Where I Live.. Urangan in Hervey Bay Queensland
Hervey Bay is situated in the sub tropics and I have stolen a few explanatory notes to give a great description of my home town
Boarded by 40 kilometres of pristine beaches, Hervey Bay Australia is a peaceful picturesque seaside city most famously known as the gateway to the world’s largest sand island, Fraser Island and one of the best places in Australia to embark on the Hervey Bay whale watching tours. A three and a half hour drive from Brisbane and only two hours from the Sunshine Coast, Hervey Bay has attracted holiday makers for over a century. Hervey Bay’s climate and idyllic waterways present an abundance of aquatic activities including swimming, fishing, sailing, diving and skiing. Starting late July and through to early November is whale watching season in Hervey Bay. Each year thousands of tourists flock to the region to board whale watching tours where they will view the majestic humpback whales on their annual migration from the freezing Antarctic waters to the warm coastal waters of western and eastern Australia and then return south again. The Urangan Boat Harbour is the local meeting point for many different aquatic activities including Hervey Bay fishing while The Esplanade and the city centre offers a plethora of land attractions and activities such as Hervey Bay 4WD adventures. The World Heritage listed Fraser Island is just across the water and it’s just a thirty-five minute flight by seaplane to the southern reaches of the Great Barrier Reef. WHALE WATCHING Each year from late July through to early November, the mighty humpback whales take time out from their annual migration for a bit of R&R in the protected waters of Hervey Bay. There is no better place to experience their antics and their awesome size than close up on a whale-watching cruise.
FRASER ISLAND is the largest sand island in the world and one of the rare places where rainforest grows on sand. Fraser Island is abundant in pristine freshwater lakes and crystal clear creeks, scenic 4WD circuits, walking tracks, cool and peaceful rainforests, swampy wetlands and heath lands full of wild flowers.
DINING OUT Fraser Coast is quickly gaining a reputation for admirable food and wonderful restaurants and cafes. Alfresco dining, ideally suited to the Fraser Coast’s temperate climate, is very popular, and Hervey Bay’s Esplanade and marina areas are home to a wide range of quality dining experiences, using the backdrop of the water to full effect.
FISHING Fish in the bay are plentiful — the mangrove-lined creeks and sheltered turquoise waters can yield an amazing catch, including bream, whiting, flathead, mackerel, tailor and mangrove jack. Fish from the shore, launch your tinnie from the boat ramps, take a charter and try your hand at sports fishing, or just cruise the Great Sandy Strait and drop a line over the side. CULTURE The region’s cultural heart beats loud and strong. The Hervey Bay Regional Gallery features works by local artists and regularly hosts Australian and international travelling exhibitions. Pick any weekend, and you’re sure to find a bustling market brimming with locally-produced wares, produce and plants. Wander through the stalls, chat with the locals and pick up a bargain or two. SHOPPING From national brand name stores to family-owned boutiques, you’ll find contemporary and traditional shops right around the region. The area is bustling with air-conditioned shopping malls, fascinating arcades and corner stores and country villages that will take you back to your childhood memories
THINGS FOR KIDS Whether it is water activities such as swimming, fishing, paddle boats, kayaks and windsurfers, wildlife and nature activities such as glass-bottom boat rides and bird parks, or active pursuits such as mini-golf or go-karting, you’ll discover the Fraser Coast is packed with fun adventures that will delight children of all ages. Make sure you visit the new WetSide Water Education Park! GOLFING ON THE COAST Are you a weekend hacker or a serious handicapper? Hervey Bay has range of golf courses including a rural course with sand greens and wandering wildlife. Many of the golf courses have country club facilities, making the 19th hole the most refreshing hole of the round. ADVENTURE ACTIVITIES You could easily spend a week enjoying adventure activities whether it is a physical challenge or adrenalin rush. From acrobatic aircraft to go-karts, sky diving to exhilarating thrill rides across the calm Hervey Bay waters, you’ll find the rush you are after. RELAX AND UNWIND Hervey Bay has one of the safest swimming beaches in Queensland…no stingers, mild temperatures, and calm waters protected by Fraser Island. Or take a Sunset Champagne Cruise – sip champagne as the sun sets over the waters of the Great Sandy Strait. What a great way to wind down after a day exploring!.
and of course the World Famous Urangan Pier just around the corner from me
Frasercoast FM 107.5
I have now been with the Radio for almost 2 yrs and time has moved so quickly.After training I was given a late shift from 9pm to midnight firstly as a regulat on Thursdays and also rotated on the same slot on Saturdays ( my co learner has now got the show permanently and doing great) I was successful in applying for a Thursday afternoon show 3m -6pm) and thoroughly enjoy doing it and managing to get a few phone calls ( Annie is my advert reader and phone call answerer ) Today we attended a presentation for long serving members and it was also a great chance to meet other presenters.Quite a lot turned up including local MP and the Mayor of Hervey Bay.I managed to “find” a write up of of what the Stations about….
