We celebrated farewelling the old year and welcoming the new one with Peter and Toni at a nude new year celebration. The theme was rock and roll and many wore costumes, partial costumes and some no costumes at all. It was a wonderful evening and frequent dips in the pool between dancing freshened things up. It made a change from sitting at a bridge table all day - not that we mind doing that a lot too :-)
These photos are slightly backwards but they capture the mood of our last house sit for 2010. These are some of the 12 guinea pigs we looked after in Berkeley Vale. I can report that these small furry creatures eat all day long, and eat and eat........ We provided a huge pile of fruit and vegies in the mornings and collected grass for them in the afternoons. Everything disappeared by the next morning.
I know that in some parts of the world they are themselves eaten and I can appreciate why. They are fat little things and look as if they would make a delicious little roast.
We also looked after two dogs and a cat but we did not take photos of them. The guinea pigs made a more lasting impression. Even, now when I peel vegetables and throw the refuse away, I think how much the guinea pigs in Berkeley Vale would appreciate them.
We caught up with Heather and Bob Harvey and Judy Hopkinson whom I have not seen for many years and I was able to introduce Andrew to them. We had a wonderful post-Christmas dinner sitting on the Harveys' verandah.
Pete and Toni took us sailing on Lake Macquarie in their new (to them) trailer-sailor, a Sonata 7 I think. We had a lovely day sailing with them, stopped off for lunch and a quick look at some op shops at Toronto on the lake.
Our last house sit for 2010 was a lovely relaxing one at Berkeley Vale. Thanks Rochelle and Jared for letting us look after your house, dogs, cat and guinea pigs. I was not looking forward to the little pigs but they turned out to be an unexpectedly amusing delight.
Our travel in 2011 has now begun and we are proceeding towards Central Australia. These two images capture the variety of experiences we are exposing ourselves to, with Max and Priscilla as our loyal companions. Above is our campsite along the Murray River at Cullulleraine, Victoria. More on our experience at this spot a little later on. This photo is slightly out of chronological order in our travels but the juxtaposition of the two locations was too tempting. 
For a contrast, here is a shot of M & P parked outside the Old Post Office building in Bendigo under the clock tower. 
