Category: Australia

Blogging from A-Z: G is Gingerbread Village 2019

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Last Christmas while holidaying in Melbourne, my husband and I got a very pleasant surprise. We were asked by the lady at the tourist information centre, if we had seen the gingerbread village yet?

“No,” I replied.

“Oh you must, it’s just around the corner” she said.

So off we went in search of the gingerbread village, not having any idea what to expect, but we had no real plans so we were happy to take a risk.

Wow! The Gingerbread Village by EPICURE, is an amazing fundraiser for Royal Melbourne’s Children’s Hospital. It is a village made of gingerbread, marzipan and royal icing designed to replicate the famous landmarks Melbourne has to offer. It was spectacular. We spent the next 1 1/2 hours absorbing the creativity and the intricate detail of the displays.

The Gingerbread Village 2019 was the biggest one yet and used 600 kilos of gingerbread, 460 kilos of royal icing and 200 kilos of marzipan.

Some of the landmarks in last years display were:

  • Grand Prix at Albert Park
  • Flemington Racecourse
  • Melbourne Zoo
  • Luna park
  • MCG – Melbourne Cricket Ground which we had toured that morning
  • Royal Children’s Hospital – completed with a meerkat enclosure and a giant aquarium both of which I am told in in the hospital for sick children to enjoy.
  • Osaka Castle – this one had special significance to us as we had visited it the evening Alex and Mizuki got married in Japan. Apparently Osaka and Melbourne as sister cities.

Here’s hoping that there is a Gingerbread Village 2020. If there is and you get the opportunity I agree with the lady at the tourist information centre.

“You must go!”

MCG under lights
Lunar Park
Grand Prix at Albert Park
Osaka Castle
Fun things Japan is known for
Meerkats at Royal Melbourne Children’s Hospital
Giant Aquarium at RMCH

Blogging From A-Z: B is BHP – 20 years on

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Growing up in Newcastle in the 1970’s, BHP was the biggest employer in the area. BHP opened in Newcastle in 1915 and closed it’s doors forever on the 30th September, 1999. At one stage, BHP employed 1 in 10 people in Newcastle. Everyone knew someone who worked there. No-one could imagine life in Newcastle without the BHP. However, 84 years later, the blast furnaces stopped. And Newcastle lost the smog and pollution almost immediately.

Last September, Newcastle celebrated the 20th anniversary of the closure of BHP with a special weekend. To celebrate we were able to visit The Muster Point. A memorial sculpture made of steel and bronze, 8 metres wide and 12 metres high completed just before the BHP closed it’s doors. On top of the sculpture is a cross to honour the lives lost over the years, in what was a very dangerous workplace.

Also at The Muster Point was one of BHP’s old managers. He was there to meet and greet old employees and others coming together to remember and celebrate all things Newcastle steelworks. His stories told of life working at BHP during those times. And he explained that for many of the employees, BHP was part of their family and sometimes their only family. For this reason, it was important to look out for the welfare of his staff. An example he used was arranging reading and writing lessons for some of the workers when he realised that they couldn’t do either. These were the little things that those of us who hadn’t worked at Big Harry’s Place ( the local nickname), had never considered.

We also visited Delprat’s cottage, which was built on site so Guillaume Deprat could supervise the steelworks construction even when he was home. The heritage society has done a great job creating a museum during the renovations. They are attempting to recreate the cottage as close as possible to the original building.

Delprat was a big fan of body strength. On of his favourite ways to exercise and improve his strength was with gymnastic rings. To ensure he could always exercise, he had a set of gymnastics ring hung in his bedroom. This allowed him to do two jobs at once – practise his moves and supervise his steelworks.

Another community sculpture onsite

The Big UGG Boots

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Australians love visiting big tourist attractions. They are large sized versions of what the town or area is known for e.g. the Big Banana in Coffs Harbour, the first big thing I ever visited back in the 1970’s. Today in Australia there are over 150 big things.

The latest big thing I visited was the Big UGG Boots at Mortel’s Sheepskin Factory at Thornton in the Hunter Valley. They are the world’s biggest UGG Boots weighing 600 kilos each. They were designed to be 13 x women’s size 8 UGG boot. Mortel’s have been making UGG boots in Australia since 1958. I can’t believe that they made the concrete look so soft and comfortable just like Australian UGG boots.

The Japanese also love our UGG boots. So when our Japanese family visited last year, we surprised them with a visit to the Big UGG Boots. They loved them. Communication was interesting but the ladies in the gift shop did a great job of explaining that sheepskin changes shape so the shoe sizes that they needed to purchase varied. Overall the visit was an excellent experience for everyone.

Attached to the gift shop is the sheepskin museum. It explains the history of Mortel’s as well as showing how UGG boots are made. My favourite was being able to shear a sheep.

If you are ever in the area the Big UGG Boots are worth a visit.

The Ageless Paul McCartney

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Yesterday my life was changed forever. I attended Paul McCartney’s first Australian concert in Perth. Initially, I was unsure how much I would enjoy it. But hey I’m a good wife, so I’ll travel across Australia just so my husband can see his hero on his birthday.

Wow! What a great night it was and Paul even sang happy birthday to him and several others.

Titled One on One, Sir Paul’s plan was to engage with all 23,000 of us individually. Mission accomplished. For 3 hours he played and sang a well put together mix of 40 of his old, new and in between songs. He joked with us about how “he knows what we like” the old songs but he was playing his new songs and “he doesn’t care.”

