VAN TURNS 125

Fay and I departed Seattle and headed for Vancouver (Van) on Sunday. Bus cost about $60 each for the 4 hr trip. Pleased to report that Fay (about the same young age as Mario Biasutti) has finally come of age and I am able to get a discount for her!

GOOD NEWS ABOUT VAN:

• Teachers are taking action - they want 10 days paid leave for death of any friend or relative ("paid bereavement leave").
• Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (Will & Kate) have been touring PEI, Quebec and now NWT. They even had a go at dragon boating - Beth Robbo at Sussex will be pleased.
• "Vancouver is clearly a pricey place to live. Beauty comes at a price." Jack Jedwab. [In today's THE PROVINCE.] Quebec reported to be more livable.
  
• Cyclists are supposed to wear helmets... but they are slack, police don't enforce and cyclists and pedestrians are being bowled over (and killed!)
  
• Vandals and rioters caused 4 to 5 million bucks worth of damages here in Van. Shop windows smashed everywhere, and windows boarded up still. Quite disgusting. Very frightening. Glad I wasn't here then. Just cause they lost a hockey game! (Photo shows just some of the "sorry notes" all over the place.)
  
• You can buy a new Chev Silverado pickup for $20,000 CAN. (Even cheaper in the States!)
  

Other than that, we love Van. Today we're due to ferry across to Van Island - a 1:40 hr trip. Will be good to catch up with brother Bill (WWTC 1960-61).
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Report on Smarty in Nowra, he's busy playing bowls and fishing, but due to have more chemo treatment shortly which will have crook side effects.
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Party at Marion's on this weekend. Neat. Missing will be Forsythes, Keasts, Smarts, Curetons, Helen Smith, Team Lucas as far as my info is concerned. Have a good one guys!!! We'll be home on 17 July.

GOOD NEWS and SOME NOT SO GOOD NEWS

Think this is Chris Giddy's wedding recently. I can recognise the marriage celebrant on the left - Rob Hughes. Heard it was a ripper of a show. Congrats to all.

Marion (mother of the bride) looked fantastic. (This is an earlier photo of Marion taken at Orange in October.)

Merv Smith is still in hospital. Infections seem to be his biggest concern and they seem pretty hard to shake. So he's loaded up with antibiotics to combat the buggers. The good news is the leukaemia (is that spelt right Helen?) isn't a major prob at the moment - thank goodness for that. Merv has appreciated the messages he's received from rank and file folk. This too is an earlier photo of Merv.

Jim Smart got a doc's report this week that didn't thrill him. He's gonna have to return to hospital for some more surgery as they attempt to get rid of more of those bad cells. We pass on our best wishes to Jan and Jim as they tackle this latest set back.