New MOTORBIKE!

Out with the old and in with the new....

or in David's words 'out with the stodgy scooter and in with the pocket rocket'

JEAN with her redundant Evie and the new Racing Red Machine!

Xmas has come early for me, I am now the owner of a Yamaha MT-03 ... soon I'll be able to ride it and use the gears.  I'm learning to master it but so far have managed to stall it up the hill.  Early days...

Looking the part

This time next year I'll be riding in the Moto 3 GP!  Watch this space.

Trip to Perth - June 2016

My main reason to visit Perth at this time of the year was to be present for Angel's 6th birthday.  As is the Vietnamese custom for birthdays,  is to celebrate the event at a local restaurant - usually a Vietnamese one but it was a Chinese one, the Gold Leaf which was nearby.

All Tuyen's immediate family from Perth attended - Aunt Tammy and Peter her husband and her two kids Duey and Julie; Uncle Hu and Aunt Tu and their daughter (can't remember her name); cousin Candy, and Darryn and Tuyen's kids - Kyle, Marc and Angel ; a fair mob really.  Anyway it was a nice informal evening with delicious food and many doggie bags being taken home.  Angel adored the attention with Happy birthday music filling the restaurant and blowing all the candles out.

Angel  seems to be tall for her age and appears that way in class photos. She is very much a Tom boy and loves dressing in plain clothes with no signs of ruffles or lace anywhere. (much to her mother's dismay). Also she seems interested in the male-type activities - playing with swords, bows and arrows, Spider-Man and tumbling around with her brothers. From what I witnessed she is definitely not a girly girl!

The birthday cake and birthday GIRL

One of the presents she received which was really like a ribbon the gymnasts use in floor routines but she preferred to believe it was a whip and she was "cracking the whip".

Note the athletic stance!

Angel attempting to 'fly' the copter

I was a bit of a winner as she received a transformer helicopter for her birthday.  She enjoyed getting that off the ground and crashing it.

I mainly hung out at Darryn's house for most of the time - looking at the improvements to the house and yard that's taken place over the last year or so.  He's certainly added to the area of the house with two extra rooms giving the family more space and privacy.  In the backyard he's removed an old shed and replaced it with a better and more convenient structure.  His brickwork and paving have vastly improved over the period from start to where he is currently at - it's a credit to his resourcefulness, Mr Google and Gumtree.  Good on you Daz.

I also ventured over to Mother Peters place on the other side of the river to Como.  She has a 2 bed-roomed villa in a retirement village in a very nice part of town.  We indulged each other with plenty of wine, food and enjoyment.  She's an amazing lady for over 90, getting around on her prosthetic limb' and other times buzzing about in her car.  No way is she giving in life's little obstacles.

Mother Peters and Myvanwy at the Windsor Hotel

It was an enjoyable week over in the West.

Bike ride

Dave is a member of the Ulysses Motorcycle Club and occasionally I accompany them as a guest on some of their rides around.  They are an accommodating group and they happily allow me to 'hold up the rear'.

The photos and report are compliments of the Ulysses secretary

Sunday ride report - A nice roll up of members this morning for today's ride. We traveled all the back roads to the North and West of Gympie before getting to the Blue and White Tea-pot at Amamoor. We sat in the newly developed courtyard, its nice and open but still has that tropical feel. Then we traveled to the Wolvi Vintage festival. Unfortunately the festival was a bit of a fizzer and the displays were mostly packed up or in the process of packing up when we arrived at noon. 

Some members suggested that we try the near-by Cooloola Berry farm for lunch. What a beaut spot and looks like everyone has heard about place too! There were loads of people having lunch, a very aromatic Spanish Paella was being cooked on the big cooker, while the kitchen was turning out other meals.

Morning tea but mainly coffee enjoyed by the motorcyclists

Some of the bikes parked outside the Blue and White Tea-Pot cafe

They are a friendly bunch and it's a good opportunity to socialize as well as get some motorcycling experience and to see some countryside from behind a motorbike or scooter in my case.

Dave's fishing trip ...

Dave's been in Evans Head in NSW, for a week and apart from having a good old fellows time away from home, he has caught some fish as well.

Two of the largest snapper caught by his truly!

He's yet to get home to show off his entire catch but these two are pretty good.  I reckon about 10 kgs each.  A great fisher of men!!

Golf on the Gold Coast ... May 2016

Queensland Country Championships is a tournament run by Queensland Golf,  is held annually and open to State female amateur golfers. This year it was held on the Gold Coast and hosted jointly by Surfers Paradise Golf club and Southport Golf club.  Both golf courses are beautiful aesthetically and maintained in tip top condition.  The "rough" would rival the average person's lawn!

There were approximately 350 competitors from Cairns to Tweed Heads up the East Coast and out West as far as St George and other little country clubs so it was a very well attended tournament.

 I accompanied the contingent of Gympie Womens Golf Club which had 12 representatives in various divisions.  We all stayed in the same Apartment Block in Broadbeach and generally had a nice time off the course at different cafes and the like.

Broadbeach on the Gold Coast

The skyline is littered with the awful high rise buildings which is largely accommodation places.  Our apartment La Grande is one of the lower buildings and is situated about mid photo.  The decor and facilities were top notch and we had a panoramic view of the entire Gold Coast beach.  It was a lovely spot.

