One of the traditional Christmas events in Australia is to attend your local Christmas Carols by Candlelight.

As a child I remember dripping hot wax on picnic blankets on humid summer nights, watching my parents hold hands and my siblings and I singing carols we didn't really know the words to... or had alternate version of (anyone recall "We 3 Kings of Bankstown Square"???) it was fun, it was a tradition, and those times are one of my most treasured memories of my childhood in Australia.

This year, despite receiving 2 warnings of hail and damaging winds for the Sunshine Coast, I attended the Pelican Waters Christmas Carols. The night was truly lovely. A mix of celebrity and local talent hosted by Rob Brough (yum), Stephanie Rice (Olympic champion) and Lincoln Lewis (yum for the younger set) celebrated what makes Christmas special amongst a rain free backdrop on the grounds of the prestigious Caloundra City School.

You can check out photos from the night here: http://ccs.qld.edu.au/news/21/15/Congratulations-Pelican-Waters-Carols/

I recently attended a truly inspiring event, the Telstra Business Women's Awards Queensland.

The awards celebrate the achievements of remarkable women. Past winners include some of Australia's most talented business leaders, whose achievements inspire business people around the country.

This year Professor Paula Barrett, Director of Pathways Health and Research Centre, was named the 2008 Telstra Queensland Business Woman of the Year and also received the Yellow™ Business Owner Award. Professor Barrett migrated to Australia from Portugal in 1986. When she first arrived she didn't speak a word of English and was told my many that she would never succeed in business or academia without English as a first language. It didn't take her long to prove them wrong.

I had the good fortune of chatting with Prof. Barrett after she received her award. Born in Angola, Africa, she moved frequently, living in Mozambique, Macao and many other places before settling in Australia. Paula explained to me how this immersion in many different countries fostered within her tolerance and compassion towards other cultures. This, mixed with her true passion for helping families, has helped to make her practice what it is today.

Pathways Health and Research Centre provides help to children and adults in Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Finland and Norway, the United States, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Portugal, the Netherlands, Hong Kong and China.

The organisation’s program, FRIENDS for Life, has been recognised by the World Health Organization as the best practice for the prevention and treatment of childhood anxiety and depression through the building of emotional resilience.

Furthermore, Paula's charitable trust, Pathways to Reliance, aids in the treatment and prevention of anxiety and depression in children through early intervention, and aims to decrease the incidence of youth suicide.

For more information about Paula's important work visit: Pathways HRC

The Nokia Business Innovation Award was won by Ivanka Belic – Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Creative Director, of Little Workers Designer Children's Wear.

Another successful immigrant, Ivanka migrated to Australia in 1978 from Yugoslavia. During her acceptance speech she spoke of her love of Australia and her appreciation of the opportunities it has provided her. Ivanka's company is the recipient of numerous awards and involved in national and international charities.

You can check out her great range of children's clothing online here: Little Workers Designer Children's Clothing

Congratulations Paula and Ivanka!

ps. I have posted photos of the award winners in my Inspirational Aussie photos.

Last week I had the good fortune of meeting Australian swimming legend Duncan Armstrong.

Duncan broke the world record to win Gold in the 200 metres freestyle at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. I can still remember the thrill of watching that race... just brilliant!

Duncan also has a host of honours out of the water, including Young Australian of the Year and an Order of Australia Medal.

Duncan is an extremely likeable chap and has some really motivating stories and tips on how to achieve your goals. For elite swimmers, their sport advances by 1/100ths of a second. Naturally Duncan became an expert in motivation and now spends some of his time working in corporate coaching.

Some take-aways from my time with Duncan - Motivation is like a muscle, you need to keep exercising it to stay in shape, and, In order to conduct an orchestra you need to turn your back on the crowd...

More about Duncan Armstrong online: Duncan's website. Duncan Armstrong on Wikipedia.

I have posted a photo of Duncan in my Inspirational Aussies photo album.

We have just returned from a road trip to Sydney. I grew up in Sydney but now live on the Sunshine Coast. I decided to drive instead of fly for a few reasons:

1. I could not find a cheap flight from the Sunshine Coast on the days I wanted.
2. I have a new Prius iTech with great fuel economy which I wanted to test out on a long haul drive.
3. I wanted to take in the sights along the way.

