Skips, trips, bones and other stuff in between...

G'day moovers, groovers, winners and lovers!

Its Louise here once again with the goss, glitter, glamour and guffaws about life here on Magnetic Island in sunny far North Queensland.

Let's start with a quick weather report.

Now, can you believe I have had to break out the pink flannelette moo cow pajamas, plus the ugg boots as it has been down to 7c some nights here during our winter months of July/August? A scary mental picture I know, even Matt had a laugh at me in that outfit.

As we have been here on 'Maggie' now for over a year, I have realised that, yes, it does get cold at night, so cold that the doona/duvet had to be dragged out from where it was hiding, kicking and screaming.    What! you shout, you are meant to be lazing around a pool drinking cocktails and wearing a bikini - and speaking of them, as I always say if anyone asks me if I like cocktails;  'Tell me some!'

Sorry, weird sense of humour - blame my father.  Let me get my brains from my fishnets to the Internet.

So enough of my moaning about the weather -  what have I been up to, that will exhilarate and excite my readers?

Well we have started our own coffee mug web site;  please see pic below.

Just go to 

www.readitbackwards.com 

if you wish to purchase one of our mugs...we post worldwide

We wanted to do T Shirts originally with this design on, but it would a nightmare to get going, as we needed male/ female styles, 3 sizes in each and we wanted anything we did to be "made in Australia".  The cost would have meant we had to sell them for about $40.00 each -which is a lot -  so we then sat and had a brain storming session and realised that 99% of everyone we know has a coffee mug. Made in Australia; one size fits all and easy to post;  $25.99 (free postage).   The coffee mug for clubbers and others...

OK - my advert is over - I'll get back on track and relate the recent adventures.

I am looking at my diary to see that the last blog I did went out on 14 July!  Oh the shame of it, I am meant to be doing a blog once a month.  Sometimes life gets in the way.  (sigh...)

Beach bones

Walking along Nelly Bay beach on 19 July we came across some bones that had been washed up.  Most of you probably get dead seagulls, plastic bags or other junk on your beaches -  we get giant sea turtles...  

This is part of the back shell (carapace) of a turtle; Matt's size 9 foot in corner of shot.  23.7.12

Matt's size 9 thong next to turtle jawbone.  Nelly bay beach  23.7.12

 We both felt very sad to find these bones, plus we found some turtle skin  further up the beach.  Our local vet Alison has received rescued giant turtles, kept them in her back office in tanks and managed to restore them back to health.  After Cyclone Yasi went through the area in Feb 2011 a lot of the sea grass these animals eat was destroyed by the sea surges.   The dugongs are similarly effected and many of these lovely creatures are dying of starvation.  They get tired looking for food and often wash up on the beaches here.   Providing we get no cyclones this season, (around Dec/Jan) and providing the sea grass can grow back, the local turtles should start breeding once more. 

Skip diving

On Tuesday 24 July I decided to pay my local favourite cake maker Peta Headrick of Cake Celebrations (0747 785 710) a quick visit to say hello, and I noticed the house 2 doors down from her had a skip/dumpster parked outside, on the nature strip, filled with stuff to be taken away to the tip.  

Now my motto is 'always have a look in the skip in case there's something decent inside'  but I thought I would do the right thing and ask Peta if she knew anything about it.   As she beat to death some icing sugar in a bowl in her kitchen, she told me the owners of the house had left and that she thought it would be OK for me to 'liberate' anything I fancied - after all, who wants to fill up the local tip, if things can be re-homed and reused?  Armed with this good advice, I made my way back over to the skip.

I am sorry to admit,  I did not take any photos of the skip, I'd left the camera at home, as I was planning just to say hi to Petah, pass on some of my gossip magazines  and that would be it.  But as I am a born opportunist, I had to (of course) grab anything that I fancied.  

As I always say, Free is my second favourite "F" word...

The skip was about 2 m x 1.50m high and 1.50m wide.  (hold that thought).  

Here I should explain, that the thing I really wanted was hanging like a drunk man onto a lamp post, on top of this very full skip.  What I had spied was an old blue tin trunk, a bit shabby and dented, looking worse for wear, but nothing I couldn't fix.

Rescued trunk; 25.7.12 (on our decking) needing a good clean and makeover

And after scrub and rub and a lick of paint;  13.9.12  

(I plan to house a few of the many handbags I have in it)

Reaching on tip toes and slowing dragging the edge of the trunk until I could grab one of its side handles, I manoeuvred it to my shoulder,  then slid it onto the grass.

There was so much great stuff in the skip, it was (for me) like bloody Christmas.   

I found 3 new with flower drawings in them, photo frames (glass intact) about 50cm x 75 cm which I carefully lent up on the skip's side.  Just as I was retrieving a golf umbrella, this stern voice said 'Louise, what are you doing?'  

Catching my breath,  I quickly turned around to see my other neighbour Gwen, laughing at my discomfort.  

'Oh,  Gwen you nearly gave me a heart attack!'   I could see Gwen admiring the 3 frangipangi flower framed prints and said to her 'would you like those?'  

