Gold Coast Australia my Home

[auscruisertom]

Good Day everyone Yeah that sounded good The truth is after 22 years of finally having grown roots this is as close I can come to sounding like a real Aussie, And That Is Because I Am A Canadian. Well the kids have almost flown the coop as if. The younger wife figures my hair is receding and I am getting WRINKLES henceforth I have just managed to download one of my favourite sailing pictures to my Avatar? dated late 70's She Reckons I am going through some sort of crisis Truthh is there is a change of wind direction.
My bucket list includes Kimberlys and Hobart 2015then on to NZ, Cheers Tom

[Wotname]

G'day Tom, welcome aboard. I am sorry to say that being an Aussie requires more than just a "G'day" but never fear, you will probably make it sooner or later

How is the Vegemite training going???

Look forward to hearing more from you

I used to live on the Gold Coast but that was several lifetimes ago!!

[auscruisertom]

Originally Posted by Wotname

G'day Tom, welcome aboard. I am sorry to say that being an Aussie requires more than just a "G'day" but never fear, you will probably make it sooner or later

How is the Vegemite training going???

Look forward to hearing more from you

I used to live on the Gold Coast but that was several lifetimes ago!!

Hey Wotname truth is my Vegemite training is not going well, finally beginning to understand the Language ,and am proud to be able to separate Ausies from the Kiwis. Have seen just a small segment of this great country and its people but I feel a connection, guess there is hope after all.

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by auscruisertom

Hey Wotname truth is my Vegemite training is not going well, finally beginning to understand the Language ,and am proud to be able to separate Ausies from the Kiwis. Have seen just a small segment of this great country and its people but I feel a connection, guess there is hope after all.

Don't despair matey, while it is true that you can't ever be considered a true blue fair dinkum Aussie without creating an affinity for Vegemite, you can be considered a New Aussie well before that

Fact is, once you develop a relationship with the sun, heat and wide open spaces that parallels your Canadian relationship with snow, cold and wide open spaces then you are a brother under the southern cross

[Jim Cate]

G'Day Tom (see, lots of us transplants say that)

Welcome to CF from another pretender. We've spent much of the past 23 years in Oz, or at least most of the cyclone seasons, and finally have the "G'Die moite" sorta operative. However, many of the real marks of Ozism escape us. Can't wear flops and singlets to visit the parson (should we ever do that), Weatbix still taste like dry grass to me, even if you pour beer on them, the Vegemite issue has already been addressed, and hamburgers with beetroot and fried egg are uncivilized IMO.

But we still stick around mostly... guess the rest of the place must be pretty good!
Especially Tasmania, so we'll keep our eyes peeled for your arrival.

Cheers,

Jim

[auscruisertom]

Thanks for the nice welcome note Jim and Ann. Looks like you just have one year up on me down under. Must have missed you on that gorges boat of yours at this years Hobart Wooden Boat Festival . Cheers Tom

[aclmck]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

G'Day Tom (see, lots of us transplants say that)

Welcome to CF from another pretender. We've spent much of the past 23 years in Oz, or at least most of the cyclone seasons, and finally have the "G'Die moite" sorta operative. However, many of the real marks of Ozism escape us. Can't wear flops and singlets to visit the parson (should we ever do that), Weatbix still taste like dry grass to me, even if you pour beer on them, the Vegemite issue has already been addressed, and hamburgers with beetroot and fried egg are uncivilized IMO.

But we still stick around mostly... guess the rest of the place must be pretty good!
Especially Tasmania, so we'll keep our eyes peeled for your arrival.

Cheers,

Jim

Come on Jim we also have caramelised onion with the beetroot and a toasted bun,never gone for maccas but love our Hamburgers,pies with mushy peas and worcheister sauce, vegemite on toast YUM come on Aussie come on!!!!!

[aclmck]

Hi Tom, now ya one of us, "Queenslander" just remember the politics of the country, As a Queenslander the West Aussies are a couple of hours behind us,and have never forgiven us, the tassie boys , well we forgot to include them on the aussie map at the opening of the 1980 commonwealth games and they haven't got around to sayin that its all right yet and the Kiwi's well the aussies bowled one f***en ball to them on a cricket pitch one evening(and beat them) but they never thanked us either at least we taugh em history they will never forget and every bloody one of em know about it!!!! along with everything else(underarm just ask a kiwi what it means they'll tell ya)

Now when ya go bush we Queenslanders (not the goldie set) usually carry our XXXX tallies in a crate in the back of the ute they do get hot to drink especially in the heat of summer sun but its all right just grab a tallie and stand under a large gum tree it'll be cool under there and you will enjoy.

