Saturday 26th July 2008 - Xmas in July

Tonight we held our Gosford Townies Christmas in July at the "Simply Sicilian" restaurant at Toukley - very well organised by Margaret Redman & Sue Hodge. The food was good and there was plenty of it.

The boys especially enjoyed having a coverage of the Australia Vs New Zealand Rugby match and very strategically placed themselves the right side of the table for viewing.

Those attending tonight were Peter and Margaret Redman, Phillip & Sue Hodge, Garry & Carolyn Morris, Trevor & Margaret Andrews, John & Vicki Woods, Bob & Sue Clark, Ken & Margaret Gardiner, Peter & myself. We had a good catch up over the evening & managed to get through our bi-annual challenge of singing right through the verses on the "12 Days of Christmas" ably led by Ken Gardiner. As our memory fades with the years our version of the verses become very imaginative to say the least. We have been trying for about 15 years to get it right.

Images attached: Our group at the restaurant; the boys locked into the footie match; Ken attempting to get the verses right for our sing song

Thursday 24th June 2008

Tuesday was a busy day. A catch up with the washing and household work, a quick shopping trip to get the house catering supplies & wine supplies up to date as my cousin Dawn is coming this afternonn to stay for a few days. Then it was off to the Golf Club to catch up with the golf news & get my golfing blog information so I can update my golf blog. Then I had to hurry home as I knew Dawn was due to arrive. Co-incidently we both arrived at home at the same time so that worked out well.

Dawn & I have not had many opportunities to sit and have long chats so we made up for it on Tuesday night - talking well into the night over a wine or two.

Wednesday Dawn & I decided that we would have a girls day - starting with some shop browsing & then a relaxing massage at Bali Beauty ( who fortunately had some appointment time to fit us both in). We just had time to have lunch and make the afternoon movie of "Mama Mia". We had to stop off at the bottle shop on the way home to replentish the wine supply & almost got all the washing wet as it just started to rain on our way home. Fortunately we got home before too much damage was done & the washing was saved. We managed to find some more things to talk about over a little wine & got to bed some time after midnight.

Thursday I was tied into playing golf in a team match - which was a special day celebrating our ladies 80th birthday celebration. It was wet & cold - but as all good golfers do - one has to turn up - especially when it is a team event. We were having a shotgun 8 o'clock start so we all dutifully donned the wet weather gear & tried to have some fun. It wasn't too bad to start with but then it got very heavy on the second nine. We decided that we had enough by the time we got to the 12th hole & came into the clubhouse to enjoy a hot coffee. Dawn came over to the club at lunchtime & joined us for the special luncheon that we were having & we had a pleasant afternoon. I was feeling pretty tired after having to get up early (after a previous late night) and then struggling through all the wet at golf. We decided that dinner at Aree's - the local Thai Restaurant was appropriate & we all enjoyed that.

Images attached: Dawn & I at the golf club; with my playing partners today - Jan Fitzgerald, Carol Farrell & Yvonne Wilson; the golf course - looking very wet.

Monday 21st July 2008

It was going to be a long trek home from Ipswich so we were up early & on the road by 8.30. It was raining lightly for a while which did not help in the heavy traffic heading for Brisbane. When we got to the Logan Highway turnoff the traffic was much better & we had a pretty smooth ride for the rest of the trip home.

We stopped off at Grafton for lunch which was a bad decision as there were a huge amount of other travellers doing the same thing & it was still school holidays. A small roadside cafe would have been a better alternative. I will try & remember that next time we are on the road.

We arrived home about 7.30 - 8. o'clock by the time we stopped off at the supermarket to get some essential items for the house. All was in order & the kids had done a good job of looking after the place while we were away.

It was a wonderful week with great company & we especially enjoyed playing golf on different courses. We were lucky with the weather also as it had been freezing and wet here while we were away.

Well now it is back to reality!

Sunday 20th July 2008 - Ipswich

I was up early after a good nights sleep & headed off to the beach to walk off a bit of my gardening stiffness. The beach was only one block away & I walked a good way towards Broadbeach & watched the sun rise which was lovely. The beach was pristine & very few people around. I could follow my own footsteps back to where I joined the beach (only in Australia).

I enjoyed the brisk walk & was surprised that there were so few people up and about even on the esplanade.

We needed to be out of the unit by 10 o'clock so we checked out early & did a drive by the Burleigh Street house. It looked much better & more welcoming than the day before. We checked out the Real Estate office that is selling the property but they were closed. We stopped off for a coffee as it was still a bit early to arrive at my friend Karin's un-announced. (I did not have her current telephone number so lucky she has not changed address). We had a hour or so chatting & having a catch up with Karin at her home at Mermaid Waters. Then we had to make our way to Ipswich to see Kay & Greg.

We have not been there before so it was good to be able to have some time to stop over. It is amazing what work Kay & Greg have done to their yard considering they have not been there very long. The spa was very handy too. Kay & I dissapeared into that for our happy hour which was very relaxing & just what I needed after all that gardening the previous day.

Kay has got three cats in charge of the house as well as cat ornaments and cat whatever all through the house including a life size tiger on my bed. Max (full title "Maximus") is the main man & kept us amused chasing a bottle top & retrieving it - just like a dog would. Max also likes to have a chair at the dining table. I think he was quite relieved to see us go so that he could have his house rights back.

We had a lovely baked dinner & then relaxed after dinner watching the last few episodes of "Underbelly" that we didn't get around to watching on the TV previously.

Images attached: Max on his dining chair; Max retrieving the bottle top; the tiger on my bed; varous photos of the backyard; Kay & I - happy hour in the spa; Real Estate office at Burleigh Heads (our advert. is top line, third accross); looking accross to Burleigh Heads Bowling Club, Burleigh Heads shopping street; drive by of Mum's house; Mermaid Beach at sunrise; Front of apartment building at Mermaid Beach.

Saturday - 19th July 2008 - Mermaid Beach

We were up early to get ready for our big day in the garden at Burleigh Heads. Our first stop was to Bunnings to buy some colourful plants. We were able to find some succulent type plants that should survive with little fussing or water. The gardens were in a worse state than I first thought. The couch grass had grown right through all the shrubs & surviving plants & it took a lot of work to clear it out. The agent called around to see how we were going & very kindly offered us the use of his trailer which really saved the day. Having the use of the trailer allowed us to trim back the bottle brushes as well. It was going to be very hard to get out all of the weeds so we used some poison on the paths & areas where it would not hurt the existing shrubs & put some sugar cane mulch around to help keep down the weeds.

The tenants were good & we agreed that they could keep their dog if they keep the lawns mowed & the gardens watered. The agent is going to keep an eye on the garden & keep the paths tidy.

I did not get to see the agents who are selling the house as their office was closed when we managed to find where it was. It is very quiet on the Gold Coast with house sales ( as it is everywhere) so we may need to take it off the market for a while until things pick up.

Meantime the tenants we have seem to be quite good & are looking after the place inside.

By the time we had made a few trips to Bunnings for fertilizer and mulch & finished all the front gardens we were both bushed. It was back to the unit for a hot shower. Sizzlers was accross the road so we thought we would go there for a quick bite but the queues were a mile long. Instead we opted for dinner at the tavern just a few doors down & found it to be just what we needed. A quiet spot ( as it was still early in the night) & a quick meal. I was too tired even to hop in the spa pool at the apartments. Any early night seemed appropriate as I was finding some new muscles and an aching back from the days effort.

Images attached: Swimming pool and spa at the apartments at Mermaid Beach ; various photos of the before & after gardens at the house.

Friday 18th July 2008 - Mermaid Beach

We were up early so that we could pack our gear & check out of the resort in time to fit in another 18 holes of golf before leaving for our 2 o'clock appointment with the Real Estate Agent who is managing the rental of Mum's house at Burleigh Heads. We managed to get the appointment put back half an hour which let us get our golf finished. We had a nice game even though the course was still very wet. We managed to fit in a quick drink with Mark & Anne but had to leave before the others came in.

It was a mad rush to get ouselves through the Gold Coast traffic which was really bad on Friday afternoon. We ended up being 15 minutes late & the agent was very good about it. The house inside was in good order but the gardens were very unkept. I arranged with the agent & the tenants to come back the next day to tidy up a bit in the front gardens. We took a quick trip to Bunnings to check out what plants I could use for a quick fix. Then we drove to Mermaid Beach where we had booked an apartment for two days. It was in a good position & suited our purpose very well. It had its own laundry & full kitchen as well as a balcony. I was able to get all our washing up to date so we could bring home clean clothes.

We went to the Mermaid Beach Surf Club for dinner which was walking distance away. There was a little shop on the main road that we could walk to for milk, bread etc so that was handy. I didn't get to walk the beach as it was a bit late by the time we had settled.

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday - Royal Pines

We had breakfast at Bonville about 8.30 & all agreed to meet for lunch half way along to the Gold Coast. We met at the Macadamia Castle for lunch (pancakes & icecream). We arrived at the Royal Pines Resort about 3 o'clock & booked in. Our rooms were very large & comfortable with great views of the golf course. We decided to have dinner at the Resort that night & had a nice buffet style dinner with a lot of lovely seafood. The oysters were very popular with our group. The bread & butter pudding was popular also. After Dinner we had a game of 500 in the upstairs coffee area which was deserted at that time of night. There had been some very heavy rain after we arrived almost to the torrential stage.

The next day we were booked in for golf & were rather dismayed to find that the weather had not cleared up as well as we would have liked. The course was very wet & we were not allowed to take the carts off the cart tracks. We perservered for five or six holes when the skies opened up again and we were drenched to the skin. Peter was still not over his flu so we decided to call it a day & have the rest of the day off doing our own thing. We decided to go to Pacific Fair for a look around & to get more medication for Peter's flu. We had a wander through the shops & a nice relaxing massage in the electronic massage chair that they had at the fair. After that we caught the resort shuttle bus to the Casino for a look around there. We met up with the others there & decided that we would have dinner at the casino in one of the restaurants there. Then it was back home to the resort for a game of 500. There was not much more we could do with the day as it continued to rain on and off all day & into the night.

Thankfully Thursday was a much better day & we got our 18 holes in. The couse was very wet and there was not a lot of run on the course. Just goes to show that Gosford Club is not the only ones to suffer in the wet. We had a happy hour after golf & decided to have another buffet dinner at the Resort that night as the boys enjoyed the oysters so much the first night. Another game of 500 in the upstairs lounge after dinner was good. I am still not up to scratch with the game but learn something new each time I play. As we were washed out of our game on Wednesday we decided that we would have another unscheduled game of golf in the morning before we all split up & find our own journeys home. We really enjoyed the golf & the resort.

Images attached: The girls shopping in the pro shop (some must haves there); our room; various views of the course; at dinner at the resort; after cards presentation night at the coffee shop; an air balloon outside our hotel room; Anne with her birdie shot accross the water; some of the mansions along the edge of the golf course; Mark in the bunker & the results of his shot; the course on the wet day; Jupiters Casino; Peter & I in the massage chair at Pacific Fair; an old tree out on the course; Anne & I after the final day of golf.