Thursday 15th July
We flew to Australia for Peter Young's (Rob's brother) wedding. Rob could only spend a week or so in Australia (saving his leave to take holidays in the USA), and so we flew to Sydney, and Jo stayed there for the weekend, whilst Rob flew onto Tasmania. Rob flew back to LA 10 days later, and Jo spent more time with here family in Hobart, and then in Sydney before returning to LA in early August.

Our LAX to Sydney flight was quite eventful. The plane came from New York and had been delayed due to bad weather. We were scheduled to depart at 11.45pm, but did not depart until 2.30am. A couple of hours into the flight an announcement was made that we were flying to Brisbane because there was no longer enough fuel to fly to Sydney as planned. The reason for this was the US Department of Defense had an exercise off the coast of California and so we'd had to fly north to near San Francisco before heading west across the Pacific. This detour had caused the plane to use more fuel than planned. Once at Brisbane, those passengers whose final destination was Brisbane disembarked without their baggage and the plane refueled. After about an hour on the ground we flew onto Sydney, arriving about 5 hours late. Fortunately Jo's sister Frances did not come to the airport until after we landed. We had a drink with Frances and her friend Jeff, and then Rob flew to Hobart.

Rob spent the weekend in Launceston keeping Peter company whilst his fiance Janet had her Hen's night. It was great catching up with Pete and seeing were they are living and to hear about his new job and life and friends in Launceston. Rob, his Mum and sister Helen travelled in the car together and it was a fun time, talking, seeing the amazingly green countryside, and eating some of the foods he hadn't for a year.

Jo spent the weekend with her sisters Frances and Liz in Sydney, and had a great time.

Thursday 22nd July
We went for a walk up the Lenah Valley track to a waterfall on the side of Mt Wellington. Rob's sister Janet took us, and we had great talks about life, and the changes a baby will bring. The track started in the valley and there was frozen water on the road in places, and it was still there when we returned. Apart from completely missing a turn off, and so walking some hundreds of metres further up the mountain, we did find the waterfall, and it was worth the walk. It was wonderful being back in the bush amongst the familiar sights and smells of the southern Australian bush.

We enjoyed being back in Tassie, enjoying the beautiful sunrises every morning.

Friday 23rd July
It was Peter Young's birthday the day before the wedding, and Janet Maher's the day after the wedding (hence the wedding on the day inbetween). We went to the wedding rehearsal in the afternoon, and then to Pete's birthday party in the evening. We had a meal in a local pub, and met some of Pete's friends and soon to be family members.

Saturday 24th July
Peter Young married Janet Maher at Pilgrim Uniting Church, Launceston, Tasmania. Their reception was held in the Launceston Tram Shed. It was a wonderful day!For more photos, see Pete's web site.

Sunday 25th July
We went for a walk with Rob's parents up the Cataract Gorge in Launceston. Peter Young has photos from when the gorge was flooded last year. It was raining when we were there, but it was at more normal levels.

Monday 26th July
On the Monday after the wedding, there was a surprise 60th birthday party for Rob's Mum at the Angelsea Barracks Officers Mess. It was a great success - lots of Mum's family and friends were there, including Pete even though he was married on the Saturday. We had fun decorating the tables with balloons and chocolates. Mum was completely surprised by it - when she walked in she was speechless. Dad had put in a lot of work making a digital slideshow of Mum including many photos we had never seen before, and it was great.

Tuesday 27th, Wednesday 28th July
After dropping Rob off at the airport, Jo went to Richmond, near Hobart, with her parents.

One of the things we miss in the USA is fish and chips, so on Wednesday, Jo and her parents went to Mures downstairs to have this dish one more time.

Thursday 29th, Friday 30th July
Jo and her parents visited the Waterworks Reserve, where we saw a Kookaburra, and some nice views of Mount Wellington. We did some more sight-seeing, with views of the Tasman Bridge. All too soon, it was off to the airport to catch the plane to Sydney to spend some more time with Jo's sisters.