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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.

Maybe one more look at Donna

Certainly one of the sexiest ladies ever to decorate my kitchen. 🙂

One more shot of lovely Emily

As you can see Emily was a total knockout.

New Years Eve at Mustang Sally’s.

One of my regular Main Beach haunts.

Farewell folks

Thanks for visiting my Sydney Melbourne Hunter Valley photo blog.

That’s all folks

Here are some more posts to check out

Life 2015 Family history Life 1982

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Great hotel room rates anywhere in the world if you book

through these links below. Book now & pay later.

Free Cancellation.

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A-One hotel on Beach Road

For a great room rate at the A-One hotel opposite the beach just book through THIS LINK.

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Soi Cowboy Nana Plaza Patpong

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French village Breil Sur Roya

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Amazing Iguazu Falls

New York City

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Spanish Coast Ibiza Madrid

June 8, 2015 by David Herd

Ibiza

Spanish Coast Ibiza Madrid

Spanish Coast Ibiza Madrid was a shock to me when I returned after 36 years since my last visit. I couldn’t believe the number of condominiums along the Costa Brava.

Please forgive the photo quality, my 1.2 mega pixel Canon was my first ancient digital camera.

Ibiza beach

It was the off season in April so the people were few and far between, consequently I thought Ibiza was fairly overrated.

Valencia

This trip was part of an around the world journey starting in Bangkok before moving to Spain then on to Venezuela, Cuba and Los Angeles.

David herd in Valencia

Valencia was founded as a Roman colony in 138 BC. The city is situated on the banks of the Turia, on the east coast of the Iberian Peninsula, fronting the Gulf of Valencia on the Mediterranean Sea. Its historic centre is one of the largest in Spain.

Better shot of the same place.

Found this on my friends Jean-Paul Facebook page.

Benidorm, we hated it. 🙂

I think the average age of the English and German tourists was mid 70s, there were walking frames everywhere. We went to a couple of bars and restaurants that were copies of similar places in Blackpool.

Cold beers in Benidorm

I was travelling with Les who was a friend from the Gold Coast.

El Campella near Alicante

Revisiting this seaside village was full of nostalgia for me. I had great memories from way back in the late 60s when I was travelling around Europe in a VW Kombi with 2 Kiwi guys. Campella was one of our favourite places where we ate Paellas and washed them down with gallons of Sangria. In those days the men would go fishing off the African coast and the women would sit on the beach making and repairing the huge fishing nets. It was a different world then.

This was 1965

This was Rosemary & Mary, two American girls we met in Campella all those years ago. 🙂

Here are the 2 kiwi guys

Keith Wagstaff & Dick, the photo was taker in Konstanz in Switzerland.

Deja vu

So here I am again 36 years later eating Paella and drinking red wine, the more things change the more they stay the same.

La Manga

We stayed one night in La Manga, who knows why? Certainly nothing to write about here.

On to Madrid for a little history

It was nice to leave behind the walking frames and pommies (Englishmen) drinking pints and singing songs from WW2.

Madrid

I really need to visit Madrid again one day.

Palace Hotel

Thanks for visiting my very ordinary post on Spanish Coast Ibiza Madrid with poor quality photos, please have a look at some better efforts in the section below.

A-One hotel on Beach Road

For a great room rate at the A-One hotel opposite the beach just book through THIS LINK.

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through these links below. Book now & pay later.

Free Cancellation.

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9a1fec74-4461-46cd-8663-97f5893c8f6e (1)

Europe before Covid-19 & mass immigration.

Brussels for mussels

Upmarket Portofino

Barcelona

Prague way back in 93

Amsterdam

Sarajevo

Beautiful Budapest

Fabulous Dubrovnik

Ancient Lisbon

Summer in St Moritz

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Split Dubrovnik Croatian coast

May 10, 2015 by David Herd

Leaving Split

Split Dubrovnik Croatian coast

Split Dubrovnik Croatian coast, five hours hugging the coast by bus. You must cross Bosnia around the coastal town of Neum just north of Dubrovnik.

The fleet

The coastal route takes a little longer but I’m guessing it is more interesting.

Mountains hug the coast

I’m certainly glad I decided on the coast road to Dubrovnik, the scenery is excellent.

Split Dubrovnik Croatian coast

Lots of small villages squeezed between the mountains and the sea.

Halfway between Split and Dubrovnik

So far no traffic problems and the bus driver seems quite competent. 🙂

Small rail big drop

That safety rail does nit seem high enough for my liking.