I am really glad I took the time to do it this way. I took 3 days to get there and 2 days to return. Staying about a week in Sydney city.

Leaving the Sunshine Coast Queensland we made our way south across the border into New South Wales within a couple of hours. Some newly completed roadwork near the Coolangatta Airport made this leg of the journey quicker.

That night we stopped overnight with friends near Mooball National Park. Their home overlooks the forrest and you can sit on the deck, enjoy the sun going down and watch the native birds play in the trees. Beautiful and soooo peaceful. I think I truly relaxed for the first time in a LONG time.

Awoke to the sound of Kookaburras then drove to the central coast (past the big prawn, big banana and small Ullaru!) stopping overnight in Ettalong Beach NSW. Very picturesque with so many yachts swaying in the breeze...

A late morning start to Sydney. Across the harbour bridge (our GPS continually trying to send us via the eToll lane - ahhgh), past the Opera House and to the Stamford Double Bay for a few nights - very nice :-)

Terrible meal at a local Indian Restaurant, overpriced and very slow to arrive :-(. However, the next night we had an absolute blast with friends from Canberra at a great Thai place. Although it did have a little problem with the toilets. When you entered the area where the toilets were, the open door obscured the Gents sign. The result was all the men unwittingly went into the Ladies and did not realise the error or their ways until exiting. Giving the impression they were too drunk to go into the correct lavatory or just peculiar in an unsettling way!

We then left Double Bay and relocated to Pitt Street in the city centre at the Meriton Serviced Apartments. Great deal on accommodation for a self-contained studio apartment. The staff were great, price was right, location excellent, the only problem was the elevators were often awfully slow. It took 12 minutes for my elevator to reach me when I actually decided to time it. Not good when you are racing out the door to a meeting...

Highlights of the time in Sydney city: roaming Circular Quay in the evening, ferry trip to Manly, fantastic seafood meal at Golden Century Seafood Sydney in China Town and Cheese and Wine at GPO - red flight combo of 3 cheeses matched with red wines - delightful!

Time to return home arrived way too soon. Starting late we ended up on the windy Orara Way south of Grafton at nightfall. Where I was kept on the edge of my seat with rogue kangaroos on the road and bush fires. Our GPS told us the trip to Stokers Siding in Northern NSW would take 14 hours - it actually took just over 11 - go figure. Maybe I need to read the manual...

Awaking to the sounds of kookaburras again we had a lazy morning then headed back to the Sunshine Coast via Brisbane.

We took loads of photos and video and I shall post them up ASAP.

I put the Valley Fiesta in the Event Calendar. RSVP if you are coming along and we can maybe arrange to meet up...

On the opening day of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, we went to Brisbane's Conservatorium Theatre to see the infamous Australian pianist, David Helfgott in concert.

David’s extraordinary life story was immortalised in the Academy award winning film, Shine, in 1996. It was really wonderful to see David perform. He is an outstanding musician and his excentricity made the show delightful - a real celebration of the beauty of classical music!

David performed work from Rachmaninov, Chopin and Liszt. During the encores he also delighted us with Flight of the Bumble Bee.

If you haven't seen the Australian film Shine check it out and if you get the opportunity to catch one of David's concerts - jump at the chance.

This Friday I attended an International Women’s Day Breakfast held by Zonta International. It was a wonderful breakfast with a truly inspirational speaker Paralympian Marayke Jonkers.

Marayke shared with us her story, from the car crash at 8 months old that meant she would never be able to walk, to her feelings about standing on the medal podium representing AUstralia at the Athens Paralympics after years of preparation and training.

What a delightful lady Marayke is, so full of life and energy. During her Olympic preparations she also attained a Bachelor of Social Science and by 2006 another degree in Communications, for which she received the Dean’s Commendation for Academic Excellence.

During the breakfast I met some wonderful ladies and collected a post card which I though was terrific - Intelligence is the New Black! I have uploaded a copy of it into my photo gallery.