Palm Beach,Son & Heir, Coffs Harbour

Palm Beach, Son & Heir, Coffs Harbour

After "Castaways" was completed Lynne and I decided that we did not wish to stay any longer in Far North Queensland. I had been up there for nearly nine months this time and before then working on Tuna Towers and running Banrnacle Bills another two years. I felt that it was to far out of the mainstream and we flew back to Sydney and rented a friends house in Palm Beach.

I love the Northern Beaches of Sydney. That stretch of beaches from Manly to Palm Beach is one of my favourite parts of the world, where I often return to.I have travelled so much and lived in so many different places, most I have enjoyed immensely. Outside the Northern Beaches other places I could easily go back to and  live : are the Bahamas, San Francisco, parts of Mexico and parts of Italy.In Sydney I gravitate towards the Northern Beaches. 

Why? The surf , the beaches, the hills and valleys, inland waterways, smell of the salt in the air, the sound of the surf,the different geographic characteristics of the beaches.Then there is the ocean, on a warm summers day  the ocean is so clear blue and clean, that besides swimming in it, you could nearly drink. It feels so good when you dive in and swim out to catch a wave. The sensational feeling of the salt and water drying on you from the heat of the sun when you get out of the water.The best is when you have spent the whole day on the beach, surfing and baking in the sun and the shower at the end of it all and getting into some clean clothes and then an icy cold beer.

Also I have been going there since early childhood.When I was at school I first joined Bilgola Surf Club for one season, then Bungan Surf Club the next, where I got my Bronze Medallion for Life Saving . Mum and Dad would drive me down to the beaches or I'd hitch down from Lane Cove over the summer holidays. Often I'd camp overnight at the clubhouse for the weekend.

Bungan Beach was more remote than other beaches as it was not accesible by transport.There were beautiful sheer cliffs and headlands at either end of the beach which was wide and rose into dunes before going vertical.You  you could not drive down to the beach,the car had to be parked on the road at the top and you had to walk down steep tracks to the beach, so it has remained isolated.Except for the energetic who walk down and then have the half kilometer climb/ walk back up, which deters a lot of people.

Once when I had been at Bungan Surf Club for awhile,  training for the bronze medallion, which qualified you to save people in difficulties in the surf. I was the youngest in the club about seventeen, they diid not have a Nippers, only juniors and seniors. Another junior - Steve Reynolds and myself were given the task of buying  "a keg",which was eighteen gallons of beer and taking it back to the club,  from the "Newport Arms" the local pub. 

The Bungan clubhouse in1958  was one of those Quonset Huts - half round on a wooden platform and made of corrugated iron.  At the bottom of a very, very steep bush track, on the verge of the sand.  On the left side  going down the track there are houses and their gardens, on the other side of the track  was just thick bush, mainly impenetrable lantana. All up length  was about half a kilometer straight down. It was a patchwork of concrete ,bitumen and dirt .Over the years It had been eroded by rain and looked like a watercourse, which it was when it pissed down with rain.How people got to their houses during wet weather, was their business.

We both unloaded the eighteen gallon keg off the ute at the top of the track and then tried to figure how to man handle the keg down to the bottom.We grabbed either end of the keg and walked it like that for a while, but it was not comfortable, as the track underfoot was uneven with strange  big steps, that made it difficult when your trying to handle a big cumbersome aluminium keg. On the bush side of the track it was less used and more even so we decided to roll it gently, trying not to stir up the beer to much. We had achieved about a quarter of the distance when we both lost concentration and the keg started to roll on its own course and as we were behind it it was hard to stop and it got away from us. Then once away it took on a life of its own and just bounded down the track in big bounds, fortunately there was no one coming up the track, as the keg would have wiped them out. As it got up more steam it changed course and went off the track into the bush and then into the lantana, never to be seen again.

We had lost it, and it was never found,the lantana was to thick and after the keg disappeared into its midst, it left no track,the bushes all sprung back after letting the keg through, it was like nothing had gone in there. We could't believe our eyes, one minute  the two of us  are struggling with this aluminium monster, the next minute it's off into bushes and whooshca vanished.

The reaction by the older  guys was mixed, some were pissed off, others thought it was very funny when we told them what had happened and they inspected where we believed the keg to be.Others  tried to  retrieve it from it 's hiding place, to no avail as they needed a front end loader to clear the scrub and lantana which was thick and prickly.

So now I was back in my old stamping grounds on the Peninsular, we realised working from here had its difficulties, however it gave us the opportunity to integrate back into the life of the city and to start connecting with people.As it was winter the Peninsular is not at its best.  Lynne found she was pregnant which was a surprise for us both. So we moved to Neutral Bay to be closer to North Shore Hospital where Lynne had our baby boy.

He had been born for a week or so and we could not come up with his name, we wanted his name  to be short and contemporary. One night I was woken up by an inner voice telling me to call him "Jazz". I didn't  tell Lynne for awhile, then I told her and she liked the name and with further assurances from other friends, Jazz Alexander Mathers was born on the 13 June 1987.

He was a great little guy very fair like his mother and with amazing muscle definition in his arms and legs, he had a beautiful little body from an early age with white hair. I was smitten with him right from the start and had no problem handling jobs like changing nappies and washing him and looking after him. He was always a happy little boy with a lovely smile a great little laugh. I used to tickle him and he would scream with laughter, then I would stop and he'd say "do it again dad". Lynne was keen to recommence work and I was happy to be at home caring for"Jazz".We had not discussed having a child but when it happened it was all very natural and seemed so quick and easy, that when he came along it was like he was always there.

Through an acquaintance we were both offered a job managing a property owned by Country Comfort in Coffs Harbour. Country Comfort was started by Lend Lease as there Hospitality Division and they had  fifteen or so properties in N.S.W.The one at Coffs Harbour they had recently rebuilt with a new restaurant and a new wing of rooms, so off we went with Jazz to start a new life in Coffs.

The opportunity of working, living and bringing up our son in one location was  fortunate and we appreciated the time we had to spend with our son. As one of us was always around him while the other one handled managing the property which had a hundred rooms, restaurant, function rooms,swimming pool, tennis courts and extensive gardens.

