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travelexploreworldlove · 5 years ago

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East Coast of Australia 🇦🇺

We landed in a very smoky Sydney and collected our luggage and picked up our rental car from Apex. (Hyuandi Accent)

2 ½ hours later we arrived at the Cumberland Motor Inn in Cessnock. It was a clean standard room, with everything we needed. We headed to bed early, as we had to get up at 3:30am for the hot air balloon.

We met the Balloon Aloft at 4am at Peterson House. We chose our breakfast and made our way to the site were we would take off. The air balloon was set up and we boarded it. Unfortunately due to the fires, it was very smoky which meant we couldn’t see anything. After a 30-minute flight we safety landed and we got our breakfast.

Port MacQuarie

We travelled on to Port MacQuarie, it was a small seaside town. We were staying in Port MacQuarie hotel, with the room was extremely basic with a shared bathroom. There was also no air conditioning so it was very hot (as it was 35 degrees).

We walked around the town in the afternoon and had some dinner in the restaurant.

Coffs Harbour

The next day it was time to travel further up the East Coast to Coffs Harbour where we stayed in an Ibis. It was a clean room with air conditioning and private bathroom. We walked along the pier and visited the famous ‘Big Banana’. It was a very quiet town with not a lot to do!

Byron Bay

We travelled 4 ½ hours to Byron Bay in 35 degrees, it was extremely hot! We stayed in an Airbnb about a 10-minute walk from the town centre. The room was clean and tidy with a private bathroom.

As it was nice weather, we decided to walk up to Cape Byron lighthouse, it was a tough walk in the heat but the views were worth it.

We had dinner in Miss Margarita (a Mexican restaurant) and had a few drinks in the Beach Hotel and Sticky Wicket Bar.

Byron Bay was exactly what I had imagined, a very laid-back hippy town. There were many young travellers and plenty of nightlife.

The next morning it was lashing with rain, so we made our way into town for a late breakfast at Byron Fresh. We walked around the town and picked up some souvenirs. Later on, we waited until the rain had stopped and went out to Bayger, which is a famous burger bar - the food was so tasty. We watched an Australian band called ‘Thunderfox’ at the Beach Motel.

Surfers Paradise

We made our way to Surfers Paradise, only a short hours drive. We were staying in an Airbnb in Paradise Island. After we checked in, we went to the gym. Later on in the evening we walked into the town, where there was lots and lots of bars and restaurants. We ended up eating in Costa D'oro Italian Restaurant. It was so lively, with nightclubs, pub-crawls and lots of young travellers.

Looking back we should have stayed another night in Surfers Paradise!

Brisbane

The next morning, after going to the gym – we made the 1-hour journey to Brisbane. We were staying in the Ibis Styles in the CBD. I was very impressed with the hotel, it was so clean and the room was lovely. The only downside was there was no wifi.

In the evening we walked around the city (mainly the harbor), which I was really liked, it reminded me of Sydney. We had a few drinks and snacks in the Bavarian Beer House.

The next day we went to the gym and got ready to walk around the city. It was 40 degrees, so we could only manage to stay out for 30 minutes before coming back to the hotel. We decided to do the washing and wait until it cooled down in the evening. Later on, we did some shopping and had dinner at WingHaus.

Hervey Bay

After checking out at 11am, we made our way to Hervey Bay – it took 3 ½ hours. We were staying the night in an Airbnb with a private bathroom. The room/bathroom was not very clean – least it was only for one night! We walked the pier and cooked our own dinner in the Airbnb.

Fraser Island

The next morning we were due to get the 3:30pm ferry to Fraser Island, but we decided to get the earlier ferry to have more time on Fraser Island. We had booked a 3 day/2 night Cool Dingos tour so therefore they took our bags at the ferry and they would be delivered to our room on Fraser Island.

When we got to main hotel on the island, The Kingfisher Resort (5 minute walk from the ferry), we were given the keys to our room and a shuttle took us to the ‘Wilderness Lodge’. This accommodation was very basic, it had a shared bathroom/communal area which we would be sharing with others on our tour.

That evening we met the rest of our group at the Dingo Bar and took part in a Bushtucker experience, were we got to eat different food such as Kangaroo and Crocodile.

