New Year's Eve at Woodford

We decided that a few days at a music fest would be great way to celebrate New Years. Woodford Folk Festival goes on for a full week. We skipped the first two days which was just as well as they were a wash out, and got there for the 29th just in time for the heatwave.

Woodford is a notoriously wet affair, oh, but not this year! We were lucky enough to have a scorcher of a week. Jesus it was steamin'! It remained high 30's for the duration, with extreme humidity. Every year at home we pray for a dry Electric Picnic - well we got the complete opposite of it with Woodford. The heat was soooo intense at one point we hoped it would rain! I know! We were actually drinking at least six litres of water a day and barely going to the toilet. I had to wait till the sun went down before I could start consuming alcohol! It was torturous!

On the way there we got stuck behind a few camper vans with bumper stickers that said stuff like "At this age I'm just glad to be driving anywhere!" and "Adventure before Dementia!" So that kind of set the tone for the week. There were alot of older people there and families, as well as people our age, it was a funny mix of hippies, locals and tourists.

The first day we arrived and lost about a stone of sweat whilst putting up the tent, had a cold shower and headed into the 'village' to check out what was going. The first act we saw were called 'Wild Marmalade' they were a two piece act playing didgereedance music with live drums and a didgeree doo! Mid-way through the act an aboriginal man came out and started to dance/ hop/ jump around the stage. I don't think it was quite a traditional dance, but it certainly was quite a scene. All hugely entertaining. So much so that we bought the cd and have been listening to dance by didge whilst driving around Oz!

Later on we saw Marshall and the Fro in the Blues n' Roots venue. They were great, very entertaining. The cool thing about Woodford was that over the week lots of acts play more than once in different venues in the festival grounds so you can catch them as many times as you want. Marshall himself is a country singer with a gravelly voice belting out very catchy country/ blues tunes. When James first saw him he turned to me and said 'I don't think I've ever seen a real life Cleetus before' Everyone was dancing and the atmosphere was great. Half way through the set a guy got up on the stage and proposed to his girlfriend to cheers from the crowd, ultimate cheese fest! I was loving every minute of it!

Some of the quality songs had titles such as 'I got my thongs on, you got your thongs on?' Pretty deep stuff! At one point during the set two skinny white kids (the only way I can describe them) came out to do some back up singing and dancing, they looked like they'd just stepped off the set of 'The Brady Bunch', it was all so incongruous and hilarious. James and I were fit to pee in our pants at this point.

Later we caught up with Maureen and Kevin that first night for a drink in the Guinness bar (an older couple we'd met at C and P's, who attend Woodford every year). They are a lovely pair who told us about Woodford in the first place.

Inevitably we over did it the first night and ended up passing the following morning panned out on some rather large cushions in the Chai tent listening to a group of female vocalists do their thang. We eventually peeled ourselves off the floor and headed in search of fodder.

We caught some of Jeff Lang's set, he was a bit too country for me though. A relatively well known band here called Augie March played a few anthem type tunes that night in the amphitheatre. They were great, I really enjoyed that gig. The amphitheatre deserves a mention. It's a natural amphitheatre surrounded by woods around the top rim. The trail to it is relatively long and so the sounds of the rest of the festival can't be heard there. It holds the largest number of people at the festival, the main stage I suppose. It is a really beautiful setting especially at night.

We caught up with Maureen and Kevin again at the Blues Booze Bar where we were highly amused by 'The Pigs' who were a hick band that played country covers of Franz Ferdinand and Rage Against The Machine tunes. I've never heard anything like them, they were fantastic! The great thing about Woodford are all the little bars and cafes that are dotted all over the place, so you can actually say to someone I'll see you in that pub and actually manage to find them. It'a quite a homely atmosphere. The Village Green was central to the village, where we spent at lot of time chillin out in the shade consuming the various produce the festival had to offer. The food was great and cheap!