Catering to the traveller,families on holidays or short stays,middle management representatives the property was extremely busy.  The refurbishment and rebuild had been done to accomadate the extra business expected due to the Brisbane World Expo in 1988 which went for six months from April to October .Expected also was additional business from  the increased traffic  on the Pacific Highway over that period .Country Comfort being proactive  had sold out the rooms to Coach Companies that stopped over, with sometimes up to 100 people per night. The marketing for this was all handled by their Sydney Head Office and was the first time that I had worked for a boss since my early twenties. In fact it was a bit of hurdle, when we went for our interview, as the then GM wondered "if I would be able to take direction". 

They were all good and there to help and for the first two weeks very accomadating as we settled in and learnt their systems and modus operandi. The marketing, food and beverage and finance directives all coming from their head office.

As managers we handled the day to day week to week management of the property and the staff. Most that were there  were very professional and well trained from the housemaids, receptionist, chefs, waiters, groundsmen and knew the ropes so we did not have to invent the wheel - just keep it turning. Occasionally we might have to find someone new. but as in most provincial areas staff tend to stay in the one place for much longer than cities.

We were also fortunate that my parents had moved up to Port Macquarie the year before so they were only a hours drive away and often used to come and visit and see their grandson who they adored, often they would take Jazz back with them to Port for a week and return with him.That used to be such a buzz, seeing his excitement when he returned and his big smiles, Jazz seemed to grow so fast and developed so quickly one minute he was a baby the next he was running around the restaurant playing hide and seek as a little toddler, with the restaurant full of paying customers, though none minded.

That used to be a game he liked to play - our residence was on the first level, over the kitchen, of the new wing recently built and the stairs down, filed into the corridor that led into the restaurant. As Jazz got older Lynne would feed him in the restaurant and then take him upstairs and stay with him and put him to sleep, or thought she had and then she would come down to the restaurant to have dinner. Often we would see this little white head peer around the corner and there he be. Once he saw that we had spotted him he would then run around the restaurant with me or Lynne after him.

The Brisbane Expo was our baptism of fire, it kept the occupancy rate at 100%, for six months with no let up. The house was full, the restaurant was full and the function rooms which we used for the coaches was full.Breakfast and dinner seven days a week kept us all on our toes. We prepared a special menu for the coaches and they were fed in the function rooms freeing the restaurant for a la carte cooking and service.

After expo finished there was no respite as the Big Banana which was next door commenced construction on plans approved to revitalise it as a Horticultural Theme Park and we were inundated by the consultants who were advising the owners. Hence our occupancy kept  staying up  and kept Head Office happy with further 100% tallies  for several more months.

We also had many families who would stay for extended period over the school holidays. There was one country family that had three young girls, aged from six to about ten. The girls all fell in love with Jazz and used to come up to reception to see Lynne and ask was Jazz awake and if so could they look after him for the morning. They would take him down to the swimming pool or the spa and keep him entertained or him them for the morning and return him to Lynne or myself. That family or the girls loved Jazz so much that the following year they returned for another lot of holidays and looking after Jazz.

After we had been there for about eighteen months Head Office entered the property into NSW Tourism Awards and was listed as one of the five top facilities for family accommodation in NSW.  Lynne and I flew down to Sydney to the award night at the Wentworth Hotel and joined the Country Comfort table and then on stage to receive the award for the Best Family Motel in Australia.

 They say " good things happen to those who wait" and in appreciation for our good work they flew us to Tahiti for a ten day holiday.In respect to the award as with most of them there are always many people who contribute and ours was no different. We had some great staff,our two key members was Dave Rose who was the chef and Frankie who was in charge of reception. That's what management is about having top key people in important responsible slots, where they don't fuck up under pressure.Frankie was there when we arrived and Dave was our selection.

We did not make any great improvements to Country Comfort, except in the bar area, we increased their top shelf range which was very limited when we arrived and we were responsible for a liqueur trolley that did the rounds of tables after dinner was over and they had them installed through out the group.I bought some Louis xv Cognac and their F&B manager said "You won't sell that in a month of Sundays" I was reordering that month, mind you I was quite partial to a drop.

We helped them establish the property in the local sense and attracted a good spread of locals and travellers who became regulars in the restaurant.We had friends who would drop by and stay others  like Bob Graham and Bob la Pointe who invested in the area and it's commercial opportunities.

Jazz had the best time as a toddler growing up in that atmosphere he was loved by all the staff and was ready for preschool. After a couple of years living and working together Lynne and I were testing our relationship and I think Country Comfort had got the best out of us  and we the best out of them. Sydney beckoned so we moved back and I started up a  consulting business specialising in Hospitality Projects.

Mission Beach,"Castaways",Cyclone Winifred,

Mission Beach, "Castaways", Cyclone Winifred

The developers for "Castaways" after seeing both prototypes opted for the safe option and we installed the contemporary beach interior  concept for the resort.Which was a pity as not one indigenous concept had been done in a resort in Australia, at that time. As normal I was before my time.

To facilitate better working relations I moved from Sydney to Mission Beach into a beachside townhouse, as I was there for a minimum of seven months. I recruited several of the trade groups I had worked with on Tuna Towers.  Such as the Gadencliff Group up in the Tablelands. We used them for the white panelling in the restaurant and constructing the bar and the decking around the pool.

There were several artists in the the beaches area, Helen Wiltshire was one who had established herself and I was friendly with her, her husband Steve and father Laidley. We commissioned Helen to do art for the 130 rooms, painting tropical flowers, shells, coral and birdlife. Helen had her own Art Gallery which she managed with Steve,where she lived in Bingil Bay. Their Gallery was one of the funkiest I have seen; set in the rainforest, the approach was over a rope swing bridge that Steve made that spanned a small ravine.He attached bells to it so that when people approached and were on the bridge, as the bridge swung the bells rang and forewarned them. As once they were having a  afternoon fuck in the gallery when unnoticed a client walked in on them.

Helen and Steve's knowledge of all the local artists helped in selecting other artists to be commissioned for for  works in the lobbies, corridors , restaurants and public spaces. Bruce Arthur, another artist in residence on Dunk Island, which was literally about a mile offshore, did some weavings for the lobby walls.

I often flew to Sydney, purchasing the equipment for the Kitchen, laundry , fabrics for the rooms, bedding and the hundreds of items on  the inventory to open a resort. On one trip, whilst lunching at a restaurant in MacQuarie Street called EJ's, I ran into Lynne Mitchell whom I knew from the Grape. She had broken up with her husband and  I was available,so we started going out when I was in Sydney.