Neum in Bosnia

Neum is the only coastal town in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It comprises 24.5 km of coastline, the country’s only access to the Adriatic Sea. In 2009 the municipal population was 4,605 and in 1991 the population of Neum town was 4,268.

Neum

Neum has steep hills, sandy beaches, and several large tourist hotels. Prices tend to be lower than in neighboring Croatia, making it popular with shoppers. Tourism, and the commerce it brings, is the leading contributor to the economy of the area. Border formalities with Croatia are relaxed at peak times. Neum has around 5,000 beds for tourists, 1,810 in hotels with the remaining capacity in motels, villas, and in private accommodation. Tourism in Neum is active only in the coastal region. The inland area behind Neum has a rich archaeological history and untouched wilderness and is starting to develop agricultural tourism.

Lunch break in Nuem

Time for a sandwich and a coffee before the final leg to Dubrovnik.

Neum in Bosnia

The scenery so far has not varied too much at all. It seems like a nice quiet place to live.

Franjo Tuđman Bridge

On the edge of Dubrovnik is this wonderful structure. The original bridge design was developed in 1989, however construction was stopped at the onset of the Croatian War of Independence.

Franjo Tuđman Bridge

This bus trip will finish a couple of kms over the bridge.

Dubrovnik

My first glimpse of this ancient city, I’m getting excited.

Pile gate Dubrovnik

Well here I am, now if I can only find my apartment. Many thanks for visiting my Split Dubrovnik Croatian coast photo blog.

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Vung Tau South Vietnam coast

January 21, 2015 by David Herd

Put this on your bucket list

Vung Tau South Vietnam

Vung Tau South Vietnam coast is a 90 minute fast ferry ride from Saigon. One surprise certainly was the statue of Christ similar to Rio on a smaller scale. Wayne Morris, my friend from Sydney climbing the 811 stairs to reach the top. It was very hot and I had to rest 5 times on the way up. 🙂

A tough climb

This climb reminded me of El Castillo at Chitzen Itza, that one was more frightening but this one was far tougher. Lucky for me they have quite a few rest stations which I was happy to take advantage of. 🙂

Vung Tau South Vietnam

A you can see there is access to the very top of the statue, however it is closed between 11 and 1 pm.

Happy dragon

Halfway down the mountain this happy dragon appears.

Vung Tau South Vietnam ferry terminal

Only 90 minutes from Saigon in a fast ferry that costs just $10 usd.

Vung Tau fisherman

Vietnam of course specialise in seafood due the the incredibly long coastline.

Downtown Vung Tau

During 14th and 15th centuries, the cape that would become Vũng Tàu was a swamp which European trading ships visited regularly. The ships’ activities inspired the name Vũng Tàu, which means “anchorage”. The French Indochinese government named it Cap Saint-Jacques (“Cap Xanh Giắc”, in Vietnamese). The cliff of Vũng Tàu is now called Mũi Nghinh Phong (literally meaning “Cape of breeze welcome“) or (“Cape of greeting the wind“).

Enjoying the evening breeze

late afternoon and late into the evening people gather along the seaside to chat and enjoy the ocean breeze.

Escaping from the sun.

Most Asian ladies are very careful to stay out of the sun.

No clever remarks please

I realise some of my friends will not be able to resist the comparison between myself and the whale. 🙂

Green Hotel $40 pn

Good location and great value if you book through this AGODA link.

View from Green Hotel

Although this was a very good location if you like the beach, however next time I visit I’ll probably stay in the town.

Opposite Green Hotel

The long sandy beach was ideal for my regular morning walk.

Five Star Imperial Hotel

My friend was staying 800 meters from The Green Hotel at the five star Imperial Hotel. There is of course no comparison in the facilities, however there is a huge price difference. If you book through AGODA you will get a competitive rate of $230 to $300 aud, but that is a lot more than $40 for the Green hotel.

Imperial Hotel

An excellent upmarket hotel with a pool and bar right on the beach.

Very unfriendly place

This beer bar is part of the Imperial hotel, sadly the staff are quite rude and unfriendly. I wanted to have a drink while waiting for my friend to arrive, it was early and only about 4 customers in the whole place.

I wanted to sit near the window to keep an eye out for my friend, however they insisted I sit at the bar because I was alone. Because of their poor attitude I rang my friend and we had drinks elsewhere.

