Finch Hatton Gorge

Another log day on the road trying to get some of the miles done.

Spent hours driving through sugar cane fields and eventually got to the Finch Hatton Gorge for a small hike (half of which was on Simons shoulders). Even had to drive Campy across some shallow rivers to get there.

Thomas and Simon went paddling and then Simon went for a swim. Saw some huge lizards en route.

Drove on to Mackay again late on. Campsites all full but managed to squeeze in next to a workshop on a site that was a bit 1950's.

Capricorn caves

 

Tried to go to the Dreamtime cultural centre today to show Thomas some Aborginal culture and boomerangs. They were closed on Sunday so we went to the Capricorn caves - all good fun. Thomas as you can see above got into it (after a suspicious start).

Doh!

Set off early from Hervey Bay and was making good time towards Rockhampton when just past Mt Larcon Simon accidently put Unleaded petrol in Campy. He realised as he was doing it so not an excessive amount but tank was pretty low on diesel. It meant Campy had to be lifted onto a tipping tow truck (Thomas very interested) and taken back to Gladstone where the tank was drained out. It meant an inadvertent stop around a very industrial town, a trip up to Auckland point, another playground and some take away pizza. The towing company lent us a car (a real hot rod with a whole in the exhaust, see below) to tour the town. They managed to fix Campy quite quickly and we made it to Rockhampton late. The stars of the day were Anna and Thomas who coped with long periods of time in various vehicles.

Whales

Went off early this morning (from our unplanned detour to Hervey Bay) whale watching. Started off quiet with only a few pods surfacing and then had an amazing display of tail slapping and breaching right next to the boat. Even Thomas was impressed. Proper Octonauts now.

Tin Can Bay and beyond

Up at 5am to get to Tin Can Bay by 7am and the Dolphin feeding. A pod of dolphins has learnt for over 60 years (3 generations of dolphin) to come to a spot at 8 am to be fed fish. Thomas didnt want to feed a dolphin but was very interested in getting in the water with one.

Another day in Noosa

Anna started off with a relaxing outdoor bath and then we all went off to first Noosaville and then Noosa Heads. Thomas was not all that impressed with kayaking despite pretending to kayak ever since seeing at the Olympics and building countless boats out of chairs. The was lots of crying "take me back to mummy" but after a brief rest ashore we stealed ourselves up and went to explore some nearby boats. The afternoon was spent on the beach.

Crikey!

Went to Australia Zoo, of Steve Irwin fame. Crocs were everywhere and Thomas loved the show (snakes, birds of prey, crocs) and was particularly concerned about the man who pretended to be bitten and then needed a bandage. Crocs certainly move fast in water and can leap out quickly. Brilliant day spent seeing tortoises, turtles, zebra, giraffe, more kangaroos, more koalas, snakes, tigers, tasmanian devils, and Sabu the elephant who we got to feed (all of except Anna that is.... see below).

Awesome day. Thomas asleep on the way home back to Noosa, Simon asleep moments later.

Donne, Jonathan, Kingsley, and Emily

Contacted Donne et al from  our old NCT class at the last minute. They have emigrated to Brisbane and came to meet us on the beach at Noosa. Thomas and Kingsley had a whale of the time with bucket, spade, paddling, and dad building cars out of sand and digging holes.

Campy

Wandered around Brisbane this morning (Botancical gardens - maybe we should have stayed in Brisbane longer?) and then collected Campy (Thomas's name for our Campervan) in a dreadful 3 hour administrative ordeal and then drove to Noosa via Woolworths (Ozzy Asda). Beach tomorrow....

Cuddly Koala

Well we survived the flights. No tears just excitement and sleeping most of the way. We cant quite believe it - could have taken less than half the toys that we had packed in our hand luggage!

In a mission to keep Thomas awake to try and correct his time zone we went off to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary 90 minutes after landing in Brisbane. It needed a quick dash across town to the Mirimar II boat which took us there. Ever dutiful tourists - we had photos kuddling the koalas, and enjoyed feeding and stroking the kangaroos. Thomas was a bit suspicious of the Koala, liked the Roo. Anna has take to turning on all photographs.

