Gum Trees, Vegemite, Men at Work , Tippy Trucks, Royalty, Gold Coast 600

Quade Cooper (Wallabies playmaker) may take heart from Don Bradman who said “There are people who wish to draw attention to themselves by attacking me”.  Bradman was one of Australia’s greatest cricketers, if not the greatest.

Also spare a thought for the people in Mount Maunganui in the Bay of Plenty (NZ) where the Rena is leaking oil and containers all over the beaches.  The vessel is owned by a Greece based company – this gives one little hope.  Greece is being blamed for the debt mess we’re in now.

Men at Work, Kookaburra’s and Vegemite

The Aussie Band Men at Work lost their final bid to prove they did not steal the flute riff from the children’s campfire song “Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree”.  Listen up to some classic pop – I’m not so sure about the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeG-hNXXy6I&noredirect=1 – Men at Work “Down Under”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1Uq6AB_4hM – The original

Some of you may remember the mention of the vegemite sandwich.  “One of the world's richest sources of vitamin B, vegemite was invented by Dr. Cyril P. Callister in 1922. It is made by the autolysis of expired brewer's yeast: a process where the yeast's own enzymes break it down”.  We also have 3 other Aussie inventions – a Hills Hoist (1945), a Victor mower (1952) and a dual flush toilet (1982). There were 2 Hills Hoists at our development property, we picked up the Victor free from Mr Neat at the bottom of Gregory Street and all toilets in Aus are dual flush (saves water).

Tippy Tipper Trucks

Nearer to home, we also had a disaster. The operator of a tipper truck nearly full of several tonnes of mulched tree pressed the wrong button.  While the “operators” were sitting around eating bananas trying to work out what to do with their Tommy Tippy truck, neighbour Alberto thought a shot of the mayhem would make a good addition to his photo library.  The monkeys chased him off!  I think even I could have parked it better.

Apparently the Queen is in Australia and she’s coming to Brisbane not to Sydney.  Well she would wouldn’t she – it is Queensland after all.  However, I doubt she’s going to the Gold Coast, crime capital of Queensland and venue for the Gold Coast 600 (V8 Super Cars) this weekend. Here’s a taste of the good taste event.

Here’s a question - why do V8 Super Car drivers wear their budgie smugglers on the outside?

Steve Owen and Jamie Whincup celebrate their win in 2010.  On Wednesday when we dropped Nigel and Theresa off at Coolangatta airport for their flight back to Kula Lumpur, we made a serious error when we drove through the Gold Coast instead of giving it our normal wide berth. Half the road closed for the race and half the other half given over to buses. We weren’t half delayed.

Keep Well, Stay Safe

Kidner Jeremy and Mrs K