Yamba

Mid week we drove to Yamba (about 1 1/4 hours from where we live) to visit my husband's parents. Here's a little about Yamba http://www.yambansw.com.au/main.html 

"There are two theories as to the meaning of Yamba, one being that it is the local Aboriginal word for "headland". However, J.S. Ryan, following R.L. Dawson's early 'Recollections and Records of the Clarence Aborigines', believes the most likely derivation is an Aboriginal word 'yumbah' meaning a rough edible shellfish the size of a man's hand that clings to rocks and is similar to an oyster."

Driving past the sugarcane fields

We drove through Maclean - an area that is well known for growing sugar-cane. The sugarcane fires at night can be spectacular!! 

The mighty Clarence River

We watched the Anzac Day rugby league match http://www.smh.com.au/photogallery/rugby-league/league-news/roosters-vs-dragons-anzac-day-match-20130425-2ih05.html My hubby goes for the St George Dragons and was a little sad they lost :-(

Indulging in some ANZAC biscuits

http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/536/giant+anzac+biscuits#  Here is the recipe for anyone interested - they are yummy!!

The war veterans parade before the match

Some St George players

The next day we drove down to Yamba Beach and had morning tea at Pippie's cafe.  

Waffles - yum!!

 Then checked out the memorial and cenotaph for local soldiers who went to war. Seeing the old men who fought in the war and what they must have gone through always brings a tear to my eye.

Overlooking the baths and beach

"Lest We Forget" memorial

Cenotaph

On our way home we stopped into a fish shop as hubby is going fishing for blackfish tomorrow in Urunga. The marina is beautiful with all the boats and we saw some egrets and pelicans. 

                                     

                                                 

I also got to purchase some craft books - sweet!!

Now Riki is helping me finish off some crafts for a swap!! Hope everyone is having a as great a weekend as we are!!

Little Bit of Live Music :-)

Friends of ours invited us to a live music concert - Grinspoon - and I got all excited when I saw who the support band was - Kingswood. Grinspoon is an Australian band who have been around for ages, here's a bit of a blurb from Wikipedia

"Grinspoon is an Australian rock band from Lismore, New South Wales formed in 1995 and fronted by Phil Jamieson on vocals and guitar with Pat Davern on guitar, Joe Hansen on bass guitar and Kristian Hopes on drums. Also in 1995, they won the Triple J-sponsored Unearthed competition for Lismore, with their post-grunge song "Sickfest". 

Grinspoon changed their sound to more mainstream rock by their 2002 album, New Detention, gaining fans and peaking at No. 2 on the ARIA Albums Charts; similarly 2007's Alibis & Other Lies also reached No. 2. Their 2004 album, Thrills, Kills & Sunday Pills, which peaked at No. 4, won the2005 'Best Rock Album Award' at the ARIA Music Awards.

The band was signed to Universal Records in United States by late 1998, they were promoted by the songs "Champion", which featured in Gran Turismo 3; "Post Enebriated Anxiety", which was on the international version of Guide to Better Living; "Chemical Heart", via the internet; and a cover of the Prong song "Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck", from Grinspoon's Pushing Buttons EP, which was included on ECW: Extreme Music."

Here's a clip

But the highlight for me was Kingswood - the lead singer does the best vocals!!

http://www.triplejunearthed.com/KINGSWOOD 

This is the link to the Triple J Unearthed website where you can download new artist music for free :-) But I also purchased their EP on iTunes this morning - sweet!!

Blurb from their website:
KINGSWOOD are a four-piece indie rock outfit from Melbourne Australia consisting of Fergus Linacre (lead vocals), Alex Laska (lead guitar & backing vocals), Jeremy Hunter (bass & vocals) and Justin Debrincat (drums & backing vocals).
After touring Australia in their own right and with such acts as The Living End, British India and The Saints, numerous festival appearances such as Splendour In The Grass, Queenscliff Music Festival and Pyramid Rock, and releasing 3 killer singles "Yeah Go Die", "Medusa" and "She's My Baby", 2012 has been a massive year for KINGSWOOD.
Don't miss your opportunity to experience one of Australia's hottest acts live.

Here's some Kingswood clips :-)

We started off by trying to find a place to eat. We tried Cafe Fiasco for pizza but they were fully booked. Walked by a whale sculpture fountain down by the Jetty on our way - we have awesome whale watching. Humpback whales cruise past Coffs Coast on their way north in early winter and, after giving birth, the whales and their calves make their way back south in spring.

We then settled on a Vietnamese restaurant - I had Xào tỏi with chicken and coriander (stir fry) and my hubby had Pork Om sữa (where ingredients are cooked in and eaten from a clay pot - it's the brown clay pot behind Riki)

Then onto Cold Rock Ice creamery - where we shared a mango sorbet with a Bounty bar (chocolate covered coconut) smashed in with it - yum!!

Then onto the gig - we'd missed the first support act - Emporers - but where there just in time for Kingswood - woot!! My favourite song's are She's My Baby, Ohio, Medusa and their cover of First Aid Kits "Wolf". Then a break and Grinspoon came on - the crowd got a bit crazy so I stood up the back with hubby and got a few awful pictures

We had left our puppies inside as it's getting cold for winter. We found they had no trouble entertaining themselves by trying to get into a peanut butter jar and a skim milk carton :-( Could of been worse!

Wasn't me?!?

Yummy breakfast of bacon, eggs, olive batard and brewed coffee!!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend :-)

All things Woolgoolga

Okay- time for a bit of catch-up :-)

Well - during the week I had 3 days of professional development for work at a lovely resort close to Coffs Harbour. Whilst we waited around for dinner one night we played some mini golf and walked along Sapphire Beach (it didn't get it's name from an over-abundance of sapphires on it's shores :-()

Then the Woolgoolga Curryfest 2013 was on (http://www.curryfest.com.au/) - Woolgoolga has a large Sikh community and in 2006 they decided to showcase this facet of our community through a festival. On Friday night a friend and I went to see an outdoor movie called 'Monsoon Wedding' (equal parts humorous and dramatic) and we're glad that it didn't rain. We bought a mixed plate of chicken and lamb curry with a samosa - yum!! Unfortunately I only had my phone which takes crappy photos so no pictures :-(

On the Saturday we took a quick trip through the Curryfest markets during our weekend trip to the butcher's. Lots of Indian clothes, jewellery and accessories. Rain was still threatening!!

My sister and her family arrived shortly after this and spent the night visiting. Today the sun came out so we decided to make the most of it - a trip into Woolgoolga again for seafood and a walk along the beach - beautiful. Coffee afterwards at the Beachhouse Cafe.

 You can't see behind the plant but the sign says White Salt - where we get yummy seafood and thick cut chips!

Phew!! Can't wait to see what we get up to this week.

Some things coming up soon are

• ANZAC Day 26th April - where we have a dawn service for all soldiers past and present who have served our country in war
• Rotary second-hand book fair - ANZAC day long weekend May 11th-18th

Here's to all the LV's out there having a fantastic time :-)

Riki's here!!!!!!

Riki arrived today safe and sound - yeahhhhhh

She was relieved to be out of her wrappings and very pleased she had resisted the urge to eat the sweets that were in with her!! She helped me out a bit for some crafting I am doing as well. Can't wait to get out and about and see some of the Australian coast with her.

The anxoius wait......

I am picturing Riki in an aeroplane jetting her way to Australia - she is a well seasoned traveller so I am sure she is having a great time.
I decided to do a test to see if I can use this blog properly to catalogue Riki's adventures when she arrives :-)  I am a blogging newbie :-) I will be hosting Riki for the next 6 months on the east coast of Australia  - a little place called Coffs Harbour!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffs_Harbour
Today daylight saving finished so we gained an hour of time (instead of 6pm its 5pm) - this is definitely a sign that winter is approaching. Here is our little piece of the coast!!