Mary Zabell’s Annual Update - 2022
November 16, 2022
It's that time of year again. Time to reflect, be thankful for safe and happy families, travel and friends. And, oh, yes! Time to get out the swim wear and contemplate summer days, picnics, barbecues, sausage odours wafting in the evening air, and long afternoons with said family and friends— assuming of course that the rain bids farewell and your house, business and town has survived the most persistent La Nina in anyone's memory including La Nina herself, the contrary besom that she is.
For those who don’t know the word “besom”
As I write, central western NSW towns and sundry places along rivers in several states are watching waters rise and inundate their communities, often for the third time this year. What an 'annus horribilis', to quote our recently departed monarch. However, we have been incredibly lucky here in the 'gong and have escaped the worst of the deluge. Of course, we've had the flippers and goggles on standby at various times but have generally stayed dry and heaved sighs of relief that the worst so far, seems to have been a few leaking roofs and persistent mould…thankfully not in Chez Zabell.
All are well in the Zed family and extended O'Brien clan. Christie (38) and Tim, Lachlan (11), William (9) and Tom (4) are well, although we did think, at one point, that Tom was forever to have a hacking cough and runny nose as bugs from pre-school seemed to become ever more virulent.
He kindly passed on the bugs to me just prior to us leaving for the Kimberleys in September. I know people thought I had some new and disturbing version of COVID, but eventually it cleared up after I bought out the cough and cold section in Broome's main pharmacy.
Christie has spent the year doing 4 days per week at the Good Samaritan Catholic Primary School in nearby Fairy Meadow.
She works with an autistic class and has now secured permanency and a role on the exec, mentoring teachers in the Special Education area. She's very chuffed and loves the school and its staff and students.
Tim and his partner seem to go from strength to strength although there are always issues running your own business. He is a busy man and involved with many sporting groups in the Illawarra as there's always a need for physios there, of course, and that's what grows the business.
Lachlan and Will have discovered cricket. Their Pa is extremely happy, of course! What cricket tragic wouldn’t be over the moon, to have two grandsons to coach and watch, to be able to discuss arcane and obscure facets of this hallowed sport with and to spend buckets on bats, helmets, pads, trips away...ha ha! It's all good and they're both good little sportspersons who really enjoy it.
Lachlan Gray
In winter, we watched soccer, rugby and league and they're also into bike riding (I often run into them when out walking), parkour (Will) and watching peculiar YouTube clips of stuff with odd commentary which all looks very boring to me but is clearly fascinating to them.
Tim (37) is happy and settled in his home in Werribee, west of Melbourne. To say that this area, to the northwest and southwest of Melbourne is a growth area, would be a masterly understatement! We are constantly reminded that this is where the city's population is going and so we think it's a good buy for Tim as he's only a train ride from the CBD and has good shopping facilities nearby and isn't too far from friends either.
He's discovering the joys of home ownership as things need fixing or renovating, but it's a solid little place and very comfortable. He’s working with 'Uniting', an NDIS company aligned with the Uniting Church and generally likes his work. He is currently involved with school leavers and getting them upskilled towards gaining employment.
He and his brother David went to the Kimberley region, Darwin and Katherine around June on a camping trip and really enjoyed themselves, finding new mums on the bus to bond with and being overawed by the beauty of the area. While he is grappling with the sometimes-unexpected highs and lows of home ownership, further overseas travel may remain a future dream, but Tim and a cousin are doing a camping trip along the Great Ocean Road (GOR) from late December, and we're catching up with them in Mt Gambier (SA) in the early New Year. As the Coonawarra is renowned for some red liquid or other, we may find the car considerably heavier on the return trip.
As I write, David (33) is currently in Lisbon (yes, Portugal) on the final leg of a four-month tootle on a round-the-world ticket. He had so many points on his Amex card he was able to get the ticket for $500 and fly mostly business class, and at 196cm that's not to be ignored. I know, right! Who wouldn't? He spent six weeks in the US doing four biggish treks through Wyoming, (Yellowstone NP), Utah and Arizona and then through Denver (a cousin lives there), Chicago, New York City, Washington, Miami and thence to Brazil. His photos on Insta look wonderful and he's seemingly not encountered any real hurdles, COVID scares or lost luggage. The next port-of-call is Istanbul, then London and home on December 22. He is still working for the State planning authority who kindly honoured his travel commitments. He's also still living in Balmain, and we availed ourselves of his wonderfully located unit a few times before the temporary tenant moved in - damn them.
This year saw us hit the road in many directions. Our first foray was down to Melbourne for 'Moulin Rouge' which was wonderful. All the Zeds gathered which was wonderful-er and we had a hoot.
From here we stayed on the Mornington Peninsula and explored this much-loved area doing a bike ride from Portsea pub to Port Nepean, passing Cheviot Beach and investigating that ageless mystery of Harold Holt's disappearance. Lunch in the beer garden of said pub, overlooking the water and cute beach sheds was a fitting end to the uphill ride we'd just done.
