Gosford Central Coast NSW is located on Brisbane Water just 80 km north of Sydney. Growing up in Sydney this area was where our family would spend our annual holidays.
Breakfast at Tommys Cafe at Gosford
Before driving to Coogee in Sydney I decided I needed a good breakfast.
Scrambled eggs & avocado
On Turkish toast of course. 🙂 TripAdvisor rate #6 of 101 Restaurants in Gosford.
A delightful spot in Gosford Central Coast NSW
I wish I could find Turkish bread in Thailand.
Perfect sunday morning in Gosford
From Gosford it’s just a short cruise to the magnificent Hawksbury River,
Starship Cruises
The “Lady Kendall” will take you on a 2.5 hour cruise for $37.
Gosford Sailing Club Club
Located on the foreshore of Brisbane Water. Check it out through THIS LINK.
Shooting some photos
I never go anywhere without my Canon. 🙂
A perfect place for a row.
Opposite the Leagues club.
Gosford Central Coast NSW Central Coast Stadium
The stadium has picturesque views over the Brisbane water.
Just book through THIS LINKfor an excellent discount.
The Settlers Tavern
A terrific T Bone have Settlers Tavern at 2 Hely Street, West Gosford. They have a great menu for a local pub, check it out on THIS LINK.
All the meals were excellent
My friend Geoff had the pasta & his ex fiance Nana ordered a huge meal of steak & seafood. Geoff is a regular visitor to Thailand, follow THIS LINKto see his 50th birthday party.
Time to head south to Sydney.
The last leg of my road trip is just a short drive south to Sydney along the Pacific Highway.
Yamba Clarence River NSW Coast has a population of just over 6,000, which tends to triple in the holiday season. The economy is based on tourism & fishing. Yamba was my 2nd stop after leaving Surfers Paradise where I had spent a week catching up with friends.
Mathew Flinders was the first European to visit Yamba Bay in July 1799.
If you live in Yamba you gotta have a boat.
The fishing is wonderful all along the NSW Coast.
If you don’t have a boat…
Go to one of the seafood restaurants along the Clarence River.
Or buy fresh seafood here
Then sit in the park close by and enjoy it. 🙂
Or perhaps here
I really love those Sydney Rock oysters (double this price in Sydney) plus the fabulous prawns.
Here is the place to eat
A nice park overlooking the water is the perfect spot to polish off your prawns & oysters.
You can watch the waves rolling in
The surf was fairly rough today on March 10th 2017.
You may like to compare room rates to the Moby Dick motel, just use THIS LINK for a great room rate.
Room with a view
When the Pacific Hotel in Yamba in northern New South Wales opened in 1934 it was lauded as “the most perfectly appointed place of all seaside resorts north of Sydney”.
The view from your room.
Eighty seven years later, the Art Deco pub still stands majestically overlooking her namesake in this town at the mouth of the Clarence River.
For a terrific room rate just book through THIS LINK.
Thanks for visiting my Yamba Clarence River NSW Coast photo blog. Next stop is Port Macquarie, check out the painted rock art by the river.
Kingscliff Northern Rivers NSW was my first stop after leaving Surfers Paradise where I had spent a week catching up with friends. My plan was to travel down the coast to Sydney stopping at various coastal towns on the way.
Kettles on
Very popular for breakfast as you can see.
Eggs Benedict for me.
Cooked to perfection. 🙂
Huge breakfast for my brother Ian.
There is nothing wrong with his appetite. 🙂
Kingscliff Northern Rivers NSW
A fairly typical coastal town with lots of coffee shops, tourists & terrific beaches.
For instance
Miles & miles of surf & sand & deserted at 9am on Wednesday March 8th 2017.
Short walk from the beach to the shops
Kingscliff Northern Rivers Coast NSW is a tourist destination with a population of a little over 6,000 with beach and estuary access for swimming, surfing, fishing and all types of water sports.
Choppy surf today
Kingscliff is only 14 kms from Coolangatta airport.
Location
It’s obvious why Kingscliff is so popular given how close it is to the Gold Coast.
A beautiful day
Kingscliff by the beach.
Kingscliff estuary
A nice peaceful picnic area.
Picnic area beside the estuary.
Grab the morning paper & relax under the trees.
