PORT LINCOLN SOUTH AUSTRALIA

PORT LINCOLN & SURROUNDS

When I booked this trip I didn't realise how far it was from Adelaide to Port Lincoln. It took us 8 hours to drive there, but we have had a good week away and the weather was excellent except for rain on Tuesday when we went to Coffin Bay, then to Cummins and onto Koppio to see the Smithy Museum which was step back in time once again. We seem to see a lot of these places all over Australia and it still amazes us that people lived this way and worked so hard. Wednesday dawned fine and sunny and we went on a boat tour of Boston Bay to see the tuna fishing farms and learn about the multi-million dollar tuna industry which is controlled by 12 companies and their average profit in a good year is $40million. We also visited the local seal colony. At the end of the tour we were given a taste of Blue Fin sashimi tuna which was interesting, but considering how expensive it is won't be developing a liking for it. Thursday was a rest day for me as Phil had his fishing day. Dropped him off at the Marina at 7.00am and collected him at 5.00pm. He had a great day catching numerous types of fish and came home with 3 good sized whiting for his tea. The rest of the catch went home with the tour operator. I had a very lazy day doing not very much went for a leisurely stroll around the town centre, had lunch, bought 3 new books and headed back to the cabin to read but actually had a nanny nap instead. Friday saw us making our way back to Port Augusta via Tumby Bay, Arno Bay, Cowell where we had lunch and then to Whyalla where we spent an one or so looking over the area, saw dolphins swimming in the marina and were amazed at the colour of the town, everything is a dark orange colour due to the smelter and the iron ore production there, visited the Whyalla Maritime Museum and saw the HMAS Whyalla. On from there to Port Augusta which is a very strange town, although quite a big town it doesnt seem to me to have changed that much since I was there 40 years ago. Dinner at the local chinese capped off a good week and on Saturday morning we headed back to Adelaide via Port Pirie and then across country to Port Wakefield, lunch in Glenelg and then home. What a great way to celebrate the start of my 60th year.

MY BIRTHDAY BASH -DINNER ON THE YARRA

Well my surprise birthday dinner was cruising the Yarra River enjoying a lovely evening with family and friends, eating good food and just having a very relaxing evening. Thank you Phil and Mel for all the hard work and can say that it was a great success and everybody enjoyed themselves. Had a photo of myself with Trish, Dearne, Kylie and Deb taken before we left home and must say we scrubbed up well. P.S. loved my birthday cake which unfortunately at this point in time I don't have a photo of but hopefully Mel does. Anyway its on the video which will be forwarded to all when its been put on disc.

HAPPY 60TH BIRTHDAY TO ME

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME
What a lovely day I had for my birthday, even though I had to work for two hours in the morning, the day was a good one. Phil was responsible for the red roses, big box of chocies and the pearl earing and pendant to wear with my outfit on Saturday night to my surprise birthday bash. Trish, Al & the girls gave me a balloon ride which is exciting as I have always wanted to do it and Byron, Kylie and Jordja gave me a very nice bottle of Moet & Chandon Champagne which will be drunk on a very special occasion. Thank you to everyone who sent cards and good wishes and to Brenda at work for the other bouquet of flowers. We had a lovely dinner at L A Headquarters and then back to Trish's for cake am out again tonight with the girls from work for dinner at the Galli so that will be fun.

A GREAT NIGHT OUT

FUND RAISING DINNER
What a great night we had at the Grand Star in Altona on the 6th March. It was a fund raising dinner for cancer and we went to support friends of Trish & Al. The main attraction for the evening was BABBA who we had never seen but as ABBA lovers we thought it would be good fun. Unfortunately they were not that good but we still managed to sing and dance the night away. The down side from the night is that by Monday my back had gone to god and have for the past week or so been in pain and unable to get about very much, but hopefully it will come good before my birthday and I run out of painkillers. Managed to go shopping with Trish and her friend Sally to Highpoint yesterday and got new shoes and evening bag to go with my outfit for the big 60th birthday dinner next saturday night. Might still be hobbling along but will hopefully look good. The upside of being housebound has been that I have read several more books and discovered the series A Horseman Riding By which original belonged to Mum and as I never saw the TV series have started to read the first book and it is lovely to be reading someone who writes so beautifully which a lot of the current writer don't do. Mind you I read the new Karen Rose in a day but don't think I will get through this lot quite so quick.

CHOLOE & ZELDA

Dearne and Bill have two dogs, Choloe the boxer who is nearly one and was given to Dearne last year by Lucas and Zelda the staffy was Bill's fathers day present. They are lovely dogs but big and full of energy. They have the run of the house and just go crazy leaping and bounding over everything and everyone and then collapsing on the couches and sleeping. Choloe loves to go to the dog park where she is able to run around off the leash and wear herself out. Zelda hates the lead and simply refuses to go for a walk she sits in the corner of the room and cowers so she doesnt get out of the house very often because she won't get in the car either.

BROKEN WINDSCREEN

This is what the local young males do on a Friday night. They vandalise cars. Image Craig's horror when he went out this morning to discover that the back windscreen of his car had been hit with a rock (see photo). He was on his way to Shepparton so woke us to tell his father what had happened and left it for us to deal with. First the police who said there was very little they could do but would log for insurance purposes. Secondly call to Byron to get the number for the windscreen company, then a call to them to arrange to have a new/secondhand one fitted. All went very efficiently and by 11.30ish the fitter was here with a secondhand window and did a good job replacing it and vacuuming up all the glass. Now all Craig has to do is pay the bill when it arrives, luckily he has just started work so has money.

GENDERS BUILDING

During my last visit to Launceston to research James Peters I made an appointment to see Ross Smith at the Queen Victoria Museum. Unfortunately he was unable to assist me with the information I was looking for i.e. map of Invermay circa 1889 to locate the area of King Street where James Peters died. He explained that a lot of the streets in the early days of Invermany had been renamed and therefore lost. But in talking to him and showing a newspaper article about James moving his business into a building in Cameron Street owned by a Mr Genders he found some early photos of Cameron Street and informed me that in fact there was now a laneway called Genders Lane and that the building to the left was the original building owned by Mr Genders. So after some actually visual research with Dearne we concluded that the building now painted cream was the building not the lovely one next door.