Brisbane Queensland
Although Brisbane is on a 3 hour drive from our home in Hervey Bay THIS is the first ever visit for us! We have met up with my daughter Jayne and her husband Paul along with our 2 Grand children Will (5) and Charlie (10 months) Although we have been here just one day I swear I have shrunk 6 inches with all the crippling walking !! The hotel (Festival Oaks Tower) is magnificent and the staff are very accommodating !! Our day of arrival was mostly spent at a unique sandy beach with chlorine water and lots of play areas for kids this feature is MAN made and built alongside the Brisbane river.All this is overseen by life guards perched on special made towers.Daytime Brisbane is buzzing in the CBD and littered with cafes that all serve great quality foods .Evening was spent with the family catching up on past news etc plus afew beers Day 2 was initially started by us walking miles looking for the free river ferry BUT the heat and walking became too much and we caught a Taxi to the Brisbane Planetarium and true to form,the Taxi driver got lost !! Still charged us tho for the trip !! Luck was changing and we arrived for a magnificent ceiling show of our stars and the universe.Will was enthralled with it all BUT had to asked tokeep quiet as his delight was heard by the rest of the audience. We had a quick break and in the cafe was treated to a large lizard underneath our table snoozing !! Returning by bus ( a LOT cheaper than Taxi) we arrived back at the hotel,donned bathers and jumped into the Spa followed by a swim in the excellent wet area provided by the hotel on the 4th floor !! The area was ideal even a BBQ was provided and for the more adventurous a fully equipped Gym ( I gave this a miss !!)Days end we baby sat the grankids while Daughter and husband had some private quality time doing a pub crawl
and a little on Brisbane from Wikipedia
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland, and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane’s metropolitan area has a population of 2.2 million and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred on Brisbane, encompasses a population of more than 3 million.The Brisbane central business district stands on the original European settlement and is situated inside a bend of the Brisbane River, approximately 23 kilometres (14 miles) from its mouth at Moreton Bay. The metropolitan area extends in all directions along the floodplain of the Brisbane River valley between the bay and the Great Dividing Range. While the metropolitan area is governed by several municipalities, a large portion of central Brisbane is governed by the Brisbane City Council, which is by far Australia’s largest Local Government Area by population. The demonym of Brisbane is Brisbanite. Brisbane is named after the river on which it sits, which in turn was named after Scotsman Sir Thomas Brisbane, the Governor of New South Wales from 1821 to 1825. The first European settlement in Queensland was a penal colony at Redcliffe, 28 kilometres (17 mi) north of the Brisbane central business district, in 1824. That settlement was soon abandoned and moved to North Quay in 1825. Free settlers were permitted from 1842. Brisbane was chosen as the capital when Queensland was proclaimed a separate colony from New South Wales in 1859. The city played a central role in the Allied campaign during World War II as the South West Pacific headquarters for General Douglas MacArthur. Brisbane has hosted many large cultural and sporting events, including the 1982 Commonwealth Games, World Expo ’88 and the final Goodwill Games in 2001. As of 2008, Brisbane is classified as a Global city
Me and Fraser Coast Community FM Radio
The idea for a community radio or TV station was being bandied around in the late eighties by the likes of Henry Gay and other local personalities of the time.Eventually, someone placed an advertisement in the paper seeking expressions of interest to form a community radio station. I think it was Rob Bilson (from BBQ’s Galore), or Henry Gay who placed the ad and that resulted in the inaugural meeting which occured at the Neighbourhood Centre in mid 1991. From memory, Rob Bilson, Henry Gay, Janette Reakes and myself in attendance. There may have been one or two others but I don’t remember who they could be.I believe a few experimental transmissions were made before we gained a licence to test broadcast in August 1992. Those test transmissions occurred from a tiny section of an old building on the corner of Nissan St and Boat Harbour Drive (now Fraser Shores) with very basic equipment which was either on loan, donated or acquired by means we won’t mention. Weekend radio was born and (from memory) the late Hedley Hollingsworth, Mr Tudman, Graeme Ellis, Henry Gay, Kiley West and yours truly started gracing the