Posts
Tuesday, 28 August 2012
nzherald.co.nz - Brent Sheather: SOE sales - tell me why again?
Jim thought you would be interested in the following item from nzherald.co.nz: Brent Sheather: SOE sales - tell me why again? Things are quiet in financial planners and stockbrokers offices at the moment - there certainly don't seem to be too many good reasons to buy shares given the uncertainties prevailing. Whilst the ... More The following personal message was also included: At last some truth on the matter instead of the lies and selfserving statements we have been served up before. This is the most important issue facing New Zealand at the moment. Sign up for regular email news updates from nzherald.co.nz - click here. Visit nzherald.co.nz throughout the day for the latest breaking news. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ For internal use only: 101.172.42.165 - 2012082914.53.03 Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; Windows NT 5.1; Trident/4.0; GTB7.4; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 3.0.4506.2152; .NET CLR 3.5.30729; BRI/2; yie8) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday, 12 August 2012
Land bound in Australia's far North
Regretfully we have had to advise the Louisiades organisers that we are withdrawing from the rally due to a recurrence of a medical condition affecting Jean. She last had it in NZ before we left and for a cure it needs very careful attention to diet over a period of time. In the meantime it is quite debillitating and unsuited to the rigours of an ocean passage as well as cruising in a primitive and isolated area. Nearest doctor up there is at best 150 miles away. The causes of the condition are various but stress coupled with inattention to diet are probably factors. Quiet attention to said diet and plenty of rest is the prescription for getting well coupled with plenty of time. There are signs of improvement already.
Anyway, it's not all bad - we are carrying on with the deck caulking and we are looking forward to the visits of Sara and Hamish and Jean's son Perry and his girlfriend Tracie in November. We are hoping that we can take them out to Fitzroy Is. (17 miles from here) during their visits. We even go into town at times to visit the market (!) and are planning a trip on the Kuranda Scenic Railway.
In the meantime the weather continues brilliantly fine with day temperatures in the mid 20's and at night sometimes below 10C!! Even frosts up on the Atherton Tablelands just inland from here. It's quite amusing to see the locals all bundled up in their coats while we stroll around in shirts and shorts. We're definitely made of sterner stuff down in Godzone!!
We are soon moving to another marina (Bluewater) which is not only cheaper but is also further up the same river that our present marina is at the mouth of. The only issue is the river itself which has minimal depths but we are assured that at half tide or better we should be OK. Normally we'd go up the river in the dinghy and take some hand soundings in advance but the existence of crocodiles puts paid to that idea! A 4 metre croc was seen swimming just off the Yorkeys Knob Beach a few days ago. The main attraction though is that it offers much better cyclone protection than this one as it's further inland (about half a mile) and the river has a 90 degree bend which should dampen much of any storm surge. The main thing however, is that we don't get any cyclones. Fingers crossed.
More from us as time goes on but at the moment things are a bit mundane.
Love from Jim and Jean
www.tiaretaporo3.blogspot.com
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Anyway, it's not all bad - we are carrying on with the deck caulking and we are looking forward to the visits of Sara and Hamish and Jean's son Perry and his girlfriend Tracie in November. We are hoping that we can take them out to Fitzroy Is. (17 miles from here) during their visits. We even go into town at times to visit the market (!) and are planning a trip on the Kuranda Scenic Railway.
In the meantime the weather continues brilliantly fine with day temperatures in the mid 20's and at night sometimes below 10C!! Even frosts up on the Atherton Tablelands just inland from here. It's quite amusing to see the locals all bundled up in their coats while we stroll around in shirts and shorts. We're definitely made of sterner stuff down in Godzone!!
We are soon moving to another marina (Bluewater) which is not only cheaper but is also further up the same river that our present marina is at the mouth of. The only issue is the river itself which has minimal depths but we are assured that at half tide or better we should be OK. Normally we'd go up the river in the dinghy and take some hand soundings in advance but the existence of crocodiles puts paid to that idea! A 4 metre croc was seen swimming just off the Yorkeys Knob Beach a few days ago. The main attraction though is that it offers much better cyclone protection than this one as it's further inland (about half a mile) and the river has a 90 degree bend which should dampen much of any storm surge. The main thing however, is that we don't get any cyclones. Fingers crossed.