As i completed more of "Castaways" inventory my buying trips to Sydney became less. I also was buying in Brisbane and Cairns. It became more important for me to be in Mission Beach as a lot of what I had sourced and bought was now due to arrive.I was the only person who knew where what went for the interior fit out and installations . I asked Lynne  would she like a temporary job  helping with menus for restaurants, room service and setting up the restaurant, so she joined me in Mission Beach.

Every item had to be shipped in by rail or road transport. If it was by rail, it came to Tully and then it had to transported by road into Mission Beach.Fortunately I had been through these logistics before in Cairns when I was designing and fitting out Tuna Towers. Mission Beach was more remote than Cairns and the double handling meant more could go wrong which it invariably diid. We were trying to open for Christmas '85 and one hiccup after another,  threw that idea out the window; the carpet  for the rooms was being made in New Zealand and due to some delay in  the dyeing process, that was being held up, the teak for the decking around the pool was taking longer to install than first quoted,the computers for the front desk were late and so it went on. so we decided go for a soft opening in early February.

We were looking good, the rooms were completed, the restaurant with its opened french windows leading out onto the pool decking and then to  the Malaluecas, palms,beach and ocean was a knockout.That smell of ozone after electrical storms, used to waft into the restaurant from the ocean.The colour schemes of whites, pastel yellows and palest greens blended well with the landscaping, achieving an indoor outdoor atmosphereThe interiors came together well and we were preparing for some dry runs with the kitchen, as staff were being trained and guests were being booked in for early February.


Then Cyclone Winifred gathered up its ferocity and at one am on  February 1, 1986 assaulting Mission Beach with all its fury for twelve hours.It crossed right over our heads like a big monster, with an eye diameter of 41km.  

We had plenty of warning, it was just a matter of monitoring when and where. The build up was  gradual and then intense, we had been receiving warnings that a big one was brewing off the coast for over a week. It was the uncertainty of where on the mainland it was to hit, it hovered offshore for a while as if deciding where to land.  Then, winds and the rain increased and you seemed to know you were in for a hiding. Lynn and i had gone home to our beach house as the worry was that if it was a high tide, the tidal surge could take out all the buildings on the beach including ours and "Castaways" which was only a hundred yards further down the beach.

In preparation I taped all the windows with masking tape which prevents shattering of windows and glass being sprayed around. The structure had a centre pole which the spiral staircase followed to the mezzanine, I found some thick rope which I wrapped around the pole and in a dire situation, like a tidal surge, we could wrap that around us and tie ourselves to the pole. and stay there if downstairs became flooded and we lost the roof.We then brought down the mattress from upstairs and squeezed it into the bathroom which are the safest rooms, lit the candles and hunkered in. 

There was no way out , by ten pm you could not drive as it was to dangerous, and you would not have got far.  I went outside a few times to check and practically got blown off my feet. There were trees crashed down across the roads, driveways and roofs. Telegraph lines  were down and live wires sparking when they hit something. The swimming pool was jumping around like a bucking bronco. A sand dune in front of our house was being blown away by the ocean. Fortunately it was low tide hence no tidal surge. All contact with outside had ceased about two hours before, when the power went off. Peter Miller who was in Cairns  rang a couple of times  for updates and then the phone went dead.

The sound of the cyclone was  a loud roar 'like a jumbo jet overhead', gradually it built up and up and up this seemed to go on for hours, besides that noise you hear other sounds of collisions that you can only imagine"what was that!!'. Cars  blown down the road, roof being blown of a house.Then silence, all the noise just petered out, which was the eye, that gave time to assess what was happening outside. Outside was bedlam, trees were down everywhere, there was a smoky red haze, caused by mini fires from electric wires, as they shot up they were extinguished by the rain.Not much could be done, so it was a matter of waiting for the next onslaught.Which meant back to the bathroom. For the next phase Lynne and i passed out as we had been up about 24 hours straight.

When we woke about ten in the morning we knew we had to steel ourselves for a hard day ahead.The devastation was
apparent from when we left the bathroom, as the townhouse we were living in was all glass and looked out onto the pool and gardens which were "smashed'. The beauty about the tropics is  plants grow quick and large, by doing that they afford lots of privacy, which we had. Before we could not see the other townhouses in our complex because of the  thick vegetation, gardens and landscaping.Now, everything was exposed and laid bare we could see all our neighbours.After "Winifred" there were no plants,all had been destroyed, the larger trees which had not been blown over were scorched, as if they had been taken to by a blowtorch.

The beach which was only a couple of meters away, was blown away, no sand dunes, they had been eroded by the ocean, all the palms which lined the beach right to the sand were all down, thousands of them just lying on the verge, like injured footballers.

The roads were impassable, trees and electricity wires down all over, it felt dangerous.Houses had trees fallen over them others had roofs gone, cars were smashed and upside down, boats thrown up on the beaches. Everywhere you could see all the buildings, whereas before  they  were obscured by vegetation and trees. If the trees were still standing the leaves were stripped bare and branches left scorched as the rain with the velocity of the wind had the intensity of a hot wind tunnel.This gave all the tress and plants left standing, a brown discoloration - remarkable compared to the dark tropical green they were eight hours ago.

There was no way of driving out from the beach house,the driveway was impassable with trees  down.We both walked down the beach to check out "Castaways", this in itself was like 'running a strange gauntlet', climbing over palm trees  and uprooted Malleucas which were down  and strewn everywhere for the whole length of the beach hundreds of them.From the beach "Castaways" looked as if it had not suffered, as it had been architecturally designed and constructed to endure Cyclones.

On closer inspection, the windows had been blown out on the beachside and the rain had penetrated into about fifty

suites and the carpet was ruined on all the beachfront rooms, the paintwork was also damaged by the wind and rain. All the bedding was sodden. It became obvious the plans for opening in the next week or so was not feasible.The landscaping had been "knocked for six' and all but destroyed.

For the next six weeks was a time of cleaning out, painting, starting from scratch with the landscaping and replanting. Re ordering carpet, airing and drying out bedding and soft furnishings. Then also assisting locally where we could with cleaning up the township which had been literally been blown away.

It was not only Mission Beach that was devastated, "Winifred" had made its way through the valleys and hit towns such as Tully,  Innisfail and cutting a swathe through the ranges and rainforest ending up in the Tablelands in Malanda.Wind gusts were calculated at 165 - 180 knots. The damaged  costs  locally was $130 million (at 1986 value) including 3 deaths.

