Dinner with Warwick and Adam

Our friend, Warwick (on right) from Melbourne, though once a Scone boy, and his friend, Adam, did a road trip up to the Gold Coast, and stayed at our place Monday through to Wednesday. They kindly came down to Ballina airport to pick us up from our Bali trip. Here we are enjoying dinner back at Maryville on Tuesday night. This is Warwick's second stay at Maryville. For those for whom this means something, Warwick's aunt is Sue who used to manage the Staff Club at Newcastle Uni.

Bali pics #4

Just a few more pics from all over: looking back to the beach in front of Taman Selini, Pemuteran

Green rice padi, Ubud

Steve and Glen in front of our bungalow at Pemuteran

On the beach at sunset, Pemuteran

On the beach, another sunset, another beer (or watermelon juice), at Jimbaran Bay

Bali #3

The final three days were spent lazing at Pemuteran in North Bali, about 3 hrs north west of Ubud. The weather was fine, sunny, hot, perfect for doing nothing, swimming, snorkelling, drinking cocktails and eating extravegantly delicious food. Steve and Glen enjoying the water off the beach in front of Taman Selini (Garden of the Moon) where we stayed.

Steve and I took the small boat that operates from a dive company with four others to Menangin Island, about an hr from Pemuteran, and very close to Java. That's a big volcano on Java behind the island.

Looking back towards Pemuteran. We spent several hours snorkelling the coral reefs off the island. Some of the highlights were a stonefish, a moray eel, a couple of clown fish and a huge school of large fish that envloped us.

Glen and I relaxing regally near the bar (the three of us spent quite a bit of time here)

Steve and I outside our bungalow at Taman Selini. Glen had the upstairs and we had downstairs. There are 12 bungalows in gardens that reach down to the beach. In a word: bliss.

Bali pica #2

I didn't have as many massages as I was planning to because my favourite massage place in Seminyak, Bonita's warung, was being renovated. I did have a very luxurious 2 hr massage including petal bath and papaya scrub, here, at Nur Spa in Jalan Hanoman in Ubud.

More rice padi

The entry to our hotel, Hotel d'homa in Ubud.

Water lilly flower

Bali pics #1

Sunset from Jimbaran Bay, which was about a 20 minute taxi trip from Seminyak. It's a popular place. Steve, Glen and I had dinner here one night.

Here we are after gorging ourselves on various creatures of the deep.

Steve and Gordon at a little cafe in Ubud. This is quite a rare shot of Gordon with food in front of him.

Rice padi surrounded our hotel at Ubud, in the village of Pennistenan, which was about a 15 minute walk from Ubud town centre.

Banana flower

Back from Bali

Many apologies for the lack of blogs while we were away on our 12 days in Bali. I was intending to do a bit of blogging, but, well, this didn't happen. I'll post a blog or two in the next few days with some pics of our trip.
The map gives you a good idea where we stayed. For the first 7 nights we were at Seminyak, which is about 5kms west of Kuta. Then we spent two days in Ubud, which takes just under an hour to drive to from Seminyak, where we relaxed amongst mountains, rice paddi and cafes, before spending the final three nights at Pemuteran which is on the north-west coast of Bali. Snorkelling, eating, drinking, swimming and not doing much else occupied our time there. The drive to Pemuteran, which took just over three hours cut across north from Ubud to the coast just to the east of Singaraja, before following the narrow coastline through Lovina and on to Pemuteran. The central area of Bali is mountainous and quite high at about 3500-3000metres asl so it got quite cool for about half an hour as we made the ascent and then the steep descent back down to the coast.
More to come....

Off to Bali

OK, at the risk of being branded a skite, a braggart and whatever else, I feel compelled to let my blogership know that Steve and I, together with Glen, and a colleague and friend from Uni of Wollongong, Gordon, are heading to Bali tomorrow evening, swine flu notwithstandng. Gordon and I are doing some research there, which involves interviewing between 15 and 25 local men, so it's not all holiday, and I've just put my digital recorder into my backpack. I do admit, though, if you have to interview people, doing it in Bali is a very pleasant option.
So I might not be so frequent in my blogging and you will have to wait until I get back for some pics.
The pic above is the pool at Puri Saron in Seminyak, where we stay for the first 7 nights then we head to Ubud for two nights and the final three nights in Pemuteran on the north west coast of Bali (where hardly anyone goes). That's the magic part of the trip, the rest will just be fricking lovely.

Queens Birthday Ball, Leura: pics in reverse order, start from the bottom of the post

How spectacular....

Here's the gang, back row: Andrew (Mr White Trash), Steve, Casey and Ross, Bill (Mrs White Trash); Front row: Ross, Erica, Theresa and me at the front

Colour and movement as the Best Dressed (in costume of course) male is being judged.

The 3 Sisters group always puts on a wonderful night and the ballroom at the Hunter Fairmont Resort was transformed into something straight from a the wild wild west itself. Lots of groups also vie for the honour of being awarded the 'Best dressed table.

