The Walsh family came together at Gymea Bay in Sydney from 2005 and then were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to moved to Broulee on the south coast in 2009.

Our beach house in Broulee

‘North Brou’

Chris (Dad) is a Sydney boy raised in the north-western suburbs. After graduating at Macquarie University in 1994 he found employment with NSW Fisheries and worked at the trout hatchery in Jindabyne (Snowy Mountains) for a few years. Chris then spent 11 years working at the Fisheries Research Institute at Cronulla before taking up a Research Scientist position at Batemans Bay Fisheries Centre. His current interests are freshwater and estuarine fish ecology and has recently completed a PhD in this field with the University of Wollongong. His interests include fishing (of course), cycling, skiing, getting away and his family.

Wendy (Mum) is a Melbourne girl from Glen Waverly who finished her environmental honours degree while living in Jindabyne. Chris and Wendy met on a cycling trip in Tasmania only months before, and having the same interests meant they hooked up together. Wendy found employment as a Waste Operations manager with the Environmental Protection Authority and is still employed with them today. The Wedding bells rang for this couple in 2005 before producing two beautiful children Aimee and Dylan in the following few years.

Aimee (8) and Dylan (6) attend Broulee Public School around the corner from home and are very much looking forward to spending 2014 on the road. Their school has kindly acknowledged their absence from class this year, and have provided plenty of supplementary material to ensure they are educated along the way. The kids will also be skyping their class mates throughout the year to assist in the learning process.

Apart from having a few chooks over the years there has been a lack of pets in the Walsh family household. Apparently however this will all change once the family is back in Broulee from their travels around Australia. The kids are keen for a dog, plus a rat called ‘chocolate’ and a rabbit called ‘Snowy’. Hopefully, the kids will forget all this although I doubt very much so.

One thing we will be looking forward to is making progress with ‘the farm’ we purchased in Jindabyne 18 months ago. This gorgeous block with views of the snowy main range is a special part of our lives. Already many good times have been spent in the high country over winter and summer.

‘The farm’

Up the hill at Mount Perisher