'Oh yeah, think they could look good in my place...'  and I passed them over to her and the 2 of us continued to scour through the skip and its contents for the next few minutes or so.

Suddenly Gwen was cowering down at the side of the skip, keeping low to the ground. She grabbed my T Shirt and pulled me down too, and had her finger to her lips:  I was somehow catapulted back to being in primary school, when you know there is something 'going on' but you're not too sure what  and you just copy the other person.    She whispered to me  'Bloody hell! It's Doug!'*   Not wishing to blow our cover I found myself whispering back 'whose Doug?'   

Well it turns out, Doug,  (a rather cantankerous old chap) was the father of the house owner, who had left the property earlier.  He had driven alongside the skip, parked his 4WD  and when Gwen saw him coming,  she dived for cover.   We stayed crouched down like this for a few minutes as he went inside.  Gwen whispered 'We'll have to leave this stuff and run back to Peta's house'.   

I am sorry but as I was now covered in dust and grime from my labours and had dragged that blue tin trunk from its metal tomb, there was no way I was just going to walk away and leave it.   So still crouched down I grabbed Gwen's rescued picture frames and began running the best I could with them, towards Peta's house and away from the skip.  

Just then, I was spotted by the dreaded Doug, who boomed out, 'What are you doing?'  

Mentally tossing up whether to keep running with 2 huge picture frames or to brave it out, I chose to stop and turn.  

 'You can't take that stuff!'  he yelled.   

I lent the 2 frames against Peta's fence and walked back. Gwen was up now too, and she was looking a bit distressed.  Or embarassed.  Or both.

'Look',  I said quickly, whilst casually grabbing the other frame I'd left by the skip,  'it would be such a shame for this stuff to go to the tip and become landfill...'   

A snort came from Doug, like a horse with a fly biting its arse...  

'And this lovely old tin trunk here'  - I pointed to it -  'well I know I can find a good use for that too...'  

Gwen was on the other side of me and we were slowly making a weird kind of pincher movement toward him. Poor Doug's head was swinging from Gwen and then to me,  like he was a drunk man watching a bad tennis match.   

Gwen said in a faint voice 'I'm so sorry, I'll put the stuff back if you like...'   

Doug (I think at this time realised he was outnumbered) snorted again and just said 'OK, OK'  while waving his hands in a 'I give up' gesture, and went back inside the house.

Realising this was our chance to leg it, we grabbed the trunk at each end, plus some other bits we had rescued and made it to Petah's house and sanctuary!    Poor Gwen, she could only mumble as she got to Petah's kitchen door, 'I need caffeine.'    Over a cup of tea we told Petah what had just happened and we laughed like crazy, more  with relief than anything...

Oh yeah, things can get pretty thrilling when skip diving here on Maggie Island.  

* Names changed to protect the guilty.

And then I met another cranky animal...

On Sunday 29th July, around 6pm I was just getting out of the shower when Matt yelled out 'Louise, quick, come here!'  

There was an urgency in his tone so I grabbed the dressing gown and made for the outside decking where Matt was looking aghast.  

What's up?' I said, suddenly noticing there was an odd smell of something like burnt hair in the air?   

'There's a possum in the barbeque' he gulped   'I think I've set it on fire!'    

'What?!'  I retorted, as Matt opened up the left hand side of the BBQ where the main hot plate was.  Matt was holding a towel which he handed to me.  

'I'll lift the plate, you throw that over the possum and see how it is... One, two, three...'  and he heaved the plate.

There looking slightly dazed and a bit singed was a large male possum.  I threw the towel onto him and lifted him out of his BBQ hotel.   

As I put him on the decking, he took off down the side of the house, like Usain Bolt on steroids, which was a relief as he couldn't have been that badly singed by Matt lighting up the BBQ.   Luckily, Matt had immediately smelt the burnt hair and turned off the gas, realising something was very amiss.    

We had not used the BBQ for a few months, so Mr Possum had decided it would be cool to camp there during the cold winter nights.  No harm done it would appear, but we will of course, check the insides of said BBQ next time we go to use it.   

Anyone remember that lemon of a movie, "Waterworld", with Kevin Costner?

On Weds 15 August,  around 9am, Matt's grandmother Joy - who is 92 and lives in Nelly Bay with her dog Rusty - called up Matt to say ''I've wet the bed, can you come around and help?'  

Matt said 'Of course' and we arrived about 20 mins later.  

But dear readers,  our Joy had not  wet the bed at all, her water bed of 30 years standing, had sprung a very major leak.   So much in fact that the bed frame was shredding, carpet was sodden and the room was awash.   I should explain she also has macular degeneration and is legally blind, plus she wears hearing aids.   She was most pleased, when I told her that it was the bed, not her, that was causing the problem.  

'Oh thank God for that, I thought I had kidney trouble!'    

Matt said 'Nana, if you had lost that much water you would be dead for sure...'  