In total there was 18 people in our tour, most of them girls and some solo travellers. When we got back from dinner, 7 of them were staying in our lodge and they made so much noise it was hard to sleep - even though we had to get up at 630am the next morning!

After our breakfast at the Dingo Bar, we got on the converted 4x4 bus and made our way to Lake Wabby and Lake Mackenzie. As the track was made of sand it was awful, there was potholes everywhere and we constantly were moving side to side!

When we got to Lake Wabby we trekked 3 kilometers over sand to a massive green dirty lake – I wasn’t impressed.

For lunch we stopped at a Rainforest park and went for a short walk along the freshwater stream. Finally, our last stop was Lake Mackenzie. It was beautiful, lovely clear water and white sand. We also saw a dingo walking along the beach!

That night we had sunset drinks at the bar and met the new people joining our group and the new tour guide, Wayne.

The final day, after breakfast we headed to 75 Mile Beach were we paid extra to take a 15minute flight over Fraser Island. It was so good, I am glad we did it!

We visited Champagne Pools, Indian Head and S.S. Maheno shipwreck. The last stop of the day was the Eli Creek, which was a freshwater creek, which was basically a lazy river. Wayne gave us Tyre Tubes to go down the creek – I really enjoyed it!

On our way back, Wayne was taking us to the ferry but as he was driving like a maniac, the bus got stuck in 2nd gear. This meant he didn’t think we would make the 5pm ferry. Fortunately we made it just in time!

Once we got back to Hervey Bay, we drove 4 ½ hours to Rockhampton Motel.

Airlie Beach

We checked out at 10am from the motel and drove 5 ½ hours to Airlie Beach. We were staying in Whitsundays Vista Holiday Apartments for 3 nights. We walked into the town in the evening and there were lots of bars, nightclubs and restaurants on the main street – it was very very busy! We had a few drinks and ate in KC’s Bar and Grill and listened to live music.

The next morning we met at the Port of Airlie at 730am and boarded the 8am boat to Hamilton Island. When we arrived at Hamilton Island we were allowed to use all the amenities on the island such as the resort pools. We walked around the island and had our lunch in the Marina Tavern (this was included on our ticket). We got the 1:10pm ferry to Whitehaven Beach, on the way to the beach and back it was an open bar with afternoon tea. The beach was absolutely stunning, beautiful white sand and clear water. We spent 2 hours on the beach.

The ferry picked us up and took us back to Airlie Beach, where we went to Woolworths and ate in the apartment.

The last day, we got the 8am ferry out to Hardy Reef. The ferry took 3 hours, with morning tea served. Once we got to Hardy Reef we took the 30minute submarine, which showed the reef without getting wet! Next we had our lunch and finally we got ready and snorkeled in the reef. I was very disappointed; I thought the coral would have been more colourful. There were fish but there wasn’t any turtles or mantra rays. After spending 4 hours at the reef we got the 3-hour ferry back to Airlie Beach.

We got Dominoes for dinner as we were exhausted and were planning on getting up at 6am the next morning.

Cairns

We made the 7 ½ hour drive to Cairns, stopping in Townsville for lunch. We left the car back and were only charged $200 for a cracked windscreen! The arrived at the Doubletree Hilton and checked into our room. We then had a few drinks and dinner in the hotel restaurant. The hotel felt very quiet with the bar closing at 9pm.

On Christmas morning we watched a Christmas movie and went down for the lunch at 12pm. The Christmas lunch was not great and was not worth the money. The only thing good about it was the unlimited alcohol! Later on in the evening we watched National Lampoons Christmas Vacation.

On Boxing Day, we paid for breakfast in the hotel and went to the gym in the afternoon. We packed all our bags, to get ready for Bali tomorrow!

#australia #Sydney #coffs harbour #port macquarie #balloonaloft #brisbane #cooldingos #fraser island #herveybay #cairns #rockhampton #christmas #doubletreebyhilton #great barrier reef #hamilton island #hardyreef #Bali #travel #couple

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romancandlemagazine · 5 years ago

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An Interview with Tony Pikes

This interview was first published in 2014. R.I.P. Tony Pikes.

