When I was a kid, every year, my folks would take me to Platt Fields' Flower Show, held at the park of the same name in Manchester. As I recall it would be held on the 3rd Friday and Saturday of July, usually a day or two after we had broken up from school for the summer holidays. It was a wonderful mix - primarily a forum for flower, fruit and vegetable growers to submit the results of their labours in a competitive environment, there was also a section for breeders of pigeons, doves and other birds, not to mention rabbits and other small livestock I can't remember at this stage. There was a gymkhana section where I recall seeing world class show jumpers such as Harvey Smith. Various home improvement companies would also exhibit and for all the kids there was a travelling fun fair with the usual rides.
If it rained, the whole site got churned up by the thousands of visitors becoming a horrible mud bath, but if the sun was shining then it would be a glorious afternoon out. I always loved it, my favourites being the various flower displays (living in a terraced house, we didn't have a garden) and the bee-making display. A local beekeeping society had a section of a hive under glass and it always fascinated me seeing the bees busily working away in this honeycomb and we were always on the lookout to spot the queen bee.
Such memories are so powerful that when I heard about the EKKA, I just had to go as it sounded like an Aussie version of something I enjoyed as a kid.
Originally called the Brisbane Exhibition, now formally called the Royal Queensland Show and usually shortened to Ekka, it's the annual agricultural show of Queensland. The Ekka has a history going back to 1876 and is based on the agricultural shows held in Britain in the 19th Century.
We decided to go on the Tuesday as that's the day, a friend of ours, Elaine and her husband, Paul, attend every year. So, bright and early (for me, LOL), we set off in the car around 8:45 towards Caboolture Railway Station. Parking at the station was a bit tricky, especially as it was a normal working day and the station has its fair share of commuters and this was exacerbated by the additional passengers going to the EKKA by rail. Anyway, Jubbly managed to get parked up. We found that the rail company were laying on additional trains for the exhibition - our train departed at 9:28 and, as the journey went on, it filled up rapidly.
We got into conversation with a couple about the EKKA and, amusingly enough it turned out that the man was Polish so the language switched for the rest of my conversation! He had emigrated from Poland in the early 1980s while the country was still under Communist rule. He already had a grown up family but his partner was his Indonesian bride of some two years, a lovely lady with a grown up family of her own as well - a fascinating story, for sure.
Conveniently, the train took us direct to the Exhibition Centre, arriving an hour later and we entered the show to be greeted by familiar themes - fast food stalls, fun fairs and the inevitable agricultural judging!
Rather than describing the themes in detail, it's easier for me to identify differences when compared to the Manchester Show. There was a big emphasis on judging of agricultural livestock, cattle and horses being prominent when we were around. Certainly no sections for amateur breeders, such as pigeon fanciers, but maybe that's not a big thing over here in Oz. The fun fair section was large with some massive, pretty daring rides, not that you'd catch me dead on anything like that, with my fear of heights!
There was a superb choice of food available to cater for a very wide range of tastes, indeed when we met up with Elaine and Paul to have lunch at the Gourmet Harvest, our table sported Indian, Greek and Thai cuisines! It was good to catch up with them, following the meet some ten days earlier.
Particularly enjoyable were the food and drink displays on show in the Woolworths Fresh Food Pavilion, allowing producers to showcase their wares to discerning customers, proving that not all food has to be mass packaged and sometimes quality is appreciated. There were food demonstrations going on throughout the day and we witnessed one which described the process of making a tasty risotto. I could have stayed there all day!
A fun part of the event was the Showbag Pavilion allowing visitors to purchase heavily discounted Showbag collections of products such as perfumeries and cosmetics, chocolate and nut snacks and, some ten thousand miles from home there was even a Manchester United showbag!
TV station Channel 9 had a building - they were running some live programmes from the show during the day, including the 6pm news magazine programme. We had a brief chat with their weather presenter, teasing him about the accuracy of the forecasts!
By around 3:30 we were seriously flagging despite having had a few pit stops and, even though we hadn't seen all the displays we were just too tired to continue. So, we made the return journey getting home thoroughly exhausted around 5:20pm.
A great day out at a great Queensland institution.
Wednesday, 17 August 2011
Dateline Saturday 13th August - Food, Glorious, Food
For a country whose history is based on the forced shipping of convict labour, Australia has certainly come on, like its kangaroos, in leaps and bounds! From architectural icons such as the Sydney Opera House to the city's Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras with the world’s biggest gay pride parade, the country has long shed its colonial image and established its own identity, one demanding to be noticed on the world arena.
Nowhere is this more evident than in the realm of food and drink. Australian wines have established a reputation that challenges the best that the "Old World" has to offer while the country's food is cutting edge - imaginative and inventive, these days drawing on the raw ingredients available as much as being a fusion melting-pot for the best that South East Asia has to offer. All this done in Aussie style, taking no prisoners! A couple of meals out this past week illustrated this perfectly.
