
Quite pleased with this, considering the photo was taken through possibly the dirtiest piece of glass ever. The Tiger was intent on some point in space and was not phased by numerous people standing directly in front.

Quite pleased with this, considering the photo was taken through possibly the dirtiest piece of glass ever. The Tiger was intent on some point in space and was not phased by numerous people standing directly in front.

Pic taken at Perth Zoo but not one of the inmates. Apparently one of the Honeyeater family.

King of all I survey

A Baboon, having a bad hair day, but making the most of the shade.

The signs say she doesn’t stop for photo’s and that you shouldn’t touch her. However, I don’t think Tricia knows the rules. I was lucky enough to observe her stopping to say hello to these lucky folks. Possibly she was hoping that they had a snack, any how she spent quite a few minutes here before slowly moving off. A lovely moment.

Tricia, an Asian Elephant at Perth Zoo (November 2013), taking her daily constitutional. Apparently she turned 56 this year. It’s not often you can get up close and personal with an animal this size.
Just had a very nice lunch, with my wife and two of my grandchildren, at the Little Creatures brewery in Fremantle.

Eats were a “Prosciutto, Mozzarella & Lemon Thyme Pizza”, “Chilli Beef Nachos with Guacamole, S/Cream & Jalapenos”,” Steak Sandwich, Beetroot Relish & Frites” and “Barramundi Fillet with Frites & Salad”.

Only two puddings, “Chocolate & Cranberry Brownie with Vanilla Ice Cream” and “Apple and Rhubarb Crumble with Vanilla Ice Cream”.
All that scrummy food washed down with Pipsqueak Cider (5 . 2%) for the grand kids, Little Creatures Pale Ale (5 . 2%) for my wife and a pint of White Rabbit Dark Ale (4 . 9%).
After adding all those calories we took a stroll round the quayside watching the fish and also took in a floating art exhibition ….

Geronimoooooo !!!
We are visiting Australia and whilst most of our time will be spent in W.A. we have just returned from a week based on the Gold Coast in Queensland.

After taking the Jetstar “red-eye” flight from Perth we arrived in Brisbane early Sunday morning. We picked up our hire car and drove down to Mermaid Beach where we had breakfast at the Mermaid Beach Surf Life Saving Club. After breakfast we checked into our motel, The Mermaid Beach Motor Inn.

This motel provides basic accommodation and is looking a little tired but the bedding was clean and the rooms had aircon. After a much needed nap and freshen up we strolled along to Broad Beach where we had dinner at Max Seafood Restaurant. The food here was superb and they served an amazing New Zealand Sole, it was huge.
This area really is geared to holidaying, partying and generally having a good time. We certainly managed to cram a lot in and, at times, it seemed that we were constantly on the move. In the few days we were there we managed to visit Sea World, Movie World, Draculas, The Australian Outback Spectacular and “Crikey” we also made it to Australia Zoo.
The following are just a few snaps taken over the next five days. Firstly, some snaps taken at Sea World….







The following are from Warner Brothers Movie World. Unfortunately, my camera decided it didn’t like the heat on this day and stopped functioning so I don’t have any pictures from the spectacular stunt drivers show. So these are just a taster of some of the other attractions ……







Australia Zoo is two hours away from Mermaid Beach but was well the drive. There’s lot’s to do, we were there until closing time and didn’t manage to see everything. Once again here is a taster……






















On the last day we killed some time back at Sea World, before heading back to Brisbane Airport, to see some of the entertainment that we missed on our previous visit. Here are a few photos of some lunatics on seadoos….
This visit concluded a very hectic week on the Gold Coast.
Although we have photo’s which were taken at Draculas and The Great Australian Outback Show they are commercial ones. If I’m really brave i might post them at a later date.
Have taken it easy today. Just a gentle drive up to the Elizabethan Village Pub for lunch followed by a trip up to Serpentine Falls.
Elizabethan Village Pub is the nearest thing I have seen to an English pub in terms of appearance and atmosphere.The food was delicious. My wife and I both had Black Angus Sirloin Steak while my daughter and her husband both had Grilled Barramundi Fillets topped with Creamy Garlic Prawns. Top grub.
The pub is also home to the Last Drop brewery and we sampled their Thunderstorm brew, an unfiltered pilsner. They have other brews too, however as I was driving I couldn’t sample them. They all appear to be around 4.8% ABV. We’ll just have to go back again when someone else is in the driving seat.
As I said we also took a run up to Serpentine Falls.

We thought, given the amount of rain Perth has experienced recently, that the falls would be running quite high and hard. I have been there before and the flow didn’t seem any higher than our previous visit. I’m guessing that the dam, upstream, is retaining as much water as possible since W.A. does have a water problem and they like to retain as much as possible.
On the entrance road to the falls there is a picnic area and we noticed a number of Kangaroos. Each and every one of them appeared to be carrying a joey. Most appeared to have clambered into mums pouch head fist and had their hind legs hanging out. All barring one, who had his head out and was feeding himself from the comfort of mums pouch. Sorry I have no pictures as I didn’t feel it was right to intrude so we just kept the car rolling.
After the fresh air and nature watch the girls felt in the need for some retail therapy so we headed into Armadale where the girls perused the various clothes stores. Following a cup of tea we headed home to relax for the rest of the evening.
Needless to say, after a very filling lunch, none of us was up for anything to eat for tea so relaxed with a beer and some nibbles.