Time to hit the road & head south
I got an amazing deal on my hire car from Apex, 6 days hire and drop it off at Sydney airport for only $150, a special relocation deal.
Here we go
After an excellent breakfast I’m on the road again.
Hundreds of new townhouses
So many new homes, the demand is obviously here.
Other towns heading south.
All are nice little seaside villages, I may well wind up in this area when I return permanently to Australia in the next few years.
This was Chinderah on the way to Kingscliff.
One lazy pelican and Mount Warning in the distance.
The highway to Byron Bay.
I thought I would bypass Byron Bay and head for Yamba.
Road tunnel
Cutting through the hills.
Inside the tunnel
Lucky for me there is very little traffic.
Thanks for visiting my Kingscliff Northern Rivers NSW photo blog.
Kitchens Robina Town Centre Gold Coast is the largest and most expensive in QLD costing a whopping $160,000,000. Combining bars, cafes, restaurants along with 40 fresh food retailers. Spread over two levels it features eateries from local hospitality heavyweights such as the Honeyeater Kitchen from ex-Songbirds chef Trent Scarr, David Hayles’ Betty’s Burgers and James Brady’s Mr Pigs Bakehouse; alongside celebrity chef George Calombaris’ first Queensland restaurant, Jimmy Grants.
Kitchens Robina Town Centre Gold Coast
The whole place is quite spectacular, I will certainly visit again next time I’m on the coast.
Pure Meats
Butchers have come a long way since I grew up, I clearly remember them having sawdust on the floor. Here is an explanation from an old butcher explaining why;
When my Dad and I butchered, we used it as a safety enhancement and for ease of cleanup as was mentioned. No, we wouldn’t have meat on the floor, but it seemed as the floor would get slippery over time, and without sawdust, it was only a matter of time before someone would slip and it didn’t matter much what you had for footwear.
Often we wore cowboy boots as you basically stand for 8 to 14 hours at a time and it seemed easier on you, but as you can imagine they aren’t known for tractive abilities. If you are packing a 135# or so hind, you really want your feet to stay under you. We never would have worked without sawdust on the floor in the back, the front we left sawdust free but eventually it would make its way up there.
It is a pain though tracking sawdust all over the place, in your vehicle, etc.
Naturally the beef must be hung. 🙂
Why is meat hung you may well ask;
Meat hanging is a culinary process, used in beef ageing, that improves the flavor of meats by allowing the natural enzymes in the meat to break down the tissue through dry ageing. The process also allows the water in the meat to evaporate, thus concentrating the flavor.
Fish Lab by William Wu
Not only is this a good looking restaurant they also have a “drying room” next door. Follow THIS LINK for more about it.
The drying room
I have never seen anything like this before in a food court.
One of the many cafes
There is certainly lots of choices where to have a coffee here.
Too many coffee shops are never enough. 🙂
Not too sure if they are all making a living, and I’m guessing the rents are astronomical.
Such a feeling of space.
The high ceilings and open plan gives a feeling of space.
Spectacular roof at Kitchens Robina Town Centre Gold Coast
The architects have really done a great job here.
Lucky Luciano’s
I wonder if it’s a mafia hangout? 🙂
Woolworth’s for some serious shopping.
As you can see Kitchens Robina Town Centre Gold Coast caters for everything.
Farewell from Robina
Thanks for visiting my Kitchens Robina Town Centre Gold Coast photo blog.
Fabulous views, excellent restaurants & a very good room rate if you book through THIS LINK.
The building in the middle is the Holiday Inn, on the left is the Amari Hotel which is another very good five star hotel. Use THIS LINK to book for a very good room rate.
Pattaya Hilton Buffet Edge Restaurant is a wonderful dining experience particularly on Sunday. It is in direct competition with the fabulous Mantra at the Amari hotel. Further on in this review I will endeavour to make comparisons between the two.
Fresh seafood
Fresh seafood is of course the star of the show, however there are many more special offerings guaranteed to delight you.
An impressive choice of Oysters
There are 4 or 5 variety to choose, mainly from France.
My first course
Oysters, crab, prawns, caviar & fresh white bread, I always find it difficult to get past the seafood counter. 🙂
Did I mention caviar?
