Cuzzy bros in the Land of Oz - July 2018

Photos are compliments of Jodi

The Dampney's took a rare break from the farm, just before one of the busiest times which is calfing time, and flew over the ditch to see some relies and sights.  They flew over Gympie to go to Darwin and see Bev's big brother, Keith and his family.  Jodi and her boys took the opportunity to catch up with both families while they were in close proximity.

Keith, Kai, Anna, Stuart, Richard, Jodi and Bev. 

Down at Coolalinga, in the McRae shed/home

The Dampney's and the Pokes

Aunt Anna and Uncle Keith with Kai and Vance

Looking, looking ....

Kai pretending to be cool.

On the tourist drive the Dampney's were taken down to Howard Springs to view the giant Barramundi.  Apparently they failed to appear.

I reckon there was a park close by and Vance is doing his thing ... watched by very patient and polite relies.

Anna, the teacher, attempting to show how to do the Zorba.

Such concentration Vance.

 Keith has a massive shed on the property which is also his workplace.

It was a real treat for Jodes and the boys to meet some family, especially in  a place like Darwin which is very distant from the rest of the country.  Not to mention that there is very little travel between Darwin and NZ and the other family members.

 I understand the McRaes took the visitors in their boat out on the harbour for a tiki tour.  I don't think the fish did the right thing on that day either.  However at this time of the year the weather is always perfect - cool, clear sunny days and magic sleeping temperatures at night.

After the few days in Darwin, the Dampney's flew over to Western Australia to catch up with Kevin and Val in Kambalda (kiwibalda) and to see the sights of Kalgoorlie.

ANOTHER Hole-in-one!

Does that sound like a skite or what?  It is!  My second thrill in the game of golf.

Me, the club, the ball and the pin where it all happened

Coincidentally my hole-in-one occurred during Round 2 of our championships in Gympie.  It was on a difficult par 3 (rating of index 3), on an elevated green protected by 2 humungous bunkers on either side and a very narrow strip of ground in the middle.  For the unconverted this is boring stuff but believe me it is a bit of a feat and of course a lot of luck involved.

As the tee was below the green no-one had the fortune of witnessing the actual happening but when we reached the green and no ball was to be seen anywhere except in the hole, there was much yelling and carrying on.

This event happened on the 9th hole whereby I scored one and on the next hole on a par 5 I ended with a 10!   As you can see I lost it for the following hole and had a shocker.

Anyway as the faithful will say that's the game of golf.  I had a couple of drinks in celebration.

Weekend in Brissie

It was the weekend of the annual reunion for the Communicators ex-RAAF whom Dave worked with whilst in the services, way back many years ago.  The venue was changed to the Hotel Jen which is housed in the Roma Street Transit Centre in Brisbane.  It was particularly convenient for out-of-towners as it is close to train, airport and excellent car parking facilities as well.

We even resorted to train travel ourselves, making the journey very leisurely on the way there and back to Gympie.

From Roma Street Station Platform 10 looking to our hotel directly behind

The Roma Street Parklands which is a magnificent urban subtropical garden area is situated close by as well.  Next to the River Walk, it is my favourite spot in Brisbane.

Encompassing the area that was once Brisbane's rail and goods yard, it showcases unique sub-tropical vegetation in comparative displays with other species from around the world.

There is a Spectacle garden filled with ever-changing display of seasonal colour, the Upper Parkland, a large lake, home to a number of native species of fish and the rainforest and fern gully and a beautiful lawn.

Spectacle garden, designed around the Spring, a stylised interpretation of Brisbane's original water source.

A really spiky tree!

Dave with waterfall behind and the lawn!

Palms and birds nests

The lake in the foreground with some of Brisbane's skyline in the background

One of my favourite flowers, a cream Angel's trumpet

A beautiful work of mosaicing done in the tiny tiles

A water dragon sunning itself, one I thought was a sculpture until ...

it moved!

There were many garden specimens that I loved and could visit the place every time we go to Brisbane.  It's shady, quiet, alive with birds and insects, pretty, peaceful, great for the senses and soul.

Saturday afternoon and evening the reunion function took place.  Unfortunately there weren't too many people there that we knew - some were ill or on holiday but mostly they had passed away.

Jeff Wessels, Me and Hinchy

I attended the netball game out at Brisbane Entertainment Centre in Boondall in the afternoon.  I watched the Queensland Firebirds whop the The West Coast Fever.  A huge crowd was in attendance, very parochial as you can imagine but it was very entertaining.  I had an excellent seat out from the Centre and up one stand up so I had a birds eye view.

We had a nice wander around the shops as well on Friday night - specifically the Apple Shop whereby I traded my old iPad in on the latest version.  A very nice present.

The weather was good, hotel was comfortable and we had some lovely meals out.  Even Dave was rapt in all the craft beer that is available now in all the bars.

A really nice cafe we found on the edge of the Parklands where we had brekky on the last day.

It had a French menu, complete with the 'garçon' (no accent) but the leather strapped apron and magnificent chandeliers overhead and on the wall.  It was very airy and open with a great view of the gardens

A lovely little place to relax and eat!

