by Jeanette Maynes

Today I was officially invited to attend the community Cabinet Official Luncheon held in the Fraser Room at the Hervey Bay Boat Club with the Hon Anna Bligh MP Premier of Queensland and the Cabinet.

Finger food and light refreshments were served as the guests mingled with the politicians asking questions of relevance and raising suggestions and issues of concerns within our area.

Anna seemed in high spirits and on the mend from her fall / recent injury. Anna was very articulated and interesting speaking confidently in front of the crowd.

Two local Police officers were presented medals of honour from Judy Spence Minister for Police, Corrective Services and Sport for their long service within the Queensland Police department and the local community.

The Premier presented Fraser Coast Regional Mayor Mr Mick Kruger with a cheque for 4.9 million from the government to go towards the proposed Waterpark. We were able to view the actual plans of the Waterpark that will be located at the end of Main Street next to the seafront oval.

The Mayor was also presented a beautiful photograph of the harbour area in Hervey Bay taken in 1973.

Nancy Bates editor of the Chronicle was mentioned for her 20 years service to the area. The longest period a woman has been an editor in Australia.

Anna also personally autographed my official invite stating, “You go Girlfriend!”

I also met and shook hands with Mr Kerry Shine the Attorney-General and Justice and caught up with our local politicians Andrew McNamara MP for Hervey Bay and Chris Foley MP for Maryborough.

Today started off with a trip on the mono rail to check out Paddy’s Market’s then a walk and lunch in the Chinese Garden of Friendship which is located in the heart of the city in Sydney.

The Gardens are so tranquil and relaxing, I enjoy a visit to them every time I come to Sydney with their beautiful sheltered pavillions, graceful bridges and enchanting landscapes. This trip I decided to get right in mood and was dressed up as a very sexy geisha!!! (pictured here practising my geisha lips) I even had a Japanese tourist take my photo thinking I was employed by the Chinese Gardens! How funny!

There was also a beautiful family of ducklings as I fed the carp some bread. They were not afraid to swim above the carp that were quite considerably larger!

Wish I had my fishing line!

After lunch it was off to check out the Powerhouse Museum and the Zero Gravity Space Lab. This is a fun interactive that created the illusion of being in a weightless environment, where I found out what it is like to live and work in space. You stood in a chamber while the outside moved creating a feeling of weightlessness (I got abit dizzy!).

I also found this beautiful image of Princess Diana at the museum.

Tonight it’s off for some Salsa dancing at Vivas on the Rocks! 
Oh My Gosh, I had the time of my life. 
We met up with some friends from a Sydney dance club called Salsa Live and the fun begun.

I’ve never been swung around like a rag doll by so many hot men in my entire life! What a treat to actually dance with professionally trained dancers, with excellent technique and for once I wasn’t trying to lead!

The live band had your hips swinging and the whole atmosphere was absolutely electric and extremely saucy!

It was nice to be in a licenced venue where the people were not rude and drunk but fun, friendly, could hold a conversation and move on the dance floor!

I didn’t know I was so flexible!

Yesterday I flew into Sydney with a girlfriend for a working holiday.

Upon checking in to our 2 bedroom apartment we were advised we were on level P?
As there was no explanation as to what P meant on the lift buttons we decided to confer with others in the lift and came up with, pretty foxy level, princess’s level, but on a trip in a different lift it clearly stated Penthouse. I like this booking through wotif, I never know what sort of surprise accommodation I’ll be staying in! Very prestigious!

This morning we were up early to do a Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb. The systems in place with the climb were meticulously thought out and made for a smooth climb and an extremely successful business due to this obviously in depth strategic planning. The view was sensational!!!! I was pleased to find out I’m not scared of heights.

I did find a few negatives on my experience:

1. I should have worn gloves as the air was cold and I know how cold my fingers get on my motorbike! But I was unassertive and didn’t ask for gloves though I felt the guides may have offered them as it was very cold and the hand rails were freezing.

2. The trip was way too long, 3hrs without a toilet break! OMG after two and a half hours, I spoke to the guide and my friend and I were unleashed from the group, shuffled into an emergency lift, escorted through walkways and chambers of a pylon to find a secret restroom. The strapping male tour guide was extremely professional and swift in undoing al our equipment and suits. We found this very amusing!

3. There was also alot of stopping for no reason and long delays without commentary which I found unnecessary. Without this the climb would have been at least half an hour shorter and maybe just doable without feeling like having an embarrassing accident.

