Intro…

I originally wrote this article over two months ago but never posted it. Then today, on the TV news, there was a story of how a statue of Captain James Cook has been (literally) cut down and vandalised in St. Kilda (near Melbourne). Sawn off at the ankles no less and the base painted with the words “the colony will end”. So now, this post is even more relevant. Oh yes dear readers; I really can predict the future hahaaa…

The Voice Referendum – How to Divide a Nation

If you are not in Australia you may not have noticed. But a few weeks three months ago there was a referendum on something they called “The Voice”. No not that crappy TV “talent” show! This thing was basically going to be an Aboriginal/Indigenous “voice to parliament”. To discuss matters that concern indigenous Australians. Of course that was a completely stupid idea, as everything the government does already does concern indigenous people – as it should. And of course anything the government does also impacts (equally I might add) on every Australian, whether “indigenous” or only just receiving their citizenship.

Anyway I will leave it to you to research the finer points on “the voice referendum”. (Clue: there were none!) The result was a resounding “NO” from the people of Australia.

The problem is however that even without this divisive “voice” thing, there are already lots of crazy things going on in Australia and no sign of them stopping or even slowing down. Every week there is some news story about wanting to change the name of a place to its original (aboriginal) name. Or public access to some mountain or scenic beauty spot being removed – as that area is now considered to have some kind of “sacred aboriginal significance”. Most, if not all, are pure crazy. The most famous one is Ayers Rock (aka Uluru) of course. I managed to climb The Rock but that was way back in the mid 1990s. They stopped people climbing it in 2019 (I think). Personally I see no reason to go there if you can’t climb it but that’s just me. There are many other examples however.

Among all of this nonsense there have been regular calls to remove statues of Captain James Cook. At least one I know of has already been taken down (in Cairns) and they are even calls to remove the main one in Sydney city centre. Crazy right? Stalinist even? Well I think so.

Anyway why stop there? Once that first domino falls it is only a (very short) matter of time before these loons want absolutely anything to do with Cook’s name removed. As if he never existed. Trust me on this one. This kind of thing could be very close to happening.

So, dear readers, I have assembled as many things as I can find relating to the great sailor, navigator and explorer for you to go and check out before it is too late. Only in and around Sydney however.

Also I doubt this is anywhere near being a complete list (even with a Part 2 to come). If you know of others please let us all know in the comments. 

Statues of Captain James Cook

Surely these will be the first things to go. At east one (that I know of) has already been taken down. That was in Cairns – yes, barrier reef trip HQ. As I have already pointed out in a previous post – here – there has been talk of moving the Hyde Park statue of James Cook into a museum. In other words; take it down from its current prominent location and hide it away until such time as it can be totally “archived” in some basement or back-room, never to be seen again. 

As a good friend of mine recently pointed out; there is something very Stalinist about taking down statues. Regardless of any official “reason”. A very good point.

One side of the base has the inscription “DISCOVERED THIS TERRITORY 1770”. It regularly gets defaced. The loons claim; ‘how could Cook discover the place when there were already people living here?’ Yeah I kinda know what they mean but for goodness sake! It incenses them so much that they have to vandalise a statue. Well that is how petty these idiots are. It was unreadable the first time I photographed it. Then a couple of months later it had been restored (again) – see below. 

I fear at least one of these statues will be attacked and vandalised around this year’s Australia Day celebrations (or protests). 

Kings Langley

Up in northwest Sydney suburbs in and around the town of Blacktown there are a few interesting streets and parks that simply have to have their names changed:

James Cook Drive. Now there’s a name that needs changing if ever there was one. Yeah it’s a bloody long road with many signs both on the road itself as well as signs leading to it. But what does that matter eh? Scrap it!

Sitting on James Cook Drive is a lovely piece of green space currently called Endeavour Park. Now as we all know that was the name of Captain Cook’s ship. The one he sailed around the planet and in so doing discovered (tuh! that word again) New Zealand and the East coast of Australia. Well at least that is what we currently know. Future generations probably won’t be taught about all that but never mind eh?

Damn that ship! If it hadn’t been so well built then perhaps Cook would never have made it to the East coast of Australia. OK. Agreed! All traces of anything named after The Endeavour must also be resigned to the history-bin. We can just pretend it never existed eh? Who cares if it is one of the most famous ships in the history of mankind?

