Happy birthday, Stevie

Yesterday, the 9th March, was Steve's birthday. We celebrated by having a small gathering over for dinner which consisted of quiche lorraine a la Vivien, and the scrumptious banoffee pie above. Yummo!
Steve, Matt (from Georgica in the Jiggi Valley), Bryn from the UK (who came up with us after Mardi Gras for a few days) and Stewart, Matty's partner.

Mardi Gras party: celebrity sightings

Not too many celebrity sightings this year, and both from the same show, though not seen near each other. Todd McKenny from Dancing with the Stars, was dancing rather energetically near us with a bunch of his friends and his very hunky boyf, around 6amish I guess (it gets hard to recall exact times by this stage)...and...

another 'celeb' from the same show, Stefano, one of the professional dancers, who we saw at the Lemon Bar earlier in the night, and who looks much less plastic in real life than he does in this pic. Someone I know got to shake George Michael's hand at some stage.

Mardi Gras Party: the performers

Steve and I headed to Sydney on Friday afternoon, saw Wicked with my brother, Brett, and friends Brynn, Glen1, Glen2, Glen3 and Catherine and then headed off to the Mardi Gras Party on Saturday night. Arrived there at 11.30 and left at closing time at 8am, then caught a taxi to the airport. There was a different feel I think this year because the party and the parade were on separate nights but I think I was much more energetic because I came to the party fresh and not after standing for six or so hours for the parade. The shows during the party were as follows: Mitzi Macintosh, see above on right, with lots of boy and girl dancers did the Opening Show at midnight. The pic was taken during the night after the show. Fabulous makeup and costume.

Then, at 1.00am, George Michael performed Outside. This time with about 20 guys dressed as very sexy cops. Lots of energy and George seemed to be enjoying himself. A lot.

At 3am, Kelly Rowlands, from Destiny's Child performed something (I can't remember the name of the song) but all the dancers were dressed as brides and grooms and so the theme was about the right to be married. Probably the best show all round.

Then at 5am Amanda Lepore, someone I know very little about other than she's transgendered and has had massive enhancements. And not just to her lips. She lipsynched rather badly to a song about champagne...the weakest show I thought. Though it begin rather impresively with a bunch of boy dancers in lycra bodysuits slinking up like cats on to the stage and unwrapping Miss Lepore who was bandaged up like a mummy. Fantsatic beginning but not sustained.

And the closing show was this young man, Adam Lambert, who was runner-up on American Idol. Very sexy show, lots of energy, and yeah a great way to finish the party.Caught up with a few friends we hadn't seen for years and smiled at lots of strangers, so all up, a great night/morning!

Wednesday morning update

Much to our surprise the creek was a good 40cm under the bridge when we got there so all was well. We were actually a tad disappointed because we were looking forward to spending a night with the boys at Georgica - we'd bought chocolate, chips and wine. They'd gone out and bought wine and apple strudel....there seems to be a pattern.
We were kinda hoping we'd be flooded in this morning but alas, not much rain last night and the morning was dry and still, though very misty. As long as we don't cop anything majorly precipitive today, we shall get back home (though I did give the chooks double food this morning just in case).

and a rather wet Tuesday

It's just on 1pm as I look out through my office window at a foggy, leaden grey sky leaking rain - and lots of it. As we drove over the bridge that straddles Leycester Creek this morning we both giggled as we saw how high the creek had risen overnight with the 27mm of rain we had received. This bridge is our lifeline into and out of our property and it could well be underwater by the time we head home late this afternoon. I've already rung our friends, Matt and Stewart in the next valley over from ours, at Georgica, to see if it was OK to bunk down with them tonight. Luckily they said yes. I'll keep you posted.

Rainy days and Mondays...

well they always got Karen Carpenter down (but so did a three course meal), but not necessarily me, especially as I got to stay at home and work, rather than going into the office. Which is what I did today. Largely because I needed to drive a friend of ours from Melbourne who had stayed with us over the weekend, back to Coolangatta. So, three hours of my day was on the road (again - [I'm being very lyrical this afternoon]) and the rest was taken up with working. And watching the wallabies nibble selected blades of grass in the drizzle/rain. They must have very water resistant fur because they seem to love to graze when its wet. For the precipitation-tragics amongst you we've had 8mm since 7am and it looks like we are going to cop this steady rain/drizzle for the next few days. Good sleeping in weather but alas, we will both be up at 6.15am like usual tomorrow - it's very dark up here at that time, especially on cloudy mornings. In fact, the end of March, just prior to the ending of daylight savings, is probably darker than mid winter. Anyway, I'm rambling on a tad, so I'll end now.

One Perfect (Tues)Day

This morning I set off around 9am to go to David Fleay's Wildlife Park at West Burleigh on the Gold Coast, where I was to meet with the GM and their education person. But first task was to take our Help_Xer, Vivien, to his new host, up in the foothills of the stunning Mt Burrell, which is about 15 mins from our place off the road to Uki. Mt Burrell is the flattened 'mountain' on the right, while in the centre is Sphynx Rock, which gives its name to a funky little cafe a little further along the Murwillumbah Road. Anyway, the property was stunning and I'm sure Vivien will enjoy himself there - just hope the internet connection is OK.
From Murwillumbah I decided to be adventurous and take Brisbane Street which is the back way to the Gold Coast, and in particular Currumbin and Tallebudgera valleys. This road and the views from it, were just spectacular and I'll definitely be exploring this area again - both day and night, because I've been told that it's an excellent road for seeing various snakes at night.
I made it to Fleay's at 9.30 (QLD time) where I wandered around making my observations for an hour or so before then meeting with Sue the GM and their marketing/education officer, to talk about ways of enhancing their offer. They seemed to like my ideas. Stayed there till about 1.15 and then headed home, driving towards Wollumbin for about half of the trip. Driving around the rim of the giant crater and then descending down into it from our place is just a stunning thing to do. We are so lucky to be living in this magical place. Oh and then when the shadows began to cast their cool darkness on the ground it was time to mow - again!