Our view from the balcony

Some of the Gympie "girls"

The shortest gal in the picture actually won the best gross and nett in our division so she was really rapt.  She is naturally a very loud person and boy was she loud on presentation night.  Good on her tho'

Day one was a mixed event of Foursomes whereby we played with a partner.  It's mainly intended to allow players to familiarise themselves with the courses and local conditions.  Anyway it's also an opportunity to blame or credit one another for particular doings.  Betty and I complemented one another very well  with minimum challenges presented to one another.  We came about 11th out of 88 so we were more than happy with our game.

Day Two and Three were individual stroke events.  The first day I fared quite well with an average score but others had found the course more difficult so I looked on paper better than I deserved.  The second day was an absolute disaster for me, I hit every damn drain, bunker and tree on the course!  When I landed in the same drain three times I realised I was way out of any contention.  I scored 12 strokes on that hole!  That is Golf tho' - it happens.  Anyway despite the big number I had a great group of girls to play with, it was played in good spirit and the surroundings were absolutely superb.

Group of us before we left for Gympie on the last day.  The bags under the eyes were even more pronounced.

C

Anzac Day 2016 - in Bargara and Burnett Heads

This year we ventured up the road to Bundaberg and surrounds to commemorate Anzac Day.  Ken Graham lives up that way and is an old mate as he and David were in the Services together in the 1970's.

Currently Ken (KG) lives in Burnett Heads and involves himself in community life in many ways (The meetings are mostly held in the hotel).  As a highly regarded citizen and an ex-RAAFie he leads the local march on Anzac Day in Burnett Heads.  David joined them on this occasion and 'took his father's medal for a walk' as well.

For the Dawn Service we went into Bargara, a little seaside community on the outskirts of Bundaerg,
It was massively supported with 'thousands' of people attending.  Dave and KG marched with the servicemen and Ken also read the Oration.

The band leading the march

KG leading the ex-servicemen, Dave is pictured in the middle of the photo

The Navy cadets

The Army contingent

The Surf Life Savers as one of the many community groups marching

HMAS Yarra

HMAS Yarra was anchored offshore during the Bargara Service and with her lights on she provided a very nice backdrop for the commemoration.

Around daybreak and on the horizon KG is pictured citing the oration.

KG reading the oration

The RAAF put on the showiest display with various fly pasts and rolls ...

The WW11, aircraft Mustang flying overhead in the Fly Past

After the firing of 3 round salvo of 1901 Naval cannon, the laying of the wreaths ....

Most were fresh flowers but the school pupils  made their own wreaths in the art dept and they certainly stood out in a unique way.

Another contribution by the local schools was the making of all the poppy crosses which were on display.  These were being posted to the Flanders Fields cemetery to go on all the Australian servicemen graves.  A very touching local effort....

Poppy crosses on display beside the ANZAC memorial

After the Dawn Service, everyone was invited back to the local hotel for a complimentary breakfast.
Rum and milk, rum and ice and straight rum was also on offer.

Once stories had been swapped and embellished, the game of two-up commenced.   If nothing else the game is extremely social  and apparently one of the fairest games of chance about.

Before, during and after the throw ...

One of the fellows that travelled with us did quite well out of the game but as an onlooker, I noticed a Maori lass who was the NZ flag bearer and she was doing really well!

Around mid morning we returned to Burnett Heads whereby we rested up before the Afternoon service at the local park.

KG again led the local parade into the park.  The wind was playing havoc with hats, ties and blowing the wreaths around but it was a more relaxed venue.

KG and Dave (ex-military)  standing out because they had collar and ties

(Pity about the tie) but Dave and KG proudly displaying medals

The naval cadets accompanied by the Salvation Army did a great job in the ceremony.

Just for something different,  everyone adjourned to the hotel and our host stayed and stayed !

It was the 101st anniversary of the landing at Gallipoli and there is little doubt that the messages relating to obligation, respect and remembrance resonate with people of all ages ... look at the support!

Memorial for Tony

Unfortunately a very special friend of ours, Tony Wright passed away a couple of months ago.  He had the misfortune to have developed a very aggressive form of cancer that was detected too late in order for any treatment.  We hadn't seen Tone for awhile since he went to live down south in a little place called Koo Wee Rup (which is in the Gippsland area of Victoria.)

We first knew Tony back in the early days of 70's while we were living in the Territory.  He and Dave were especially good mates doing what fellows usually do -  fish, camp, fix cars, drink lots and have fun.  Anyway Tone was the sensible one in the relationship and often rescued Dave from many situations!  He was a great guy, very unselfish with his time and extremely generous in many ways.  There are many dear memories.

Rebecca, is Tony and Sue's daughter and her and our daughter Jodi were born around the same time and so were brought up together - school, camping trips etc.  Anyway Bec  and her Mum organised a memorial service to honour his life.  Dave and I joined family and friends over the weekend just past to farewell Tony.  Believe it or not it was good to catch up with a few folks and talk about the good times.

Rebecca and Sue (daughter and mother)

VALE TONY WRIGHT