Allan

[Tymadman]

Bloody cricket cheats! ;-)

[aclmck]

Originally Posted by Tymadman

Bloody cricket cheats! ;-)

SEE Tom ,,KIWI

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by aclmck

Hi Tom, now ya one of us, "Queenslander" just remember the politics of the country, As a Queenslander the West Aussies are a couple of hours behind us,and have never forgiven us, the tassie boys , well we forgot to include them on the aussie map at the opening of the 1980 commonwealth games and they haven't got around to sayin that its all right yet and the Kiwi's well the aussies bowled one f***en ball to them on a cricket pitch one evening(and beat them) but they never thanked us either at least we taugh em history they will never forget and every bloody one of em know about it!!!! along with everything else(underarm just ask a kiwi what it means they'll tell ya)

Now when ya go bush we Queenslanders (not the goldie set) usually carry our XXXX tallies in a crate in the back of the ute they do get hot to drink especially in the heat of summer sun but its all right just grab a tallie and stand under a large gum tree it'll be cool under there and you will enjoy.

Allan

Great advice Allan

Now that this thread has taken a turn to giving Tom helpful hints on being true blue, it might be time to give him some insider information on what it is to be Banana Bender Queenslander - given that he has chosen the GC as home

Normally it is bad taste to repost previous posts and perhaps even against the rules but nevertheless Tom should be entitled to this sort of knowledge which I presented back in '08.

So here is some background on the history of Banana Bending - the history of Queensland:

For the record is has been many decades since Queenslanders bent bananas only when they had nothing better to do. It is not like that any more.

Although I have left the trade due to "bend out" which is a type of workplace stress (I am officially classed as "bent out"), my family is still bending as they have for generations.

The first bananas were bent in the late 19th century and soon became very popular all around the world. Right though to the 1950's almost all bent bananas originated from Queensland. However the demand out grew the supply and even with the benders working 24/7, the demand could not be met. Then came the machine bent banana, this alleviated the supply problem for some years although the best bends were (and still are) the hand bends. Queensland hand bent bananas still command premium prices on the world banana markets.

Around 1970, an act of parliment was ammended that allowed the export of the bending technology and the worldwide bent banana crisis was over.

More recent developments include GM bent bananas where selected benders donated their genes to be spliced into the actual banana trees - the so called "smart banana". These have taken off like wildfire and can be found growing in most tropical anchorages of the world.

What has this got to do with cruising you ask. Well look at it this way, part of cruising is the travelling to new destinations, meeting the locals and getting to know the local traditions. As Queensland is a popular cruising destination (like the Great Barrier Reef), I feel it is helpful for visting sailors to know some of the history of this fascinating place. Most Queenslanders never give this aspect of their history a second thought and like myself, would never think to mention it at all. I think it would be fair to say that most of you who have sailed in Queensland waters would not have heard any of this before.

That is, until Gord posted some basic information here on CF. Even noonsite (or wikipedia) does not carry this amount of detail.

Very few people eat straight bananas anywhere anymore - all thanks to the early Queenslanders who had nothing better to do with their time.

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by auscruisertom

Thanks for the nice welcome note Jim and Ann. Looks like you just have one year up on me down under. Must have missed you on that gorges boat of yours at this years Hobart Wooden Boat Festival . Cheers Tom

G'Day again Tom,

Well, Ann and i were volunteer labourers at the Festival, but Insatiable II was not entered. We were anchored down near the Casino in Sandy Bay, commuting to the Fest by dinghy. We had given some thought to entering, but were not sure if they wanted modern timber boats on display. Turns out that they do indeed welcome them, but now that we've seen how much hassle is involved I dunno if we will ever do that.

Sure were a lot of neat boats on display! And some pretty clever and unusual things... like the home made steam outboard (just loved his "auto stoker" device).

Not sure when we will return, but the sooner the better, for we miss our home and the life.

Cheers,

Jim

[aclmck]

Hi Jim, tonight i even found local pizza chain with Beetroot and caramelised onion (could hardly believe it my self)


Wotty, think you must be a Queenslander, ya know too much ????


Tom, hope you are Maroon not a blue, you are on the Qld side of the goldie aren't you???

Allan

[auscruisertom]

Originally Posted by aclmck

Hi Jim, tonight i even found local pizza chain with Beetroot and caramelised onion (could hardly believe it my self)


Wotty, think you must be a Queenslander, ya know too much ????


Tom, hope you are Maroon not a blue, you are on the Qld side of the goldie aren't you???

Allan

Thanks for the history lesson it has certainly advanced my cultural understanding of the Queenslander . I am also approaching being "Bent Out"

And yes I Barrack for the Maroons Although I admit to sailing on the Tweed River after a few of us started the Tweed Valley Sailing Club. Since we Maroon supporters. are badly outnumbered down there, I started sailing a 16 foot skiff in order to level the playing field, the new skiff even sports a maroon paint job. The 16 footers can be a sizeable offensive weapon when approaching the line, especially while being run by a big rooky like myself. Consequently we took of running with the Blue opposition trying to make up ground.

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha and welcome aboard!
Interesting photo. Looks like warm weather for fouly bottoms.
Lookin' good!
kind regards,