January 1997

Surfing at Boatshed Beach, Rosedale:

Beach crisket:

Digging and then bridging:
Nola and Ben at Boatshed Beach:
Nola and Rod:
More sand castles:
Day trip to Narooma:

Mossy Point, with its calm water in Candlagan Creek was popular:

Sleeping at Mossy Point:
Ice creams at Mossy Point:



This was the third year we stayed at 15 Tranquil Bay Place.

"Surfing" on the deck:

Jam session on the deck. This was the year Ben was a HUGE Wiggles fan:

January 1996 - a lot of digging!

Ben is now turning two, and not keen on going in the water. But he's a master of digging.

At Congo Beach:


and at Rosedale:

January 1995

Piero and I were overseas from September 1989 to July 1993, so missed holidays at Rosedale January 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1993. Nola and Frank mainly kept the Rosedale Spirit alive, with various others from time to time. All the while they stayed at 27 Miller Avenue.
In January 1994 I was about 6.5 months pregnant, when I got very ill. The result was a mad dash back to Sydney, and the birth of Ben.
In Dec 1994 - Jan 1995, it was time to go back to Rosedale. We stayed at Miller Avenue for a week, before we realised it was difficult with a young baby and the number of people. There were quite a number of centipedes in the house as well. The estate agent helped us find a new place, and so we settled into 15 Tranquil Bay Place, where Ben , now 12 months old, learned to crawl up stairs to the loft bedroom, and pull himself up onto his feet and take his first steps.

January 1994

"Boatshed Beach", North Rosedale:

Around the headland at North Roseale, there's a great incision - we call it the "pirate cave":

Piero, Rosedale Beach:

Looking towards South Rosedale:

Magpie visitor:

Guerilla Bay, south of Rosedale:

Sally reading:
Struggling with the shade thingy. Always more trouble than they're worth:
1994 was a bad bushfire year. Here's the aftermath of one at Mossy Point:

Burned trees behins an untouched cycad (Budawang 'palm')


And Sally, getting sicker and sicker, with the disease called pre-eclampsia (though she didn;t know it at the time). This resulted in a dash back to Sydney and the early appearance - 11 weeks early - of Ben!

Trying in vain to get my swollen hands and feet to settle down. It was this swelling, as well as, eventually, nausea, which tipped me off that something was wrong. There was a mere paragraph in a pregnancy book which mentioned that swollen hands and face, and ankles which didn't go down after being up, weren't exactly the norm!
Puffed up in pregnancy:

On a trip to Congo on about Jan 19, I felt really ill. Next day we rushed back to Sydney, and the day after that, Ben was born.

January 1989

Rosedale Beach looking south from Boatshed Beach. Note that the entrance to the lagoon is open.
Piero (check those short shorts!), Nola and Frank on the rocks at North Rosedale. We were all so skinny then!
Piero and me.

January 1988

We rented 27 Miller Avenue for several years. The large communal table taking up the central part of the living / dining area became the inspiration when we came to set up our own place. But we avoided the low benches which pinched your buttocks if you sat down too quickly!

Lots of friends joined us in sharing these holidays. We tended to see each other in the morning around breakfast time, then go our own ways and gather for feasting in the evening, each party taking it in turns to cook.