Certainly one of my favourite delicacies, salmon Roe.
Lots of sushi & sashimi
As I said before, it’s hard to get past the fresh seafood. 🙂
Sushi
Too much sushi is never enough. 🙂
I travel to Japan every year and the Hilton sushi is certainly high quality.
Outside seating
Catering for smokers & those who want to get closer to the view.
Funnily enough the six baskets contain 6 different variety of Chinese buns, a little bit of overkill I feel. I would much prefer to see some Shumei & prawn dumplings similar to what’s on the menu at the Mantra.
BBQ seafood station
You really need a big appetite to cope with this fabulous buffet.
Hardworking chefs
This is one of my favourite photos from Pattaya Hilton Buffet Edge Restaurant.
Pizza
No matter what you fancy it is all here. 🙂
The Bakery
The bread here is excellent.
An excellent cheese selection
Pattaya Hilton Buffet Edge Restaurant I was at Pattaya Hilton Buffet Edge Restaurant on Sunday February 19, & sadly I overindulged & could not fit in any cheese. 🙂
An amazing choice of deserts to finish.
Put this great buffet on your list, & many thanks for visiting my Pattaya Hilton Edge Restaurant photo blog.
I have given a lot of thought to which is the best buffet, the Hilton (with the salmon caviar) or the Mantra (with the Alaskan crab), & the verdict is Mantra by a short 1/2 crab claw. 🙂
However I have noticed they now serve the clawless variety of Alaskan crab, please Mantra bring back the claws. 🙂
Contemplating life beyond 2000 after just completing a huge around the world trip with Tony Murphy & John Martin aka Pothole. The fabulous trip began in November 1999 in Los Angeles then on to Miami, Mexico City, Bolivia, San Paulo, Rio di Janeiro, Salavador, Paris, Bangkok & finishing in Koh Samui.
Consequently I really expected 2000 to be a bit of a let down, after all how do you recover after a two month trip like that one?
The photo above was in Sydney for Pothole’s 50th birthday on February 1st. That’s our good mate Paul Slaughter with the glasses & the lovely Kathy who was Pothole’s girlfriend at the time. He was punching way above his weight as you can clearly see. 🙂
Sadly I was as well.
Punching above my weight also with an Italian princess I met & fell for in Koh Samui.
What a smile
Her name was Barbara Manelli, however to me she will always be “Gypsy”.
Consequently in March I headed to Florence to see if there was any future pursuing this gorgeous creature. I soon found out that a brief tropical island fling was soon forgotten back in Italy. 🙂
Italy to Australia via Bangkok
I figured there was only one way to fix a broken heart & that was a week in Bangkok on the way home. 🙂
The usual suspects, John Moon, Jim Bell aka “HO HO”, & John “Secrets” Sinclair.
John Sinclair aka Secrets at Main Beach.
Here is John with one of the gorgeous Main Beach waitresses.
The dreaded black list.
Over the years Secrets has always had a black list of people who have been guilty of some indiscretion of which he has not approved of. I have been on & off the list a few times over the years, now in February 2017 I am, with quite a few others, most certainly firmly back on the list. Consequently to commemorate this honour I designed a T shirt & Pothole has arranged to have them printed. 🙂
Owned & run by Paul Allen a larger than life Gold Coast character, passed away far to young in 1013.
Celebrated my birthday at the Boardroom in Southport.
Always a few sexy girls at the Boardroom which was owned & run by Malcolm Pearce.
Always a lot of fun
As you can clearly see I was being totally dominated here. 🙂
Skye from Launceston
What a knockout, here we are having lunch at Melbas.
Let’s go back to Italy
A flashback to March when my pursuit of the beautiful Gypsy crashed & burned. No that’s not really true, after Samui it never really got off the ground. 🙂
San Gimignano
We did all the tourist things then I headed south to Rome to hook up with my friend Paul McNeil & Scooter Boy.
The Spanish Steps in Rome
I hired a car & the 3 of us had a great road trip through Naples, Sorrento, Positano all the way down to Reggio in Southern Italy, the biggest city and the most populated comune of Calabria.
Artist at work in Positano.
