So who had a birthday???

Thursday 20th saw Chris have another birthday - NO it is not the big 0 one, that is next year

We had a nice day, Chris did not have to work that day so it was a good reward.
We went out in the evening for dinner and a bit of a stroll along the boardwalk the evening was fantastic.
The workers here Kerry and David bought Chris a birthday cake and "Miss Brown" David's little Jack Russell gave Chris a Bingo scratchy - which she won $6, thank you Kerry,David and "Miss Brown" from Chris.

Happy New Year to all our family and friends

Well we hope you all had a great New Year and saw in 2011, we did which was great. We had a great night around 8.00pm saw us head out and off to Kings Beach which is an amazing beach about 20mins from us, we had heard there were to be Fire Works there at 9.15pm. We drove to Caloundra and along with 100s of other people parked our car and walked the boardwalk around to Kings beach, it was a beautiful evening, we found a good spot on the bank and sat and waited for the display to begin on time at 9.15pm.
It was a fantastic display and went for around 20mins so well worth going and seeing, there was a bit of a strong wind blowing so some of the fireworks had a bit of trouble getting up high however it was still a great time.
We made a slow trip back to the car with many others all armed with torches it looked really pretty. In the car and we were home in no time.
We sat and had a few drinks and watched the TV I think we watched the show they had in the park at Brisbane, and the fireworks at midnight from the Sydney Harbour Bridge that was fantastic. That was our New Year, another quiet one however we did see it in.
Hope you all have a great 2011.

Picture shows our little bit of Kiwiana - Silver Fern

Christmas Day - 2010

We had a lovely Christmas Day even though it was very quiet we did have a great day.
We awoke to an overcast kind of day and it did not look like we would be swimming at all. We had been having really shocking weather for this time of year not very summer like at all.
Both Chris and I got up and opened our parcels from each other and some that Yasmine had kindly posted over for us, we were both very spoiled. Breakfast over it was then time to do the ringing to NZ and catch up with most of the family, as Chris's family well some of them were getting together on Boxing Day at Angela's Chris would catch up with them all on the 26th, we did chat with Yasmine,Adam and Rory before they went off for their Christmas lunch.
We went to our very special friends Helen and David Waldron's for Christmas lunch it ws lovely we had a mixture of hot and cold, we offered to take a roast chicken, some frozen peas,pavlova,cream,strawberries and Chrismas Crackers. We had a great time with our friends and decided around 2.30 to head off for home and on the way we called in to see Victoria and the granddies Oliva and Jamie and give them their christmas parcels.
Only a week earlier

we had Caroline and grandaughter Alesha come and stay from up Gladstone, so we managed to catch up with all the family which was great.
We left Vickys and headed home to rest and have a snooze, one thing we did not need any dinner on Christmas night.

Our New Abode - Little Mountain

We left Sunseeker Village in June and moved to Fort Knox just around the corner on the other side of the hill. Spacious 2 brm unit with large lounge and kitchen, patio with corner garden. Light duties during the week and we can work on a Sat morning if required. Permanent van at Sunseeker village is up for sale, and our little travelling van is parked out along side the house. We had to buy some extra furniture, a coffee table and tv cabinet. We have a resident green frog (Mr Croaker) and Rosellas have called at our bird feeder attached to a foxtail palm at the front.

Caloundra farmers market

Sunday 7am - midday. Lovely fresh produce so we got up early'ish and drove to a local park at the back of the Stockland mall. It's not a big market by market standards but it does have a great range of fresh fruit and vegs, plus some bric-a-brac secondhand stuff etc. We headed straight for the mushroom stall and got a bag, followed by the fresh vegs we wanted. The crowd had not yet arrived so we were only there for a short time, picking up a couple of coriander plants on the way out.