I had experienced a hurricane in the Bahamas, back in sixties but it was nothing of the magnitude compared to "Winifred" which they compared to "Tracy" which wiped out Darwin in the Seventies.

Castaways was eventually opened in March 1986. 

At the opening night function, one of the directors who was a big, tall, hefty  Queenslander, after making a speech sat down on his chair in the restaurant and it collapsed under him. As the weeks progressed more of the chairs did the same. I had purchased the chairs from an old acquaintance, Peter Ryan who owned a furniture company called Post and Rail. I had spotted this,  leather and bentwood chair early when sourcing furniture. for the restaurant . Peter told me it was a prototype of their new design and had not been tested yet in the market for strength or durability.  I explained this to the directors, regardless we decided to go with the "Chair" if he would guarantee it ,which he did. Unfortunately  they did not go the distance and another chair was selected.  Peter was true to his word and  he credited "Castaway's" with a cheque for  all 130  chairs which had to go back to the manufacturer.

Webber BBQ's,Bat Cave- China Town,Rebirthing, Castaway Beach Resort.

Webber BBQ's, BatCave Chinatown, Rebirthing, Castaways Beach Resort

Janice was on a twelve months working visa which expired so she had to return to Calgary, Canada - much to our disappointment as we were both in love. Also at this time I decided I had had enough of restaurants and Barnacle Bills, to much booze and dope was starting to get to me and I was starting to fuck up.There was an opportunity to sell my share, for what i had paid for it, to Arthur Basha (who I think still owns it) with settlement in twelve months.

So I took the offer and got a job selling Webber Barbeque's until the money came through.This came about through some friends in Cairns. Who owned prawn trawlers in the Gulf of Carpentaria, decided to take on the Webber Franchise for North Queensland as they knew the bloke who had the Australian franchise. They had a container of Webbers amounting to three hundred of differing sizes, shipped over from the States.  As I had finished at Barnacle Bills, I put my hand up as their new salesman, and as there was no one else I got the job.

My territory was from Rockhampton to Cooktown, the method of selling was called 'belly to belly selling'.Webber had their selling and marketing strategy worked out.Their strategy was that you booked space into the regional shopping centres. Their, we set up the range of Kettles, normally about three or four,in colours of black, green,red and blue. A- frame graphics boards and signage alerting prospective customers to what was happening, as in the eighties, Webber Kettles looked a little alien and space age, especially in FNQ. 

 Myself and an assistant would cook on two to three kettles, so as to show the different way they could cook roasts - which was called indirect cooking, and sausages, steaks and chops  - which they called direct cooking. It was all in the way you arranged the coals : 
in the middle of the base of the Kettle for direct cooking and 
arranged on the sides for indirect cooking,with drip pan under roast for fat,with air vents top and bottom open, with the round kettle shape - what you had was fat free convection cooking.

Turkey was the big pulling card, Webbers cook turkeys sensationally - moist and juicy.As people walked past, you would lift the lid of the Webber and they would see a big turkey being roasted, "would you like a taste" invariably people would say "yes" after carving a slice and getting their comment on how succulent and juicy it tasted, then you would explain the different methods to cook, take a deposit and ship them a Webber which came in different sizes.The largest, called a "Ranch" which could cook half a lamb or small pig appealed to the country people.

Another strategy was to demonstrate the Webbers at the regional shows, of which there were eight. I booked space at all the shows from Rockhampton to Port Douglas and over a three month period I became a "showie" selling Webbers at all the shows. They normally went for three days, then you would pack up and move onto the next. I had a specially made trailer built in sheet metal by a welder in Cairns and then had it painted white,  a sign writer drew the Webber logo all over the trailer, which looked like a white box on wheels.

I would pull up at the show ground  and find my space and set up my tent, together with the guys who were setting up the 'big top', and  the other space holders in side show alley.  I had one of the most popular stands, because once I started cooking the smell and aromas would drift around and I found myself cooking for half the stakeholders as much as show visitors. Often the 'showies' would come over and ask us if we cook a steak for them.That was OK as everyone reciprocated and I sold a few to some of the "showies". 

As we had trawlers in the Gulf catching prawns, which were exported to Japan.I would when I went back on weekends to Cairns, raid the Freezer and bring back to wherever I was, a seven kilo block of Tiger Prawns and often do "Chili Prawns" on the wok attachment, which was more popular than the Turkey. 

I sold the container load of 300 Webbers in six months and we decided not to order again.So finished, my job as a "belly to belly salesman".

 I had enough of FNQ and went to visit Janice in Calgary. Where I stayed for a week, meeting up with her extended family, as both brother and sister were married and visiting their cabin in the Rockies. We  then flew to Puerta Vallatta in Mexico for three weeks, which was a great trip falling in love again with Janice and Mexico. The trip brought back memories of when I lived in Canada and worked at Chateau Lake Louise.   When we returned from Mexico, I went skiing with Janice's brother- Alton, which was memorable,as that was where I first learnt to ski. Mexico I love, in fact one of my favourite countries,I could easily live there. Pity how the drug cartels have now ruined so much of it. Janice was putting herself through Calgary University doing a degree in Marketing and I had monies to collect in Australia.We both knew that this would be the end, as she loved her country especially the Rockies and her family.As they say parting is a grief.

 I went back to Sydney, moving into a mates small apartment above a "Dojo"( martial art studio) on  Broadway in China Town.  Friends of mine had enlisted to do a rebirthing course over a three day / night period. I joined up as it sounded intriguing, different and maybe a way to stop some old habits that were creeping in.

The course was called Loving Relationship Training,the main facilitator was Sondra Ray, an American Lady who grew the works with Leonard Orr another American,who was the founder. It was amazingly about breathing and healing traumas, such as the birth trauma with breathworks and affirmations. They were assisted by some other Americans who came over from the States for this course.There were about 150 people who attended the sessions held in the function rooms of the Sebel  Townhouse.

One of the sessions was in the evening, where everybody brought their own pillows and eiderdowns or blankets - they set set the stage with very soft instrumental music like Evangelis's- "Alpha", which was soothing to the ear and soul. We all made ourselves comfortable, each in our own space, lying down.They then had us all,  with the help of facilitators moving through out the room, breathing in a connected fashion. The breathing was the most important part. Merging the inhale with the exhale in a gentle relaxed rhythm in an intuitive way.Sometimes when a person would stop breathing in a rhythmically way, they would quietly and unobtrusively jog them back into a connected breathing pattern until it reached the connected rhythm . It was extremely moving as during the evening you would hear people weeping and yet you would be in your own world.I remember thousands of thoughts spiralling through the mind, spiralling was the right word as it seemed as if you were going down some type of  funnel or shaft, kaleidoscoping back through my life. I was told later that I had one of the most powerful sessions of anyone, and that I cried for a very long time.

