Matthew Ford’s Infernal Blog

We went to Maroochydore, which is a beach town up the Sunshine Coast, about 1.5 hours’ drive north from our Brisbane home. We stayed at the Sebel, a wonderful, new hotel which was both lush and affordable! I surfed, Dylan boogie-boarded, Kat sunbaked. (Kira was in the loving care of Dee back home.) We had a great weekend away. Some pictures of the trip, and Dylan’s 14th birthday, are now in the Flickr photostream.

(Please sing the above title to the tune of “Holiday in Cambodia” by the Dead Kennedys… we did…) We just got back from a holiday in Tasmania, we three running about in a campervan for a week. It was great! Not sure if we are campervan types but we enjoyed Tassie and enjoyed the freedom of carrying our home around the island. (continued »)

Me and the family are about to take a little holiday in Tasmania, so what better time to finally post something about my trip in November with my buddy Cameron? (continued »)

I’ve uploaded a bunch of photos from my and Kat’s weekend trip to Townsville; head to my Flickr site to see many more! This one is from when the tour operator (pictured) on Magnetic Island (near Townsville, Queensland) brought us to a pub that specialized in attracting hordes of rampaging rainbow lorikeets. On his instruction I took a handful of sopping wet bread from a bucket and held it out. “What n–” I started to ask, and was answered by one of most startling and intense experiences of my life. I was instantly set upon, and you really have to be there to understand how overwhelming it is. The color, the claws, the whipping of wind from the wings, the deafening caws in my ear… it was a feast for the senses in the sense that having a cannon full of Chicken Cordon Bleu fired at you is a feast for the senses.

Here are some notes on my trip to Uluru with Dylan, Kat, and her mom Josie. Photos are still in the camera with Kat. They are still vacationing and I am playing the bachelor at home, then I’ll catch up to them again Saturday. (continued »)

Dylan got back from his school’s camp out at the reservoir and was delightfully telling us about it last night. He loved it and did lots of fun outdoorsy things. He got a lot of living in the wild advice from an Aboriginal man who showed them plants to chew and ways to learn about animals, and Dylan even broke open a termite nest and ate some live termites! He said they tasted like peanuts. It was wonderful to hear and it’s so good to have him back.

It was a holiday on Wednesday. After a bit of indecision and regrets about having to leave the dog behind we accepted Robin and Paul’s invitation to go out to Bribie Island. I’m glad we did. We caravanned to a 4×4 lot and took Robin’s 4-wheeler up the beach, with me, Kat, Dylan, Robin, Penny, and their son Toby. It was exciting and bouncy, and a bit scary to be plunging up and down the sand rises next to the crashing waves. (continued »)

I’m taking three days off to spend time with Dylan while he has his school holiday. Today we went down the Gold Coast. It was a fun trip. We stayed on the beach a bit though it was not very warm. Dylan made castles and got his feet wet; Kat and I hung out with Kira. We drove up to Mount Tamborine and it was beautfiul. A windy road through trees. At the top we stopped and walked a trail for a while. No dogs were allowed and it was sunset so we made it short. Dylan had a nice time wandering ahead; it was just his kind of forest. It really was extraordinary with a long view downhill through the trees. Went to see State of Origin at the Ice Bar with Greg. We had a good time though Queensland lost. It is such fun watching sport in Australia; everyone is quite friendly even if rivals, and lots of cheering and yelling at the screen and such. I feel patriotic about being a Queenslander.