More from us as time goes on but at the moment things are a bit mundane.
Love from Jim and Jean
www.tiaretaporo3.blogspot.com
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Thursday, 2 August 2012
Life in North Queensland
Hi to everyone,
We'll start with the Irish joke for today -
the priest was giving them fire and brimstone during Mass when he suddenly asked, "stand up all those who want to go to heaven". They all stood up and he said, "sit down". They all sat down. Then he asked, "stand up all those who want to go hell". Only one person (Murphy) stood up and he asked, "Murphy, do you want to go to hell?". Murphy said, "no Father, but I didn't like to see you standing there all by yourself!!".
The weather here has been wonderful, although we are mindful that the summer won't be so user friendly. However, for now we are enjoying it - cool nights needing a thick blanket on the bed and sunny days sometimes up to 27 degrees. No rain for days. Meanwhile, we are taking advantage of the weather to carry on with the deck caulking. We now have only 2 seams to do on the port side - 8 still to do on the starboard side. We'll do as many as we can before we leave for the Louisiades (PNG) mid September.
We are committed now to the rally as we have paid our participation fee and sent our passports off to the PNG Consulate in Brisbane for our visa applications. They've been sent by registered post (with a registered return envelope) so hopefully they won't get lost. 520 nautical miles to the Deuchatel Islands on the southern side of the group. We've been told that it's on the wind all the way as the wind tends more to the east as you get north but that's a good point of sailing for the old girl (the boat!) as long as it's not like the trip up from NZ to New Caledonia when it was right on the nose most of the time. Time, as always will tell.
We've discovered Rusty's Market in Cairns. This is a huge fruit and vege market which operates on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. There is a great range with all the tropical fruit - Pawpaw etc at very good prices. Passion fruit to die for. Bought some red skinned bananas and local strawberries. And some fresh asparagus from Thailand! There are Vietnamese, Thai and other ethnic restaurants where we have breakfast as a treat!! We caught a bus from Yorkeys at 0750 (about 200 metres from the marina) this morning and it's about 30 minutes to town - even being caught in the commuter traffic! However, it puts Auckland's traffic problems in the shade. The buses are all airconditioned and not crowded. But sometimes they do not run to schedule - the return trip was 40 minutes late leaving Cairns! Never mind, we usually find someone interesting to talk to at the bus stop.
It has been disappointing to see the ideologically continually driven agenda of the Key Government as regards partial asset sales, which seem likely to be a prelude to 100% sales once the dust has settled. How it makes any sense to sell assets that return 16% on investment in order to pay down debt which is costing 3% is beyond us. Quite apart from the loss of control of infrastructural assets and yet more dividends heading offshore to further NZ's balance of payments deficit. The current nonsense with the Maoris asserting "ownership" of water is just that but to our mind at the moment anything that can delay and finally derail the whole process can only be a good thing. If the Maoris win their argument, then the inevitable result will be that power charges go up yet again. The Key Government and their Maori Party sycophants will bear all the blame. We (Jim mainly!!) have been having a say via blogs on appropriate editorial articles on the Herald website. Don't know if anyone actually reads these things but if you have the inclination and the time you might see from time to time the odd intemperately worded blog under the nom de plume "Tiare Taporo III"!!!
Well, that's all from us for now; we're going to a Cook Islands night at the Cairns Yacht Club tonight which should be fun. We'll tell you all about it on a subsequent blog.
In the meantime we hope all is well with everyone and lots of love from us....
Jim and Jean (Gina)
www.tiaretaporo3.blogspot.com
----------
radio email processed by SailMail
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We'll start with the Irish joke for today -
the priest was giving them fire and brimstone during Mass when he suddenly asked, "stand up all those who want to go to heaven". They all stood up and he said, "sit down". They all sat down. Then he asked, "stand up all those who want to go hell". Only one person (Murphy) stood up and he asked, "Murphy, do you want to go to hell?". Murphy said, "no Father, but I didn't like to see you standing there all by yourself!!".