Another experience that happened two days after this.. before I go on - Very few people knew where I was, as I had not been back from Canada for more than ten days and of that I had been in the course for three days.

I was sitting in this small flat early evening,reflecting on the rebirthing course and what to do with myself. I decided to do an affirmation on what I wanted to do at the time,I had never done any such task before.During the course Sondra Ray spoke so positively on how she lived by affirmations and how they had changed her life around.

 I found an A4 pad and then thought out what I wanted. When it was sufficiently tight to put into words, it went something like this: " I want to be involved in a creative role that includes travelling with an ambitious group that has vision".

 I then settled in for the night and commenced writing it out. Line after line, page after page, into the night and into the morning until my hand ached and my brain was numb dead from writing out the same sentence hundreds of times. I then went to bed. 

The following night I was back in the "bat cave", after having a cheap feed in an  Asian restaurant  in George Street. I was broke, there was no social life of meeting up with friends in one of the pubs in Paddington.I still was waiting for the money from "Barnacles Bills" and what money I had, was spent on the course I had just finished.I had been home about an hour or so and the phone rings, which was so rare as no one knows I'm there. I answer and the voice at the other end says"what are you doing right now" I replied "waiting for this phone call" He then asked "can you get yourself up to Cairns tomorrow" I replied "sure" He then said there will be a ticket for you at the Qantas ticket counter, see you tomorrow", I asked, "how did you know where I was?" I'll tell you later. He never did.

My joy at that phone call was boundless. I just sat there for a long time thinking of the last few days. There was no one that I could ring and share with what had just happened. Because they would not understand.Which did not  worry me as I found plenty of contentment knowing what a powerful tool I had been given and I gave thanks for who ever was looking after me.

The caller was Peter Miller who I had done all the interiors for  at Tuna Towers in Cairns. 

So the following day I flew back to Cairns to meet with Peter.

Peter had joined up with a group from Townsville. They had bought a beachside site on Mission Beach opposite Dunk and Bedarra Islands and they wanted me to design and do all the decor for the interiors for a resort that they were building called "Castaways Beachside Resort".I then meet with his new partners, a lawyer and a quarry owner, and we drove down to Mission Beach to look at the partially constructed property, that was to be a resort, they were building on the beach.After we worked out suitable payment arrangements. It was back to work,  deciding what the owners required internally in design and decorative details. I gave them two options for the interior design concept :

•  Beach side Contemporary 
•  Contemporary Indigenous. 

For each concept  I would design a prototype room.

For the Indigenous concept, I flew  to Darwin and then by boat over to Bathurst Island and met with the art  coordinator for the Tiwi People.

As I was there a small private jet flew over the Island and the guy I was seeing said, 'that's some Lord from the British Parliament who has just bought all that stuff in the corner of the shed over there, he's arrived to pick it up for a resort he's building in Broome"It turned out to be Lord Alistair McAlpine who was the treasurer for the English Government and was building the Cable Beach Club in Broome. 

I gathered my small  collection of artefacts and fabrics which had been screen printed with indigenous designs, which fitted into a suitcase and returned to Mission Beach.

Barnacle Bills & Cairns Game Fishing Club

Barnacle Bills & Cairns Game Fishing Club

Far North Queensland, or as the locals call it FNQ, starts as you crest the Cardwell Range when your driving up from Townsville, to Cairns on the Bruce Highway. It spreads out before you like a big green blanket, made more dramatic because, the countryside before has been brown uninteresting Australian bush.It is one on of the few spots on the east coast where the Great Dividing range goes out to sea and meets with Mount Bowen on Hinchinbrook Island.

You can see the ocean, the reef, the tablelands, the rain forest, elements that make up Cairns and Far North Queensland (FNQ). Mix in big game fishing, a tropical climate of monsoons, cyclones, floods and electrical storms that make Sydney's New Years Fireworks look like a 'double bunger'. Include the characters and personalities that this 'neck of the woods' attract and you have  an intoxicating mix of geography and human activity that make for a sexy, exciting place for Australia to have as a front door.

Cairns resonated with me, it was still raw,it had that "Go north young man" appeal of adventure about it. The smell of salt in the air, the balmy weather, especially the evenings, even during the wet season with the constant deluge on corrugated iron roofs, though if it went to long, they say it can send you" bonkers"!!. 

The city was in an evolving stage mostly low rise buildings,Hydes Hotel was the tallest - about three levels. The central part was a grid of about ten blocks bounded by the Esplanade and  Cairns Inlet. Architecturally, the only stand out was, verandahs over footpaths, latticework and after a five minute stroll into the suburbs and the ubiquitous Queenslander everywhere. In a basin surrounded by verdant rainforest hills, Cairns sat at the bottom of Trinity Bay on an inlet that narrowed further upstream into mangroves. Where now, there would be crocodiles, not when I was there, as they had all been shot out - for shoes and handbags, then again the mangroves might not be there, as they probably have been developed for resort hotels or marine purposes.

The Cairns Game Fishing Club was just completed when we arrived, it was built next to "Tawny's", the other seafood restaurant in town besides "Barnacle Bills".The "Game Club" as it was known, was at the mouth of the inlet next to the Marlin Wharf. Here the game boats moored and  did the weigh- in for large catches, as did the tourists boats taking people out to the reef and Green Island. At this time, early eighties, Lee Marvin was one of the Hollywood types who would come into Cairns, hiring the  game boat "Sea Venture" and skipper Dennis Wallace aka "Brizzaka"(supposedly Aboriginal for wild man- the description was right, not sure about the other).The Club was not for the Hoi Polloi, the Prez (as he was called ) - Jock Izzat ,  managed it with a firm hand as I will explain:

 After I had been there for about eight months a friend of mine from Sydney arrived in Cairns called John Ormonde. He  with another Sydney guy, who had been there for a long time  Laidley Mort, decided to have a drink one afternoon at the "Game Club." Neither were members, and both were wearing sarongs, they decided to have a binge on Bundie and Coke and stirr the place up, winding up some of the club members, probably about the colour of their necks, nearly getting into a punch up, so they decided to bail and went to the Marlin Bar another infamous watering hole.

