The house at Maleny.

Got back from my grass cutting trip to our Maleny house. After the recent rain everything is growing like Jack's beanstalk - overnight changes! All our trees are growing quickly and so are the weeds. Spent the morning weeding - but it was 32° at 9.00 am! It hit 41° this afternoon.
Anyway, came across this Paperwasp's nest and our 'Swamp Bloodwood' is in flower.

Thur. 21st February.Deva Premal Concert.

To Brisbane City Hall to see and hear 'Deva Premal & Miten' - 'Spiritual musicians'.
She is German and has a beautiful voice. He is English and was a backing musician for some big name bands in the 60s & 70s. Between them they interpret ancient Hindu & Buddhist mantras and produce a distinctive pleasant & relaxing sound.

There were 400 people at the concert - more hippies than anywhere outside of Byron Bay! A lot of people looking like Neil out of the 'Young Ones' but even some real young ones.

Wed. 20th February. A visit from Hugh.

Hugh, who was with us on the Tibet trip in September, was in Australia for a week seeing his son on the Gold Coast. He & his wife Margaret came up to Brisbane for lunch on Wednesday. (we may have overdone the garlic on the garlic prawns!)
It was good to see him. He is an example of how to simply keep going - age is no barrier to trekking, travel or any other ambition we may have.
I hope to be having a beer with him & Phil in Lancaster in a few months time.

The next trip.

I'm off to New Zealand in 6 weeks time to do a bit of climbing.
The target is Mt. Aspiring on South Island near Queenstown.
This is a very pointy mountain of 3,033 m. (9,950 ft). We fly up onto the glacier by helicopter and take it from there.
Plenty of pictures will be posted.
Click here to see a bit more about Mt. Aspiring. Or the company I'm going with.

Unlucky!

This summer has brought an end to our 7 year drought with some serious flooding in Queensland.
This girl was unlucky enough to be run over by a motor boat at a place 700 km. inland!
It could, of course, have been much more serious if it were her head, chest or abdomen that had been hit.

AUSTRALIA DAY Today.

Yes, 220 years since the First Fleet, laden with English convicts, sailed into Sydney Harbour.

Paula & I were out last evening to a restaurant in the Valley called 'Belle Epoque' - a superb French restaurant.

Had oysters, escargots, salmon, creme brulee, champagne and Absinthe!

A marvellous contraption for preparing it - picture below.

SOME DAYS ARE JUST SURREAL!

What a weird day.
I awoke on a high because I'd just (yesterday) arranged my next climbing trip (New Zealand) but better still it's OUR 9th WEDDING ANNIVERSARY.
THEN I heard that Heath Ledger was found dead at the age of 28.

THEN we had a call from Nicola to say that her boyfriend's Mum had had a HEART TRANSPLANT this morning!

It was almost pleasant to get to work and do a gynaecology list.

I was very thankful to be sitting having a glass or two of Pinot Grigio with the lovely Paula this evening and knowing that the stock market was on the mend.

PS. Madeleine has been in Kathmandu for 2 weeks and is enjoying the shopping.

It's the little things that count.

So, after nearly 3 years I got round to putting up the 'St. Pancras Fixture' toilet-roll holder in the hall 'loo' at the Maleny house. This involved creating a specially painted backing board and purchasing a 'stud finder' so it wouldn't fall off with the first couple of sheets.

9th January. GOODBYE MADELEINE.

Madeleine's off on her Gap Year.

We had lunch at the gallery after the Warhol Exhibition then home to pack.


Off to the airport this evening, she left at midnight for Kathmandu. She'll spend 2 months doing volunteer work in an orphanage there before going on to England for a year.

9th January. Andy Warhol Exhibition.

Only 10 days into it and 2008 is turning out to be a busy year.
Today we were off to the new GoMA - the Brisbane Gallery of Modern Art - to see a major Andy Warhol Exhibition.

It was a lot better than I thought it might be. I especially enjoyed all the Campbell's soup and the Marilyn Monroe series. His pictures of Mao Tse Tung and Mick Jagger were also excellent.

First NEW TOY of 2008!

Popped into town to get a small stereo system and was pulled - as if by a black hole - into the Bang & Olufsen store in Fortitude Valley. Walked out 20 minutes later with a Dark Grey 'BeoSound 1' system.
It Sounds Great!

Nicola's 20th Birthday. 2nd January 2008

So my eldest offspring, Nicola, has turned 20.
She's just finished her first year of a nursing degree and seems to be enjoying herself.
The whole family, plus her boyfriend Brady, popped into the city for dinner by way of celebration.


(Planning to get that video screen removed from my head quite soon,)

Last Day of 2007

We were up at Chartwell, our house at Maleny. The drought clearly had come to an end with 190 mm. - nearly 8 inches - of rain in less than a week. I spent a few hours out in the garden digging drainage channels to stop the erosion.
All the fire-work displays on the Sunshine Coast & Gold Coast were cancelled because of strong winds and rain.

Merry Christmas and all that.

So it's over for another year. Brisbane was a cool, overcast 27° (Perth was 41°!)

We went the 'cold' option with meats & smoked trout and salads - but with Christmas pudding after - plus a bit of wine & port.

Hope everyone had a great day.

Off to the Burgess household for Boxing Day leftovers then up to Maleny to cut the grass.