Terry & Patricia arrive on Bribie Island

Monday 31st May saw Brian's brother Terry and his wife Patricia arrive for their stay at the caravan park at Worrim on Bribie Island. We had arranged to meet them at the storage place where they have their caravan stored once they return to NZ around Aug - Sept each year. The last two years they have arrived and had to set up in pouring rain,but this time it was fine and sunny and the setup went smoothly.
We took our van down to Bribie on the 4th of June and stayed for 3 nights. Terry's No.1 son and grownup family came up from Brisbane on the Sunday and we had a BBQ in the camp kitchen.

April birthdays and Anzac Parade.

April is a month for us that sees birthdays for Yasmine, Alesha older grand-daughter living in Gladstone this year 11yr old, Dad would have been 96 and he shared his birthday with brother in law Bill Carney. Anzac Day this year dawned and was just stunning not hot and steamy like the parade in 2009 where Brian almost melted. We drove down to Kings Beach at Caloundra where the parade was due to step off at 0930am, I decided to head toward the end of the parade and meet Brian there. The usual 2 marched for the Kiwi's and this year Brian wore dad's NZ RSA cap so he felt dad was present at the parade. It was rather funny as when the parade passed me there was another guy marching with the Kiwi's, Brian informed me he was an Aussie who arrived late and missed stepping off with his group so he tagged onto the Kiwi group - typical Aussies.

Photos show:

The two Kiwi's waiting in the cool and shade ready to step off.
On the march along the esplanade toward to Kings Beach amphitheatre.
Brian at the finish of the Parade at Kings Beach.

Family catch up.

March saw us catching up with Belinda,Adam and the family, my how the boys have grown.
Kyle is the older Great Grandson of Angus, he will be 12 this year and we will go down to Marsden for his birthday, will be fun as we wont tell him we are coming. The day was beautiful and we decided as it was so nice to have a BBQ and eat outside under the carport where there is more room and we are able to spread out. The day was great so nice and relaxed and just giving us time to catch up and have a great old chat. They left around 4.30pm for their 2hr drive back home over the Gateway Bridge and home to Marsden where they have a lovely modern home.

Photo shows:
Great Aunty Chris and Kyle

Back to NZ Feb 2010

Early Feb saw Brian return to Christchurch for some official business regarding dads personal affairs. I remained back here and went to work and also had to collect our friends from Bisbane airport the same day Brian left - they passed in mid air.
Brian was gone for 8days and stayed with Yasmine and family and this time just had to coincide with Rory's 3rd birthday, Grandad bought a nice choc sponge for Rory so he could have some candles to blow out on his birthday. Rory had - had a birthday party prior to his actual birth date of Feb 8th.

Pic show:

Birthday boy and his cake.
On his trampoline with mum.

Back to reality

Hello family and friends, thought it was about time to update you on what has been happening here over the last 5mths.
Well where to begin - after our trip away last year we came back to Sunseeker on the 19th January and it was my (Chris) birthday on the 20th so good timing. We came home and sorted out the house here all good after being locked up for almost 6mths no leaks or drama's even after the dust storm late 09 there was very little dust inside which surprised us I have to admit. Took us a couple of days to get properly sorted and then we were packing our bags once again to move into our friends Helen and David's house to mind the cat and house while they made their way to Christchurch then onto Nelson to have a holiday with family. We were spoilt as they have a large house with amazing outlook and a gorgeous pool, we stayed here for almost 2wks, Helen and David only live about 20mins from us so we could come back to the village and clean up and empty out the small caravan.
While at H & D I had a phone call from my old employer and was asked did I want to come in and do some casual work, so on the 28th January saw me once again starting back at LEP Colour Printers at Warana and I am still there working as a casual on call and seem to get between 3-4days a week which is great, hours diff from 8 to 4per day so all good, I do not work Monday's so have a 3day weekend, this is great as we can go away with the caravan for the weekend coming back on a Monday.

