Possible Storm Tonight .... Again!

We have been promised a storm almost every night this week, all without any success. Brisbane received a burst of rain overnight while here 100 kilometres north on the Sunshine Coast not a drop of rain was to be seen. The lawn again looks like it badly needs some rain to get it back to its luxurious normal condition for this time of the year.

The week has been one of every day events kind of going to plan. My chest cold continues to be a problem however the anti biotics have kicked in and the chest infection is improving. The cold is now becoming a head cold and I am a bit sniffly. Trish will break out into a brief coughing fit from time to time.

We are now down to one car here at home. The 'good' car doesn't always want to start every time. The fix is easy, just wait thirty seconds and try again. Most times it then starts perfectly. However a trip to the Hyundai dealer showed there was a problem with the 'antenna on the coil' according to the car's onboard computer. A replacement is being shipped from Sydney and will be installed in the next day or so.

I bought Trish a wine cooler for Christmas and she bought me a 2 Gig USB drive, just perfect for swapping files and photos around.

My Rapidshare download account expired today so any movie downloads are now done by the slower P2P method via a 'torrent'.

The pool looks great. The water is about 27 degrees during the day now and about 25 or so overnight. Looks like it would be good for a swim right now actually. Our days are high 20's or low 30's and the weather is sultry. Most nights it gets down to 21 or so and the ceiling fan stays on almost all night.

I manage a swim every day.

Trish was swooped again by magpies so she was very pleased when a puncture meant she couldn't ride for two days. I repaired the tube, checked it was 100% by putting it in the pool to make sure there were no leaks, then I put it back on the bike ready to go. An hour later it was flat again! It was easier just to go and buy a new tube which we did today! She is ready to ride tomorrow!

Bottling day tomorrow with another 'brew' ready to be bottled!

Busy, busy busy!

On The Mend

It is now Monday and I am feeling better. This was not the case the last couple of days with this 'cold' knocking me around. I do not sleep long nights any more but I have certainly slept well the last two nights. The coughing has been so intense, my chest aches just at the thought of a cough!

This morning I had a further dentist appointment to do more work on the problem tooth I had a fortnight ago. It was not a comfortable thing to do in my current medical condition. I have a doctor's appointment later this afternoon for more antibiotics for the chest infection! YUCK!!!!

When Trish returned home from Melbourne she brought some more photos from the Whitsundays trip. I will include a few of these for when I need of a photo for the blog page.


Trish was back on for a bike ride this morning while I was left 'recovering from my chest cold'. Despite being into December, another magpie swooped her.

We are 'in the wars' aren't we!

Saturday's News

Whilst in Newcastle Trish developed a cold, and now we both have it. We get a nasty tickle in the throat and a bit of a raspy cough. Trish was over the worst of it in a day or so so I probably have 24 more hours to go.

A wet morning this morning with 11 mls in the rain gauge. But then this is the wettest time of the year here in Queensland.

I put some superphosphate on the garden this morning while there was still a bit of a shower about.

The temp is still expected to get to about 30 this afternoon but with this morning's rain we can expect it to be hot and steamy.

More Newcastle News

The main reason for us travelling to Newcastle recently was to attend a 'surprise' 50th birthday party for Michael Colloghan. We met Michael and Janet when we were caravanning at Mudgee about 6 years ago. We were in vans across from each other. They seemed to enjoy a drink and during the traditional caravan park "Happy Hour" we met, enjoyed a few drinks together and have been friends ever since.

However Trish's eldest brother lives at Nelson Bay which is near Newcastle so it was a great chance to catch up with him. He now lives in special accommodation as he has Parkinson's Disease and can no longer care for himself. We collected him and took him for a drive and later a cup of coffee at one of the shopping centres at Nelson Bay.

Michael's birthday bash was very much a family affair. We were perhaps the only only outsiders there so we were indeed honoured. Many of Michael's family now live in Sydney so they all took the 160k drive north and spent the weekend in and around Newcastle. These are the members of Michael's immediate family and some of their friends.

We stayed with Michael and Janet and enjoyed their hospitality. This is us with the 'birthday boy'.



We left Newcastle Monday morning and drove 700 k's up to Burleigh Heads which is on the Gold Coast to catch up with more friends, Det and Brenda. They were waiting for us with the fridge fully stacked with cold beer! After a hectic weekend and a lot of driving, another night of drinking was not ideal for us ... but it was very enjoyable!

We departed Det and Brenda's at about 10:30 am on Tuesday and drove the last 180 k's to eventually get home early afternoon. It was a hectic but very enjoyable weekend away!

We have very hot and humid weather at the moment. It was very sticky yesterday and the pool was a popular spot for us. However it clouded over during the afternoon and we received a nice 12 mls (.5 inch) of rain which was ideal for the garden. Nowadays the pool is about 24 in the morning and if we have sunny weather it gets up to almost 27 during the day.

Home From Birthday Trip

Trish and I arrived back on the Sunshine Coast from Newcastle on Tuesday afternoon. On Friday she flew to Newcastle from Melbourne while I arrived in Newcastle to pick her up after driving (900k's) from the Sunshine Coast. We were attending a 'surprise' 50th birthday party as well as taking the opportunity to visit Trish's older brother and a nephew in Nelson Bay.

Info via this blog has been sketchy before I went away as being a surprise party I did not want to give information away in case the birthday person read it in these pages!

A highlight of the trip was an open air concert "In the Vineyards" given by Elton John. I enjoy his music but I must admit I am not a real fan. However he is a legend and I reckon a 'must see' if and when the opportunity arises. And he did not let us down.

We travelled to the venue (about 70k's from Newcastle) by bus. It was in the Hunter Valley, one of Australia's premier wine growing areas. Needless to say there was a lot of wine for sale prior to and during the concert. We found a few seats and sat down for a drink and a bite to eat for the hour or two we had to wait for the concert for the 10,000 audience to begin. There was a small choice of whites or red wines to purchase as well as boutique beers. You could also buy a hamburger for $15 if you were really hungry! $5 for a beef stroganoff meat pie was enough for me!

In the above photo Michael is seen standing with his daughter Michelle to one side. His other daughter Kathryn and son Brendan can be seen in this photo too. Jan is 'waving' to the camera while Trish seems quite at home too.

Purchasing drinks was easy to do too.


4 bottles of wine later we took our seats as the Elton John took to the stage. He sang all his hits and kept the crowd captivated. Cameras flashed and the crowd sang and danced to "Crocodile Rock". My favorite was "Candles In The Wind". To complement a single performer and piano 'on stage' two large video screens were playing either side providing close ups of Elton John or his hands as he played the piano. The concert went for well over two hours and at the conclusion we made our way back to the bus and a slow trip back to Janet and Michael's home. We got to bed about midnight but needed to be up early the next day to begin our trip home.