She just laughed and we told her to sit tight while we emptied the water out.   This was a double bed, and as you can imagine, a LOT of water was in the bladder (main part of the bed) which is enclosed in a wooden box frame.  

What really freaked me out was that the water heater for the bed had been plugged in at the time of the leak.   I quickly pulled the plug out of the wall on our arrival, but its a miracle Joy wasn't electrocuted!   As it turned out, that morning at 11am we had to take Rusty to Maria (the dog lady), to get his  nails clipped.  On our arrival at her place, we told her what had occurred at Joy's and she kindly lent us her Vax wet/dry vacuum cleaner which was a life saver in sucking up the water from the bed frame and the floors.  

We soon realised that the bed base (which was chipboard) had also gotten a soaking, and was shredding before our eyes, like soggy Wettabix, so we had to take the bed completely apart.    

Thank the gods for a husband with muscles, and with the help of my trusty Swiss army knife, (its always kept in my make up bag) we dismantled the bed and threw the bits into the garden.  Then the whole carpet had to come up and we threw that out too;  luckily Joy has a second bedroom with a regular double bed in it, which we made up for her,  and a few days later (with some help) she went into town and got a queen size 'normal' bed to replace the water one.  

Nana's sodden bedroom carpet and bits of the waterbed; 15.8.12

Now as the old Monty Python sketch used to say; 'And now for something completely different'.

I am quite sure most of you know about the situation with Julian Assange?  But did you know that he spent part of his childhood here, on Magnetic Island?  All true, and the local Magnetic Island Community News had an article in a recent edition, on how some of the local supporters of Julian want a statue of him erected on the island.   

And as luck would have it,  when viewing the Australian ABC news, just as "our Jules" was holed up inside the Ecuadorian Embassy, they showed the street name; Hans Crescent, Knightsbridge SW1, (near Harrods).  

Now, as I am sure Julian would not be reading his old local rag stuck in London, and being that I had a spare big envelope and a few stamps, I had an idea that Jules may want to see what is going on in his old island home -  so I posted that paper off to him about 2 weeks ago, care of the Ecuadorian Embassy:  but I have to sadly say I have had no reply back.  No doubt he is busy?   I'll put any information in the next blog if anything arrives in the mail.    

I also included one of my business cards for the coffee mugs  - and I know they have an awful lot of coffee in Brazil, but Ecuador?  Not sure.

Fashion Spot -  just to show (and show off) what I wear on my treks into Townsville to get my hair done, at the fab Mondo Bassi Hair, Flinders St. -   this is me last Tuesday 11th on the decking, before catching the ferry.

11/9/12 off to town to get my hair done

That's a man's frilly formal shirt, black leggings and white brogues, I had a red and black 60s vanity case I use as a handbag with me too.  

Flat cap purchased in Op Shop last trip and first time wearing it. 

Sunglasses from my vast retro collection.  

The reason I am putting this on the blog is that I have discovered the best fashion site called

advancedstyle.blogspot.com   

in which a lovely chap named Ari goes around NY city snapping away at 'women (and some men) of 'a certain age' shall we say and posting photos of them on his blog.  And wow! some of these ladies are just bloody amazing.   Check it out.

My idea of style used to be to ask myself when looking in the full length mirror;   "Would Madonna wear it?"  (she is very near my age) but after seeing the A.S blog I'm now thinking 'Bugger it, I'll wear this outfit -  and stuff what anyone thinks!'  

I have to allay any fears here,  I am NOT going to be swanning around in hipster micro shorts or similar, anytime soon.  Well, OK, just maybe I might, if I can get back down to 50kgs, but I think I have more chance of winning Lotto, than my scales reading that weight again.  (But I am still hanging onto a fab size 8 Allanah Hill LBD that I paid heaps for, just in case)...

Martin H.   -  an old chum from my teenage years will testify to my fashion style back in London in the 70s; My usual attire consisted of a selection of 1940s dresses, my trusty platform sole boots, my Nan's old fur coat (before fur became a no-no) and a big black felt hat.  

Is it time to channel the younger stylish bastard I used to be, me thinks?   

Happy snaps

I am happy to say I am now the proud owner of a Nikon DSLR I bought on Ebay, its an oldie but a goodie and I am still learning to drive the beastie;  Here are few of the latest shots taken a few days ago.

Mangrove Swamp, Horseshoe Bay 13.9.12

Broken paving stones, Dent St. Horseshoe Bay (reminded me of a grave!) 13.9.12

Local resident, 13.9.12 (that ranch is across the road behind him)

One of our pals,  Greg Simmons got a gig singing at the Noodies Mexican Restaurant on 2nd September and I took the Nikon out  for spin.  

Greg at Noodies, 2.9.12

I took about 50 shots and some were changed to B&W and they came out really well.   

So,  as I started with the weather, I think I'll end on the same theme:

Here is the song I want played at my memorial service (I'm leaving my body to medical students, that way there is no funeral or cremation costs),  its by the Weather Girls - "Its raining men". 

Click on Youtube link below

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGLZqDXau98

Any comments about the blog are most welcome.

Louise

A Sydney visit and other adventures...