We covered a lot of territory including Isle of Capri, this quickly became my favourite part of Italy until 2010 when I discovered the Cinque Terre. 🙂
Xmas lunch
Tradition dictated we would gather at Melbas each year for a Xmas lunch, here we have Jim “Ho Ho” Bell, John “Secrets” Sinclair, David Herd & Tony Murphy.
Best ever Melbas barmaid
Her name is Aurora & we all fell in love with her. 🙂
Family & friends come to visit
My brother Warren & his wife Kerry with my cute little niece Laura. On the left is Chris Lockwood & his partner in happier times.
My best friend Ziggy
We had lots of fun together, plus he was an excellent guard dog.
At the end of the day 2000 certainly was another good year.
From the top left is Malvina from Paris, Rush from Thailand, & Kerry & Simone from Australia.
Thanks for visiting my Contemplating life beyond 2000 photo blog.
Pattaya Arts Festival Beach Rd 2017 is another of the “never ending” promotions designed to attract tourists to this popular beach side resort. The city council are to be congratulated for their efforts in providing entertainment all through the year.
Big bright colourful paintings
A fun collection painted by Pattaya’s freelance artists.
Beach Babe
The festival theme is “New Sense”, The Sense of Art, which is the sense beyond our five natural senses of sight, hearing, taste, touch and smell.
Happy faces on the beach
The beachfront exhibition is more than a kilometre long from North Pattaya to Central Pattaya.
Skateboarding
I’m guessing some of these people may have started out as graffiti artists. 🙂
Beach sculptures
Not just paintings some nice sculptures as well.
I rather like this one
Part turtle, part dog & pat bug I think. 🙂
This one is nice as well
There certainly is some talent here.
A banana I think
Or perhaps a banana bout that takes people screaming around the bay. 🙂
Introducing Snake Lek, whoever that is?
Street artists invited to take part in the festival are Alex face (Thailand), Mue BON (Thailand), Gong (Thailand), A.m.p. (Thailand), Bonus (Thailand), GohM (Thailand), The Yok and Sheryo (Australia), Beejoir (U.K.), The London police (Netherlands), Ben Eine (U.K.), Ox-Alien and Edo Rath (Netherlands), Emmanuel Jarus (U.K.), Jace (France), Dotmasters (U.K.) and Shinny and Himbad and Code (U.K.).
Interesting shapes
They really look like American Indian tepees without the canvass. I not too sure what the bales of hay signify.
OK, now I know…
They hay bales are obviously for people to sit on. 🙂
Baby Boy
I’m guessing the painter may have just become a father. 🙂
Tribute
A Tribute to His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
An excellent weekend art show & tribute to the late King.
Congratulations to the organisers & many thank for visiting my Pattaya Arts Festival Beach Rd 2017 photo blog.
Fabulous views, excellent restaurants & a very good room rate if you book through THIS LINK.
The building in the middle is the Holiday Inn, on the left is the Amari Hotel which is another very good five star hotel. Use THIS LINK to book for a very good room rate.
This is the view from Horizons the amazing rooftop bar. A great five star hotel located opposte the beach & above the Central Festival shopping mall. Just book through THIS LINK for an excellent room rate.
Good food Wongamat Beach Pattaya, here are four restaurants that are worth visiting. The first one is Rim Talay located at the southern end of Wongamat, this is a great location for a cold beer on a hot day. Fresh prawns come straight out of huge tanks behind the restaurant.
Ice cold Leo at Rim Talay
Without a doubt the beach here is much cleaner than Pattaya.
Surf & Turf Pattaya Thailand beach side food wine
On the beach at Wongamat & part of the Longbeach Hotel this nice restaurant has a huge menu and reasonable prices. For a great room rate just book using THIS LINK.
No air conditioning but thankfully plenty of fans.
Xmas Day 2016
A great spot for lunch with friends.
Tasty clams at Surf & Turf
They have a huge selection on the menu, food prices are good but wine is a little expensive.
Silver Lining
This rather spectacular restaurant is located in Zire Condominium right on the beach. At 9 pm the huge section of roof & walls slide out and cover the outdoor section of the restaurant.
Spectacular Pattaya restaurant
A unique experience
Apart from the food it is worth going just to see the roof slide into place. 🙂
Dinner with friends
Everyone agreed the food was excellent.
