Family History tour Northern Territory Library

ALIA Top End had its first meeting for the year with a tour of the Family History area of the Northern Territory Library given by John Richards
John gave a very good introduction to the available resources to an appreciative audience.

A birthday sail ...

Julie called me soon after I left work and invited me sailing on Ross Chisholms"Trivial Pursuit" a 34 ft Adams 10 mono hull.
I grabbed my gear and camera and drove to the Cullen Bay Marina.
I meet Ross's daughter Melissa and her friend from Prague,Libor.


While we were preparing to motor out we spotted some of the Dragon boat crews practising.

Having cleared the lock gates we picked up Julie from the Cullen Bay
jetty armed with pizza for tea.



We sailed out into the bay and saw a Navy Patrol boat with a helicopter
landing on the stern.




We had a great couple of hours sailing and then motored back
arriving back about 9pm
A fantastic end to a good birthday.

Birthday morning tea

It was a nice surprise to have my colleagues give me a birthday gift whilst we met for a planning morning tea.

Sunday cruise

With Hugh back from a week in Melbourne we took a run on our scooters to Rapid Creek and then Nightcliff Markets




Not all are having fun in the sun...



Then a trip along East Point Road to the East Point Military Museum. This week there are various activities to commemorate the bombing of Darwin 66 years ago on February 19th 1942, 248 people died.



The Darwin Army Band was playing and there were a number of military diplays
Amongst the performers were 'One Mob, Different Country' - Indigenous dancers from detention centres.



Also there were some Mediterranean dancers

Farewell to Karen Baker

A farewell morning tea this morning for Karen Baker

who has supported first of all Alex Byrne and more recently Ruth Quinn as Library Director.

Ruth found it tough going to express her thanks for all the work that Karen has done here at the CDU Library over a 16 year career and clearly there are some big shoes to fill. Karen is in fact retiring to the bowling greens of Queensland and family.

"Librarian Idol" Andrew Finegan on St Valentines Day

I went with Jayshree, and met with Rod and Jessie and also Di Sinclair to enjoy "Librarian Idol", Andrew Finegan's reprise in Darwin of his "Librarian Idol" show before he takes it to the Adelaide Fringe Festival in March. Andrew is a fine singer and keyboard player and a stand up comedian (along with his day job as a public library manager and his show is a witty look at librarians and how they are portrayed and his own journey to become Darwin's and Australia's own Librarian Idol. See his blog Or listen to his voice