ACCRU PERTH

Eva headed off first in October.  The trip started with a week spent with her Partner’s family in Ballina and his work commitments on the Gold Coast, followed by a diving trip to Lady Elliott Island off the Queensland coast.  The week was spent off the grid and out to sea diving the pristine waters of the southern Great Barrier Reef.  The highlight of the trip was diving the Blowholes off the east coast of the island, arguably one of the top 100 scuba dives in the world.  We were lucky enough to dive with manta rays and turtles, a few tawny nurse sharks as well as many large schools of fish, cleaner shrimp and garden eels.

Mitch then headed off to Japan for two weeks with his girlfriend and came back an engaged man.  Huge congratulations to Mitch and Hayley.  I was told the proposal was very romantic with Mitch getting down on one knee and a very happy Hayley said yes.  The remainder of the trip was filled up with going to lots of animal cafes and eating a lot of ramen!

Mitch had barely touched down in Australia and Jenny and her family also headed to Japan for just over two weeks.  They visited Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo.  They loved Universal Studios, describing it as futurist and a fascinating place with a great atmosphere.  The standout memory of Kyoto was the autumn colours and the interesting history.  Their time in Tokyo consists mostly of eating, especially ramen and being fascinated by the chefs preparing meals in front of them.  They also found the bowing deer in Nara fascinating.  Jenny has developed a liking for saki, so stay tuned as the Friday drinks fridge may be stocked with a more international flavour in 2024!

Bruce then headed to Queensland to see his mum and spend some quality time with her and his extended family.   His trip started with a few days in Canberra watching his daughter play hockey at Natonal followed by almost three weeks with his extended family in far North East Queensland.  The trip also included a day trip to Whitehaven Beach, one of the whitest beaches in Australia, (but still behind WA’s Lucky Bay).  He also spent a bit of time on the ocean including going out on a boat and snortkelling inside the Great Barrier Reef where he saw lots of colourul fish and a couple of big turtles.

Speaking of snorkelling, Eva headed ‘overseas’ again in November for her birthday to Rottnest for a weekend of sorkelling and cycling around WA’s island playgournd. Hours of snorkelling were rewarded with sightings of octopus, cray fish and an abundance of fish as well as spectacular the birdlife on the island.

Unfortunately this quarter also saw a few staff farewells.  Kendrick left the firm in early November to pursue a career in commerce, Ken spent five years with us, and it has been a pleasure to see him grow.  Our loss is definitely someone’s gain, and we wish him all the best for the future.

Todd also made a move into commerce and left us in mid December.  Todd started with us part-time in August 2019 as an undergraduate whilst finishing his degree.  During his four years with us he studied and passed four of his CA exams and was well liked by clients and staff alike.  We wish him all the best for the future.

The final week of work we relaxed the dress standards in the office – either the Accru Perth polo shirt or your ‘best’ Christmas tee shirt.  Martin pulled out all stops and appeared to have a wardrobe for the exact occasion, wearing a number of let’s say ‘interesting’ Christmas tee shirts.

The office Christmas lunch was held on Friday 22 December before closing for 2 weeks.  Friday 22 Decebmer was also Megan’s last day with us, she returned from materity leave in Jule 2023 and then left us again for another round of maternity leave.  At the time of writing this she has just given birth to another healthy baby boy, but more about that next time