4. I noticed our tour guide had a nice sun protective hat on. I wish I had this option! Even though I had applied suncream before the climb I still ended up with wind and sun burn to my face. I was surprised sun cream was not on the list of what to bring or supplied as we all know the high dangers of sun cancer in Australia.

I’m glad I did the climb but I would not do it again. I was alittle disappointed as I expected to feel some sort of exuberance / accomplishment and as if I’d faced a fear when at the top but all I felt was irritation with the delays and my face getting sunburnt!

After lunch we decided to check out the Museum of Contemporary Art and view Sydney’s international festival of contemporary art the “2008 Biennale of Sydney” exhibition. This was very interesting though we were alittle worn out from the climb.

The high light of the exhibition was an exhibit by Helio Oiticica who was born in 1937 in Rio De Janeiro in Brazil.  The room was full of coloured hammocks with pictures of Jimmy Hendrix projected on all the walls plus his music playing quite loudly. We relaxed in the hammocks for a few minutes and decided to get out before we dozed off!

Oiticica believed in liberating the viewer and saw his installations of sound, mattresses, live animals, rubber and sand as spaces of emancipation.

This evening we attended the Phantom at of the Opera at the Lyric Theatre at Star City Casino.
This was the high light of the day!!!
Ana Marina played Christine and Roy Weissensteiner was the Phantom. Their voices and performances were amazing, the orchestra was dramatic, the costumes were elaborate, the props beautiful and quite creative. The whole combination was magnificent and absolutely spectacular!! 

Now this experience I would definitely recommend!

Every woman must buy, own and read this book!  

Do you make yourself too available? Are you an easy catch?
Whether you are single, in a relationship, married or just have men as friends, they must be trained!!! Learn skills to take control and receive maximum respect in your relationships (friendship, business or romantic). Although this book is written about how to snag a man and keep / marry him, the principles can be applied to many situations in your everyday life!
Be the best you, you can be ladies!

Being a creature unlike any other is really an attitude, a sense of confidence and radiance that permeates your being from head to toe. It’s the way you smile (you light up the room), pause in between sentences (you don’t babble on out of nervousness), listen (attentively), look (demurely, never stare), breathe (slowly), stand (straight) and walk (briskly, with your shoulders back). When a relationship doesn’t work out, you brush away a tear so that it doesn’t smudge your makeup and you move on!
Click here to see the top 10 rules

For everyone that is wondering what is going on, I’ve decided to start a BLOG!

So add me to your favourites to keep up on the Life of Jeanette in the fast paced Hervey Bay situated on the Fraser Coast in the state of Queensland on the East Coast of  the amazing country Australia!

Not sure which way I will be heading with my blog but initially I felt it would be a fantastic way to record what I get up to for my own personal records to look back on. I then thought family, friends and others unknown to me may enjoy reading my blog too…

I might give some advice, show some serious fun times and photos, share abit about myself and maybe some personal opinions / thoughts (please note these are my personal opinions and not the views of anyone associated with my blog or in general).

So I hope you enjoy!

Kind regards

Jeanette

Self Portrait - (acrylic on canvas)  1996         Self Portrait (Computer art) 2008

House Paint on Canvas   2007                                       Dad (Pencil)

Stained Glass Windows given to my parents 1996

James Dean (Pastel)    1996                 Jimmy Hendrix (Watercolour)  1996

Prince (Pastel)   1996           Elvis (Photography)  1996             Elvis (Pencil) 1992

Elvis (Acrylic)   1996             Rainforest (Gouache)  1996

    Butterflies (Gouache)  2002   Self Portrait (Pencil) 1992

The above butterflies and this underwater painting were gifts for my parents. (Gouache) 2002

The pathway from the artroom at Hervey Bay Senior College.  (Pencil)  1996

My parents on their wedding day (Pencil)

 Toni’s Present (House Paint on Canvas)  2006               Pencil 1989

House Paint on Canvas 2005

Dean Vegas (Computer Art) 2008

Last Year I was featured in the “inFOCUS” article for Horizon Magazine where readers can learn alittle about me and my work at Design House Fraser Coast.

Click here to view the inFOCUS pdf

To fully understand the services provided at Desigh House Fraser Coast (graphic design + print, website design + hosting) please click here to visit the website and see what we can do for your business.

A blog (an abridgment of the term web log) is a website, usually maintained by an individual, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order. “Blog” can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs……