July 2004

Saturday 31 July, 2004
Hello Miss Em,
I hope you are well. Nikita and Grandma are still here. Today we had a nice a nice day in the city.We took the tram from Box Hill into Melbourne city and then walked to the Victoria Markets. Nikita bought from presents there for her brfamily and Grandma brought a digeridoo for Joe's birthday. It is nice to walk about the markets and to smell the nice food and listen to the street musicans playing there. I think you liked it there too. After the markets we walked to the Imax cinema near the museum. We saw the film "Roar, Lions of the Kalahari Desert.". It was a nice film about a male lions and two female lions, but a bit sad at the end. The old male lion is beaten in a fight with a young male lion and is forced to leave. I guess that is the way life in nature.
Tomorrow we will go to church and then have lunch with Alex. Alex is the old man at the church who is 94 years old. You might remember meeting him at church. He is a nice man and his house is very old and very interesting.
Sending you all my love Em. I am always thinking of you.
lots and lots of love,
Aaron xxx ooo

Saturday 24 July, 2004
Hi Em,
I hope everythinbg is going well with you. I'm actually writing this a few weeks after the 24th of July using notes from that time. I should be a lot better organised than this, shouldn't I!
Grandma and Nikita arrived yesterday (23/7/04) from New Zealand. I took the day off from work and picked them up from the airport. I was almost late getting theer because I was rushing around doing last minute housework! It was really good to see them both. After going back home and dropping off their bags, we all went to the Open Range Safari Park in Werribee. I know you and I had a nice visit there once. The weather was a bit cold but it was OK sitting in the bus. Nikita really likes giraffes and we had a good closeup view of some of them from the bus so that was good. Here are a couple of photos that I took from the bus. I hope you like them!



Ater the bus ride it started to rain quite heavily, so we all got back into the car!
Today(24/7/04) we went into the city to look around the War Memorial and the Botanic Gardens. It wasn't raining but it was really cold and windy. I had seen the War Memorial from a distance but I had never been inside before. I think the best part is the view from the top. You can see the city and Port Phillip bay really well. I think you would like it!
Wishing you all the very best Miss Em.
Love you very very much,
Aaron xxx ooo

Saturday July 17, 2004
Hello Em,
Hope you are well. I had a lovely dream about you last night. I dreamt that I saw you again and also that I found out your address. Unfortunately when I woke up I realised it was only a dream. Ah well, it was very nice to see you in my dreams. I can't wait until I see you again for real! It will be just great :-).
I didn't do a lot last weekend. One kind of sad thing that happened on Friday (10/7/04) was that I found the dead body of a grey and white cat on the back lawn of the garden. It didn't look obviously hurt so maybe it just died of old age. Poor Lulu was quite scared when she saw it. I asked all the neighbours but no one seemed to know whose it was. It didn't have an ID collar on either. In the end I said a little prayer for the cat and buried it in the back garden. Hopefully that was a nice peaceful way for it to end its life.
Last Saturday (11/7/04) I went to the Victorian State Library. I was looking for a photograph of Reverend James Muir for Grandpa. Reverend Muir was a minister at Grandpa's church in Wellington (St Andrews on the Terrace) between 1864 and 1870. In 1870 he shifted to Australia where he was Minister at Wallan Wallan and then Wickliffe in Victoria. Unfortunately I could find a photograph of Reverend Muir but I did find some information on him. The State Library is a very beautiful old building and I had a nice time there. Hopefully I'll show you around there one day!
I got my results yesterday for the two computer subjects I did in the first semester. I got 72% and 75%. I could have done better I guess but then again I could have done worse too :-). Overall I thought it was OK. I only have one more subject to do this year and a project to do next year and then I'll be finished the course. I think studying can be good fun but it's hard work as well!
This morning I went to Chinese class. We had to do a talk on the types of sports we liked. It was a fun lesson. After class I saw my friend Henry and we had a bit of a chat. He is trying to get rid of his cold still (see the July 3 diary entry below) but is otherwise fine. I'll have to invite him for tea when he is feeling better.
This Friday Grandma and your cousin Nikita are coming from New Zealand for a visit so that will be really nice. One important thing I have to do this weekend is some housework and gardening! I don't want to make Grandma and Nikita shocked at my messy house, do I! I'm going to take the day off work on Friday so I can pick them up from the airport.
Love you heaps and heaps Miss Em. I just said a little prayer for you now so I hope you felt it :-)
Lots and lots of love,
Aaron xxx ooo

Thursday July 8, 2004
Hi Em,
I hope everything is going well for you. I'm back at Deakin University using their computers. I still have a just over a week's study break left. It is nice to have a bit of a break. Tonight I read some of a novel by Katherine Kerr. It's called "Daggerspell". It is a fantasy novel with magic, elves and wizards. It is good fun to read. However I have lots of more important things that I should be doing - like improving this website for one thing!
I looked at some of my old digitals photos of you tonight and watched a short movie of you (the one where you are on the swing in the front garden of 4 Ashley Street). It made me realise how badly I miss you Miss Em. I am really looking forward to the time when I can see you again.
Love you very very much,
Aaron xxx ooo

Saturday July 3, 2004
Hello Em,
Welcome to July 2004! I hope you are well. Yesterday I saw my friend Henry after work. He was going to come to my place for a meal but he phoned in the morning to say he was sick. After work I went to his place to check he was OK. Luckily he was feeling a lot better so that was good. Henry lives in a flat in Box Hill. He is in his seventies and he has six children (though they are all grownup now). Henry is studying Chinese the same as me but he is doing a more advanced course than I am. It was very nice to chat with him. The only problem was that I had stupidly locked my keys in my little yellow car. So after seeing Henry I had to catch a bus to home, get the spare keys, walk to Laburnum station and then catch a train back to Box Hill station. So it was a bit of a performance! Never mind :-).
This afternoon I saw the movie "Spiderman 2". I don't know if you would have liked it but I thought it was pretty exciting. It would certainly be neat if one could jump around like Spiderman does.
Love you heaps and heaps Miss Em. I'm thinking of you always.
Aaron xxx ooo