Most of this week was spent in my office updating some of the College’s policies, finalising enrolment offers to National Committees, tidying my desk and catching up on paperwork and e-mails. Even more excitingly, though, on Thursday afternoon I left Hong Kong for a 10 day trip to Australia to catch up with my family. The photo at the top of this blog was my early morning welcome, with the sun breaking through the clouds over the Pacific Ocean on the final approach flying into Sydney .
Upon arriving in Australia, I immediately transferred to a connecting flight to Canberra - if waiting in a queue of several hundred people to check-in could be called an ‘immediate’ transfer. Having just managed to make my connecting flight, despite allowing three hours for the transfer, I arrived in Canberra to stay with my daughter, Liesl, and her husband, Brendan. It was also a chance to catch up with my youngest son, Andrew, who had started at the Australian National University a few months earlier and was living at Burgmann College, one of the residential colleges on the ANU campus.
My time in Canberra has been a wonderfully relaxing and stimulating time, with great discussions as our family reunions always tend to be. We also found time for a few trips out, notably including a trip to the War Memorial. I am writing this blog on Monday morning just before heading to Sydney for the next stage of catching up with family, this time my son Tim (tonight) and then tomorrow evening with my son Phillip, his wife Michelle and their daughter Zoe.