The first was our return visit to the Surf Club at Woorim on Saturday. Jubbly had "Lamb Shanks Braised Overnight" (slow cooked overnight with braised winter vegetables, mash and roasted tomato reduction) while I elected to continue with the fish courses, this time with a Fisherman's Lunch (scallops in the half shell, salt and pepper squid, beer battered flathead and fresh king prawns with baby salad and tartare sauce). The club was rather busier than usual, it being the weekend and free tables were hard to find, although we were lucky in that respect. J had gone for two shanks, rather than one, but the portions were so generous, she could have done with a doggy bag, LOL. My meal was absolutely faultless, sheer perfection. Hardly surprising that the place was heaving, it deserves its success. Given the Aussie reputation for being brash and "in your face", this was skilfully understated - if you're that good, then you don't need to shout it out loud, your customers vote for you by putting their bums on your seats and ordering the food, which is what happens here. It's a real gem of a place, classy without being snobby. I love it!
We followed that up with a wander around Lions Park and then onto the beautiful beach. Lovely! And winter too, although you wouldn't know it!
The following day we made a proper visit to the Ettamogah Pub. I've previously described how I was bemused by the look of the place and the history behind it and the visit certainly didn't disappoint. I quote from the website:
"The original creator of the Ettamogah Pub was Ken Maynard who started drawing the Ettamogah Pub in 1959. It was made famous through his regular cartoons in The Australasian Post.
The Aussie World Ettamogah Pub was built in 1989 and the word "ettamogah" is Aboriginal for "place of good drink!" Now one of Queensland's leading tourist attractions it stands at an impressive 18m in height. It's a must to visit due to its quirky shape and caricature appearance. It was opened on 24th November 1989 with most of the furniture inside the pub built from trees cleared from the actual site.
There's a 1930 Chevy truck on top of the bright red roof of the Ettamogah Pub. In the cartoon the theory is the truck was washed up there in the floods of 1946 and none of the regulars could be bothered to get it down. There are also pictures of the cartoons hanging around the walls of the Pub along with other eclectic displays of everything Australian."
Can't say fairer than that! The whole place is wonderfully tongue in cheek and I adored the humour and fun surrounding the site, including the road signs on the roof! And the food was superb, too! We both had steaks, which were absolutely delicious and generous portions at that. Aussies have a reputation for not taking themselves too seriously and this place is a great example of that. If you're ever near the Sunshine Coast, this is a must-see!
Nowhere is this more evident than in the realm of food and drink. Australian wines have established a reputation that challenges the best that the "Old World" has to offer while the country's food is cutting edge - imaginative and inventive, these days drawing on the raw ingredients available as much as being a fusion melting-pot for the best that South East Asia has to offer. All this done in Aussie style, taking no prisoners! A couple of meals out this past week illustrated this perfectly.
The first was our return visit to the Surf Club at Woorim on Saturday. Jubbly had "Lamb Shanks Braised Overnight" (slow cooked overnight with braised winter vegetables, mash and roasted tomato reduction) while I elected to continue with the fish courses, this time with a Fisherman's Lunch (scallops in the half shell, salt and pepper squid, beer battered flathead and fresh king prawns with baby salad and tartare sauce). The club was rather busier than usual, it being the weekend and free tables were hard to find, although we were lucky in that respect. J had gone for two shanks, rather than one, but the portions were so generous, she could have done with a doggy bag, LOL. My meal was absolutely faultless, sheer perfection. Hardly surprising that the place was heaving, it deserves its success. Given the Aussie reputation for being brash and "in your face", this was skilfully understated - if you're that good, then you don't need to shout it out loud, your customers vote for you by putting their bums on your seats and ordering the food, which is what happens here. It's a real gem of a place, classy without being snobby. I love it!
We followed that up with a wander around Lions Park and then onto the beautiful beach. Lovely! And winter too, although you wouldn't know it!
The following day we made a proper visit to the Ettamogah Pub. I've previously described how I was bemused by the look of the place and the history behind it and the visit certainly didn't disappoint. I quote from the website:
"The original creator of the Ettamogah Pub was Ken Maynard who started drawing the Ettamogah Pub in 1959. It was made famous through his regular cartoons in The Australasian Post.
The Aussie World Ettamogah Pub was built in 1989 and the word "ettamogah" is Aboriginal for "place of good drink!" Now one of Queensland's leading tourist attractions it stands at an impressive 18m in height. It's a must to visit due to its quirky shape and caricature appearance. It was opened on 24th November 1989 with most of the furniture inside the pub built from trees cleared from the actual site.
There's a 1930 Chevy truck on top of the bright red roof of the Ettamogah Pub. In the cartoon the theory is the truck was washed up there in the floods of 1946 and none of the regulars could be bothered to get it down. There are also pictures of the cartoons hanging around the walls of the Pub along with other eclectic displays of everything Australian."
Can't say fairer than that! The whole place is wonderfully tongue in cheek and I adored the humour and fun surrounding the site, including the road signs on the roof! And the food was superb, too! We both had steaks, which were absolutely delicious and generous portions at that. Aussies have a reputation for not taking themselves too seriously and this place is a great example of that. If you're ever near the Sunshine Coast, this is a must-see!
