Riverfire 2008

Attending Riverfire is fast becoming a Crook Family tradition. As we did last year, we drove to Milton, parked outside my former workplace (Dimension Data) and walked from Milton down to South Bank. We staked out a spot on the Goodwill Bridge and proceded to wait for the next 2 hours for the sky to darken and for the fireworks to start. The fireworks were preceded by the F-11 "Dump 'n Burn."

Above: The South Bank foreshore starts to fill up

Above: The sun sets on the River city

Above: South Bank after dark with the Brisbane Wheel in the foreground

Above: Festive Fireworks light up the night sky!

More Harry...

Here are a couple of photos of Harry from August 2008.

Tawny Frogmouth

Yes, you heard right...I said Tawny Frogmouth. A Tawny Frogmouth is a "type of bird found throughout the Australian mainland, Tasmania and southern New Guinea. The Tawny Frogmouth is often thought to be an owl." (Wikipedia).

We found one in our yard in July this year and I was called to get some snaps of the then unidentified "thing." When we first saw it we were sure whether it was a bird or what, but after some Internet sleuthing the mystery of the "thing" was solved.

Handsome Harry

Little Harry grew so fast. He went from us being able to pick him up and carry him to him now being able to bowl us over if he wanted to. Here are some photos from June 2008 of a then smaller, but still very cute Harry.

Looking all intelligent!

Misty Morn

Winter's in Pullenvale can produce some pretty interesting mornings. There were quite a few mornings this past winter that started out VERY misty...and here are photos of one such morning!

(Above) Moggill Road Traffic rolls on through the mist.

(Above) Traffic was a lot slower than normal.

Forget Gorillas in the Mist...we had Pony in the Mist!

A view of our front yard before I left for work.

Pets a-posing

I love my pets and from time to time I take the opportunity to capture them on film/digital disk. Here are some photos taken in Winter 2008.

Baxter - Keeping a firm claw on my camera strap.

Zac - Smiling for the camera.












Charlie - Hiding from the cold!













Sebastian - My camera strap was a distraction.

Harry - Playing with his toy dinosaur

Eden - Kniee Lam

Starlight Morning Tea 2008

The Starlight Party is an event that is run every year by the Starlight Foundation to help raise funds for seriously ill kids. Dimension Data is very heavily involved with Starlight so it's only natural that the QLD branch would do their bit to help. We sold raffle tickets for some cool prizes and organised a morning tea to raise funds. We sold out of tickets and almost everyone in the office came out on the morning to support the morning tea. In the end the Dinner at Brent's went to Dana Tong (right) and the footy tickets to Keith Downs (left).

Fun @ Warner Bros Movie World - II

All things Shrek!





















This was a pretty cool show














Should I be scared...?














What's in that there wagon Missy?

Fun @ Warner Bros Movie World

Are you ready for some serious fun?


















The Batwing Spaceshot



















...Going up...













Where to next...?

Noosa...Naturally!

Noosa is my favourite place in S.E. Queensland. The beach is seclued and the shopping on Hastings Street is unparalelled.

Overseas Visitors

In May of this year I was blessed to have my best friend Jocelyn and her husband Andrew come over from Vancouver to visit Australia. They spent some time in Sydney, but then flew up to Brisbane to spend some time with me. It was a full on week that included 2 trips up the Sunshine Coast and then 2 trips down to the Gold Coast as well as a trip into the City on the CityCat and many other little things. I took time off work and enjoyed spending time with a dear friend, showing her my part of the world. I don't know when I'll see her here again, but till then I have my memories and photos to remind me of the time we spent together.





Jocelyn enjoying her first GJ's Iced Chocolate

Yep, she's learning...

Joss gets up close & personal with a camel at Australia Zoo.












Elephants at Australia Zoo

Joss & Andrew in front of the BIG Pineapple on the Sunshine Coast.

What's that saying about a bird in a bush...?

Princess Binkie

The most spoilt cat on the planet!

A little white fluffball named Harry...

Allow me to introduce to you the cutest little fluffball on four legs...Harry! We bought him not long after our first lot of chickens were taken by foxes. Harry is a Maremma Sheepdog and they are inherently protective of people and livestock. You will see more photos of Harry as I update my posts.







Experiencing his first morning in his new home.

















Getting a cuddle from Mom















Posing for the camera



















Melting my heart...

My 26th Birthday

These days I reckon Birthdays come round way too quickly. Such was the case with my 26th Birthday. Despite my misgivings about turning 26 I had a wonderful day and was spoilt by family and co-workers alike. The day finished off with a lovely dinner at Lilyfields in Kenmore...27 can wait.

My lovely gifts...

More gifts...

Still more gifts...(I was going through a gym phase...that phase is very much dead now).

Lilyfields...

Horsing Around

Back in April my sister enlisted my help to try and get some good shots of her and the Poni-yehs horsing around in the barn...as per usual it was a case of poni-yehs behaving badly, but I still managed to get a few good shots!



Kayleen with Sam


Kayleen with Zeke

Doest I hear the rattle of food bins?!?

Observant Poni-yeh

DDAway 2008 - Golfing at Coolum

Dimension Data Away (DDAway) took place in February this year to coincide with the company's 25th Anniversary. The whole company (and I mean, whole company...almost 1,000 of us) got to spend the weekend at the Hyatt Regency at Coolum on the Sunshine Coast for a 'working weekend.' Because DDAway is held in QLD, the QLD branch gets to spend the first half of the Friday morning Golfing and lunching before heading over to the resort.

I volunteered my photographic skills for the day which meant that I had to get up at 5:15am to get dressed, pack my car and leave home at 6:15am to get to Milton by 7am, pick up Kate at work and then head up to Coolum to get to the golf course before tee off at 9:30am. We made it with about 1/2 an hour to spare and after team photos I got to spend most of the day wondering 9 holes with Kate, Keith, Ben and Darren. I couldn't have picked a better bunch of people to spend the day with and you will see from the photos that the day was more fun than seriousness. I had a ball...it was the working weekend after that that drained me!

L - R: Keith, Kate, Darren, Ben

Serenity amongst the chaos

Keith...what are you doing...?













Fill 'er up Ben!

Now Kate...!

Ben enjoys a spot of golf cart surfing...