A tribute to Uncle Ru

We had some sad news last week from the UK and as we are unable to get back there to be with Aunty Shell, (due to a lack of a passport for Alice), so we decided to pay our own tribute to Uncle Ru. Alice didn't get to meet him, but I'm sure she would have loved him, despite the fact that he would have been approximately 17 times as tall as her.

We wandered down to the Bali memorial on the cliffs at Coogee to be there in time for when the service was held in London.

Then we mooched down to the shrine of the Virgin Mary of the Launderette and thought that it might have amused Ru to know that this "sacred" place is dedicated to a vision of Mary sighted (from this very spot) in the door of the local laundromat. Myself, I take comfort in the fact that baby Jesus probably dribbled as much as Alice did and that Mary probably needed to do as many washes as the next new mother. I would have made that joke to Ru when they came to visit. He thought Australians had no class and I think this might have cemented that impression.

We didn't get to know Ru well enough - he and Michelle met and married while we were already living here. But he was a lovely bloke and completely adored her. I've spent the last 3 days immersed in his blogs, which are a lovely insight into the man.

We came home and toasted Rupert. RIP and all our love to Aunty Shell xx