Friday, 12 August 2011
Dateline Thursday 11th August - Mangroves, Strawberries and Nuts
Wot? No sunshine? I was thinking of asking for my money back when I got up - a very, very overcast day, much like any other UK day. And then the rain started. It didn’t last long but after a pause, we had another short shower. I was told by SWMBO that this was an ideal day to visit the mangroves, so who was I to argue?
We packed and set off, travelling north up the Bruce Highway, but a tad further than I'd ventured previously. En route, I realised I'd forgotten my sunglasses and bottled drinks. Doh, that's what cloudy skies do to the mind!:-(
Took a few piccies of Mount Tibrogargan, one of the Glass House Mountains then we carried on to the Ettamogah Pub. Jubbly had previously posted the link for this quirky pub and it had certainly tickled my fancy, but this was just a short pit stop to get some drinks and munchies. There are a few touristy shops here by the side of the pub, so we got a steak and kidney Beefys Pie and a coffee each from one of them - although I'm not a regular pie eater these were delicious. Round the corner was a petrol filling station where I got a pair of sunglasses and my drinks. Sorted.
Our destination was the Maroochy Wetlands Sanctuary at Bli Bli. I've never visited the mangroves previously but in the last few weeks I've been doing a lot of reading up about their importance to the eco-system. Jubbly has taken tour groups around the sanctuary previously and it showed - brilliant having your own personal guide who knows their stuff. She explained how the vegetation changed gradually as we moved into the mangroves, pointing out the different types of mangrove, including berries and root systems and the various bird calls. Being the cool season it was a quiet time for the wild life, just as well as the mosquitoes weren't around. It was a bit disappointing that the fiddler crab was absent, although this may have been due to a slightly noisy boat tour that had just disembarked. It was a fascinating hour or two where Jubbly's training and professionalism showed.
After this we went to a nearby strawberry centre, where I demolished a lovely homemade ice cream and then we had a Devonshire Cream Tea, served up with their own strawberry jam. We talked to the owner about pineapples and she pointed out where her pineapples were growing - from the ground, not from a tree as I'd always imagined!
Then a change of plan, rather than going to the Ettamogah Pub for a meal, as originally planned, Jubbly drove further inland to Yandina (originally called Maroochy), to visit the Ginger Factory. I've never seen so many products with Ginger and Honey as their common theme! Jubbly stocked up in the shop, then we went to the Coffee Roastery across the road, but this closes at 3 pm, so we nipped into the Nutworks Macadamia Factory next door - again, the most incredible collection of nut-oriented products - oils, chocolates and a mind-boggling choice of flavoured nuts.
It seemed a long drive home after what had been a lovely day. Thanks again, J! xxx
We packed and set off, travelling north up the Bruce Highway, but a tad further than I'd ventured previously. En route, I realised I'd forgotten my sunglasses and bottled drinks. Doh, that's what cloudy skies do to the mind!:-(
Took a few piccies of Mount Tibrogargan, one of the Glass House Mountains then we carried on to the Ettamogah Pub. Jubbly had previously posted the link for this quirky pub and it had certainly tickled my fancy, but this was just a short pit stop to get some drinks and munchies. There are a few touristy shops here by the side of the pub, so we got a steak and kidney Beefys Pie and a coffee each from one of them - although I'm not a regular pie eater these were delicious. Round the corner was a petrol filling station where I got a pair of sunglasses and my drinks. Sorted.
Our destination was the Maroochy Wetlands Sanctuary at Bli Bli. I've never visited the mangroves previously but in the last few weeks I've been doing a lot of reading up about their importance to the eco-system. Jubbly has taken tour groups around the sanctuary previously and it showed - brilliant having your own personal guide who knows their stuff. She explained how the vegetation changed gradually as we moved into the mangroves, pointing out the different types of mangrove, including berries and root systems and the various bird calls. Being the cool season it was a quiet time for the wild life, just as well as the mosquitoes weren't around. It was a bit disappointing that the fiddler crab was absent, although this may have been due to a slightly noisy boat tour that had just disembarked. It was a fascinating hour or two where Jubbly's training and professionalism showed.
After this we went to a nearby strawberry centre, where I demolished a lovely homemade ice cream and then we had a Devonshire Cream Tea, served up with their own strawberry jam. We talked to the owner about pineapples and she pointed out where her pineapples were growing - from the ground, not from a tree as I'd always imagined!
Then a change of plan, rather than going to the Ettamogah Pub for a meal, as originally planned, Jubbly drove further inland to Yandina (originally called Maroochy), to visit the Ginger Factory. I've never seen so many products with Ginger and Honey as their common theme! Jubbly stocked up in the shop, then we went to the Coffee Roastery across the road, but this closes at 3 pm, so we nipped into the Nutworks Macadamia Factory next door - again, the most incredible collection of nut-oriented products - oils, chocolates and a mind-boggling choice of flavoured nuts.