New Years Eve morning we headed to the Duck n' Shovel to watch some open mic stuff. Caroline at this point had found herself a local boy from Brisbane and so we caught up with her now and then throughout the next few days. That girl can party!The rest of the afternoon was spent watching David Hyam's and the Miles To Go band, who were a big Irish ceili type band. I also attended a Prostate Empowerment talk (the inner nerd in me couldn't resist a bit of intellectual stimulation!ha!). J headed off to a singing workshop with the members of The Kin. I see writing this now that perhaps that should have been the other way round???! We were happy to see The Stiff Gins - two Australian girls of Aboriginal origin that had the most beautiful voices. It was nice to catch some traditional Aboriginal music. They sang a song in their native tongue too, which was interesting.

We headed back to camp to cook up a storm prior to the evening ahead, and to fill our pockets and bottles with red wine. Our budget couldn't quite stretch to buying drink all week and luckily for us bringing drink in was easy! Loaded up we headed into meet Kevin and attend 'Dancing Hands' a sign language act Maureen was performing in. It was a bit bizaare, considering it's a music festival and so attending an act in sign language was a little different to say the least, but we got involved as we always do! After James's afternoon with The Kin we decided to check them out.

They are two brothers with absolutely fantastic voices, a cross between Arcade Fire and a boy band of sorts - if that makes any sense. I really liked them. We caught another dose of Marshall and The Fro, not quite the same as the first night but that was a hard act to follow! At 11.30pm there was a minute silence across the whole festival in order for everyone to think of the year past and make your wishes and ambitions for the year ahead. Candles were handed out to everyone and at the sound of the gong we blew them out! Perhaps a little cheesy but nice all the same. We made our way to the amphitheatre for the countdown. At Woodford the big night is the 1st of January as opposed to the 31st of December, it's also the final night of the festival.

On January 1st James played at the Duck n' Shovel! He was great, best act I saw all week! We watched the 'Bluegrass Parkway' after that, who played old timey Oh Brother How Art Thou-esque tunes huddled around the one aold radio mic. At this point we were better armed for the baking heat and I'd bought a spritzer for our water bottle which we used to cool ourselves down. The humidity was pretty unbearable at times. So there we sat with all the geriatrics on the white plastic garden shairs watching the Bluegrass Parkway, glad of a chair and a bit of shade. Yeah it was a bit like that at times!

We were lucky enough to squeeze into the Muse tent later that day and see 'That One Guy' (Google him!!) He was fantastic, he had what I can only describe as a magic pipe! It was a long metal instrument that stood taller than him, and yet curved in such a way that he could tuck his shoulder under it. It had bass strings and drum pads and all other sorts of devices that made noise. He sang too! We saw the end of The Wells in our efforts to get seats for Dougie McClean (Scottish artist, whom I'm sure some of you have heard of?) He was cool, lovely voice but I think the ol' foggies were a bit more enthusiastic than us!

We caught up with Maureen, Kev, Caroline and Trent for a few drinks before New years mayhem ensued and we lost each other! The amphitheatre was ram-packed for the closing ceremony, we just about managed to find a spot on the grass to watch it all. It was very atmospheric, everyone was tightly huddled together. The temperature had dropped once the sun went down and we were wrapped up in blankets waiting expectantly for the show to begin. And what a show! It was one of the most memorable New Year's eve I've ever had. Against the pitch black skies the most spectacular light parade started. Hundreds of people marched with lanterns to the main stage where a massive choir and Dougie McClean were standing all dressed in white. In the background thunder growled and lightning struck over head the satge. It was amazing.

The whole crowd was ooh-ing and aww-ing, you just couldn't help yourself! There was a theatrical performance in front of the stage with actors on large stilts lepping around the place and large puppets bobbing up and down. There was a massive windmill to the left of the stage which had been there all week, and half way through the fire show they lit it and the whole thing went up in flames. It was phenomenal! The performers danced around as fireworks went off! It really was such a memorable evening, a fantastic start to the year.

Christmas in Brissy

Having accepted an earlier invite from Carmel and Paraic to spend Christmas at theirs' we spun around on the 22nd and started to head back south. The option at that point was to push up further north and get to Cairns and potentially melt on the way up or to head back to Brisbane and spend Christmas with friends. It was a no brainer. Cairns could wait.