 The next day I was called over by the "Prez," "it's about your mate John Ormonde, he's not a member, so unless he's signed in by you, he is not able to enter the premises, we can lose our license if people walk in off the street like he 's done, he's brought in another guy who's also not a member, but is also barred for life, they both got pissed and insulted some of the members and caused all sorts of trouble, besides all that, they were wearing skirts,which was against dress codes,!!! - see it does not happen again".

John never became a member, he asked if he could stay on my sofa when I was living at Holloways Beach for a couple of nights and six months later he was still there.

When I first took over "Barnacle BIlls", in fact the first night I was thrown into the deep end. They were two staff down, one short in the kitchen, one short on the floor. I had been there since three In the afternoon and asked to help out in cold larder, learning the make up of the cold entrees and doing the 'mise en place'. 

At about 7pm Kate who was the hostess has appeared in the Kitchen and yelled out "Tony how long has it been since you served wine at tables" and with that I've been given a table of ten, and the dishwasher has replaced me in the cold larder.The table I was to look after were a film production crew from Sydney, in Cairns filming a commercial, they were a mix of blokes and chicks and in a boisterous 'wrap up mood'. 

Having been in the kitchen I was not aware of how out of control  the restaurant was. People are everywhere, it was over booked, people overflowing from the bar into the entrance to the kitchen making it an obstacle course for staff coming to and fro. Customers waiting on the footpath, others told to wait over on the Esplanade on park benches - bedlam at  7pm!!   the restaurant could seat 80, there was another 80 waiting to be seated. My mind was not on serving a table of ten wine, it was on, how disorganised the front was and what had I got myself into.

I handed them the wine lists, then with their order went to the bar, to be told the four wines they had ordered, three we were out of stock.Back to the table, I explain what we had in stock, so I get another wine order, when I go back to the bar, I'm told another wine they have  ordered has just been sold out. Back I go again, reorder and eventually I get the order right. Back  to the table with four different wines to pour amongst ten people trying to remember who is having what, is a task in itself. I'm proceeding to pour the wine and trying to remember who is having what when I get the the shakes.

 So,I am trying to pour wine for a table of ten,I 've got the shakes and when I see the bedlam  I have the total shits, then my mind starts to think why am I here, do I really want to be running another restaurant, so my shakes get worse and I lose focus, when you have the shakes it is very difficult to control, as the wine not only goes into the glass but everywhere else, which it does. I  had only poured for two or three and the shaking was more obvious and what made it worse was the whole table became aware of it, and started to nudge each other - which embarrassed me further, making it more difficult to focus on the task at hand,as all i wanted was out, how I finished pouring every ones wine was a small miracle. I told them that because we were so busy they would have to pour the wine themselves. I scuttled back to the kitchen like a beaten dog and handed over to an already overworked young wine waiter who was still in his last year at High School. So much for leading from the front and baptism of fire.


I got into a routine each evening,this consisted of writing up the "Specials Board" there was always freshly caught  reef fish, straight from the wharf- Maori Wrasse, Coral Trout, Red Emperor, all great eating reef fish.Either baked whole or in filets panfried in a lemon butter sauce. Next was  setting up the bar and tables. Checking that staff were coming who were rostered on, as they were all casual and in a laid backed environment, the reliability of some was suspect.Also the stock was received for the day and fridges stocked with beer, wines, which was done by the cleaner early in the morning. Meeting with the chef and checking that all was on the menu,  float in the till. How many bookings  for the night and allocating them tables. Taking bookings, as the phone was constantly going off in the early evenings. The restaurant did not fill up till seven. 

Often, I would wander across the park to the "Game Club" for a couple of drinks, there was always someone to meet and have a chat, and I would return about seven to help with evening trade at Barnacles. We tried lunch for a few months, but there was insufficient business so knocked that on the head and concentrated on  trading seven nights per week.

The first couple of weeks it took to get the feeling for how it was managed.  I knew most of the staff as I used to go there before becoming one of the owners.I got better after the first night, but not much. Angela and I split up after six months, I fell for a young Canadian lady, Janice Belsher,  who started working for me at the restaurant. Angela went back to Sydney and Janice and I moved into a beach house at Hollaways Beach.This did not endear me to a lot of people who we had become friends with.  Angela was well liked and the way we split was harsh on her, and not pleasant for which I have tried to make amends. I introduced her, to her now husband, Roger Scales who owned a backpackers lodge in Bingil Bay, south of Cairns.

Janice and I used to enjoy hiking and going for runs in the trails through the rainforest behind Cairns in a place  called EdgeHill. On one of these hikes we saw some movement in the bush and as the trail swung closer to the where the movement was, we confronted a Cassowary which started to run at us. I told Janice to sprint along the track and I took off in the opposite direction and found myself off the track, and being torn to shreds trying to run away. Though not for long, as you cannot go far or fast, in the North Queensland Rainforest because of a vine called "wait a while".It has these thorns that face backwards and dig into your skin or clothes and prevent you going anywhere untill you stop and release them.Thank Christ the Cassowary stopped chasing, as they can kill a person , one kick from the three pronged clawed foot propelled at you, is like a spear thrust, and in the right place can send you heavenwards.They can run through the rainforest unimpeded, the thorns on the "wait- a- while" must act like a comb on their large black feathered body.Fascinating bird, they have this large horned protrubance on the top of their skull,called a "casque" like a big growth, spoils their looks, they are descended from dinossaurs, their big fuckers about six feet high to the top of their head ,flightless they have no trouble running through the Jungle and fast, they can get up to speeds of thirty mph. Apparently we must have been near where it had some chicks as they don't normally become aggressive. I have seen them at Mission Beach walking, through the back yards of houses and seen people feeding them fruit which is their main diet.

As much as the Barrier Reef is one of natures marvels, it is not something that you can become engaged with, or for that matter the ocean. Newcomers after going out to the reef and Islands a few times as guests on someones boat, often decide to buy a boat.Then after a few trips out to the reef realise how far it is off the coast and the cost in fuel which runs into hundreds of dollars. So what happens? the boats end up on the trailers, just sitting in the driveway of their newly purchased Queenslander which their going to tart up. 