The pathways around Endeavour Park are painted with details of the ship’s famous journey from England to Australia. Two are shown in the photos below. The audacity of such historical context! All must be removed! Don’t you agree?

One of the roads just off James Cook Road in the Kings Langley area is another long road called Joseph Banks Drive. He was one of the botanists on the Endeavour with Captain Cook, so it naturally follows – guilt by association and all that – that anything relating to him must also go. Including the Banks Reserve, a park on Joseph Banks Drive. Let’s face it folks. Once these fools start doing what I predict, where will it end?

Blacktown

Further west into Blacktown itself there are a few examples. There are few streets with names that the loons will say need changing but I never saw them. There are also these two little public parks (see below) called Captain Cook Memorial Park No.1 and  (rather conveniently) No.2. I do believe there may be a No.3 and No.4 but really not sure. It really doesn’t matter however as both of these in the photo below will have to go. The very thought of kids playing in a park named after one of the greatest sailors and navigators the world has ever known is just too disgusting for words. Ugh!

A Few More…

Here are a few more places named after the great man. Or are they?…. One of them caught me out which was at least a bit amusing…. 

James Cook Island is a man made piece of land specifically reclaimed so as to build nice houses with boat access to the water. People with money will live here. Will that be just another reason the petty, jealous anti Cook crowd to go after it? Probably

This next one was funny. When I saw it on the map I naturally thought “Ah yes. That will be named after the old sea-farer”. I was wrong. Cook’s Paddock – aka ‘James Cook Reserve Playground’ – is actually named after a local baker who happened to have a very famous name. Still; will that be enough to stop it being vandalised by the usual suspects? Will they bother to read the sign? Time will tell. 

Then again, reading the sign, it seems the baker used images of the Captain with the same name as advertising. Ah, not good (for the fools). Guilty!!! Maybe this place will have to go too…

More to come…

There are several other Cook related places I want to capture – while I can – but for now I will leave it here. Watch out for Part 2.

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Better still share it with anyone that you think it will piss off.  Hahahaa ; )

Some Things I Found Very Curious, In Japan…

Visiting a country like Japan from a Western country was always going to be a culture shock of sorts. But some things I think deserve a mention as being very curious if not downright odd. In a nice way though. Here are some things that I thought were particularly interesting in Japan.

First of all I want to dispel a myth about Japan. One that I had long believed to be true. Many probably believe that Japan is an expensive place. It is not expensive. I am sure the cost of buying an apartment is quite high, what with land being at a premium and all that. But the general cost of living does not seem to be. Eating out was fairly cheap. Public transport was as fairly priced as anywhere I have been. Drinks (alcohol) are not too expensive. If you smoke, cigarettes are cheaper than anywhere in Europe I have been – including Spain. (More on this below.)

Hotel prices were as cheap or cheaper than Australia (my only guide this past few years). Yes, Australia is expensive, particularly Sydney (which is a f**king absolute rip off to be exact) but Japan is definitely not an expensive place to visit.

And on the subject of money, here is my first curious observation…

Cash Only! 

I am very pleased to shout about this: Cash is still king in Japan.

Oh yes; you see at least as many people paying with cash as you do using the plastic. And I love it! In fact I find it both sad and annoying that in places like Australia, people now use their cards (and even their mobile phones FFS!) far too much to make payments.

So what makes the Japanese favour good old fashioned cash? I believe it’s quite simple. They value their own currency. Forget exchange rates. They even keep and offer in change, the 1 Yen coins (1¥). One single Yen equates to half a penny (UK) or 1 Australian cent. Actually they are plastic tokens rather than copper or other metal coins.

Quite a few countries have dropped the small change coins (1 & 2) and use a system of rounding small change up or down to the five cent mark. Australia, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland, Ireland and Sweden for example. But, unlike these countries,  the Japanese seem intent on keeping their currency and using it in the manner it was intended.

All of the vending machines – and they are everywhere; see below – take coins and/or notes. Including ticket machines at stations.

In the western world where cash is seemingly being driven out of fashion, and there is talk of moving towards a digital currency system, Japan is defying the trend completely. And I have to say I agree fully and applaud them for doing what they are doing.