You may know Tony Pikes as the moustachioed bartender in the video for Wham’s 1983 smash hit, Club Tropicana. But not only is he a great dancer with a penchant for neckerchiefs, he’s also the founder of Ibiza’s real life Club Tropicana, Pike’s Hotel. Famously the location for Freddy Mercury’s 41st birthday blow-out, this place has long been associated with decadence, hedonism and downright sleazy behaviour. By some bizarre turn of events I found myself sat with Tony. It would have been rude not to ask him a few questions.

Here’s the context — we’re sat next to his purple tennis court, it’s two in the afternoon and Tony, who has just celebrated his 80th birthday, is still up from the night before. He has a habit of deviating from the questions I ask him and going off on long-winded tangents, but seeing as he’s been up all night, I suppose I could hardly expect concise answers. I start by asking what brought him to Ibiza…

What makes you go anywhere in life? Fate — complete fate. I don’t believe in God, I believe in destiny, that’s two different things. I’ve always chased the rainbow. I’m not stupid. I work hard and I play hard. I learnt at a very early age that you can’t play hard if you don’t work hard. I started without a penny, I had an inferiority complex, I couldn’t speak to people, I was nervous because of my childhood. I was bullied by my older brother. I’ve moved on from there.

Now I meet with the best people in the world. It’s just worked out very well. These are people from all stretches of life. I sit up there every morning and have breakfast and I see a new customer coming in like a bantam cockerel with his chest out.

“Are you Tony Pikes? What’s all the hype about, it’s a fucking farmhouse,” he’ll say.

“Can you ask me that question in 24 hours?” I’ll say.

22 hours lately he’ll come up to me and say, “Tony, forgive me, I didn’t realise. I thought I was a really important man and now I realise I’m just part of the team.” And that’s what I want, for everybody to be equal.

The sign at the bottom of the road that lead’s to Pike’s Hotel

You were exiled from Australia, you worked selling yachts and you had been shipwrecked in the Caribbean. Then you landed up here. What was your plan? Did you always want to open a hotel?

No, not at all — it was destiny. I had a house in the Côte d’Azur that was apparently owned by Napoléon’s sister. It was a picturesque little house. I held a dinner party and one of the guests stood up with a fork and started scratching away at all the plaster. I said, “What the fuck are you doing?”

He said, “Tony, when these houses were built they were constructed with timber. I’m sure there will be timber underneath this thing. So he carried on, and there was a beam. He said if you strip all of this off it will be beautiful.

I took his advice and the next day I brought builders in and they stripped it all off so it was all beams. So I oiled them with linseed and they were beautiful. I stayed there for three years. Then things went wrong so I moved on.

A friend of mine had moved to a place I’d never heard of called Ibiza and when he came back, he said, “Mate, you must go to Ibiza.”

What year’s this?

I came here on the first of June 1978, so this must have been in ’76. If anyone had said that to me I wouldn’t believe it, but we used to hold parties together in Bangkok. So when he said to me to come here, I believed him. I came over here in March for ten days and there was nobody here because it was winter time. But I had a feeling for it. So I came back in June.

Now Spanish people are fairly short. I’m not really a big man, but in Japan I am. When I’m there I wear a kimono, but I have to have one made for me as I’m too tall. And so when I looked over the side of the boat there was a guy standing head and shoulders above the rest. It was a mate of mine from Sydney called Pete Middleton. He was a typical Australian, always swearing. I had a Méhari (editors note: a Méhari is a small off-road Citroën) at the time and Pete, who was very athletic, leapt over the windscreen and landed in the seat next to me.

“Come on Pikey I’ll show you the island, I’ve been here for a week, I’ll get a Sheila for you,” he said.

I said, “Look Pete, all I want is a bed. I was at a party for 48 hours in Antibes, I’ve had a day’s drive to Barcelona in this Méhari that won’t go over 60kmh with so much wind-force that I’m going backwards. I’ve been to Majorca and now I’m here five days without sleeping. I’ve got to have some sleep. I’m a human; I’m not a machine.

He said, “You’re bloody senile, you used to be good fun Pikey, how old are you now?

“I’m nearly fifty,” I said.

“Nearly fifty? You’re a fucking child, what’s your problem?”

I said, “Mate, I just told you I’m shot. I’m a mere mortal, I need rest.” Then all of a sudden this Seat Panda drives past with a woman in. I honked the horn, but this was no a klaxon — it was a wounded cat with no guts. I got behind her but I couldn’t overtake her as it was a narrow road with one lane, just like it is now. So I got two wheels on the soft shoulder, which is very dangerous, and I’m going by and I look up and she’s a nice, pretty girl. I eventually managed to get in front of her but she smashed in to me.

“What’s the problem?” she said.

“There’s no problem, what are you doing for dinner tonight?” I said.

“Is that all?” she said.

“What do you mean is that all? I’m going to change your life.” And I did — I changed her life. We started this place together. We bought an apartment that was being built in the island’s first high rise, but when we came back there were just mounds of gravel and sand and nothing had been done. It was blacklisted by the authorities. It was all unsafe. The builder had put gas pipes, water pipes and electricity all in the same conduit. It was disastrous.

So we had a coffee, feeling a bit miserable and then walked up the road, just past an estate agent’s window. And in that window was a five hundred year old finca in San Antonio. I said, “That’ll be fresh air sweetheart, let’s go there.”

So we came here and it just had a feel about it, I don’t know what, but we both felt something. We got a bottle of wine, put a rope on the neck and swung it down. We got pissed too as it was hot. She said, “Wouldn’t it be lovely if we could forget husbands and wives and divorces and stay here together.

I said, “Why can’t we?”

“Well, you haven’t got any money.”

I said, “Don’t mind that, if I want to do something I put my mind to it then I’ll do it.”

So I got this idea of not making a hotel, but a house. And it just started from there.

How long was it until word got out?

From the word go. I sold boats from a marina in France to Peter Sellers, Roger Moore and Shirley Bassey, so I was used to those sort of people. I’ve always been a yachtsman and a businessman. I didn’t have a childhood and I had a tough life, but I started to get the feeling for a good life. I thought if I work hard I can get it, and I have — I’ve got a world-wide reputation. It’s been a long, long road and it hasn’t been easy. People say I’m lucky, but I’m not lucky, I’m fortunate and I’ve worked my arse off.

A washed-up speedboat found a few metres from Pike’s Hotel

You said you were very introverted when you were young, what changed you?

I felt success. The island is kind. If you work hard you can make it. This is the countryside, there’s no water, no electricity, no road and no facilities but I had this vision that one day I’d make it like it is now. This took me twenty years. But I wasn’t in a hurry because when you’re young, then you don’t feel you’re ever going to get old. But you do get old.

How old are you now?

I’m 80.

You look well for 80.

I feel very well. My doctor said I’m a walking medical miracle. He said, “I know you take a lot of blow up the nose and copious quantities of alcohol but I’d trade my internal organs for yours tomorrow — you should be dead.

I’m doing everything I shouldn’t do but I’m 80 and I feel great. I’ve been married five times and I’m engaged to my sixth wife. We were going to get married last year on the 35th anniversary of the hotel, but she rang me up from Vienna and said, “Tony why did you lie to me?”

She said, “I’ve been speaking to two friends of yours and they said she couldn’t marry me because I was already married.”

I said, “Oh bullshit, what would they know about it?”

So I phoned my wife in Dubai and said, “Are we still married?”

“Baby, you know we are. We went to get divorced, we got everything ready for it but when we got to the bank you didn’t have any money and I wanted two and a half million euros.”

I said, “You’re worth every penny.” I was with her for 14 years — she was a good wife. So I sold the hotel to get the money, which is a shame. But now they’re saying they want me to say. I’ve got a room for life here.

After all these years is there any night here that particularly stands out?

There are a lot of them. I guess Freddie Mercury’s party. He called me into his room one day that used to be called Julio’s room. He said, “Why’s it called Julio’s room?”

I said, “It’s named after Julio Iglesias, the international singer.”

“What about me?” he said. “Where’s the Freddie room?”

I said, “You keep singing and one day maybe you’ll get your room.” I was being facetious but I had a great rapport with him.

His birthday was the biggest private party on the island. But all the parties have been good. This life is different. I live in utopia.

What about the days when you need to go to the supermarket or sort your bills out?

No, I don’t do that. That’s mundane stuff. I live life to the full every day. It’s what keeps me young.

Have you got any regrets in life?

Nope, no regrets.

Being an 80 years old man living in utopia, what would your advice be to someone slightly younger?