airwaves under the technical guidance of the late Frank Dowse. The temporary broadcaster became known as Fraser Coast Community Radio and shortly thereafter became an incorporated body The station continued to grow in stature and many well known local personalities found themselves involved in one way or another. It was the pending development of Fraser Shores however that saw a hiccup in the system and the station became homeless for the first time. Thankfully Torbay came to the rescue with a temporary home and then, to give us a more permanent feeling, Mayor Fred K. suggested that we share a building with them, still in Torbay and directly opposite Council Chambers.Weekend test transmissions continued until December 1997 when the ABA granted a full time temporary licence. The station’s full licence was finally granted in September 1999.Haunted by the lack of a permanent home the station had two more temporary addresses. The latter became extremely temporary being destroyed by fire and leaving the station without a home and off the air for over a year until the council came to the rescue by providing our current site at 30 Halcro Street. Fraser Coast FM 107.5 has always prided itself in the belief that the station is a valuable part of the community. Run totally by volunteers, it strives to provide ongoing entertainment whilst, at the same time, give support to all community groups and events, local and Australian talent, as well as offer a live source of information on day to day happenings within the region. The station’s standing within the community was very evident by the tremendous support provided by the people of the Fraser Coast who rallied to help put Fraser Coast FM 107.5 back on air after the loss of everything in a devastating fire.Over time Fraser Coast FM 107.5 has become an integral part of our community with a volunteer base of dedicated members determined to provide a valuable and needed service within the bounds of the Fraser Coast.
Who,d a thowt it !!
Started work for St Vincent de Paul recently (only 1 day a week) and Annie does 2 days a week (she has been there for a while)and I am amazed at the amount of stuff that is given to this charitable organization !! Some of it is new and takings per year are very high.Although I known about St Vincents ( Vinnies) I didn’t realise it was Catholic
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Born: April 24, 1581, Saint-Vincent-de-Paul, Landes, France
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Died: September 27, 1660, Paris, France
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St. Vincent de Paul was a priest of the Catholic Church who dedicated himself to serving the poor. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion. He was canonized in 1737.SO the next time you throw rubbish away? give the good stuff to St Vinnies
2013 Reviewed
WOW !! what a fantastic year and it has gone oh so very quickly ! The year started with floods all around this area with Bundaberg getting swamped with exceptionally heavy rainfall (around 100kms from where we are and although we had the rain NO flooding due to excellent drainage) on a positive we had a visit from Anns son Adam and his lovely wife Issy and hopefully they enjoyed the stay (they opted for sleeping in the motorhome in order to get a “feel” for future camper investments) February we head of around Australia once more with the added very pleasant visit to my daughters home in Perth WAand she surprised us all with our new granson Charlie ! Annie caught up with her daughters and son and was also introduced to her new daughters partnerAlong the way we crossed the Nullabor and played the 1365 km long 18 hole golf course .We saw all kinds of animals on our travels and a very unusual sight of cows dissecting an old rotting cow carcass ! We called into one of our favourite places Exmouth Ranges and stayed a couple of weeks ,even had my fishing rod stolen by a wayward fish !! probably in the middle of the Indian Ocean by now !! I had cause to use Karrathas emergency Hospital because of a HUGE boil that developed under my eye (staff were fantastic) On this trip we decided to tow our car and initially it was a veritable pain “hooking” it up !! Now we are experts ! All places visited are explained in more detail on my previous Blogs.After we arrived back it didn,t take long to get itchy feet so we have now joined The Suncoasters motorhome group ( it is mandatory for 3 visits before membership) and we are now fully fledged members and have been given the task of organizing a meeting for June 2014,should be an interesting challenge Meetings are held 3rd week in every month and gets us away for a few days (the group are great pals now) Anns brother John came for a visit from Adeaide and stayed a weekkgiving us a chance to visit Fraser