The weather here has been wonderful, although we are mindful that the summer won't be so user friendly. However, for now we are enjoying it - cool nights needing a thick blanket on the bed and sunny days sometimes up to 27 degrees. No rain for days. Meanwhile, we are taking advantage of the weather to carry on with the deck caulking. We now have only 2 seams to do on the port side - 8 still to do on the starboard side. We'll do as many as we can before we leave for the Louisiades (PNG) mid September.
We are committed now to the rally as we have paid our participation fee and sent our passports off to the PNG Consulate in Brisbane for our visa applications. They've been sent by registered post (with a registered return envelope) so hopefully they won't get lost. 520 nautical miles to the Deuchatel Islands on the southern side of the group. We've been told that it's on the wind all the way as the wind tends more to the east as you get north but that's a good point of sailing for the old girl (the boat!) as long as it's not like the trip up from NZ to New Caledonia when it was right on the nose most of the time. Time, as always will tell.
We've discovered Rusty's Market in Cairns. This is a huge fruit and vege market which operates on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. There is a great range with all the tropical fruit - Pawpaw etc at very good prices. Passion fruit to die for. Bought some red skinned bananas and local strawberries. And some fresh asparagus from Thailand! There are Vietnamese, Thai and other ethnic restaurants where we have breakfast as a treat!! We caught a bus from Yorkeys at 0750 (about 200 metres from the marina) this morning and it's about 30 minutes to town - even being caught in the commuter traffic! However, it puts Auckland's traffic problems in the shade. The buses are all airconditioned and not crowded. But sometimes they do not run to schedule - the return trip was 40 minutes late leaving Cairns! Never mind, we usually find someone interesting to talk to at the bus stop.
It has been disappointing to see the ideologically continually driven agenda of the Key Government as regards partial asset sales, which seem likely to be a prelude to 100% sales once the dust has settled. How it makes any sense to sell assets that return 16% on investment in order to pay down debt which is costing 3% is beyond us. Quite apart from the loss of control of infrastructural assets and yet more dividends heading offshore to further NZ's balance of payments deficit. The current nonsense with the Maoris asserting "ownership" of water is just that but to our mind at the moment anything that can delay and finally derail the whole process can only be a good thing. If the Maoris win their argument, then the inevitable result will be that power charges go up yet again. The Key Government and their Maori Party sycophants will bear all the blame. We (Jim mainly!!) have been having a say via blogs on appropriate editorial articles on the Herald website. Don't know if anyone actually reads these things but if you have the inclination and the time you might see from time to time the odd intemperately worded blog under the nom de plume "Tiare Taporo III"!!!
Well, that's all from us for now; we're going to a Cook Islands night at the Cairns Yacht Club tonight which should be fun. We'll tell you all about it on a subsequent blog.
In the meantime we hope all is well with everyone and lots of love from us....
Jim and Jean (Gina)
www.tiaretaporo3.blogspot.com
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Saturday, 14 July 2012
Return from the North
We left Cooktown around 9.30 yesterday after an unsettled night because Jim had stomach pains all night - not a bug because there were none of the usual signs of that but he didn't get much sleep. However, it was improving by morning so after a very light breakfast we motored south. Jim drove for an hour but then due to fatigue from lack of sleep handed over to Jean for the rest of the way.
We were very conscious of the many road signs warning of Kangaroos because to hit one of those at speed in our little Hyundai would have been disastrous to say the least.
We've described the scenery etc before so no need to repeat (hooray you are saying!!). We passed through Mt. Carbine where Tungsten (a steel hardener) is mined and then varied the route slightly by turning off towards Kuranda from Mt. Molloy a bit further to the south. We had lunch at a very indifferent pub in Mareeba and then visited a Mango winery!! Bought a bottle of Mango liqueur. Now back into rainforest country again and then through Kuranda which is a very pretty leafy place where the Kuranda Railway terminates. Just south we found an organic vegetable place and stocked up on fruit and veges which will go well with the passion fruit we had bought at the Cooktown Farmers Market that morning.
Then Smithfield to buy another internet voucher from Telstra and Bunnings for some rust kill stuff! A short distance later and we were back on the boat and all was well.