Helloooo all!

Louise here again commenting on the good, great and generous of Maggie Island,  while continuing to record my adventures of life here in the tropics.

I've gone native!

Its 23C and believe it or not, I'm wearing long sleeves.

Matt and I used to come up here in the Sydney winter and 23/24C then was a heatwave from the cold 15C of Sydney's usual wet weather and frigid southerly winds.   Just goes to show how one can adjust to the higher temps. over our summer, when 38C is the norm.

And I have to share this: I found my old portable typewriter the other day in a box and felt all nostalgic;  does anyone use a typewriter anymore I wonder?  I'll show my age now, and tell that I learnt on a manual Remington typewriter at school,  and no, to you Gen X and Y smart arse teckies, it was NOT made of stone.

Since my last post, things have been a little bit exciting.

We have started our own online business selling our own design coffee cups and we had a lovely visit to Sydney to see a few chums.

We had a web page running but the damn thing crashed and burnt,  and Matt is in the process of getting a web site built via a new host.  I will blog the web address again, when that is up and running which should be soon, as we are getting "Little Heroes" hosting to design a new web page for us and who seem to have their poop in a pile.   Please don't ever bother trying to get web hosting with a lot named Crazy Domains -   I was 45 mins "on hold" on our land line,  trying to get these serious problems fixed and then I gave up in utter frustration.

I'll stop whinging now, change the subject, and tell the tale of our latest diet thing -  Matt, and my good self completed successfully 6 days of just drinking veggie/fruit juice on the Reboot your life diet.  Check out the link below.

http://www.fatsickandnearlydead.com/

If you have not seen this doco about how Aussie Joe Cross was massively overweight and decided to do something about it, then you should!  What an inspiration he is, and we decided to give it a go; there is no just starting drinking juices, its a slow progress to that start:  slowly lean into it by giving up the meat, caffeine and processed foods and booze.   Then have a few restful days drinking 20% fruit juices and 80% veggie juices.  Taking it by the horns,  we stocked up on a huge range of fruit and veg and away we went.

I should explain one of my neighbours Petah had me over for a cuppa with another pal Gwen and we got talking about this diet;  bless Gwen, she had a copy and kindly went home and got me the DVD to look at;  I came home and persuaded Matt to look at it with me, and voila!  We were hooked and decided to go with Joe.

Matt on Day 1 of Reboot Diet with a smoothie of strawberry, orange and pineapple. 23.6.12

I had a bit of a headache the day before, probably due to giving up caffeine, but it was not that hard just sticking to the juice diet. One thing I need to say in retrospect;  make sure you stock up on toilet tissue because   - oh yes! it definitely works its magic in the smallest room in the house.   (Which is a good thing...)

Matt and I both had a joint doctors appointment on the next Monday for our yearly check-ups,   I was happy to find out I had lost 1kg and Matt had lost 2kg.   Way to go!   We gradually got back to normal eating but we are steering clear of too much processed food and meat.  If anyone reading wants to lose a bit of weight, watch the documentary mentioned above,  (Fat, sick and nearly dead) then give this diet due consideration.  

Sorry, I am getting ahead of myself here  - let me rewind a bit:

The month began with a clank of chains as we were sitting doing some meditation; No, it wasn't the local S&M club asking for their equipment back, it was the doggie up the road; Bongo!  The naughty black Staffy had got out of his home and decided to pay us a visit (we regularly pat him walking past his place) so he knew where a friendly face and a quick feed were awaiting.  And he loves Matt;  as in luurve!  See pic below...

Aren't they both cute as a button?  Bongo on the decking with Matt; 1.6.12 

Matt's uncle Geoff came up to Maggie on his motorbike for a flying visit.  And no prizes for guessing where we went for lunch?  Yep, Blue on Blue for the $20 special once again.  Shame these guys at Blue on Blue, don't have a loyalty card for regulars, we would be up for a few free lunches by now.  

Blue on Blue, with your writer, Geoff and Joy (Geoff's mum) 2.6.12

Regular readers will remember the critters in the blog post I put out a few months ago.  Well they keep a-coming! This cricket/grasshopper was a recent visitor, while having breakfast  on the decking; Matt stuck the spoon there to measure him against it, not to eat it with...

3.6.12  "Can u walk the rice paper, Grasshopper"?   Or the spoon in this case? What a monster, not sure if its a cricket or what?

And here is something very rarely seen on Magnetic Island; traffic lights!  The walkway from Nelly Bay to Arcadia that has been wanted by locals for years is actually getting built.  There has been the odd occasion of idiots running the red lights and crashes ensuing, and the sign seen here was actually stolen (according to the police report in the local paper) and is now firmly set into the grass.