Photos from top to bottom:
These photos of the Cycad Palm I took over a number of days.
Cycad Palm foliage with the new foliage head clearly visable inside.
New foliage head emerging.
New foliage head almost fully closed.
Little Blue Kingfisher sitting on the pool fence.
See what I mean by a beautiful place to stay who needs to travel overseas with views like these. - Helen & Davids outdoor area overlooking Chancellor Lake - Sippy Downs

Back in the sunshine state

Arrived at Sunseeker midday yesterday - warm and sunny. Got the van parked up the back and started the long process of unpacking after 4 months away. Our "cottage" was in good order, still clean and tidy. We broke the trip back at Tweed overnight - the caravan park was more or less at the end of the Coolangatta airport runway so it was incoming and outgoing most of the day. Not too bad compared with some of the road noise places we stayed at. It was a breeze going over the Gateway bridge, no tolls to worry about and all we heard was a beep from the E-tag transponder as it deducted money from our GoVia toll account. On arrival at the village, our little Hyundai Excel fired into life after sitting idle under the carport for 4 months and that was a relief because the battery was expected to be flat. Some of the more memorable places we went to since last September were Tallangata on the Murray River, Corowa same area, Bendigo and especially Ballarat, Lake Jindabyne up in the Snowy Mountains - gorgeous place, Hawkesbury river area, Goulburn, and the north east coast of NSW, Nelson Bay, Port Macquarie, Sawtell. The places we would like to go back to with a bigger boat are Lk Jindabyne, Hawkesbury river, Nelson Bay and Sawtell (Coffs Harbour), but not middle of summer and not school holidays. We have a good tent, and planning starts next week

Sawtell, Coffs Harbour

Last big stop before getting back to the Sunshine Coast, we are here for 3 nights,
staying at the Sawtell tourist park which is just a few kays south of Coffs Harbour itself. Large park with sandy sites and right near the ocean. Last night after setting up we went to a local Thai place and got some takeaways, very tasty. Went into town this morning and got some fuses for the car, then drove over to the port and had a look around there, very pretty place. Saw Kiwi transtasman rowers at the marina, they are rowing back to New Plymouth soon. At the back of our site is the bush and there are a couple of striped monitor lizards living in there.

Sunday 17 Jan
Last day of tour. Went to a local headland and found a wonderful swimming pool carved out of the rock at the high tide mark. Sandy bottom and totally fed by the waves crashing over the top of the sea wall - there are even small fish in there. Had a lovely swim.This afternoon there was a small bush fire about 4kms away, quite a bit of smoke in the park. Tonight we'll have takeaways for tea, and tomorrow head north for an overnight stop about 60kms north of Ballina, this will leave us a relatively easy drive back to Caloundra the next day. The big striped sand monitor (Goanna) came out this afternoon and did a patrol of the bush edge. It would be close to a metre long. Photos at the top: Sawtell, Rock pool, Hilii fig tree in the main street Sawtell.

Port Macquarie

Hot but otherwise uneventful drive up from Nelson Bay. The big rivers we passed on the way were at the tops of the banks after heavy rain and flooding in the area earlier. The caravan park we are at is right on the river with its own jetty and boat ramp. Very small park but it will do for the two nights.
In the evening we drove into town and the waterfront. There was a family jazz band playing on the grass by the water, lots of al fresco restaurants and bars on the waterfront as well. It had cooled down and was very pleasant walking around the edge of the estuary/river. On the way out, thousands of fruit bats were moving out to feed. Tomorrow we'll have a proper look around and get some photos.

