Golden Wedding anniversary!

Some couples are pretty amazing, and living proof is Judy and Gordon Tong. 

Judy is my first cousin and her and her family now live in Australia.  Originally she was from Howick which is where she and Gordon got married in 1965.

Judy and Gordon, couple extraordinaires.

21 November 2015 marked 50 years of marriage for Judy and Gordon - through thick and thin, they weathered it all!  Wow -  tremendous tolerance and obviously a great love for each other.


They were treated along with about 30 guests to a wonderful evening at their son and daughter-in-laws residence in the Brisbane suburb of Ormiston.  Adrian and Leanne provided a fabulous venue, meal, entertainment  and an extremely well stocked bar.

Judy with her son Adrian

 Some of the Tong family -  Adrian and Leanne and sons Josh and Matthew went missing when the camera appeared ...

Leanne with her son Josh

Apart from family and friends, two of the bridesmaids from the wedding were able to attend so it was an extraordinary feat in having bridal party members present.  As Judy and Gordon were married in NZ some people made some long trips to be there for the evening.

On the technology front we were shown a video reproduction of the wedding ceremony and party in 1965 so it was particularly good seeing Gordon's Mum and Dad and also Judy's Dad, Uncle Jim.

Some of the crowd.  Dave is getting an earful of the wonderful All Black team!

Some of the bridal party

Shirley on the left is Leanne's Mum.  Larissa is a friend from Tamworth

The deadly triple chocolate mud cake - it was heavenly

Gordon attacking Judy?
Nah real kissing!

The evening was filled with a lot of remember whens...and a bit of a trip down memory lane.  It was a happy event celebrating a tremendous achievement.  Well done Judy and Gordon.  Thanks to Adrian and Leanne for their hospitality.

Springtime in the garden

A kalaeidoscope of colour in the garden, some plants flowering for the first time, some showier than others, some more fragrant but there's ablaze around the yard.  It's certainly a time of year when your efforts seem to be rewarded.

Red Hot Pokers in the front garden

These plants require absolutely no attention at all, drought tolerant and frost hardy and they just keep on flowering, they are a joy to view each spring.





Alana gave me these cuttings and they were unceremoniously shoved in the mulch and lo and behold some stunning blooms ...
.

Walking lillies?

The kangaroo paws are a delight to the driveway, just lovely and colourful to greet all comers ... the flowers last and last for ages.

Kangaroo Paws

Lantana

Common old lantana, it has no prickles and very easy to maintain so it's a winner in my garden.  My neighbour gave me a cutting and I have several patches of it in the garden beds.  I love the mass of yellow.

Feijoa-in-flower

I am really excited about the prospect of having fruit off the Feijoa.  I've applied potash to ensure the flowers hold on the tree etc.  but if the flowers all come to fruition there will be a feast cause the tree is covered!

Cat's Eyes or Blue Sapphire

A nice little filler or ground cover, this plant seems to flower on and off most times of the year - very easy to maintain.

4T - our Jodes

Yes!  She's that number - fabulous, fantastic, fit  and full of life!

Vicky, her girlfriend and Jodes, both had same age birthdays and so chose a dual celebration.


They selected a great venue - on the water.  A sailing vessel named Cape Adieu which took fifty revellers out onto Darwin Harbour for a magic sunset cruise.

Birthday gals

 The vessel was pretty large with plenty of room for people to mingle and move about.  The shade cloth is mandatory for the Darwin weather.

Nana and her lads

 Pulling out of Darwin wharf.  I managed to get five minutes company with the grandies before they were darting around, up and down stairs ...

Dennis Ehling, Cynthia and John Lyne catching up with Dave

Mature guests were in the minority but  we sought refuge up the back of the boat where we could talk and hear one another.  Amidst the Oyster Shooters, Bubbly, beer and yummy finger food it was an extremely pleasant time.  The 'younger' set hit town afterwards and we thought if we were 20 years younger we might have done the same thing!

The Darwin has sunset never failed to amaze, just a brilliant spectacle.

Dave and I stayed in Darwin for a week (would have been longer if it was in the dry season).  We stayed at Keith and Anna's joint down the Stuart Highway at Coolalinga.  

It was school holidays so we were able to get and do a couple of things with the kids.