Lucy’s Sports Bar

This friendly bar is totally the opposite from Vuvuzela, great food and very friendly staff. It’s run by an Aussie called KJ who certainly makes you feel welcome.

Lucy’s Sports Bar

Here are the friendly girls at Lucy’s, nice food and a good atmosphere.

Scallop salad at Lucy’s sports bar

The extensive menu offers some great choices, I had a terrific seafood chowder and a great cheeseburger.

Aussie hamburger at Lucy’s

A bar run by an Aussie is always going to serve a great hamburger.

Sunset at Vung Tau South Vietnam

This is the view from Lucy’s bar overlooking the bay.

Hollywood night club

There is a reasonable selection of late night venues, many of them seem to focus on Karaoke.

Lan Rung

Good food here and even better beer which they brew themselves.

Shrimp and cauliflower at Lan Rung

Lan Rung restaurant, shrimp and cauliflower.

Fresh spring rolls, my favourite.

They were delicious, I remember a little Vietnamese restaurant on the Gold Coast beside the fire station near Monaco St, they had some of the best Summer rolls I have ever eaten.

Hoang Hoa Tham road Vung Tau South Vietnam

This road is a short cut from the beach to the town, about 30% lower taxi fare than going around the coast. You can guess which route the taxi drivers prefer. 🙂

French bakery

This is a very good French bakery and coffee shop in Hoang Hoa Tham road, it’s quite large so you can’t miss it. The address is 128 Hoàng Hoa Thám, Xa Vung Tau, Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu, Vietnam 064. Here is the bakery on Google Earth.

Fast ferry to Vung Tau

Only 90 minutes at $10 usd from Saigon to Vung Tau South Vietnam.

15 minutes from HCMC

Every now and then I take a photo I really love, this is one of those.

HCMC to Vung Tau

It was an interesting trip from HCM to Vung Tau South Vietnam by river.

Even better value is the luxury mini bus

They run every hour and pick up from your hotel, the road is excellent, 65% express-way. The trip from Vung Tau to Saigon was only 80 minutes.

Vung Tau South Vietnam

I’m the only passenger from Vung Tau to Saigon.

Many thanks for visiting my Vung Tau South Vietnam photo blog.

The New World Hotel is in a great location in the centre of the city, for a discounted room rate book through THIS LINK.

A-One hotel on Beach Road

For a great room rate at the A-One hotel opposite the beach just book through THIS LINK.

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Soi Cowboy Nana Plaza Patpong

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through these links below. Book now & pay later.

Free Cancellation.

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That’s all folks

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Here are photos of the War Remnants Museum

Here is my HCMC post, a great city

Finally the best view in Saigon from Chill

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Thailand Brazil England Gold Coast

November 26, 2014 by David Herd

This is not part of my travel blog just my personal photographic history.

Thailand Brazil England

Thailand Brazil England 2009 are not included in this post, they are trips I made through this year, as well as visiting Sydney in November. Brazil was another great experience which included a fascinating tour through Rocinha Favella. My England trip included Lands End, as well as St Ives & the nice seaside village of Lime Regis.

So although Thailand Brazil England are not included in this post you can access them by clicking on the above links.

Seaway with Labrador in the background.

If I had the money this is the type of boat I would like to own.

Gold Coast Turf Club

It’s Melbourne cup day and my good friend Phil Thomson & I join the happy crowd which is a long way from Thailand Brazil England. 🙂

At the races with good friend Phil Thomson

The guy lurking in the background is Norm Jenks who is originally from Melbourne.

Carolyn Clarke, an old girlfriend from 1994.

Carolyn is a super girl with a great personality.

Semi trailer that turns into a bar.

The VB semi trailer is at the track.

My nieces Laura and Elyssa.

Here we are on Chevron eating fish and chips at Frank’s seafood shop.

Jim Bell pretending to be an important executive.

Jimmy was a border at my home for 15 years from 1994 to 2009. He tends to take himself rather seriously at times. 🙂

Dani Tobin, a real wild child.

I clearly remember one night Dani trying to climb through a gap at the top of my front gate and getting jammed. Her screams could be heard for miles.

Super high tide at home

A tide like this only happened two or three times a year, always at however.

Phil Thomson and I had the same model Lexus.

Mine was the white one, even though it was only a 1998 model it is best value car $ for $ I have ever owned.

One of my lovely Japanese borders

Tall and beautiful.