Our weekend in the Blue Mountains was as enjoyable as it always is. We arrived on Friday at the aiport, met at the aiport by our friend, Terry, (Bubbles le Gay, pictured above, oh in the middle) and got to Carinya around lunchtime. Friends, Casey and Ross and Bill and Andrew arrived a bit later, and Ross2, pictured above arrived straight from Bali. on Saturday morning. Nick and Troy arrived later that afternoon, so we had a full house.

On Saturday night we enjoyed the dance at Blackheath and then on Sunday night we headed out to the ball. This pic shows Steve, Bubbles and Ross2 just before we left to go to the Ball. Thus year's theme was the Wild West.

Brother Brett and Moonface

Now, the reason I was trawling around Google Images, (see post below), was to see if I could find a pic of my bro, Brett, (see two postings below), but there was none that I could find, or at least none that resembled my brother. But then I remembered this shot that I had...Brett with Bert (spooky that Bert is almost an anagram of Brett) Newton at a performance, yes, of Wicked. This was before Bert began performing as The Wizard, after the untimely death of Rob Guest. Brett, being Brett, simply walked up to Bert and asked if he could get a photo with him and Bert kindly agreed. A kind stranger too the pic. I would have just wished that I would have had the gumption to ask him for a photo, but wouldn't have. Sigh, pass me my security blanket....

Me, president of SNUGS, 1985

So I was on Google Images, and I thought I'd google myself (one of my favourite past-times) to see if there were any new images of me that Google had discovered lately and sure enough, my friend Gregg, who works in the Archives Dept at Uni of Newcastle had uploaded this photo on to their website. It shows me in my important role as President of Society of Newcastle Geography Students, with young Rodney Knight on the left, sandwiching a professor of climatology from Uni of Queensland, whose name escapes me now. What happened to my boyish good looks?? Don't ya love our Australian iconography, brazenly appropriating May Gibbs' Snugglepot and Cuddlepie for our own purposes. Gotta love our slogan though, 'Snuggle up to a Geographer'....

Carinya for the weekend

This is the lovely Carinya, at Leura, in the Blue Mountains. Steve and I will be flying to Sydney tomorrow morning, met at the aiport by our friend Bubbles (Le Gay, a famous Newcastle drag artiste) and driven up to the Mountains, where we will be joined by Jackie (Ross 1) and Cassie (Casey), Cher-Leigh (Ross 2), and Mr and Mrs White-Trash (Bill and Andrew). We've been doing this each Queen's Birthday long weekend for about a decade. On Saturday night we head out to a dance at Blackheath Community Hall and then Sunday is the Big Gay Ball at what used to be the Fairmont Resort. Picture lots of BIG HAIR. Both events are put on by local gay group, The Three Sisters, and they do a great job. Lots of people come from all over - Sydney of course, the central slopes and plains, even the Northern Rivers.

Alas, this year, we will not be joined by Geoff (Genelle) who is busy transforming his new Mayfield apartment into an art decco wonderland, and we shall also not be going as a group in theme to the Ball, where we have won numerous categories (well a couple, Caroline Liddell and Bubbles and Miss Tanya Hyde have won most of them) of costume in the past.

It's also my brother, Brett's birthday on Friday too, and he will be celebrating this event by seeing Wicked in Melbourne for the 465th time (well about 23rd time, anyway). happy birthday, Brenda!

Normal blogging will resume on Monday, but only briefly, cos Steve, Glen and I, together with a friend and colleague from Uni of Wollongong, Gordon, are flying out to Bali, on Wednesday for part holiday, part work (well for Gordon and I, anyway).

A crown? Can't I just have a tiara instead?

The look of absolute terror in this woman's eyes is something I can relate to as I've just spent 80 minutes in a dentist's chair as he prepared one of my lower molars for a crown. I was placidly minding my own business a week or so ago when the gentle probing of my tongue loosened part of a tooth that fell away from a rather large filling. Once Maurice my new Lismore dentist rubbed the dollar signs from out of his eyes, he recommended a crown as the best solution. So this morning I presented myself for the first stage of the procedure which seemed to involve sliding an 8 inch needle into my cheek a couple of times, filling my mouth with half a dozen (very dry) cotton tubes, followed by cold goo to make some impressions. He certainly made an impression on me! Oh and there was also drilling, gouging, scraping, prodding, and sucking that went on, too. He whispered, with some glee, quite early on in the procedure, that he'd found a "hole that would need filling - now", so I was in the chair a little longer than I had expected.
I go back next week for the crown itself to be fitted and for me to hand over half my super annuation.

Casino Beef Week

Casino, which is about 25 minutes from our place is known far and wide as The Beef Capital of Australia, and each May the town hosts Beef Week. It was remis of me not to have mentioned it in my last blogging. Now, unfortunately, we weren't able to attend this year. And in fact, I missed it last year, too. But hopefully we shall make it next year. Some of you might even like to plan your visit to coincide with this event.

Of course one of the festival's highlights is the crowning of Miss Beef....Week

And the judging of the carcases is a popular event for festival goers....

But perhaps an event that might bring greater interest and appeal, the judging of Mr Beef Cake, doesn't yet appear to be part of the program.