Driving back to Brisbane was great in the sense that it had a whole driving home for Christmas vibe, except that for the most part I drove in my bikini and J in his shorts! It was flippin hot!We had no Christmas tapes or functioning radio, so James and I sang any Christmas carols we knew. A bit cheesy I know but we were excited and desperately wanted to get in the festive mood.

Carmel and Paraic had made us feel so welcome in their home that we were really looking forward to heading back. They've such a lovely house and Carmel is an amazing cook! It was like driving home to our mammies! We put the foot down, did some excessive driving and got back by 4pm on the 23rd, a day earlier than planned. We rocked into Capalaba and straight into the nearest bottle shop to pick up some supplies, we hadn't had much of a silly season and so were planning to make up for it.

That evening Carmel and ourselves headed into Southbank to meet Paraic and partake in some Christmas festivities in the city. We had a few drinks in the Plough Inn, watched the Christmas carols and then the fireworks over Brisbane river. It was a lovely evening and just what we had needed to feel like it was actually Christmas. To further reinforce the point, Carmel had brought a route mapped out in the local paper of houses which were "lit up" for Christmas. And what a treat that turned out to be! We drove to a couple of over the top houses with giant cribs, reindeer and santa claus in the lawns. You all know what I'm talking about! It was hilarious. Some people go to serious efforts. And that evening in particular it was open house so you could go have a wander in the garden take a photo, a general snoop if you will and that's what we did, or more so I did! After that there was no mistaking it was Christmas!!!

After what was an epic sleep in a room with a fan, James and I didn't know ourselves! We headed off to do some last minute shopping Christmas Eve, something I rarely do as I'm normally super organised and let me tell you it's no fun shopping Christmas Eve. We wandered around an air-conditioned mall kind of aimlessly feeling a little bit homesick truth be told. Then back in time to chill out for awhile before mass. Mass was a breezy affair with all the windows open (yes it really was that flippin' hot). The bible pages were fluttering and the priests vestaments flappin'! We came in the back and as we were standing there scanning the crowd for seats an Irish man turns to us and said "Ah jaysus, sure you can't stand down the back, you're not at home now!" We all had a bit of a giggle before finding some seats over beside the baptismal font which was as big as a jacuzzi!

Our fellow churchgoers were far better equipped, they came with their own chairs and bottles of water. It was like a concert was about to kick off. Half way through a nativity play ensued during which a young baby nearby farted extemely loudly. His poor parents couldn't contain themselves.

No one fainted anyway and the rest of the service went off as normal. The aforementioned Irish guy was asked by the priest to say a few words in Irish, he went bright red God love him. As the priest asked could anyone else speak Irish Carmel shrunk her head as we all looked at her. Very funny. We had a few drinks that night before the big day! Christmas morning we were up bright and early, lots of presents to open and lots to do before everyone arrived. I've failed to mention that we were not Carmel's only guest, an English girl Caroline and another ten Irish friends for dinner, so fifteen of us in total! James and I very excitedly open all the gifts we received, we were over the moon with everything. We sat there munching Tayto as we made our way through everything. I've only been away for Christmas day twice now in my life and both times have been great, fantastic in fact. But it's hard to replace the family part, and this was my first Christmas in the sunshine.

It was very different but great, and all the presents from home were so uplifting. We had so much stuff to open we were like two big kids unwrapping it all. Thank you to all of you who sent things, you have us spoiled, seriously. Carmel had the air-con. on full blast as she had the oven on and we were all busy doing various tasks. There had been some serious delegation in relation to dinner and so we were just doing the veg! The other people were looking after desserts, the turkey and starters etc etc By God Carmel can put on a spread even if she's doing only vegetables the amount we had was epic. I couldn't wait for Christmas dinner!

The starters consisted of a prawn salad and oysters covered with worcester sauce and shredded bacon, mmmmmmmmmmm. Jackie you're a genius. Turkey and ham supplied by Michelle, copious amounts of potatoes and lots of wine. We were all set! We all packed in around two tables and had the most delicious meal. Honestly it was the usual scenario where you're fit to pass out after dinner but instead everyone changed into their swimsuits and in we went all fifteen of us into the pool. Michelle and Tommy had brought inflatable toys. As you can only imagine, a half pissed bunch of Paddy's in a swimming pool on Christmas Day, the craic was mighty! In fact it was just we needed for a second wind, it's what we're all missing at home!