In my opinion the only way you can make it is to work your arse off. I started without a penny and no education but I know how to work. When I started this place with my girlfriend we used to go down to San Antonio early in the morning, pick up all the derelicts sleeping on the beach and I’d line them up like Lee Marvin in the Dirty Dozen and say, “Listen, you’ve got the job. I’ll pay you 150 pesetas an hour and if you do your work you’ve got the job. Work half as much as me and I’ll pay you.”

Most of them by noon were finished. They’d all gone across the fields. It was very, very difficult to get the place built. And then you’ve got planning coming up and asking you if we’ve got permission and they’d try and shut you down.

I’ve been put in prison here. I was put in a pit. You go down there and the police are four stories above you with rifles and you’re in a dirt pit looking up. Now one guy there spoke English. He said, “Tony, you’re a nice man. They’re going to lock the stalls later on so you make sure you get one by yourself or you’ll get raped all night long and there’s nothing you can do about it ‘cause the guys don’t listen.”

Now the Spanish law is that you can’t do more than 72 hours inside without a charge so I thought all I had to do was 72 hours then I’d be out, but this blond headed guy said he’d been there a month.

“But what about the law?” I said.

“There is no law,” he said. “The law is those coppers up there with the rifles and they can do as they wish.”

Custom bedsheets featuring Tony and his mates

Was there a lot of this sort of thing when you first started? Was there a feeling of animosity from the locals for starting this place?

I never walked around being big headed, but I gradually became very well known. It’s a good business but it’s never made any profit as I wasn’t in it for money — I was in it for lifestyle.

I got the greatest compliment ever one day when I walked in to the restaurant one day and Julio Iglesias was having lunch and he said, “Tony, I envy you.”

I said, “Mate, you’ve got a 41 million dollar airport and I’ve got a fucking bicycle. How come you envy me?”

“I’m not talking about riches, I’m talking about lifestyle.”

I walked out of the bar with tears in my eyes. Here was the nicest man in show business saying that he envied me. I’d made it. I’d done it.

Do you reckon you’ve cracked life?

Most people don’t have the tenacity to keep going. It doesn’t come easy. I’ve achieved a lifestyle second to none. I’ve got Julio saying he envies me. Ron Rice, the founder of Hawaiian Tropic is a multi-millionaire with two 747s and he says he envies me. I’m doing something right.

Why do you think you’re still here?

I love life and I love women. I should have been a lesbian. I don’t want it to end. I want to live a few more years.

What’s going on tonight then?

I don’t know. I never plan. If you make plans they all come unstuck. I just go along with the flow.

Howard Marks is knocking around here at the moment making a book with you. You said they were going to make a film too. What’s that going to be about?

They’ve already made a film about me. But it didn’t get finished. I was going to be played by that good looking man from Hollywood. What’s he called?

I don’t know… Robert Redford likes to think he’s good looking.

No, before him — a very good looking man. I had dinner with him once. Anyway, they had him talking to this blonde, who was an actress. And the camera was moving around — camera work is always important. She’s talking to him and the camera goes down his body to his fly. You see a hand go across and open the fly. The camera goes to her face and she goes, “WOW.” You don’t have to say anything — that says it all. And then I die. But it was nicely done, it wasn’t morbid.

And with that sleazy-yet-poignant image, I leave Tony Pikes sat on the edge of a sun lounger as he finally submits to the power of sleep.

#Tony Pikes #Ibiza #Interviews

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nationalwindscreens · 5 years ago

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Main Reasons Why Vehicle Owners Prefer Car Window Tinting In Albury

Car window tinting in Albury refers to applying a thin laminate film to a vehicle’s glass in order to darken it. Most vehicles have a factory fit tinting while others get this film fixed at a local dealer.

There are many reasons for tinting of windows. People get the film fixed to their cars, trucks, SUVs, boats, commercial vehicles, offices and homes as well. Many car owners, who have gone for windscreen replacement in Sydney, after it has been hit by a stone of other elements, prefer to get the film fixed immediately. The urgency of the fixing f the film is mainly because of additional security and other benefits. Few of them include:

Aesthetics: Adding window tinting your car gives a clean and finished look as it cuts down the glare from sunlight. Few manufactured have also launched decorative films with various designs that increase the beauty of cars.

Comfort: Window film makes the car atmosphere comfortable as it helps in making the vehicle cooler by sixty per cent. It also helps in keeping the temperature of the car at optimum level both in winters and summers as well.