It seemed a long drive home after what had been a lovely day. Thanks again, J! xxx
Wednesday, 10 August 2011
Dateline Wednesday 10th August - A snapper and a belly
Jubbly and I had had a late night, watching Australian TV reporting on the disturbances back in the UK, pretty unsettling stuff that made me relieved to be thousands of miles away from all the mindless violence.
So, I got up a tad later than usual and pottered around for a few hours before we went out for lunch. Jubbly chose The Surf Club at Woorim, where she is a member.
The Bribie Island Surf Club was established in 1922 and is one of the oldest Surf Life Saving Clubs in Australia - they are open for lunch and dinner all year round. It's a very classy establishment without being snobby. The bistro is on the upper deck with beautiful views out over the Ocean.
We arrived around halfway through lunch. Looking at the menu there was quite a wide choice available, prompting me to comment that I would like to work my way through the fish part of the offerings, something that we resolved to do in the future!
Jubbly ordered Ginger and Honey Glazed Pork Belly (twice cooked with parsnip mash, confit garlic and wilted pak choi) while I settled for Gold Band Snapper Fillet (oven roasted on egg plant, roma tomatoes and zucchini with sweet potato crisps and pesto), priced at 23.5AUD and 23AUD, respectively. The order called to the kitchen was for "a snapper and a belly", at least it wasn't a slapper and a belly!;-)
While we waited for our food, we looked out to sea. Across the water we could see Moreton Island and a few prawn trawlers and pleasure craft going about their business. We caught a flash of a dolphin, but again, in the distance. Then there was a bit of excitement on the deck as some of the diners and drinkers pulled out their binoculars to view something out there in the water - we could see a head and a long body as it moved slowly eastwards - it wasn't until later that we were told that it was a whale!
The food arrived, stunning to view and mouth-wateringly delicious and tasty. I wasn't sure how comfortably egg plant would sit with snapper but it did and extremely well at that. Jubbly's was equally gorgeous with a lovely ginger and honey sauce. Classy but not pretentious with decent size portions.
After the main course, I elected to go for the Rhubarb and Apple Crumble, (8AUD) served with ice cream. Just stunning.
Off to do some shopping then back home to unwind. What a stressful life we lead, LOL!;-)
Tomorrow an early start as we visit the mangroves.
So, I got up a tad later than usual and pottered around for a few hours before we went out for lunch. Jubbly chose The Surf Club at Woorim, where she is a member.
The Bribie Island Surf Club was established in 1922 and is one of the oldest Surf Life Saving Clubs in Australia - they are open for lunch and dinner all year round. It's a very classy establishment without being snobby. The bistro is on the upper deck with beautiful views out over the Ocean.
We arrived around halfway through lunch. Looking at the menu there was quite a wide choice available, prompting me to comment that I would like to work my way through the fish part of the offerings, something that we resolved to do in the future!
Jubbly ordered Ginger and Honey Glazed Pork Belly (twice cooked with parsnip mash, confit garlic and wilted pak choi) while I settled for Gold Band Snapper Fillet (oven roasted on egg plant, roma tomatoes and zucchini with sweet potato crisps and pesto), priced at 23.5AUD and 23AUD, respectively. The order called to the kitchen was for "a snapper and a belly", at least it wasn't a slapper and a belly!;-)
While we waited for our food, we looked out to sea. Across the water we could see Moreton Island and a few prawn trawlers and pleasure craft going about their business. We caught a flash of a dolphin, but again, in the distance. Then there was a bit of excitement on the deck as some of the diners and drinkers pulled out their binoculars to view something out there in the water - we could see a head and a long body as it moved slowly eastwards - it wasn't until later that we were told that it was a whale!
The food arrived, stunning to view and mouth-wateringly delicious and tasty. I wasn't sure how comfortably egg plant would sit with snapper but it did and extremely well at that. Jubbly's was equally gorgeous with a lovely ginger and honey sauce. Classy but not pretentious with decent size portions.
After the main course, I elected to go for the Rhubarb and Apple Crumble, (8AUD) served with ice cream. Just stunning.
Off to do some shopping then back home to unwind. What a stressful life we lead, LOL!;-)
Tomorrow an early start as we visit the mangroves.
Dateline Tuesday 9th August - Up the Passage and then by foot
After a quiet Monday following the PP Ping, today was booked for me by Jubbly as a trip "Up the Passage". Best offer I've had in a while, LOL! The passage in question is the Pumicestone Passage, the narrow channel between Bribie Island and the Queensland mainland. Ferryman Cruises is a local company that does cruises up the passage ( - these take 3 hours and normally cost 52AUD, but only 40AUD if you're a guest of a local resident. Jubbly has done this trip on a number of occasions, but recommended it to me, as a must-do trip for someone interested in bird life.
The company does a variety of eco-cruises from their purpose built vessel, the MV Ferryman. The trip was booked the previous day and was due to start at 11am, departing from Sylvan Beach Esplanade, so we got there around 15 minutes early. Boarding commenced soon after we arrived and I got myself a good seat on board. Numbers didn't look too good until a coach party arrived, filling the boat.
