Tiki Beat with Marcus Thorn...

Aloha blog readers... One of my "things" that I've been following while in Australia is Tiki Culture. If you're thinking "What on earth?" then you need to check out Tiki by Wayne Curtis. ....Right now that you're back ... last weekend I traveled down to Sydney for a two day carving workshop with Tiki Carver and all round nice guy Marcus Thorn.

"Tiki carver and painter, Marcus Thorn of Tiki Beat has been carving tikis for the last 15 years and painting and drawing since his early teens. Born in Papua New Guinea and then raised in Tropical Queensland in Australia Marcus has always been drawn to the Polynesian appeal of all things tiki. Marcus is fast becoming one of the most highly respected tiki carvers in the world and his carvings have featured in various Magazines and movies for NBC Studios New York and Warner Bros Movieworld Gold Coast, Australia and carving in Hawaii for hotels and developments."

It was great to spend a couple of days doing something creative and I hoped that with Marcus' help I could become a chip off the old block. I've really not done any art since leaving University so I was really excited when this opportunity came up. It was a four hour drive each day but well worth it.

We started out will half a log and our own set of tools started carving. It was about 35 degrees so it was tough going!

... don't try this at home kids!

It was amazing to watch him go at this piece of wood and make it do exactly what he wanted to to do. I'll never be that good but he seemed to think that my Tiki was a "good effort"  for the first one. It still needs to be finished up but I'm confident that one day it'll be good enough to hang with all the others I've collected from charity shops etc in the bar.

An awesome weekend, I learned a lot, came away with my own tool set, something closely resembling a Tiki and plenty of ideas to help me fill the summer holidays.

Nice article about Marcus.

Summer's around the Corner ... still!

It seems like every time I post on here I say that I'm busy and that the weather has been ordinary... well ... we've been really busy and the weather is still ordinary but there are signs that Summer is just around the corner ... in fact only seventeen days if you use the end of term as the benchmark! Not that I'm counting at all! ;0)

Still with a warm day this week we all got outside to eat our diner, we enjoyed the fresh air and the fact that you can pressure wash the deck and the kids when they've finished!

... yes its an inflatable Kangaroo!

Month by Month...

The changing faces of Alfie and Charlie ... 

From little things ...

... big things grow!

Alfie is certainly shooting up and growing in so many ways. He is quite a character with a vivid imagination, we thought he was a little slow on the uptake with the talking but he's making up for the slow start. He asks a myriad of questions and won't accept I don't know as an answer - "Why you don't know?"

He remains a wonderful big brother to Charles and sociable generally. We were at the local pool last weekend where there is a park area for the kids to play. A large group of slightly older kids were playing together when one of the group who obviously all knew each other said "Let's get back into the pool.""Yeah!" they shouted and made for the pool, Alfie who had yet to introduce himself to the group also shouted "Yeah" and followed them much to their bemusement!

It was only this week that I looked back at some pictures of him as a baby, its amazing to think that it was such a tough start for this little seed. He's become quite a sweet little seedling ... hopefully with the right amounts of water, nutrients and sunshine the boy and teenager stages will be as strong healthy and positive.

Park Pals ...

Some fairly ordinary weather of late, Summer keeps us waiting! Still this week it was jumpers on and down to the park for some fun and fresh air...

Terrible twos were fine ... Threes well!!!! Viewers with a keen ear will detect an Aussie twang!

Little monkeys!

Charlie gets into the swing of things...

Toot Toot .... all aboard!

Last weekend it was "All aboard and ticket please" as we visited the miniature steam railway. Apparently these guys run their pride and joys around the track every weekend but once a month they give kids and their parents a go around the tracks...

We got there nice and early for a picnic and parking spot. Just as well we did as the place was packed within the hour. Its a great day out for kids (and parents!) as they get to ride all the different trains for a Gold Coin donation.

I managed to upset the driver (complete with drivers cap!!!) on my first trip almost tipping the carriage because I stepped on the wrong spot! The old guys do the trains, the ladies do the baking and they all stop of a cuppa halfway through the afternoon. All quite quaint really. A perfect day out for the whole family and friends, on this particular occasion we were joined by the Allen's and the Murdoch Clan. 

I recommend Lake Macquarie Live Steam Society and their website which currently features a genealogy tracing 130 years of steam locomotive evolution by Neil Carlson. Enjoy!