Highway) 114 kms
23/9/1995
On the road by 8:30 am: destination Canberra.

The road north, at that hour of the morning, took us through some low cloud and mist as the hills rolled by us. In places, tree plantations followed the contours of the land, but the main land use appeared to be farming.

Our main activity for the day was to be a family picnic on Black Mountain Peninsula. It was a rare occasion when my brother and sisters gathered in the one spot and given our busy lives and disparate geographical locations, it was one to be savoured. Sue and Lindsay were visiting Canberra for the weekend and had Kelly and Mark with them for the trip. With Megan living in Canberra, this left only Tim not present from me Blaxland wing of the extended family. Megan was accompanied by her male friend, Pin. We were immediately impressed by the fact he could play a didgeridoo! Jenny and Doug drove up from Cooma, giving us an hour's head start and Kirsten, Andrew, Campbell and Jossey accompanied them. Art and Minta represented the Canberra branch of the family, as Anne was in Sydney on other business.

It was a windy day, but a reasonable temperature made the wind bearable and we spent three or four
hours talking, eating and walking on the narrow finger of land jutting out into into Lake Burley Griffin from the southern base of Black Mountain.

News of Gog and Pa came by the way of letters from them which had been circulating among the family. Being on the road, we had missed this contact, but had the advantage of their company in the early stages Our time passed quickly and was eventually curtailed by rain which had threatened from the start. The Cooma connection bid us farewell and headed south to their homes and organisation for the evening was put in place for those remaining.

A change of venue - the Evatt home of Art and Anne - saw the Blaxlands joining us for the evening meal and a night of family fun. After dinner, we played cards and then later in the evening, a new game about relationships called Compatibility. A game played in teams of two, the pairings proved to be interesting. Sue ("new Sue") and I stayed together as a couple, but Sue and Lindsay were split up between Art and Kelly, respectively and tills led to some hilarious moments.

The day closed near midnight, having been warm in emotion if not weather.

24/9/1995
Our day was spent in slow, restful and relaxing circumstances, with the only active moments being a walk through the green belt adjacent to Art & Anne's residence. Anne returned during the afternoon and the remainder of the day was spent up-dating each other oh the events which were important in our lives.