Christmas 2009

Pic's taken on my Birthday at Brett's Wharf.


Tess's House

Mr & Mrs Clause at Tess;'s & the aftermath!


Silly hats & silly faces!!! Mine has 'Hottie written on it!!!


A visit to my friend Tess’s house (along with the rest of Brisbane) Christmas Eve is a ‘must see’. Christmas lights that are just amazing……..

Christmas Day had low expectations as none of us are settled anywhere & Jo’s baby is due any day........

However………… I brought out the silly hats, poppers & bubbles to blow off the deck & for 2 hours we ate chocolate & behaved foolishly, laughing & opening pressies that were surprisingly well thought out. The rest of the day was spent vegging on the couch watching DVD’s, sleeping & eating Marty's yummy trifle, along with other junk food.

Green Day

6 months in advance we purchased the tickets & it was well worth the wait, gotta be one of the best live concerts Marty & I have ever been to.

Jet was the opening act I must say we would most certainly go & see them play again.

Opening with 21st Century Breakdown Green Day had us all singing from the start. My throat is sore from all the singing & whoo hooing, as the night moved on my whoo hoo’s changed tone in sheer delight. My neck is sore from trying to look overt the tops of heads, I can barely walk for the pain from dancing & jumping up & down………
Sometimes I would stop just too look, you cannot help but be in awe of truly great performers……

There was lot’s of audience participation, & plenty of calling to the fans ♪♫♪ hey oh, & of course us calling back........ hey oh ♪♫♪♪

Billie Joe Armstrong has an amazing stage presence, the energy of a teenager, & forges a strong connection with the audience, keeping us all on our feet, waving our hands and singing along even when the words are lost!
Not all the songs were from the new album (which is amazing anyway)
Holiday, Give Me Novacain, Are We The Waiting, St Jimmy and The Boulevard of Broken Dreams to name a few & then we got treated to some, Black Sabbath, pieces of Ironman, Led Zeppelin, Stairway to Heaven and the chorus of Highway to Hell, we all sang it LOUD! WHOOOOO HOOOO!!!!!!

Massive amounts of blue confetti fell from above, some of it ended up with us at home, in the boots, in the bra..........
Finishing up with 21 Guns before an encore of American Idiot, Jesus of Suburbia and Minority………..Time of Your Life was saved till last - a truly fitting end.

Leaving the concert covered in a layer of sweat (& unknown hidden confetti) – you know it was one of the greats.........
Happy Birthday me 45 years old, going on 18???!!!!!!!!!!!!

How much do I LOVE a road trip…….

Is bigger better? Check out the size of the crab!


Hows this for a fish tank?


Now ladies you have a choice of a half flush or a 'POSH' flush - hmmm???


Sunshine Coast, Calandra Markets, a mid-morning breaky at Mooloolabar, Underwater World & the Ettamogah Pub on the way home…….not a bad way to spend a Sunday…….

The best part of Underwater World was a ‘behind the scenes’ tour. No camera’s allowed as this is where the sick sea creatures are.
There was one poor turtle that had swallowed a plastic bag – A turtles favorite food is Jellyfish, & when they see a plastic bag in the water they think hmmm yummm jellyfish, swallow it & then they get what is called floatation. They cannot swim or dive & this poor turtle could not get out of the way of a boat & got caught by its propeller, suffering a deep cut causing major internal injury. The turtle had been 10 months in rehabilitation!!! DON’T LITTER PEOPLE Grrrrrrrr!!!!!!

EKKKK SHARK!!!!……. damn cheeky shark was getting it’s thrills buy coming right by out of the water to frighten me, so close by literally an inch or two (as Marty said "it was certainly an insight to how easily they can sneak up on you!") Hmmmm theme from Jaws now playing in my head!!!!!

After all that excitement one needed a drink, so a quick stop at the Ettamogah Pub on the way home was in order . ♪♫♪ Gimmie a drink, a drink, a drink la laaa la laa ♪♫♪♪

EJ’s 19th Birthday Celebrated at the Jubilee Hotel.

In through the door & straight to the bar so the birthday girl can have a couple shots of courage to be sure she gets her dancing shoes on…. Of course it wouldn’t be sporting for Mum not to join her!!!