It is now Sunday lunchtime and although it has been raining, the weather is looking much better although there is the usual strong wind warning out again - 30 knots. Something you just have to get used to on this coast it seems.
Hope all is well with everyone and lots of love from us.........
www.tiaretaporo3.blogspot.com
----------
radio email processed by SailMail
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We were very conscious of the many road signs warning of Kangaroos because to hit one of those at speed in our little Hyundai would have been disastrous to say the least.
We've described the scenery etc before so no need to repeat (hooray you are saying!!). We passed through Mt. Carbine where Tungsten (a steel hardener) is mined and then varied the route slightly by turning off towards Kuranda from Mt. Molloy a bit further to the south. We had lunch at a very indifferent pub in Mareeba and then visited a Mango winery!! Bought a bottle of Mango liqueur. Now back into rainforest country again and then through Kuranda which is a very pretty leafy place where the Kuranda Railway terminates. Just south we found an organic vegetable place and stocked up on fruit and veges which will go well with the passion fruit we had bought at the Cooktown Farmers Market that morning.
Then Smithfield to buy another internet voucher from Telstra and Bunnings for some rust kill stuff! A short distance later and we were back on the boat and all was well.
It is now Sunday lunchtime and although it has been raining, the weather is looking much better although there is the usual strong wind warning out again - 30 knots. Something you just have to get used to on this coast it seems.
Hope all is well with everyone and lots of love from us.........
www.tiaretaporo3.blogspot.com
----------
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Friday, 13 July 2012
Rain forest and Cape York Peninsula
We weren't sure whether we'd be able to visit many of the mainland sites once we continued north next year due to generally poor anchorages so once again we decided to give ourselves a land fix for a few days and have a totally different experience.
We hired a small Hyundai Getz on the 11th. and headed into Cairns to do some errands which hadn't been practical to do by bus. We purchased a water filter for filling from shore sources, some more filters for the watermaker and most importantly a Racor fuel filter to take impurities including water out of the diesel as we fill the tanks. This latter is more for next year when we might take on suspect fuel from depots in Indonesia.
After lunch in Cairns we then set off north via Smithfield where we bought some food for dinner and then carried on past Port Douglas and through Mossman to the Daintree River where we took the car ferry. This is at least as large as the Opua car ferries but it is pulled across the river on two large steel hawsers. $12.50 each way and as they carry up to 20 odd cars each trip we reckoned it must be a very lucrative business, especially since each trip is only 10 minutes.
Once over the river we were well into rainforest territory and we continued north over the Alexandra Range towards Cape Tribulation which Capt. Cook named for all the problems he had on this particular stretch of coast. More of that later. It was a very pretty drive over the range on a sealed but very narrow and windy road until we reached the Crocodylus Resort which is a very basic eco resort in the heart of the rainforest just south of Cape Tribulation. Our accommodation was a room with a double bed and 2 singles (for families) and the outside cladding was shade cloth with a PVC roof. Mosquito nets over the beds which were actually not necessary. We cooked our dinner in the communal kitchen and imbibed a quantity of red wine!! The communal kitchen/dining/sitting area was very large and open to the elements except for an extremely large tent like roof. It all took a bit of getting used to but was clean and everyone very friendly. During the night there were lots of unexplained jungle noises (!) and some nocturnal bird made a huge noise at about 3 in the morning. Probably being chased by a crocodile!! It rained quite heavily at some stage. But a very comfortable bed.
Anyway, we survived the night in the wild and awoke to have a cold shower at 0630!! Bit of a shock to our systems but then felt much more refreshed. We hung around until 8 when we both had bacon and eggs (cooked for us in the cafe kitchen)which were very good. We met 2 very interesting couples while there including 2 nurses (Bill and Terre) and their 3 daughters. They are from Melbourne and lovely people. Also our neighbours during the night - Matthew and Jill. We eventually took our reluctant farewell and motored back to the Daintree as the coast road north is impassable unless one has a 4WD. Beautiful drive mostly under forest canopy with the dappled morning sunlight filtering through.
