Bushfires already!

Bushfires have hit the south coast of New South Wales this weekend after a week of horrendous winds. The Princes Highway has been closed just south of Ulladulla at Lake Burrill, closing off traffic moving south to Batemans Bay. The weather all over the south of the country has been quite outrageous this week, windy and freezing in some parts, and really overwarm in many other areas, breaking all kinds of late winter records!. The fire below is the one presently at Lake Burrill.

The Gold Coast has been superb, but rain is being forecasted for the early part of this week.

Ethan also climbs high in Auckland

Grandson, Ethan enjoyed his high climb as well at a friends birthday party in Auckland a few weeks ago!!

Where do the grandsons go from here??

Jack climbs high on his birthday.

Grandson Jack and 13 of his friends had a great time climbing the wall on his 9th Birthday at "Vertical Endeavours" in Minnesota this week.

2 hours of fun, reaching for the sky The Birthday Boy takes a bow!

Narnia casts it's spell on the Gold Coast

The Gold Coast is hosting 600 crew members from the set of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Images of a strange other world have sprung up on the Spit. This week part of the Gold Coast Seaway was transformed into a medieval wharf. Photo belows shows the set being built on the Spit at Main Beach. Friday marked the crew's final cut of a three day shoot at the Seaway set that took 8 weeks to assemble.

The weather has been absolutely spectactular for filming

Young actor, Will Poulter in action

David Vallon who plays Gumpas

I am particularly excited about this event and movie, as good friend Sandy and her husband Tom (the mountain man) have been involved with the costume design for this film.

One could be forgiven for mistaking this actor for the Mountain Man!!

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Can't wait to see their designs, which will only happen after the film is released.

Meanwhile the building of the 35 meter Dawn Treader is near completion, and awaits the crew (85% Australian) at Cleveland Point, where they will resume filming.

Camped but not cramped!

A quick update on the house thing, we moved quite a few things out of the caravan into the new abode and put the van into storage on 7th August. Things are very basic, but I am lovin' the space. Tired as the house may look, it has a nice feeling to it, so hopefully once the "tarting" is complete and we have our furniture, it will have an even better feeling. This week has been filled with getting quotes for all the different jobs and trades, response has been excellent, and hopefully by the end of next week it will be a matter of sifting through the different quotes and making some decisions. The bright blue and mustard rooms are no more, and the neutralising of the lilac, olive green and oranges walls is scheduled for early next week!!. The Brig has his barbeque, I have my space, and the weather has been incredible. Have met a couple of the neighbours and have had time out with both Aunts and a couple of my cousins as well this week - things are truckin' well for us.

Sad news - Sam has died

This 4 year old koala became well known around the world after she accepted help and a drink from a country firemen during the terrible bushfires which devastated Victoria earlier this year. Sam was severely burned and has been recuperating at the Southern Ash Wildlife Centre for the last 6 months, along with many other severely affected wildlife. This morning she underwent an operation to remove cysts to try and save her from a disease "chlamydia" which has ravaged Victoria's female koala population, but unfortunately she did not make it through the operation.

Rest in Peace - Sam

Making the most of our last few days on the Broadwater

It seems our days on the Broadwater are coming to an end, with settlement on the house due for this coming Wednesday, then we will be straight into the painting and renovating!!!. So, this weekend we have done quite a bit of walking - yesterday we strolled north up Marine Parade on the west side of the Broadwater to the Cafe strip, lagoons, parks etc. Always so much activity on this part of the coast, certainly never boring.

We arrived in time to see the daily feeding of some 47 pelicans by a staff member from the Seafood Market (yep, the Brig counted them while I watched and took photos).

Such gentle souls, happy with one fish/skeleton each Those big eyes match those big beaks!

