2010

happy new year to those who celebrate it at this time! we wish you a happy and fulfilling year.

it's funny to think that this time last year we were in the (literally) freezing cold ameland/uk winter, and now we are sweating through our t-shirts on some days!

this year j will be focussing on finishing his phd. the idea is to complete a full draft of his dissertation before his scholarship runs out in may. after that, he will hopefully get a part-time job and edit his thesis part-time. d will be working and saving money, but hopefully having time to play, too! we're hoping to do some bits of work on our flat, too - perhaps a basic renovation of the kitchen and/or bathroom.

we have just heard that e&l's wedding (postponed in september) is now on the 14th of march, and as m&a have offered to pay for our flights, we will be heading back to england in march for a couple of weeks. we'll update when our travel plans are a bit more solid, but at the moment we are hoping to see family and friends, and perhaps to make it to the north of england with d's family for a few days in a cottage. if we have the time and (more importantly) the money, we would like to walk some more of the thames path - perhaps finish what we started in 2006!

j has a walking goal this year: to walk 2010km! this is an average of 5.51km a day, which doesn't seem like that much, but it does mean he will have to make a concerted effort to walk a significant distance around 4 days a week.

we also have a growing list of walks we'd like to do in australia, and this year we'll hopefully do a 2 day walk in the dandenongs, staying overnight in a B&B. this would be a belgrve station to mt dandenong walk (perhaps in the opposite direction). we're also hoping to walk to the lighthouse at wilson's prom, staying overnight there with j's aunt. oh, there are so many others! too many to list!

anyway, here's to an excellent 2010.