My time at the Games ...

For 8 days I lounged around the Gold Coast for the Games and attended some of the games events.

There was a great vibe and festive atmosphere around, and many volunteers eager to assist

anyone with information/directional queries.  The public transport was free while the games were on

and this will always appeal to the masses.

In town, at the beach and in shopping centres there were lots of different festival events either

related to the games or simply there for visitor's enjoyment.  The place buzzed with fun and

excitement - if music and dance was your thing, there were big stages set up (on the beach, or

 closed street intersections) with different musicians and bands playing in the evenings and on the

weekend throughout the day.  Daily art exhibits and  street theatre and big TV screens with

beanbags and deckchairs  were strewn around at most of the eating precincts.

View from the apartment, looking south-east towards the ocean

My accommodation for the duration was superbly located in terms of the beach and public transport...    

a friend's apartment who opted to go overseas while the games were on ...  very generous of TC,  it

was gratis so the stay was even more enjoyable!  It was on the 11th floor with a 270 degrees view.  It

gave me great access to a lovely eating and shopping precinct just around the corner.  I felt right at

home.

View of the apartment block from the park opposite, 3rd from the left

View of the suburbs and Mt Tamborine in the distance

View towards the Broadwater and looking north

Hmmm, even though I was wearing my glasses I didn't realise the camera settings were incorrectly set, photos are highly pixelated (apparently)

The Games Mascot -  Borobi

Borobi was a surfing Koala.  There were concrete statues of Borobi located around the place and his paw prints were on footpaths everywhere which created a great attraction for the kids.  Every athlete was awarded a soft toy version of Borobi with their medals.

Borobi

He was very cute, usually a life-sized one was wandering around the events, there was a Borobi dance that everyone got really good at before the games were over.  Out of all the merchandise on sale, he was sold out within three days so he was a real hit.


The following photos are of holoscenes.  In hindsight I probably should have videoed it which would have given a better understanding of the performances.

Holoscenes is a performance where an enormous aquarium-like tank unpredictably floods with water, engulfing the performer.  Submerged for up to 3 minutes at a time, performers are forced to adapt to the rapid rise and fall of water as they continue to carry-out everyday tasks - reading a newspaper, watering the lawn.  It's set to a haunting soundtrack and the message is all about rising seas and the connection of everyday actions of individuals to global climate change. Hmmm.....

It was quite mezmerising to watch and I was positively fascinated.  David thought it was pretty ho -hum!

CARRARA STADIUM

Carrara Stadium held most of the athletics and track and field events.  Smaller venues for other sports  were behind and alongside

I watched some of the hurdles, discus, pole vault, short and middle distance races and some of the decathlon events.  Great viewing despite being up in the "heavens".

Robotic surf vehicle retrieves the discuses 

Workers or lucky viewers in one of the light towers, think they were in charge of the spider cam???

Badminton venue

I got to see some thrilling badminton which is a game I really loved from younger days when we were in Malaya.  I also attended the netball and some of the Rugby 7's.

The Gold Coast Chinatown

Confuscius welcomes all

One of the streets in
Chinatown, quiet during the day but very popular in the evenings

This was in part of Chinatown

Public art - Museum of the Moon

Measuring 7 metres in diameter, the moon features detailed NASA imagery of the lunar surface.  

At night it was very life-like and with surround sound music playing it was a little eerie.

The following exhibits appealed to me - they were crocheted globes depicting Giant sea urchins.  There were a few crocheters kept busy doing them!  They were suspended on waterways and the reflections over the water were quite stunning and looked particularly pretty at night.

I thought the following photos were interesting in that the beautiful beaches and water on the Gold Coast are being overshadowed by the multi-storeyed buildings.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the games and being on the Gold Coast.  However it made me realise that apartment living has many downsides and despite having all the theme parks, the beautiful beaches and great retail areas give me rural living and peace and quiet any day.

In my opinion it was a very well organised event, family prices (except for the opening and closing ceremonies), the Gold Coast was an ideal setting and the Games volunteers were to be applauded for a terrific job in ensuring the security, safety and enjoyment were the priority factors.

Animals in our life ....

Besides Norman,  we have a bird family setting up house at our place too!  Mudlarks or Peewees

have been beavering away for about 3 days now, collecting mud and straw and building a nest.  It's

right in front of our kitchen window so it makes  kitchen chores a bit more interesting.  You can see

the sky looks pretty ordinary too, we've had a fair bit of rain over the last fortnight and it's still

hanging around.  There are no other birds in the yard as Norman (the new dog) feels that he needs

 to regularly chase them away.

Nest construction

Mum or Dad working away...

Norman the naughty one!

Then there's Norman ... He's learnt very little in the month we've had him but he's definitely more 

settled in his new surroundings.  The courtyard is starting to resemble a mine site, he likes to burrow

 through the ground cover in search of the lizards that he fixates on.  His behaviour in public leaves

 a lot to be desired - kids on pushbikes, kangaroos, hares are just a few that he is totally intolerant to

 their presence.  The program for Norman's socialisation has slipped back as I need to learn more 

patience!  However he has undoubtedly endeared himself to both David and I.