As we bid farewell to the year we were married, it seemed like a good time to start a tradition of writing an open letter to all our far flung family and friends, to celebrate the new year.
2006 has been a wonderful year for us,
so full of celebration and momentous changes
that it has been hard to stay in regular contact with everyone.
So here it is, the first edition of
On 05-06 New Year’s Eve, Katrina was working as the Training and Development Manager for a disability sector organisation called Workpower and Cameron was the Biodiversity Officer for the Conservation Council.
It was actually on New Years Eve that a long-brewing dream, a conversation with our friend Paul – and maybe one or two champagnes – convinced Katrina to chuck in the day job and head back to self employment, this time in the world of food.
By February, she had resigned from work, enrolled in full time Commercial Cooking at TAFE and had begun researching cafes.
We also became Aunt and Uncle to our adored niece Tanna, Ian and Anne’s cocker spaniel.
Not quite being at the puppy-owning stage ourselves, we are suitably bewitched by our new extended family member and have enjoyed watching her grow from a shivering ball of cuteness to a confident, sassy teenager.
March was our month of final wedding plans; our Bucks Night / Women’s Circle, family dinners and rehearsals. And with Katrina back to being a student, preparing for the great unknown, Cameron was also ready for a career change. A vacancy arose as Principal Solicitor at the Environmental Defender’s Office (EDO) and he decided to take the plunge. With his long background with the organisation, he was quickly hired and the transition began.
Somehow we also finished landscaping our backyard at this time thanks to the beautiful design work of our friend Miriam and her team.
Backyard work in progress
The result was worth the wait, complete with native plants, herb garden, strawbale couches and magic doors leading to Narnia.
If that’s not gooey enough for you, please see the wedding website!
Due to work / study commitments, we only had two days off immediately but two weeks later (TAFE holidays), following the wedding of our “best couple” Claire and Brandon, we went down to Denmark WA and spent a wonderful honeymoon week in our friends Nicole and Tim’s “treehouse” holiday home.
May-June found us back at work with Katrina finishing her course and Cameron wrestling with his new role at the EDO, while we finalised plans for our Canadian trip. It was a big learning curve for Cameron and quite a busy and stressful initiation contending with a new role, end of financial year and preparing to be away for a whole month after only three months in the job.
Katrina meanwhile continued running her non-profit catering project and began seriously shopping for a café.
Then in mid July we set off on our “real” Honeymoon to introduce Katrina to our Canadian family.
With our Winnipeg family
It was amazing trip taking in San Francisco, Chicago, London and Manchester, but most of our time was spent in Western and Central Canada.
Highlights included driving through the Canadian Rockies, staying at family cabins at Victoria Beach and Lake of the Woods and of course meeting all the rellies. Banff and Vancouver were especially beautiful cites and we enjoyed rediscovering Cameron’s birthplace Regina. We managed to seek elks, long horned sheep, white tailed deer and plenty of cousins … but never quite encountered a black bear.
We were due to fly to Prague from Heathrow on 11 August but a “suspected terror plot” created airport chaos around the country and we remained in London for an extra three days, thanks to our friend Joe extending his welcome for our use of his lounge-room floor!
Lake Louise, Canada
We returned home after an amazing trip with great memories and photos. Cameron was super-busy at work and Katrina began doing the groundwork for a new business.
In mid-October, Katrina finally purchased a business which she has named Source Foods and plans to open as a sustainable café and catering company early in 2007.
Around the same time, Katrina and Cameron put together a Quiz Night for the EDO as a fundraiser, which was extremely successful, attracting 350 people and raising $7000 for the organisation.
Every few weeks throughout the year, Cameron has been co-hosting an environmental radio show called Understorey on RTR – a local community station. He has really enjoyed this role but recently took a break in order to stop burning the candle from quite so many sides!
Katrina has been busy renovating her heart out and setting up her new business.
Jacqui at the café mid-renovationThroughout 2006, we have both remained supporters of the Greens (WA) although with minimal active involvement for the early part of the year. With things already beginning to warm up for the 2007 elections, we have been doing more recently, and expect to be active in 2007 in Green politics.
We wound up 2006 with an idyllic trip to the south-west towns of Albany, Walpole and Balingup with close friends before returning for a BBQ at home for New Year’s Eve.
All in all it’s been a magnificent, tumultuous and unique year.
Thanks so much to our family and friends for their energy, time and support while we negotiated our way through perhaps the most change-filled period in our lives, so far at least!
Here’s to a fulfilling, but perhaps not quite so crazy, 2007!
Lots of love,
Katrina and Cam