So why is cash very much King in Japan? Truth is I don’t know, but I do have a theory.

I believe it is largely because of their distrust of China. A long term enemy or competitor (at least). The Chinese system makes it difficult for certain individuals to manage if their digital currency is (effectively) switched off. And the Chinese government can do just that. In fact this is the main argument (in the West) against moving to a centrally driven digital currency. It gives governments or even unelected bodies the chance to totally control your money and hence your life. Well that’s the case against a centralised digital currency – and I for one agree.

Vending Machines – Everywhere!

This one almost ties in with the use of cash. It seems that everywhere you look in the city streets you see vending machines. All kinds selling all sorts. Not only food and drink. In some places, whole blocks are lined with several layers of small machines selling cheap plastic (supposedly collectable?) toys. Clearly aimed at kids who are saving up their coins. As stated above, every Yen counts!

In busy commercial districts these little white machines sell all kind of crappy little (usually) plastic collectibles. The range is incredible. Some streets are literally lined with these things. But never stacked more than 3 high. The kids have to be able to reach their favourite collectibles, right? Plus of course you can buy all kinds of drinks, food and cigarettes (see below) from vending machines in Japan.

While vending machines still exist elsewhere in the world, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find them accepting coins.

Smoking – Bucking The Trend

While on the subject of vending machines… For less than 500 yen (¥) you can buy a pack of cigarettes from vending machines. In the street !! (Imagine how long those machines would last in Europe etc.) That equates to $5 (Australia), about £2.60 or just over €3. That’s cheap! A fair bit less for the cheapest brands as well. Zoom in on the prices below.

They used to have cigarette machines on walls outside cinemas and such like in the UK when I was very young. Can anyone remember when they stopped doing that? Please let us know with a comment.

Maybe that’s why smoking is still fairly common in Japan. It is not allowed in most areas but they do have smoke rooms in many indoor places. They even have them on the high speed “bullet” trains. And when you pass a smoking area in a city it is usually crowded. No doubt the very cheap price of smokes is the main reason that Japan seems to be bucking the trend for reducing the number of smokers? Japan is one of the world’s largest tobacco markets.

Trains

This may seem and odd subject to add to a discussion about curious things in Japan. Well, I suppose it is more of a compliment really.

The trains are spotlessly clean when you get on them. Then when you arrive and everyone disembarks they still look completely clean! It’s incredible. That says a lot about the way people in Japan behave of course and generally respect their locale.

How do they run such an amazing and extensive high speed railway network?

It all began a surprisingly long time ago. Japan had its first high speed trains way back in 1964 (the year I was born). Around that time the UK was going through what can only be described as one of the most reckless and savage demolitions of infrastructure in history!!
(I intend to write a bit more about trains in Japan, as we visited the Railway Museum in Kyoto. So please look out for that one in the near future.)

For reference the TGV system in France (Europe’s first) started in 1981 (17 years behind Japan) and Spain’s AVE network of high speed trains first operated in 1992. China only jumped on the high speed train bandwagon as recently as 2008 – a full 44 years after Japan. So running such a network is nothing new to the Japanese.

More “curious Japan” to come in Part 2…

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Nihonbashi Brewery (and Japan in general)

We visited Japan over Christmas/New Year period. I have lots to report but before I put up posts about the many amazing places we saw, I want to give a huge shout-out to this place – The Nihonbashi Brewery craft beer pub.

Well, in fact it’s a big shout-out to all of Japan. I feel the whole country deserves praise for this one. Please read on…

Last Night in Japan

It was our last night in Japan. Tokyo city one of the biggest and most populated areas on the planet. Central Tokyo to be even more exact. Right next to Tokyo station. It was early evening after dark and office workers were pouring out of the many tall buildings in the area. Add to that a healthy mix of tourists, shoppers and huge number of commuters scurrying in and out of the massive Tokyo station.

We wanted something to eat and where better than a craft beer bar? (Any regular readers will know that we have visited many such establishments.) This place was right near the station and was almost empty when we arrived, so perfect.

The beer was very good – and interesting. By the time we left the place was very busy. But the real story is this:

When we were back in the hotel – all the other way across the other side of the city -packing our bags for the following morning’s flight, it hit me. I had left the camera in the Nihonbashi Brewery bar. Not just any camera but a fairly good Canon SLR camera. (Probably cost about $1000/€600+ new. OK, not the best but hey… good enough.)

