The Philippine Attack On Port Stephens! (Part 3)

Brock looking out to sea wondering why his parents are so crazy!

Our second night was to be a wet and cold one.
Thankfully the community room in the caravan park provided a great location to cook dinner, play games and have ones bottom whipped at pool.
Alas all the fun comes at a cost, usually $2 per game, and we had very few coins on us at the time.

A very happy holiday face!

All later went to sleep in our respective tents, after suggestions of making the night more interesting by partner swapping were laughed at.

A tree! Well duh!

25-04-2008

Good lord, it wasn't raining when we woke up. Indeed some distance to the south we saw a bit of blue sky in the endless sea of grey.
Sadly it was the only blue sky for the day, so we made do with cloud until sunset.
So what to do.

Guys - Guys - Come quick, I can see blue sky!

Woman: SHOPS!
Men: Scenery
Woman: SHOPS
Men: Scenery
Gina: Scenery and then we go to the shops.
Men: Ohhhhhhhhhh OK I suppose!

A stairway from Fingal Beach to the caravan park!

After another bacon and egg face gorging we were off to Shoal Bay and a walk up the Tomarree Mountain. This is a long, steep and very tiring climb up slippery footpaths and many stairs. However the view at the top is well beyond phenomenal, it was almost to arousal level.
Given we were all blokes up there, all animal urges had to be surpressed, photos taken and a fast departure back to the females made.

One of many webs that blanketed the top of Mt Tomarree!

Before leaving we noted the vast webs of huge spiders. Not just individual constructions with a spider in the middle, but entire nets worth with bunches of huge arachnids just handing there waiting to devour the carcus of any unsuspecting bug, or human, that happens across them.

Views from the top of Mt Tomarree, where one get get a lovely 360 degree view of the area!

On arrival back on earth we did our best to convince the wives that it was easy and that we weren't totally buggered by the whole experience. They, obviously, didn't believe us. Afterall, WE ARE ONLY MEN!

The balance of the day was endured at the Salamander Bay shopping centre.
Much money was spent, especially on purchasing Ron a pool table as a surprise present.
I bumped into a former boss of mine. A weedy looking little North Korean bloke who's lack of height was only beaten by his lack of people skills. Twas a cold moment saying hi to him again, however it was soon over and we made our way to Maccas (local term for McDonalds - An American company peddling Big Macs with less and less of the healthy stuff on it with each passing year) to blow even more money.

Native flora!

By now the day was nearing an end and one was slowly being overcome with that awful feeling you get when you know its soon time to go home.
Thankfully the night was a long one, dinner and pool in the rec room again, followed by an extensive gossip outside the tents prior to finally hitting the hay for a night.
Little did we know that tomorrow, our last day, was to be sunny.
This will be covered in Part 4.

*** Coming Soon ***

Later this week we will conclude the sordid events at Port Stephens and then go on to look at John's party last week and all the lovely attendees at the big event (many of whom I have never had the pleasure of meeting before).

The Philippine Attack On Port Stephens! (Part 2)

F1 11 on display at 'Fighter World'!

Twas a wet departure from Nobbys. We new it would be heavy, even the line up of coal ships offshore had totally disappeared not five minutes earlier.
It has mostly stopped by the time we passed over the Stockton Bridge and continued to our next stop, an unplanned visit to 'Fighter World' at the Williamtown RAAF base.
Always wanted to visit here and finally had the opportunity, thanks to many excited kids, to do it.

With Annabelle posing as my wife, or was it me as her husband, we managed to take advantage of the family discount. With all the kids in tow, I am sure the sales guy must have thought we were never off the nest ;-)

The museum has displays of old fightercraft (well duh), photos, models. You can sit in real cockpits, look at current restoration projects and even listen to transmissions while up on the viewing platform watching fighter craft in operation.
Who could ever get sick of seeing fighter craft screaming by. Truly AWESOME stuff.

'Fighter World' from the inside viewing deck!

Alas, at the risk of boring those who didn't come in, we soon left and headed further north towards Fingal Bay, our home for the next few days. It was at this time we realised how wise our recent GPS purchase was :-)

Chopper taking off from Williamtown - taken from viewing deck!

Not much was done the first afternoon besides a hurried construction of the tents before the evenings deluge of rain and a few runs up to the shops in Nelson and Shoal Bays to fulfill every spousal request (and they have a lot of them).
Think it was spaghgetti again for dinner before an early night (we hadn't discovered the holiday parks entertainment part as yet).

Looking for some breakfast!

24-04-2008

The brightness in the distant clouds gave false hope for a dry day!

Up at 8am after a long night of torrential rain, strong winds and tent flooding. Earlier feeling of having been blown back to Newcastle were proved wrong upon when we left the tent and found the Gina and Annabelle divisions of our extended family still intact.

It was breakfast time again and, hopefully, the promised bacon and eggs that were supposed to be brought forth yesterday.
SPAGHETTI AGAIN!! Aggghhhhhhh! You can't eat spaghetti for every meal, I mean, you can only do that with adobo.
Alas much whinging did the trick and finally the bacon and eggs came forth and again faces were suitably gorged.

Munch, Munch, Munch, Burp!

With dark cloud and endless rain seeming the order of the day we all decided to head to Nelson Bay shops to see how much we could be ripped off in an overpriced tourist trap.
Financial damage appeared minimal, with mostly postcards and stamps purchased, followed by another face gorging at "John Dorys Fish Shop'. Nice calamari but extremely small and overpriced compared to the offerings at BKK in Eastlakes.
Twas in a small mall at Nelson Bay that we bumped into the first person from back home. A woman we regularly see around the traps. Sadly it was her who recommended yet another shopping centre, this being a huge one at Salamander Bay.
Shopping and Centre!!!! No two words cause more arousal in woman than these two. Instantly the cold hard dark cloud of reality that much time would be spent there arose.
AGGhhhhhh god - we have shops at home. Like what are you going to find in Salamander Bay K-Mart, Suzanne Grae, Woolworths, McDonalds etc etc that you are not going to find at home.
What is it about woman and shops??????

Hmmmmm anyway, it was to be another 24 hours before we had to endure that torture and from here we headed back to Fingal Bay.

To be continued!

The Philippine Attack On Port Stephens! (Part 1)

It was an idea born a some weeks ago! "Why don't we all head off for a camping trip somewhere".
Great idea! I haven't been camping for many, MANY years and to head bush with some of our best friends, it would have to be awesome.
But where to go?
Many ideas were tossed around with Canberra and Port Stephens becoming the front runners.
No prizes for guessing which of these won. Porn and alcohol just weren't enough to entice woman to Canberra and we couldn't think of anything else it had to offer :-)

I knew it was to be an adventure early in the piece. A check of the BOM site the night before revealed the likelihood of torrential rain continuing for the entirety of our stay.

Not a great prospect, but it would allow much gossip and eating time for us all.

The BOM website wasn't exaggerating about the rain!

23-04-2008

"Agghhhhhh the alarms going and its only 4am - what the heck is going on"?

A convoy of white!

Thats right, we are off to Port Stephens. Slowly we get our tired rears into gear and start the frantic last minute packing of the car in preparation for departure.
Toothbrush? Check!
Camera? Check!
Tanduay? Check!
Camera? Check!
Adobo? Check!
Camera? Check!
Pera? Check!
With everything in order we headed to Annabelle's place to meet them, then on to Ron and Gina's so they could complete the north bound convoy.

Ana and Latrel (spelling likely wrong)!

First port of call on the trip was Nobby, near Newcastle and at the mouth of the Hunter River.

End of the breakwall at Nobby! Not a warm morning!

It was breakfast time and out came the Philo spaghetti and apple juice as we settled down to gorge our faces before taking on the walk out along the breakwater (built many years ago to protect the port area of the Hunter River from the rough seas of the Pacific Ocean).