Island (just a short ferry trip) August we once again signed for a trip into the heart of Australia via the Strzlecki Track to Birdsville ( for the annual horse races) and would last around 8 weeks .We had lotsa minor problems with most trekkers having burst tyres,we didn,t ! BUT had a Turbo Hose blow and cost around $800 to fix!we would NOY have missed this brilliant trip tho and once again met some great people ( and the odd miserable one !) The ambience around open camp fires etc was something to remember. After being home for a couple of weeks we went off to an annual Motorhome Rally in Narrabri,I appeared on stage with Elvis,Annie and myself won separate Yabbi races and have Cups to remind us ! (Rallies are held twice in a year and average around 1200 vehicles in attendance) Once again after being at home we left for our Xmas and New year Cruise via Beijing,Vietnam,Cambodia,Thailand and finally Singapore having a great time and meeting up with a great group of people .Altogether 2013 was Fantastic and hopefully 2014 will be as good
Last Hurrah at Changi Airport & the Fun to be had
This Airport is MASSIVE and so much to do whilst waiting departure.This was the last day of our wonderful Asian Cruise + holiday. The terminal (great name for airports!) has the usual number of shops & restaurants .A lounge for travelers is provided where weary passengers can get their heads down on provided lounges..You can stretch out, relax and enjoy the latest blockbusters for free at the 24-hours Movie Theatre.and to get around the huge Terminals a train service (free) enabling passengers with lots of time to spare to free ride around the airport In 2012, the airport handled 51.2 million passengers,making it the seventh busiest airport by international passenger traffic in the world and the second busiest in Asia by international passenger traffic in 2012. The airport registered 4.92 million passenger movements in December 2012. Annie enjoyed the world’s first Butterfly Garden in an airport, where an indoor waterfall and more than 1,000 free-roaming butterflies soothe and delight the senses .Apparently these insects are greatly attracted tp Pineapples (Annies fav fruit) and we placed a few arounf our garden in the hope it will attract butterflies BUT the birds ate them as soon as the pineapples were put down !!!.For kids the tallest indoor slide in Singapore
Chinese New Year is on Jan 31 and the airport has retained Xmas decorations for the new year (Year of the Horse)
Singapore the Last of our Asian trip and then Home
Breakfast with our new found friends ended with cheery goodbyes and disembarkation was speedy except the wait for Taxis ! we are now in our Hotel (The Mandarin) food is very expensive at around $30 each,luckily just around the corner is a Food Hall with great,cheap choices.Bed early and no signs of withdrawal due to not having any alcohol today
Caught DAY bus (Hop on Hop off) and good value for $33.We toured in the open topped bus for around 6 hours getting of at Big Wheel (that boasts being the biggest in the world.out doing Londons Eye) The Chinese Markets were fantastic with lots of very cheap bargains and very colourful.The Markets and streets were decorated with Giant Horses hung high above the streets .On January 31 the Chinese celebrate New Year and of course it will be the Year of the Horse.We had dinner in a food hall which proved to be both tasty and cheap.There is also a Movie Complex (Cathy) situated almost next door and we took advantage of the very reasonable prices ($8.50) to see Life of Walter Mitty (first viewed by me lots of years ago and starring Danny Kaye) this latest version starred Ben Stiller and was fairly good .We did a quick walk around this very busy Orchard road before retiring to the Hotel.The streets were bright (and clean,chewing gum is banned here thus eliminating the ” Black Snow” look that plagues Australian and British pavements ! Graffiti idiots are treated to lashes of large cane known as a RATTAN.Streets are very safe at nights which is a great comfort to tourists Weather weekly forecast reckoned Storms everyday we never saw any rain !!
Penultimate day we got a Taxi to BUGIS a huge market complex where Annie bought lotsa stuff .Couple of hours to waste SO we went to afternoon movies to see Hobbit 2 (pensioners $4 and a free coffee or tea before 6pm !) On our last day we visited (yet again) more shops and was picked up by arrangement and taken to Changi Airport Singapore & headed for home (7 hr flight) and collect our car parked at the Airport..Signs were bad health wise,Annie has Flu and I had to be rushed to Hospital during the late night on our first day back because my breathing was hard for me ..They did allsorts of tests and we left around 4 am !! It also got me thinking of the lucky,charmed life I have had !