Damn it! Maybe that beer was better than I thought. None of us realised while going for the train and travelling back. Over an hour had passed. Damn! How could that even happen?

What should I do? I decided to hot-tail it across the city in a taxi and try my luck. Even a return taxi fare would be worth it if the camera was still there. But that was the real question. Was it? We phoned the place and although (as we already knew) their English was not that good, it seemed that they did in fact find the camera when they cleaned our table.

Half an hour later I arrived back there and when I ran in one of the employees saw me and said “Camera?”. The relief on my face must have told its own story. She went into a room behind the bar and retrieved it. Outside the taxi driver was waiting and in just under an hour I had done it! Round trip and camera recovered. Must learn to keep a closer eye on my stuff though… Don’t you just hate it when you know you have been so stupid?

Compare…

So a huge thanks to the people at the brewery but also the people of Japan in general. The lady at the hotel who spoke good English and explained where I wanted to go (and why) to the taxi driver, and the driver himself. Generally very helpful, friendly people despite a huge language barrier. More on that to come of course in future posts…

In the end it cost me 8,000 Yen – only about $80 (Australian). That’s about £40 or €50. Imagine trying to do that in London or Paris and not being able to speak the local language. I doubt anyone would even bother. Would the camera still be there when you arrived? Most peoples’ immediate response to that question would probably be “No! Not a chance”. Even giving it the benefit of doubt I would have to say it would be fairly unlikely. In Madrid the camera would have been lifted off the back of my seat while I was still in the bar! Trust me. That has happened! And we lived there! Sadly, you don’t have to be a naive tourist to get robbed in plain sight in the big cities of Spain. Yet here we were in a city reported to be home to over 37 million people!

In Dublin – a much, much smaller city than Tokyo – it would cost you at least €50 to get from one side to the centre, never mind across to the opposite side of the city centre! Absolute minimum, probably more like twice that – doublin’ it. (See what I did there?)  Dublin taxis are a huge rip-off if you didn’t already know. Sorry Dublin (Ireland even), but I would not have bothered making a similar journey there; fairly confident that the camera would not still “be there”. 

I had no idea where I was most of the journey but felt safe and knew that I was not getting ripped off. But most of all the camera was there waiting for me safe in the back room of the Nihonbashi Brewery pub.

This really is a “feel good” post. It just shows that there are still mostly good people out there. It is a bit like my post about my son losing his wallet recently (you can read that one by clicking here.) Meanwhile, there will be lots more to come on our trip to Japan.

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How Much Longer Will Australia Day Last?

It is almost 4 years exactly that we came over here to Australia. We arrived here just before Australia Day 2020. Of course that dopey scamdemic took over the news (including this blog) shortly after. But I remember being very taken aback by the “celebrations” – or to be more exact the lack of genuinely patriotic celebrations.

Right now we have the biggest (or at least one of the top 2) supermarket in Australia – Woolworths – saying they will not be selling Australia Day merchandise this year. I will be shopping at the other big supermarket from now on. But then it is only a matter of time before they too

It was painfully obvious to me right off the bat that there was something going on in the psyche over here; almost an embarrassment to be seen celebrating Australia Day. The media – obviously – are awful for this. Falling over themselves to try and make it all about every Australian even when they know that some do not like it.

But it goes a lot deeper. Official celebrations such as they are (many have ceased to be in recent years – by order of the council/state politicians), are thin on the ground. They are also interspersed with apologetic talk etc…

Why? FFS WHY?

They already have an official “apology day”, even a whole week of it in fact. What the hell is going on?

Of course that is a rhetorical question. I know and we all know. The powers that be would love nothing more than to stop Australia Day altogether. I expect it to happen within the next few years.

It is not even about the date. Aboriginal rights campaigners and their supporters have talked about that particular date being too significant. They refer to it as ‘Invasion Day’ in fact. But you can bet if every other Australian agreed to change the date but still celebrate it as “Australia Day” they would come up with some other garbage. You can never appease such people especially by caving in to their demands.

It pissed me off within a week of arriving in the country (click here for my first post on the matter) and it has just gotten worse.

