Our visit to Waikiki, Hawaii 2009
Sunday 12 April
Caught a Qantas flight from Brisbane Airport on Sunday morning, spent three hours in Sydney waiting for the Hawaiian Airlines connection, and arrived in Honolulu on the island of Oahu after a very bumpy flight 12 hours later in the afternoon on the same Sunday. The seats were narrow and uncomfortable, and we were stuck two rows from the toilets, there was a lot of traffic. Caught the shuttle bus from Honolulu airport to our hotel in Waikiki, and were able to get into our room a couple of hours early after a very long day.
1. Everyone wants and expects a tip, even if they don’t deserve it.
2. There are lots of houseless people living rough (some are employed but can’t afford the rent or to buy, others are mentally ill).
The room was large enough for both of us, as was the bathroom, but no separate toilet, and no fan in the bathroom. This room, and the next one we were allotted were very dusty, which seemed to aggravate the cold I had caught on the plane.
The street noise, particularly the tour buses and the coaches, was so loud in both apartments we had to close the balcony door to have a conversation or watch TV, particularly in the first room which was on the 7th floor, not quite so bad in the second room which was on the 12th floor.
Still, from both rooms we had a view of the ocean from one side of the balcony, and the mountains from the other, albeit framed by the width of the street and the taller buildings in the street. I was quite happy with the size of the room because there was adequate space to allow me to do my yoga practices without getting in the way.
The kitchenette was adequate, however the hotplate didn’t work, I had to ask for a replacement, and the only cooking utensils were a large pot and a frying pan. Also provided were a jug, a toaster, small microwave, some cutlery and a small cutting board, and mugs. We were given one free sample of tea and coffee, and that was it. Bench space was very limited. There was no freezer or crisper in the fridge, and barely space to hold enough food for more than a few meals.
Monday April 13
Took the bus to Diamond Head crater. Missed the first bus, online timetables are unhelpful. Bus out to Hanauma Bay only runs every 50 minutes, and if they are full you must wait until the next, and put up with the taxi drivers touting for business from the kerbside – they know the bus service is inadequate to meet the number of tourists. Enjoyed a short but difficult walk to the lookout, except that Bernadette nearly concussed herself climbing out to the lookout from the gunner’s concrete pillbox. The view was worth the climb, taking in all around Diamond Head and surrounds, out to the ocean, and across to Honolulu. There is a fee to go in, and fast food and drinks were available but no toilets are provided. My advice - take your lunch and some water, and go pee pee before you leave home!
We opted to walk back to the hotel, and had an opportunity to take in some of the local suburbia.
Tuesday April 14
Went to Honoloulu Zoo, a short walk from the hotel.
Nice walk a round the displays, some evidence of the lack of money/resources, unfilled enclosures etc.
Thursday 16 April
Friday 17 April
Packed some sandwiches and visited Foster Botanical Garden in Waikiki - one of Honolulu Botanical Gardens – very enjoyable, spent half the day wandering around the garden, also had a look a the Foster Community Garden where eggplants are the plant of the day. Also saw some very healthy Ceylon Spinach there, but the plots seems to be governed and ruled by hard line conservatives, three warnings and you’re out.
Saturday 18 April
Sunday 19 April
The second room (for four people) we had, which was allocated to us by Sun Tours (the World Vintage Softball Carnival organisers), was obviously not set to accommodate four people. We were bitterly disappointed at the size and sleeping arrangement in the room, as we had paid Sun Tours more then double the amount we paid for the first room, and so expected at least separate sleeping arrangements for couples. There was barely enough room on the towel rail for the four towels and facewashers provided, the bathroom was half the size of the previous one, and once again the toilet was located in a bathroom with no exhaust fan. Furthermore the floor space was minimal. There was no storage space to store the luggage of four people, so it was left on the bedroom floor, only three “dining” chairs (which were really lounge chairs) were provided inside at the “dining table” (which was too high to eat from), and two outdoor lounge chairs on the balcony.
the bench space was smaller, the coffee dripolator didn’t work, the fridge was the same size as in the previous room (ie not big enough, where would we put our beer, let alone our vegies) and there was still only one pot and a pan provided. Fortunately for us, those we shared with opted not to prepare any meals at home.
And the snooooooring!
The floor was even more full of dust than in the previous room, and even the air seemed dusty at the twelfth floor.
Monday 20 April
Bernadette played 3 games. No shade, no seating, no water or food, no first aid.
Took the bus to Hanauma Bay to try some snorkelling on the famed coral reefs, paid the entrance fee to the park and attended the compulsory introductory video. Looking at the number of visitors, even on days as the ones of our visit, I can see why the intro is necessary. Beautiful views from the top of the Bay, lots of fish in the shallows, the deeper water was clearer but very cold.
That night we attended the Welcome Dinner for the World Vintage Softball Carnival, arranged by Sun Tours at the hotel on the corner. Mai Tai were served that looked and tasted like weak cordial. Availed myself of the Guinness on tap instead. Very poor catering, no real meals, finger food with a queue a mile long, no dinner convenor or master of ceremonies so no one appeared to know who or what was being served, or when it was available. The venue was obviously unprepared for so many people, and although there was a ticket collector, and a band, there was little in the way of a welcome.
more to come...