When we went across the river on the ferry once more we passed huge lines of traffic heading north - many very serious 4WD's with snorkels and businesslike roof racks with water and fuel containers thereon. We then made a mistake and turned towards Daintree Village but that turned out to be a dead end and we belatedly realised that we needed to return to Mossman before heading towards Cooktown on the much refurbished inland Mulligan Highway. About 300 kms from Mossman. The weather had become fine and once again we had a very pretty drive initially through some lush countryside and up onto the higher and drier tropical grasslands which typified the rest of our drive north. The road was excellent and for quite a distance had a posted speed limit of 110 kph. The terrain was dramatic with some very steep ascents and descents as we passed over some minor ranges of hills. There were some spectacular lookouts and then about 20 kms from Cooktown we came across the Black Hills which are composed of very large piles of weathered granite boulders which are black from the lichens growing on them. It is forbidden to try and climb the hills because a number of people have disappeared without trace when they've fallen into underground caverns caused by hundreds of years of water erosion. It's a very mystical place for the local Aborigine people and it's easy to see why. We then drove into Charlotte St., the main street of Cooktown and found the Seawiew Motel which was comfortable and conventional after the eco lodge of the previous night!!
Cooktown consists of museums, old pubs and the Endeavour River waterfront which is picturesque as long as you don't forget that there are crocodiles lurking beneath the murky water! We found the West Coast Pub (apparently named after the West Coast of the South Is.) and had a meal there. The manager it turned out was a NZ'er who had run the RSA in Birkenhead in Auckland - not far from where Jim had lived for 15 years on the North Shore of Auckland!! And he owns a house with his brother in Warkworth! Talk about a small world but we are constantly coming across similar examples.
The following day (Friday) we wandered about Cooktown and visited the excellent local museum. Gold had been discovered nearby in the 1870's and there were fascinating accounts of the hardships of the time. There was no contact with the outside world except by sea - Cooktown was very much cut off. It seems no-one became rich prospecting for gold which soon ran out in any event. There was a large Chinese population as well and they suffered the usual prejudices rife at the time. We went up Grassy Hill where the Great Navigator himself had stood to survey the surrounding waters. This was after H.M. Bark Endeavour had run aground on Endeavour Reef, a little to the south. Cook was very fortunate not to have lost the ship completely as they hit the reef about 11 at night and then spent 23 hours there as they lightened the ship as much as possible by jettisoning cargo and in particular the cannon which have now been all recovered and which are all in various museums. They managed to kedge her off and then set sail for the Endeavour River pumping furiously where they careened her on the bank with the crocodiles while they spent a few months repairing the damage which was considerable. This occurred right where the town stands today. There is an annual re-enactment in June every year to commemorate Cook's involuntary arrival.
Then a lovely dinner at an Italian restaurant whose owner came from Italian immigrants to Melbourne and who for many years had operated a restaurant in Logan St. Giovanni was a great guy and made us very welcome.
Then early to bed in preparation for the trip back to Cairns on the morrow. 350 kms - this is a big country. We would have liked to have gone further north up to Cape York but that definitely is 4WD territory and will have to wait until we go up there on the boat next year.
Love from us again.........
www.tiaretaporo3.blogspot.com
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We hired a small Hyundai Getz on the 11th. and headed into Cairns to do some errands which hadn't been practical to do by bus. We purchased a water filter for filling from shore sources, some more filters for the watermaker and most importantly a Racor fuel filter to take impurities including water out of the diesel as we fill the tanks. This latter is more for next year when we might take on suspect fuel from depots in Indonesia.
After lunch in Cairns we then set off north via Smithfield where we bought some food for dinner and then carried on past Port Douglas and through Mossman to the Daintree River where we took the car ferry. This is at least as large as the Opua car ferries but it is pulled across the river on two large steel hawsers. $12.50 each way and as they carry up to 20 odd cars each trip we reckoned it must be a very lucrative business, especially since each trip is only 10 minutes.
Once over the river we were well into rainforest territory and we continued north over the Alexandra Range towards Cape Tribulation which Capt. Cook named for all the problems he had on this particular stretch of coast. More of that later. It was a very pretty drive over the range on a sealed but very narrow and windy road until we reached the Crocodylus Resort which is a very basic eco resort in the heart of the rainforest just south of Cape Tribulation. Our accommodation was a room with a double bed and 2 singles (for families) and the outside cladding was shade cloth with a PVC roof. Mosquito nets over the beds which were actually not necessary. We cooked our dinner in the communal kitchen and imbibed a quantity of red wine!! The communal kitchen/dining/sitting area was very large and open to the elements except for an extremely large tent like roof. It all took a bit of getting used to but was clean and everyone very friendly. During the night there were lots of unexplained jungle noises (!) and some nocturnal bird made a huge noise at about 3 in the morning. Probably being chased by a crocodile!! It rained quite heavily at some stage. But a very comfortable bed.
Anyway, we survived the night in the wild and awoke to have a cold shower at 0630!! Bit of a shock to our systems but then felt much more refreshed. We hung around until 8 when we both had bacon and eggs (cooked for us in the cafe kitchen)which were very good. We met 2 very interesting couples while there including 2 nurses (Bill and Terre) and their 3 daughters. They are from Melbourne and lovely people. Also our neighbours during the night - Matthew and Jill. We eventually took our reluctant farewell and motored back to the Daintree as the coast road north is impassable unless one has a 4WD. Beautiful drive mostly under forest canopy with the dappled morning sunlight filtering through.
When we went across the river on the ferry once more we passed huge lines of traffic heading north - many very serious 4WD's with snorkels and businesslike roof racks with water and fuel containers thereon. We then made a mistake and turned towards Daintree Village but that turned out to be a dead end and we belatedly realised that we needed to return to Mossman before heading towards Cooktown on the much refurbished inland Mulligan Highway. About 300 kms from Mossman. The weather had become fine and once again we had a very pretty drive initially through some lush countryside and up onto the higher and drier tropical grasslands which typified the rest of our drive north. The road was excellent and for quite a distance had a posted speed limit of 110 kph. The terrain was dramatic with some very steep ascents and descents as we passed over some minor ranges of hills. There were some spectacular lookouts and then about 20 kms from Cooktown we came across the Black Hills which are composed of very large piles of weathered granite boulders which are black from the lichens growing on them. It is forbidden to try and climb the hills because a number of people have disappeared without trace when they've fallen into underground caverns caused by hundreds of years of water erosion. It's a very mystical place for the local Aborigine people and it's easy to see why. We then drove into Charlotte St., the main street of Cooktown and found the Seawiew Motel which was comfortable and conventional after the eco lodge of the previous night!!
Cooktown consists of museums, old pubs and the Endeavour River waterfront which is picturesque as long as you don't forget that there are crocodiles lurking beneath the murky water! We found the West Coast Pub (apparently named after the West Coast of the South Is.) and had a meal there. The manager it turned out was a NZ'er who had run the RSA in Birkenhead in Auckland - not far from where Jim had lived for 15 years on the North Shore of Auckland!! And he owns a house with his brother in Warkworth! Talk about a small world but we are constantly coming across similar examples.
The following day (Friday) we wandered about Cooktown and visited the excellent local museum. Gold had been discovered nearby in the 1870's and there were fascinating accounts of the hardships of the time. There was no contact with the outside world except by sea - Cooktown was very much cut off. It seems no-one became rich prospecting for gold which soon ran out in any event. There was a large Chinese population as well and they suffered the usual prejudices rife at the time. We went up Grassy Hill where the Great Navigator himself had stood to survey the surrounding waters. This was after H.M. Bark Endeavour had run aground on Endeavour Reef, a little to the south. Cook was very fortunate not to have lost the ship completely as they hit the reef about 11 at night and then spent 23 hours there as they lightened the ship as much as possible by jettisoning cargo and in particular the cannon which have now been all recovered and which are all in various museums. They managed to kedge her off and then set sail for the Endeavour River pumping furiously where they careened her on the bank with the crocodiles while they spent a few months repairing the damage which was considerable. This occurred right where the town stands today. There is an annual re-enactment in June every year to commemorate Cook's involuntary arrival.
Then a lovely dinner at an Italian restaurant whose owner came from Italian immigrants to Melbourne and who for many years had operated a restaurant in Logan St. Giovanni was a great guy and made us very welcome.