Thankfully the rain held off for both brekkie and the walk, although only Ronnie and myself made it to the end of the breakwall (the woman chickening out and staying back on the beach).

Anyone remember what blue sky looks like?

The walk is thoroughly recommended.

Hmmmmmm OK! Perhaps a rethink?

Great views of Newcastle, the ocean and also passing shipping. It has lots to offer the history buff and even the railfan foamer is catered for with some visible remains of long forgotten railways.

Yeah - I have a thing for photographing ships as well!

Alas it was time for a visit to the good ol Nobby dunny and departure for wetter points to the north!

What a strange bloke - he tried for a good 10 minutes but couldn't push this concrete block off! We thought about helping him, but many asylum escapees carry knives with them.

The Philippine Attack On Port Stephens!

##### COMING THIS WEEK #####

Another Philippine Selection!

Hi all,
Been a bit slack with the posts of late. Extended work hours, lack of sleep and just the usual bollocks of day to day life has been getting in the way of internet time.
Indeed, as I type this I am half asleep, scrounging around a totally fried brain looking for something witty to say. Alas nothing but tribble is coming through in the thought patterns, so if you wanted something intelligent to read, then perhaps you have come to the wrong place.
As always, in an effort to look like I have made a great effort, I attach a number of random photos from the Philippines last year. They mostly show members of the family, people who I think were members of family and others who likely weren't anything to do with the family but were out to score some pera (money that is).



Possibly the only negative thing I can say about the Philippines is the lack of family members that are willing to talk to me. It makes being at home uncomfortable to say the least, evening are especially dreaded.
The last trip was turning out to be another one of those until my niece Aireen (above) turned up from Roxas City.
Aireen is an example of real Philippine beauty, though she would deny it, and she can sing fantastically at karaoke.
The biggest plus was that she was always wanting to talk. Wow and did we talk, even ghost stories till well after midnight. :-) She turned a lonely Quezon City stay into something far more enjoyable.
If only customs would have let me bring her back - I am sure she would have fit inside the suitcase. :-)
Salamat Aireen.


Must be something about the Roxas City part of the family, never have I found so many family members actually wanting to make the effort to speak. It justifies the asawa's decision to purchase land down in that beautiful city.
Part of the Roxas family is Christine (purple-far side of table) who, like Aireen, instantly talked to me and made me feel more at home. Indeed the whole family here lead to quite some debate as the asawa wanted to push on, but I just wanted to stay.
I suppose it needs to be said, I mean you guys were already thinking it, but wow they breed them maganda in Roxas! :-)
Thanks to Christine, Cisa and all the gang down at Roxas. I certainly miss you and will be back there ASAP.
The one in the red is our cousin Annabelle. Now if you want to negotiate a bargain, or wish to avoid being ripped off on transport, then Annabelle is the one to have with you. She takes no %^$# from anyone and stands up too people better than anyone I know.



Always wanted to get up close to a caraboa for a look. Ning's family has one (perhaps more - who knows) at Lantangan. Poor creature looks less than happy in its new position as a fun park ride :-)
Still it has to be better than plowing rice fields all day and it did get to chew grass through the whole ordeal.


OK, now I have to admit I have no idea who these people are. Almost sure the shot was taken on Jintatolo but it was more likely I wanted the shot for the hornbag in the orange than to get any real shot of a family member I needed to remember.
Hmmmm yeah, probably was because of her. She certainly is quite the hornbag.
Anyway who knows, perhaps someone can identify them for me. In the meantime feel free to just admire that little orange top.

Well thats it from Down Under tonight. My head is about to hit the keyboard and thats without going anywhere near the Tanduay tonight.
If any of the QC/Roxas family wish to email some latest photos for inclusion please feel free to do so.

Night

MASCOT - Shots During A Park Picnic!

What do you do when there is no party, mahjong and karaoke nights taking place? You get the Philos together and head to the park for a picnic!
Why would you stay home bored?????