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Friday 30 january 2009
The garden has recovered from the battering it took in November, and our first lot of ducklings have made it to the table. Still waiting on repairs to the ceiling and floor coverings.
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Brisbane blog
Bernadette and I had a birthday holiday (for both of our birthdays) in Cairns. If you go there take lots of money, and have private transport to get around because everything is a stitch. Expect to pay more for everything. Cairns itself has little to offer, hence the need for transport, but do visit the Flecker Gardens. We have had the outside of our house repainted, and I have repainted most of the inside. Now the weather is dry again the bush turkeys are ravaging the garden again - pumpkins, sweet potato, tomarillo all fall victim. We just had the driest 6 weeks in 20 years, but I expect there will be more, extreme weather to come. My Niece, Rochelle, just had her formal, pictured below, congratulations.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Call from Canberra
Got a call from Canberra today, someone was wondering when and if I would return. Well, Bernadette now has a job with a Firm in Brisbane, i am waiting on the reults of an interview I had with BNIT a few weeks ago - a two year contract. Meanwhile our quail are laying (well at least two of them), the fish in the pond are breeding and keeping the mosquitos down. We have had some triumphs and some failures in the garden.
Friday, August 24, 2007
Hi, by now you will have noticed that I no longer keep our news on our web site. But that doesn't matter because as far as i know few people bother to read the "news of the latest and greatest" anyway.
So first a correction. Some time ago I inferred that BNIT no longer taught "Renewable energy". I was wrong, installation of PVC and solar electrical systems is still part of courses offered at Bracken Ridge campus. BNIT just lost some of the most experienced, deeply committed and involved teachers in this area.
Bernadette has gained her MIP, and will start with a private firm in Brisbane as a Patent Attorney in a few weeks. She is really looking forward to the work, having been in preparaton for the last four years. We went to Baguette restaurant to celebrate her good fortune, and enjoyed the chef's Wednesday night special - Cassoulet, sausage, duck. pork, and white beans. Yum.
Our pond is full, a few weeks and we will add fish. Our tank is over half full, no watering needed this week.
So first a correction. Some time ago I inferred that BNIT no longer taught "Renewable energy". I was wrong, installation of PVC and solar electrical systems is still part of courses offered at Bracken Ridge campus. BNIT just lost some of the most experienced, deeply committed and involved teachers in this area.
Bernadette has gained her MIP, and will start with a private firm in Brisbane as a Patent Attorney in a few weeks. She is really looking forward to the work, having been in preparaton for the last four years. We went to Baguette restaurant to celebrate her good fortune, and enjoyed the chef's Wednesday night special - Cassoulet, sausage, duck. pork, and white beans. Yum.
Our pond is full, a few weeks and we will add fish. Our tank is over half full, no watering needed this week.
Thursday, May 03, 2007
I've just seen the news story on the Spanish actions taken to produce power from sunlight focussed by mirrors. So what does our present Government advocate for the future? Something non-polluitng perhaps? No. We'll burn more coal, and dig up and use uranium, a substance with a half life which guarantees it will remain a pollutant for eons.
Here at TAFE I still regret the loss of the Renewable Energy teaching team to QUT, what a magnificent case of mismanagement on behalf of BNIT.
Here at TAFE I still regret the loss of the Renewable Energy teaching team to QUT, what a magnificent case of mismanagement on behalf of BNIT.
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Monday 30 April 2007
Soon we will be celebrating both our birthdays, and Bernadette's graduation as a Patent Attorney. The certificate she received looks very impressive, with gold embossing and green background, so we plan to somewhere special. Life in Library world is less than spectacular at the moment, we are short staffed, and training in the new software applications has been minimal and fairly basic.
I'm going to be investing in ( ie buying some of) the new sliver cell photovoltaic technology as soon as Origin energy get it onto the market. These cells should be significantly cheaper than the current cells, and even if not, it is by far the better alternative to nuclear energy. I am excited by the high levels of electrical output from these solar cells, they appear to be far more efficient at capturing and converting solar energy than previous pvc cells.
No rain, no rain, then wind and no rain. We are bucketing grey water onto our trees, and they are struggling on. We had our first custard apple of this season tonight, it was about the size of a tennis ball, and had over 20 seeds. It tasted good but there was very little flesh in it. Our rain water tank probably wont arrive until the middle of May, but there has been no rain anyway. the tomatoes have all got viral wilt, every variety I planted. The zucchini also appears to have some sort of viral wilt, and the citrus all have the worse case of leaf miner I have seen here, due to the dry weather. The local dam, the Wivenhoe, is now down to less than 20% of its capacity, water restrictions are at level four, which for us means bucketing water for our vegetables on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday between 4 and 8 pm only. Which is pretty good considering some of our friends are having to buy in water for their cattle, and have only tank water themselves (when it rains). The three well established pink Euodia (a native rainforest tree) which hosted an annual visit from a flock of Rainbow Lorikeets and other birds, and are located directly behind our back fence, are wilting and appear to be dying from lack of rain.
Last weekend was our first weekend away in the tent in three years. We went to Noosa, and it rained in Noosa, but not in The Gap. We booked a campsite in the National park, but the roads were impassable, even for four wheel drives, so we decided it better to take our station wagon somewhere else. We spent a Friday night we wouldn't want to repeat at John's Landing, then moved the Noosa Counci l beach site the next day. The site was great but the weather was very windy, and overcast. Kyaking was very difficult and disappointing. On Sunday on the way home, after we had stopped and got the large and unidentified spider out of the car, we drove to Kenilworth for lunch, then stopped for a paddle in the Mary River, so as to enjoy it before the dam is finalised. I couldn't resist touching the unmarked live electric fence that some idiot had strung across the river, I thought it was a discarded fishing line!
I'm going to be investing in ( ie buying some of) the new sliver cell photovoltaic technology as soon as Origin energy get it onto the market. These cells should be significantly cheaper than the current cells, and even if not, it is by far the better alternative to nuclear energy. I am excited by the high levels of electrical output from these solar cells, they appear to be far more efficient at capturing and converting solar energy than previous pvc cells.
No rain, no rain, then wind and no rain. We are bucketing grey water onto our trees, and they are struggling on. We had our first custard apple of this season tonight, it was about the size of a tennis ball, and had over 20 seeds. It tasted good but there was very little flesh in it. Our rain water tank probably wont arrive until the middle of May, but there has been no rain anyway. the tomatoes have all got viral wilt, every variety I planted. The zucchini also appears to have some sort of viral wilt, and the citrus all have the worse case of leaf miner I have seen here, due to the dry weather. The local dam, the Wivenhoe, is now down to less than 20% of its capacity, water restrictions are at level four, which for us means bucketing water for our vegetables on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday between 4 and 8 pm only. Which is pretty good considering some of our friends are having to buy in water for their cattle, and have only tank water themselves (when it rains). The three well established pink Euodia (a native rainforest tree) which hosted an annual visit from a flock of Rainbow Lorikeets and other birds, and are located directly behind our back fence, are wilting and appear to be dying from lack of rain.
Last weekend was our first weekend away in the tent in three years. We went to Noosa, and it rained in Noosa, but not in The Gap. We booked a campsite in the National park, but the roads were impassable, even for four wheel drives, so we decided it better to take our station wagon somewhere else. We spent a Friday night we wouldn't want to repeat at John's Landing, then moved the Noosa Counci l beach site the next day. The site was great but the weather was very windy, and overcast. Kyaking was very difficult and disappointing. On Sunday on the way home, after we had stopped and got the large and unidentified spider out of the car, we drove to Kenilworth for lunch, then stopped for a paddle in the Mary River, so as to enjoy it before the dam is finalised. I couldn't resist touching the unmarked live electric fence that some idiot had strung across the river, I thought it was a discarded fishing line!
Monday, March 19, 2007
Monday 26 February 2007
We have started to settle back in. Bernadette has started work as an Outposted Examiner for IP Australia, and I am employed as a Library Technician with Brisbane North TAFE. We are managing the garden through the climate changes, and will soon have a 5000 gal/23000 litre rainwater tank installed, hopefully before the wet season finishes. We have mulched the garden extensively and hope this mulching will improve the soil condition. There is still much to do around the house, before the windows fall out.
Bernadette has joined the Brisbane Symphony Orchestra on Contrabass, and will soon be playing softball again. We have regular visits from a flock of Rainbow Lorikeets, a Scaly Breasted Parrot, a pair of Kookaburras, and of course, Crows. There is a pretty good crop of oranges, mangoes are finished, and there a few custard apples. We also have some tropical apples, pawpaw, papaya, one feijoa, two canistens, but no partridge or pear tree. The chooks will be some way off until the terracing Russell did has proven to have consolidated and will not be washed away in the next downpour.
Monday 15 January 2007
Aaaaaaaargh! Season's greetings, Happy new year.
The Removalists from Hell. They arrived at 7.00pm in Canberra and finished loading the truck at 1.00 am. Only with Bernadette's help (you should see the bruises). Turned the air blue with their f..ing and c.ing. Didn't have a ramp to get the car box trailer on the truck. Same driver but different "assisatanists" at pick up and delivery. Similar sort of language when they arrived. One "assisatanist", a dishevelled, intoxicated, unsteady fellow, dropped several items. he was incapable of lifting anything "heavy". The other was under instruction, and only learning his trade. They Scratched the fridge sometime after taking it from Canberra, and gouged the floor getting it into The Gap house. Started at 8.00 pm after assuring me they would be there by 6.00 pm, and finished at 12.00pm (only with my help), I was due to catch a 6:30 am flight back to Canberra the next morning. Dropped the trailer from the truck, broke the flooring and smashed the tail lights. Payment was done through direct debit, so we couldn't halt it. Letter to the company has resulted in no reponse. Pirates. Caveat emptor.
Flew from Brisbane back to Canberra at 6:30 for the drive to Rutherglen for a weeks frolicking in the Victorian wine region. Aaah, happy fami lies. See photos on Flickr, if you can't email and we will send you an 'invite'.
Bernadette's AWA has not been finalised, so she has been obliged to fly back to Canberra for another week until IP's HR can tidy the contract up. Oh, they have only had 3 months notice.
Bernadette has successfully finished her Master's in Intellectual Property, I'm a bit confused as to whether to refer to her as Master, Mistress, Doctor, or just Your Highness please forgive the broken galasses I am just an humble oaf. Any way three warm cheers for her.
So we have half our belongings, the one's from the flat, here and unpacked, and now await the rest of our household goods from long term storage.
We have started to settle back in. Bernadette has started work as an Outposted Examiner for IP Australia, and I am employed as a Library Technician with Brisbane North TAFE. We are managing the garden through the climate changes, and will soon have a 5000 gal/23000 litre rainwater tank installed, hopefully before the wet season finishes. We have mulched the garden extensively and hope this mulching will improve the soil condition. There is still much to do around the house, before the windows fall out.
Bernadette has joined the Brisbane Symphony Orchestra on Contrabass, and will soon be playing softball again. We have regular visits from a flock of Rainbow Lorikeets, a Scaly Breasted Parrot, a pair of Kookaburras, and of course, Crows. There is a pretty good crop of oranges, mangoes are finished, and there a few custard apples. We also have some tropical apples, pawpaw, papaya, one feijoa, two canistens, but no partridge or pear tree. The chooks will be some way off until the terracing Russell did has proven to have consolidated and will not be washed away in the next downpour.
Monday 15 January 2007
Aaaaaaaargh! Season's greetings, Happy new year.
The Removalists from Hell. They arrived at 7.00pm in Canberra and finished loading the truck at 1.00 am. Only with Bernadette's help (you should see the bruises). Turned the air blue with their f..ing and c.ing. Didn't have a ramp to get the car box trailer on the truck. Same driver but different "assisatanists" at pick up and delivery. Similar sort of language when they arrived. One "assisatanist", a dishevelled, intoxicated, unsteady fellow, dropped several items. he was incapable of lifting anything "heavy". The other was under instruction, and only learning his trade. They Scratched the fridge sometime after taking it from Canberra, and gouged the floor getting it into The Gap house. Started at 8.00 pm after assuring me they would be there by 6.00 pm, and finished at 12.00pm (only with my help), I was due to catch a 6:30 am flight back to Canberra the next morning. Dropped the trailer from the truck, broke the flooring and smashed the tail lights. Payment was done through direct debit, so we couldn't halt it. Letter to the company has resulted in no reponse. Pirates. Caveat emptor.
Flew from Brisbane back to Canberra at 6:30 for the drive to Rutherglen for a weeks frolicking in the Victorian wine region. Aaah, happy fami lies. See photos on Flickr, if you can't email and we will send you an 'invite'.
Bernadette's AWA has not been finalised, so she has been obliged to fly back to Canberra for another week until IP's HR can tidy the contract up. Oh, they have only had 3 months notice.
Bernadette has successfully finished her Master's in Intellectual Property, I'm a bit confused as to whether to refer to her as Master, Mistress, Doctor, or just Your Highness please forgive the broken galasses I am just an humble oaf. Any way three warm cheers for her.
So we have half our belongings, the one's from the flat, here and unpacked, and now await the rest of our household goods from long term storage.
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Russell and Bernadette's blog
Russell and Bernadette's blog
Saturday 14 October
Bernadette is to receive her Acceptance Delegation very s hortly, congratulations to her for all her hard work. Here she is aat an earlier presentation./Users/russellreinhardt/Desktop/presentation 2004-1 staff .jpg By the endof the year she will also have completed all course work towards her Master's. Capital of Australia Mandolinata is well under way. The Constitution has been finalised and COZMO has been Inc.'d. we had a paddle on the Tathra River a few weeks back, which was fun./Users/russellreinhardt/Desktop/Mimosa Rocks.jpg
Wednesday 21 June
We're back!! After 5 weeks abroad (Germany and Holland), we returned to Australia on Wednesday 14 June. We were so inspired, we have decided to reinstate the Syzygy Duo, featuring ourselves (who else of course?), on Contrabass, Flute, Baroque flute , Baroque guitar, and Mandolin (not all simutaneously, obbbbbviously!) The Eurofestival Zupfmusik Bamberg (25-28 May 2006 Concert Hall Bamberg) was fantastic. We have over 600 photos and some 5 hours of video to edit, so it may be some time before you can see everything, however I have put some photos on Flickr.
Friday 14 April (Good Friday)
It is now Autumn, the leaves are falling all around us. While we were away on the coast a couple of weeks ago, it got down to 0 degrees overnight in Canberra. Glad we missed that.
The sound quality of the FAME recording made at Christmas at the live performances is very good, but the performances themselves sound rather ragged. However I think the DVD will be quite exciting to watch.
Bernadette and I have both resigned from the CMO, much to our regret, as we are no longer able to condone the scheming dishonesty of some of its current members, the way our time has been wasted, and the rudeness and lack of apprecitation shown to us. Very disappointing!
So instead of playing at the National Folk Festival we are resting and catching up on other matters - assignments, the web page, rehearsal for the European tour. In Europe there will be 6 concerts in all, plus a rehearsal - 2 concerts in Frankfurt, 1 in Julich, then to Holland for a concert in Breda, back to Germany for one in Stoljwik, and finally the festival concert in Bamberg .
Wednesday 28 March
Today I was offered, and I accepted, my position as Loans Desk Manger at CIT Reid campus Library. Bernadette has a very sore big toe due to another softball injury. I am investigating ways of scanning photo transparencies and saving to a disc.
Saturday 28 January
Good news - Bernadette's biopsy came back with no findings for lymphoma, and a diagnosis of sarcoidosis. While this will need to be monitored in future it will not require immediate medication, and may even disappear in time. She returns to work next week, having spent a week recovering from the biopsy operation. We are both hoping our next holiday will be less eventful.
Thursday 29 December 2005
See you at the FAME Music camp, Bernadette will be attending both performances, and the Australasian Mandolin Touring Orchestra rehearsal.
Wednesday 21 December 2005
Whoopee! Bernadette has come home on the 'Hospital at Home' scheme where a nurse visits daily. She is allowed to walk a little bit and is having her blood monitored from home. She still has to have injections and tests on her lymph nodes should start about 9 January 2006 when it is hoped the clot will have dispersed enough to allow her to discontinue the Warfarin medication for a while. However we are both much happier as it means she doesn't have to spend Christmas in hospital, and seems to be recovering very quickly.
Monday 19 December 2005
Planning to leave for Melbourne last Saturday 17 December, but Bernadette suddenly became seriously ill on Thursday 15 December and had to be rushed to hospital. Got her into Emergency at 9:30 pm. She was seen at 11:30 pm, but the final diagnosis wasn't made until after 9:00 am Friday morning. She had developed a pulmonary embolism, or clot, on her right lung, which caused cell death or infarction.
This was extremely painful and life threatening. She was also shown to have developed deep vein thrombosis in her left leg above the knee. Scans have also shown enlargement of some of her lymphatic glands, so there was also the worry of sarcoma. So far she is making good progress in relation to the infarction, but it will be several weeks before her lymph nodes can be tested. We were both very worried because of the seriousness of this illness, and its sudden and unheralded of onset.
The specialist treating her has been unable to give any reason for the exact cause of the thrombosis. We are hoping she will be released from hospital by the end of this week, and will at least be able to spend Christmas together. So to all out there, a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, sorry we may not have caught up with you, but things have taken a very unexpected turn.
Saturday 14 May 2005
Celebrated my birthday on Wednesday, Bernadette cooked a wonderful Scotch Filet with Hollandaise sauce, fresh vegies and potatoes sauteeed in duck fat. Mmmm. Then I spent the night completing bloody selection criteria. Thursday Bernadette played with the Canberra Pops Orchestra, and they had a full house, very exciting and lots of fun for her. I am in the process of acquiring a bowl back mandolin as my birthday present, and anticipate the instrument arriving this week. Very cold here in Canberra now, days are very short, with darkness falling as we leave work. I have had my contract with IPAustralia libray extended another week. Bernadette is still studying hard. Our few plants are struggling along.
Tuesday 18 January 2005
Happy New Year one and all. Well here we are back in the sheep paddock, our travels being without incident. We were amazed at the apparent lack of water restrictions in Mildura, (being right on the Murray River I guess) and had a good Christmas day with Bernadette's sisters and their families, and her father, Ian. We stayed long enough ( 4 days) to try a bit of river fishing, which was fun when I wasn't catching trees. We toured the wineries and a Yabby farm.
In Melbourne we stayed at my mum's (Val, thanks for your hospitality) place for a week, I spent a week at the Federation of Australasian Mandolin Ensemble's FAME music camp (held in Melbourne this year, and played mandolin in the FAME Concert Orchestra concert on Friday 7 Jan. Bernadette spent time with her sisters while I rehearsed. We spent a lot of time driving in and out of Melbourne to and from Black Rock, therefore we were unable to catch up with all our old mates. We came back with lots of gifts, but also managed to rescue a few desperate cheeses from Queen Victoria Market. So much variety, and much, much cheaper than any comparable item in Canberra (petrol was 20c cheaper too).
Sunday 12 December 2004
Congratulations to Bernadette and the Lightning Strikes softball team on their Bronze Medal win at the Gold Coast Pan Pacific Masters in November. Study is over for the year, and Bernadette has passed all her subjects this year. We have had a few good bike rides around Canberra, and I will be taking part in the annual FAME music camp, but playing mandolin this time. Nice to hear from those people who have listened to my audio files ...
Monday 25 October
Bernadette is working hard at her study for the Masters in Patent Law, and putting in a lot of time. We have enjoyed a few local bike rides, even got as far as Yarralumla.
I have joined Canberra Mandolin Orchestra, and am playing mandolin for a change, rather than guitar. The two compositions are not recent, however I am taking the opportunity to explore the possibilities for posting audio music files on our web page. I welcome any feedback on my efforts. Next step will be to post visual score samples.
Wednesday 22 September 2004
We have just returned from a weekend away at Bateman's Bay, about 2 hours drive from Canberra. Had a look around Tilba further down the Coast on Saturday, and caught up with Nick, Tiziana, Rochelle and Danielle on the Sunday. Good weather on Saturday, but as you can see from the photos Sunday was overcast with some rain. The weather was very mild compared to Canberra's, which was cold to come back to.
Tuesday 7 September 2004
Yeah, verily yeah! We have had rain!! Two days, so far, of fairly steady rain. Bernadette played with the Camberra Community Orchestra last weekend, a programme at ANU of Mendelson, Prokofiev, Beethoven. They had a good turn out, and played well. She starts with Canberra Symphony soon, so she is going to be extremely busy with her work, study, and 'bass practice.
Friday 20 August 2004
Celebration - Bernadette received official written confirmation of her permanent appointment as an Examiner of Patents with IP Australia (Intellectual Property). (Have added another photo album and new photos, and have generalised about the content headings, I hope you will get my drift.)
Monday 16 August 2004
Two weeks ago Bernadette and I went for a walk around Lake Burley Griffin, and heard part of a performance on the Carillion, the biggest bell weighs in at tons . Last week we had an enjoyable night out at a Chinese restaurant with family to celebrate Carolyn's birthday, and a BBQ the following day at Ginninderra Lake park, in beautiful weather. Blue sky all day long, and little or no wind.
The temperature has dropped as far as 6 deg. below zero overnight, Bernadette is giving serious thought to sleeping on an electric blanket. There has been snow on surrounding hills on a couple of occasions, but so far no snow in Phillip.
Wednesday 30 June 2004
After a bit of much appreciated feed back, I have reduced the size of the pictures in the gallery, most by about 50%, I hope this makes viewing a less tiresome procedure. As you can see, I have also removed the background photo on this page to make for easier reading. :-)
Friday 28th May 2004
Well here we are now in Phillip, Canberra. Bernadette is happily walking the fifteen minutes to work and back each day, and enjoys her new working environment and its challenges and opportunities.
There is not much to see around the unit (or Townhouse as it is called here), but there is a lovely Banksia outside one of the windows. The flat has 3 bedrooms, so we have an office, and another room for music and yoga. We have covered most of the windows with cardboard, there is no sarking or insulation in the ceiling, and all rooms have at least one floor to ceiling double window and sliding door, great in summer but freezing in the winters here. We have already had several nights well below freezing, and expect more.
We have unpacked in Canberrra, and now have a tenant in our house in Brisbane as of the begining of June. The old house looked pretty good when we left, floors all polished, new guttering in place, and fruit trees laden. We are already missing our friends in Brisbane.
The shade house, chook house and run have gone into storage, along with over half the rest of our belongings. We hope to start looking for a new house in the near future. I have taken the liberty of including some snaps of our recent weekend at Montville (before we left Brisbane), and an earlier one taken at the Bunya Mountains. Hopefully the web site will keep improving, but without too many buttons, rollovers, bells and whistles.
Russell
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After 2.5 years in The Gap, we are on the move (again!).
The garden is looking fantastic, with many plants such as our banana palm, grape vine and custard apple fruiting for the first time.
Have formed friendships with our neighbours and Bernadette had settled into two local softball teams (go Waratahs, go Lightning Strikes!). However the necessity for incomes and job satisfaction has precipitated a move to the ACT.
We'll miss our walks along Enoggera Creek, and we'll also miss the opportunity to renovate our 50-year old home. We've sanded back the flooded gum floorboards in the front two rooms, and finished them with tung oil followed by wax (a much healthier option than the more popular estapols which are known to emit toxic fumes). They look great, but we won't have time to do the study and hall, which we originally intended to do.
A deck. Wouldn't it have made a huge difference to the living space of this house - oh well, can't have everything! Just never got that 'round tuit'.
/Users/russellreinhardt/Desktop/Butthead.jpg
Xena, Beavis and Butthead will no doubt have to find new homes (perhaps in Russell's belly?). Such a shame, as they had only just moved into their new highset timber home (a castle, really). They seem happy, as we are getting 1.5 dozen eggs a week at the moment.
/Users/russellreinhardt/Desktop/Eggs.jpg
Bernadette
Saturday 14 October
Bernadette is to receive her Acceptance Delegation very s hortly, congratulations to her for all her hard work. Here she is aat an earlier presentation./Users/russellreinhardt/Desktop/presentation 2004-1 staff .jpg By the endof the year she will also have completed all course work towards her Master's. Capital of Australia Mandolinata is well under way. The Constitution has been finalised and COZMO has been Inc.'d. we had a paddle on the Tathra River a few weeks back, which was fun./Users/russellreinhardt/Desktop/Mimosa Rocks.jpg
Wednesday 21 June
We're back!! After 5 weeks abroad (Germany and Holland), we returned to Australia on Wednesday 14 June. We were so inspired, we have decided to reinstate the Syzygy Duo, featuring ourselves (who else of course?), on Contrabass, Flute, Baroque flute , Baroque guitar, and Mandolin (not all simutaneously, obbbbbviously!) The Eurofestival Zupfmusik Bamberg (25-28 May 2006 Concert Hall Bamberg) was fantastic. We have over 600 photos and some 5 hours of video to edit, so it may be some time before you can see everything, however I have put some photos on Flickr.
Friday 14 April (Good Friday)
It is now Autumn, the leaves are falling all around us. While we were away on the coast a couple of weeks ago, it got down to 0 degrees overnight in Canberra. Glad we missed that.
The sound quality of the FAME recording made at Christmas at the live performances is very good, but the performances themselves sound rather ragged. However I think the DVD will be quite exciting to watch.
Bernadette and I have both resigned from the CMO, much to our regret, as we are no longer able to condone the scheming dishonesty of some of its current members, the way our time has been wasted, and the rudeness and lack of apprecitation shown to us. Very disappointing!
So instead of playing at the National Folk Festival we are resting and catching up on other matters - assignments, the web page, rehearsal for the European tour. In Europe there will be 6 concerts in all, plus a rehearsal - 2 concerts in Frankfurt, 1 in Julich, then to Holland for a concert in Breda, back to Germany for one in Stoljwik, and finally the festival concert in Bamberg .
Wednesday 28 March
Today I was offered, and I accepted, my position as Loans Desk Manger at CIT Reid campus Library. Bernadette has a very sore big toe due to another softball injury. I am investigating ways of scanning photo transparencies and saving to a disc.
Saturday 28 January
Good news - Bernadette's biopsy came back with no findings for lymphoma, and a diagnosis of sarcoidosis. While this will need to be monitored in future it will not require immediate medication, and may even disappear in time. She returns to work next week, having spent a week recovering from the biopsy operation. We are both hoping our next holiday will be less eventful.
Thursday 29 December 2005
See you at the FAME Music camp, Bernadette will be attending both performances, and the Australasian Mandolin Touring Orchestra rehearsal.
Wednesday 21 December 2005
Whoopee! Bernadette has come home on the 'Hospital at Home' scheme where a nurse visits daily. She is allowed to walk a little bit and is having her blood monitored from home. She still has to have injections and tests on her lymph nodes should start about 9 January 2006 when it is hoped the clot will have dispersed enough to allow her to discontinue the Warfarin medication for a while. However we are both much happier as it means she doesn't have to spend Christmas in hospital, and seems to be recovering very quickly.
Monday 19 December 2005
Planning to leave for Melbourne last Saturday 17 December, but Bernadette suddenly became seriously ill on Thursday 15 December and had to be rushed to hospital. Got her into Emergency at 9:30 pm. She was seen at 11:30 pm, but the final diagnosis wasn't made until after 9:00 am Friday morning. She had developed a pulmonary embolism, or clot, on her right lung, which caused cell death or infarction.
This was extremely painful and life threatening. She was also shown to have developed deep vein thrombosis in her left leg above the knee. Scans have also shown enlargement of some of her lymphatic glands, so there was also the worry of sarcoma. So far she is making good progress in relation to the infarction, but it will be several weeks before her lymph nodes can be tested. We were both very worried because of the seriousness of this illness, and its sudden and unheralded of onset.
The specialist treating her has been unable to give any reason for the exact cause of the thrombosis. We are hoping she will be released from hospital by the end of this week, and will at least be able to spend Christmas together. So to all out there, a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, sorry we may not have caught up with you, but things have taken a very unexpected turn.
Saturday 14 May 2005
Celebrated my birthday on Wednesday, Bernadette cooked a wonderful Scotch Filet with Hollandaise sauce, fresh vegies and potatoes sauteeed in duck fat. Mmmm. Then I spent the night completing bloody selection criteria. Thursday Bernadette played with the Canberra Pops Orchestra, and they had a full house, very exciting and lots of fun for her. I am in the process of acquiring a bowl back mandolin as my birthday present, and anticipate the instrument arriving this week. Very cold here in Canberra now, days are very short, with darkness falling as we leave work. I have had my contract with IPAustralia libray extended another week. Bernadette is still studying hard. Our few plants are struggling along.
Tuesday 18 January 2005
Happy New Year one and all. Well here we are back in the sheep paddock, our travels being without incident. We were amazed at the apparent lack of water restrictions in Mildura, (being right on the Murray River I guess) and had a good Christmas day with Bernadette's sisters and their families, and her father, Ian. We stayed long enough ( 4 days) to try a bit of river fishing, which was fun when I wasn't catching trees. We toured the wineries and a Yabby farm.
In Melbourne we stayed at my mum's (Val, thanks for your hospitality) place for a week, I spent a week at the Federation of Australasian Mandolin Ensemble's FAME music camp (held in Melbourne this year, and played mandolin in the FAME Concert Orchestra concert on Friday 7 Jan. Bernadette spent time with her sisters while I rehearsed. We spent a lot of time driving in and out of Melbourne to and from Black Rock, therefore we were unable to catch up with all our old mates. We came back with lots of gifts, but also managed to rescue a few desperate cheeses from Queen Victoria Market. So much variety, and much, much cheaper than any comparable item in Canberra (petrol was 20c cheaper too).
Sunday 12 December 2004
Congratulations to Bernadette and the Lightning Strikes softball team on their Bronze Medal win at the Gold Coast Pan Pacific Masters in November. Study is over for the year, and Bernadette has passed all her subjects this year. We have had a few good bike rides around Canberra, and I will be taking part in the annual FAME music camp, but playing mandolin this time. Nice to hear from those people who have listened to my audio files ...
Monday 25 October
Bernadette is working hard at her study for the Masters in Patent Law, and putting in a lot of time. We have enjoyed a few local bike rides, even got as far as Yarralumla.
I have joined Canberra Mandolin Orchestra, and am playing mandolin for a change, rather than guitar. The two compositions are not recent, however I am taking the opportunity to explore the possibilities for posting audio music files on our web page. I welcome any feedback on my efforts. Next step will be to post visual score samples.
Wednesday 22 September 2004
We have just returned from a weekend away at Bateman's Bay, about 2 hours drive from Canberra. Had a look around Tilba further down the Coast on Saturday, and caught up with Nick, Tiziana, Rochelle and Danielle on the Sunday. Good weather on Saturday, but as you can see from the photos Sunday was overcast with some rain. The weather was very mild compared to Canberra's, which was cold to come back to.
Tuesday 7 September 2004
Yeah, verily yeah! We have had rain!! Two days, so far, of fairly steady rain. Bernadette played with the Camberra Community Orchestra last weekend, a programme at ANU of Mendelson, Prokofiev, Beethoven. They had a good turn out, and played well. She starts with Canberra Symphony soon, so she is going to be extremely busy with her work, study, and 'bass practice.
Friday 20 August 2004
Celebration - Bernadette received official written confirmation of her permanent appointment as an Examiner of Patents with IP Australia (Intellectual Property). (Have added another photo album and new photos, and have generalised about the content headings, I hope you will get my drift.)
Monday 16 August 2004
Two weeks ago Bernadette and I went for a walk around Lake Burley Griffin, and heard part of a performance on the Carillion, the biggest bell weighs in at tons . Last week we had an enjoyable night out at a Chinese restaurant with family to celebrate Carolyn's birthday, and a BBQ the following day at Ginninderra Lake park, in beautiful weather. Blue sky all day long, and little or no wind.
The temperature has dropped as far as 6 deg. below zero overnight, Bernadette is giving serious thought to sleeping on an electric blanket. There has been snow on surrounding hills on a couple of occasions, but so far no snow in Phillip.
Wednesday 30 June 2004
After a bit of much appreciated feed back, I have reduced the size of the pictures in the gallery, most by about 50%, I hope this makes viewing a less tiresome procedure. As you can see, I have also removed the background photo on this page to make for easier reading. :-)
Friday 28th May 2004
Well here we are now in Phillip, Canberra. Bernadette is happily walking the fifteen minutes to work and back each day, and enjoys her new working environment and its challenges and opportunities.
There is not much to see around the unit (or Townhouse as it is called here), but there is a lovely Banksia outside one of the windows. The flat has 3 bedrooms, so we have an office, and another room for music and yoga. We have covered most of the windows with cardboard, there is no sarking or insulation in the ceiling, and all rooms have at least one floor to ceiling double window and sliding door, great in summer but freezing in the winters here. We have already had several nights well below freezing, and expect more.
We have unpacked in Canberrra, and now have a tenant in our house in Brisbane as of the begining of June. The old house looked pretty good when we left, floors all polished, new guttering in place, and fruit trees laden. We are already missing our friends in Brisbane.
The shade house, chook house and run have gone into storage, along with over half the rest of our belongings. We hope to start looking for a new house in the near future. I have taken the liberty of including some snaps of our recent weekend at Montville (before we left Brisbane), and an earlier one taken at the Bunya Mountains. Hopefully the web site will keep improving, but without too many buttons, rollovers, bells and whistles.
Russell
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After 2.5 years in The Gap, we are on the move (again!).
The garden is looking fantastic, with many plants such as our banana palm, grape vine and custard apple fruiting for the first time.
Have formed friendships with our neighbours and Bernadette had settled into two local softball teams (go Waratahs, go Lightning Strikes!). However the necessity for incomes and job satisfaction has precipitated a move to the ACT.
We'll miss our walks along Enoggera Creek, and we'll also miss the opportunity to renovate our 50-year old home. We've sanded back the flooded gum floorboards in the front two rooms, and finished them with tung oil followed by wax (a much healthier option than the more popular estapols which are known to emit toxic fumes). They look great, but we won't have time to do the study and hall, which we originally intended to do.
A deck. Wouldn't it have made a huge difference to the living space of this house - oh well, can't have everything! Just never got that 'round tuit'.
/Users/russellreinhardt/Desktop/Butthead.jpg
Xena, Beavis and Butthead will no doubt have to find new homes (perhaps in Russell's belly?). Such a shame, as they had only just moved into their new highset timber home (a castle, really). They seem happy, as we are getting 1.5 dozen eggs a week at the moment.
/Users/russellreinhardt/Desktop/Eggs.jpg
Bernadette
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