Bang on 11am we cast off but within a few minutes the old biddies behind me were complaining about the wind, prompting the staff to drop the wind covers to shield them. Unfortunately, this obscured the camera view, prompting me to move to the smaller open-top upper deck which offered an unrestricted panoramic view, a bit breezy but fine for me.
The Passage is a Marine Life Park, largely less than 2 metres deep with 24 islands. A wide range of sea and bird life frequents the park and this presented lots of photo opportunities. Early on in the cruise there were some brief sightings of dolphins but they were too far away to photograph. However, it was a great starter for the first serious outdoor use of my new telephoto zoom lens (apart from in Jubbly's garden a few days earlier), with me taking around 800 shots in the 3 hours.
One of the non-wildlife attractions of this tour is view of the Glass House Mountains as you approach the half-way point in the cruise. The mountains are a spectacular sight on the Queensland Sunshine Coastline and I do look forward to an even closer inspection in the future.
The captain provided a very informative commentary throughout the journey, pointing out the various sights and the birds as they presented themselves and there was an excellent cold buffet provided, together with complimentary tea/coffee.
For anyone interested in marine life, I can thoroughly recommend Ferryman Cruises as they are run by a eco-friendly organisation, people who know their subject inside out. They run a variety of cruises to cater for different levels of interest and it's worth looking up their website.
After the trip, we did some shopping and came back home. I needed to post some cards and packages and as I'd largely been sitting down all day enjoying the view, I decided to be a bit more active and take a walk to the Bribie Island Shopping Centre - it's a pretty easy journey, just under half an hour each way. Plus it gave me the opportunity to photograph some of the roadside flowers and plants en route.
Just before you reach the shopping centre, you go over a small road bridge on Goodwin Drive. In previous journeys in the car I'd noticed, this was in the middle of an upmarket housing development and the bridge ran over a stretch of water but hadn't realised this was a man-made canal purposely built to add a feature to the development. I suppose if you have the bucks then you can buy the goods and must say this is a lovely well-structured development.
A visit to the post office, then a quick Chai Tea Latte (never had one of these before, and although it was a tad sweet, it was nice) and a slab of cake and it was time to set off home. I had to get a move on as it gets dark around 6pm and dusk is virtually non-existent. I arrived back at the camp, LOL, just before 6 as light was fading.
A thoroughly gorgeous day. Thanks J!
The company does a variety of eco-cruises from their purpose built vessel, the MV Ferryman. The trip was booked the previous day and was due to start at 11am, departing from Sylvan Beach Esplanade, so we got there around 15 minutes early. Boarding commenced soon after we arrived and I got myself a good seat on board. Numbers didn't look too good until a coach party arrived, filling the boat.
Bang on 11am we cast off but within a few minutes the old biddies behind me were complaining about the wind, prompting the staff to drop the wind covers to shield them. Unfortunately, this obscured the camera view, prompting me to move to the smaller open-top upper deck which offered an unrestricted panoramic view, a bit breezy but fine for me.
The Passage is a Marine Life Park, largely less than 2 metres deep with 24 islands. A wide range of sea and bird life frequents the park and this presented lots of photo opportunities. Early on in the cruise there were some brief sightings of dolphins but they were too far away to photograph. However, it was a great starter for the first serious outdoor use of my new telephoto zoom lens (apart from in Jubbly's garden a few days earlier), with me taking around 800 shots in the 3 hours.
One of the non-wildlife attractions of this tour is view of the Glass House Mountains as you approach the half-way point in the cruise. The mountains are a spectacular sight on the Queensland Sunshine Coastline and I do look forward to an even closer inspection in the future.
The captain provided a very informative commentary throughout the journey, pointing out the various sights and the birds as they presented themselves and there was an excellent cold buffet provided, together with complimentary tea/coffee.
For anyone interested in marine life, I can thoroughly recommend Ferryman Cruises as they are run by a eco-friendly organisation, people who know their subject inside out. They run a variety of cruises to cater for different levels of interest and it's worth looking up their website.
After the trip, we did some shopping and came back home. I needed to post some cards and packages and as I'd largely been sitting down all day enjoying the view, I decided to be a bit more active and take a walk to the Bribie Island Shopping Centre - it's a pretty easy journey, just under half an hour each way. Plus it gave me the opportunity to photograph some of the roadside flowers and plants en route.
Just before you reach the shopping centre, you go over a small road bridge on Goodwin Drive. In previous journeys in the car I'd noticed, this was in the middle of an upmarket housing development and the bridge ran over a stretch of water but hadn't realised this was a man-made canal purposely built to add a feature to the development. I suppose if you have the bucks then you can buy the goods and must say this is a lovely well-structured development.