UV protection: window films help in blocking 99% of UV rays entering indoors. The film also helps in reducing glare and while protecting skin and eyes from damage.

Privacy: Tinted windows increase privacy as it prevents people from looking in during the daytime.

A good quality film helps in reducing the energy bills and provides the above-mentioned benefits. So, it is better to go for good quality film.

#car window tinting Albury #windscreen replacement Sydney

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robertmcangusgroup · 7 years ago

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The Daily Thistle

The Daily Thistle – News From Scotland

Friday 3rd November 2017

"Madainn Mhath” …Fellow Scot, I hope the day brings joy to you…. No Matter where you are on this little blue planet as we spin endlessly through the universe … This is an opening that I have used several times while writing The Daily Thistle over the past year or so and I realized today exactly how appropriate it is for us, We are all on a journey no matter who we are, none of us is in control, we are merely passengers along for the trip.. and as we progress through life on the little blue planet, some of us arrive at our stops and depart, just like people on the train that sat opposite you, you exchanged smiles, maybe even gave the newspaper to them but when the train pulled into the station they got off, their journey through.. and you never will see them again.. well life is exactly like that, to us three score and ten as it says in the bible (70 years) is a long time but age and time are relative to the person or thing we are discussing, but 70 years is nothing but a blink of the eye to the Giant Redwood or the Diamond sparkling in the girls engagement ring, so my advice to you all is to treat each day as a very special day, because you never know if it’s going to be your station our train arrives at, So treat others with respect, as the bible says, “Do unto others as you would be done unto” in other words you have to give it to get it… So my philosophical moment over, let’s have some coffee and talk about the news…

ROYAL MAIL STOPPED TO REMOTE HIGHLANDS PROPERTIES FOR SAFETY REASONS…. Royal Mail has suspended deliveries to four remote properties in part Highlands over safety fears for workers. Postal staff are said to have faced an hour round trip on private roads to the addresses in Altnabreac, Caithness. Concerns for safety are linked to the fact the area has no phone signal, meaning no call for help could be made in difficulty. A Royal Mail spokeswoman said: “We are sorry for the inconvenience this causes customers. Suspension of delivery is not something we do lightly, but we need to ensure that all our people are working in a safe environment. “Ofcom’s own regulations state that postmen and women should not spend more than 15 minutes in a single trip on private roads to deliver mail. “This step has been taken after a detailed assessment as we believe that there is a risk of safety to our postmen and women, who are delivering on private tracks off the public highway. “Our people are spending an hour round trip to deliver the mail. There is also no mobile phone signal to call for help if there is an issue and the condition of the track is poor.” Those staying at the properties can now either have their mail delivered to somewhere with the same postcode or make a round trip of about 36 miles to Halkirk. The spokeswoman added none of those affected are housebound and have been collecting post from the delivery office in the village.

MARINES SPOTTED TRAINING ON LOCAL HERO BEACH…. A Scottish man got a big surprise while taking his dog out for an early morning walk on a usually deserted beach in the west Highlands. Brad Cain, a 52-year-old who lives in Mallaig, was out on Camusdarach beach with his dog Onyx before sunrise on Thursday when he heard a strange noise above the sound of the sea crashing on the shore. It was only as he ventured closer that he realised he had stumbled into the middle of a major military training exercise, with hovercrafts, lorries, boats, landing craft and more than 100 armed troops from the Royal Marines. “It was dark, and I had a flashlight,” Mr Cain said. “As I walked along the beach, I became aware of a noise that wasn’t the normal sound of the waves on the rocks. “The closer I got, the louder the noise became, until I recognised it as a heavy diesel engine. “Neither of the hovercraft had a single light on them, and I was becoming more tense as I approached. “I eventually made out the shape of what I saw to be some kind of boat, half in the water and half on the beach. I could only see the outline. I still didn’t know what it was. It was quite unsettling. “The noise was quite deafening. As I approached, it suddenly became clear I was looking at not one but two hovercraft. I recognised the billowed skirt on the front of the hull. Two soldiers stood by a machine gun mounted on the front.” Later, he returned to take photographs of the dramatic operation in daylight. The commandos arrived at Camusdarach last Wednesday evening and began an assault exercise on the beach later that night. According to Mr Cain, nobody in the area had been warned about the drill and flares released during their manoeuvres were misinterpreted by the coastguard as a ship in distress. Prior to the operation at Camusdarach, they had been on exercises around the Applecross peninsula. The picturesque sandy beach, which lies between Mallaig and Arisaig, was famously used as a location for the film Local Hero. The troops are staying at a campsite behind the beach until Wednesday, when they are due to return to their home base in Dorset. The Ministry of Defence was unable to provide any information about the exercise.