Old friend from the 80s.

The shortest lady in the black top is Teresa Hamilton-Smith who was one of my girlfriends in Sydney in 1982, that’s her daughter on the right & on the far left is her sister Lexi Hamilton-Smith. Terry is married to an English guy & now lives in the U.K.

Flashback to Teresa in 1982

At my home in Drummoyne with Helen Burke.

For some great 1982 memories just follow THIS LINK.

Huge storm at my home.

We really get some spectacular storms on the Gold Coast, this one was a beauty.

Here is my Brother Ian & family

Adam, Shane and Ian Herd with grandfather Laurie Poulton.

Tony Murphy & I have coffee

Tony & I have been friends since the early 80s, of course I now live in Thailand but when I visit the Gold Coast Tony & his wife Nikki always find a bed for me in their lovely home.

Melbas on the Park

Drinks at Melbas with old friend Lloyd Ross.

For a good hotel is a great location on the Gold Coast use THIS LINK for an excellent room rate.

My brother Warren with his good friend Lenny

Sadly in 2016 we lost our good friend Lenny Schorsy after his brief battle with cancer, RIP.

I’m sorry if I misled you with the title Thailand Brazil England, it really is about my life in 2009.

Here are some more posts to check out

Life 2015 Family history Life 1982

Adelaide 1972 Iron Bar Freddy Sydney 2006

Thailand 2008 Gold Coast Babes World trip 2003

Great hotel room rates anywhere in the world if you book

through these links below. Book now & pay later.

Free Cancellation.

Bangkok Hotels Pattaya Hotels

Brazil Hotels

That’s all folks

Pattaya live webcam

A-One hotel on Beach Road

For a great room rate at the A-One hotel opposite the beach just book through THIS LINK.

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Soi Cowboy Nana Plaza Patpong

Australian adventures

Great Ocean Road

Melbourne

Port Macquarie

Sydney landmarks

Australian seafood

Mr Wong

Remembering Melbas

Coober Pedy Opal Mine

Brisbane

My life in 2003

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Flying high fifty years old

November 17, 2014 by David Herd

This is not a travel blog, it is part of my personal photo history .

Flying high fifty years old

Flying high fifty years old living in Surfers Paradise, working for Metway bank & living life to the max. A great trip to Berlin & Prague with a stopover in Bangkok on the way home. Helen & Helenka are in the photo having Birthday drinks at Broadbeach tavern, can’t remember the name of the girl on the left.

I’m also getting a great buzz re-visiting some of my fantastic years. Some of the photos contain nudity & certain comments may offend the narrow minded, so if you are in this category it’s probably best to close the page & move on.

Flying high fifty years old with my great old friend Harley Bradstreet

Harley and I have been friends since about 1968.

Female bouncer at Cocos.

This well built is the only female bouncer I have seen working in a nightclub. As you can see she took no nonsense from Harley. Then again Harley could talk underwater with a mouth-full of marbles so she may have just been trying to shut him up. 🙂

Stacy at Rio’s in Orchard Avenue

Stacey was absolutely gorgeous.

Georgie, Sonya & Dave Hamilton.

Dave was the owner of the club, a wild Scotsman who was always getting himself into trouble, mainly street fighting. Sonya was a Kiwi who was as mad as a snake. Georgie was a gorgeous blonde singer from Perth.

Steve Jones (RIP) & Dave Barnes (RIP)

Sadly both these lads have passed away, Dave in early 2016 and Steve about 10 years prior to this.

Beautiful Kelly Davis

For a few months in 1993 I was lucky enough to be taking out this gorgeous lady. This is proof that I was flying high in 1993.

Kelly Davis

Say no more.

Japanese for dinner

Great dinner opposite the casino at Broadbeach with Kelly Davis, Sandy Ansell & Helen Burke. Kelly & I went home by boat, I dropped anchor in a quiet part of the river & enjoyed one of the most memorable hours I have had with any woman in my life. 🙂

Happy friends at Marina Mirage

On the left is an American guy called Henry Geller, 2nd from the right is Tony Sweurs a guy I knew in Sydney who is now living in Belo Horizonte in Brazil.

Jill McCrossan with Tony Sweurs & Lorana from Brazil

What time can we start having fun?

Andre Buzek on Chevron Island

Andre was one of my best friends and a total party animal. He told everyone, especially the cute girls he was French when in fact he was from Prague in Czechoslovakia, sounded more sophisticated I guess. 🙂 Sadly within a years of this photo being taken he lost his life in a car accident in Cuba.