Traffic lights at hill towards Arcadia Bay 26.6.12

On Monday 4 June we jumped on a jet plane and headed for our old stomping ground, Sydney.  We took advantage of cheap fares 6 months before with Jet Star and thought it would be good to break out the winter clothes again.  And trust me, they got a workout.  For our first night in Sydney, after picking up our hire car we stayed with Jono and Kate (thanks guys) and then on Tuesday, we drove to Carmen's place in West Wyalong, in country New South Wales.  Cold?  You better believe it, 13C in the day and zero at night.  Driving along the main road at 4pm and still not dark, a massive full grown kangaroo jumped out onto the road;  Matt luckily swerved and the roo realising its mistake turned around and missed us by a gnat's knacker.  'Well that woke me up' I said, trying to sound non-plussed, but my heart nearly came through my chest, like that horrible thing did to John Hurt's character in the first 'Alien' movie.  When we told Carmen, she said 'I was going to say about the roos but I forgot!'  Luckily no harm done, but there was a $300 insurance excess on any damage done to the hire car, which we luckily avoided.

Matt and I were having a talk about death and dying after this incident, and I said to him, "I want to die in my sleep, like my Grandad",  Matt said "Really?"  I said 'yeah, such a  shame about the other 3 people in the car with him at the time, though...'    Sorry, my London sense of humour comes out when stressed.

After a lovely dinner and a chat and a few glasses of Sangria, Carmen had fired up the electric blankets on our bed and it was bliss sliding between the flannelette sheets.  But never let it be said I am not dressed for the occasion, there I lay with the thermal undies covered with  flanny tartan boys PJs on top.  Sexy eh?  Plus woolly beanie hat as the window didn't shut properly and there was a bit of a draught.  Who said romance was dead?

The next day was sunny but cold (15c) and we headed to Quindella, (local town) to check it out.  We also went to the local tip as country tips are a mine of unwanted stuff.  We found a few things; see pic...

Matt found that chair,  very comfy, just needs recovering!  6.6.12

Matt feeding the chooks; 6.6.12 (Ugg boots rule!)

The next day, Thursday 7.6.12  saw Matt on the ride on lawnmower while Carmen and I took off to check out Burcher and the surrounds.  At 4pm we lit a bonfire and got the Sangria going (again!) but didn't go too mad as we were driving back to Sydney the next day.  It was great seeing Carmen again, and she is so lucky to be on a property with her animals.  

Matt dressed for the zero temps 8am - 8/6/12

Here is Morgan the 3 legged cat (a fox got his other leg) with Carmen's boots drying in the sun 8/6/12

Here is the author, with more layers than an onion!  Stevie the cat on window ledge, Jackie the dog in the front;  our hire car in background.  8 am 8.6.12

We arrived back in Sydney around 4pm to stay with another good chum Kelly, who has just moved to Alexandria,  on the fringe of Sydney city.  The contrast to Carmen's place could not have been starker.  Rows and rows of terrace houses, and car parking at a premium.  We found a spot up the road to Kelly, so all good.   After lugging our cases in, we quickly changed clothes and headed to the 'Friend in Hand' pub in Glebe, Sydney for a comedy show and dinner downstairs in the pub; lovely!  Sleeping in a third strange bed, (Kelly's sofa bed) we soon dozed off.  

 On Saturday 9/6/12 Kelly and her boyfriend Dan took us to Sensis Cafe in the main street of Alexandria for breakfast.  I'd forgotten how "out there" some of the locals can be in this neck of the woods, but it was a treat to see a girl with bright pink hair, dressed all in black, with pink shoes and matching bag;  guys in skinny jeans so tight I wonder how they had any circulation, and a trendy man in a pale grey 1960s suit, complete with white shirt, a red skinny tie and red skate shoes.  My head was sloshing around like I was at the men's final at Wimbledon.  Fab!

 On Maggie Island we tend NOT to see stuff like this, more's the pity.  

The author, Dan and Kelly at Sensis Cafe, Alexandria 9/6/12

We waved bye to Kelly and drove to our good chum Geoff in Freshwater, on Sydney's northern beaches.  Geoff, bless him, had prepared a lovely lunch of pate, olives and bread awaiting for us.  Bliss!  After sitting around yakking for a bit, we decided to take off to the movies to see 'Prometheus' in 3D at the local cinema.  It was raining, hard, and cold -  not quite thermal undies cold, but jeans and jacket and my beret (that I wore non stop in Sydney), kind of cold.  Who me a wimp?

For some odd reason the movie really gripped me and I was shaking like a leaf toward the end (I won't say why to those who haven't seen it yet) which is very good.   I give it an 8/10 and its one of the best Sci Fi movies in a long time.  My all time fave?  The original 'Blade Runner'.  There is a "final cut" of it which came out in 2007, which I have not seen, but I will try and download from the net to see how it stacks up against the original. 

But I digress -  we spent another night in another chums place, on Geoff's sofa bed and next day awoke to yet more rain.  Another movie?  You bet.  We whizzed off again to the local flicks to see 'The Avengers' which was also very good and has some snazzy one liners especially those coming from the Hulk.   But something I am concerned about is that the Hoyts cinema we attended now have allocated seating.  Sounds fine?  Try finding a seat in the dark, with a ticket stub in hand and no usherette with a torch:  we did what it appeared all the other patrons had done,  and sat where we liked.  I can see huge fights breaking out over this stupid, dumb system; what's wrong with first in, best seats?  

