Me now "SUMO"

The weekend has moved by quickly again, Saturday morning was glorious, so we took a very long walk along Burleigh Beach - surf was up, dogs were playing and it was delightful.

Not too many staying on their surfboards!!!!

A happy canine on Burleigh - love to see a contented German Shepherd - reminds us of our wonderful dog "Count" in Chester, New Hampshire!

We followed this by spending the rest of the day planting the potential building-disguising trees, 6 so far, one more to go. Sunday was a bit nippy and glum, we decided to try a Farmers Market at the Gold Coast Turf Club, excellent will be back there next Sunday morning. We trotted on to the huge Carrara Markets - but very crowded - plus it is school holidays as well, so another time when the kids are back in the classroom!!!

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Last night we met with our neighbours - Kumi, Bob and Kevin, and drove into a Japanese Restaurant in Surfers Paradise.

It was a Chanko Nabe evening - yes, run by the Australian SUMO Association (the Championships on the Gold Coast are next week!).

Kumi and Frank prior to the Chanko Nabe

Prior to Sumo wrestling the Taiko drums are beaten (very loudly) to announce the event.

There is a tremendous amount of energy used - and actually I didn't need to cover my ears at all, in fact I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Okay, we have been drummed in, so now we are going to eat what the Sumo wrestlers consume - Chankonabe - which is basically a hotpot consisting of chicken, pork, fish, beef, tofu and assorted vegetables in a broth mix, along with side dishes of rice, noodles, etc.. The Sumotori (strongmen) eat this twice per day - in great quantities, then take a nap to store up the "potential muscle"!! Instead of tofu our chankonabe had rice cakes, - I left them well alone, but no, the Brig just had to dig one out of the hotpot - a sorry boy afterwards - one could say his mouth was all glued shut!!! The rest of the chankonabe was very good, and the company delightful - loads of laughs, and we have now sooh much knowledge on the Sumotori's - do we need it, I'm not sure, but hey the information is tucked up there somewhere in the ole brain!. We eventually dragged ourselves from the traditional table, and we were absolutely "chankonabe" full, all waddled to the car - time to go home for that nap!!!. When reaching home I made the mistake of turning on the TV, and there was Mark Webber racing and leading in the Formula 1 race at Silverstone. Many moons ago - when I first arrived in England, I had spent some time attending racing events at Silverstone. Anyway as Mark W. had a terrible accident a couple of weeks ago, I thought it was worth watching - Frank just wanted to nap, so I obliged and turned off the noise of the F1's. Fortunately when I woke from that long "nap" this morning, I found Mark W. had won, HOWEVER I felt and looked like a very tubby SUMO dumpling - the diet starts for REAL today!!

Babes at Sea World

SEA WORLD has just released photos of two of their "Inshore Pacific Bottlenose " dolphins who have calved this year. Hallie (14 years old) calved in February and dear old Suzie (47 yrs old) calved just in time for Sea World to celebrate WORLD OCEAN DAY in June! Unfortunately Suzie's partner (he was 57) died of "dolphin" very old age halfway through the 12 month gestation period . The 4 of them seem quite unphased sharing the same waters - which at Sea World are special. Both calves were 15 kilograms each at birth - right on normal. Except for some on site organised breeding, the majority of dolphins at this Gold Coast facility have been saved from one disturbing circumstance or another. What incredible creatures.!!

Another Northern Hemisphere Bub!

Great excitement - yesterday, we received word that our God Son, Scott and his wife Jenn, welcomed a baby boy, Sean Martin in Manchester, New Hampshire, we will see photos very soon!. Sean will be the 3rd male babe for our great friends, Anne and Henry , as their daughter Lynne (our God Daughter) and her husband Brian, have twin 3 year olds, Dylan and Owen, in Amherst, New Hampshire.

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And who could resist a photo of Grand Neice - Emms, with her dad, Dan, in Northern England this summer, and apparently it is a hot one right now!!

Marathon and Independence Day

Sunday 4th July, was an outstanding day here, the skies were clear, the sun was shining, and there was a little "winter" nip in the air - which would have been great for the 24,000 runners in the Gold Coast Marathon. It is the flattest marathon in the world, and according to their media, that makes it the fastest!!!. The map below shows the route for the 42 klms, there were also smaller runs - Sue ran the 10 klm within the hour on Saturday.

The start of the race on yesterday

En route

The Winners - a Trifecta from Japan in the womens, and a trifecta from Kenya in the mens - where are the "aussies"???. Well, the sedate ones (below) travelled south of the race route to Kirra Beach, and then walked to Coolangatta beach and back- just delightful.

There is a headland dividing these 2 beaches, which has a large sculpture of an Eagle standing high and ogling out to sea - fitting for us, reminding us of our great friends, our god children and Jack and David on Independence Day in the US of A. Anyway we decided to go to the top - maybe we could see a whale or two from this headland..

No whales spied by us, but a lovely look at Kirra Beach from the high ground. and also across Coolangatta to Greenmount Beach

We then travelled around to Marine Parade, and stopped and watched (forever) the surfers playing in the beauty of Rainbow Bay.

Then further on to Pt. Danger below - Cook Island (Captain Cook) sits out to sea. Maybe we could see a whale from here.

Overlooking Duranbah beach - the surfers love this one too!

We walked around the Pt. Danger headland - the Park is called the "Centaur" Memorial Park - which remembers the sinking of the Australian Hospital Ship "Centaur" by a Japanese submarine off the Queensland coast on 14th May, 1943. We strolled along the "Walk of Rememberance" - where there were plaques arranged in a semi circle around the lookout fence -they were commemorating the American and Australian ships which were attacked by both the Japanese and the Germans in WW11 in Australian waters.

