QUEENSLAND DAY

June 6th is Queensland Day.

We celebrate the separation from New South Wales to become an independent state in 1859.

 

June is a lovely time of year in Brisbane.

Cooler weather and bright sunny days just make being outside so delightful.

 

On this lovely sunny Queensland Day ( which also happened to co-inside with the Queen's Birthday Long Weekend holiday) the Governor of Queensland threw open his lovely house and grounds to the public allowing them access to some of the rooms in the house and the freedom to picnic in the lovely grounds.

 

 

We've never been before and always wanted to have a look. You can't see much of the house from the road as it is situated on top of a rather steep hill with several acres of bushland surrounding it, even though it is right in the heart of an inner city suburb. 

 

We joined the throng of people at the bottom gate and began the climb when the gates opened at midday.

 

Before the climb bottled water, Queensland flags and an information sheet were distributed to anyone who wanted them!!

The path climbed very steeply up through the bush till we reached a levelled out section on one side where there was a tennis court, a swimming pool and a very nice modern pavilion.

We stopped for a breather and to have a look inside the lovely pavilion and were greeted by kitchen staff handing out Lamingtons. If you've never heard of Lamingtons look here. They have become an Australian icon along with Vegemite and Iced VoVos.

 

Another chef was filling tiny cherry tomatoes with goats cheese which were also handed out.

 

 

After this generous snack we were fortified to finish the climb to the house,

arriving at the side of the house. The house faces the city from the top of the hill so the view is lovely from the side veranda.

 

 

Round the front people were queuing to enter the house so we joined the line and we were very surprised to see the Governor himself moving down the line greeting and talking to the waiting crowd.

He worked his way down the line apologising for the long wait to get inside till it was my turn to shake hands and chat briefly. I was very impressed by his warmth and friendliness and total lack of formality. Just another Aussie !!

 There was very little visible security  - Just the Deputy Police Commissioner and another elderly fellow in a police dress uniform and the whole feel was relaxed and friendly.

 

Before long it was our turn to enter the house.

No photos allowed inside which I find hard to understand.

 

 

There were only a couple of rooms open to see but what we saw was very nice - stylish but comfortable . It is not a very big house and these days important guests usually stay in the big city hotels where they can take up whole floors of the buildings but Prince William was a recent exception to this and I'm sure he would have enjoyed his stay where he could swim or stroll around the grounds in the fresh air without prying eyes.

 

Immediately in front of the house is a lovely lawned area where seats were scattered for the use of families who chose to picnic there under the huge trees

.

 

 

and many were making themselves quite at home there.

 

By now the line had filled with lots of people and snaked down to the front entrance.

When we emerged from the house on the far side at the back there were a few stalls selling mementos and Tony bought a couple of nice crystal wine glasses so we can be very posh when we next cook a roast on the BBQ......

 

.......and there was the Governor and his wife again ! Strolling around chatting and mingling with the citizens on a lovely June day ! 

 

We live in a very lucky country

Cheers.

MIGALOO.... Again!

Yes, it's THAT time again!

 

  

Whale Watching time !

 

 

The time when the Humpback whales make their journey from Antarctica along the eastern coast of Queensland to the northern tip of Australia where they give birth in the warm waters of the north, mate and finally travel back to Antarctica as the water warms up down there again.

 

 



 It's wonderful to hear that Migaloo, the albino whale, has been sighted once again off the far north Queensland coast. (http://www.cairns.com.au/article/2013/08/08/246355_local-news.html)

If you've never heard of Migaloo you might like to read this post.

 

Cheers.

LOVELY WEATHER, LET'S GO OUT !

Can you guess where we've been today?

We were up and dressed and out of the door by 8:00am today.

The sky was blue and the weather warm as we headed off along the highway.



Peeping out among the dark green leaves along the roadside were lovely wattles bursting into bloom.

First it was breakfast at a little cafe then we met up with.....



Sally and Scout

 

Scout is growing up fast.

She's 5 and a half months old now.

 

We parked at this children's park near the beach where dogs are allowed off leach.

 

The possom was keeping a look out for other pirates.

 

 

The beach beckoned so off over the dunes we went. 

 

 

No surf today and not too many people about as school holidays have just finished.

Plenty of room to run and chase the ball without disturbing anybody.

 

Then back over the dunes to the banks of Currumbin Creek

A few hardy souls were swimming out to this sandbank with their dogs.

Not warm enough for us to join them today though Scout was in and out of the water.



Have I mentioned before that Queensland does Winter well ??????

Cheers.

 

WHALES IN THE NEWS TODAY

In the past I have posted about the whales that travel up the Queensland coast from Antarctica every year to give birth to their calves in the warmer waters of the north.

 

We get quite excited about them and a thriving tourist industry has developed around their visits to Hervey Bay each year.

 We're very protective of these wonderful creatures with many restrictions placed on humans approaching too close to them in their yearly journey.

 

 

The whales we see most often are Humpback whales - huge, harmless creatures some of which we have come to know quite well and even named ( Migaloo for instance - read about him !).

 

This week's news has been about a different type of whale-

the Orca or Killer Whale - a much smaller whale

 

 

 

Now these whales are fearsome predators of the sea that are not usually seen close to shore.

 

This week an Orca and it's young calf became stranded and died in the shallow waters of Hervey Bay.

Worse news was to follow as the rest of the pod were also in grave danger of becoming beached and stranded as they waited for the dead whales to join them on their journey north. 

 

 

Wildlife officers worked desperately to try to drive the pod out to sea

 

 but it looked like the whole pod were doomed as they refused to leave without the dead members

 

 

 

and became stranded on sand banks at low tide.

 

 

Wildlife Rangers worked tirelessly to protect them from the heat of the sun until the tide returned and the whales coud be refloated and guided into deeper water.

 

In desperation the dead calf was towed into deeper waters in the hope that the rest of the pod - numbering 5 - would follow but although they are in deeper water now it is feared they will return to the shallow water and become stranded again.

 

A team of rangers is closely monitoring the whales until they have cleared Hervey Bay and moved on to deeper water.



WINTERY DAY OUT

By Queensland standards last night was cold.

It probably got down to about 5 degrees Celcius.

Of course that was when I was tucked up warmly under my doona ( duvet) and fast asleep but never-the-less it was still quite chilly when I finally forced myself to emerge at about 8:30am this morning.
You see we don't heat our homes and we have large airy rooms for the hot weather and cold tiled floors.
Anyhow 8:30am is a scandlous time to get out of bed here in Queensland.
 As a rule we're early risers but that's one of the joys of being retired.

The sky was blue, blue, blue and the air was crisp and there was an exhibition of old Quilts from the UK on show at the Art Gallery as well as an exhibition of newspaper photography at the Powerhouse Gallery so we rugged up and set off using our usual mode of transport to the city.






Once we were in the city we made our way to the Art Gallery which is right on the river when we  came upon this!



We've never noticed before but we have our own little glass pyramid just likle the Louvre in Paris !!
 

Well yes, I know it's a bit smaller !!!
 

The quilts were very interesting and showed that we are still using  many of the same designs that have been used for centuries.
There was even a quilt that had been made by female convicts on their voyage to the penal colony in Van Dieman's Land ( Tasmania ).

By now the temperature was about 18 degrees and walking along the river was very pleasant indeed.

A few people out exercising were in short sleeves but most Queenslanders were rugged up in jumpers, coats and boots for a cold Queensland day!

 

 We do Winter rather well here in sunny Queensland.

Cheers.