Carol's Catch-Up: July 2022

Exploring Mansfield, and bringing the family together

What an exciting month we have ahead of us with world wide sports. Wimbledon tennis is on and I love watching the professionals do their thing and I secretly barrack for Rafa as I have been a fan for many years - don’t hold that against me!! Also we have the Commonwealth Games coming up the last week of July and again I always love watching all the athletes striving to do their best whatever the outcome. Unfortunately the time zone is not kind to us in Australia but we will see it very soon after the event in our prime times.
My husband and I had a delightful weekend in Mansfield last week. I have never stayed in Mansfield - usually I just pass through, maybe stopping for a coffee or ice cream. But it was our 25th wedding anniversary, so I thought we would go somewhere we hadn't explored before.

We stayed at Alzburg Resort which is a very large place, and it’s where many of the skiing tour buses depart from to go to Mt Buller. Considering the number of people that were staying there, the room was very quiet and lovely and warm. Of course the weekend was full of walking though!

We did a wonderful rail trail at the Cheviot Tunnel, and Saturday saw us scale Mt Timbertop which was very challenging. I loved the steepness of this walk and we were literally up in the clouds by the end, and couldn’t see a thing until we dropped down a little on the way back. I had five layers of clothing on but struggled to keep warm at the top so we only stayed about 15 minutes. Coming down was equally challenging with the rock scrambling and slippery conditions, so I was very pleased to have my walking poles with me - they were working hard!
Climbing Mt Timbertop
Saturday night we wined and dined at the Delatite Winery and it was a very special evening to remember. Sunday we headed to Benalla for a coffee, then headed out on another walk around Lake Benalla and it was lovely to see the birdlife and homes in the area. All in all a lovely three days and time I will remember as very special for my husband and I.

Earlier in the month I had another reason for celebration, with extended family coming together for the first time in a long time. My brother, his three children, plus partners and grandchildren, came together with most of my brood for a much-anticipated meal. We have been trying to meet together for years, but every gathering was thwarted by lockdowns or positive RAT tests, so it was great to finally make it happen.
And it was lovely to see my nephews and niece again, and their families, that I haven’t been able to spend much time with previously. We are hoping to do this at least once a year so that we keep in touch because family is very important to me and you can never have enough gatherings. We’ve also gotten very modern and started a WhatsApp group for the family, so we can all stay in touch between gatherings too.

I hope you are continuing to reconnect with friends and family that you haven’t been able to see so much in recent years. Now is the time to invest back in those relationships that make our lives oh so much sweeter and richer.

Until next month,
Carol

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