Gladstone

On December 3rd, I flew from San Francisco to Los Angeles then caught this long haul 747 to Brisbane - the flight took almost 14 hours, non-stop ...

In Brisbane I transferred to a small DeHaviland propellor driven airplane for the hour flight to Gladstone.



I arrived in Gladstone on Monday noon, local time and was met by good friend and work colleague Dave Zakrzwski. On the drive back to the office, Dave gave me a quick tour of the town and surrounding area.

Here are some shots of Gladstone taken on the drive around town and from the airplane (click on images for more detail).

In this first shot, the downtown area is on the right, and the project sites are in the distance on the left, across the water on Curtis Island.

The aluminum plant is visible on the right in the next picture.

THe "skyline" of Gladstone's CBD (central business district?)

THe three smokestacks of the power plant are visible from all around the area.


THe main Gladstone Marina in seen in the center of the shot below. Bechtel's central office is located to the north end (left of the picture).

Here are some shots in the harbor area ...








Here are some curious seagulls peering over the wall on the harbor beach.


The Gladstone marina ...







Some interesting clouds over the marina near sunset carrying the theat of a thunderstorm.

The Gladstone Yacht Club - a nice place for a beer and good meal.




On our Sunday off, Dave and I went to the Gladstone Botanical Gardens ...












I went to Dave's place a couple times for dinner - here are some shots of his house and neghborhood.



The satellite dish was also installed while I was there.




Dave's friends from work, Jeff and Debbie, came by to make a couple meals in Dave's Kitchen during my visit. One was a pasta dinner with other work colleagues. The other time they made a mango, tomato, basil salad that was delicious !!









After the meal, some enjoyed the manly pursuit of smoking a good cigar (Promod, Dave, Jeff, and Fuad shown in picture below).


Here is a favorite restaurant/bar, located on Goondoon Street, where I ate a few times and enjoyed a "Schooner Gold" regularly.


Christmas lights were strung along the street.



My hotel room ...



... and rental car (a Holden)

Then back at the airport to leave for Brisbane on the 14th of December.