Dubai or Not Dubai

We watched a bit of Shakespeare in Dubai last night as well as the Fountain. The Fountain here is a bit under whelming.  Kuala Lumpur and Las Vegas are better. We lasted til 8:00pm and collapsed after a solid 24 hours straight on the go. Ramadan has its advantages with the lack of crowds during the day. I have been here a number of times now and the spread of cranes is diminishing.

No Cranes

Hot Dubai

Last week there were 45 degree days today it is only 37 degrees. We can handle that.  We had to refuel at Kuala Lumpur. This maybe because the Boeing 777's are smaller than Airbus A380s.  We got a message from the Captain who sent hello as he had been chatting to Laura on official business.  Never had direct messages from the pilot before.

KLIA Jungle Waterfall

Growling Frog OBE

There are no actual growling frogs at the golf course but they do have a good breakfast with a view from the 19th hole.  Not sure what the bluestone shed was before the golfers came along. As well as the poached eggs inside I saw a speckled egg outside (see side panel).

OBE

Growling Frog Shed

Collendina cards

Yes the annual card school has been held but this time around we have used the Taj of the park, the town hall of downtown Collendina.  We just need to get the electricity to work. Other than that pointing Percy at the Porcelain makes a change from ruminating on the grass.  Nothing like a good ruminate.  The rest of the lads are off to do a trek around O'briens Crossing.

Breakfast of Champions

Girl Gone

I finished reading this book just now. The Gone Girl is certainly a crazy girl as well.  I can't help myself picking holes in story lines. I shouldn't do it. I do the same thing watching films. It seems to me that the cops could easily see through her lies in numerous places like when she got herself pregnant. You have to have two people show up for that trick. He says he didn't do it and there are doctors at fertility clinics who could prove her lie. Simples.

Jane Austen

Seems Jane had a thing for tea but I bet she never rode a bike in order to get her scones. We stopped at the Austen Tea Rooms for a spot of culture and some eggs benedict. I passed on the cucumber sandwiches but the mushrooms were nice. Will have to return for the High Tea. Originally High Tea was a working man's meal. It was served up on a high table with heavy duty meat, vegetables and fish.
The Hoi Polloi  in the form of Anna Russell the lucky 7th Duchess of Bedford turned things around when she got hungry in the afternoon. Then it became all manners, silver service and dainty little pinkies in the air. When she invited Queen Victoria that was the royal stamp of approval.

A Novel idea

Gordon Brothers

Never know what you might find on a bike ride. So Gordon brothers moved from Union St, Brunswick to Michael St Coburg. No mention of bakeries any more but there seems to be a lot of refrigeration and air conditioning these days, not to mention offices in every state and a manufacturing plant in Bendigo.  A far cry from the layoffs of the 70's and 80's.

Bread Slicer 1961 Gordon Roberts Collection

Gordon Brothers Staff 1961 Gordon Roberts Collection

HanderUP dough handler 1961 Gordon Roberts Collection




 



2015 Shortest day

It might be a short day but it is very sunny. We waited til the sun warmed things up a bit and set out around 10:00. Another rider went past us and said he started at 7:00 am and it was 0 degrees so he kept it around 30km/h which meant he had done nearly 90km and was ready for breakfast. We followed bike paths as far as the new playground at the children's hospital then north past Princes Park and the narrow path along the Coburg train line.  We found a building with signage proclaiming Gordon Brothers Pty Ltd. See entry above.




The wide path to the yellow stick
 



 

How about them apples!

Had a go at your basic apple pie. Hasn't been baked yet but looks the real deal. 12 green apples, four cups of sugar and a packet of Lion pastry. The artistry seems to be rolling the pastry into a flatish circle, twice. Don't forget the pie holes to let out the steam.

Granny Smith

Pie

Birthday Crown

Did an overnighter at Crown. We have been using complimentary cards so far but may have to start paying soon.  The room service has just arrived. Checked out the pool and gold class for Jurassic Park.  This remake is the same story as last time. I would just wait and watch it on TV. We are at Crown Promenade which is behind Crown Towers, not to be confused with Crown Metropol. Went for a walk around the Arty Facts next morning. I know another Arty Fact about AFTOOIS below! It was in storage for 80 yar before it was reassembled and polished up for permanent display last year.

Fairy lights

 



Apparatus for Transtemporal Occurrence of Impending Space
Russell Anderson

Winter Bloomers

And I don't mean Auntie's underwear. A few months back mention was made of the splitting of the long neglected orchid bulbs into separate pots. The yield from four choked pots was down to one stork last winter and we used to have four or five each year. So, the now dozen pots have yielded two storks this time around. The mere throwing of some other bulbs into the garden bed was enough to stir them into green shoots. 



Orchidness

Capital City trail

Started connecting some of the dots on bike trails. Now I know how to get across from Moonee Ponds trail to Capital City trail.  There is a bridge that looks like a train bridge from below but is a bicycle bridge. I've driven under it hundreds of times but never noticed you could ride over it. The last time I went down the back of the Zoo it was a dirt road. Now there are bike trails all over the place.

Cross Mount Road

Wetland Calm

The Ocean Groove

This would have to be the sunniest Queen's Birthday we have spent. The beach is busy! We saw one guy walk into the bakery completely dripping wet to order his meat pie. I went to the Drysdale Court House which houses the Bellarine Historical Society. They have a new member who is  an authority on old bottles particularly green.  So we will see if he knows anything about bottles from the Lake Tyers glassworks. I also went for a dip in the ocean. It was refreshing.

A Beach local

Drysdale Court

Not a Town named Boo

Spent two days exploring a town named Yea. Rode up to the Cheviot Tunnel then back down again. However this time we stayed overnight at the Peppercorn Hotel. Originally built as the Station Hotel in 1868. The rain cleared overnight which left the Yea wetlands wet. The frogs were happy, they were going Yea. Can also recommend Marmalade café as well as Country Women's café. We drank a lot of coffees.

The Peppercorn Four

Crossing the Yea River.  Yea!

Banff Film Festival

I always wondered why there were two F's in Banff, they must stand for film festival. Last night was the shortened version at the Art Deco Rivoli. We started at the aptly named Deco Café across the road. Good food at a good price. The original 300 or so films were cut down to just 10 hair-raising adventures from climbing Cerro Torre to bike riding down the spine of the Isle of Skye. I don't think Cavendish could do this ride.

Tres Chic

Banff comes to town

Digital History

I have left a trail of discarded hard drives along the way, as my digital lifetime via photos and videos adds to the ever increasing mountain of bits and bytes.  I have always carried this history with me on the laptop, as you never know when a blog entry might need an illustration from 10 yar ago. At first it was on the laptop's hard drive then add a USB 100Gb drive. Then replace it with 250Gb then 500Gb then 1Tb. After that I added a second 1Tb drive both of which are now around 85% full. My Digital History is around 2Tb and I can't keep taking it all with me.
When I had an office we bought a large NAS device but soon after we sold the business. I have now opted for the Seagate Central, a cheaper option than Synology.  Soon I will have to check out VPN software.

Those Business people

I turned up at a train station once but had no Myki travel card. I was accused of being a business person, as they only travel business class.  Business is booming but you have to work at it. I can report that the latest business setup in Qantas A330's is designed for the travelling loner. You are cut off from the next seat so don't expect to chat face to face. Perhaps you can get them on Skype using your new in seat screen or start a webinar and conduct a business class in business class. Speaking of which the Pure Bookkeeping webinar last night attracted 60 customers, a new record.

The old business class