We stopped to read most of them - photos of just 3 below.

The one above was in Northern Australia, and below in the seas south of Victoria.

This one below was attacked just north of Batemans Bay on Christmas Day, 1944.

Captain Cook has a memorial in the form of a Lighthouse here as well! In fact I have read that this was the first lighthouse to play with "lazer technology" (in 1971)

Then it was time to sit and watch the energetic humans attacking Duranbah's winter waves.

Had to play with the lens and zoom in a bit here.

Great barbeque and table facilities at Pt. Danger - think next time we might take a basket of picnic provisions to munch on.

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NO WHALES SPOTTED BY US, BUT THE VIEW IS SENSATIONAL!

4TH JULY Weekend

Yesterday started off overcast and a bit damp, so because of this we had decided not to go to the Independence Day Barbeque at Cavill Gardens (organised by the Australian American Association). It had been booked for 3rd July, a day early - as this weekend the "Gold Coast Marathon" is in full swing and it is near impossible to get access to a lot of places along the Coast on the 4th. Anyway after a great phone conversation with friend Peggy, who is taking a break from San Diego, and spending time at their cabin on Great Moose Lake, Maine with family for 4th July holidays - the sun began to shine.!!! So, with the sun, came a quick decision to make the Potato Salad, get dressed and head off to the Independence Day Barbeque at the Gardens.

We thoroughly enjoyed the hot dogs and burgers, with the menagerie of american sauces, dressings, salads, and of course those Boston baked beans were delicious.

The time went so quickly, we sat down at a table with a group of people, but basically spent the majority of our time talking and laughing with Elaine - an 80 year old who has recently returned from the USA to retire, as this is where her family are. We found out that during the mid 1960's when she was working for a private enterprise (a well known bank) she realised that in Australia, women were not given an equal run in business compared to men - (and that was very true), so she packed up and caught a ship to the USA, took on some pretty basic work, and then eventually opened her own business - which in the end benefited both the Australian and New Zealand Tourism business. Elaine started some Aussie type associations over there as well - by coincidence we had joined one of these in Boston. We talked and talked, and talked, and she made it very clear that the major thing she had always admired about the USA (even in the 1960's) was they only cared about what you could do, not who you were or where you came from - and of course this is exactly what we found in the 70's and 80's. A delightful lady who still loves her Stars and Stripes, and we enjoyed every minute with her.

After we said our goodbyes to all, we decided to take a walk around the gardens , to see how it looked in mid winter and to walk off some our food indulgences - last time we were here was on Australia Day at the end of January.

There was plenty of activity on the Canal and in the Gardens, in fact we turned the corner and there was a wedding about to take place.

This dear little one below caught our eye, she was practicing her "flower girl" walk.

The Bride and Bridesmaids arrive in a huge "Left Hand Drive" old American mobile.

A mid "Winter" Wedding on the Gold Coast.

Fragrant frangipannis were this young lady's choice of flower for her day.

Then it was time for the "little one in pink" to step out!!

Matariki - Maori New Year

Ethan's Kindy celebrated Matariki (Maori New Year) - all dressed in costumes they had each made. From what I have heard from his Mum and Dad, he knew the songs and words - in maori, and sang and danced with some Maori "gusto" in his actions.

He is obviously into it!! Then the Kapa Haka group from the neighbouring intermediate school came to perform a "scary" haka!!! - this was Ethan's favourite I believe. This step-grandmama will be happy if he can sing an old kiwi favourite of mine "Ten Guitars" - in tune - when I next see him. The "Haka" can be kept for others!

Birthday plus one!

Yesterday we decided on the Coolangatta Surf Club for another "feed up" for Frank's birthday, thanks to the Aunts. The food was delicious, probably better than the majority of the Clubs around, we opted for one of their "Winter Specials" and literally rolled out of there. The view from the Restaurant across to the Gold Coast and out to the Coral Sea is great - and we were fortunate to see "way out" some whale activity - loads of huge spouts, but unfortunately too far out for any kind of photos, these whales certainly gathered our attention, as they did the other diners - just a nice little finale for a delightful few hours.

Have stopped counting!!!!

Yesterday, the Brig celebrated yet another birthday. Lovely day, though a little nippy. Last night we made the most of it with Gail, Steve, Ash, Sue and Maddie - menu - barbequed salmon, warm italian vegetable salad, new potatoes - and masses of herbs (as my garden is overloaded right now) and of course the Birthday Cake (of his choice). He really enjoyed himself - lovely cards, and piles of calls from Oz, USA and a couple from NZ - so he was a happy boy. Today we are off for another celebration at the Coolangatta Surf Club - joining the Aunts for lunch. It is a bit cool here today, guess it is winter (8 to 20 degrees) !!!

Bowlers and Umbrellas at Bondi Beach

Yesterday morning, Andrew Baines (surrealist artist from Adelaide) gathered 50 volunteers formally suited with bowler hats and umbrellas for his next "human sculpture" The venue was one of my favourite places - Bondi Beach. They waded into the surf and faced the incoming tide and held their black umbrellas aloft. Joggers, early morning surfers and tourists looking on in bemusement. It was also one of the coldest winter mornings this year!!. I just love some of the photos which were taken yesterday morning.

A photographer in action!

British born Baines explained that his art was influenced by memories of being confronted as a teenager on the London Underground (on a trip back to England with his father to visit relatives) by a sea of businessmen in bowler hats. He says it's his metaphorical way of letting the corporate battery hens escape from the grey city streets and cramped office halls and long staff hours - to enjoy nature. He has previously staged similar installations at Manly, St Kilda and Henley in South Australia.