If it was up to me I would give away free beer/wine vouchers to every adult of drinking age in the country. Only to be “spent” (redeemed) on Australia Day in bars and booze sellers. Encourage celebrating the day. Not the opposite. The governments (both state and federal) wasted so much money during that covid crap I am sure giving out free beers once a year would be a drop in the ocean.

Come on you Aussies! Get out there and celebrate this Australia Day and make it the best ever. With or without free beer handouts. Stick up a big metaphorical two fingers to those that want to stop the day.

Right. I feel better for that hahaa… Now I have got that one off my chest I can concentrate on writing some posts about our recent trips…

A Trip to the Museum

OK it’s school holidays so what do you do to get the kids off of those pesky bloody screens?

Easy. Take them to a museum and they will be so bored by the end of the day that even their lovely iPad or phone screen will not be able to tempt them. Well that last bit is probably not true but still… Off we went to check out a touring exhibition all the way from ancient Egypt.

Modern Egypt actually but the exhibits were all related to the period when that ancient civilisation was ruled by the one they call the greatest pharaoh of them all – Ramses.

Ramses The Great Exhibition

He was actually Ramses II (or 2nd) but is commonly referred to as Ramses the Great. He reigned supreme for an incredible 66 years from 1279 – 1213 B.C. He was born in 1303 B.C ! Now that was ancient.

Bear in mind that this reign was a thousand years before Cleopatra. Her who had a bit of hanky-panky with Julius Caesar when the Romans were big. Or was it Caesar’s sidekick Marc Antony? Or both? Ah well, that’s another story and a completely different period in Egyptian history.

Ramses the Great was known for building many of the amazing temples in Egypt. Including the Valley of the Kings and (my personal favourite) Abu-Simbel. He lived to the ripe old age of 90 – which is utterly incredible all those years ago. During that time he had 7 wives and fathered more than 160 children. Add to that all the building and wars he fought, Ramses was a very busy little pharaoh. Ramses was so old when he died that his son who took over was already in his 50s.

There was plenty of gold on display as well as busts, statues and coffins of other pharaohs. There were also quite a few mummified animals. Apparently that was big business in ancient Egypt especially for pets. A bit like dog walking and pet pampering services today I guess… 

Finally we got to see Ramses actual coffin. I was expecting a heavy gold casket but it turned out to be made of cedar wood. Inscribed on it are text written in Hieratic – this was the Egyptian’s form of writing that came after Hieroglyphics. Interesting stuff. 

There was plenty more, this was just a snippet. If you get the chance then go and see this exhibition at the Australian Museum near Hyde Park in central Sydney. Or look out for similar touring exhibitions of ancient Egypt wherever you live…

And out…

At the end of the exhibition there was the compulsory shop with all sorts of “Ancient Egyptian” souvenirs. But just before that there was time for a pose. He has been “walking like an Egyptian” for a while now. Not sure where he got it from as he was unaware of that Bangles song. He can’t even remember. 

Despite being a bit bored by the time we reached the exhibition shop, Daniel even managed a joke: 

Dani: Hey dad. What’s the best restaurant in ancient Egypt?
Me: Dunno.
Dani: Gordon Ramses

Pretty good one that eh?

 

Well, today is the 11th day of the 11th month of the year. Armistice day. I thought it would be nice to pay our respects at the large ANZAC Memorial at Hyde Park in the heart of Sydney.

The ANZAC Memorial was opened in 1934. It looks imposing enough from the outside but is even bigger than you think once you explore the interior. The building was designed by Australian-born Charles Bruce Dellit and is clearly Art Deco inspired. This is not the site of the Sydney cenotaph as I first thought. The cenotaph is actually in nearby Martin Place.

Beneath the memorial building there is a museum. Similar to the much larger one in Canberra. As part of the museum there is a collection of soil from almost 1,700 locations around Australia. The War Memorial Soil Collection Program set out to collect soil from every location around Australia where there was an enlistee in WWI. Part of the four sided display is shown below.

11th Hour of the 11th Day of the 11th Month…

Initially the 11th of the 11th was meant to be in remembrance of those who paid the ultimate price in the First World War (WW1). Nowadays, as the clock strikes the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month, people stand in silence to honour the fallen from all wars.