Goodbye Friends… Hello Singapore
Last full day and will be spent at Sea breakfast with other travellors and the usual laugh.Annie went to Front Desk complaining of drinks charged to us that I NEVER drink (Gin) and onto Alan and Junes room searching for a very expensive earring lost in their room Final get togethers throughout the day .Dinner was a disaster for Alan as his food was cold,he ended up with something completely different !(Steak egg n chips!!) and getting our group free wine Final bar was extended till midnight (methinks due to complaints made by fellow travellors ) and we retired around midnight
January 6th 2014 Farewell
Breakfast with our new found friends ended with cheery goodbyes and disembarkation was speedy except the wait for Taxis ! we are now in our Hotel (The Mandarin) food is very expensive at around $30 each,luckily just around the corner is a Food Hall with great,cheap choices.Bed early and no signs of withdrawal due to not having any alcohol today !!
Cruise Friends
First Farewell
Today a lie in and later on played a funny game of scrabble with fellow passengers Hazel,Martin,June and Ann (Ann won!) Chatted with a funny Glenn the Pianist.Lazy day chatting In the main concert room a lady magician and comedian showed the audience a few tricks NOT top class but ( we do the first show) watchable ,apparently second show was a bit of a flop !! 10 of our mob turned up for gossip and booze tomorrow night is the penultimate night and we have all decided to have a GOOD farewell drink..looking forward to that ! As the ship sailed from Port the smog was very evident and seeing other ships in the foggy distant haze was very eerie !
4th January 2014
Up early due to not working toilet .Caught the tender boat to Nathon (Koh Samui ) and this will be our last stop before disembarking in Singapore.The weather is hot and sticky here,but lots of photo shoots I bought Punk Rock luminous shirt ( our business cards state me n Annie as recycled teenagers ! ) One lady was selling carved soaps and they are absolutely beautiful .Back on the boat,quick shower and after linch off to the quiet room to update blog and photo,s Tonights show was pretty good and this time we went straight for the Crows Nest Bar and remained there till 2 am with Jill,Paul.Hazel,Martin,Steve,myself and Annie,others were tired and couldn’t make it .This will be our last Boozy full on night so we can all sleep in in the morning !!
Saigon or Ho Chi Min City
After breakfast we caught the tour bus and took a 2 hour road trip to Saigon ,and what a vibrant,exciting place this is..Streets full of hawkers trying their best to sell cheap tourist artifacts.The markets were amazingly full of anything!!Shoes,shirts,shorts ,figurines of all description,masks which I have bought to add to my home collection.I ccouldnt resist buying a large Vietnamese pointed hat .Going around the very tiny aisles in the market was very funny with young women wanting to rub my belly !! Christmas is still very evident here and the decorations around the streets is truly amazing.We visited the very French orientated Post Office and still has the look an aura of the early 1800,s Next I visited the HUGE Catholic church and a service was in full flow (NO lightening bolts were aimed at me throughout this session!) As we left at night time the town seemed to attract lots more people and the tiny motor bikes were out in force ! All the street Xmas decorations were illuminated and vendors were now selling all shapes and sizes of electrical wares For my daughter Jayne…as we travelled back to the ship street lights went out as the did in Beijing.Because we arrived back late we were treated to a very large Ship BBQ .Our tired boozing group is now reduced to SIX,nevertheless we still managed Happy Hour ( I think at this point the smoggy pollution is getting on my chest .BUT Annie is on top of that shoving more Pills into me!!) session finished at 12.30am
Happy New Year
January 31 is the Chinese New Year and will be The Year of the Horse
Late breakfast and then into the Ships library to catch up on my blog and transfer photo’s from our cameras to this device.New Years Eve and what a day !! Happy Hour (when our gang of twelve turns up for our nightly gathering ) has been changed from to10pm just for tonight to 4 to 5pm BUT being smart we ordered around 50 bottles in the earlier session and held them over till later) We caught an Australian Comedian in the first show the highlight being when all the NYE balloons overhead had accidentally been released ! then onto our nightly session with the Piano Man and onto The Crows Nest for New Year Celebrations and what a great night it was ,the place was ALIVE and we are lucky to have fallen into a great group of people.The night ended for us at 3am ! HAPPY NEW YEAR
Watch me play Didgeridoo
Geoffs Life After Work ! 