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Newport peninsular Sydney 1984

June 30, 2016 by David Herd

Newport peninsular Sydney is my personal photo history not part of my travel blog.

Newport peninsular Sydney

Newport peninsular Sydney was my home for three years from 1984 to 1987. After becoming engaged to a beautiful Melbourne lady Karen Smith, I purchased a timber home perched on a hill above the Royal Motor Yacht Club. The cost was $128k, and I sold it after our engagement fizzled out 4 years later for $360K. I guess it would be worth nearly 2 million dollars today.

Absolutely gorgeous.

As you can see Karen was a beautiful lady, it took me anther 10 years before I realised I was just not cut out for marriage or long term relationships. There is probably a multitude of reasons why, fear of commitment, too independent etc etc.

Dinner party at Herbert Avenue

We were very happy at Newport 80% of the time, I tried hard to settle down and enjoy life as a couple, every now and then however the “call of the wild” would interrupt our utopia.

Wolf Wottke (with the beard) had been my best friend for a number of years, I left him renting my Drummoyne apartment for a year or so until I got fed up chasing the rent. Consequently I sold it which in hindsight was probably a mistake.

Lots of birds & wildlife

These beautiful Rainbow Lorikeets would visit every day for their snack on the balcony.

Life was very good

I had all the toys, a beautiful Mercedes Sports, a cabin cruiser moored at the yacht club, a liquor store in Sydenham which I was in the process of selling and a good sales job with Canon Australia.

Lion Island

This great photo (excuse the quality) was taken on Lion Island in the Hawksbury River, from left to right we have Graham La Roche aka “Biff”, his girlfriend at the time Mona, Ross Ansell from Melbourne and Karen Smith & I.

Me Tarzan

Ross doing his Tarzan impersonation on Lion Island.

31 Herbert Avenue Newport

About 25 years later around 2012 I paid a visit to Herbert Avenue to see if things had changed. Apart from the colour scheme and far less vegetation nothing much had changed.

Another day on Pittwater

My good friend Tony Murphy and his beautiful wife Inge join Karen & I on my 26 foot cabin cruiser. After 29 years I caught up with Inge in Melbourne in 2014.

My back veranda overlooked Bayview

Here is my good friend Paul Slaughter with two gorgeous girls, on the left is Trish and on the right an old girlfriend of mine Shirley.

Big Tim Bristow, dinner at Herbert Avenue.

Tim Bristow was a friend of mine dating back from the time we met in 1971 when he was on my tail to give me a hiding, but that’s another story just follow THIS LINK. In the 70s just the name Tim Bristow struck fear into the heart of all those who knew him, an enforcer with a reputation of being one of the most brutal street fighters in Australia. Put simply he was legend, a bouncer at the Newport Arms hotel, would be contenders for his crown would travel from all over Sydney to try their luck, many came and all of them were sent packing battered and bruised.

Sydenham Cellars

I sold my liquor store in late 1984 which took the pressure off me. I had been working with Canon for a few months and travelling to Sydenham (a one hour drive each way) at weekends to work in the liquor store. Meanwhile I dug a wine cellar underneath my Newport home and stored a huge amount of wine that I took home from the shop.

Unwins Bridge Road

That’s Madison my beautiful 4 year old German Shepherd who used to diligently guard the store overnight.

Newport peninsular Sydney Brian Millard

Brian was a boat broker at Newport and a regular drinker at the Newport Arms hotel. He lived just up the road at Bungan Beach before moving to Noosa where I believe he still resides.

Richard on the left and Rob Carnahan

Two very nice guys who were customers of mine when I was with Canon. Their office was opposites the Oaks Hotel in Neutral Bay so more often than not we would meet in the pub. 🙂

A bunch of my nephews & nieces come to visit.

Amazing seeing these old photos, all of these cute kids now have children of their own.

Sue and John Heatherington

A lovely couple who lived in the next street from us, John also worked at Canon in the computer division.

Malaysia 1985

John & Sue, Karen & I went on a Canon conference to Penang, here we are driving from Penang to Singapore via Kuala Lumpur.

Singapore Xmas 1985

Here we are in Singapore, notice the cigarette. I smoke on and off for most of my life until 2003. Usually 2 or 3 years then I would quit for a similar time before returning to the grip of the nicotine.

Newport peninsular Sydney with Phil Parkinson

Phil has lived most of his life on the Newport peninsular Sydney and I believe still does in 2016. He is the brother of my ex girlfriend Di Parkinson.

Melbourne Cup 1985

Karen & I at the cup with friends including another ex girlfriend Helen Burke who is on the left of the photo. Helen has a vineyard at Dromana on the Mornington Peninsular, I spent a few day there in October 2014 drinking wine with her and her partner Jack.

Oscars Coolangatta 1985

I can’t remember the name of the beautiful dark haired princess, she was the girlfriend of my crazy chiropractor from North Sydney.

Newport peninsular Sydney

Prior to buying my cabin cruiser I had this little run-about, it was a lot of fun, do you like the name? 🙂

Another guy from my rogues gallery.

