New-found Cousin

A couple of years ago Aidan noticed that Robbie Burns Day, celebrated on January 25 in Canada, coincided with Australia Day, January 26 Australian time. Inspired by this discovery he decided to google his Scottish grandfather, Hugh Murdoch Brand who emigrated to Australia in 1918. One of the hits of Aidan's search was the picture to the left of my grandfather taken in 1906, part of a treasure trove of Brand family history on Ancestry.com. One of the key sources of the material was Sean Mulroy, a second cousin we'd never met living in Geelong in the state of Victoria, Australia. Sean's grandfather Tom Mulroy and my grandmother Katherine Mulroy were brother and sister. Aidan struck up a correspondence with Sean and I soon joined in. When he heard that Penny and I were planning to visit Australia in the early part of our retirement he suggested we try to meet up. Luckily for us, Sean is a truly inspired genealogist and took extraordinary measures to ensure a get-together. So it was that on our arrival at Melbourne airport, Sean and his wife Sheenagh were there to meet us. They whisked us away to a restaurant where we sat for a couple of hours catching up on generations of Brand and Mulroy family history.

 

                 Hugh Murdoch Brand

Katherine Mulroy

Sean had a file full of original photographs,  copies of historical family documents and news clippings relating to my grand parents. One of the most  interesting pieces in his collection was a slip of paper with my dad's name and address hand written on one side and a short 'family tree' hand written on the other side - in Penny's hand writing! Sean explained that he had acquired the slip from his English grandmother, and together we pieced together the background. As Penny and I headed south from Scotland after working the summer season at the John Ridgway School of Adventure in 1978, my dad asked us to call in to visit his Uncle Tom in Yorkshire. We did so and were warmly welcomed by the Mulroy branch of the family whom we had never met. During that meeting the slip of paper with dad's name and address was produced and Penny wrote out the family tree with my two brothers and I.  Now here we were seeing it again with our new-found relatives 36 years and half a world away!

Bye Bye Tasmania… :-(

After a wonderful 3 month stay in Tasmania, the day finally arrived to bid farewell to our wonderful family, friends and favourite haunts, and swing our backpacks on for the next leg of our journey. The sting of the goodbyes was dulled to some extent by the anticipation of the pending adventure. Never-the-less, the last few days of our three month visit seemed to flash by and Mum and I finally had to maintain our composure as we shared our last hug before setting off for the airport.

For months I'd bragged of my intention to travel with a backpack weighing no more than 10 kilos, with no real idea if that would be possible. When everything was finally packed I was thrilled to be able to pick the bag up with my little finger, but still not certain about its weight. The moment of truth arrived when we set the packs down on the airport scale. Exactly 10 kilos each! :-)

10 kilo bag for 6 weeks travel.

Last exit to …?

Family Reunion Recap

Hannah, Aidan, Heather, Joan, Pete, Pen, Josh, Laura

Family time during the Christmas-New Year period was a whirlwind of feasting, travelling to favourite places and catching up with friends and family. When Josh and Aidan's cousin Hannah heard that they had arrived in Tasmania for a surprise visit, along with Laura and Heather, she immediately booked a flight down from Sydney to spend a week with us, providing a rare opportunity for the cousins to catch up.  As part of Josh and Laura's attention to detail, they had booked a car for a few days to ensure that we could travel together to some of our pre-planned destinations. The cousins all travelled together in the smart mid-sized rental while Mum, Dad and Nanny followed along in the tiny Honda.

Our our waterfront rental cottage near Coles Bay

Wineglass Bay Lookout

Uncle Bill, Nanny& Penny
at the Taste of Tasmania

One of the iconic scenic spots that draws us back each time we visit Tasmania is Wineglass Bay on the Freycinet Peninsula. I first visited for a scout camp in 1961. Penny's first visit occurred a decade later, before we met, and Josh and Aidan first hiked in while we were living and working with Nanny in 1988. "Back in the day", the trail was rugged and subject to numerous wash-outs from winter run-off. A few years ago, National Parks invested in significant improvements to the trail, trail-head car park and rustic rest areas scattered along the route. This has resulted in a dramatic decrease in the erosion that the old track incurred and a huge increase in traffic. I remember walking the entire track without encountering another soul. Now hundreds of tourists arrive daily during the peak summer season. A quick Google search of Wineglass Bay Images demonstrates why this is such a tourist mecca.

The Taste of Tasmania is an annual festival celebrating the fantastic food, wine and spirits of the island state.  Constitution Dock is transformed into a monster indoor/outdoor eatery drawing thousands to sample Tasmanian culinary delights.