Then early to bed in preparation for the trip back to Cairns on the morrow. 350 kms - this is a big country. We would have liked to have gone further north up to Cape York but that definitely is 4WD territory and will have to wait until we go up there on the boat next year.
Love from us again.........
www.tiaretaporo3.blogspot.com
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Monday, 9 July 2012
Jokes and more serious stuff
Irish joke for today:
Murphy was wondering what "lumbago" was, so he decided to ask the local priest as he was the fount of all knowledge! The priest decided to put the fear of God into Murphy whose attendance at Mass was spasmodic at best. So he said to Murphy "Lumbago is what you get from dissolute living; loose women and drinking and generally falling about and making a nuisance of yourself. Why do you ask?" And Murphy replied that he had been reading that the Bishop had it!!!
On a more serious note - if you get a chance to read the NZ Herald on-line and read Bob Jones tongue in cheek article you will see a contribution (blog) from Tiare Taporo III. Thought provoking stuff!!!
Cheers again from us from Yorkeys Knob!!!!!!!!............
www.tiaretaporo3.blogspot.com
----------
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Murphy was wondering what "lumbago" was, so he decided to ask the local priest as he was the fount of all knowledge! The priest decided to put the fear of God into Murphy whose attendance at Mass was spasmodic at best. So he said to Murphy "Lumbago is what you get from dissolute living; loose women and drinking and generally falling about and making a nuisance of yourself. Why do you ask?" And Murphy replied that he had been reading that the Bishop had it!!!
On a more serious note - if you get a chance to read the NZ Herald on-line and read Bob Jones tongue in cheek article you will see a contribution (blog) from Tiare Taporo III. Thought provoking stuff!!!
Cheers again from us from Yorkeys Knob!!!!!!!!............
www.tiaretaporo3.blogspot.com
----------
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Sunday, 8 July 2012
Pesky Cairns weather
It's now 0830 on Monday morning here in the Half Moon Bay Marina and it's quite cold and drizzly at the moment. We're sitting here with every bit of warm clothing on that we possess! Very un-Cairns like. There's also a strong wind warning in force (30 knots) which has now been around for the last week and looks like continuing until Thursday or Friday at least.
So, if any of you are thinking of a tropical holiday in Far North Queensland it may be better to wait for a month or so.
We are getting on with jobs on the boat - yesterday scrubbed out the bilges. There are always these fun jobs to do on boats!! But can't do anything outside until the rain stops.
We feel like a couple of garden gnomes (!) but not in the garden - just on the boat! Watched a movie last night - "Mama Mia" with Meryl Streep which had been lent to us very kindly by Raewyn on "Crusoe".
We're hiring a car on Wednesday and are going up to Cooktown (350 kms) as it's historic - Capt. Cook was there - and we probably wouldn't go in there on the boat as it doesn't sound like a good anchorage. And no doubt full of crocs. We are hoping to complete the deck caulking and a bit of painting before leaving for the Louisiades in September. And we still haven't seen any crocs! But we're not swimming.
Jean keeps in touch with Heather periodically by phone and it's very heartening to see how well she is doing.
So, that's it from us for now - not much news.........
Love from us J & J
Yorkeys Knob
Cairns
Queensland
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So, if any of you are thinking of a tropical holiday in Far North Queensland it may be better to wait for a month or so.
We are getting on with jobs on the boat - yesterday scrubbed out the bilges. There are always these fun jobs to do on boats!! But can't do anything outside until the rain stops.
We feel like a couple of garden gnomes (!) but not in the garden - just on the boat! Watched a movie last night - "Mama Mia" with Meryl Streep which had been lent to us very kindly by Raewyn on "Crusoe".
We're hiring a car on Wednesday and are going up to Cooktown (350 kms) as it's historic - Capt. Cook was there - and we probably wouldn't go in there on the boat as it doesn't sound like a good anchorage. And no doubt full of crocs. We are hoping to complete the deck caulking and a bit of painting before leaving for the Louisiades in September. And we still haven't seen any crocs! But we're not swimming.
Jean keeps in touch with Heather periodically by phone and it's very heartening to see how well she is doing.
So, that's it from us for now - not much news.........
Love from us J & J
Yorkeys Knob
Cairns
Queensland
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