Janice and I rented a beach cottage at Holloways Beach, literally on the beach. We stepped out of the back door of the house, onto a stone flagged terrace which was four meters wide and then it was the sand for about another thirty meters and the Ocean.The problem was during the summer you can not swim in it because of the Box Jelly Fish. We had a swimming pool, but it's not the same, I missed the surf.These day with the "Salties" I don't think anyone in their right minds would go in the water winter or summer, their breeding so fast laying up to fifty eggs a time.

Interesting theory about the box jelly fish proliferation, is that as with most things,  caused by man. Who shot the dingoes ? which are the natural predators of the wild pigs, the wild pigs are feral, all over Cape York  and dig up the eggs of the turtles, hence less turtles, which are the natural predators of the Box Jelly Fish.I have seen the sting off one, their vicious looking, as if the person had been whipped by "cat of nine tails" or burned with branding iron, nasty raised red fleshy welts, that are dimpled, the pain is excruciating, kills children or adults who have weak constitutions.

Tennis,Cairns & Tuna Towers

Tennis, Cairns & Tuna Towers

One of the perks I liked about our home at Lane Cove was I had my own quarters downstairs which consisted of two rooms, a bedroom and bathroom / laundry  where I could come and go asI liked and i would not be waking parents up when coming home in the wee hours. Now that my parents had moved to a unit in Lindfield this was more restrictive so i started to play couch camper , staying on other friends couches when going home was to inconvenient.

Meeting up with old faces and new was easy at Christmas time, as in Sydney there was plenty happening with parties and get-togethers down the Peninsular at Palm Beach and Whale Beach, where I had lived during the days of the "Grape".Catching up, with what friends were doing and seeing who were kicking goals stimulated the brain, to find new endeavours and to look to the future in trying to get something off the ground. 

 An opportunity was forthcoming, through a lawyer friend - Peter Kemp who informed and introduced me to London property group MEPC. They owned a few hectares of vacant land,  on the harbour foreshores at Berry's Bay, where they had been trying to get development approval to build luxury home units - to no avail. MEPC gave me an option of six months on the site and I came up with idea of developing the site into a "Racquet Club" similar to what I had seen in Puerto Rico and California, such as the Le Costa Club in LA.

I approached Don Wyllie an architect who was a local,  and used to be an associate of Peter Muller who designed the Kayu Aya in Bali. He produced  some drawings of the site where we were able to plan for seven tennis courts on the foreshore, there was a disused glass factory on the cliff overlooking the proposed tennis courts which we intended to recycle into the clubhouse.

 Carol Baker was the Lord Mayor of North Sydney Council and offered some advice about lobbying local residents, and our approach to North Sydney Council. After Don had completed some mud maps I organised some evening appointments with some local residents, taking drawings and spreading them out on their kitchen tables, we presented our intentions. The site was bounded by a railway line on the western side and the harbour on the eastern side, above the railway line on a ridge there were several residences that overlooked the site and these were earmarked with visits. They had formed themselves into a 'resident action committee' to fight the MEPC proposal that would have blocked their views and harbour access. Ours did nothing of the sort and was passive,no one at the time objected to what we proposed. 

 It was then decided before submitting a development application we should organise a resident site meeting with the 'residents action committee' that had been formed,to outline the proposed plans. Also to get some publicity, like - editorial in the North Shore Times. I decided to try and get John Newcombe one of Australia's tennis greats involved and phoned his Sydney office and explained what was my intention and they agreed I could use his name. I contacted the editor of the North Shore Times and the next week on the front page of  were the Headlines, followed by a ten paragragh article and informing of the site meeting to be held :

                              PLANS FOR MAJOR SPORTS CENTRE
                             FITNESS, FOOD & TENNIS WITH NEWC.

The following Saturday there was a big turnout of residents with kids and pets,Carol Baker was there and Don and I with drawings. Don chaired the meeting and outlining the intention of the "Colonial Tennis Gardens", which was my name for the complex.That included seven tennis courts, 25meter swimming pool, gymnasium, health spa and saunas, jogging track, child care centre, on- site parking for 120 cars, restaurant and discotheque.

I explained no detailed feasibility study had been done re costings until we gauged what the residents reaction to this proposed passive development would be.Some residents objected that it would not be passive with the traffic generated by the amenities. Including a discotheque was not a bright idea either. 

Carol Baker proposed that a show of hands would determine: if we were to proceed or not, and with that, she asked for those in favour to raise their hands ... very few raised their hands, then she asked for a show of hands for those against.... most of them were raised. With that it was decided to approach NSC to turn it into a park - which it now is... and I went over to the "Four and Hand" Pub in Paddington and got pissed.

Whilst there at the "Four in Hand" I ran into a guy I used to see in London - David Barclay who was considerably older than I and who also had travelled extensively. We got talking and he asked 'what was I going to do now besides getting drunk' and I said 'I did not have a plan'. He then asked 'did I have much money left after my last endeavour', I said 'a couple of grand'. He then suggested, that I should take my new girlfriend and myself up to Cairns  from where he had recently returned. Cairns  was starting to take off as a tourist hub, he thought the two of us would get something going up there.

I had hooked up with a lady called Angela Cameron- MacKay, who was born in Kenya and was the head receptionist at the Sebel Town House at Potts Point. I approached her with this idea which she liked, after a send off party by her room mates at their Double Bay apartment  two weeks later we arrived in Cairns -- with a couple of suitcases each, a couple of addresses, and a couple of grand.

Angela soon cracked a job working in reception at  " Tuna Lodge" one of two high profile hotels in Cairns at that time and owned by Peter Miller, the other was "Trade Winds" owned by the Kamsler Family .Angela was  naturally stylish along with a beautiful smile and that sensational colonial English accent that commands you to listen, she loved to hear and tell jokes and she got on well with people.

Peter Miller was at that time building Cairns first Boutique Hotel "Tuna Towers" a six level building of 75 rooms and suites, on the Esplanade about three blocks from the CBD with a medical centre attached on the other side of the hotel, in partnership with Cairns's Radiologist, Bill Gale.

We became friends quickly with these families.Bill Gale came originally from Sydney and went to Knox and Sydney Uni where he did medicine,he was married to Anne with whom they had three children. Bill was well travelled, cultured, loved his red wines of which we drank copious quantities from his fine cellar in his farm  house at Kuranda. Bill had an engaging personality and endearing stutter, a good looking bloke who was well respected in Far North Queensland.