Andrea from Rio de Janeiro & Andre Buzek

One two occasions when Andre traveled to Rio de Janeiro he bought back to Australia an exotic Brazilian girl for a holiday. Andrea was fairly calm compared to the one he bought out the following year who was younger and wilder.

Flying high fifty years old with Andrea from Rio.

Here is a funny story, I had a day scheduled to visit Metway bank branches in Lismore & Ballina so I generously took Andrea with me to see some of the Australian country. We stopped for lunch in Byron Bay and were hitting it off famously. Knowing the reputation of many Brazilian girls I made sure we arrived back at my home a couple of hours before Andre finished work. Well it took no more than 10 minutes for this gorgeous tall Brazilian to shed her clothes & drag me into the bedroom. By the time Andre arrived to take her home we were composed and innocently awaiting his arrival. 🙂

Coral Knowles, Andre Buzek & Helen Burke.

One of my favorite photos, Andre’s eyes always lit up around attractive females. Also around some that were not so attractive, it never mattered to Andre as long as they were female & breathing. 🙂

Eddy Bonaventure , Jill Mc Crossan & Andre Buzek

WOW! Did we have some fun in those days? Yes we did, you better believe it. 🙂

Flying high with the Melbourne girls

The parties & barbecues seemed to never stop all through the fabulous 1990s.

Another Sunday lunch at home

A typical lunch at Upton St.

Two beautiful Koreans

I feel like a rose between 2 thorns. 🙂

The big guy is Graham LaRoche aka Biff.

Harley & Biff are with another one of the lovely Korean girls who enjoyed out parties. There is a terrific story about these two guys on my 1982 post called New Year’s Eve 1981, the Great Escape.

Another Sunday lunch at my home.

You will notice how Harley always like to dress up in his army fatigues.

My favourite song from 1993

Winnie Andre & Harley.

Winnie was from South Africa, she loved a party. Andre of course was always in the thick of the action. Harley in this photo looks a lot like Col Gaddafi.

Eugine Korin has company at Kooralbyn

Kooralbyn was a great gold course which sadly has shut down in the last few years.

Two Tonys Murphy & Bonner

This was Coffs Harbour where Murphy was working & Tony Bonner was in a motorbike rally.

Family Xmas at my home on the Gold Coast

Of course this was Xmas 1993, many of my nephews & nieces now have children of there own. Here is a Xmas gathering in 2006.

Family dinner NYE 1993 at Marinas Cove

It was so good catching up with all the family.

Catherine Bonetti NYE 1993

So many women and such little time.

Roberta Aitchison still runs the meter maids

Roberta was originally a meter maid herself, she still runs the company today in 2021.

Crazy Sonya

Sonya was a Kiwi with very few inhibitions, check out the photo below if you want to see her in her birthday suit. However please remember my warning at the start of this post, in case you have forgotten……

Sonia in all her glory

Andre is also going nuts on the slideshow, check it out before they censor it. 🙂

I told you he was crazy

I will never forget you old mate.

Sexy Suzie is on the slide show as well.

She was as cheeky as they come. 🙂

Why wait, here she is. 🙂

Just like little apples.

Sexy Jill Mcrossan

Jill was a lovely sexy lady who was always fun to be with. She now lives in Sydney and I bumped into her at Manly about 3 years ago.

Patpong Road Bangkok

On my way home from Prague & Berlin I stopped in Bangkok to meet my dear mother who was on holidays there with a friend. Naturally I had to visit Patpong for some R & R.

At Coolum with Robert Allemby

May as well finish where I started, playing a round at Coolum with Robert Allemby, is that like 15 minutes of fame. 🙂

Henry from California & Kelly David

Lunch with nice people.

Once again, so many women & such little time. 🙂

Oh well, a mans gotta do what a mans gotta do. 🙂

Here are some more posts to check out

Life 2015 Family history Life 1982

Adelaide 1972 Iron Bar Freddy Sydney 2006

Thailand 2008 Gold Coast Babes World trip 2003

Great hotel room rates anywhere in the world if you book

through these links below. Book now & pay later.

Free Cancellation.

Bangkok Hotels Pattaya Hotels

Brazil Hotels

That’s all folks

Pattaya live webcam

A-One hotel on Beach Road

For a great room rate at the A-One hotel opposite the beach just book through THIS LINK.