After the movies we went for a bit of dinner at the Dee Why RSL club and an early night as we were flying back to Townsville the next day (Mon 11th)  and had to return the hire car.

We surfaced early the next morning, had a lovely brekkie that Geoff had prepared and sadly had to say farewell to Geoff and to Sydney.  Thanks to all our friends who put us up on our week back down south.

It was so good on arriving back on Maggie Island to feel the sun as we drove home, and discard the layers of clothing;  Loved Sydney but the winter weather?  No thanks.

Geoff and Matt  with brekky;  11/6/12

We soon got back in the 'palm tree lifestyle' and began walking in the mornings to get the bit of extra weight we had gained in eating out so much for a week.  

On 18th June we went with our car into Townsville for  'a big shop';  There are 2 supermarkets on the island but tend to be a bit expensive, so after visiting Bunnings, Big W and Dan Murphys Liquor it was time to load up on groceries  -  $300 later and poorer we got onto the 4.30 barge and back to Maggie.  We used to buy 2 tins of beans in Sydney, we now buy 10 or 12 along with the same amount of tinned tomatoes, spaghetti, red beans, corn.... you see where I am going with this?  Its only when we get to a Mother Hubbard situation that we need a 'big shop':  Don't even get me started on the freezer...

By the way, who would have believed that Mother Hubbard started Scientology!  Way to go MH! (LOL).  Apologies to Tom Cruise...

On 4th July, I could have been knocked over with a feather, as we received a call from our old boss Maureen at Beachside asking us to come and work for 2 days!  As we left on good terms and we were a bit depleted in the cash stakes we said Yes please!  and started next day.  I tell you what, after 2 months off the cleaning it is a huge strain to start up again.   My legs were protesting big time, hauling those sheets and towels up the stairs;  it turns out Luke, the man who replaced us,  had too much work and needed a hand.  Fine by us,  'all monies gratefully received'  is my motto.  

So dear reader(s) I hope you agree with my opening blurb about an exciting month.  

I'll close now and let you catch your breath.  

Chat soon:

Louise

I will re post a blog on our coffee cup business when the damn website is up and running... stay tuned... 

My birthday celebrations and other events...

Greetings to all...

Its me, Louise, again with more  goss on the great and good of Magnetic Island:  and what a busy and exciting month it has been, with birthdays, visitors galore and (ahem!) some job/work issues - its been non stop - but more of that work problem later on.   I'll start with the jolly stuff.

Like my good chum Phil Stephens (Stagedoor Theatre) said recently, "I put the whore in Horseshoe Bay!"

But enough of my sordid past work history, let me start off with saying recently,  I was for once, dear readers, speechless!  How could this possibly be you ask, when this writer of the best blog on the Net, is NEVER short of something to say?

This amazing spectacle came about on my birthday, April 26, when my two good chums Jason and Geoff came up from Sydney to see Matt and I for a week.  Jason had pre arranged with Matt to meet himself and Geoff getting off the plane at the arrival gate.  On our arrival at Townsville airport (and I should add there is only ONE terminal -  domestic -  there is no international!) Matt dragged me up to Gate 4 with a twinkle in his eye, as we waited for the plane to land.

Suddenly there was a loud noise, then shouting and whistles blowing, and Geoff and Jason came through the doors singing 'Happy Birthday"   -  what a spin out!   Everyone looked around, a bit shocked I think, including me.   --  See photo below   --

Jason (L) Louise and Geoff;  26 April 2012

What is a girl to do but stand there and cop it sweet?   What a birthday greeting and one I shall remember for a long time... Thanks guys!

We gave the guys a quick ride around Townsville before we caught the 4.30 car barge back to the island and over to our house...  the fun and games continued after Matt's lovely BBQ and champagne dinner that we had on the deck.

Jason, Louise and Geoff (in fiendish disguise) 26.4.12 (that banner actually played 'Happy Birthday to you' when a string was pulled)

The next day - Fri 27th -  the unthinkable happened:  It rained!  I was mortified -  And the temperature dropped from a balmy 33C to a cooler 26C.  We had to go into town to see Matt's half brother Guy (who I had not met) for lunch and left the car with Geoff and Jase to have a look around.  The lunch went well and it was fab to put a face to the voice at last  - we got the 2.30 ferry home to be met at the Nelly Bay terminal by our drivers, Geoff and Jase.

Guy and I, at Cactus Jacks, Townsville. 27.4.12 (note rain pouring...)

On Saturday I am happy to say, the weather cheered up a bit and Jase and Matt got a quick swim in at Horseshoe Beach, while Geoff and I walked leisurely around the bay. 

I had booked in for the Stage Door Theatre Restaurant for the 4 of us that Saturday night to see the 'Frocky Horror Show' which did not disappoint...  Now I told you all of my gushing over Phil Stephens (one of the stars of the show) on Valentines Day, and I was amazed when as we entered Phil was at the door and said 'Good evening Louise -  I have a table at the front for you.'   

