Wednesday 22 September 2010

Birds of all kinds


I found Jesus.

I discovered him near the beach of all places. I had to do a double take. Are caftans making a comeback or is he on his way to a fancy dress party do you think?

Then soon after I was eating lunch at this great outdoor cafe and ....noticed this amusing sign. The intricacies of tourists living in harmony with the local birdlife.


Anyway onto birds of a different kind. A few readers asked me some questions I thought I should answer in this post.

Lisleman asked, "Did you happen to go that beach town where they had meter maids in gold bikinis?"

Yes I did and yes they still do. Now given they all look like this I can't imagine why you would have been the least bit interested. The Gold Coast is famous for its sun, surf and sand, and it stretches along 57 kilometres of our eastern coastline. The Meter Maids were introduced in 1965 to help beat the bad image created by the installation of parking meters on the tourist strip in late 1964. This was a controversial promotion, using young women dressed in gold lame bikinis and tiaras, who strolled the streets feeding coins into expired parking meters, and leaving a calling card under the windscreen wipers. They have since replaced their tiaras for Akubra hats but the gold bikinis and the promotions remain.

Some of you wanted to see some more of my sister's house in Brisbane.

My sister moved back to Australia after living in London with her husband and four children for many years. Even though her home is in the inner city it is surrounded by bushland. Sitting on her back deck you could be forgiven for thinking your were living in the country. I have just included a few photos that were taken by the real estate agent when they bought the house in June.
She is the throes of redecorating so I will add some photos on my Inspiration blog soon.

This is the view at the back of the house which backs onto bushland.


My niece Caitlin.

There are numerous different casual living areas and a guest wing across the back of the house and formal areas and study at the front of the house and bedrooms, another living area and parent retreat on the second floor. It is open plan and surrounded by windows (suits a hot climate) and very peaceful. This is the main kitchen
And this is the curry kitchen which is off the main kitchen and opens up to the back deck - yes, you read right. Curry kitchen. The previous owners were Indians. They used to cook their curries in here away from the main kitchen and living areas. It is very handy for entertaining when you want to do preparation away from your guests.
And finally Helen asked if I had been to Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast.

Yes I have and it's a beautiful coastal town with beaches and a rather large port. So here are some photos of the sunshine coast and Fraser Island too. You must come for a visit again!










14 comments:

  1. You are having a wonderful adverture Lillie!
    Gorgeous photos mate!
    Are you ever coming home?
    Hugs
    Peggy xxxx

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  2. Oh my! The Coast photos are beyond beautiful ... I want to return more than ever after seeing them. Your sister's home is also lovely, spacious and in a wonderful way ~ spare. I like that kind of home design. My Gold Coast blog friend hasn't shared the gold clad bikini meter maids with us .... I will have to tease him a bit! He and his lady are moving to the Sydney area after the first of next year to be closer to family/grandchildren. They will live on his yacht, the Tiziana. Sail the seas, happy in retirement. (Her home is still on the market!)

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  3. Wow thanks for answering that gold coast question and the picture - nice. Did you get her phone number - just joking.

    Dude is that you shooting the tube in the picture? Bitchin.
    Thanks I don't typically get to use those words.

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  4. Ohh the beaches look beautiful, wish I was there right now. If I was you I would never want to come home.

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  5. Wow, wow, whee! Beautiful photos - even "Jesus" is beautiful.
    Lovely life Lilly.

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  6. Amazing photos, Lilly! Your sister's house is incredible. I take it they are millionaires? Your beach photos are also fantastic. Gold bikinis on the meter maids? Hmmm? I wonder how that would go over in Hawaii.

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  7. @ Kay - he he no, they arent millionaires but they lived in London a long time. So property there is not on par with property here. Houses are very expensive in London. The British pound is worth way more than the Australian dollar (never understood that). So it is often good for British people moving here as they get far better property for their money than they do there. Our housing is very different from theirs and more like the US. At the moment the Australian dollar is worth about 96c to the American dollar. And worth about 58 pence against the British pound. So for us its a great time to shop online in US stores or travel to the US. When I was last in the US our dollar was worth about 70 cents to the US dollar. When I lived in the UK our dollar was down to 36 pence to their pound. So our dollar has become a lot stronger thanks to our mining exports I think and stable economy. It goes up and down though so who knows. I am not so good at macro or micro economics I just know it impacts on my shopping... Maybe someone can enlighten me.

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  8. Wow - magical beach photos! And your sister's house is huge and gorgeous!

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  9. What a fabulous mansion ! And thanks for great views !
    Very enjoyable post !

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  10. Wish i was with you, it looks like you are having so much fun. OH how i love beaches and well those pictures are just PERFECT if i was yo i would never want to leave, I could just stare at them forever and try to imagine myself there. Love the Jesus photo i couldnt have pictured him any better.

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  11. WOW! Such a BEAUTIFUL House, Lilly...It looks so spacious and "Clean"....And so very Peaceful, too...! It is great that the Bush is right there, too...The Best of Both Worlds, isn't it?

    You have some of the most BEAUTIFUL Beaches in The World right there....Oh My! It makes me so nostalgic for the days when I could travel and spend time "Shelling"---For hours and hours and hours....More Peacefullness, my dear. I LOVE seeing all your pictures of your very beautiful country....! And if I could---I would come and visit!!

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  12. Oh my gosh, what a house! And how cool, a curry kitchen, never heard of that before. Hmm, maybe that's the reason the curry chicken that Greg and I made didn't come out so good, we didn't have a separate curry kitchen to cook in. Hehe

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  13. OMG--your sister's house is spectacular! How lucky that you get to visit. Beautiful photos of the beaches, too. Gorgeous!

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  14. Great photos! The beaches are to die for!

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Thanks for your comments.