Stanthorpe Weir

Diane took that shot of a weir while on her morning walk when we visited Stanthorpe.

Ford Ute (Pick up in the US)

This ute pulled up while we were walking through Stanthorpe, unfortunately the driver entered a building before I could ask him for details (year of make etc).

Mosaic Panel in Stanthorpe

We came across this mosaic panel in the centre of Stanthorpe. I didn't see any description of what it represents, maybe someone can help us.

The brass monkey

I am sure you have all heard the saying about the brass monkey and his balls. Observed at Stanthorpe yestarday the famous brass monkey, probably because IT CAN get cold at Stanthorpe in winter

How do you like this building???

How do you like this building at Broadbeach on the Gold Coast? I'll tell you afterwards if I like it.

A couple of new towers appeared at Broadbeach on the Gold Coast

Breakfast Creek Clock Tower

The complex where this clock tower stands is about to be re-developed. Not sure if the new design will incorporate the old clock tower.

Jupiter Casino Monorail

Burleigh Heads Beach Scene

Granny with kids

Observed at a local park, grandma took the grandkids to feed the ducks.

To see all participants of MY WORLD TUESDAY - Click here

Queensland's first Government House is located at Garden Points within the grounds of the University of Technology, at the end of George Street in Brisbane. The building was constructed for Queensland Governor Sir George Bowen and his wife, Lady Diamantina Bowen. The governor and his family moved into the building in April 1862. In 1910, the building was considered too small for the governor mainly because it lacked a ballroom, so the then governor Sir William MacGregor moved his family into the new Government House Fernberg at Paddington.

Old Government House in Queensland

Formore information on this beautiful building,

CLICK HERE

Works Building

The Public Works Building spans Margaret Street. This picture was taken from George Street

Queensland Parliament Building

Queensland's Parliament Building at the bottom of George Street where a bunch of people come up with decisions that affect our lives, not always smart ones.

Jazz in Queen Street

We went into town for lunch with Colin (HB) at the Harlequin Restaurant Central Station. On the way there we saw these two jazz musicians basking in Queen Street. I was immediately intrigued by the piccolo trumpet one was playing.

They were producing a beautiful jazz number while we were there

Piccolo trumpet in b-flat

As a trumpet player myself, I was admiring the piccolo trumpet 

Back to Brisbane

Hi folks, thanks for putting up with all the posts from North America. But now it's time to come back to where this blog belongs, Brisbane and surrounding areas.

Diane and I joined our U3A Camera Club on a photo shoot at Apex Park at Ormiston this morning

Another blogger has spotted some wildlife in the pond



House Boats

They have some giant house boats tied up in Victoria B.C. harbour

A lot of them are for sale

Peak2Peak Gondola at Whistler

In Whistler B.C. we experienced a gondola ride between 2 mountain peaks. This gondola ride goes from Mount Whistler accross the valley to Mount Blackcomb

We're standing on Mt Whistler looking accross to Mount Blackcomb The ride takes 11 minutes and travel 4.4 kilometres high about the valley.

One of the gondolas is passing us

For the technophobes, here are seome stats:

There are two pillons on each mountain omly with an unsuported span of 3.024km (1.88 Miles)

The rope that drags the gondolas is 46mm diameter and the total haul rope with slack is 8.85 km

It has to be one of the gratest gondola rides in the worled and the system was supplied and installed by Swiss Engineers (of course).

For more informationa - CLICK HERE

A real grizzly bear

This is a real grizzly bear I filmed on Grouse Mountain in Vancouver, the reason the picture quality is not so good is I had to take the picture of my movie. And Oh yes, there was a fence between the bear and me. (Amazing what you can do with PaintshopPro)

Spirit Island on Malign Lake, B.C. Canada

This is Spirit Island on Malign Lake near Jasper in British Columbia, Canada, early in the morning.

Look who I bumped into last week in Skagway, Alaska

We were in Skagway, Alaska, last week. Now for those of you who don't know, Skagway is a cute little town with wall to wall jewellery and souvenir shops open only a few months of the year. Most of them close for winter and the shopkeepers head south. The famous (or infamous, as most people in Skagway told me) Sarah Palin went to school in Skagway. So when I saw her in one of the shops, I asked Diane to take a picture of Sarah and me.

Poor Sarah, she is not popular in Alaska anynore

First encounter with a wild black bear

In Juneau, Alaska, we took a trip on a float plane to a lodge in a National Park where the rangers cooked us freshly caught salmon on a bar-b-que. While eating, we noticed a black bear wander up to the bar-b-que plate where he stood up and started to lick the plate. We all jumped up to take pictures including Diane who took these two. We were about 5m away from it.

It's not the 'chef' although it looks like it.

The bear had enough and wandered off into the woods.

During the encounter, the ranger was staying with us with a long stick. Just in case.

Sun Peaks B.C. Canada

We stayed overnight at this beautiful village called Sun Peaks. I truly thought I was in Europe somewhere. It is a winter place with lots of ski lifts everywhere. So while we were there it looked a little deserted.

Totem Pole in Blutchard Gardens

Butchard Gardens in Victoria BC is very popular with tourists. You can visit it yourself by clicking HERE

Totem Pole in Butcharden Gardens Victoria BC - Canada

We're back

After a fabulous three weeks, we are back home. It's always good to be back home again.

For the next couple of weeks I am sharing with you some of the sights we have encountered in Canada and Alaska. I hope you don't mind. Starting with our first stop in Canada in Victoria B.C.

The Fairmont Empress Hotel

For more detailed background information on this magnificent grand hotel

CLICK HERE

We're back home

It's always good to be back home after a trip, so today, we get back on terra firma at Brisbane Airport where our friends Paul and Helen are waiting to take us home. It's great to have good friends.

We're up in the air losing a day

We're on the way back from a trip through Canada and Alaska...


Today doesn't exist for us, as we're flying from Vancouver back to Brisbane, crossing the international dateline, so enjoy your day then tell us about it.

Vancouver for the third time

We're on a trip through Canada and Alaska...


Today, we arrive in Vancouver again where we disembark and transfer to Vancouver airport for our flight home. Sadly our trip has come to an end again.

We are sailing on the home stretch

We're on a trip through Canada and Alaska...


Today we're cruising south, back to Vancouver through spectacular waterways.

Ketchikan

We're on a trip through Canada and Alaska...


Today, we arrive in Ketchikan, the Salmon capital of the world. We'll go on the Mysty Fjords & Wilderness Explorer, a Catamaran trip. Can't wait for dinner that night, hopefully  Salmon.

Glacier Bay

We're on a trip through Canada and Alaska...


We sail into the iceberg-strewn waters of Glacier Bay this morning, I do hope the ship is built to handle ice bergs....