Equip with a flashing birthday badge, flashing princess crown & a lollipop penis – (which later in the night ended up smashed to pieces on the dance floor!!!) a FUN night was guaranteed.

Fretless Delay kicked off the evening (thanks for the birthday shout out)….. Followed by Machinery Hill. Two local ‘kick arse’ bands well worth checking out…… (You can find them on My Space & You tube)

There were some sore heads the next day, & we all know we will do it again!!!

Dust Storm 24th September 2009

It came over in the morning. Looking outside it was as if you had orange tinted glasses on. There were people outside with their cell phones taking pictures of what they couldn’t see – me included!!!

The dust storm was caused by extremely strong winds over South Australia and inland NSW after a long period of drought. The winds lifted the dust and soil from the dry ground and whipped it thousands of kilometres through the air, to Sydney and then to Brisbane.

It’s been estimated that, when the storm was at its strongest, about 16,000 tonnes of dirt were dropped on SE Queensland every hour. That’s a lot of dirt!!!

Riverfire Brisbane 2009

Barge loaded with fireworks, there were several of these all dotted along the river / Roulette air show.


September the 12th had us heading down to Southbank’s river edge to experience a pyrotechnic display like nothing we have ever seen before.
To celebrate the opening of the annual Brisbane Festival each September, Brisbane is treated to "Riverfire", a half hour of pyrotechnics stretching for a couple of kilometres along the river from the Story Bridge to Victoria Bridge. 600,000 people were expected to turn up to see the display.

We were entertained before dark with the Roulettes air show……. It was all truly spectacular. Then the F-111’s flying over, followed by amazing fireworks & finishing with the F-111’s sweeping low over our heads to perform the ‘dump & burn’. (also known as the Zippo after the cigarette lighter).

The F-111s are being replaced by Super Hornets next year and the dump and burn is a thing of the past. The F-111 is the only plane capable of this because of the positioning of the fuel dump between the plane’s engines.


We were truly Wowed – check out the video……

EJ is here to stay……

Arriving a week ago from the cold Waikato weather of NZ to temperatures of 25 degrees plus in Sunny Queensland, her adventure is to begin…….. and she hasn’t wasted anytime getting it started!

First day here EJ scored herself a job in the city working in a Jewellery Kiosk but the promise of full time work fell over. Two days later & her second only interview and EJ has another job working in the city in a Bead Shop. I am sooooo jealous. This is the coolest shop. They make up Jewellery for wedding parties along with just selling individual beads for those that like to create their own. Not to mention they sell some of what could be my favorite pieces of silver. Fortunately she has to work there for three months before she gets staff discount!!!

First weekend here & EJ is off on the train to Noosa on the Sunshine Coast to stay with a friend. Visiting the Eumundi Markets (went there with my friend Julie a couple of years ago, can’t wait to go again) & checking out the local nightlife before she starts her new job on Monday.

Jo & her ‘Tummy’ Visit Brisbane

Jo had to get her butt outta bed early to catch the train to visit me on Tuesday…….

I met her at the train station & we walked down to the river & grabbed ‘Mickey D’s’ for breakfast, along with a ‘yummy as’ coffee We sat in the warm Queensland sun talking shit & enjoying being together. (yeah yeah we know, not a very good diet for an expecting Mum, but we can’t be good all the time, & she has been really looking after herself)

Once finished we jumped on the ferry & headed off to our apartment where Jo had a ball raiding my wardrobe taking most of the clothing I had in my throw out pile, along with the usual amount a Jewellery that leaves my home when my darling girls come to visit.

We got some great shots of Jo & her baby tum-tum (Added that bit just for you Brooke - Dad)

Our Grandbaby is due in January……

EJ visits Brisbane.

After dinner at Westend - Beam me up Scotty!!! & EJ's new tat, Butterfly is carrying a Pohutukawa Flower


Bisbane Eye


Dracula's & Surfer's in the Wee small hours of the morning.


Lunch Time & Photo from the Haunted House, Hahaha check out EJ's face!

Having EJ come & stay was better than Christmas……….

