I cannot believe that we are in the third week of 2025 already. By Australian standards, I am way overdue for Season’s Greetings, for which I feel slightly apologetic. Only slightly though, because the French in me keeps remembering that the Festive Season runs until the end of January. 

So, Happy New Year to you all, from our family to yours. I hope you had an enjoyable and relaxing holiday, ready to face 2025 head on.

Not sure I am yet, as I’m still trying to wrap my head around 2024, the year that was.

It  was undoubtedly a great year for us, with lots of travelling and discoveries, many bucket list items ticked, and generally looking for adventure.

Touring Western Australia was always a dream, and with most of the rest of the country explored over the past 3 years in the GX, we decided it was now or never. Not wanting to do it in halves, we booked a cruise thru the Kimberley for July and made the rest of the road trip fit around it.   

We started by leaving Sydney late February, driving west across the Nullarbor and enjoying the South West wedge of WA while the weather was still warm. Meeting old friends In Margaret River and making new ones in Perth are some of the many highlights. 

The road trip continued along the Indian Ocean  coast, the Pilbara and the Kimberley over the next 5 months.

Only interrupted by a 10-day  cruise onboard Seabourn, along the Kimberley coast, one of these luxury experiences we always dreamed about. Most of the details and highlights were shared on my socials ( Facebook and Instagram) but for those who missed them, let me tell you how beautiful Outback Australia. The ancient landscape is so raw, distances so vast, and history surrounds you everywhere. No words can fully describe it, even the myriads of photos I took will never do it  justice.  Not for lack of trying. Since our return, 3 months ago, I have edited and compiled thousands of pictures into travel books so I can finally call myself an author. At least in my own head. Terry is now hoping I can go back thru our previous travel journals and publish more books. The man lives in hope. 

In the meantime, the children have had a busy year: working jobs, studying at Uni, minding the dog and keeping our house in order while we were away ( though we did multiple trips home thru the year, courtesy of idle frequent flyer points !). We have been like ships in the night at times, living in the same house on different schedules. 

So, to cap off this year of unusual travels we decided to break with tradition and have a family holiday in Japan, to celebrate the Christmas season and bring in the New Year. As I write this post, we are back in Sydney after touring the centre of the country for 3 weeks by train, covered the major cities of Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto, skied in the Japanese Alps, enjoyed the hot springs, and eaten our body weight in noodles and rice! 

This last trip has been a little mind bending, coming from one of the countries with the lowest population density to one of the highest, and speaking very little of the Japanese language. But this was easily overcome thanks to the kindness and understanding of the Japanese people. We’ve been so impressed by their quiet demeanour, polite nature and respect for others, life lessons I hope we remember and carry forward with us into 2025 and beyond.

Wishing you and yours a Happy New Year. May 2025 bless you with joy, happiness and good health. 

Voahangy