Add your miscellaneous photos or stories here

Rather than going off topic on other threads,  thought it may be better to create a general "miscellaneous" thread where you can add your stories or pics that are either memorable to you or pics you want to share with forum members;   they don't have to relate specifically to wildlife (as on Odds & Sods thread)  as Tea Rooms is for general chat/pics as long as you follow community acceptable guidelines !    

To start it off I'll transfer over a few pics I put up for Wendy..............

@ Wendy,   I wasn't into photography back in my Aussie days and can't find the happy snappy pics except for these.....

For Mick...…...a pic of Glen McGrath

Pre-match preparations  !    and junk food  lol 

  • Unknown said:
    Hazel, I'd like to hear more tales of your time in Africa and the far East

    Not sure I can remember that far back although they say it's the short term memory that fails   LOL           I'll have to think.     

    One story was whilst we were living in Tanzania and Mike's sister came to stay for a couple of weeks.     Our nearest game park was a 4 hour drive from our home on the Msasani Peninsula (which was thirty mins outside of the city Dar es Salaam).     We headed off in an old Landrover which was part of the company fleet;   after two and half hours Mike pulled over so I could take over driving the final hour and half to the game lodge - Mikumi National Park.      As soon as I got into the driving seat, put the car into first gear,  released the handbrake, foot gently on accelerator I felt nothing and the peddle was flat to the ground in loose fashion !!    I looked over at Mike and said the car felt wrong and it had a serious fault   - he and his sister thought I was joking waiting for us to move off  !      Middle of nowhere, one basic road and those days you didn't have mobiles, any form of communication or even a radio handset within signal range  !!     We were in the middle of the African plain so didn't particularly want to step too far out and away from the vehicle  (lion country ! )  so we pondered a while and had no option but to flag down the next passing vehicle for a tow to the next village which was half an hour away.      We waited and waited when finally we heard sounds of an engine approaching;   turns out it was a double trailer pantechnicon who was kind enough to stop.    The Tanzanian crew were happy to tow us to the next village but I asked Mike to steer our landrover once I saw the length of the tow cord which was an old and frayed piece of sisal or jute rope  LOL     I don't know how Mike managed it apart from his amazing powers of concentration as the rope was no more than 6ft in length and we were right behind a double trailer lorry and could see nothing in front  - just the lorry's rear bumper and sweat pouring down our brows  !      Cutting a very long story a bit shorter,  we made it to the village without incident where we gave the crew some money and drinks from our cool box along with our grateful thanks.   Had to abandon our vehicle at the village hoping the wheels would still be on next morning,  took the local taxi the extra hour to the lodge (at great expense -  driver knew we were up the creek without a paddle with no chance of negotiating a fair price  lol)   and spent the weekend completely marooned with no car to go exploring for wildlife - and this lodge was basic,  no frills or choice of menu  !    We had to book a phone call to the office which wasn't open until the Monday morning and they had to send their mechanic 4 hours to pick us up and bring us back to base without having seen so much as a laughing hyena !     Turns out the cam shaft had failed so it needed major repair;   nothing to do with any woman driver LOL       Next weekend we headed 4 hours back again in a different Landrover !  and did see zebras, warthogs, hippos, giraffe, lionesses/cubs, along with elephants so all's well that ends well.     I'm sure there are better stories but I can't think of any yet - it was so long ago ! 

  • Oh my, at least you had a successful 2nd attempt and saw lots of lovely animals.
  • Crikey that must have been a bit scary being stranded out in the bush without any means of communication. A great tale, Hazel. Glad you got to the game park in the end.

  • Great story Hazy, it's amazing how we managed all those years ago without the modern conveniences we have nowadays, we were so blase back then but a mobile phone would have been very useful!!! Glad it all ended happily, and you were able to enjoy the fabulous animals you encountered from the safety of a working vehicle:-)
  • What a fabulous story Hazy, it reminded my of an old TV drama, called Daktari (the program name, and also Swahili for doctor), about a family running a veterinary centre in Africa.

    I think they used radios in the series....

    For those who remember it, will recall Clarence, the cross-eyed lion!

    For those who are too young, see the IMDB link: Daktari: Adventure, Family, TV Series (1966–1969)

  • Unknown said:
    Hazel, I'd like to hear more tales of your time in Africa and the far East

    Me too, I find stories like that fascinating.

  • Lol Mike, I definitely remember Daktari and Clarence the cross-eyed lion ! I go back as far as Bill & Ben, The Woodentops and Rag, Tag and Bobtail. Mike goes back even further when he tells me about Muffin the Mule LOL
  • Unknown said:
    Lol Mike, I definitely remember Daktari and Clarence the cross-eyed lion ! I go back as far as Bill & Ben, The Woodentops and Rag, Tag and Bobtail. Mike goes back even further when he tells me about Muffin the Mule LOL

    (whispering very quietly, and shyly while blushing) and meeee....  

  • Another quick story dating back to our 4 year stint in Brunei during the early 80's was when Mike and I were playing golf at our company's club facilities. Being new to golf and a new posting we had been told that one of the holes was referred to as the "Monkey Hole" as it backed on to dense jungle type foliage. As we were approaching the green (several shots later from off the tee lol) we noticed one of the male Baboons hanging around on a long branch which overhung the putting cup, albeit 40ft above it. I pulled out my putter and approached the ball asking Mike to keep his eye on the monkey as I finished off the hole. Just as I was on my gentle back swing I heard a sudden rustle and clambering in the leaves above me and Mike shout "Haze" at the same time …… whereby I dropped the putter instantly and ran off the green lol The Baboon dropped down to exactly where I had been addressing the ball 5 seconds earlier and by now the monkey was standing on his back legs, baring two very long canine teeth and looked very threatening and much larger standing up !! Cheeky bug*r said Mike as he stared at the baboon and decided to put on his macho image …….. reaching into the golf bag for the Driver and then proceeding to wield it in the air at the ape in order to back it off the green. Mike then took a few steps forward as the ape refused to move and to cut a longer story short, the baboon then took a few steps towards Mike whereby we decided to concede the hole to the Baboon and returned for the putter later LOL

  • You didn't get that at the PGA this weekend. Not a single baboon or monkey of any kind as far as I know. Bit of a shame, that! Were there specific monkey related rules, eg a free drop if a baboon steals your ball or sits on the putting line?