Out of the West - Art of Western Australia

Out of the West
Art of Western Australia from the national collection

8 July 2011 – 1 April 2012

Out of the West is the first exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia to present a large sample of artists living and working in Western Australia. It takes a unique look at the art from Western Australia from pre-settlement until today.

Queanbeyan Pipe Band - Our Bagpipers and Drummers

Queanbeyan Pipe Band

Steam Train To Bungendore

Steam Train To Bungendore 2/10/2011

I am considering going on the steam train to Bungendore for the markets on the 2/10/2011 the day after the party for the markets.  Its a cute little town with a leather works, galleries and woodwork Gallery.


Bungendore - a small rural villiage

The steam train trip costs $45 adults, $20 kids $40 Concession, leaves at 10:30 to and arrives back 15:45pm. They are having a markets that day as well. Bookings will open in mid August and the train holds 200 people.  I will contact you in mid August to see if you are interested.

Dont be scared it has a nice pub too.

Group Bookings Taxi Fare Estimator

Super Maxi Group Transport - 11 or 24 seater busses

Vickings Club - Meal Deals

This club is right next to the Country Comfort Motel and there will be a catch up evening meal/get together there on the 30th September. You will need to be signed in by me.

Flavours Of India -

Flavours Of India - Woden

This is the best Indian Ive ever tasted.  Banquet for lunch range from $24-30 pp and dinner form $29-39.


And they serve FRESH chili as a side salad.

Kirsty and Natasha - Our Belly Dancers

Laurie McDonald - Our Bush Poet

Laurie is a poet from Canberra who performs regularly at dinners, functions and festivals and wherever he can find an audience. He writes of quirky observations of life from the humorous to the serious and his poems feature a range of larger than life characters such as Merkyl Crud, Thommo, Mick, Candy Divine,  Jimbo and so on.

He also includes traditional poets Banjo Paterson, Henry Lawson and others, along with several modern poets in his performance repertoire

Poetry came into Laurie’s life in 1992 when he wrote a poem for a family function and the muse has continued to the present day. He became a foundation member of the Queanbeyan Bush Poets and has been writing and performing ever since. He doesn’t normally get to competitions, but snuck one award in when he won the ‘Reciter of the Year’ at the 2007 National Folk Festival.

Laurie is married to Denise Burton, herself an accomplished and entertaining free verse poet and their "combined" rendition of Roald Dahl’s ‘Little Red Riding Hood' has become much requested.

This site includes a small sample of his poems.

BACKGROUND

Born in Allora, he spent the first 25 years of his life in Queensland. As his father was a primary school head-teacher, the family, including his mother, five brothers and a sister moved regularly with each of his dad’s transfers. During that time, Laurie lived on the Darling Downs, in Emerald, Maryborough, Brisbane and Mt. Isa. After completing a Surveying Degree at the Uni of Queensland, he moved to Wollongong for five years and then to Canberra, in 1972 where he has worked as a surveyor ever since.

One of Laurie’s other loves over the years has been sailing, hence the ‘Legend of Merkyl Crud’, a poem about a hero who ‘wins’ the Sydney–Hobart race. During the 1970s he won several national and state championships in Catamarans with his late first wife Dianne. From 1984 he raced windsurfers, and following considerable lack of success, became a race official and during the 2000 Olympics officiated at the Sydney Olympic Sailing Venue as a boat measurer and in the race results room.

These days Laurie’s spare time includes another of his loves, gardening, with a preference for Australian natives, but writing and performing remain high on his agenda.

Laurie also sings bass in the Canberra Celtic Choir which sings usually in four part harmonies in English, Welsh and Gaelic, and has also sung harmonies on the CD’s of his brother Ken McDonald, a Brisbane singer/songwriter.

Hanna Lane - Our Harpist

Since her first performance of La Bohème at the age of fourteen, Hannah has been a fixture in the Australian music scene. She is a versatile performer, lending her skills to everything from opera and charity events to television commercials and session work.
Hannah has a passion for orchestral playing and is regularly engaged as a harpist for orchestral performances in Melbourne. Notably, she has performed with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, the Australian Youth Orchestra, the Melbourne Opera Orchestra and the Orchestra Project under Maestro Oleg Caetani.
Hannah completed her Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Music in 2006 at the University of Melbourne. Currently studying with Delyth Stafford, she has also received tuition from prominent Australian harpists Julie Raines, Marshall McGuire and Sebastien Lipman.
Committed to fostering performances of contemporary music and Australian works, Hannah has performed premieres of works by Australian composers including Andrian Pertout, Steven Hodgson and Cindy Chen, and has recently commissioned a new work for harp by Melbourne composer Shaun Jones.
An experienced performer, Hannah is frequently engaged as a harpist for weddings, parties, corporate functions and special events and has an extensive repertoire of music to suit any occasion.

Country Comfort Details and Website

Country Comfort Tuggeranong

46 Rowland Rees Crescent,
Greenway,
Canberra ACT 2900

Ph: +61 2 6293 3666
F: +61 2 6293 3444
Reception Hours: 24 hrs

Check In Time: 2.00pm
Check Out Time: 10.00am

Hotel Star Rating: 4
Hotel Rooms: 100
Year Built: 1990
Last Renovation: 2010