A visit to the post office, then a quick Chai Tea Latte (never had one of these before, and although it was a tad sweet, it was nice) and a slab of cake and it was time to set off home. I had to get a move on as it gets dark around 6pm and dusk is virtually non-existent. I arrived back at the camp, LOL, just before 6 as light was fading.
A thoroughly gorgeous day. Thanks J!
Monday, 8 August 2011
Dateline Sunday 7th August - PP Ping at South Bank Parklands, Brisbane
Why PP Ping? Well, PP stands for "Purple Person" aka Tinky. And because Tinky in the Teletubbies wore purple, SWMBO ("She who must be obeyed" aka Jubbly) decreed the dress code would be purple in deference, LOL. I just couldn't find the right shade of purple but, in the end, settled for a Rugby World Cup 2011 tee-shirt loaned to me by the Jubbly one.
Proceedings were due to start at noon at South Bank Parklands, Brisbane. This journey is around a couple of hours involving car and two trains, so an early start was needed.
How to describe the Parklands? Well, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Bank_Parklands or http://www.visitsouthbank.com.au/attractions/south_bank_parklands, they do it far better than I ever could. Difficult to imagine that this area was largely submerged following the bad floods earlier in the year.
Jubbly and I got off the train, crossed over the street and found ourselves going past the Brisbane Wheel, some time cousin to the London and Manchester Wheels before going down to the river front and passing by the spectacular Nepalese Peace Pagoda. Colleen had contacted us to advise she'd found a bench for us to sit on and she came up to meet us when we texted to announce our arrival. It was so nice for me to see her again, as we'd had such a good time when she and Jubbly came over for last year's Coro-Ping. She took us down to the river-front where her grand-daughter (shome mishtake shurely!) Ashleigh was guarding our place. Pretty soon, Joan Elliott joined us (a Corrie Cobber herself, she'd already contacted me before my departure from the UK), followed by Elaine (Feral Rambler on IRC) and her hubby, Paul. It was so nice meeting old friends and new - I first met Elaine online over 13 years ago on IRC and it was a real joy to meet her in real life after all this time. Apart from young Ashleigh, Joan was the newest face to me, a delightful lady originally from Mexborough in South Yorkshire who has been in Australia many years. For the next few hours, we took photographs, then settled down to natter and either get to know each other or to catch up on events.
The Parklands has barbecue areas with free heating for use by the public to BBQ their food - such a wonderful idea and, unsurprisingly, these were all in high demand. The part of the Parklands where we were was just a wonderful mix of friends and families out for the afternoon, enjoying each others company, having drinks, eating food, playing games, a superb venue to get together, a real winner.
We got the food going on the barbecue ourselves with Ashleigh becoming designated chef and Colleen going back and forth to keep an eye on proceedings. Then munching time, washed down with pure aqueous matter, (LOL, I lie)!
It was one of those lovely afternoons when there wasn't a dull moment and the time went far too fast. I'd like to thank all who turned up to make this such a special event for me, quite something going halfway round the world and having such a great time! Such is the ethos of the Corrie community! Bless you, one and all. Mwah xxxxx
Proceedings were due to start at noon at South Bank Parklands, Brisbane. This journey is around a couple of hours involving car and two trains, so an early start was needed.
How to describe the Parklands? Well, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Bank_Parklands or http://www.visitsouthbank.com.au/attractions/south_bank_parklands, they do it far better than I ever could. Difficult to imagine that this area was largely submerged following the bad floods earlier in the year.
Jubbly and I got off the train, crossed over the street and found ourselves going past the Brisbane Wheel, some time cousin to the London and Manchester Wheels before going down to the river front and passing by the spectacular Nepalese Peace Pagoda. Colleen had contacted us to advise she'd found a bench for us to sit on and she came up to meet us when we texted to announce our arrival. It was so nice for me to see her again, as we'd had such a good time when she and Jubbly came over for last year's Coro-Ping. She took us down to the river-front where her grand-daughter (shome mishtake shurely!) Ashleigh was guarding our place. Pretty soon, Joan Elliott joined us (a Corrie Cobber herself, she'd already contacted me before my departure from the UK), followed by Elaine (Feral Rambler on IRC) and her hubby, Paul. It was so nice meeting old friends and new - I first met Elaine online over 13 years ago on IRC and it was a real joy to meet her in real life after all this time. Apart from young Ashleigh, Joan was the newest face to me, a delightful lady originally from Mexborough in South Yorkshire who has been in Australia many years. For the next few hours, we took photographs, then settled down to natter and either get to know each other or to catch up on events.
The Parklands has barbecue areas with free heating for use by the public to BBQ their food - such a wonderful idea and, unsurprisingly, these were all in high demand. The part of the Parklands where we were was just a wonderful mix of friends and families out for the afternoon, enjoying each others company, having drinks, eating food, playing games, a superb venue to get together, a real winner.
We got the food going on the barbecue ourselves with Ashleigh becoming designated chef and Colleen going back and forth to keep an eye on proceedings. Then munching time, washed down with pure aqueous matter, (LOL, I lie)!
