John Williamson is one of Australia’s most iconic country music singers. Last year he celebrated 45 years since his first song Old Man Emu become a hit. During this time he has produced 50 albums, which equates to more than one a year. He is an amazing ambassador for Australia and his songs touch and connect with all generations. He also isn’t afraid to take on the controversial issues. Even today on a road trips with our adult children, his albums are the only ones that we have no arguments about.
I have seen him in concert a few times in the local pubs and RSL clubs (Returned Service Leagues), after which he is happy to come out to meet his people and sign his autograph on albums or books.
Below is a small taste of his different styles including some interesting images of Australia when the albums were produced —brings back many memories for me. The first 3 I grew up with and have definitely united the country and brought about change. The last one is relatively new but connects with me as on retire that is exactly what we want to do — join the grey nomads traveling around Australia with no cares in the world.
But with 50 albums there is definitely something for everyone’s taste.I think True Blue is my favourite John Williamson song, what is yours? Let me know in the comments.
Have you ever thought what happens to sick or injured koalas? Enter the world’s first Koala Hospital. Like humans those living around the Port Macquarie region of New South Wales are taken by koala ambulance to the Koala Hospital.
In 1973, Jean and Max Starr began caring for sick and injured koalas in there home. Soon however they realised the problem was much bigger than they had to offer and a purpose built koala hospital began construction which has now grown into a specialist world renown research facility. Today, the hospital comprises of a treatment room, 8 intensive care units, 6 outdoor intensive care units and 33 rehabilitation yards.
When a rescued koala is brought into the hospital via ambulance they are named. The name they are given is divided into two parts — the first name is after the home range in which they are found and their second name is after the person that found them. For example if I found an injured koala, they would be named Sydney Max. A koalas name is particularly important as if a koala is to be returned to the wild, they must return to their original home range and if this information is in their name there is no confusion.
In 1986, John Williamson country singer was at the Koala Hospital when a rescue koala was brought in and was so impressed with the work done that he wrote a song about Australia’s dying koalas — Goodbye Blinky Bill and donated the royalties to the hospital. This generosity has provided John Williamson Wing and allowed the hospital to expand its support for koalas and its research.
There are three main reason 200- 250 koalas each year are brought to the hospital are:
Disease
Motor Vehicle Accidents
Dog Attacks
If you ever get the opportunity add The Koala Hosptital to your to-do list. While you can take a self guided tour at anytime of day feeding time at 3pm is an amazing experience.
In the future my husband and I plan to travel back to Canada especially Newfoundland and spend 6-12 months exploring and soaking up the culture. We visited in 2014/15 enjoying it so much that we made an immediate plan to return after retirement, which can’t come quick enough.
I came across these amazing driftwood sculptures while driving through the countryside in North Island New Zealand. The artist appeared to work from his home which was surrounded by these beautiful creations. I remember feeling creative just looking at them.
What better way to start the April 2016 A – Z challenge than with some fun facts about my amazing country, Australia.
Our population hit the big time this year when we made it to 24 million people.
Australians love to shorten words and add an O to the end, for example ambulance driver becomes ambo.
The first selfie was taken in Australia.
The box jellyfish kills more people annually than sharks, stone fish and crocodiles combined.
Australia has over 10,000 beaches. you could visit one a day for 27 years.
The Emu and the Kangaroo are on our coat of arms because neither animal can walk backwards.
On Christmas Eve, 1974 Darwin one of Australia’s capital cities was destroyed by cyclone Tracy, a category 5 cyclone.
In 1973, the Australian government spent $1.35 million dollars to purchase Jackson Pollack’s Blue Poles. At the time, this was a very controversial decision, however it is now recogised as a great work of art, worth all the money and more.
Melbourne has the world’s largest Greek population outside of Athens.
83% of Australia’s population live within 50 kilometres of the coast.
Since 2012 Australia has been recognised as the world’s most obese nation with 26% of the population obese.
Australia was the second country in the world to allow women to vote.
Australia has the world’s large supply of camel’s with one hump and exports them to Saudia Arabia.
