This year is the 10th year I have had the pleasure of heading to Tewantin with my father, uncle Chipsy and cousins David and Daniel for our annual golf weekend. Originally a work social club trip for Chipsy’s work this weekend has become a bit of a family weekend with a few good mates in the mixed as well.

Staying in Tewantin and, generally, spending the bulk of our time at the Tewantin-Noosa Bowls Club this is a weekend we all look forward to every year. Not for the golf or even the bowls that we play I think but for the time spent together having a drink and a feed and speaking absolutely crap.

Planning is already underway for next year (as I sit here just out of the pool listening to my Uncle whinge about his golf game) and I for one hope there are many more years to come. I concede I am being entirely selfish in that regard and here’s why: this year is the first year I have noticed how much my Dad has aged. His hair is greying swiftly and his step is slowing due to years of football. This weekend is the first time, I guess, I have seen big John as the 64 year old he is.

So, I am already counting down to next year’s instalment of the golf weekend so I can get to spend time with the best bloke to pace this earth, pouring his scotch when his glass gets empty, laughing when he hits another tree on the golf course and listening to him tell the same stories he has been telling for the last decade. These are the best of times and given that it has taken me the last 8 or 9 years to appreciate it I am going to savour every moment.