It was one of those lovely afternoons when there wasn't a dull moment and the time went far too fast. I'd like to thank all who turned up to make this such a special event for me, quite something going halfway round the world and having such a great time! Such is the ethos of the Corrie community! Bless you, one and all. Mwah xxxxx
Dateline w/c Tuesday 2nd August Queensland - beautiful one day, perfect the next!
That's Queensland's tagline, also proudly boasting of itself as the Sunshine State! That was certainly the impression waking up on my first full day in Australia and on Bribie Island. A lovely sunny morning, bright light and a feeling of airiness, after the skyscrapers of KL!
This past week has been a total contrast from the rushing around of the previous week, just chilling out, taking it easy, going for strolls, doing the day-to-day shopping and photographing the birds, just the feathered kind, LOL.
Jubbly lives in a detached bungalow on a seniors' resort (not an "estate" as I previously called it, LOL!). Apparently Bribie Island is called "God's Waiting Room", well, "don't come a knockin'" on my door, just yet! Palm trees line her row and although the houses look a little bit squashed in from the front, it's totally different round the back of the house which has a verandah/patio, then a small lawned area and beyond the fence is the "great outdoors", the bush.
A simply marvellous location to observe the bird life that's so abundant round this neck of the woods. During her time here, she's obviously made her place a bird friendly location for our feathered friends to drop in for a quick snack! And they're so tame, they'll take food from her hand and happily be just a foot or so away from you! Probably the two species that have endeared themselves most to me are the Kookaburras and the Lorikeets.
When I was in secondary school, around 1962, I became a keen shortwave radio listener and was just fascinated by this wonderful window on the world. In spring and autumn, conditions were perfect to hear Radio Australia, the overseas service of the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Commission, as it was then known). I would pick up the station on the 25 and 31 metre bands in the morning before I went to school and it was so exciting in those pre-satellite, pre-internet days to be listening to live radio from the other side of the globe. Shortwave stations identify themselves with a signature tune, known as an interval signal - this is played before the commencement of a broadcast so that you can find the station on the dial and not miss the actual programme itself. Radio Australia's interval signal was a tape loop of a laughing Kookaburra and just before they launched into the broadcast they would play "Waltzing Matilda". So the sound of a Kookie is one of those wonderfully evocative blasts from the past for me, it's such a happy sound, always brings a smile to my face.
Imagine my surprise to find a whole load of Kookies regularly visit Jubbly! Just wonderful. There's one who sits on the fence separating her place from her neighbour's, he regularly comes down to the table on her verandah where she places food for him. A gorgeous sight.
The other bird that's caught my imagination is the Lorikeet - here we have a number of Rainbow Lorikeets, just spectacularly beautiful - blue head, bright red bill, yellow-green collar and deep violet-blue abdomen. Never ever seen a bird "in the wild" that's so beautifully coloured!
The other birds around that seem to be plentiful in this location include the galahs (pink and white cockatoos), sulphur-crested cockatoos and the ibis.
It's just been wonderful sitting out on the patio with my new long lens snapping away to my heart's content and Jubbly's amusement ("this morning in an hour and a half, did you know he took 400 photos of a kookaburra?", LOL).
Our cultural attaché insisted that the first tourist sight that should greet me was the "willie trees" (Pandanus to the horticultural types), so off we went to Sylvan Beach on the Tuesday. After some rude posing, we carried on walking along the beach front with a great view of the Glass House Mountains, so named by Captain Cook. Hopefully, I'll be getting closer to them at some stage. Then we went down the road to Bongaree Beach where we had an ice cream at Scoopies.
The following day, my 61st birthday, included a trip to Banksia Beach, followed by birthday butties at Woorim looking out to sea, with the ibis around us, sheer bliss.
Thursday morning started with some great bird photography on the patio, taking piccies of kookaburras, galahs and magpies, before going out to Bongaree Beach. They have an interesting Sea Museum there where I had a good look around before having a pastry at Scoopies. Jubbs had gone to the hairdressers' but joined me later to have her breakfast.
It was computer catch-up time on Friday during the day - Jubbs got her new laptop and I set it up for her, actually tidying up her cables! In the evening we went out for dinner to the Hog's Breath Café on the mainland at Morayfield where we met up with her daughter, Cassie and her partner, Dave. We were joined soon after by her son, Brad and his friend, Katrina. Really nice to meet them all after hearing about "Search and Destroy" all these years.
Café is a real misnomer for this establishment, it's what I would have called a friendly steak house way back. It has the feel of an American diner, doing steaks, sea food, chicken, burgers etc. At the entrance is a 1952 (or was it 1953) Mercury, well the front half of it anyway, in stunning purple, a gorgeous gleaming sight. I had rib of beef, that was the most delicious and tender steak I've had in, well, I don’t know how long.
Saturday was an easy day at home in preparation for the following day's ping at Brisbane Southbank Parklands.