I can still remember the excitement my husband and I felt when we found the Flamingo Pond in Kowloon Park, Hong Kong. We had walked past the park everyday however we didn’t realise what it actually was until our second last day when we entered and found a secret treasure. Prior to this experience as Australians we had only seen the odd Flamingo in a zoo. These beautiful creatures in a flock were majestic. We stood watching them for more than twenty minutes leaving because the sun was beginning to set.
Old Quebec City has many murals however the first created, known as the mural of Quebecers is very special. It depicts life through the history of Quebec and its citizens. I could have looked at it for hours and still find something new. Cleverly disguised as part of the artwork on the building are:
Key historical figures
Architectural building and monuments
Coat of Arms
Physical attributes of the city — the wall and staircase
Cultural communities
Sports
If you ever get the chance to go to Old Quebec City seek out the Mural of Quebecers–its definitely worth a look.
Diving is a beautiful weightless sport. In my opinion it looks more weightless when you dive outdoors in the sunshine. Here is my daughter practising what we nick named her flying dive. She makes it look so effortless as she blends with the sky.
It has been over two months since our last coffee catch-up and life has been pretty busy.
If we were having coffee I would tell you I’m feeling a little confused. I began preparing this post as I usually do, by adding links to earlier posts. However, this time, with my new WordPress version the result is a little different. I don’t know if it’s the same for everyone or only WordPress.org blogs. My next question is can anyone re-blog my posts now as this has been a problem in the past and it would be great to have it changed.
If we were having coffee I would tell you about Berry Christmas. My sister and her family do an excellent job of hosting the event—decorating their home in theme colours, preparing gift bags for everyone and organising and preparing food. We had a great day reconnecting as a family—sharing the joys and dealing with the dramas of the past year. Christmas is definitely my favourite holiday, although because I live in a different city south of my family on Christmas day it takes 3 hours to get there. I don’t enjoy the travel but Berry Christmas was worth it.
If we were having coffee I would tell you that over the Christmas period I was initially frustrated that my blog wasn’t working because of problems with my Jetpack. I tried to fix the problem, however when I couldn’t and Jetpack staff where on vacation I decided to surrender to the moment and use my time more efficiently doing other things.
If we were having coffee I would tell you how much I enjoyed my husbands and my date to the city over the Christmas New Year period. We decided to catch the ferry into Sydney. The trip along the Parramatta River takes about an hour and it was a glorious day. As it had been several years since we had caught the ferry we enjoyed every moment. We then had lunch at a little pizza restaurant at the Rocks before spending the afternoon wandering around Sydney’s Botanical Gardens. We saw many places I had never been before. It was a great way to round off 2015.
If we were having coffee I would tell you how excited I was that my first sugar cookie Christmas tree worked out so well. I iced it a blue-purple to match our berry theme and at the end of the day most of it was eaten.
If we were having coffee I would tell you about the champagne fountain trial on Christmas Day. The science of what was the best way to do it kept many people entertained and in the end they were proud of their working efforts.
If we were having coffee I would tell you about the huge moon on New Years Eve that was as mesmerizing as the Sydney Fireworks. Unfortunately, I choose not to take my camera as I am not good at photographing fireworks—a rookie error I won’t make again. The fireworks were fantastic and our viewing place, a hill, is only a 10 minute walk from my house. While we couldn’t see the fireworks coming off the bottom of the Sydney Harbour Bridge we could see the top of it through the trees. We could also see the fireworks going off up and down the Parramatta River and from the other side of Sydney. At times it was like 360 degrees of fireworks. Once the live fireworks have ended we went home to watch the taped version on television and catch the ones we missed.
If we were having coffee I would tell you how much I enjoyed the second week of my holidays being a full-time writer. I spend many hours everyday working on the last stages of editing of my book. With the amount of work I did I was hoping to finish it but no I still have work to do. It is getting exciting however, as it nears completion and the next part of its journey begins. Just when I thought I had the chapters in the right order, I decided to rearrange the early chapters again and to my surprise the order I have changed it to is my second order. I think my lesson is trust your gut.
If we were having coffee I would tell you how excited I was on Christmas Eve to win the hamper at the local bottle shop. I had gone in the draw after buying two bottles of champagne for an early family Christmas party a few days earlier. It was fun investigating my laundry basket full of goodies and deciding who to give each item to.
If we were having coffee Iwould ask you what you have done and how you have been since we last met. Let me know in the comments what you have been up to.
