Easter 2008

I hope your Easter was terrific. Mine has been OK, with a little bit of socialising going on, but no trips away. On Thursday afternoon whilst driving home from Brisbane to the coast I thought all of Brisbane was coming to the Sunshine Coast for Easter.

Did Easter come around early for you? It certainly was for me, but I read on Saturday where it won't be as early again for another 152 years (2285). Hmmm, I don't think I have to worry - or you either LOL.

Last Wednesday at one of the schools I visit they had a visit from the Easter Bunny. Well, the little kids were absolutely spellbound, and the not so young pupils just a little bemused (plus trying to guess who was in the costume). I helped the day before at another school by placing coloured sticks in the garden for an egg hunt - you traded the stick once found for an egg. We'd had a shower or three, so the eggs were kept clean and dry (not that the kids could have cared less, they'd have eaten them anyway, dirty wrapper or not).

Last Wednesday I went to the house after school to see the air conditioning person who is installing the ducted air conditioning. We went upstairs and down, deciding where the sensors would be in the seven separate zones. I also had to approve the site outside for the unit, and the ducting in the ceilings etc etc. Whilst I was there the roof was going on, but I have yet to see it finished. There were six or seven men working on the place, some doing roofing, some doing the weatherboard walls on the outside. No pictures, but I'm going back this Wednesday so I should have more for the next update. Rene should be meeting with the electrician this week and I had a conversation with the cabinet maker confirming our kitchen cupboards etc, and he's getting started within three weeks on the various rooms (laundry, bathrooms, kitchen). Suffice to say Rene and I are exceedingly happy with the progress.



The Premier Anna Bligh announced over the weekend that Brisbane is going to seek expressions of interest in providing the city with triple bendy buses (just like the ones used successfully for years in Utrecht). Hooray, at last, a sensible solution for the public transport sector in Brisbane. I can't speak highly enough of their value and usefulness on high density bus routes. I hope they get some trial ones really soon, because at peak hours the buses in Brisbane are just stretched to the limit.

We went to a Dutch neighbours apartment for afternoon tea last Saturday at 2pm and ended up coming home around 9:30. There were a couple of friends of hers there too, and we ended up so engrossed in conversation and drinking (oh, plus eating afternoon tea) that it got dark quickly. The visitors came upstairs to see the gallery, and when we came back Gina had a delicious seafood crepe prepared for dinner - that was a pleasant surprise. Incidentally, one of the visiting friends was from Acland, near Oakey originally and had been to Harlaxton School in Toowoomba. We did the usual bit of trying to find people we knew in common and came up with a huge list. He even knew one of the guys who drove our family from Brisbane Airport to Toowoomba when we arrived in Australia in 1964. What a small world!

Two people drowned at the Gold Coast over the Easter break. One of them drowned after drinking all night and going into the surf just before daylight. I suggest in that case it's probably Darwin's Theory in practice. Our beaches have been quite treacherous this season because of the erosion from the huge storms. Add to that the thousands of people booked for speeding and drink driving, even driving without a belt on, and you just have to wonder what the authorities have left to do to counteract the idiots around us. I don't care if they gamble with their own lives, that's their choice, but when it comes to endangering the lives of others - well, I really have no answer.

Our short break has ended today with a short drive to an indigenous art gallery at Tewantin, near Noosa. Afterwards we had a delightfully delicious lunch at 'The Harbour Master Restaurant' at Noosa Marina. We had a table beside the water overlooking the river and it was sublime. I really recommend it. http://www.noosamarina.com.au/dining.php?id=39

Now, regular readers will no doubt know I love my food (you did read the previous paragraph didn't you?). Well, to my delight, after 4 months on the coast, I have found a shop which not only sells beautiful fruit and vegies, but also some grocery lines, has a great cafe inside AND a full service delicatessen. It is far superior to The Clayfield Markets (because of the extra service from the cafe and deli) and would easily give Zone Fresh in Brisbane a run for its money. The place is called Warana Markets, it's on Nicklin Way, just opposite A Mart furniture. Oh, I forgot nearly, it has a huge range of Dutch products too. If you're up this way, call in and try it out. http://www.theweekender.com.au/eatdrink_det.php?id=105

I'm out of time, have to do some work here. I'll leave you with two useless bits of trivia that caught my attention this week: 1) I always thought Los Angeles and (say) JFK would be major airports for traffic, but if one was to look at the top three airports in the world, they are as follows: (2007) The world's top airports were the two leading US hubs of Atlanta, which processed nearly 90 million travellers, and Chicago O'Hare, which handled over 76 million, and London's Heathrow which saw 68 million pass through. 2) The Dutch are the world's #1 producer and exporter of flowers (they have 70% of the cut flower world trade). They are also big in bulb exports:
4 billion bulbs exported last year
Most of the Netherlands bulb exports go to the US. The Netherlands exported 4 billion flower bulbs last year, 5 percent more than in 2006. Almost a quarter of these (more than 900 million) went to the US. This emerged from figures published by Statistics Netherlands (CBS) on Wednesday. Other countries which imported many bulbs included Germany (more than 600 million), the UK (319 million), Japan (236 million) and France (220 million).Half of the export was tulip bulbs, followed by gladiolas (a quarter), daffodils (14 percent), and hyacinths (4 percent).

Enough! I hear you cry. OK, once again have a great (short) week and catch you soon with another update. TTFN (Ta Ta For Now).