Fraser Coast FM 107.5 is a “volunteer powered” community radio station financially supported by the Fraser Coast community through donations, memberships, sponsorships and community support for station fundraising activities.Entirely managed and operated by volunteer directors, managers and workers, Fraser Coast FM 107.5 does not pay any salaries or wages.While eligible to apply for equipment grants from federal and state government funding bodies to sustain technical broadcasting capacity, Fraser Coast FM 107.5, however, relies on support from the local community to fund its operating expenses .Fraser Coast FM 107.5 is the registered business name of Fraser Coast Community Radio Inc.
Because we are wholly dependent on volunteers,people who are currently on Job Search (a govt initiative) are utilized by the station and are very helpful in the running of theradio.Anyone can join us and for a small fee can be trained into budding Djs ! the instructor is a lovely man who will put you on the right track he gave me and my co-learner Paul a certificate telling us he s not come across anyone like us !!
At the presentation lots of people turned up and I have put a selection on my gallery and it a pleasure working with these people
The event was attended by the Mayor of Hervey Bay and our MP Ted (pictured with me, he is in the Blue shirt) Centre pic depicts some of the long service members
More information can be found on http://www.frasercoast.fm/ or on my new FB page Geoffs Music Mix
My Home Town Blackpool and the Memorable Trams
BLACKPOOL
Having just arrived back in Hervey Bay after a visit to Blackpool I was reminded of how much we take for granted.Growing up in the 50,s & 60,s our giant FREE playground was the wonderful Promenade that fronts the few miles of beach and the Irish Sea.Along this route going from Star Gate in the South of Blackpool ( past the Pleasure Beach) to Fleetwood a few miles away situated on the mouth of the River Wyre and Fleetwood is known now worldwide where Fishermans Friends are produced even to this day (I,m sure most f you have sucked on a Fishermens Friend?) which in years past was a major fishing fishing port providing shelter and employment for Trawlers and the people who were utilized in all facets of the fishing industry (filleting their catch,freezing Ocean life,smoking Kippers,Ice factories <went round one of these as a school “treat”> are the magnificent trams that play a very important part in Blackpools Transport. In the Illumination Season from Sept to end of August trams are decorated with 1000,s of light bulbs and custom made trams have featured Rockets,Lifeboats,Space Ships and other splendid shapes.Annually,Blackpool displays these forms of transport to the public and creates lots of interest from around the world for enthusiasts.I have a lovely collection of photos supplied by a friend I have met on Facebook by the name of Jean Parker and the above cartoon supplied by Nick Moore (both from Blackpools Past page) Thanks to these helpful people
British Airways SHAME on You !!
| Flight | Tuesday, September 15, 2015 | British Airways BA15 | Confirmed | |
| 9:35 PM | Depart | Heathrow, London United Kingdom | LEISURE TRAVELLER | |
| 5:40 PM on Wednesday |
Arrive | Changi Intl Arpt, Singapore Singapore | Journey Time: 13:05 | |
Dear Sir,
On these above dates we booked at the end of May and as you can see all were confirmed.On the Day of travel we rocked up at Manchester Airport for our tickets only to be told our Singapore flight we would have to sit in separate rows on the next Heathrow flight.I am a 70 yr old pensioner with lots of medical issues that my wife Ann monitors ( I take 16 tablets a day =heart and asthma inhalents)) and she gives them to me at appropriate times ( she was previously in her younger life a nurse) Ticket person at Manchester advised to take it up at Heathrow (connecting flight) Once again ticket attendant said there was nothing she could do !! and advised we see the Information officer who again advised they couldn’t help.On boarding the Supervisor could see we were visibly stressed and checked our ticket (which was stamped COMPASSIONATE) and after lots of consultation put me and my very upset wife together (the Supervisor was fantastic) If our surnames were different I could understand the separation BUT with more than 2 months prior booking we were still separated !I know this may be not in breaking news category but I feel better just by letting someone know of our predicament It is a very long 13 hours being seperated(I have sent a letter of Complaint to British Airways and I suspect that has now been thrown in the trash!!) Shame on You British Airways !!!!
have a look at further stories here (not from me) http://britishairwayssucks.org/your-stories
British Airways – “Enjoy your flight, sir.”