My pasta dish was fine however I must return to try some other dishes before I pass judgement on the food.
Beach Club at the Pullman Hotel
If there is a better place in Pattaya to watch the sunset I have not found it, apart from the Hilton of course which is exceptional as well.
Tapas at the Beach Club
One of the attractions here is you can swim in the two pools as well as the ocean.
You can also hire these sun lounges.
Luxury. 🙂
For a great room rate at the Pullman hotel just book using THIS LINK.
Good food Wongamat Beach Pattaya
As you can see all these restaurants a very near each other, forget the dotted line just walk along the beach. Thanks for visiting my Good food Wongamat Beach Pattaya photo blog.
Fabulous views, excellent restaurants & a very good room rate if you book through THIS LINK.
The building in the middle is the Holiday Inn, on the left is the Amari Hotel which is another very good five star hotel. Use THIS LINK to book for a very good room rate.
This is the view from Horizons the amazing rooftop bar. A great five star hotel located opposte the beach & above the Central Festival shopping mall. Just book through THIS LINK for an excellent room rate.
This is not a travel blog just my personal photo collection from the 1970s & 80s, check it out if you wish.
Arabella St Longueville
Farewell Melbourne hello Sydney
Farewell Melbourne hello Sydney, it was early 1976 after a dramatic final few months living in Melbourne, I resigned from Sanyo Office Machines, moved to Arabella St Longueville in Sydney & started a new job as NSW sales manager with Wilkins Servis washing machines. I rented a beautiful waterfront home with the view you see above & a garage for my red E-Type Jag.
Little did I realise the next 11 years would be the most successful money making decade of my life, along with an almost non stop party regime and included luxury waterfront apartments, Jaguars & Mercedes plus a Bertram fly bridge cruiser parked outside my condo, & last but not least a red Doberman called Baxter.
This was actually 1975
However it features my friends & my beloved Jag in Beechworth Victoria, how about the hair & the bell bottom jeans? 🙂
Looking back the 1970s was probably my most exciting decade.
Carol Aboud
It didn’t take me long to get tied up with Carol who had a hair dressing salon in Double Bay. She also had a husband & 4 children but these minor complications did not stop us from having a lot of fun over the next 4 years.
There is a very funny story involving Carol on another blog, just follow THIS LINK.
My beautiful mother celebrating my birthday on the 7-7-77
What a great date for my birthday to fall on. When friends see these old photos is it any wonder they suggest I looked like a Miami drug dealer? 🙂
My Dad Arthur & my 2 best friends Wolf Wottke & Ron Walsh.
My two buddies surprised me by flying over from Adelaide without prior warning. That was a fabulous birthday present.
Carol’s birthday November 1978.
Check out the hair colour & the gold chains.
New Years Eve 1978
Apologies for the fuzzy photo, but you get the picture. 🙂
French Champagne of course
From memory we were at the Castle Cove house of my friend Peter H & the booze was really flowing.
Oh Carol, I am but a fool…..
Neil Sedaka "Oh Carol"
Peter Luciano RIP
Peter & his wife in 1979, he was Carol’s brother and sadly passed away a year or two later.
December 1978
We hired a houseboat for a weekend cruise on Hawksbury River. Two Peters, yours truly & Rob Symonds.
Talking about boats
This was my Bertram 25 moored right outside my condo at 72 Wrights Rd Drummoyne. I enjoyed six great years here & threw so many parties that I became the most hated person in the building.
St Georges Crescent Drummoyne
Just around the corner from my condo I purchased another waterfront apartment, so now I owned 2 condos & a terrace house in Glebe, I was on a roll. Working now as NSW Sales Manager for Remington Typewriters before moving to the word processing division. Enjoyed the job but hated the back stabbers, & there were plenty of them.
Selling all my Sydney properties over the years was one of my worst ever decisions, I should have kept at least one.
After the Jaguar XJ6 I upgraded to a white Mercedes Sports, life was good.
In my eyes this was one of the prettiest cars ever built.
View from my condo
With my Bertram moored right out front.
Another party at Wrights Rd
This gorgeous redhead called Beryl worked with Carol in the Double Bay salon, she had just had a boob job and I couldn’t help but admire them. 🙂
While we are on the subject of boobs….