Sadly this isn't another string of photos showing the most beautiful woman the Philippines has to offer, this is just a few random shots taken around the park during day and night!


A tree during the day!


A tree during the night!


A tree based friendly just awaiting for an unsuspecting human!



Ahhhmmmm - A rather smutty looking tree!

THE WORLDS CUDDLIEST!

Lets face it, the Filipina must be among the most cuddly in the world!!!

Cuteness comes in purple packages, the maganda Lira makes a rare party appearance.
Photo: Colonel

OK, here we have the wonderous Nesa, winner of Miss Cuddly Karaoker 2007 and 2008!
Photo: Colonel

OK I am cheating here, Siti is not actually a Pinay. But hey, Indonesians are just as cuddly.
Photo: Colonel

HAPPY 24TH RON!

G'day,
To many parties, broken up with the occasional need to go to work, has delayed posts on the blog for a while.
One of the major get togethers in the last few weeks has been Ron's 24th birthday party.
As I am still suffering the affects of a rather HUGE Kami band concert last night I shall not be typing heaps of bollocks on here at this time.

My adopted (unofficially) little daughter Rajin!

Our newest little party animal!

Gina describes, in detail, what her present for Ron is to be!

The stress of over populating the world is obviously showing on MrX!

A Night Among Legends!

G'day,
I can't avoid it, I am an aging old buggar.
Fast approaching the derelict age of 40 I look back with fondness my favourite years during the 80s. Ahhhh traveling Australia, dirty magazines, photography, Central Coast with the grandparents, but most of all I loved the music.
There was something awesome about 80s music, something we appear to have lost with the current dribble musicians force upon us nowdays. I mean 'KYLIE' , for crying out loud, just SHUT UP!
Thankfully there is somewhat of a revival for 70s and 80s bands, such great names as Pseudo Echo, Real Life, Split Enz, Go West etc are are starting to pop up again. 'Idols Of The 80s' and 'Countdown' concerts continue to keep the dream alive.
Perhaps its a 'Mid Life Crisis' but I find myself trying to go to as many as possible, something I rarely did while young.
The other week we went to see Dragon, one of those legendary bands from New Zealand (like Split Enz) who did well and we pretty much claimed were Australia's. New Zealand has produced some amazing bands over the years, which silences those people who feel their only claim to fame is personal relationships with sheep.
The current lineup is all new except for band original Todd Hunter, brother of former lead singer Mark Hunter who sadly passed away in 1998 with lung cancer. It was his death that brought a reality that I would never see Dragon, one of my favourite bands, in concert.
Thankfully Todd reformed the band, with entirely new people, in 2006 and is currently touring Australia to promote their 'Dragon Remembers' CD. The CD being a group of songs, sung by them, covering other famous Aussie musicians also no longer with us (Crowded House-Paul Hester, INXS-Michael Hutchience etc etc).
Twas quite a moving night really, especially when people started screaming out when it came time for the INXS tribute to Michael.

Anyway below is a number of shots taken during the evening.

A few shots of the band in action!

Peter Garrett, formerly lead singer of Midnight Oil, was also in attendance at the the concert. During the break in the concert, a, thankfully, intoxicated Colonel went up and got talking to him. This resulted in yet another chat and photo opportunity. Today Peter is a federal politician which, to us Oils fans, seems an incredible waste of talent. We all live in hope that one day he will again stand in front of the band :-)
Todd Hunter doing what he does best. The whole band was awesome and truly up to the task of being the new 'DRAGON'. However you could tell the crowd was there to see Todd, the only original. He is, afterall, a music legend nowdays. This is not to detract from the rest, Mark Williams (lead singer) was an incredible singer and bleedin funny to go with this.

At the end of it all the band came out to meet the audience, something that so few do, even at South Juniors (would have loved to meet LRB). Todd, an obviously very nice guy, was met and signed my T-Shirt. Colonel was so excited he grabbed the nearest woman to be his wife in one of the following shots.