My life 1996 | Hello from the Five Star Vagabond

Sydney Melbourne Falls Creek 1996

July 16, 2016 by David Herd

Road trip in my 928 Porsche

Sydney Melbourne Falls Creek & Hunter valley in 1996 was one of my all time great road trips. What made the trip so great was the companionship and humour provided by my great friend Ross Kennedy. As much as I would love to give you some examples of many bizarre events, I will evoke the rule “what happens on tour stays on tour”. 🙂

Please note, this is not part of my Travel Blog. It’s part of my personal history

The beast is polished and ready to go

The 928 was the perfect car for a long distance road trip, comfort and power to burn.

Overnight in Tenterfield

I have an afternoon appointment in Lismore so we were late getting on the road, it was freezing cold on the New England Highway so we stopped for the night in Tenterfield.

Fabulous Tenterfield homestead

After Tenterfield it was an easy run down the New England Highway to the Hunter Valley.

We had non stop music blasting on the CD this is the one I mainly remember.

OMC - How Bizarre (Official Music Video)

Watch this video on YouTube

The Hunter Valley in NSW

We stayed at Peppers in the Hunter Valley and toured some of the vineyards including Tyrrell’s.

Peppers guest house

For an excellent room rate just book through THIS LINK.

Big Tim Bristow

Next stop was Sydney where I introduced Ross to Big Tim Bristow who used to be a well known stand-over man. Rossco has always been fascinated with the world of gangsters. 🙂 For more about Tim’s amazing lie just follow THIS LINK.

We had a couple of great nights in Sydney which included many drinks at the Hilton Hotel and coffee with friends in Double Bay.

Gundagai

A fuel stop at Gundagai on the way to Falls Creek.

Ready to hit the slopes

We hit the slopes with a vengeance and had some monumental pile ups. Conditions were good so we would ski for a couple of hours in the morning then spend the afternoon and evening drinking the bar dry.

Set em up Joe

We made the mistake of having one drink from every bottle behind the bar, a recipe for disaster if ever there was one. 🙂

And the final result was…..

Here we are totally flyblown in the snow at Falls Creek. We had a terrific few days, drinking too much and having some of the most spectacular falls ever seen at Fall’s Creek. Little did I realise after this 1996 adventure I would never ski again.

After falls Creek we headed down the highway to Melbourne.

The Sharks Fin Inn

This gorgeous girl Jacqui O’Brien actually lived in my house for a few months in 1987, she then worked with me for a short time in 1998. A lovely lady until she had one drink too many, she then turned into a nightmare. Rossco came up with a classic name for her, “Jacqui Petrol”.

Stokehouse in St Kilda.

Lunch with Jacqui at the Stokehouse in St Kilda.

Chappel St Melbourne

Drinks with Rossco’s friends in South Yarra, from the left Ross Kennedy aka “Shoeless Joe Jackson, David Herd aka “The Cincinnati Kid”, Craig Belcher and Johnny Mac.

Thanks for visiting my Sydney Melbourne Falls Creek photo blog.

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Sydney Melbourne Hunter Valley

June 10, 2015 by David Herd

Please note, this is not part of my Travel Blog. It’s part of my personal history.

Tyrrel’s Hunter Valley

Sydney Melbourne Hunter Valley

Sydney Melbourne Hunter Valley in 1996 started on the Gold Coast where I was living life to the max. The highlight was a great road trip in my Porsche 928 with good friend Ross Kennedy to the Hunter Valley, Sydney, Falls Creek & Melbourne. Also caught up with an old friend from the Gold Coast Jill McCrossan, one very sexy lady.

Talking about sexy ladies

Well Emily certainly was in that category.

Please note, this is not part of my Travel Blog. It’s part of my personal history, check it out if you wish, also note this post contains nudity, so if you are bothered by naked humans please leave now.

Drinks at Saks

Drinks at Saks before going to the Ray White ball at the Sheraton Mirage. From the left we have a girl whose name I forget, then Phil (Swifty) Gregory, Claudia Scrupin, Duncan McGuiness, Emily and yours truly David Herd.

Little did they realise at the time but Swifty and Emily would marry and have a couple of kids.

Great photo, if I say so myself. 🙂

Such a beautiful big smile.

Saks was our main haunt

Saks was a great bar at Main Beach owned by Duncan McGuiness and Steve Solomon. Their main business was building upmarket housing estates. A couple of very nice guys who sadly went broke around 2011 and their company Solmac went into liquidation.

