Home in Oz, then all too soon, back to our home on Cooinda.

It was only a short stay really but packed full of great experiences and catchups with plenty of but not enough of our friends. Sandy had already been back a while when I got home to Middle Cove just in time to get to SFC’s Wings Night. The other big not to be missed event was the really fun celebration of Brendan’s 30th. There is nothing like being home and being in the embrace and banter of family. The weather didn’t disappoint and we even got a sail on Zahn. Conor finishing off his training with Qantas Link and getting to see him in Melbourne was important too.

Christmas was the usual mix of folk from everywhere including the ever fun Mitchell clan down from the Sunny Coast. Anne-Pat came up from Melbourne too which was fantastic considering the parlous state of her health in the previous years. We did lots, ate and drank far too much and laughed heaps. Front yard cricket, lazing in the pool, opening presents and generally being around close friends and family makes for a memorable Christmas always.

The added bonus was having all the Morts in town (so to speak), so we all headed to Gerringong staying with the ever generous Julie and the girls in their rented house. There we enjoyed a traditional Christmas seafood dinner and copious libations. It was a special rounding off to a terrific family Christmas.

New Years Eve is always a spectacle so it was another treat to be able to take Zahn out for probably our last time before she is sold. We did many NYE’s aboard her and many good races and cruises so it was fitting to see her away with fireworks. It was a young crew this year who were plenty of fun as always.

All too soon it was back to Montenegro and away from Australia for effectively 2 years. After a wonderful send off by many great friends it was off to Cooinda for a couple of years. Thanks all for the great send off. The initial California stop on the way home to Cooinda was to catch up with Cian whom I hadn't seen in around 8 months.

Cian moved to California's northern most college to play basketball and study kinesiology. The College of the Sisykous is based in the modest town of Weed named after a sawmiller Abner Weed. It's a pretty spot at the base of Mt Shasta and Butte Mountain at near 4000' elevation itself. Like the area the campus is pretty, with a dump of snow on my second day there making it that prettier again.

It was great to spend lots of quality time with Ci, fitting in with his commitments for training and games as otherwise he was on winter break. We drove around this very pretty area of Northern California through to southern Oregon and to the coast through the magnificent sequoia forests of California.

A drive south to Butte College allowed us to catch up with one of Ci's best mates from school, Olly, who was just new at the American Football program there. Fortunately the fine town of Chico also hosts the original Sierra Nevada Brewery which was a must stop and try.

We enjoyed the obligatory diners, sampled multiple burgers, ribs, trip tip and other like American delicacies in less than modest proportions as you’d expect. I was able to see three of the teams games which were most enjoyable. They are a great bunch of blokes lead by coach Kyle Heath and the team includes a couple of other talented Aussies. Sadly I didn't see Cian play as he has been "red shirted" for the season due to a torn meniscus occurring shortly after arriving ( he remains on the team and can continue studying but can't play this season).

The 8 days was done all too quickly, and it was a sad parting until Ci joins us on Cooinda in June. I was impressed by the College and the people of Northern California and understand well why Cian is happy to stay, albeit not able to play the game he loves.

It was then onto old London town to catch up with a couple of mates then to pickup one of the infrequent flights to the Balkans at this time of year. Dave Fielding and Kate entertained me right royally in the RAF Club where I unexpectedly ended up staying the night as apparently the Tube is closed at 01.30!?!? The RAF red did go down nicely! With a little less alacrity the next day I caught up with old mate Nigel Scott where we dusted off old memories at Bills in Covent Garden through an entire afternoon to early evening. Another enjoyable day was had before a sparrows flight to Dubrovnik early the next day.