Cheviot Beach
From here we headed to gold country and investigated those once hectic towns of Castlemaine and Maryborough, cutie-pie Maldon and Chewton.
Eventually we wended our way, via Tim at Werribee and along the Great Ocean Road to South Australia, and a week's tour ending in a Murray RV cruise. We were informed that it's one of, if not the slowest flowing rivers in the world and so our three days aboard proved, as we were forced to sit back and smell, if not roses, then the fresh air and meandering waterways of our mighty Murray.
Many a Scrabble game was had, and many an amiable chat with many, many octogenarians...you get my drift, and we certainly did drift, seemingly aimlessly until tying up at some remote dock and investigating tiddly riverside towns whose history was inextricably tied to the once flourishing. paddle boat trade.
From here we hit the road again, heading to the famed Coonawarra area and staying in Naracoorte, This World Heritage listed area has fascinating anthropological history due to the discovery of megafauna bones and fossils in the extensive cave system nearby.
Whopping wombats and killer kangaroos aside, this area is worthy of further investigation and not just because we knew the renowned terra rossa soils produce some pretty remarkable wines. We did also investigate Penola, the scene of Mr. Mary MacKillop’s founding of the Josephite order of nuns, and a tiny town with a long history.
Crossing the border back into Victoria we stayed near Gariwerd (the Grampians National Park) and did some further exploration of the district before heading north through our final points of interest along a Silo Arts' Trail. The tiniest of towns (Minyip, Warracknabeal, Brim and Woomelang to name a few), the remotest of rail sidings and the most distant of vistas...it's a magical, silent and remote part of Australia and yet, punctuating the skyline are these clusters of wheat silos, painted with mesmerising and moving images of the region: indigenous scenes, pastoralists, children playing sport, horses, kelpie dogs, and fabulous sunsets and endless plains.
Uluru draped in fog
Our next big trip was in Queensland from Longreach to the Gulf and eventually Cairns. We had used this company last year and were very impressed with them. Memorable moments included dinner on a sand island in the Gulf, watching a monster sun sink in a glorious show of umber, burnt orange and a shimmering gold, riding 1950’s trains through savannah country to learn of the hardships endured by hardy pioneers (thank goodness for modem train seats, that's all I'm saying...), and silently boating through Cobbold Gorge, possibly one of the most beautiful 840m I've ever travelled, with its breathless silence and mirror reflections of those curling, twisted and painted sandstone formations.
Our last credit trip in September was through the Kimberley region to Kakadu. We'd just been to Darwin, Kakadu and Katherine in May, so our real interest lay in exploring the Broome area, Kununurra and the Buccaneer Archipelago. The emerald and azure waters were as stunning as a postcard and we thought Broome was a pleasant tourist town, albeit struggling with indigenous issues.
Buccaneer Archipelago
We've learned much about the pearling industry and Rod kindly agreed to add a pearl to my jewellery collection. Swimming in those glassy turquoise waters of the Aboriginal Community at Ardyaloon, deliciously cooling and refreshing, watching the locals fishing, and learning about successful indigenous businesses, gave us heart that, although torturously slow, things are changing for the better. Walking across mangrove mud flats and eating beachfire roasted whelks, reading of the devastating Japanese bombing of Broome and flying to the Horizontal Falls along that truly spectacular coastline of a thousand islands are highlights of the trip.
From Kununurra we did a flight to, and then a four-kilometre trek through the Bungle Bungles. This mysterious mountain range, its beehive domes and striped rock faces being geologically unique, was only truly discovered by white men in 1983. While four kilometres sounds like a stroll, it was done in 400 heat, and this was between 7:30 and 10am! Our destination, Cathedral Gorge, was majestic, silent and blessedly cool! We all sank onto handy rocks, scoffed water and juice and marvelled at the walls around us, the ochre and black colours of the rocks and never for a moment wondered why those ancient people thought this land sacred.
That finished out our year of travel and we’re so grateful that all trips were pain free and completed. Next year is another big year but mostly domestic or close-by overseas.
We are keeping well and happy, minding grandees and taking them to sport, music or dinner when required. We will be in Lismore January 9-12 for a cricket camp for Lachlan and that's after our jaunt south-west to Mt Gambier, so the Hyundai will be adding a few thousand km and we'll be getting through a few audiobooks!!
I am a member of two book clubs which necessitates about a book a week although I've added a few personal choices. I have greatly enjoyed and been enriched by reading books I would never have chosen and listening to informed and thoughtful commentary. Rod is sticking largely to his crime fiction but is so busy with the tennis courts’ maintenance and his chosen project of a local winding path (‘The Serpent') as a rehabilitation and gardening effort, that sinking into a tried and true genre is probably good therapy!
We wish everyone a very safe, happy and fun Christmas. Good wishes for health and happiness to you all as we head towards 2023 and may this strife-torn world see a little peace.
Rod and Mary (and the Zeds)
Written by Mary Zabell, augmented by Rob Landsberry – last updated 25 July 2023