My Brown Eyed Girl ...

Your mother lived nearly four years in Noosa Heads, Australia; a calm, affluent, low profile resort.   She had some great fun there.  Lola and your Auntie Angela have some great memories shared with your mom.  Here are some of the highlights of Lola's fun times in Australia.

Noosa is like Carmel in Monterey, California.  Her home was big and beautiful.  Here are a few pictures of it.

 

 

She also traveled  back and forth to Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne.  She  watched cultural shows in Sydney and ate at wonderful restaurants in Melbourne. She loved to shop in Brisbane and visited the horse race track there.  She's in some ways like your great-grandmother, Adele.  She, too loved betting on horse races back home in the Philippines!  She said that she used to dream of  "numbers" and when she's awakened in the morning, she would remember the numbers and place her bet on the horses with the corresponding number  ...  and she won a few times! 

Sydney Harbour Bridge beyond, public saltwater pool bottom

Sydney City

I saw the most beautiful full moon in Sydney when we went skinny-dippin'! The reflection of the moon light onto the water was simply spectacular; particularly when I fanned my hand into the water creating some sort of ripple lines, oh, how the water glistened under the full moon ... utter magnificence!

Losing at the races at Eagle Farm Race Course, Brisbane

She ate like one of the boys but hardly gained any weight!

Toni and Lola attended the Melbourne Cup in 1995 held every year in November where the whole town shuts down for two weeks.  We had Members' Reserve tickets and celebrated the event the way the Aussies did ... drinking Dom Perignon champagne in the back seat with our chauffeur behind the wheels.  Sweet!

Toni with her race horse, Apres Ski

Toni and Lola with the horse trainer, Rodney Strong at a Cafe.

Toni learned to surf in Tea Tree where they have the best waves and biggest crowds!

A typical day: clad in bikini, hat, sunnies, cup of coffee, head out to the beach!

Fun times in Australia!

92 degree heat in December, Noosa Main Beach

One of my happiest and memorable moments with your mother in Australia was when we went to Rainbow Beach; a 12 kilometer beach with exceptional sand dunes, rain forests on sand, pristine blue water and white sandy beach for miles away.  It was one of the few beaches where they allow 4WDriving which Toni  happens to drive, a Toyota RAV 4!  With our back pack and camcorder in tow, we got on the road!  We had to embark on the barge to get to the island.  Along the way, we saw dolphins playing. It was a beautiful day!

We got off the barge and followed the road in the rain forests until we got to the coastline.  We immediately rolled-up our windows and headed toward the water ... As soon as we got to the beach, I couldn't have orchestrated it any better, one of my favorite songs, Van Morrison, "Brown Eyed Girl" came on the radio.  We were happily and loudly singing along  the radio while big gushes of water were hitting our windshield and windows.  I tried to record the experience but it was hard to stay still as I kept slippin' and sliden' off my seat!  Your mother was driving in a zigzag manner, obviously having way too much fun!  I dropped my camcorder several times on the floor (we didn't break it!) but we had a blast!

After the beach, we headed for the sand dunes!  Four-wheelin’ here we come!  We were having so much fun drivin' and turnin' on the sand dunes until we got stuck in one of those exceptional sand dunes!  We couldn’t get out of the sand!  But we kept trying until ... we broke the drive shaft! I remember deliberately thinking not to take any pictures of the RAV4 stuck on sand or on the tow truck because our amusement quickly ended!  

We called a tow truck to rescue us.  Mind you that the tow truck that showed up was a HUGE flat bed!  The sight of the Toyota RAV 4 on top of the flat bed and the flat bed tow truck on the barge still remains vivid on my mind  and it makes me chuckle today - With you, my brown eyed girl  …

 

You my brown eyed girl!

Do you remember when

We used to sing

Sha la la, la, l,a la, la, la, la, l-la te da

Just like that

Sha la la, la, l,a la, la, la, la, l-la te da

La te da

At the Rain forest!

Hey, where did we go

Days when the rains came?

Down in the hollow

Playin’ a new game

Cherry Venture Shipwreck, Rainbow Beach

Laughin’ and a-runnin’, hey, hey

Skippin’ and a-jumpin’

In the misty morning fog

With our, our hearts, a-thumpin’

And you, my brown eyed girl

You my brown eyed girl

Rainbow Beach with the shipwreck, Cherry Venture.

Standin’ in the sunlight laughin’

Hidin’ behind a rainbow’s wall

Slippin’ and a-sliden’

All along the waterfall

With you, my brown eyed girl

You my brown eyed girl

Do you remember when

We used to sing

Sha la la, la, l,a la, la, la, la, l-la te da

Just like that

Sha la la, la, l,a la, la, la, la, l-la te da

La te da

So hard to find my way

Now that I’m all on my own

I saw you just the other day

My, how you have grown

We broke the drive shaft of Toni's Toyota RAV 4 --- darn sand dunes!

Do you remember when

We used to sing

Sha la la, la, l,a la, la, la, la, l-la te da

(Lyin’ in the green grass!)

Sha la la, la, l,a la, la, la, la, l-la te da

(bit by bit by bit by bit by bit by bit)

Sha la la, la, l,a la, la, la, la, l-la te da

(Sha  la la la la, la la la la, la te da la te da  la te da, da da)

Sha la la, la, l,a la, la, la, la, l-la te da

When you're in Australia - Do what the Aussies do; have a few beers!