I often went with him on week ends to " Fairy Farm", his hobby  farm on the Barron River in Kuranda. Kuranda reminded me of of one of the hill stations in the Himalayas, the climate was cooler than Cairns, being on the edge of the Tablelands. It was very alternate, and had attracted  many artists and crafts people with a good splash of indigenous as the Bangara Dance Group had just started. The railway station was a gem of Victorian Architecture in steel and over  the years had cultivated one of the best tropical gardens of ferns and palms which people came to visit for a sticky beak.

Bill had fallen for the area and bought ten years ago, so his place was well established and most weekends saw him drive up there from Cairns. Over the years he planted an eclectic assortment of exotic fruit trees that he had propagated from seeds ; Mammy Sapotas, Florida Star Apples, Durians together with a range of Avocado's and  West Indian Limes, collectively an orchard of several hundred trees. We would spend the day on his ride on mower,  mowing the grass between the trees, slashing underneath near the root system with a whipper snipper and pruning  branches, this would take a weekend, and last a couple of weeks before it had to be done again.The orchard would look like a manicured park by the time we had finished.  We would then adjourn to the farmhouse which was built in the rainforest and hook into his extensive  cellar of Australian and French red and white wines and cook ourselves a a mini grand bouuef. Amazingly you never suffered from a hangover, as the rainforest generates so much oxygen and as we were surrounded by one of the largest in Far North Queensland, we woke up refreshed and ready to go again!!

 Peter was a fisherman from South Australia who came to Cairns about five years ago and opened 'Tuna Lodge'- hence the sobriquet "Tuna" for his property. which had about sixty rooms.Peter saw the potential for further accommodation needs and they decide to join up as Bill owned the land and they both joint ventured "Tuna Towers".Peter was the ultimate host always at the bar in the evenings welcoming guests and locals, tall and fair in complexion, an A grade tennis player, he looked a bit like Rod Laver.Pete was married to Leslie and had a son Darren who was just leaving school.

Both great blokes, in their mid fifties, really into what was going on,  not only in Cairns, but Far North Queensland.Through them both we were introduced to their wide circle of friends and over a period of time they both involved me with their plans for Tuna Towers. Until eventually there were some designated tasks, through my influencing I became the designated interior designer for the  project. My main responsibility was to design  the rooms and suites,restaurant and public spaces with the architect and to source all the furniture, fittings, equipment, art and artefact's.

We decided on colour schemes, which pissed of the project manager/ builder, Watkins - I suggested pastels through the rooms - pinks, pale yellows,turquoise. The project manager, at one of the monthly meetings, got the shits!! with me, when I presented the colour scheme for the complex.This was to enable the paint contract to go out to tender and  he commented- "their all poofter colours" I asked what do you want "all cream or beige" - of course!! every one else backed me, so we got our pastels.

We were the first hotel in Cairns to commission local artists, potters,iron workers  for different pieces throughout the property.Local artists painted scenes; from the reef and rain forest,  images of the local fauna and flora in different mediums: gouache, oils,watercolours and charcoal, that were hung in the rooms and corridors. In the restaurant Steve Stapleton who was a sculptor made a beautiful wrought iron screen about fifteen foot long and seven foot high that separated the bar from the entrance as you walked into restaurant. Ray Harrison made  fifteen large ceramic pots, a metre and half tall, which he painted in his own inimitable  style, then glazed - these we placed through the lobby, restaurant and gardens.

 A group from the Atherton Tablelands,  in Kairai, called the Gadencliff Group,comprised of a bunch of blokes, their wives and girlfriends, who collectively started several joint endeavours such as : joinery shop,pottery and acupuncture clinic,were retained to build some of the architectural features for the complex.  They all were in their mid twenties and thirties and had different disciplines, two of the youngest Leo Von Gemmett and Ross Penman were studying acupuncture and similarly learning stone masonry and boat building, others were painters, healers, potters, each teaching and learning from each other.

 They  were retained  to build the licensed bar, as one of them -  Gerry McKee a Californian Surfer, was a boat builder and surfboard shaper and experienced with fibre glass.
The bar we designed was oval shaped, half indoor and half outdoor,that could seat about thirty or so around it with further standing space. Constructed from "sea ply"and  fibre glassed to withstand the tropical weather of constant heavy rain over a sustained period, the three of them built the carcass in their workshop in the Tablelands, transported it to Cairns and installed it by crane. 

I  loved visiting the guys, to see how how the different projects were  progressing. The Tablelands was such a beautiful place - Lake Barine, Kuranda, the Barron Falls, parts of it reminded me of Africa and other parts - the rolling hills similar to Devon and Cornwell. Often I would stay the night at the  Yungaburra Hotel which was like a time warp, run by two old ladies and staffed by their eccentric friends - breakfast there reminded me of boarding school, with servings of porridge, corn fllakes and boiled eggs with white toast.

There was an enormous inventory to assemble in the fit out of the interiors; bedding, lights, soft furnishings, fabric selections for drapes and upholstering,the suites all had small kitchens, out door furniture, commercial kitchen equipment,plus the fit out for a  hundred seat restaurant. There was quoting, tendering and price comparisons,  sourcing of suppliers, obtaining samples and renderings all to be compiled and presented at the monthly meetings. 
Then the ordering, payment and delivery to be synchronised for install with the construction time lines and the grand opening.Eventually  I managed to pull it altogether over a seven month period sourcing  locally or in Brisbane and Sydney. 

With great local fanfare "Tuna Towers" opened in November 1980, it was Cairns first high rise hotel, all of six levels.At the time it was the biggest  in Cairns and was an instant hit with locals and tourists, the restaurant and bar quickly established themselves as  popular hang outs and did not take long to develop a steady patronage.

The money I made from that, about $30k, I invested in buying a third share in one of the most popular restaurant in Cairns - "Barnacle Bills" which was in the CBD on the Esplanade across from the waterfront. Originally called "The Tropicana" it had had several owners, mostly Melbourne blokes, of which there were plenty of in Cairns at that time, and one of them changed the name to" Barnacle Bills" and  served local seafood of which there was a wide choice, fresh and available daily.
The building was a free standing, weathered clap board two level building, with concertinaed aluminium sliding glass doors that opened up and fronted onto the footpath. Sitting seventy, with a bar down the back and kitchen behind it was a great casual dining spot frequented by locals and tourists.Bill and I bought  the business with another local John Dowson.