His segways between songs with historical stories about them fascinated the crowd and gave us great insight into his early life. He was a master at seamlessly switching between instruments bass, guitar and piano as well as a special dedication to George Harrison on his ukulele. His other dedications were to John Lennon, George Martin, Jimi Hendrix as well as his first wife, Linda and current wife, Nancy.

Described by the media as Maccamania, everyone in the audience, young or old , felt touched by his performance. It really was like he was playing to you. The video and other special effects were like nothing I had ever seen at a concert before and for that matter I doubt I’ll ever experience again.

To make the night even more special he allowed a young man to propose to his girlfriend on stage at the end of the concert. The young couple had bonded on a Contiki tour 10 years ago because of their love for Beatles music. The ultimate in intimacy in a sell out crowd.

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Free Floating

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Last December, after 25 years I was reminded how relaxing it is to go to the beach after work. To lye on my back free floating, totally unmoored to the world —just bobbing around in the waves. Trusting I was safe but keeping an eye out for any bigger waves that could do me harm. Then to keep myself safe, I would simply dive under the wave and avoid its direct impact. Free floating is now my preferred mindful activity for the warmer months.

As I gazed over the horizon watching the random sets of waves, my muscles relaxed and looked for a new way to work. Suddenly, I realised my free floating had turned into the best core exercise I had ever done and with no effort on my part.

Give it a try and  say goodbye crunches. Take you feet off the ground and free float. Go with the rhythm of the waves and focus on the horizon. It’s my favourite way to centre myself.

 

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X – XXXX Origins Beer

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I was 10 years old and we first traveled to Queensland and I first saw the XXXX beer label. Now over 40 years later the brand has grown into an Australian icon and I love that for its latest venture XXXX has gone back to its roots and named its beers after the working country areas of Queensland. I’m not a Queenslander but it still makes me proud.

The 36 towns featured are:

  • Atherton
  • Bellbowrie
  • Birdsville
  • Bluff
  • Cairns
  • Calen
  • Chinchilla
  • Cloncurry
  • Coolangatta
  • Curra
  • Deeragun,
  • Drillham
  • Emerald
  • Foxdale
  • Gatton
  • Gin Gin
  • Giru
  • Gladstone
  • Goondiwindi
  • Herberton
  • Inkerman
  • Jimboomba
  • Karara
  • Laura
  • Mackay
  • Maryborough
  • Mirani
  • Mount Isa
  • Nobby
  • Rockhampton
  • Roma
  • Stonehenge
  • Toowoomba
  • Townsville
  • Warwick
  • Windorah

If I ever see these beers in New South Wales I may even taste my first XXXX beer.

V – Vincentia

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Vincentia is a seaside town on the shores of Jervis Bay, 200 kilometres South of Sydney.Arriving at our B & B, we decided to take an afternoon stroll and found ourselves taking in the natural beauty of the White sands Walk along Blenheim Beach and Jervis Bay National Park. It was a glorious winter day and a great way to relax.

U – Uralla

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Uralla is a small town on the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales, which was established in 1855. The town’s name is Aboriginal and means meeting place. As it happens Uralla is also mid way between Sydney and Brisbane via the inland route.

On our recent road trip we hadn’t planned on stopping long in Uralla, however as we got so distracted along the way looking at the waterfalls, we needed to stop here overnight. This turned into a blessing as we then ended up investigating this interesting area the next morning. And what amazing Australian history we found — the secret gem, McCrossin’s Mill Musuem is situated across the road from Thunderbolt’s Statue. The building is a recently restored 3 storey flour mill built-in 1870 by Samuel McCrossin, one of the first settlers to the area.

Some of the treasures we found in the musuem included:

  • A series of nine paintings by Phillip Pomroy called “The Death of Thunderbolt”, based on the account of Constable Alexander Walker — the detail in these paintings was fascinating
  • A display of farming and household equipment from the early pioneering days
  • A relocated Chinese Joss House form the local Rocky River Gold Fields
  • A display to Australia’s first world champion — rower Edward Trickett
  • Letters home to mother from World War 1 by a local war hero
  • Local goldfield information

These beautiful decorative gates were created by concrete man Antonio Perez Martinez in 1960.

Thunderbolt’s Life and Death Exhibition

Edward Trickett, son of a convict and Australia’s first world champion, a sculler died in Uralla.

 

S – Sheepyard Opal Field

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The Sheepyard Opal Field is next to the Grawin and Glengarry opal fields and together they make a memorable day out for tourist to the Lightening Ridge region. If you are driving around stick to the main roads or you’ll get lost in the maze of dirt back roads. When we drove from Glengarry Hilton to Sheepyard Pub, we saw many unusual signs and interesting actions including a young boy, far to young to hold a license, driving his father between pubs. His father rode in the tray of the ute not in the back or front seat, and just hopped off the back when he arrived telling the young boy he would find his own way home. No wonder there is a sign that says cars with brakes give way — here obviously anything can happen.

The Sheepyard Inn

Sheepyard War Memorial

 

G – Grawin and Glengarry Opal Fields

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Last year on a road trip around northern New South Wales, my husband and I  discovered the unique Grawin and Glengarry opal fields.  Located 40 kilometres SW of Lightening Ridge — Black Opal Capital of the World — these fields mine seam black opal and were where opal was first found in the area back in the early 1900’s. It is a very rustic, natural area that makes recycling an art. Every one and everything is different and it is like nothing I have ever seen before.

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The Grawin Golf Course

The Club In The Scrub

The Glengarry Hilton

This warning sign at the entrance to the area reminds everyone that you are entering an old working mine field, littered with dangers so keep to the tracks and beware.

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