Danny Rose one of Adelaide’s true characters, we had a day of the water, you can see “Stamped Urgent” in the background.

Beautiful Karen Smith

Certainly my life on the Newport peninsular Sydney revolved around lots of good friends and my beautiful fiancée Karen. My thanks to her for being the most important part of my life for those great years.

Thanks also to you for visiting my Newport peninsular Sydney photo blog.

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

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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.

Brazil Hotels

Soi Cowboy Nana Plaza Patpong

More great photo blogs here;

Rio beach babes

Florianopolis Brazil

Bangkok river ferry

Fabulous HCMC

Lyme Regis Jurassic coast

Hiroshima Japan

Sydney Harbour

Counter only started June 16 2020.

This gallery contains 2 photos

Mornington Peninsular Victoria

November 6, 2014 by David Herd

Karina Vineyard

Mornington Peninsular Victoria, I stayed with old friends Helen & Jack on their beautiful 20 acre property in Dromana & sampled many great home grown wines. The property next door is Stillwater where you can arrange a luxury wedding or birthday celebration.

Here is where it all starts.

Mornington peninsula is a popular holiday destination, famous for its beaches, wineries & outdoor activities.

Man at work

Here is Jack hard at work.

Here is where we drink a lot of wine.

What a beautiful setting, life is very good here.

Just to prove, here I am with Jack. 🙂

Here we are sampling the product.

I’m with the resident horse

What a fabulous sculpture, of course Helen is an absolute horse fanatic.

From my bedroom window.

Quite a different outlook for a city boy like myself.

Lets do lunch

An Aussie BBQ is hard to beat. 🙂

Old friend from the 70s

Here is Jan Graves an old girlfriend of mine from 1974, that’s right 1974, I had not seen her for 40 years.

Jan Graves & Helen Burke

Helen who along with Jack owns this lovely property was my girlfriend in 1982, It has been around 20 years since I last saw her. It was terrific to catch up with these great ladies from so many years ago.

Here are the girls as they used to be

Jan in 1974 in Melbourne.

Helen in 1982

Relaxing in Hawaii.

T’Gallant winery.

Helen & I had lunch & a glass of wine here at this delightful winery.

T”Gallant Wine tasting

There was quite a crowd tasting the product.

A butcher who also sells wine.

Red Hill Gourmet Meats & Country Smokehouse

Mount Martha in the background

Mornington Peninsular Victoria is a fabulous part of Australia.

Mount Martha beach

The Mornington Peninsular Victoria is primarily a local tourist region, with popular natural attractions such as the variety of beaches both sheltered and open-sea and many scenic sights and views. Other popular attractions include the various wineries, mazes and the diverse array of water sports made available by the diversity of beaches and calm waters of Port Phillip and Western Port. Most visitors to the peninsula are residents of Melbourne who camp, rent villas and share houses or stay in private beach houses. It is known simply as “The Peninsula” to locals and Melburnians alike, giving rise to the expression “going down the peninsula”.

The iron horse

What a great garden ornament, Helen loves her horses.

Wonderful catching up with old friends

It’s hard to believe it’s been 40 years since I last saw Jan.

Helen & Jack were great hosts.

Thanks for visiting my photo blog.

Dean Martin Original Release LITTLE OLD WINE DRINKER ME

Watch this video on YouTube

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

Click here to see my Phillip Island post

After Dromana I flew to the Gold Coast.

In March 2014 I had a terrific world trip.

Pattaya live webcam

That’s all folks

Check out these great food photo blogs.

World is my oyster

Tokyo fabulous food

Upmarket Chinese Food Sydney

Food review Pattaya Thailand

Good English restaurants

Amazing World Food

Fresh seafood Bangkok

Steakhouse New York

Korea restaurants Itaewon

Pattaya live webcam

Post by Travel blogger Fivestarvagabond.com”.

Counter only started June 16 2020.

This gallery contains 3 photos

Cancun Chichen Itza Mexico

September 30, 2013 by David Herd

A bucket of Corona

Cancun Chichen Itza Mexico

Cancun Chichen Itza Mexico, it was April 2001 when I travelled there on the way to Cuba. Consequently the photo quality is not up to standard given the fact digital cameras were reasonably new. Cancun reminded me a little of Vegas by the sea with all the fabulous upmarket hotels stretching along the narrow peninsular.

Many luxury hotels in Cancun.

The choice of luxury hotels is endless, they overlook the Caribbean which has the most beautiful colored water that I have ever seen anywhere in the world.

Cancun really has the “WOW FACTOR”.

Soak up the sun & drink Margaritas & Coronas. 🙂

Perfect combination.

A perfect combination, two lovely Japanese girls and a cold Corona. Follow @David_Herd

The beautiful Caribbean at Cancun Chichen Itza Mexico

The water is such a beautiful colour.

El Castillo at Chichen Itza.

I gathered all my courage and made the climb, although when I got to the top I looked down & thought “what an idiot I am to climb this”. I must admit the view was breathtaking, I came down sideways looking at the steps not the ground, and found out later about 15 people a year fall to their death.