Tree Hugging a Wollemi Pine

We've just been given a Wollemi Pine by our Maleny Neighbours, Neil & Jane.

The pine was only discovered in 1994 west of Sydney and only 100 trees exist in the wild.

This little beauty has been put near the front of our property and should be about 20 m. high in 40 years. It's quite an elegant thing and even has it's own website at;     WollemiPine.com

Madeleine's Last Day at School

Friday 16th Nov. City Hall. Brisbane. BGGS Speech Day

All the Grade 12 Girls were presented their certificates by Justice Atkinson.

Afterward they gathered outside - all 220 of them.
Proud parents were there - ecstatically happy that they were no longer paying school fees.
Then the girls lined up and did the school 'War Cry' - all very 'St. Trinians'. Press on the video -- it's only a minute or so

                                           

A Busy Last Week at School.

In Australia the academic year ends Nov/Dec. and this week Madeleine finished Grade 12 - she's having a Gap Year in 2008. Tuesday night saw us at the Brisbane Girls' Grammar Valedictory dinner. Not a bad thrash.

On Wednesday it was the turn of Jake. The Brisbane Boys' Grammar Speech Night was held at the Convention Centre. Exactly the same format as my school prize-giving nights 40 years ago! i.e. a bit long winded and boring. However, Jake got an Academic Prize for being in the top 10% of the year.

NEW TOY! - the 16 gig. iPod Touch

It arrived Friday morning. Within an hour I was playing music and looking at photos.


This is a stunningly impressive piece of work. It's flash driven, so no moving parts. It's capacity is more than adequate. But for me the best thing is that it's like a music iPod PLUS half a dozen high quality photograph albums - all 1700 of my Tibet photos are on there - PLUS it has a calender with all my friends' birthday& anniversary details PLUS it has my full address book with everyone's contact details PLUS it can surf the net via WiFi using the Safari browser I usually use. WOW!!! Even my teenage kids are knocked out by it.

WHAT I DO ALL DAY!

It would seem that few people actually know what Anaesthetists do all day. They especially wonder when they see the size of the bill.
But, at last, all is revealed.
A couple of English doctors who 'entertain' on the side have written a little ditty called 'Anaesthetist's Hymn' which can be seen in it's total one and a half minute glory by following the link below;

Check it out on You Tube Here

The 'Amateur Transplants', as they call themselves. are also responsible for 'Titanic', about penis size, 'Beautiful', about a paedophile lover and, best of all, 'London Underground' which can be appreciated by anyone who has ever been on a subway system.

'Enjoy' as they say in America.

Sat. 20th October. Birthday dinner for George

George was 16 on the 6th October, but this weekend was the first opportunity we had to celebrate his birthday 'en famille'.

We gave him 16 blocks of Cadbury's chocolate and a couple of books on bodypainting! Surely a 16 year old boy's dream presents!


In the evening last Saturday we went for steaks at 'the Breakfast Creek Hotel' - a Brisbane institution with splendid eye fillet steaks.
Here are Madeleine, George, Nicola, Nicola's boyfriend Brady, Paula & myself.

Day 25. 3.10.07. Final day in Kathmandu.

And so the adventure was reduced to this - shopping for pashminas!!!



After a final lunch at 'Mike's Breakfast' the UK contingent flew off and I left next morning.
A great trip.

NEXT TRIP K2. 2009.

Who Knows what day it is? DESPERATE Hangover +++ (Day 24 actually)

A little bit under the weather after the adventures of the previous night - Tom & Jerry's, Sam's Bar etc. not to mention the early bottle of Moet et Chandon Phil & I started with.

Yeah, but I'm not smiling inwardly. The Northfield breakfast certainly helped. OH MY GOD! Someone shaved my beard off!


Recovery was so good during the day that we were on the piss again that evening. Here at a very good restaurant called 'Kilroy's'.
Tom & Phil.


Myself & Didi.

Phil is accused of doing some 'irritating' table drumming in Tom & Jerry's Bar. How rude!

Day 23. 1.10.07. Jhangmu to Kathmandu and a shave!

At the border we said goodbye to Tengpo, our Tibetan guide. For any one of 50 reasons he is THE coolest dude in the world.


After crossing the Friendship Bridge into Nepal we chill and have a dhal-bhat lunch in Kodari.


Only 6 hours to Kathmandu - but spectacular scenery in the Bhote Khosi gorge.


And so to Kathmandu and a close shave.


The rest of the evening is lost in a haze. Could an excess of alcohol have been involved?

Day 22. 30.9.07. Rongbuk to Jhangmu via Tingri.

Magically, Everest appears just after breakfast, then we turn our backs on it and head off on the 'Friendship Highway' towards Kathmandu.


We had lunch at Tingri, not quite a one horse town.


Incredible view of Shishapangma on the way - 14th highest mountain in the world at 8013 m., 26,291 ft.


Then there was Jhangmu!

Day 21. 29.9.07. Thank you to our Sherpas.

We had a little ceremony in the mess tent to say thanks to our Sherpas who looked after us so well. They were a great crew and forever smiling and tolerant of we geriatric westerners.

Thanks to Dorje,


To Mindoo,


To Dendy,


To Sonam,


To our chef, Jumba,


And to our sirdar, Lhakpa - always smiling!