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Wish you and your family, friends and well wishers a fantastic New Year with GFC free and no additional GST, with the synergy of peace, happiness, wealth and without stress.

Good to learn the location and offer for watering the plants

How can I get the access card / keys for the car park and accommodation to water the plants. No worry I will have my beer, stubbie holder and watering can with me :D:D

Cheers
 
Thank you Miner, I think late Feb will be the house warming.... :)

I do have spare stubbie holder if required...
 
Flying up to Cairns this afternoon to Cairns for a week of diving. Yay! :)

Using FF points to fly Business Class, going out to the Kangaroo Destroyer boat on the reef for 2 nights then back to the Shangri La at the Marina for a couple of nights. Then maybe back out on the boat depending on the weather.

Love holidays and diving with the fishes!
 
Sean

I suppose with so much of flood water in Qld the required QF points for business class flights should be discounted to the level of economy flights.:confused:

Any way Cairns is a lovely place so long it does not rain when you arrive.
 
Hi Miner.

Had a great week up here. Only one day of bad weather on the reef otherwise fine. The Kangaroo Explorer wasn't as good as I remember but the diving sites were ok. We decided to go out on another live aboard for 3 days as the weather was holding up. We chose OceanQuest which was 200 bucks more expensive but was well worth it. A much nicer boat, great food, better room and bed, good crew and service. The diving sites were ok but the vis was ordinary due to the rainy season.

Came back to the Shangri La last night and we were upgraded to a suite which was very nice but not required. More room than we need really. Nicer balcony views of the marina though.

Back on Qantas this afternoon for return to Sydney....

Sean
 
so what u use up there, obviously not a 7mm(tho that padding, twice over parts does affort grt protection when the waves get like a good day on bondi and you are in the rock ledges). its so shallow i guess u use tank after tank.
liked the look of yr unit down south, i wasnt sure if u had followed the big money and managed to pick up something reasonable out here.
the swiss grand will go up soon if the hotel block sells well next door-march eta, tho its a whole block.....
 
shag;bt3071 said:
so what u use up there, obviously not a 7mm(tho that padding, twice over parts does affort grt protection when the waves get like a good day on bondi and you are in the rock ledges). its so shallow i guess u use tank after tank.
liked the look of yr unit down south, i wasnt sure if u had followed the big money and managed to pick up something reasonable out here.
the swiss grand will go up soon if the hotel block sells well next door-march eta, tho its a whole block.....
Click to expand...
I had my 3mm and wifey wore a 3mm plus a 1mm vest/hoodie. I could have worn my vest/hood as well and been just that little more comfy.

I will never dive around Sydney again without a dry suit. It's just not enjoyable.

We pick up the keys to the Melbourne pad this weekend. Whoohoo!! Move in the following weekend.

We've mixed emotions at the moment because we started the process of looking at Melbs to buy the long term dream home but we have now been so happy living in Bondi... We love it! At the moment I would have been more happy buying a nice apartment over the beach here. Would have cost $500k more I suppose...

But, family and long time friends are in Melbs, and we will have those views until we croak...
 
Hi Kennas

Just checking if your house warming party is over now ?
Last time you mentioned around February 2011.
Not finding you to have taken the same level of enthusiams in updating your blog now a days .
May be your stay in Australia became demotivating factor to add up for others :D
 
Miner;bt3077 said:
Hi Kennas

Just checking if your house warming party is over now ?
Last time you mentioned around February 2011.
Not finding you to have taken the same level of enthusiams in updating your blog now a days .
May be your stay in Australia became demotivating factor to add up for others :D
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No house warming party as yet, but have had a few people over. It's taken some time to have new furniture delivered (took 6 weeks for couches made and delivered) and I have been away quite a bit. In the UK at the moment, return next week just in time to watch Essendon beat Collingwood at The G.... eeeek

I'll attach a couple of iPhone photos from a 'Beer Can Chicken' night with close friends and family.
 
Happy Chicken.JPG
Happy Chicken sitting on a VB

Cooked Chicken.JPG
Cooked Chicken on a VB about to be sliced and diced

Chicken with friends.JPG
Chicken with family

Chicken in Sun Set.JPG
Chicken at Sun Set
 
I've been in the UK over the past 2 weeks at a conference and visiting some interesting places.

Started in Edinburgh for a week, down to York for a couple of days and now in Guildford.

Really is a very beautiful region, with lots of old stuff.

Highly recommended.

Will post photos and score card soon.
 
Back home now in Bondi.

Have slept 2 hours since Thursday night... eeeeek!

Report developing on my blogspot.
 
172 views and no comments! Hope the beer can chook tasted great and that you had a nice bottle of plonk to go with it! :)
 
Joe Blow;bt3086 said:
172 views and no comments! Hope the beer can chook tasted great and that you had a nice bottle of plonk to go with it! :)
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Beer Can Chicken musn't be that interesting, or Google likes the words 'beer' and 'can'.

I do highly recommend it.

Next time you're in Melbs or Sydney yell out. Will have a fine chook cooked with a beer up it's @rse for you! :)
 
kingcarmleo;bt3085 said:
Looks awesome!
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Thank you King! Heading to The Deck right now actually.

Have spent about 4 days there since taking possession...

Good value for money I reckon!!! eeeeeeek
 
I'm off to PNG in a few days.

Just visiting Port Moresby to do an assessment of their Health Services and making recommendations on the way forward.

Will take some photos and report.
 
Very interesting time in PNG.

Was just in there visiting their health facilities but got a very good feel for the country at the moment and they have some challenges.

Major problem is that their PM his still in Singapore after complicated surgery about 6 weeks ago and doesn't seem to be coming back.

Massive power vacuum could ensure.

The current tribal and political parties are well out of consensus.



Trouble seems to be looming.
 
Sorry, it's been a while since we were aboard, and I didn't provide a lot of detail on this one.

Summary is that I think we found the best value for money diving on the GBR.

We've now been to Cairns about 6 times and been on 6 different live-aboard dive boats and we think OceanQuest wins!

Apart from visiting the same dive site a couple of times the boat, professionalism, equipment, staff, and food far surpass similarly priced boats.

We went back out on Kangaroo Destroyer and it's really lost it's charm. Not sure what has happened there, but the staff were vacant and the food was crap! A few years ago I thought it was exceptional value for money but now it's just cheap.

Anyone wanting to stay somewhere nice before or after a dive trip: Shangri La at the marina. We've stayed there the past 3 times in Cairns and very good!
 
Michael Somare's son was a leading contender for power but he has been implicated in some corruption.

The current stand in PM was a chance but today it was reported that his son had been arrested for murder.

The two main tribal powers of PNG (Sepik and Highlanders) continue to negotiate who will eventually rule.
 
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