Far north Queensland - The Great Barrier Reef

The month has started with a bang with a trip to Cairns and Innisfail (which was devastated by Cyclone Larry in April).

Flew out on Thursday 2nd. to Cairns and did a two hour concert in Cairns Civic Centre concert hall. Great to be back in tropical weather and a motel with a swimming pool. Group consists of Keith Preston, Andrew Clermont, Harsel, Parvyn and Charan (Dheeraj is on R & R in Nepal.) We are touched with the warm response we had for the concert with great cd sales. Non-Sikhs are buying our latest - Asa Di Var pack.

Friday. An amazing day on the great Barrier Reef snorkelling. Truly a natural wonder of this planet. The reef is over two hours by boat off the Aussie coast line and noticeable from a distance with waves breaking on shallow area which is all coral! The ocean water is warm and calm and the myriads of fish and other sea life is a wonder. No wonder 'Nemo' the cartoon has had such a tremendous impact. Snorkelling is like swimming in a very very pretty and well looked after acquarium. Highly recommended for all. And reasonably priced. A day out on boat and all equipment provided with a bbq. lunch thrown in is about Aus$100 only. Great value. If you have a 'to do' list before you get too old or die, then put down snorkelling on the reef as one item. There are signs of devastation on the coral too - some of the coral appear to be dying. So be quick before we humans destroy it!

I am amazed at the number of huge mango trees which can be seen in Cairns. In fact the shade provided in the main 'field' in Cairns central is mango trees! A bumper crop of mangoes is expected this year.

Saturday - Innisfail. It was a delight to see Sikhs turn up in numbers for our open air concert at the Innisfail waterfront festival. Great time had by all in lovely balmy tropical weather. We have been invited back next year and I shall not be missing out on the upportunity. On the way back on Sunday morning (Guru Nanak's Gurpurb) we stopped at Josephine Waterfall. Better than any waterfall I have seen in Malaysia and I have been to a few. Including natural rock water slides.

For a small community of Sikhs in Cairns and Innisfail, there are three gurdwaras for, by now, obvious reasons - Sikhs infighting! Two of these gurdwaras are on the highway and as one speeds past they are so close that you can hold your breath between the two. Luckily, the Sikhs did come for our concert and were made to feel as part of the multicultural community which is Australia.

W/e 12th. In Adelaide working on a music album sponsored by a Hindu friend doing some bhajans and old Hindi songs mainly with a spiritual bent. MOst enjoyable album to do and flaunting my God-given talent of music.

12th. I fly to LA, USA.

A few lazy days to overcome jetlag before first program on Wednesday at Buena Park gurdwara. great evening program BUT, as usual, someone found something wrong - MY DAUGHTERS SHOULD NOT SMILE ON STAGE! It apparently sends the wrong message to youngsters. No one has been able to spell out what that means but it was an official complaint.

Friday:17 November - Southern California Sikh Heritage Annual Dinner. Parvyn and Harsel performed their western renditions with Darren Mullan on keyboard, Dheeraj on tabla and Andrew - guitar. They were received with lukewarm appreciation generally as this is not quite the cup of tea for the Sikh elder generation but great exposure and special guest Gurinder Chadha (Bend it like Beckham) was full of praise. I received the Miri Piri Award for services to Sikh music - a tremendous acknowledgement and a humbling experience to be honoured in this way. Others similarly honored were: good friend Dr. Gurpal Bhullar from Virginia; Harbinder Rana (who has now become a good friend) from London; the legendary Dr. Marwah and Bibi Inderjeet Kaur (Mrs. Yogi Bhajan). The evening belonged to thinker, philosopher, artiste and architect, KP Singh of Indianapols. His sketches of places of worship around the globe grace next year's sikhpoint calender. The calender was launched and some of KP Singh's sketches were auctioned besides other items of interest to raise money for the new Sikh Center of Orange County complex.

(Psssst. if you want one or a few of this fabulous calender contact Bicky Singh on Bsingh@fcsinet.com )