Brazil Hotels

Soi Cowboy Nana Plaza Patpong

Jump forward 21 years and I’m still flying high, click here.

Post by Travel blogger Fivestarvagabond.com”.

Before you go have a look at 1997 in Bali.

Post by Travel blogger Fivestarvagabond.com”.

Australian adventures

Great Ocean Road

Melbourne

Port Macquarie

Sydney landmarks

Australian seafood

Mr Wong

Remembering Melbas

Coober Pedy Opal Mine

Brisbane

My life in 2003

Pattaya live webcam

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Australian Gold Coast is spectacular

November 9, 2014 by David Herd

Chevron Renaissance Surfers Paradise

Australian Gold Coast is spectacular

Australian Gold Coast is spectacular, semi tropical climate, 25 kilometers of beautiful beaches, an amazing skyline and lots of good restaurants & bars.

Tall building is Soul & the Hilton

Soul is a 243 m (797 ft) tall residential tower local on the corner of Cavill Avenue and The Esplanade in Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. It has overtaken Circle on Cavill as the second tallest building on the Gold Coast, behind Q1. The building was approved by the Gold Coast City Council in October 2004 and finished construction in 2012 along with the next stage of the Gold Coast renovation project. Use THIS LINK to book a great rate at the Hilton.

Soul on Australian Gold Coast

Use this link for great deals on Gold Coast hotels

Surfers Paradise beach

The tall blue building is Q1 a skyscraper in Surfers Paradise, on the Gold Coast, Queensland. It lost its title as the world’s tallest residential tower to the 348 metre building The Marina Torch in Dubai on 29 April 2011.Wikipedia

Surfboat Australian Gold Coast

A surfboat is an oar-driven boat designed to enter the ocean from the beach in heavy surf or severe waves. It is often used in lifesaving or rescue missions where the most expedient access to victims is directly from the beach.

Circle on Cavill

Circle on Cavill offers great ocean views and is a good location to spend your holidays, use this link for an excellent room rate.

Light rail on the Gold Coast

Fast, efficient & hard to buy a ticket. 🙂

Cavill Avenue Surfers Paradise

Lots of action here at night.

The Oracle at Broadbeach

The twin towers of Oracle are a new addition to the Broadbeach skyline.

Melbourne Cup day at Moo Moo in Broadbeach.

Moo Moo restaurant is a great place to “people watch”, not bad for a steak as well.

Melbourne Cup day at Melbas on the Park.

Melbas has been my favourite Gold Coast bar since 1981. It was owned by the late Paul Allen one of the coasts most colourful characters.

Circle on Cavil on the Nerang River.

Thank you for visiting my Australian Gold Coast post, it was great to catch up with old friends & family.

My home

I can’t visit the Gold Coast without thinking of my beautiful home I built in 1990 and lived there for 21 years before moving to Thailand.

Here are some more posts on my wild wicked ways.

Life 2015 Family history Life 1982

Adelaide 1972 Iron Bar Freddy Sydney 2006

Thailand 2008 Gold Coast Babes World trip 2003

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Bangkok Hotels Pattaya Hotels

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That’s all folks

Pattaya live webcam

Australian adventures

Great Ocean Road

Melbourne

Port Macquarie

Sydney landmarks

Australian seafood

Mr Wong

Remembering Melbas

Coober Pedy Opal Mine

Brisbane

My life in 2003

Pattaya live webcam

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Great Ocean Road Australia

November 3, 2014 by David Herd

Twelve Apostles

Great Ocean Road Australia

Great Ocean Road Australia on the south coast of Victoria offers some of the most breathtaking spectacular scenery in the world. Look at the following photos to see what I mean.

Breathtaking scenery

I drove from Adelaide to Melbourne along the Great Ocean Road Australia in October 2014, I had driven this road once before in 1988.

Twelve Apostles in 1988

One of Australia’s best road trips.

In 2009, gone baby gone.

Now there are only 8 Apostles left. 🙂

Great Ocean Road Australia in 1998

Of course there were more Apostles back then. 🙂

The Twelve Apostles Great Ocean Road Australia

The Great Ocean Road officially starts at Torquay and travels 243 kilometres westward to finish at Allansford near Warrnambool, the largest city along the road. The road is two lane (one in each direction), and is covered by a speed limit changing between 80 kilometres per hour and 100 kilometres per hour Great Ocean Road as viewed from Teddy’s Lookout, south of Lorne The road is considered a tourist attraction in the area, in which much of the road hugs coastline affectionately known as the Surf Coast between Torquay and Cape Otway and the Shipwreck Coast further west of Cape Otway, providing visibility of Bass Strait and the Southern Ocean. The road traverses rainforests, as well as beaches and cliffs composed of limestone and sandstone, which is susceptible to erosion.