Singapore the Final Destination
After almost 10 weeks away on holiday we are into the final throes with just a full day afore returning to Australian shores left in Singapore.This place is normally a great place to visit BUT as I write the air is filled with FIRE pollution drifting in from illegal forest fires in Malaysia and surrounding areas,the smog is thick and going out into open spaces could be hazardous to my health being asthmatic,however we did pay a visit to China Town in an attempt to cure Annie of her obsessive market visits .Didn,t work! we picked up a few “bargains” and headed back to our air conditioned hotel.The view from our window is great with the full view of the “Boat” Hotel peaking thru the thick smog,the hotel has a great laser beam show late at night but sadly it is difficult to photograph or video.The City is alive at this moment with the Formula One Race taking place this weekend (personally I find this type of sport very boring! but have a relative who can watch recordings ! as they say “each to their own”) We are using these few days to eleviate the “jet lag” we will no doubt experience,tiredness is already creeping in.Tomorrow we fly to Brisbane then onto our home in Hervey Bay,All in All excluding stops actually flight time is 22 hours and an aching bottom sums up what long distance flying can do !!
Comicon Finale Part 3 what a PARTY !
This event was nothing short of fantastic !and the five pound (10$) fee was well worth it as we had spent around 8 hrs enjoyine this very unique event held over ONE day with the venue fully booked and tickets sold out accomodating 12000 participants and fans ! I certainly enjoyed the fun and absolute friendliness that made the day complete.Entry was perhaps a little shabby by taking so long for people to enter the site although lots of fun was to be had in the enormously,lengthy que that circled the entire block twice,Odds are this event will be held in 2016 and sadly we wont be there.Inside the Winter Garden Complex are at the very least 3 ballrooms all packed with stalls all to do with comics etc and parades were held on all stages and we managed to visit all of them
We took over 300 photo,s at this event and the last 3 blogs show just a fraction of characters attending this marvellous show.We hope with a luck we may be able to visit again a few years down the track.My second childhood was restored at this event
Lou and his Comicon Pics Part 2
Escorted by my newly adopted granson & grandaughter (Lou & Ella) we finally managed to get into the Winter Gardens complex where Lou was getting impatient to take some photo,s using my camera.Although he took some nice pictures we let him loose with Annie,s smaller camera and all pics that don,t feature Lou (8) on the particular Blog are attributed to him (he took every one of them)
Next Blog will be the Final showing on our visit to Comicon
Last Blackpool Weekend and Comicon part 1
Wow ! what a fabulous Day at the Blackpool Winter Gardens to an event we booked months ago ( now fully booked) I have lived in this town and seen unbelievable crowds BUT the que to get into this venue was something I will probably never witness again !! The que by 10 am was at least a mile long and I was kept entertained by the sheer volume of people dressed up as their favourite Comic Character.By noon the crowd diminished rather than shrink,so,rather than walk the mile to join the que we reurned home and came back at 3 pm and wow it was SO exciting (that much so it ahs inspired me to commemorate the occasion by doing 3 consecutive blogs)
There was SO much to see and ALL participants were happy to be photographed ( altho it must have gotten rather boring as the day went on !)
Blackpool my Childhood Playground
As an 8 or 9 yr old me and my younger brother Brian used the Beach as our playground with other kids of course,there was no such thing as dangerous people in those PC carefree days,Crabs (tiny ones) and shrimps could easily be caught on the pier legs as well as the odd shrimp, Starfish were also aplenty (altho no sign of them today) Tides come right up to the sea wall to a depth of around 4 feet and as nippers we,d jump off the wall into the sea (of course kids don,t die do they?) and the tides would go out about a mile.Piers provided great metal structures we climb like monkeys on and we could free entangled fishing lines and re sell back to the pier fishermen ! We could roller skate for miles on our tin rattlers on the very even tarmac that span the 3 piers on the Irish Sea.I could write a book on our escapades but haven,t the time.Pictures 3 times on a Saturday were also the go in the good days and I end this Blog saying my misspent youth was of being poor but we had the best times
Blackpool Tower was our backup indoor playground and we made money by carrying holiday makers lugage to their deignated B&Bs yes indeed Happy Daze!!
Blackpool Illuminations 2015
Blackpool Illuminations is an annual Lights Festival, founded in 1879 and first switched on 19 September that year, held each autumn in the English seaside resort of Blackpool on the Fylde Coast in Lancashire. Illuminated trawler tram at Blackpool .Also known locally as The Lights or The Illuminations, they run each year for sixty-six days,from late August until early November at a time when most other English seaside resorts‘ seasons are coming to an end. Dubbed as “the greatest free light show on earth”,they are 6 miles (10 km) long and use over one million bulbs. The display stretches along the Promenade from Starr Gate at the south end of the town to Bispham in the north. In 2013 the Illuminations were meant to shine from 30 August to 3 November.However on 14 March 2013 it was announced that they had been extended by a week shining until 10 November making it the first time ever the Illuminations will shine for 73 days.This continued in 2014 when the Illuminations shone from 29 August to 9 November. In 2015 the Illuminations will shine for 66 days from 4 September to 8 November
.
I have fond memories of these lights from a very early age.Annie is delighted by them and will hopefully be a happy memory for her in years to come
Watch me play Didgeridoo
Geoffs Life After Work ! 