The Tuesday EJ arrived Marty & I caught the train to meet her at the airport, man you would have thought the airport was the train station, there is a bloke asleep in a chair & he was bringing the house down with his snoring!!!!!!!! (Another damn Kiwi?!!!)
We got on the train back to the city for a spot of shopping. Talk about break the bank, man us girls can shop?!!!
1 o’clock had EJ as nervous as hell as we had booked her in for her first real tattoo (we will not discuss the 2 that she had done herself…..hummm one of them has Jo’s name glowing under the lights in the night clubs!!!!)
That evening we drove EJ to Surfers to stay with her sister but that didn’t work out as planned & EJ was back on the Train the next day having to find her way in strange place all on her own. (She will be a seasoned traveler by the time she gets back to NZ?!!!)

Friday night we caught the Ferry to Southbank & went up in the Brisbane Eye & then into Westend for a yummy Turkish Dinner.
Saturday, ‘shop till ya drop’ at Harbour Town, ‘Bargains Galore’ & then a FUN night out at Dracula’s. Dracula’s is awesome but bring ya gold cause that’s what it costs, $198 just in drinks for the 3 of us!!! But you should have seen the drinks Marty was buying us. Marty ordered a bowl, & I mean a BOWL of god knows what, I took one look at it & thought OMG we will never finish that?!!! But of course we did & then Marty ordered 3 Grave Yardy’s, they were soooooo yum. So by the time we left we were well primed for clubbing in Surfers & meeting random’s at The Beer Garden.

On EJ’s last day, we caught the train to Surfers to spend some time with Jo. EJ had loaded some music on her new phone & we were ‘Rockstars’ the whole way on the train & bus. (Those poor passengers having to listen to our singing for the whole journey?!!!) EJ, Jo & I had lunch together at Chevron Renaissance & then went back to Jo’s to chill before EJ & I went back into Surfers to visit the ‘Haunted House’.
EJ was such a ‘scaredy-cat’ making me go though all the doors of darkness first……..whooooo hahaha

♪♫♪…So what, I’m still a Rockstar ♪♫♪

A Sunny Day at Southbank

Views from Apartment


Birds (Ibis) at lunch



Southbank & photo from Rickshaw Ride


Cheesy Tourist shots.....Me with Didgeridoo Guy


Brisbane Eye I'm cool with it!!!


Pic's from being up in the Eye. Check out the 'phallic symbol' in the background, Marty helped make the top of it.......


Well I have been out of New Zealand for 6 months now, am not homesick yet…...I actually feel some disappointment at not being homesick!!!?
Where we are staying is pretty awesome, It is fully serviced, so no more housework for this girl, they clean my bathroom, change the sheets & give us fresh towels once a week, (yes I know your jealous, I would be too!!!). We have river views & it’s only a 10 minute ride on the ferry to the city. Oh & it’s been over a month since I drove a car!!!!

Have to tell you about Marty & the Asian Student at the Laundromat. I don’t know what kind of washing machines they have in other parts of the world but clearly they are more sophisticated than the ones we have here…….She had put her money in the correct place, tipped her washing into the machine, closed the lid, stood back & with arm movements commanded ‘WASH,WASH”????????????? Poor girl, how Marty contained his laughter I will never know, he politely showed her to spread her washing evenly in the machine, to use laundry powder & which BUTTON to push!!! Hellooooo!!!!!!!!! I want a voice controlled washing machine……….

Last weekend the weather was awesome, (unlike this week where a lot of the area around us is flooded!!!!) We caught a Ferry to Southbank & Marty & I went up in the Brisbane Eye……. Oh the fear……the sweaty palms, oh the anticipation…….I’ll be OK, I’ll be OK………
Well I was OK; it’s not that different from going on a gondola Duhhhh I’ve done that before?!!!!!! So, all is good until it has to stop to let other people get on or off…….can you believe the bloody thing stopped with us (I really mean me cause Marty just thinks it’s funny) right at the very top……………. TYPICAL!!!
Great; been there done that, now I’m ready for the London eye!!!!!!!!
We went to the Southbank Markets, ate lunch & watched the birds , had a tourist photo with ‘Didgeridoo guy’, then caught a Rickshaw over there river into the city. The young guy riding charges an extra $5 to take you to town cause its uphill most of the way!