The road travels via Anglesea, Lorne, Apollo Bay, and Port Campbell, the latter being notable for its natural limestone and sandstone rock formations including Loch Ard Gorge, The Grotto, London Arch and The Twelve Apostles. At the stretch of the Great Ocean Road nearer to Geelong, the road meanders along the coast, with tall, almost-vertical cliffs on the other side of it. Road signs put up along the road warn motorists of possible rockfalls, which have occurred before.

Twelve Apostles on the Great Ocean Road

The whole coast here is quite breathtaking.

Looking east from Great Ocean Road Australia

If you ever visit Australia put the Great Ocean Road on your bucket list.

Nice view on the Great Ocean Road

Certainly one of the best views I saw today. 🙂

A stunning view

It really does take your breath away. 🙂

Great Ocean Road Australia featuring The Arch

Another famous landmark.

London Bridge

When I last drove this road in 1988 London Bridge on the Great Ocean Road was one piece, some years later the middle collapsed as you can clearly see.

London Bridge 1988

I consider myself very lucky to have seen the bridge intact.

London Bridge on the Great Ocean Road

Now you see it, now you don’t.

Here is one of my favourite travel stories, I’m guessing the conversation went something like this, “gee Dave do you think it’s safe to go out there?” “Of course it is, what could possibly go wrong Kelli? This has been standing here for millions of years. It was the 15th of January 1990 & just as they got to the end of the bridge it collapsed behind them, they were later rescued by police helicopter.

Great Ocean Road Australia

Australia has many wonderful landscapes, none better than this.

Great Ocean Road Australia near London Bridge

I imaging this coastline looked the same hundreds of years ago.

Bay of Martyrs

Small islands weathered by millions of years of erosion.

Great Ocean Road Australia Bay of Martyrs

I bumped into only a hand full of tourists on my road trip.

Bay of Islands

Travelling from Adelaide on the Great Ocean Road the Bay of Islands is the first of the spectacular vistas.

Great Ocean Road Southern Australia Bay of Islands

Of course the other famous Bay of islands is on the north island of NZ.

Great Ocean Road Australia

Here is a photo I found online.

Bay of Islands

Magnificent colours.

Bay of Islands Great Ocean Road Australia

Too many rock formations are never enough. 🙂

There is a hole in my cliff.

Many thanks for visiting my Great Ocean Road Australia photo blog.

Istanbul Budapest London

Mostar Dubrobnik Split

Saigon Zagreb Vung tau

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That’s all folks

Click here to see my post on the Outback.

Post by Travel blogger Fivestarvagabond.com”.

After the Great Ocean Road I flew to the Gold Coast.

Post by Travel blogger Fivestarvagabond.com”.

Next time you visit Bangkok take a canal cruise

Post by Travel blogger Fivestarvagabond.com”.

Australian adventures

Melbourne

Port Macquarie

Sydney landmarks

Australian seafood

Mr Wong

Remembering Melbas

Coober Pedy Opal Mine

Brisbane

My life in 2003

Pattaya live webcam

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This gallery contains 3 photos

Home extension budget blowout

October 15, 2014 by David Herd

Doubling the size of my home

Home extension budget blowout

Home extension budget blowout was due to the many changes I made to my original plan. I wasn’t satisfied with just adding a 2nd floor. The photo above was taken just after my home was built in 1990.

Day one the job begins

From here on nothing will ever be the same.

Laying the slab

My builder Ari is the guy with the shovel, one of the hardest working guys I have ever seen.

Dad’s army take a coffee break

Ari and his guys were the hardest working tradesmen I have ever seen.

Seeing some progress with home extension

Starting to see some progress with my home extension, these guys really work fast.

Now we are getting somewhere.

I really wanted to give the home “street appeal” something it didn’t have in its original form.

Brickwork & a fancy door.

Painting the door was one of my jobs. 🙂

The tree has gotta go

It was like losing a friend, I had planted it 14 years ago.

Timberrrrrr!!!!!

There goes my beautiful tree.