Cow on tour

(with Whinnie and Bartlesham)

The Trunki is visiting Singapore

First bit wasn't too bad - hope we aren't lulling ourselves in to false sense of security. Thomas slept a good 8 out of the 12 hours.

Our plane

Ready to go - Heathrow

Really relaxed at airport!! Thomas insanely excited but tired. Leave in 50 mins for Singapore, Sydney and then Brisbane. Love to everyone xxxx

Simon's trip to the Texas Heart Institute

Hello, The blog starts again.

Travelled to very very hot and humid Houston in Texas to visit the Texas Heart Institute for a month. Mum came with me for the first two weeks. Below is a picture of the Medical Center and you can see three huge hospitals (left to right: Texas Heart Institute, St Lukes Episcopal, and then Texas Childrens Hospital). On the site there are countless other hospitals... still have to count them. Also below is a picture of the enormous fountain at the heart of the Texas Medical Center (or TMC) as it is known around here.

We are staying in the TMC accommodation for doctors, etc called the Favrot Tower Apartments. The rooms are a bit basic but clean, with a massive fridge freezer, a microwave, a little cooker, and a walk-in dressing room. Most importantly they are air-conned as everything is over here to sub zero temperatures.



Finally at the weekend we hired a car and travelled to Galveston (about 50 miles South of Houston) and saw the sea, had some fantastic seafood in the restaurants, had a paddle and relaxed for the weekend. Below are some pictures. Note the lazy crane in the bottom picture who has found an easier way to get fish for food than hunting....

Currently back at TMC to go to work on Monday for 06.30 am ward round!

Stockholm - New Year 2006

A fair bit of time since we last went away and posted something to the blog.

For New Year this year we went to Stockholm for a few days, and their was snow everywhere. At times it was quite cold (minus three to five) although I think the UK was colder. We stayed at a really cool (in a Swedish trendy way) hotel - The Nordic Light. You can change the colour of the room with the mood lighting, there is a lighting director in the hotel, and the best breakfast buffet's we have seen.
What did we do? Well a trip to the VasaMuseem (an old boat that sunk in the harbour that is near perfectly preserved), the museum of modern art, lots of interior designy shops (it seems that this is big in Sweden, but a little like high quality and expensive IKEA), and a walk around Gamla Stan.
New Year's eve was spent at a lovely fish restaurant near Stureplan, and then a walk up to the park to listen to Tennison's Ring Ring (a Stockholm tradition) at midnight followed by fireworks all over Stockholm. Once again the rest of Europe put us to shame as everyone cracked open the champagne at midnight but there was no drunkenness!
We had a fantastic time and came back relaxed - unfortunately have to go back to school/hospital on Tuesday.

Simon and Alison

xxx

Now in Buenos Aires

Well, Im now in Buenos Aires at the World Federations of Societies in Intensive and Critical Care Medicine.
It is winter in Argentina now so it is cool. The city itself strikes me as very Spanish in its style and not at all Latin American as I had expected. I dont think that is because I am in the touristy area also. Really busy, lots of traffic, and as for crossing the road I just dont get it - they seem to step out in fron of cars which strikes me as a bit risky especially on this nice little 20 lane road...

Made the trip along with every other tourist to Maria Eva Duarte Peron's tomb (Evita), which is suprisingly small and non-descript. The cemetry was interesting in that all the tombs are little rooms which people obviously attend regularly.
The cemetry.....

Evitas tomb...
Also visited the Teatro Colon to see the ballet Romeo and Juliet. It was a free ticket from the conference organisers and was worth the trip. Amazing theatre not that dissimilar from the StaatOper in Vienna, although a little more dischevelled. The ballet was OK but my seats were restricted view.

Ever since spent most of my time in the hotel room writing the three talks I have to give. Dont know many people here so having a quiet time in the evenings.
Today had another walk around Buenos Aires to take in the formal sights but starting to think that I should have spent longer here and travelled out of the city.
The Casa Rosa (pink castle) in the main square... the balcony in the Evita movie was the one on the left lower down..
Anyway, final talk tomorrow morning, and then straight on the plane home!

Simon