The 11th hour on this day marks the end of the final battles and hostilities (that were only still ongoing on at the “western front”) of WW1. I found out at today’s service that in Australia, everyone thought World War 1 had ended on the 8th of November and a large party ensued. Then, three days later they got the news that it really had ended. The party got a immediate reboot and the celebrations rolled on…

Interesting to note that despite what has been going on recently in Europe and America – and also here in Australia to a lesser extent – with pro Palestinian protests, there was no sign of anything like that on this special day in central Sydney. Nor was there any sign of the police. In fact the police were conspicuous in their absence. However, I am sure the news will show a different story from other parts of the world later today/tomorrow. Crazy times (again!)…

The Star Ceremony

After the remembrance service the staff hand out golden stars with the names of ANZACs who gave their lives in the various wars. People in attendance are invited to take a star and pause to reflect on the name on the star before throwing it into the Hall of Silence. Notice all the stars on the Hall floor…

The Big Bullets

Not exactly on the official list of The ‘Bigs’ of Australia but does appear on some such lists if you look into it.

This larger than life artwork is the work of Aboriginal artist Tony Albert whose family has many years of military service. He created the dramatic structures to honour the sacrifices and bravery of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander service men and women. One of the horizontal ‘bullets’ has an inscription on the ‘bullet’ base (see photos).

The sculpture work is inspired by his grandfather’s story about himself and 6 soldiers who escaped from a prisoner of war camp in Germany, only to be caught by Italian soldiers who lined them up to be shot. The Italians shot 3 of the men before realising their mistake. The men were POWs and should have been returned to Germany. Hence: 4 standing bullets (at 7-metres tall), to represent those who survived and 3 fallen shells in remembrance of those who paid the ultimate price. It is a fitting work of art so close to the ANZAC Memorial.

It’s been a funny old week. There is enough bad news on TV to keep us going for years. (When has it been any different lately?) But now and again something happens that gives you reason to forget all of that and just smile.

My faith in human nature has been restored – if only temporarily. As you get older your faith in humanity definitely takes a tumble. I don’t care how optimistic you are. Call it old(er) age; call it experience. But occasionally things like this happen that just give you hope. OK that’s a bit of a grumpy old dad type of thing to say, I know. But keep reading to the end…

Lost & Found

Dani went to the local shopping centre with his mates after school on Friday. It’s one of those end of week rituals kids get into. Invariably they’ll go for a nourishing burger at McDonalds (sarc.) or a super-value for money drink at Starbucks (extra sarc.).

This particular time they headed for the food court where Dani decided to take out his wallet and then have one of those foggy memory moments. For some unknown reason he put it down – he could not remember where of course – only to realise that he had lost it a few minutes later.

When he returned home his mum asked him why he hadn’t gone to the information desk in the shopping centre. After much discussion she went back to the shopping centre with him. Sure enough someone had handed in Dani’s wallet to the nearest manned information/help point – which in this case was the other side of the shopping centre.

The wallet contained some money (good old fashioned cash), one of those kids debit cards (yeah, more about those in a later post I think) plus Dani’s Real Madrid membership card. Nothing had been taken. A big thanks to the anonymous person out there who was kind enough to do the right thing.

Incidentally Dani had the good sense to call his mum and report what had happened once he realised his wallet was gone. At least that gave her the chance to cancel his debit card.

Footnote

I don’t want anyone reading this to take it the wrong way. I know the majority of people are good and honest. It’s not that there aren’t enough people with good intentions. There are. Plenty. Almost certainly the overwhelming majority. It’s just that the not so good minority are there and they are increasing. More than that they are the type who would not hand in someone’s lost property. I know that is hard to take as no doubt all of you reading this would hand in a purse or wallet if you found one. I know I would.

It’s easy to look at things from the ‘glass is half empty’ viewpoint. When in fact the glass is probably more like almost full! But it is still gives me a really nice feeling when this kind of thing happens.

This little drama had a happy ending but could easily have been the other way around.