The good old Water Gardens at Rapid Creek, an oasis amongst beautiful tropical gardens, is great to hangout when you're weary of air con.

Fountains, waterfalls are always popular in the heat.  The boys enjoying themselves.

Tenpin bowling is always a big hit for youngsters and especially by boys who love to smash things!

There's a new joint called Kingpin in Millner whereby you can spend a fortune playing tenpin bowling, laser games, climbing ropes, a games arcade and also to eat and drink - great if you are a kid with grandparents in town.

Excited bowlers!

Van in action

Kai with the aid of the ramp was able to beat his big brother.  I thought he had a very distinctive bowling style.

It was a good time guys.

Dave's in the Territory!

Speedy Gonzales has motored some miles and undoubtedly been taking no notice of speed restrictions.  He travelled the Barkly Highway to Tennant Creek in one day then headed to Mataranka the following day.

Mataranka was always regarded as a bit of an oasis - lovely palms and croc-free water (it used to be anyway).

Regardless it's a lovely spot to spend a couple of days resting up ...

 As Dave has observed and is probably correct, the sprinklers above the palms have something to do with deterring the flying foxes.

Update on Dave's motorbike journey ....

The Lone Ranger rides into Longreach, Central Western Queensland - The Outback (Proper)

 

 The main street of Longreach, QLD

The car numbers are probably higher when Dave called as the town was in the grip of concert fever featuring Paul Kelly, Lee Kernaghan and the popular artist Canadian Bryan Adams.  No accommodation was available in town.

The Qantas Museum is located in Longreach and he was able to look around there.  

Dave had to ride through to the next town of Winton.  However he was greeted by another Outback festival so after looking around and taking a bit of a break he had to move on as there was no available accommodation there either.

Banjo Paterson

Winton, as most Australians know is the home of the Waltzing Matilda lyrics - apparently Banjo Paterson wrote the lyrics in 1895 whilst staying at a local station in the area (I think).  Anyway a museum was built in the town with a lot of memorabilla and relics relating to Banjo Paterson and Australiana.  Unfortunately a recent fire destroyed the exhibition so the below photo shows the ruins ...

As part of the Outback Festival there was an airshow - quite spectacular ...

No. 1 accommodation - motel

Dave had to ride on for a bed and washbasin in Kynuna ... pretty basic stuff!

Anyway after 4 days and no incidents he's reached Mt Isa so it's pretty good going....

More to follow.................................................................................

Dave's trip by motorbike from Gympie to Darwin ... alone

Wednesday 23 September

Jodes 40th is being celebrated in Darwin a week or so's time.  I am flying to and fro but Dave obviously has other transport options.

Dave is leaving  Gympie to ride to Darwin on his BMW.  Apparently it is a trip he has longed to do.  However it is extra challenging as he also has a tear in his right bicep but with proper strapping and assurance from a physio he should manage the ride okay.  He's prepared extensively so hope all goes to plan.

Packing his bike - luggage-wise he has a top box and 2 side panniers

Gloves, jacket, helmet and kevla pants are donned

Off he goes ... 3, 376 kilometres to go!

He intends to ride to Darwin over 7 days, sightseeing along the way and taking his time between fuel stops, resting up etc.etc

Colour in the garden ... Spring 2015

Spring is about ... some warmth in the air and also some bonus rain ...

Freesias

Hippeastrum

This year I had a go at planting some bulbs, some daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, freesias and some ranunuculas.  Very little success really and probably the best showing was of the Freesias.











This is my first hippeastrum to flower.  This year I moved all the bulbs to one area so theoretically there should be a blanket of colour ... we'll see.










We had a very mild Winter and we "dressed" the vulnerable so most plants didn't suffer any frost bite.  Consequently the plants are looking pretty good for this time of the year.  I'm 'gamely' taking secateurs and shears to many bushes that I previously left for fear of destroying them so we will wait and see how that little exercise pays off.

We've had bumper yields of citrus which David attributes to his lavish amounts of troforte (type of fertiliser).  There has been an overall improvement in the health of the garden so maybe the years of fertilising, watering, mulching and attention is starting to pay dividends.  Mind you with Dave being at home for the last 3 months there has been more attention than if he wasn't here.

Anyway the garden in my humble opinion is looking lovely!