Nelson Bay, Port Stephens

Pretty as a picture.
Got through the traffic out of Sydney in the morning and had fun keeping the van on the road due to the wind funnel effect of the F3 highway to Newcastle which runs through a series of cuttings and gorges in the area of the Hawkesbury River. What a pretty area the Hawkesbury is and we must come back another time with our bigger boat. From there it was just a warm drive through Newcastle to Port Stephens. Tried several caravan parks in Nelson Bay but none had vacancies, peak season of course. Luckily we backtracked and got a site in a lovely Family Parks caravan park at Anna Bay 10 mins drive from the Nelson Bay foreshore. After setting up the van we drove into Nelson Bay and had lovely fish & chips down on the beach in the cool evening.
Today we tiki toured to Soldiers Point, Nelson Bay marina, Taylors beach and the lovely Anna Bay, Boat harbour. At the Soldiers Point Tourist park, right on the beach, we collected brochures etc for a future visit. Overall Port Stephens is a huge waterway and brilliant boating venue. We will have to come back. Anna Bay was a bit of a surprise, rugged rocky coastline with a lovely crescent shaped beach at Boat Harbour where lots of swimmers were enjoying the water. Anna Bay (original name Hannah Bay) marks the northern end of the largest moving sandhill in the Southern Hemisphere, Stockton Beach.
Tonight after pizza we went for a walk down the back of the caravan park along the edge of the bush to look for Koalas, but the mozzies chased us away.
Port Stephens/Nelson Bay is a lovely spot, especially if you like seafood, and it's a shame we have to head back north tomorrow, destination Port Macquarie.
Top photo: Chris & Anne John in Sydney

Lost in TransLARAtion

Lara as you have probably deduced, is our new Garmin Nuvi GPS. She got her nickname from the Aussie female voice giving out the directions. "ATTENTION HUMANS ... THIS VOICE CANNOT BE CHANGED OR ALTERED IN ANY WAY".
It was good move to upgrade from our old Navman, as Lara has got us through some tricky navigational problems, and got us into a few as well. One of the latter happened in the countryside where I took a different course and forgot to disable Lara first. "In 250 metres select 4WD and turn left onto a goat track". As she desperately tried to get us back on course. I ignored that, and the next instruction was "In 400 metres turn left into a muddy firebreak and follow trees for 4.9 kilometres ...recalculating, recalculating, drive to nearest road, any damn road, recalculating, lost satellite reception, are you lost too?". It is especially funny on a major highway where upgrades have taken the road away from the original map fix, then Lara really loses the plot, parks the car's avatar on the side of the road and sulks until the mapping starts to match up with her internal memory.
Where she does shine though is in a big city like Sydney, where being certified insane is an advantage on the roads here. She weaves us around and through areas that we have never heard of let alone visited, but still gets us to the destination. Sydney airport is a notorious destination for the uninitiated, and Lara took me right to the Arrivals pickup point. I drove on past to access the public carpark and Lara responded "Arrived at destination on left. Why are we leaving destination on left. WHERE ARE YOU GOING BUDDY?. Recalculating, switching off to preserve battery life and sanity".
There is no doubt we would have been in dire straits without her guidance, especially on the approach from Ballarat to the Western Gate bridge in Melbourne. I took a wrong veer and ended up in an industrial estate but Lara faithfully guided us back onto the approach motorway through factory carparks etc. She didn't mention anything about experiencing gridlock, 4 lanes wide, before during and after the bridge though. If she has one teensy weensy failing, it would be sometimes (just sometimes Lara) not giving us enough advance warning ahead of a direction change, for example, telling us to turn right when we are halfway across the intersection can be a bit tricky. Overall though we are very happy with our Garmin, it is easy to operate and pretty damn reliable and accurate. Thank you Lara
Next week "For Whom the Etag Beeps"

Pizza Italiano

When in Rome ...... or Bass Hill Sydney which has an ethnic and cultural mix of population. So why not have homemade pizza for a change - we have a portable oven with a curved back and a pizza plate..... Così lascili cominciano !

Small (or large) Bazaar gourmet pizza base
Shredded Mozzarella cheese
Finely sliced Prosciutto
Leggo's spicy pizza sauce with Garlic Onions and Herbs
Bunch of small peeled and cooked prawns

Spread the sauce over the base, cover with Mozzarella, cut the Prosciutto into small strips and lay on top, sprinkle over lots of prawns, followed by a little bit more Mozzarella. Preheat oven to 220 and cook (grill) for 12 mins.

The sauce adds spice, the prawns are sweet and juicy, the Prosciutto is salty and smoky and the Mozzarella is soft and stringy as it should be.

that's it folks - quick and simple - sorry, I ate the lot. Ciao

HELLO ANNE AND RICHARD @ GREENACRE, SEE YOU SOON