Dominating the North Platform of Chichen Itza is the Temple of Kukulkan (a Maya feathered serpent deity similar to the Aztec Quetzalcoatl), usually referred to as El Castillo (“the castle”). This step pyramid stands about 30 metres (98 ft) high and consists of a series of nine square terraces, each approximately 2.57 metres (8.4 ft) high, with a 6-metre (20 ft) high temple upon the summit. The sides of the pyramid are approximately 55.3 metres (181 ft) at the base and rise at an angle of 53°, although that varies slightly for each side. The four faces of the pyramid have protruding stairways that rise at an angle of 45°. The talud walls of each terrace slant at an angle of between 72° and 74°. At the base of the balustrades of the northeastern staircase are carved heads of a serpent.

Mesoamerican cultures periodically superimposed larger structures over older ones, and El Castillo is one such example. In the mid-1930s, the Mexican government sponsored an excavation of El Castillo. After several false starts, they discovered a staircase under the north side of the pyramid. By digging from the top, they found another temple buried below the current one. Inside the temple chamber was a Chac Mool statue and a throne in the shape of Jaguar, painted red and with spots made of inlaid jade. The Mexican government excavated a tunnel from the base of the north staircase, up the earlier pyramid’s stairway to the hidden temple, and opened it to tourists. In 2006, INAH closed the throne room to the public.

On the Spring and Autumn equinoxes, in the late afternoon, the northwest corner of the pyramid casts a series of triangular shadows against the western balustrade on the north side that evokes the appearance of a serpent wriggling down the staircase, which some scholars have suggested is a representation of the feathered-serpent god Kukulkan. (From Wikipedia)

In 2007, Chichen Itza’s El Castillo was named one of the New Seven Wonders of the World after a worldwide vote. Despite the fact that the vote was sponsored by a commercial enterprise, and that its methodology was criticized, the vote was embraced by government and tourism officials in Mexico who project that as a result of the publicity the number of tourists expected to visit Chichen will double by 2012.

From the top of El Castillo you look down at Templo de los Guerreros (Temple of the Warriors)

The Temple of the Warriors complex consists of a large stepped pyramid fronted and flanked by rows of carved columns depicting warriors. This complex is analogous to Temple B at the Toltec capital of Tula, and indicates some form of cultural contact between the two regions. The one at Chichen Itza, however, was constructed on a larger scale. At the top of the stairway on the pyramid’s summit (and leading towards the entrance of the pyramid’s temple) is a Chac Mool. This temple encases or entombs a former structure called The Temple of the Chac Mool. The archeological expedition and restoration of this building was done by the Carnegie Institute of Washington from 1925 to 1928. A key member of this restoration was Earl H. Morris who published the work from this expedition in two volumes entitled Temple of the Warriors. (From Wikipedia)

“La Iglesia” in the Las Monjas complex.

Las Monjas is one of the more notable structures at Chichen Itza. It is a complex of Terminal Classic buildings constructed in the Puuc architectural style. The Spanish named this complex Las Monjas (“The Nuns” or “The Nunnery”) but it was actually a governmental palace.

Cancun Chichen Itza Mexico “La Iglesia”

This is a small temple (known as the La Iglesia, “The Church”) decorated with elaborate masks.
The Las Monjas group is distinguished by its concentration of hieroglyphic texts dating to the Late to Terminal Classic. These texts frequently mention a ruler by the name of Kakupakal. (From Wikipedia)

“El Caracol” observatory temple.

El Caracol (“The Snail”) is located to the north of Las Monjas. It is a round building on a large square platform. It gets its name from the stone spiral staircase inside. The structure, with its unusual placement on the platform and its round shape (the others are rectangular, in keeping with Maya practice), is theorized to have been a proto-observatory with doors and windows aligned to astronomical events, specifically around the path of Venus as it traverses the heavens.

Akab Dzib is located to the east of the Caracol. The name means, in Yucatec Mayan, “Dark Writing”; “dark” in the sense of “mysterious”. An earlier name of the building, according to a translation of glyphs in the Casa Colorada, is Wa(k)wak Puh Ak Na, “the flat house with the excessive number of chambers,” and it was the home of the administrator of Chichén Itzá, kokom Yahawal Cho’ K’ak’. INAH completed a restoration of the building in 2007. It is relatively short, only 6 metres (20 ft) high, and is 50 metres (160 ft) in length and 15 metres (49 ft) wide. The long, western-facing façade has seven doorways. The eastern façade has only four doorways, broken by a large staircase that leads to the roof. This apparently was the front of the structure, and looks out over what is today a steep, but dry, cenote.

I look back on Cancun & Chichen Itza Mexico and realize how surprised I was with these two places. I had very low expectations yet I was thrilled with what I saw.

El Caracol (“The Snail”)

The southern end of the building has one entrance. The door opens into a small chamber and on the opposite wall is another doorway, above which on the lintel are intricately carved glyphs—the “mysterious” or “obscure” writing that gives the building its name today. Under the lintel in the door jamb is another carved panel of a seated figure surrounded by more glyphs. Inside one of the chambers, near the ceiling, is a painted hand print. (From Wikipedia)