This morning we walked south down to the bridge, and were really impressed with the waterfront development the Gold Coast Council has near completed. Lovely boardwalks and walkways, urban wetlands, play and picnic areas for families, swimming pools, small beaches, a jetty, and large area for entertainment/concerts etc. The landscaping is actually complete, sooh many trees and gardens- it will be lovely when it is finished in a few weeks time.

Gold Coast's Greek Festival

Last Sunday was a big day for the Greek population of the Gold Coast, plus a few thousand others who attended the annual Greek Festival at Avondale Park. It was a lovely day with lively music and dancing and of course the old "wog" jokes were frequented by the various M.C's/comedians.

When the dancers were resting the little ones took to the stage.

The food tents had really long queus, the food was spectacular, and enjoyed

by literally thousands

The chief grecian master chef of "loukoumades" (honey pastry balls) Then there was the "souvlakia" master chef!

Mental note for next year - Get to the Festival mid morning, before the rest of the Gold Coast.

Another renovation coming up!!

I think we may have a home up here soon - 3rd shot at it, so not getting too excited yet, as we found out last time, anything can happen at the last minute here. Settlement is scheduled for August 5th. We vowed and declared we would never do another renovation, and here we are about to embark on what I would call a partial reno, however it could be fun as right now it is a bit like a blank canvas, waiting for some paint, new kitchen, general upgrade of doors and shutters, paving and a covered patio outdoor living area., We think it will probably take us up to just before we travel south for Christmas, to complete. We won't move our furniture up till the painting, carpeting, doors, shutters and kitchen are done - we hope that this initial work won't take more than about 6 weeks. The plan is to camp in the house during this time, and put the van in storage, as we did in Batemans Bay (can't wait for that day), It is a 15 yr old single level small house, rather tired looking internally, quite unobtrusive, and very simple but is loaded with light - north facing, in the old established part of Robina, in a leafy cul-de-sac (lined with paperbark trees), approximately a 10 minute drive to Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach. It is close to most conveniences, and has access to some great flat walking paths. It is also just around the corner and within walking distance to the Colonial Golf Club, not that we play golf, but it is super for lunch or a drink on its wide verandah, and maybe one day we will have a game. The Golf Course and its many small lakes also plays host to a variety of waterbirds, which for the Frank is a big plus. The photo below is one I have lifted off the Colonial Golf Club's website, it shows the Club House (green roofed building- just above and to the right of the writing), the golf course, and a great aerial view across the canal suburbs to the Gold Coast beaches and cafe strip.

Our place is a couple of streets over from the right hand side of the golf course. The club house has been designed in the style of the old Queensland Colonial architecture..

You will note there are no photos of the house itself, think the "before" photos can come out at the same time as the "after". It is suffice to say that one of the walls in the family room is sort of bright orange, the main bedroom has a lime green colour, the proposed guest room is bright blue, my little study is a lovely shade of lilac, and the Brig's proposed reading/study area, (or "get out of Liz's space") is a rather scary shade of mustard yellow. We are so happy that the en suite, bathroom and laundry are all white, tiles and walls!!!

Surf's up!

Huge seas have pounded the Gold Coast during the past week, very much enjoyed by surfers and pods of dolphins alike. The photo below was taken looking south down Main Beach from the Sea Way, across to the sand pumping jetty, when the surf was absolutely wild.

Photo below taken from the same spot when we were there a couple of weeks ago.

These magic photos were taken from a helicopter at Surfers Paradise a few days ago

This one was taken from the beach

How superb would this be - sharing the waves with these magnificent creatures!

Cliffy joins Sea World

A young male dolphin, who was rescued by Sea World 5 months ago, when he was found weighed down with fishing line wrapped around his tail, has become a nuisance around the Port of Brisbane boat ramps, since he was released back into the wild. He prefers to rely on charity handouts from fisherman and locals, and seemed to be having trouble adapting to life back in the wild. Anyway the crunch came when apart from being a nuisance around the boat ramps with fisherman having to avoid hitting him with their boats and the like, he bit a Water Policeman, sparking Sea World to intervene.

