Life Trove: 2009 Highlights

Saying Goodbye to Ally

Best images for 2009
Best family photos for 2009

Priceless Moments

The wonderful atmosphere at Milson's Point on Australia day.
Eating delicious pastries at The North Sydney farmers market, a lovely ritual with Ally.
Wooshing down enormous water slides at Jamberoo Water Park.
Camping at Kiama, reading The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett (what an amazing book!) and the beautiful sunset on the first night.
Photographing the Nan Tien Temple and soaking in its peaceful atmosphere.
The beauty of Sydney's buildings catching the early morning light and the reflections in the glass.
Manly's beautiful Fairy Bower Pool at sunrise.
A fun day out photographing The Balmoral Burn, my first camera club outing, and meeting Sue who would become a great friend.
Spending time with mum and Mike during their visit to Sydney and exploring West Head, Watson's Bay, Bobbin Head, Chinatown, Berry Island, Bondi and fishing with Doug and Claudia.
Photographing birds up close and personal at Bobbin Head.
Getting some lovely animal portraits at Tarronga Zoo.
The beauty of Turrimetta at sunrise.
Getting extremely wet at The Monavale Pools to get some great shots of the waves rushing in.
Photographing lots of great outfits at the Medieval Festival.
Being bowled over by the first ever Vivid Lights Festival and doing some leaps. So amazing to see the Sydney Opera House all lit up like that.
Developing my skills in Lightroom and Photoshop and using them to improve photos.
Creating a dedicated site for my photography that got lots of lovely feedback.
Winning several awards for my photos.
Trying my hand at some sports photography including the Sydney triathlon, school softball , rugby and football.
The beauty of the Three Sisters at dusk in The Blue Mountains.
Buying a GPS for my car which I called Sheila. She's one of my best ever purchases.
The stunning sculptured rocks of Forrester's Beach at sunrise and photographing Mack as part of the environment.
The stunning beauty of the emerald green Wattamolla Lagoon in The Royal National Park.
Doing a teaching English (CELTA) course and discovering I was pretty good at coming up with creative lessons.
Any time spent with cute and wonderful Mack.
Being an official photogographer at the Oxfam 100 km walk. I've never seen such pain in all my life!
Visiting South Africa and enjoying Christmas with the family.

Less happy moments

Ally and I separating in June. Such an extremely painful time for us both.

New friends met this year

Sue, Guy

Purchases

GPS for the car

2009 in more detail

A difficult year

2009 has been a very tough year. In mid July 2009, Ally and I started a trial separation and in December, the trial separation became permanent. The reasons for our split are too personal to put on a public blog but thankfully we remain good friends and we have many special memories we share.

Mum and Mike's visit

This year did have some highlights in between the sad bits. Mum and Mike visited us in Sydney for a second time and I got to spend some good, quality time with them at places like West Head, Watson's Bay, Bobbin Head, Chinatown, Berry Island, Bondi and fishing with Doug and Claudia.

Weekend Excursions

We had a couple of good weekends away including Jamberoo Water Park and camping at Kiama.

Learning teaching

From September to December, I did a CELTA course to learn how to teach English. I enjoyed the course although it was intense. I did well and got an A for it which less than 5% of people do. I plan to travel and teach English one of these days, though not sure when as I have dear little Mack to think about.

Visiting Cape Town

In December, I visited South Africa and we had a great family Xmas reunion. My gorgeous niece and nephew are growing up so fast. Sam had her ninth birthday this year and had her ears pierced! She also scored her first hockey goal. Matthew turned six and he lost his first tooth. Jo got into cake decorating and made some delicious looking creations.

Mack

Mack is as cute and wonderful as ever and showed that he loves water as much as I do. Mack has been a tremendous comfort to me this year. He and mum have helped keep me sane.

Photography

I had some good photography outings this year. Highlights included The Blue Mountains, The Royal National Park, Forrester's Beach, Taronga Zoo, the Balmoral Burn, Turimetta and the amazing Vivid Lights Festival. I also did some volunteer photography for Oxfam.

I also tried my hand at some sports photography including the Sydney triathlon, school softball , rugby and football.

I learned a lot about Lightroom and Photoshop and using them to improve photos. I created a dedicated site for my photography. I also won some photography competitions, including the Mosman Camera Club's shot of the year which I was very chuffed about.

Best Movies

I watched a stack of movies this year, including revisiting many of the classics. Best movies this year were: