The Doyles weblog

A few drops of rain...

As most of you know, we had a bit of a flood here in February.  OK - I jest, it was a HUGE flood!  A deluge of water that just kept rising and rising, keeping us cut off from the rest of Australia for over 10 days.

Here is a little DVD we created of Ingham (or little "Venice" in February.  We also held a fundraiser at the pub for Flood and Fire Victims.

Download Flood 2009 Fundraiser Web Version2

Poor little buggers!

A few months ago, one of the guys who works here Friday night offered to take us out to the Barramundi Farm he manages.  We walked the planks - all around the farm and saw the Barramundi through all their stages of life, feeding, vaccinations etc...  Then he took us to the nets of the fully grown Barramundi, we fed a few nets and then headed off to our "fishing spot".....ahem.....another net.

Seriously, if we couldn't catch one here then there was something wrong!!

Each of us caught a big ole' Barramundi (Florence), then we headed to one of the Islands off Hinchinbrook and cooked her up!  Yum!

Great day!

Glassy morning.

Barramundi Farm Office - not a bad view.

One man, a fishing rod and food for us all!

Poor little Florence.....she was yummy!

A Dugong Mum and her Calf.  They are so gorgeous!!

Our lunch spot.  There are worse places to eat fresh fish!  We also had a swim (Crocodile free!!).

The perfect North QLD day!

A touch of the beach in our restaurant...

Here are some more pics of the restaurant.  Still a little ways to go, but getting there.  The photo's are really dark as it's really stormy here at the moment and not a great amount of natural light.  

Lucky Tim was here for a visit to lend a hand!!

Ooohh sexy new roof!

Already the changes are wonderful!!

Look at that roof!!

12 hours of spraying and 150lt of paint!  It could still use another layer but we are running out of time!

She's pretty huh?

A Change is as good as a ______________

This week we started painting the Restaurant.  This meant we had to close the restaurant down for 2 weeks to get it done.  We painted one wall last year to brighten it up a little, but we really needed to over-hall it completely.

I took some photos of the restaurant cleared out of furniture as some "before" shots.

We are also re-upholstering all the seating, it should look FAB!  It hasn't been updated since the dark ages I would suggest.  The ceiling alone is one giant nicotine stain....noice!

Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and New Year!

Lots of love to you all

xoxo

 

Overflow...

We are very fortunate in North Queensland to have suffered no water restrictions.  Our Burdekin Dam often has spillage (enough to regularly fill the Sydney Harbour during the wet season).  So it's a great place to grow some beautiful plants.

As most of you know, my knowledge of gardening stretched to doing everything Mark would tell me to do, ensuring lovely plants.  I have always been good at deciding what I want but getting someone else to execute my plan.....ahem.

Well, I have started a little balcony garden here in the apartment above the hotel.  It's really sweet and we have such lovely plants!  Most of them have been lovingly cultivated from either seed or cuttings that I have grown on my very own.  The mulch is mine, the time taken is mine and the garden is MINE!  So, in a vain attempt at some photographic art I tried to capture the beauty of my little garden.

Some even made it into a vase.

Oh, and don't get Mark and I started on the possibilities of sharing our precious resource with you all down South.  I simply can't understand why it isn't happening.  As the Nana's would say "they can put a man on the moon....but". 

Gorgeous Melbourne

I am finally getting around to updating the blog regarding our Melbourne trip in August.  It was just gorgeous!

We stayed at The Coachmans Quarters in East Melbourne.  It was just divine.  Exactly what we needed, some pampering in luxurious accommodation.  I have included some photo's, they just don't do the place justice.  Our hosts were lovely and accommodating.  Wendy makes the most scrumptious cakes and goodies, presented in French Provincial surroundings.

We managed to sneak in a Day Spa at Endota Day Spa - Richmond where we had a couples massage and facials, followed by sparkling wine and a lovely hot spa!  It was freezing to us North Queenslanders so warmed us up nicely.

Garry and Liz's surprise wedding was great!  It was a fantastic night and they both just glowed with happiness.  I wish John could have been there but he was trapped in hospital after contracting a very strange skin disease, they might even name it after him if they ever work out what it was.  For us the wedding was like a family reunion.  The family were all together for the first time in a year.  The kids have all grown, the adults were all enjoying a few drinks and we heard all the stories we miss out on being all the way up here.

We managed to squeeze in some clothes shopping.  There's no place like Melbourne for shopping, really.  Mark very patiently traipsed with me up and down the streets of Richmond, Fitzroy, South Melbourne and of course Melbourne CBD.  Lucky we had under-packed as we needed another bag for the return trip.

Every Hotel we drank at got a full review.  We now find it impossible to go out without closely studying Menu's and drink ideas and pricing.  It's quite embarrassing actually and we have to make a conscious effort to STOP before we get boring.

We had time this visit to get up to Warburton and see Megan, Jimmy and the kids new place.  What a gorgeous spot!  The views are to die for.  A great huge cottage garden and just charming to boot.  A really great home.

Catching up with the boys was the best.  We have seen them up here and of course last year for Jan's funeral, but not in Melbourne for "fun" in 3 years!  yes, it's been over 3 years since we left!  The time has flown.

The Living Room at the Coachmans Quarters

The Kitchen with Home Made Cakes and Slices, cereals and fruit.  Delicious pastries for breakfast, freshly squeezed juices and fresh ground coffee....yum!  We found heaven!

The view from Mark's sister Megan's house.  Aren't they lucky ducks?  The views and gardens are just spectacular....it also helps that Megan is such a green thumb!

They're a Motley Crew!  On Megan's balcony.

All in all a great week and we look forward to getting back again soon!

Our Gorgeous new Glycol Taps

We recently had Glycol Taps added to the main bar.  They look really great and keep the beer ice cold!  I think they are fantastic and brighten up the bar a little.

We also had post-mix guns installed and make service so much easier!

All is good, we are getting busier and busier.  People are starting to book their Christmas functions....the year is just flying.

It's Mark's Dad's 80th birthday next month.  Fingers crossed we can get away to attend his party.

Congratulations to Shane and Kathryn on the birth of their baby boy!  We miss so much of the good stuff up here.  I feel as though we are completely out of the loop.  Wish we could see your new addition.

Otherwise all is good! The weather is really heating up now, the Crushers unfortunately lost the Grand Final and the Tourist Season is coming to an end.

Lots of love to you all!!  We miss you!

xoxoxo

Up, up and away!

Timbo is currently touring Europe on the trip of a lifetime!  We are so proud of him and are just hanging on every word when he rings us with the details of his travels.

We made sure we were there to take him to the Tullamarine when he left.  He was so excited and nervous.

I managed to get some shots of his plane taking off.  he was really excited because he was travelling on the new A380 from Singapore to Heathrow.

Catching up with the family

We were lucky enough to attend Garry and Liz's surprise wedding.  It was great to catch up with everyone and we had a fantastic time.

Unfortunately John wasn't 100% and spent some time in hospital so was unable to attend.  He's out and about now though!

Got some great shots with the family though!!