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Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Remember when your dreams came true???

Do you remember when your first dream came true???

I can actually do that - it was back on July 14, 2012 (to be exact) when I got to meet the most gorgeous and mischevious dolphin at the Pet Porpoise Pool! The dolphin that matches the description I have just given is 7 year old female, Bella - photo of the two of us to come!




For me, it was actually not one but TWO dreams come true: dream 1 was to get the opportunity to interact with a dolphin for the first time, dream two was to actually get the dolphin I had dreamt of doing it with!

Friday, August 3, 2012

Dreams

Who says dreams cannot come true??? I am a fitting example of this - not just once but TWICE in the same day....

3 weeks ago, I was very fortunate to be able to fly up to Coffs Harbour on the mid-north coast of New South Wales, Australia for a four day break.... during this break, I was able to get an amazing opportunity to do something that I will never forget. It was the second day of my four day break which I spent at the Pet Porpoise Pool - during that day, I got to have my dream of getting to interact with a dolphin for the first time come true... that was part one of the dream. The second part of this dream revolves around a certain dolphin in the Pet Porpoise Pool's dolphin family - that dolphin was a 7 year old female named Bella.

Maybe these fine words from English singer-songwriter, Charlie Landsborough, may make you understand what I am saying:
A Dream Or Two
Written and performed by Charlie Landsborough
If ever you're alone
And life becomes
A stone around your neck
And hard times beckon you
In your heart
Always carry a dream or two

Don't let the shadows creep
Into the hope that keeps
All fears at bay
And luck will favor you
In your heart
Always carry a dream or two

A dream is a magic boat
That keeps your soul afloat
A dreams a prayer the angels wrote
And only those with loving hearts can see
So open up your heart and dream with me

I'd gladly throw away
The gift that yesterday has given me
If only I could be with you
In my heart
I still carry a dream or two

A dream is a magic boat
That keeps your soul afloat
A dreams a prayer the angels wrote
And only those with loving hearts can see
So open up your heart and dream with me

I'd gladly throw away
The gift that yesterday has given me
If only I could be with you
In my heart
I still carry a dream or two

In my heart I still carry a dream of you
 
Also these words from Scottish singer, Isla Grant:
A Dream Come True
Written and performed by Isla Grant
CHORUS:
It's a dream come true, standing here, sharing time with you
It's not so very long ago, I thought I'd never see another show
But then I asked my Lord, to give me strength to face the world again
I prayed each night, don't let the music end
It's what I know, it's been my life, it's what I do
Give me hope and make my dreams come true

Every day I ask myself if I am dreaming
In my troubled mind I try to find a meaning
My world is filled with all kinds of confusion
Could this be real or just some sad illusion

Now it's been a long hard mountain for me to climb
Thoughts of giving up has happened many times
But always in my heart I guess I always knew
Without a song for me there's nothing left to do

It's a dream come true, standing here, sharing time with you
It's not so very long ago, I thought I'd never see another show
But then I asked my Lord, to give me strength to face the world again
I prayed each night, don't let the music end
It's what I know, it's been my life, it's what I do
Give me hope and make my dreams come true

INSTRUMENTAL

It's a dream come true, standing here, sharing time with you
It's not so very long ago, I thought I'd never see another show
But then I asked my Lord, to give me strength to face the world again
I prayed each night, don't let the music end
It's what I know, it's been my life, it's what I do
Give me hope and make my dreams come true

 Here's a video from Noel Flynn with the above song in it:



And for those who have not yet seen the photo of me and Bella, here it is:


Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Dolphin Marine Magic - Pet Porpoise Pool: Shallow Water Dolphin Experience Review

On Saturday July 14, 2012 at 10:40am, I was very fortunate to do a shallow water dolphin experience at Dolphin Marine Magic - Pet Porpoise Pool in Coffs Harbour, NSW, Australia. Here is a review of the experience!

I arrived at Dolphin Marine Magic just after 9am after picking up my wetsuit from Jetty Dive Dive Centre and was lucky to meet up with my two co-participants, 11 year old Bridget and 15 year old Brittany, before the encounter.... we managed to get half an hour of the 10am dolphin show in before we had to head off to the encounter meeting point. We then met up with Amy, the first trainer, who took us through a safety brief before we changed out of our street clothes - I was lucky I decided to keep my wetsuit on under my clothes as it was quicker for me being 5' 11" tall and a bit round in the belly - then we sanitised our hands while waiting for Aaron, the trainer who was taking us into the water. Amy also told us which of the three dolphins we were going to work with - when she said we were working with Bella, I could not contain my excitement... I dreamt of Bella being the dolphin I would be interacting with as it was my first time interacting with a dolphin.

Bella is a 7 year old female inshore Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin born at the Pet Porpoise Pool - she is one of the stars of all the dolphin experiences there. I met up with the other participants, saw half an hour of the first show then went off to the encounter meeting point. We met up with our first trainer, Amy, who told us which of the dolphins we would be working with (as soon as she said Bella's name, I'm standing there thinking, "OMG! Is this for real???" - it was only then I realised my dream was definitely coming true because it was Bella I had dreamt of doing my first ever interaction with!) then gave us a briefing on where we could touch Bella and where we couldn't then it was time to sanitise our hands and wait for Aaron, the other trainer who was to take us through the interaction. We got to spend the most awesome 20 minutes in the water with Bella - got to feed her, tickle her tongue (and see how she would have suckled when she was a baby - the sides of her tongue are feathered and when she loops her tongue into a circle, the feathered edges link together and form a "straw" where she can take milk from Calamity (her mother)), pat and rub her (both on the back and the belly - another totally useless fact: the way to tell the age of a Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin is to look on their belly - the amount of spots are a indicator of the age.... as Bella is only 7 years old, she still has white patches on her belly... as for her father, Bucky - he is 41 years old and has no white patches left anywhere on his belly), play ball, have a water fight (Aaron sent Bella to me first for my water fight.... I have never laughed so hard in all my life.... I almost fell over), danced with her, heard her sing and got to feel the force with which she can exhale from her blowhole (you definitely don't want to hold your hand any closer than 15cm above her blowhole because if you did, there is a possibility of breaking bones), see her underwater while throwing her a ring and much more... pity it was only 20 minutes... would have loved another 10 minutes.

