Saturday, April 25, 2015

V - Visiting Family and Friends

Welcome to our tour of Australia. During the month of April we are going to visit our favourite spots in Australia. Come join us on our walkabout through the land down under.













Today we are doing double duty linking up with the A-Z Challenge and with Melinda for the Saturday Snapshots.
  
Source
Before we get started on today's post I wanted to share that today is a very important holiday in Australia and New Zealand. April 25th is known as ANZAC Day and is the day that we take a few moments to remember the sacrifices that many have made to defend our countries and those of our allies. Today is even more special as it is the 100 year anniversary of the first landing of our troops in WWI at Gallipoli beach. I blogged about this a couple of years ago so Click here to read that post. Lest we forget.

Yesterday the tour stopped in the heart of the outback. Click here if you missed that post. Today we see some of my family and friends.

When we visit Australia we usually go for about a month as there is always so many of my childhood friends and family that we want to see. We only make it to Australia every 5 or 6 years and this is normally the only time I get to see them so its important to see as many of them every time we visit. We don't get to spend a lot of time with everyone but its always great to catch up. 

 On our last trip to Australia in 2013 we attended my baby sister Shellie's wedding. This was the first time that most of my cousins, aunts and uncles had been together in close to 20 years as we live in several different states. It was great that we could be part of this celebration and was a good way to catch up with everyone in one place.


Me with my Aunty Joy and Uncle George. They live close to my sister so I was able to spend a little extra time with them on our last visit.
 
If you live away from your family how often do you get to go home to visit family and how far do you have to travel to get there? What did you blog about today?

19 comments:

  1. It's hard living away from family and friends, and so nice to visit.

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  2. Beautiful wedding photo. I participated in an ANZAC parade today. .

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  3. That's funny you have a Joy and George. I have an aunt Judy and uncle George...but they dropped off the grid somewhere near vermont 15 years ago...the rest of the family is close though. The farthest we have to travel is 45 minutes. My dad's side of the family does cookouts in the summer, and my mom's side does holiday dinners. Weddings are fun though, its nice to dress up..and you get to see parts of the family you forgot you had, lol.

    @Get Lost in Lit

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  4. Great wedding picture! I live close to most of my family here in Florida. My dad and his family lives in Michigan and I've only made that trip once.

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  5. Great wedding picture! I live close to most of my family here in Florida. My dad and his family lives in Michigan and I've only made that trip once.

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  6. I have no extended family in North America so I have always enjoyed a wedding when you get to see everyone. Cannot wait to see more photos from Australia-it is such a lovely country.

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  7. Oh, it is wonderful to see family and friends, especially if they live some distance away. Three of my children live in the same state (California), but we don't see each other as often as we would like, since one lives in the far north and the other in the south. My oldest lives in Berlin, and it's been too long since we saw him. Skype doesn't quite do it for me.

    Thanks for sharing...and for visiting my blog.

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  8. I live in Washington State and my son and his family live nearby, but the rest of my relatives live in Texas. We keep in touch but only see each other every couple of years -- less often since our parents passed away. It's so important to maintain those relationships, even when distance makes it challenging.
    Thank you for stopping by my blog today and leaving a comment.
    Sandy @ Writing With a Texas Twang

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  9. If I only got to see family every 5 to 6 years, I would go mad. I just can't be away from the nuts from my family tree. Luckily, the one furthest away is only 8 hours. Thanks for visiting the Grits! Only four more posts to go!

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  10. wow!! you did use to have very busy ANZAC days. I bet youd dont miss the early start. However I would imagine you do miss the opportunity to be part of this important day, I would imagine there is somewhere near where you live where expats get together. I am sad that the picture didnt seem to show up on that post. What instrument did you play? I have a friend who is in the band :) I didnt see him yesterday I will have to ask him if he was involved when I see him next :)

    Its kinda sad how families drift apart over the years isnt it
    I have a sister whom lives up north - havent seen for in a couple of years. We do keep in touch thou thanks to the internet :)

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  11. Thanks for telling us about the holiday with ANZAC. I wouldn't have known about it. Lovely pictures of your sister and her wedding and you with your aunt/uncle. I bet you do have to schedule a month there just to get to see everyone and not feel rushed about it too! My sister is in Washington DC area and my brother in San Diego; saw my brother a lot more when we lived in San Diego than my sister. I haven't seen her since 2011. Now that hubby is working back in his field and we have a bit more disposable income might have to schedule a trip to see her :)

    betty

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  12. My family lives in Canada. I'm in the Midwestern United States. So, they're about 2500 miles away. The highlight of my year is an annual visit home.

    Seven years ago, when I got married, my family and some relations came to the wedding. I loved getting to show my new world to them.

    Normally though, I visit them. My husband and I are happy enough with this plan. My home province of Newfoundland is a pretty place.

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  13. Anzac Day. Lest we forget.

    Great post. Nearly through the A to Z challenge now. Well done!

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  14. I also posted ANZAC today from our recent visit to Melbourne.
    http://junkboattravels.blogspot.ca/2015/04/anzac.html

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  15. Lovely family pictures. I hope to visit Australia some day.

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  16. Being away from family is hard my sister lives 2 hours away and we still have a hard time getting together. But my dad lives a few blocks away and my mother in law lives across the street so sometimes family is too close :) Thank you for the trip around Australia.

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  17. Weddings are great for visiting the whole family at once for a happy occasion. I sometimes wonder if I might be visiting Australia to visit family someday as my son is absolutely loving it there.

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  18. What a great photo! I have good friends who live in Australia, I would love to visit them one day. :)

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  19. What a great photo! I have good friends who live in Australia, I would love to visit them one day. :)

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