There are many fascinating aspects to travel, not the least of which is learning new things. There is always the information gleaned when encountering a new place about its history, customs, or  how it resembles or contrasts with other places. But, for me, also there is the learning of some rather basic things such as the geography or climate of a place or the best means of travel to a particular destination. Such was the challenge I faced in 2014 in planning a trip to Australia that coincided with my husband’s milestone of turning seventy and of Petula Clark’s month-long concert tour of the country.

 I admit that at the outset , I had little if any knowledge of the ‘nitty gritty” of travel through Australia or the vastness of the country and its climate zones. AI and its travel tools were non-existent in 2014 –but there was the internet and the kindness of the Petula Clark List group. By contacting the moderator  I was able to connect with another Petula fan in Australia who gave me some basic tips on what to expect on my travel from one state to another. We were arriving in May and in Canada that is springtime but in Australia it is late fall and we were travelling through several climate zones from sub tropical to temperate. What to pack, how to get from Queensland to New South Wales, to Victoria to South Australia were initially rather daunting tasks, but, eventually, the planning became part of the joy of the adventure.

The flying time from Toronto to Brisbane –where we chose to begin our Australia Petula Adventure — is around 21-22 hours, so we decided to break up the flight by staying overnight in Los Angeles. We left Los Angeles on Quantas and landed in Brisbane having crossed the  International Date line –essentially losing a day that we would regain on our return. 

Brisbane is the capital of Queensland and the third largest city in Australia. Its sub-tropical climate makes it warm all year –it has a strategic location as a gateway to the Gold Coast to the south and the Sunshine Coast and Great Barrier Reef to the north. One of the basic concepts to grasp as a North American was that the more northerly the destination in Australia the more tropical which of course is the opposite to what we were used to. On arriving in Brisbane we checked into the centrally located Marriott Hotel, near the Brisbane River  and took a city tour checking out the Riverwalk, the Story Bridge and the various other tourist sites.

On this tour, Petula had actually already performed in Brisbane and three other places in Queensland before our arrival –our first concert was actually her last Queensland appearance in Mackay on May 2. Mackay is about five hundred miles north of  Brisbane and we travelled the distance using JetStar, a lowcost airline, owned by Quantas . We used the airline several times during the trip and were pleased with its service. What was astounding to us was the lack of onerous security checks at the airports which by 2014 were standard when travelling by air in North America and Europe. I am not sure if that is now still the standard but at that time it made travelling by air as easy as train or bus travel elsewhere.

The venue in MacKay was the MacKay Entertainment and Convention Center-the MECC–Mackay was the most tropical destination on our trip. The town known for its sugar cane production has a casual, coastal feel. We were able to walk from our hotel to the venue and for us there was a heavy humid feeling in the air, though I understand that in May the humidity is not consistently high. The MECC was a modern facility and like all of the performances we attended was filled on the night of the concert. “An Evening with Petula Clark – The Lady. The Legend. Her Music Returns” was the tour’s designation. Of course Petula included songs from the sixties and her Broadway and musical tunes but the inclusion of songs from her Lost in You album were highlights .

The audience response was the usual delight : on exiting a performance,I always loved listening to the verbal patter of people who had not seen Petula perform before or who had not seen her in years gushing about the performance . And, of course, it was all true–as I have noted in another post, my husband and I had been privileged to see most of the great performers of our generation, but none had ever surpassed seeing Petula perform. It is why we returned again and again.

The next morning we were off early to the airport for a return flight to Brisbane and from there a shuttle service to “Twin Towns” which refers to Tweed Heads (NSW) and Coolangatta (QLD) — two neighbouring coastal towns in separate states that function almost like one community. We stayed at the Twin Towns Resort where Petula was performing. The resort was a large complex complete with a casino and several restaurants and sits on the southern edge of the Gold Coast. We stayed a few days at the resort after the concert and incorporated a day  visit to the beaches of Surfers Paradise and a boat tour of the beautiful residences dotting that Pacific coastal area.. 

The Twin Towns  concert was not actually perfect –there was a period of time in the first half where there appeared to be a glitch in the sound system. It was unfortunate since it appeared the musicians and her musical director were unaware that a portion of the audience could hardly hear Petula’s vocals. It was remedied by the second half and the audience still seemed appreciative of the event. Afterwards we went to the venue’s restaurant and Petula and her entourage came by nonchalantly sitting at a table and interestingly garnering no special attention from the patrons. The next morning as we were in the lobby of the complex awaiting transportation to our Surfer’s Paradise tour, we once again saw Petula waiting to leave, but this time apparently trying to be unrecognized ,wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap. So we resisted the urge to be fawning fans and left without acknowledging her.

Our next stop was the idyllic coastal town of Port Macquarie in New South Wales. Besides the quaintness of the town, there was the unique Glass House venue which I describe in another post, “Petula Moments: from Texas Hill Country to Port Macquarie’s Coastal Charm”. Getting to that May 7 concert meant a return shuttle to Brisbane and then a flight to Port Macquarie. 

A review of the Port Macquarie concert in the Blog The Wild Reed entitled, “ Petula Clark: “Still Colouring Our World” echoed what we had experienced throughout this tour.

Petula provided something for everyone … lots of hits from the ’60s, new songs from her latest CD, Lost in You (well received!), and selections from movies and stage shows. Also, for two numbers, she accompanied herself on the grand piano! Accomplished pianist!

The years have certainly been kind to her! She was energetic and handled the up-tempo numbers with gusto, and moved with ease and grace on the stage. Her powerful and perfectly pitched voice thrilled all.

Over two hours of entertainment interspersed with humour, combined with interesting and touching anecdotes. No doubt, due to her many years on stage, screen and theatre, those present warmed to her and the result was enthusiastic audience participation.

Her brilliant Musical Director, Grant Sturiale, and the Aussie musicians excelled.One of the many highlights was her cover of the song “Imagine.” She reminded us of John Lennon‘s special qualities, especially his spirituality Throughout the night she was very generous in her praise of other artists. This I admired. Leaving the stage, she was given a standing ovation … deafening!

Another Blog post will recount the Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide portion of this trip at a later date!