Hubba hubba, a girl can get used to all this five star treatment.   And sure enough there we were bang at the front.  

The other thing we all agreed on was how good the food was -  the chicken I had was superb and not many establishments like this have both a fab show and fab food.  Recommended.

28.4.12 Stage Door Theatre Restaurant, 'Frocky Horror Show'

But it only got better,  a bit of audience participation was called for, and here is Matt doing the Time Warp with Franken FARTER (bad case of flatulence, or fatulence depending on your viewpoint) next to him...

Phil Stephens dressed as Frankenfarter with Matt, doing the Time Warp; 28.4.12

And better again;  Geoff was brought on stage with 2 other chaps, and asked after the 'Touch me, I wanna be dirty" song, to demonstrate their girl 'touching up' techniques.  

Geoff brought the house down with his routine, especially when he lifted his shirt and started groping his own chest; there was a 'voice vote' for the best one at the end of the song and Geoff won by a country mile.  Laughed?  My undies never dried out!   

Geoff, unknown male, and Bernadette Smith as Monroe Monroe 28.4.12

If you are on Facebook, the Stage Door theatre restaurant magnetic island, has a page and the 2 ladies next to us added some more of the night's proceedings to that.   Worth a look...

www.facebook.com/StageDoorTheatreRestaurant

The next few days were spent visiting the lovely beaches on the island and seeing the sights...

Picnic Bay Jetty 29.4.12, Geoff, Matt and Jase

1.5.12 Blue on Blue restaurant, Nelly Bay

                     and the obligatory lunch at our fave place for the $20 lunch special. 

When visitors arrive,  there are a few certain  'things to do' here on the Island, and one is to feed the rock wallabies at Geoffrey Bay,  so we did...

Geoff at his bay; 2.5.12

Jason with a furry friend; 2.5.12 "more please"

Geoff with chum; 2.5.12

and what a blast it was;  Two big beefy guys absolutely having a fab time... Lovely!

One of the main other attractions here is the world famous Wednesday Night Toad Races.  

It works like this, eight toads are auctioned off, the prize money is usually $30 over the price paid and when all eight, with different coloured ribbons attached are sold, they are released from the middle of the circle they are held in.  The first one to hop over the outer circle line is the winner.  Sound simple?  Well, it is but the auctions can be a bit wild to say the least, especially with about 50 backpackers yelling and screaming in 10 different languages behind us.   It was all good fun though and despite buying a few toads that looked like winners, we won bugger all... 

Here the toads get their ribbons and names; I liked Peter Slipper(y) but it came nowhere!  2.5.2012

 Geoff, Louise and Jason, 2.5.12

The perspex cage about to be lifted to start the race:  2.5.12

And to quote 'Monty Python'  -  And now for something completely different...

This is one of the new male possums that was visiting us while Geoff and Jason were here; I know bugger all about possum anatomy, but check out the goolies on this chap!  Like 2 "Cool Mints", as my lovely husband Matt cleverly pointed out...

Hellooo Ladies!  Mr Possum; 2.5.12

Our pals departed the next day on the ferry;   It was sad to see them go, and we realise that we are such a long way away here in the tropics, so its great when our friends make the effort to come to visit us.

Geoff and Jason depart Maggie Island, 3.5.12

We waved the guys off, jumped in the Maserati, (our pet name for the Charade) and drove home to quickly strip the beds, tidy up for our next guest arriving, our chum Kelly, who was arriving the next day - Friday 4th May  - for a quick weekend visiting Maggie Island.

Kelly's flight was due at 2.30pm and landed 15 mins early, and quickly donning the leis that Geoff and Jason had used for my birthday, we held aloft a sign saying 'Welcome Kelly'.

Matt and Louise, Townsville Airport, 4.5.12 (taken on Kelly's Iphone using the Instagram App.)

It was a quick tour of Maggie for Kelly; we squeezed as much in as we could in the short time she was here.  And the weather was fab I am happy to say.   On Saturday 5th May we had a lovely picnic at Arthur Bay and a bit of a snorkel;  that night's dinner was at Noodies, the Mexican restaurant at Horseshoe Bay Beach.  I did a strange thing that night, I drank beer!  Yep, the Corona's were going cheap, and as that stuff does not taste like beer to me, I downed one and loved it.

Kelly at Horseshoe Bay Beach at sunset; 5.5.12

Across the road at Noodies Mexican, and those beers;  Lovely!  5.5.12

 The 2 ladies at the wallaby feeding station; Geoffrey Bay,  6.5.12

Matt and Kelly, Geoffrey Bay 6.5.12

We sadly said 'farewell' to Kelly on Sunday 6th May.  Any quick visit by pals is a good one.

Now for the 'work issue' I mentioned at the top of the blog.

The Monday 7th May was a Queensland public holiday, so we went back to our job after a week off, on the Tuesday 8th May.