Saks with Eugene and Debbie.

Saks with Eugene and Debbie. This was a memorable night at Saks, I watched as Plugger Lockhart kicked a famous point to put the Swans into the Grand Final.

One of the hottest babes in 1996

I met Donna Turner in Sydney when she was 18 yo, even after various husbands and 3 or 4 children she still looks as hot as ever, especially in my kitchen. 🙂

Hot Hot Hot in Sydney Melbourne Hunter Valley

It is now 20 years later in 2016 and Donna is still a hot chick.

My favourite song from 1996

The technicolour team

Duncan McGuiness, Jim Bell, Ross Kennedy and David Herd.

At the polo

These two gorgeous babes were known as Lushy and Mushy, can’t remember their real names. 🙂

Ami and Alan Pearson.

Alan was a friend of mine when I lived in Adelaide in the 70s, he now earns his living as a musician in Airlie Beach.

Mami & Mariko

Two gorgeous Japanese girls who often called into my home in Upton St for drinks and fun.

I did mention fun didn’t I? 🙂 🙂 🙂

Everybody loves Tim Tams.

Billy James & Allison Schroeder

Billy was a well known Gold Coast real estate identity and Allison one of the sexiest chicks in town.

Allison 18 yo in in 1987

I was lucky enough to take Allison out a few times in 1987 my first year living on the Gold Coast. Although I was about 25 years older than her I used the “tried & true” technique, I promised her the world and bought her an atlas. 🙂

Visiting Tim in Sydney

Ross Kennedy and I took a road trip in my Porsche to Falls Creek for some skiing, stopping on the way at the Hunter Valley & Sydney. I knew about Rossco’s fascination with gangsters and the underworld so naturally I took him to meet Big Tim Bristow at his home in Newport.

Tim’s beast

We were there an hour or two listening to some of Tim’s stories most of which I had heard before many times. As usual Tim’s phone never stopped ringing, but there was one call Ross & I will never forget. Roger Rogerson was in many ways more notorious than Tim, he was known for being a ruthless crooked cop who shot first and asked questions later, the most famous case being where he shot and killed Warren Lanfranchi in a back alley in Chippendale.

Oaks Hotel with old friends

Derek Pugh, Ian Rich & Paul Slaughter, Pauls sister on the left and his girlfriend Clode on the right.

Falls creek, let the games begin.

We had a terrific few days, drinking too much and having some of the most spectacular falls ever seen at Fall’s Creek. Little did I realise after this 1996 adventure I would never ski again.

Melbourne

Drinks with Rossco’s friends in South Yarra, from the left Ross Kennedy aka “Shoeless Joe Jackson, David Herd aka “The Cincinnati Kid”, Craig Belcher and Johnny Mac.

Yum Cha in Chinatown

This gorgeous girl Jaqui O’Brien actually lived in my house for a few months in 1987, she then worked with me for a short time in 1998. A lovely lady until she had one drink too many, she then turned into a nightmare. Rossco came up with a classic name for her, “Jacqui Petrol”. 🙂

Rossco & DH

The high rollers have hit town. 🙂

On the subject of gorgeous girls

Meet Jill McCrossan, another super hot chick I was lucky enough to be involved with.

Felling no pain

I’m too sexy for my shirt. 🙂

A day at the beach in Coffs Harbour

We had a great couple of days at Tony Murphy’s apartment, the spa was excellent. 🙂

Both sides look great

A great view from every direction.

Meanwhile back on the Gold Coast

Natalina from the coast and Rodney Rosenfeld from Melbourne.

John Sinclair & John Cece

Both these guys moved from Adelaide to the Gold Coast, they were good friends and now mortal enemies. 🙂

Great fun in Manila

Here I am with Simone and Doug Ritchie in some club in Makati. 🙂

Pascal, Junko and Rene

Pascal was gorgeous girl, 1/2 French & 1/2 Vietnamese, Junko is the Japanese wife of my good friend Phil Thomson and Rene was a rather sexy Australian girl. 🙂

And the beat goes on

This is a rather significant photo, on the left is Larry Krausz, a good friend to all of us. It’s now 2017 and he is fighting a huge battle in Robina hospital on the Gold Coast. Larry suffered a major stroke on October 28th in Pattaya where he had been living large for almost a year. Our best wishes are with Larry, hopefully he will recover enough to lead a comfortable life.