Kath & Karen visit Australia - The Journey

The invitation from Australia arrived many months ago and needed a lot of planning as this would be the longest time away from home for Kath & Karen.  Flying to Australia was a daunting journey - but deciding on a night flight seemed to be the best option - leaving on a Tuesday Night and arriving on the Thursday morning with a short stop over in Singapore.

They travelled the first leg of the journey on the new A380 - a double decker plane!!   Seated on row 74 on the upper deck - this was one very large plane carrying 100 more passengers than a Jumbo Jet (with first Class, Business Class and Economy Class Passengers) and with a wing span of an unbelievable 79.8 metres!!!!    The A380-800 is certified for up to 853 passengers (538 on the main deck and 315 on the upper deck), achievable with a one-class configuration.

A three hour stop over in Singapore gave them time to wander around the Butterfly Garden - a bit too hot in there though at 30 degrees C.

 But it was lovely to be walking around with the butterflies

Flowers are cut and placed in strategic places for the tourists to see the feeding butterflies.

And time to stop, relax and watch the Koi Carp.  What a beautiful airport. 
Karen & Kath also booked into the hotel for a shower during their stop over and feeling quite refreshed after the first flight of 13 hours they finished the trip to Brisbane with a second flight of just over 7 hours. 

  

On arriving at Brisbane at 7:00am, they were met at the Airport by their First  Host in Australia - and chief organiser of their visit - Gay Westmore.  Gay took them to her beautiful home and then whisked them off to Australia Zoo.  No time for Jet lag!!  The Zoo was founded by the famous Steve Irwin who died in 2006.

 Karen makes friends with one of the "wild" Iguanas.

 Two large parrots displaying their fast flight in unison.

 The crocodile display - they can move very fast once they have sought out their prey.

 Camels - now native in Australia.  Brought over in the Victorian times to assist with the moving of building materials for the railways.  Now breeding very well!

The Cassowary is a large, flightless bird from Australia. It is the biggest bird in Australia and the second-biggest bird in the world (only the ostrich is bigger).  The cassowary's life span is about 40-50 years.

 A sunbathing crocodile - this old beast was enormous - but had no teeth left!!!

 Karen and a different type of owl.  This is a Barking Owl.

 And a Wombat out for a stroll.

The smaller Grey Kangaroos - it was lovely to be able to walk amongst these animals and stroke them.

 Is this one practicing for Kangaroo Heelwork To Music?  ;-)

 And Koalas - many of them - very slow animals that just eat all day and night.

 Kath & Karen actually saw one moving!!   A very rare sight.

 The elephant display - the smallest elephant is actually the oldest in the Trio.

And this is Gay - who took them to the zoo and looked after K&K on their first day in Australia.  With her beautiful dogs, Gemma, Talli (Kelpie) and Piper.  Gay invited some of her HTM friends to a welcome dinner for K&K the first night after which they slept very well.

The following morning, Kath & Karen were collected from Gay's home by Col and Barbara Murfet who drove them to the Gold Coast for more sight seeing.

 One of the many venomous spiders found in Australia.

Barbara and Col Murfet shared their home with Karen & Kath for the next 3 nights.

 The Gold Coast - quite dull but a magnificent beach on any day!

A Meter Maid - they collect donated money and then "feed" the parking meters so no one is given a fine!!!    Very popular ladies in more ways than one!

The view from the bottom of the Q1 Building - the highest sky scraper on the Gold Coast.

 And this is one of the views from the top of Q1.  Wow!!!  The Observation Deck is at Level 77

 Many canals and the river flow through Brisbane making it a very pretty city.

Lunchtime and this was Fish and Chips with a difference - you choose the type and piece of fish you want cooking.

The Ibis bird - the Australian equivalent to the GB Pigeon.  Wading birds that have found plenty of food dropped in the cafes and restaurants on the Gold Coast. 

Archie - the new member of the Top Lodge Team

Lesley collected her new puppy today

 This is Archie, Working Bearded Collie born on Lesley's Birthday 25th January 2011

And here he is with  Angus - both behaving nicely - so far ;-) 
Looks like Hamish didn't want to be photograghed with new puppy Archie.

dfs Crufts 2011 - The Samsung Stand

Samsung kindly invited Kath and Karen to demonstrate the sport of Heelwork To Music on both Thursday and Saturday

They carefully explained both Heelwork and Freestyle with the help of their dogs Fly, Spice(pictured), Amber and Erin to an ever increasing audience.

Kath explains the way to start teaching a young dog to jump and start interacting with the handler whilst Karen demonstrates this with Erin the Top Lodge Team's youngest member

Volunteers from the audience were invited on stage to try weaving a dog through their legs. Amber is working nicely for this young man

Whilst this volunteer learning to work with Erin looks very serious!

You can't keep too serious with this sport - the dogs soon lifts the pressure

And a young lady now shows she can master the technique of weaving with Erin

Whilst this young lady manages to show elegance and gain speed with Amber

Teaching moves safely is of paramount importance to the Top Lodge Team

Erin is only allowed to be positioned higher from the ground when she is steady and relaxed enough to be able to sustain a very nice sit position.

Children were then invited to the stand to see if they could be quicker than Fly in changing position -  lifting a paw

Walking Backwards

And finally Rolling over!!   They were very keen and as the audience shows - the demonstration by Kath & Karen and their wonderful dogs was very popular at Crufts 2011

Thank you to all at Samsung for inviting us.

Samsung Electronics (UK) Ltd

Since 1993, Samsung has been a proud Partner of Crufts and continues its support for Animal Welfare.

As a corporate philosphy, Samsung values harmony between humanity and animal welfare.

Samsung is also involved in funding Samsung Guide Dogs for the Blind, the only one of its kind in Korea, where growing numbers of dogs are trained every year. The company also works with the Royal New Zealand Foundation for the Blind Guide Dog School to ensure that its trainers are certified to the highest international standards.

Samsung has also received the Lesley Scott-Ordish Award from leading UK charity, PRO Dogs, for its outstanding services for the benefit of dogs.

dfs Crufts 2011 - Competition Days Karen & Fly

The Heelwork To Music Final with Karen and Fly

For their routine this year Karen and Fly worked to "Hernando's Hideaway"

Very dramatic music which suits Karen and Fly

Fly's enthusiasm is continual which gives her a great attitude in Heelwork

Covering all of the eight officially recognised Heelwork positions and then adding many different directions gives a programme full of variety

Fly's precision was excellent

And when Karen was moving her arms to the Tango Theme of the music - Fly looked superb

The final pose - great routine Karen and Fly who were placed 4th