26. Australia Day

Today is Australia day, however Jan 26th has also been John Clarke's birthday. John my brother-in-law would have turned 80 years old today. Sadly he passed away last September when we were up in Coolum which was his favorite place on earth. John's love of Coolum Beach has rubbed off on many of us in the family and his friends.

Australia day was also special for John as he immigrated to Australia in about 1950 from England and was naturalised as an Australian citizen in around 1981. John didn't rush into this and made sure this was a good place to live. He was very proud of being an Australian and his naturalization ceremony was quite important. All family members were instructed they had to be there at the ceremony. Trixie organised a surprise party for after but had great trouble getting John away from the ceremony refreshments and gathering. The surprise party featured good Australian pies and cans of beer.

We gathered today and had a lovely lunch with friends and family and reminisced good times. Trixie made a delicious lunch that John would have loved and we all toasted his 80th.

In the photos below John is up at Coolum Beach. One is with his Charger, his favorite car. (Hey Charger! 1975?) Imagine traveling along playing Abba music all the way to Queensland. The other photo is an even younger Clarkey (as we fondly called John) and shows a very undeveloped Coolum in the background.

As this blog is stored up in the clouds maybe John will read it.
Cheers! Happy 80th John. We miss you.