Now. To teach that kid to take more care with his property… An ongoing battle…

Well, it’s Halloween. Again… That came around quick (as do most things these day). It is no secret on this blog that Halloween is Dani’s favourite event. Will it still be after today? Let’s find out…

Once again Dani and his mate Josh went out ‘Trick or Treating’ in the neighbourhood. Plus a little beyond this year… Josh was dressed as something called Duolingo. No; me neither?. But lots of other kids recognised it as the owl that is the face of a language learning “App” called Duolingo. OK? Now we all know…

Meanwhile Dani was dressed as… well, what exactly? With that wig he looked a bit like a cross between Garth from Wayne’s World and David Bowie from Labyrinth. Even something out of that 80’s group Kajagoogoo:  Don’t ask, cos I am not telling. If you don’t know then just look it up. Still, the wig got some favourable responses from the public.

I still can’t get used to the fact that it is daylight and too warm for face masks and certain other costumes. I am sure it would be the same – in reverse – for someone who grows up in the southern hemisphere and moves to the northern hemisphere. This opposite seasons thing is just something you grow up with and get so used to.

Fortunately it was not too hot today. At least when they were out and about spooking the locals.

Still the best fun day of the year Dan?

I would say the answer is a big “yes”. He enjoyed it as much as last year. Hopefully he will continue to enjoy Halloween for years to come. It’s just a bit of fun and great for the kids to dress up.

Meanwhile I have a complaint to make. The shopping centres need to rein it in more than a little bit. These bloody Christmas decorations were out even before the Halloween decorations in many places. Some shops and supermarket had aisles with Christmas stuff on one side and Halloween stuff on the other. That really makes no sense.

Please can we get one out of the way before the other takes over? Is that too much to ask?

Sculptures by the Sea – 2023

No way was that a year!?

It’s hard to believe but it really has been a year since we did the Sculptures by the Sea coastal walk from Tamarama beach to Bondi beach. Incredible! (Click here for that one). That was on the final day of the Sculptures exhibition last year (Nov. 6th). This time I saw it with some friends (Neil and Dawn) who were over from the UK.

The exhibition ends on 6th November (again), which is next weekend. Also we did this walk on a Friday. It was busy enough however. I am sure it will be as packed out as it was last year over the weekend. We kind of happened across it by accident. We were doing the full Bondi to Coogee coastal walk and I only realised what was going on when we arrived at Bondi beach.

Anyway here are some photos of this year’s Sculptures by the Sea exhibition… Enjoy.

Examples of the many exhibits..

From Grafton we took the much longer route to Brisbane via the town of Casino and the mountain pass border crossing on the winding B91 road. 

Casino

The town of Casino was initially called Cassino after Cassino (near Monte Cassino) in Italy. It is known (locally at least) as the “beef capital” of Australia. 

We had breakfast, took a quick look around then moved on.

Border Crossing

It was a long drive but the scenery is worth it. The B91 road becomes route 13 once you cross the border into Queensland. All the way up to the high point border, and for some time after crossing, the sight of Mount Lindesay dominates the area. I wonder if you are allowed to climb this one?… Anyone know?

Brisbane

Before heading for a well known lookout across the city we passed by a Hindu temple. A Ganesha temple to be more exact. I have seen places like this in India but they were older. Obviously this one looks brand new and shiny as it was only opened in 2015.

It is located almost 40km south of the city centre but it was worth the slight detour. Kind of odd really as it is in a relatively remote location. The inside was very colourful but photography is not allowed. I am no one to complain about rules like that in such places. The outside of the temple is spectacular enough. judge for yourselves. 

We only passed through Brisbane’s suburbs but we stopped at the Mount Coot-Tha Summit lookout – which offers some excellent views of the city and surrounding coast. And guess what? It was very busy. Naturally…

There were other angles but generally the overall view was always obscured by the rows of trees they have at the lookout point. Why the f*ck do they do that??! It really is nuts! They build roads paths fences and in this case restaurants at the lookout and allow trees to grow and spoil the f*cking views. It is a very big pet hate of mine. But time to move on and reach our destination…

Sunshine Coast – Coolum Beach

The Sunshine Coast is long and there are many towns along its length. After navigating the congested motorway to get north of the city we finally arrived at our chosen destination – Coolum Beach. Kind of half way up the length of the Sunshine Coast. Not to quiet but not as built up as one or two other resorts along this stretch of holiday heaven. Just about right for me.

This was our base for five days and time to relax. More to come of course….

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