Starting to look terrific

This is the point it’s all starting to look fantastic.

Laying the floor

There is no job these guys can’t handle.

The kitchen takes shape

It’s easy to be wise after the event, on the original plans a stairway was supposed to lead from that wall to the main house downstairs, for some reason we left it out which later proved to be a mistake.

Laying Terracotta tiles

The finishing touches.

The downstairs studio $250 pw.

The jewel in this home extension is this fabulous little studio completely self contained with a private entrance.

Beautiful private courtyard for the studio apartment

Quite a beautiful peaceful area for the granny flat.

Upstairs lounge & kitchen

When I look at this home extension which cost me double the original quote of $120,000 I feel it was all worth it. Uptairs consists of 3 bedrooms & two bathrooms and downstairs a separate private studio apartment.

Bedroom & en-suite

OK, so the chair should really have been dumped.

Beautiful courtyard

Quite spectacular at night.

Courtyard & front entrance

I was very happy with the entrance to my new home.

I really love the front gate & entrance

Now how good does that look?

The fabulous finished product

One of main main goals with this home extension other than creating rooms I could rent to students was to give my home more “street appeal” to help when the time came to sell. I think I certainly achieved that.

My dream home

The finished product was wonderful however I made some big mistakes in my overall scheme of things. I did not do enough research on council regulations regarding student rental, secondly I never anticipated the reaction from my feral neighbours who were always complaining to council about anything & everything. These people the Ryan family at 108 Upton proved to be cowardly & malicious. I often wondered why until a policeman friend of mine pointed out the increase in complaints from neighbours always increased after major renovations due to their uncontrollable jealousy.

Finally my biggest mistake was building such a large home which made it very difficult to finally sell. It was just far too big for the average family, without realizing it I had placed myself in a small range of under 10% of buyers. Apart from all that I was very proud & thrilled with the final product, it also gave me a great sense of achievement to design & create my dream home.

Click here for a flashback to my home in 1991.

Post by Travel blogger Fivestarvagabond.com”.

Jump forward to 2007 just click here.

Post by Travel blogger Fivestarvagabond.com”.

Here are some more posts on my wild wicked ways.

A-One hotel on Beach Road

For a great room rate at the A-One hotel opposite the beach just book through THIS LINK.

Brazil Hotels

Soi Cowboy Nana Plaza Patpong

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Gold Coast Pattaya Cinque Terre

Rio de Janeiro Singapore Eastern Europe

Bangkok Bars Tokyo Cape Town Safari

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Rio beach babes

Florianopolis Brazil

Bangkok river ferry

Fabulous HCMC

Amazing World Food

Lyme Regis Jurassic coast

Hiroshima Japan

Sydney Harbour

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Home Gold Coast 1990

October 10, 2014 by David Herd

Part of my personal online photo albums, as opposed to my FiveStarVagabond travel blog.

Home Gold Coast 1990

Home Gold Coast 1990 was a great thrill for me, I also completely designed the layout & drove the builder crazy by checking the progress every day. The address is 106 Upton St Bundall, QLD Australia 4217.

This post also features many of the terrific people I crossed paths with in 1990. Apologies for the poor quality photos, it was very early day for digital cameras.

Dream home 1990 & a new boat

I was working for Metway Bank & took out a loan to build the house, the interest rate was 12.5%, can you believe it? I also still owned my previous home in Claymore Crescent Sorrento.

Followed by new girl. 🙂

Karen Greenwood was a Kiwi & we spent the next 12 months or so together.

My favourite song from 1990

Madison & my car fleet completed the set. 🙂

My best friend Madison & my Mini Moke came with me in January 1987 when we moved from Newport Beach in Sydney to Surfers Paradise.

At Coolum with Ross Radford & John Sprouster.

These two great guys were my bosses, John was GM at Macdougals Ltd at 58 Clarence St Sydney which was my first selling job in office equipment. Ross owned Sanyo Office Machines & sent me to Adelaide in 1972 then Melbourne in 1974.

Helen Burke at Coolum golf resort

This lovely lady really knew how to have fun., + she had a fabulous pair of Bazookas.

Bryan Dart, Greg Hughes & Wayne Jones

We often played golf as I was a member at Sanctuary Cove, Greg forever the village joker took my putter and had it shortened by 4 inches. Next time we played I couldn’t understand why they seemed to be laughing & giggling each time it was my turn to putt. Being a fairly average golfer I never noticed the difference. 🙂