Dear Friends & Cousins, Many thanks for all your kind wishes on my 60th birthday. Although it's not actually for another 10 minutes (July 22nd) we had the big family party yesterday here in Ballarat. It was a wonderfully exhausting day and I was particularly thrilled and surprised to see my elder sister Raie from Hobart, Tasmania, and 2 ex-army mates who were with me in Vietnam in 1970. Rick AVERY and his partner Barb had driven some 12 hours down from Parkes, NSW and Peter LOCKE (not one of ours) had driven with his partner Jude up from Anakie near Geelong. Heaps of wonderful gifts and enough vodka to last me for a few weeks :) I've recently been catching up on the IOW FHS journals and am preparing a list of queries etc for the forthcoming weeks. What a most worthwhile journal it is. David COLLYER in Ballarat