You could never accuse Carol of being shy. 🙂
And the winner is Angie
Her name was Angela Savic, she was the girlfriend of my best friend Wolf. Without a doubt she had the best body out of all the girls we knew. Our very own Greek Goddess. 🙂
The music in the 70s produced many of my all time favourite songs, here are 3 of those.
Neale, David, Ian, Bryan & Warren, it’s a shame the photo is such poor quality.
Jenny Dale
Jenny with the red eyes was another nice girl from the late 70s who wandered into my life occasionally. 🙂
Let’s finish the year off properly
Well 1979 turned out to be a very tumultuous year, Remington gave me the flick and I joined the company who had the agency for Qyx the new word processor taking the world by storm. I did a marketing course with Exxon in Philadelphia and topped the class, there were 25 Americans in the course with me the only foreigner. Back to Australia to launch the product nationally but only lasted a few months before having a blowup with the company directors who showed me the door. I was never good at taking instructions from fools. 🙂
Now in 2023 at the ripe old age of 79, I guessing I just may have been a rebel without a cause. 🙂
To top off the year finally Carol & I parted company after 4 terrific years painting the town, I suspect I may have been going through a mid life crisis. 🙂 🙂
Consequently I took 3 months off, spent lots of time on my boat, travelled to Philippines, Hong Kong, Thailand & Bali then opened my very own liquor store in March 1980.
Sydenham Cellars
Yippee, cheap booze for me. 🙂
Opening night
My friend Debbie Don was part of the celebration. More photos on THIS LINK.
The 1970s were probably the most interesting & dramatic of my life. 1972 saw me return to Sydney after a 2 year stint in Melbourne, only to see me head to Adelaide for two years as State manager for Sanyo, then back to Melbourne for two years with Sanyo before returning to Sydney in 1976.
Made some money, broke some hearts & had a lot of fun.
I was very good at my job, Sales & Marketing in the cut throat business equipment industry was a tough gig, but on reflection & being & brutally honest, my arrogant autocratic management style that worked well in the 60s & 70s was out dated in later decades. Consequently recognising my limitations I went back to what I was good at, which was selling. In the mid 80s I had a successful few years at Canon followed by 7 or 8 very good years as a financial planner with a couple of banks in QLD. In 1998 I took a year off work to travel & never really worked again. 🙂
Thanks for visiting my Farewell Melbourne hello Sydney photo blog.
It’s now 2023 and here is Glenn Frey to tell you exactly how I feel today.
Hello welcome Pattaya Beach Rd Thailand, everybody who visits the beach side city will regularly hear this as they pass the many bars, shops & massage parlours. “Hello welcome” is probably the most repeated phrase in Thailand. 🙂
There is always something to see on Beach Road Pattaya, I’m so happy to wake up and see the wonderful view every day.
This post highlights the interesting things I see on Beach Road every day.
And here is my view
Is that magnificent or what?
Morning exercise on Beach Road
Most mornings I walk along Beach Road about 8 am, there is always something to photograph.
Above we have the healthy, below the not so healthy.
I have read many super models smoke to control their body weight, clearly in this case it has not worked. 🙂
This centuries most popular female entertainment
A females favourite pastime, when too many selfies is never enough. ?
My favourite selfie
Taken March 24 2017.
It doesn’t get much better than this. 🙂
Safety first
Good to see these guys wearing crash helmets, too bad about the pedestrians on the footpath, let’s not forget “this is Thailand”.
My tyres are fatter than yours
Not too sure what the advantage is have fat tyres on a bicycle, unless you are a fat guy like me. 🙂
Your tyres aren’t fat, these are fat. 🙂
Big super blue boom box, block the footpath, no problem this is Thailand.
Sabai Wing Soi 1, 3 swimming pools and nice rooms, 100 meters from BigC, great value at only $23 usd per night as of August 15. I live in the high-rise in the background, Markland. For a great room rate book here.
Work stopped 18 months ago on this high rise due to a dispute over height and other regulations. Now in December 2016 they have been ordered to remove the top 8 floors and increase the car parking.
Water cannons for sale
Songkran in April is New Year in Thailand, Pattaya conducts a huge water fight that drags on for over a week.
Apologies for the fuzzy photo, but you get the picture. 🙂