NEW SCULPTURE BY CREATOR OF THE KELPIES UNVEILED IN ABERDEEN…. A new sculpture by the creator of The Kelpies has been unveiled in Aberdeen. The Leopard, by Andy Scott, will form the centrepiece of Marischal Square, a new shopping, hotel, and office space in the city centre. The Leopard reflects the symbols on Aberdeen’s coat of arms with legend claiming that two of the big cats were gifted to the city by James I. It is hoped that the popularity of Scott’s sculptures will now attract people into the Granite City. Scott, who now has 80 pieces across the world from the Falkirk Wheel to the M8 motorway to New York, Sydney and Chicago, said of the Leopard: “I’ve worked on this sculpture for over a year in the studio and it’s been very demanding. There are literally thousands of steel fragments, all individually welded to create the form of the artwork. “It now stands five metres tall, weighs just over two tons, and will sit proudly atop a ten metre high steel column. I hope it brings a real presence and sense of drama to the atrium space of Marischal Square.” The Leopard will go on show to the public next Friday with some areas of the £107m development now open.

DUNDEE PARKING FINE WOMAN DECLARED BANKRUPT WITH £37,000 DEBTS…. A woman who was ordered to pay £24,500 in unpaid fines after ignoring hundreds of parking tickets has been declared bankrupt with debts totalling more than £37,000. In a landmark ruling at Dundee Sheriff Court earlier this year, Carly Mackie was told she had to pay the unpaid charges to a private parking company. The 29-year-old had taken to parking her car in the city’s Waterfront without a permit. She claimed she had a right to park in the area as she was living there at the time. Ms Mackie, from the city, also believed the charge notices could not be enforced under Scottish law. However, Sheriff George Way said the charges served against her by the firm, Vehicle Control Services (VCS), were from a “valid contract” and she was liable for them. The parking tickets were left almost daily on the windscreen of Ms Mackie’s Mini, which was parked in front of her parent’s garage, near their West Victoria Dock Road home. There were eight signs in the vicinity, advising motorists that they could only park in designated areas, and would require a permit to do so lawfully. Those found parking without a permit were liable to be fined £100 a day. VCS took Ms Mackie to court last year when she racked up an £18,500 bill for ignoring more than 200 penalties.

SCOTLAND COULD WELCOME BACK TRAIN BUILDING FOR FIRST TIME IN DECADES…. Train building could return to Scotland for the first time in decades with Spanish firm Talgo looking at possible sites for a factory. Officials were meeting the Scottish Government’s Transport Scotland agency and Scottish Enterprise last night to discuss the plans. At least 600 jobs are expected to be created, with the factory scheduled to open around 2020. Talgo said possible sites include at Hunterston on the Ayrshire coast or the former Longannet Power Station site on the Forth in Fife. They are adjacent to or near deep water ports for the import of materials and export of completed trains. ScotRail is about to introduce two new fleets, so any built by Talgo are likely to be for other parts of the UK, or Europe, at least initially. The Spanish company is also looking at possible locations south of the Border for its first UK factory.

On that note I will say that I hope you have enjoyed the news from Scotland today,

Our look at Scotland today is of the Steam Engines that they no longer build today… such a shame..

A Sincere Thank You for your company and Thank You for your likes and comments I love them and always try to reply, so please keep them coming, it's always good fun, As is my custom, I will go and get myself another mug of "Colombian" Coffee and wish you a safe Friday 3rd November 2017 from my home on the southern coast of Spain, where the blue waters of the Alboran Sea washes the coast of Africa and Europe and the smell of the night blooming Jasmine and Honeysuckle fills the air…and a crazy old guy and his dog Bella go out for a walk at 4:00 am…on the streets of Estepona…

All good stuff....But remember it’s a dangerous world we live in

Be safe out there…

Robert McAngus

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