hello mauri,
that will be a nice trip for your stepson and his wife. melbourne is a nice place but population has expanded greatly in a couple of years. roads are very full, parking not good, but they will be on site and enjoy it.
you were lucky to meet lisburn people when you were here. the only person from norniron i talked to lately was a lady from bangor we were in a queque in a shopping cen tre and just picked up each others accent and said hello.
i told here i,d been to bangor a few times starting when we were on sunday school excursions. she said sure everybody has been to bangor on sunday school excursions. both had a good laugh. i do tai-chi at gold coast and theres a chap jim from belfast long time ago in class. during coffee break the ladies say it,s a good thing you two sit together, you are the only two who understand each other good laugh again. all nice people.
so good luck mauri hope your sun burn is better? tom

Hi Tom, There were quite a few Irish both North and South in the Aussie navy when I was there. In fact years after I left Australia and was in the Merchant Navy, I was on a RN supply ship and we were in Plymouth for repairs when lo and behold I bumped into a Coleraine guy who had been on the aircraft carrier HMAS Sydney with me, his wife was from Plymouth and wouldn't go out to Australia so he had gone back and got a job in the Naval dockyard,we had a night out in Plymouth together drinking and talking about old times.

Still a slow response on the Forum, "Ah Well" what will be. will be. Have a great time in sunny Queensland Tom. don't get burnt???. All the Best Mauri

Mauri, I must admit that I've had little to say on the Forum over the years. Most contributers are just a wee bit older than me I think, not that matters in the scheme of things but I have enjoyed the contributions and it would be a pity to see it die through neglect. So maybe someone reading this from my generation would like to comment and maybe keep the thing alive. I'm off to Greece tomorrow and intend to stay away for 6 months or longer so I've been spurred to act-you never know!

Hi Allen, Thanks for your comments and hope you have a nice time in Greece. I was there a few years ago when my wife and I done a Mediteranean cruise and my first visit to Greece was way back in 1949 on the battleship HMS Vanguard,seems a lifetime ago now.??

Don't know where or why the once regular contributors to the Forum have dissappeared, I guess they have there reasons?? Anyway Allen again have a good time in Greece at least you will have lots of sunshine. Adious Mauri

Allen
hope you are not going to Santorin, we went there about 25 years ago and would never go back. First the animals, dogs and cats run about starving and begging for food, then it is forbidden when using the toilet to put the toilet paper into the toilet after using it to wipe your "you know what"! as the sewerage system is not capable of disposing of it, you must put it into a pail beside the toilet which is then emptied by the cleaner.
donald