In all, it was worth it to make new friends - and what wonderful friends they are (Bella, Brittany and Bridget)! A experience I will never forget in a hurry... highly recommended! If you would like to book in for this experience, phone the Pet Porpoise Pool Experiences Bookings department on 66591910 (02 66591910 outside NSW, +61 2 66591910 outside Australia) or 1300KISSES (1300 547737).

Me and Bella hugging during my Shallow Water Dolphin Experience at Dolphin Marine Magic recently

Robinson R44 Raven II VH-RIZ

Robinson R44 Raven II, VH-RIZ - this is the helicopter that made me fall in love with piston engined helicopters

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Update - Trip To Coffs Harbour

A update to a earlier post: http://joehuppsrandoms.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/travels-to-coffs-harbour.html

The final countdown is on! 2 weeks to go..... flying out of Dubbo on Friday July 13, 2012 at 0630 on a QantasLink flight (QF2037, de Haviland Canada DHS Dash-8 Q315) with a 4 hour layover in Sydney then onto a Virgin Australia flight (DJ1165, Embraer 190).... will keep you all updated as the countdown enters it's final phase!

Peace out peeps!

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Ford FG Falcon XR6 EcoLPi MkII

Ford Falcon FG MkII XR6 EcoLPi

Just a quick post to talk about this car, the new Falcon EcoLPi....

The Falcon EcoLPi is an amazing car - it can prime the LPG system into the rail and have gas at the engine before you can get your bum into the driver's seat.... once it senses a unlock from the keyfob, the priming system starts up, pressurising the liquified gas into the LPG fuel rail and up to the special gas injectors and once this is done, the driver turns the key to Start and the engine will fire right up!

Friday, May 4, 2012

Travels to Coffs Harbour


Coming up in July, I am going to Coffs Harbour on the mid north coast of New South Wales, Australia for a few days break - and this is one of the amazing things I plan on doing!

I had to reschedule my flights back 3 weeks so I could do this - now I am really, REALLY excited!

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Scania Coaches

Scania K480EB 6x2*4 TV5594

There's two words that can be used to describe Scania's range of luxury touring coaches: comfort and style. Some have one or the other while others have both - one such model which has both is the K480EB 6x2*4 pictured above!

This K480EB 6x2*4 started it's working life back in 2007 with Australia Wide Coaches wearing SA registration XNU346 then was re-registered TV5594 when based in Alexandria in Sydney - in early 2011, it was transferred to the fleet (as seen here) of Phil and Fiona Langley of Dubbo still registered as TV5594 and is the first 6x2*4 (6 wheels, 2 driven, 4 steering (front and tag axles)) to enter service in Australia.

Friday, March 16, 2012

Coach Comparision - Denning Decker vs Scania K480EB 6x2*4

Scania K480EB 6x2*4 TV5594

This blog entry is a comparision between two coaches in the Langley's Coaches fleet, a Denning Decker (TV5580) and the above coach, a Scania K480EB 6x2*4 (TV5594)

Denning Decker TV5580
First things first: these are two totally different coaches.... the Scania has a 12 litre SCR Euro V engine and a 12 speed Opticruise AMT while the Denning has a Detroit Diesel Series 60 with a Eaton UltraShift Plus AMT.

Driveline:
The Series 60/UltraShift Plus is nowhere near as smooth or easy shifting as the 12 litre Scania/12 speed Opticruise - the UltraShift Plus would not let the Series 60 lug down to 1000rpm and would be changing down a lot higher than the Scania's Opticruise.... the Opticruise would let the Scania's engine lug down to 1000rpm before grabbing a lower gear.... smoothly!

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Taronga Western Plains Zoo - Big Cat Encounter

On Tuesday February 14th, I was very lucky to be able to take part in a Big Cat Encounter (Tiger) at Taronga Western Plains Zoo.... I got to feed a tiger and meet the rest of the tiger family... here are some photos from the experience... now they're not the best but then again, these are memories for me!

Me feeding Isha, a 6 year old female Sumatran Tiger 



Saturday, January 7, 2012

Stockton Beach Trip

Here's a very brief photo reveiw of the recent trip myself, my brother and a couple of friends went on recently to Stockton Beach - enjoy!

MV Sygna - a 53000 tonne Norweigian bulk carrier that was shipwrecked on Stockton Beach on May 26, 1974

My brother's 1999 Toyota HiLux 4WD dual cab on our first camp site for the trip

Pristine sands of Stockton Beach - 4WD access only!

An amazing sunrise on the last day of our trip

The ute on the tallest sand dune

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Tamboi Queen Cruises - Dolphin Watch Cruise, Tuesday January 3, 2012

Here are some photos from my dolphin watch cruise with Tamboi Queen Cruises - enjoy!

Heading out of Nelson Bay
The only dolphin I was able to photograph - bloody buggers were too fast!
Our captain for this cruise, Captain Harry - seen here manning the waterslide on board the MV Spirit
Our vessel, the MV Spirit - a 18m catamaran with ample viewing opportunities