I think I've explained how Matt and myself took on this job, as casual cleaning workers, which means no holiday or sick pay, just payment for hours worked;  thus when visitors come to see us, we can happily take time off.  We always gave our manager, Maureen, at the Beachside Apartments plenty of notice when taking holidays and she was able to get another cleaner in to do our work.

On our return on 8th May, Matt and I should have realised something was up, as her husband Ian was wandering around looking unhappy;  but as Maureen said 'please come into the office, I need to speak to you' - well, this maybe meant things were amiss?

After a very long ramble about how she was unable to find another cleaner while we were away, and how some chap named Luke had come to the rescue, I thought in my naivety that we were going to get an extra person to help us out... of course I was wrong.  The rambling went on, how he could clean 4 rooms in only 3 hours by himself and was such a hard worker,  until finally she said ' ... and so I gave him your jobs...'  Now, you know when you hear something completely unexpected, and have to sit for a second to make sure your wits are not deceiving you?  Well, it was NOTHING like that - my brain raced like greyhound on crystal meth and I just blurted out 'WHAT!'  Maureen looked a bit shocked but then said  'but, but, but  - Louise he has kids to support!'  What about our bloody support?  

I will not bore you with it all, suffice to say when she had the hide to ask us if we wanted to work that day, as we had turned up, Matt and I passed a knowing look and he said, 'No thanks, we have things to do at home', stood up, shook both Ian and Maureen's hands, and walked out.   Can you believe it?

We were in a way, grateful.  Grateful that we did not have to deal with Maureen being 'unwell' and laying down in her own unit in the complex, while I was trying to get her to order a plumber to fix a leaky sink pipe in Unit 17 before the guests arrived for the Easter break.   Grateful we did would never again have to get a call from her while at her son's graduation in Melbourne, at 10pm on a Friday night begging us to let in some guests with our pass keys, who had booked a room on the Internet at 5pm as she had forgotten to turn off the website booking page:  (We did let the guests in, who had 2 young kids with them, luckily they were good about it.)     Yeah, to be fair, we did get a 'nice drink' as they say in London, for doing that for her:   But I had been "on the vino" a bit that night, and luckily Matt only had one, so he was able to drive legally, and sort out the mess.    

All I can say is Luke, whoever you are, good luck.  It will be all sweetness and light until a stress trigger is introduced and bang!  You will see what we had to put up with for the past 10 months, on and off.  

Matt and I have had a few ideas about starting our own business up;  we are making baby steps in that direction, and I will have more about that in my next blog.

Plus that wardrobe full of stuff I have been meaning to put on Ebay has finally been gone through, with clothes washed and ironed, and heaps of things listed;  Its slow and steady on Ebay, but all  extra dosh is good in my humble view, and those designer labels need a good home.

On Thursday 10 May we were feeling a bit dejected, but it was a glorious sunny day and we decided to do a long walk we had been putting off; the walk to the WW2 Forts; so grabbing my walking stick we merrily set off.  This walk is famous for sighting koalas and we were lucky enough to see one...

Koala at the Forts, looking up his bum unfortunately:  10.5.112

Louise at the gun turret at the Forts 10.5.12

Matt looking out over Horseshoe bay; 10.5.12

Next day we had a call from Matt's good chum Jono to say he wanted to come to the island with his wife Kate and their 2 1/2 y/o Sienna, but as our house was not really toddler proof they wanted to rent a house in Horseshoe bay and not stay with us;  No bother, the whole island is practically a big house rental and we gave them some numbers to call...

On Sat 12 May, we needed a bloody good laugh, so we went into town to see the Melbourne Comedy Festival Roadshow at the Townsville Civic Theatre, and it was really, really good.

Comedy Festival home page

So good, in fact, that we then went to the next Saturday's entertainment at the same venue, Stephen K. Amos, who was an absolute bloody riot - we were amazed though that the theatre was only 1/3 full: What?!   But he made jokes about that and the audience really warmed to him.  'Laughter is my agenda' was the name of the show and it was worth every cent...  Here is a clip of him for those of you who don't know him.  

Stephen K Amos on Youtube

On Sunday 20th May Jono and his wife and child arrived; the weather was not too bad, but I am embarrassed to tell you it was not that great for the week they were here.  

Sienna in the pool... 23.5.12

We managed to get a few beach days in to half cloudy skies, but the day they left (Fri 25th) it was dreadful -  Howling gale force winds, 19C (cold for these parts) and raining;  I caught the ferry into town with them as I had a hair appointment at the wonderful Mondobassi Hair salon, with Hayley and Georgia...

http://www.mondobassihair.com

and for once I was able to drag the Burberry raincoat out from its hiding place at the back of the wardrobe.  I sadly waved bye to Jono and Kate but we are going to Sydney soon for a few days and shall see them then.

Well dear readers, that's about it for this edition of the Magnetic Island Diary;  what a big month - 3 lots of guests, job losses, weight gains, (Matt asked me not to mention that) so its been a big blog and I hope you have read thus far.

Maybe next month will be a little less exciting? 

But I shouldn't wish for that, what on Earth would I have to write about in my blog if it were so?

Adios Amigos

L.