The past week has been a gentle time, allowing me the opportunity to catch up on things. I've been surprised at how cold the place gets at night, but I suppose I've been conditioned by the heat of Malaysia and we are that much further away from the equator. But, as with all these things, it's a matter of getting used to the new surroundings. One thing's for sure and that's Bribie's wonderful bird life makes it a real gem of a place for all nature lovers. And, boy, have Jubbly and I had some great laughs. That's what it's all about!
This past week has been a total contrast from the rushing around of the previous week, just chilling out, taking it easy, going for strolls, doing the day-to-day shopping and photographing the birds, just the feathered kind, LOL.
Jubbly lives in a detached bungalow on a seniors' resort (not an "estate" as I previously called it, LOL!). Apparently Bribie Island is called "God's Waiting Room", well, "don't come a knockin'" on my door, just yet! Palm trees line her row and although the houses look a little bit squashed in from the front, it's totally different round the back of the house which has a verandah/patio, then a small lawned area and beyond the fence is the "great outdoors", the bush.
A simply marvellous location to observe the bird life that's so abundant round this neck of the woods. During her time here, she's obviously made her place a bird friendly location for our feathered friends to drop in for a quick snack! And they're so tame, they'll take food from her hand and happily be just a foot or so away from you! Probably the two species that have endeared themselves most to me are the Kookaburras and the Lorikeets.
When I was in secondary school, around 1962, I became a keen shortwave radio listener and was just fascinated by this wonderful window on the world. In spring and autumn, conditions were perfect to hear Radio Australia, the overseas service of the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Commission, as it was then known). I would pick up the station on the 25 and 31 metre bands in the morning before I went to school and it was so exciting in those pre-satellite, pre-internet days to be listening to live radio from the other side of the globe. Shortwave stations identify themselves with a signature tune, known as an interval signal - this is played before the commencement of a broadcast so that you can find the station on the dial and not miss the actual programme itself. Radio Australia's interval signal was a tape loop of a laughing Kookaburra and just before they launched into the broadcast they would play "Waltzing Matilda". So the sound of a Kookie is one of those wonderfully evocative blasts from the past for me, it's such a happy sound, always brings a smile to my face.
Imagine my surprise to find a whole load of Kookies regularly visit Jubbly! Just wonderful. There's one who sits on the fence separating her place from her neighbour's, he regularly comes down to the table on her verandah where she places food for him. A gorgeous sight.
The other bird that's caught my imagination is the Lorikeet - here we have a number of Rainbow Lorikeets, just spectacularly beautiful - blue head, bright red bill, yellow-green collar and deep violet-blue abdomen. Never ever seen a bird "in the wild" that's so beautifully coloured!
The other birds around that seem to be plentiful in this location include the galahs (pink and white cockatoos), sulphur-crested cockatoos and the ibis.
It's just been wonderful sitting out on the patio with my new long lens snapping away to my heart's content and Jubbly's amusement ("this morning in an hour and a half, did you know he took 400 photos of a kookaburra?", LOL).
Our cultural attaché insisted that the first tourist sight that should greet me was the "willie trees" (Pandanus to the horticultural types), so off we went to Sylvan Beach on the Tuesday. After some rude posing, we carried on walking along the beach front with a great view of the Glass House Mountains, so named by Captain Cook. Hopefully, I'll be getting closer to them at some stage. Then we went down the road to Bongaree Beach where we had an ice cream at Scoopies.
The following day, my 61st birthday, included a trip to Banksia Beach, followed by birthday butties at Woorim looking out to sea, with the ibis around us, sheer bliss.
Thursday morning started with some great bird photography on the patio, taking piccies of kookaburras, galahs and magpies, before going out to Bongaree Beach. They have an interesting Sea Museum there where I had a good look around before having a pastry at Scoopies. Jubbs had gone to the hairdressers' but joined me later to have her breakfast.
It was computer catch-up time on Friday during the day - Jubbs got her new laptop and I set it up for her, actually tidying up her cables! In the evening we went out for dinner to the Hog's Breath Café on the mainland at Morayfield where we met up with her daughter, Cassie and her partner, Dave. We were joined soon after by her son, Brad and his friend, Katrina. Really nice to meet them all after hearing about "Search and Destroy" all these years.
Café is a real misnomer for this establishment, it's what I would have called a friendly steak house way back. It has the feel of an American diner, doing steaks, sea food, chicken, burgers etc. At the entrance is a 1952 (or was it 1953) Mercury, well the front half of it anyway, in stunning purple, a gorgeous gleaming sight. I had rib of beef, that was the most delicious and tender steak I've had in, well, I don’t know how long.
Saturday was an easy day at home in preparation for the following day's ping at Brisbane Southbank Parklands.
The past week has been a gentle time, allowing me the opportunity to catch up on things. I've been surprised at how cold the place gets at night, but I suppose I've been conditioned by the heat of Malaysia and we are that much further away from the equator. But, as with all these things, it's a matter of getting used to the new surroundings. One thing's for sure and that's Bribie's wonderful bird life makes it a real gem of a place for all nature lovers. And, boy, have Jubbly and I had some great laughs. That's what it's all about!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