Normally my sister drags most of us out for a walk in the evening, generally it's the last thing I want to do but the guilt of over-indulgence gets to me and off I go. However frolicking around in a pool post Christmas dinner is far better, and warmer! There was one non-entry to the pool (Dermot), he instead sat and drank and watched and all I'll say is he was proclaiming his love to J and his music later on that night. The rest of the day passed with more eating and drinking, much like home except we all sat out on the patio. There was plenty of singing from everyone. J whipped out the guitar too and kept us all entertained.

It was a super Christmas. J and I will forever be indebted to Carmel and Paraic for their hospitality and just generally making us feel so welcome with them. It was great to be with a group of people. And there was always the worry of 'the dinner'. It just wouldn't have been the same if J and I had been camping and ended up cooking a BBQ and doing it Aussie style! Christmas dinner only comes once a year and God forbid we miss it! Even if it does mean closing all the doors and cranking up the AC full blast!

On St. Stephen's day we jumped in the pool again for a cool down, and then spent the afternoon eating leftovers and watching a dvd. It was absolute heaven having a few home comforts for a few days, after camping soo much we really lapped it up. Everyone came back over around 5pm and we ate and drank some more till we could do no more! And that's it, that's our Christmas in Oz over. I wonder where we'll be next year.......

Whitsunday Islands

We left Hervey Bay for Airlie Beach and made it up to a Big4 campsite in a couple of hours. It was about 40 degress. On our first full day in Airlie we arranged a trip out to the charmingly monikered Daydream Island, a stunning little spot. The town of Airlie itself is nothing special, a hot hazy neon signed outpost that is no reflection of the serenity that one encounters once out in the midst of the 30 or so islands that make up the Whitsunday group.

So we had little trouble arranging a ferry trip out to Daydream (which is actually in the Molle group of islands), a tiny speck of a place that is only a kilometre long by about 500 metres wide. The entire place is a resort, and is open for day trippers from the mainland.

After a few hours of running between the enormous pool complex and the beach we moved into another part of the resort, following palm tree lined pathways over pools of sting rays and reef sharks, had some lunch and swam it off for the afternoon. We caught the last ferry back to Airlie and organised a trip for the next day that would incorporate Hamilton Island and the fabled Whitehaven Beach.

Up early the next morning we took the fast ferry out to Hamilton, again a disgusting little place full of white sand, big blue sky and good looking people. The island is a fair bit bigger than Daydream and we traversed from the harbour side passing beautiful big jacaranda trees. We set ourselves up on the beach, decided against a dip in the ocean upon reading warning signs about murderous jellyfish, and cursed our luck at once again having arrived in paradise. Unfortunately we had to rouse ourselves from this lapse into another few hours of that feeling of 'oh this is how God really intended us all to live to catch the boat to what is billed as the most spectacular beach in the country - Whitehaven.

The ferry service, run by Fantasea Adventures, was great. Friendly, informative, efficient - and they feed you to boot. We settled into a big buffet lunch with an Ozzy girl and here mum and chatted about the general splendour of our surrounds weighing anchor just off the beach. The white sands, created by the amount of silica deposits in the area, are breathtaking. We lined up to be skiffed to the beach from the ferry, and were each issued with a stern warning about those aforementioned jellyfish accompanied by what can best be described as a luminous body condom. Now the locals call these things 'stinger suits', but it seems fairly obvious to me that there is a long standing practical joke afoot that was concocted by tour guides one night late over a couple of drinks while watching an episode of Telly Tubbies.

So suitably and quite ridiculously attired I jumped straight into the water daring any living creature with a love of all things bright and shiny to have a nibble. Again a few hours of laziness, a few tins of Tooheys ever so thoughtfully provided by our hosts, and before we knew it we were back on dry land in Airlie vowing with all our might to one day return to these glorious islands.

Holden needed a trip to the mechanic before the big trip back to Brisbane, but as soon as he was ready we hit the road south, looking forward to Christmas with Carmel and Paraic in Brisbane!