Sea World marine experts capture Cliffy

and take him back to Sea World's marine park for his medical

Which includes checking his original injuries on his tail! Cliffy wasn't learning the correct skills for hunting and also didn't have the social structure around him which is extremely important for dolphins. So this fiesty young dolphin will now become a permanent addition to the Marine Park, and will probably live a very long and happy life - if he stops this biting caper!!.

Another lovely Sunday on the Broadwater

We continue to enjoy winter on the Gold Coast, and some more glorious sunrises. This morning, I awoke to the Brig's dulcet tones - "Liz check out this sunrise"!! So, as I always do as I am told, I checked it out and agreed the wakeup call was appropriate, grabbed the camera and met up with another photo nut at 6.30am this morning on the beach (about 30 metres from our van).

A leisurely breakfast, then off for a long walk north along the Broadwater, so pleasant on such a lovely morning. Calm waters and a children's lagoon make it a popular spot for families.

Looking north towards Runaway Bay

When we approached the entrance bridge to our park, we stopped and watched the pelicans crowding around these fishermen docking their boat - the pelicans were given a few "fishy" treats, but were so gentle - in fact you could say courteous with each other!!.

Just love pelicans!

A day off at Sea World

Yesterday was a super day, sunny and warm, just right for a visit to Sea World - which is a 5 minute drive around the Broadwater. Again, like Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo it is extremely well done, some of the animals were transferred from the original Marine World when it closed and Sea World opened some 3 decades ago. The animals are in wonderful condition, and even though many of them are performing (seals and dolphins) they look very happy to be playing with we mere humans! Our first stop was to watch a few people have an "up close and personal dolphin experience" in one of the many pools in the Sea World.

The look on this lady's face, and that of the dolphin, shows just how much they are both enjoying this encounter.

Next, a walk through the underwater viewing world in Shark Bay - wonderful array of marine life, including this inquisitive Ray below.

Huge sharks and many colourful fish.

Then to the "Fish Detectives Sea Lion Show"

The star of the show makes his grand entrance

Greets his audience with aplomb!

introducing his handler - the little one in the blue outfit

This huge sea lion, immitated (took the mick I think) and obeyed his handler with exquisite grace

We were lucky enough to view Claude and his handler after the show behind the scenes, amazing relationship - these sea lions were rescued from life threathening situations, normally caused by man, and moved to Sea World for their recuperation. They attempt to release them back into their natural environment, but on many occasions that just doesn't work out.

The "Polar Bear Shores" exhibit

A large enclosure with so much equipment needed to emulate the Polar Bear's real environment.

It houses orphaned polar bears, originally found and saved in northern Canada, they lived for a while in a Canadian Zoo, then Sea World was selected as their permanent home

Checking out his mate playing with a piece of polka dot purple fabric

Watch Out

here I come!!

look at the size of that paw!

They rough housed and played for hours - wonderful!

Next - the Imagine Dolphin Show, featuring dolphins that have been saved (one, Cyrus- he is 50), over 4 decades ago from fishing nets and the like, and some have been bred within Sea World.

Again the relationship between the dolphins and their particular trainers/handlers is amazing.

My photos do no justice at all to this show

It was incredible!

They tossed their handlers way into the air!

Sometimes 2 of them teamed up for the trainer toss

Look - no hands, no outboard - just pure dolphin power!

The Grand "Flyby" Finale - dolphin style.

We finished off at the "WaterSki Wipeout Show", and after 30 plus years, this show finishes for good next week! There were wonderful water skiers from Oz, NZ, Canada and the USA who skiied forwards, backwards, with bare feet, on boards, on hovercrafts, took on the ski jumps backwards in groups of 3 etc. etc. All very clever, but pretty extreme, daft and dangerous, me thinks. But made for a nice end to a fun and most enjoyable day.

The Grand "Pyramid" Finale - human style