Elvira’s Quest

Elvira’s Paradise has come to a temporary standstill, construction wise, until we find an investor, we have had a number of enquiries resulting from our search, but none have actually come up with the money.

So to keep myself occupied I agreed to run in the Mrs. KFAANT, which stands for the Katherine Filipino Australian Association of the Northern Territory. It is a quest run every second year to raise funds for the KFAANT. I was approached by the President, Mrs. Rose Hewitt, Marichu Rawson and probably my best friend Mrs. Judy Payne and asked if I would enter the quest.

The winner of the quest is determined purely on the amount of funds raised by each contestant. This is the major fundraising venture by the Association, therefore a successful quest is most important to the Association, it needs the funds to pay for the rates, electricity, maintenance and if there is any money left in the bank, some capital works programs.

Some people have told me that I am crazy for entering the quest when I have so much on my plate. They tell me that I should concentrate on developing the Tourist Park, but if you can’t contribute to your community and try to improve the lives of the people around you, why were we put on this earth?

The final counting of the funds raised is to be held on Wednesday 27/08/08 and the crowning of the Mrs. KFAANT is to be conducted at the Annual Bario Fiesta on Saturday 30/08/08. Some of the Stalwarts of the Association are providing the entertainment for the evening by way of a number of traditional Filipino dances, and each contestant is going to showcase their talent as well as joining in with the local Filipino dancers for one number.

The other 2 contestants will be performing dances from the provinces that they come from and I will be singing, I hope. My voice hasn’t been up to scratch lately, due to a mild attack of the flu. Hopefully everyone will enjoy the evening of Filipino entertainment and food.

Meanwhile I am waiting for our first shipment of Cabins, Gazebos and Household and Garden furniture to arrive. It is scheduled to arrive in Australia by the end of September now, due to the cutback of ships coming to Darwin from Asia.

The hunt for one or more Investors continues as well. There is somebody out there in this big wonderful world of ours who can see the financial advantages of an Investment in Elvira’s Paradise, we just have to be patient and they will come. As it says in the Kevin Costner movie, “If you build it they will come”.

More Snippets from the Life of Elvira Loquias

When I was 15yrs old we had quite a few relatives living in our house in Davao, amongst them were my first cousins Virgie and Wilson, and my second cousins Dante, and Tata. Dante was studying to be a priest but had decided to pull out; he entered University to study accounting. Even though he already had a girlfriend he was showing an interest in me, as well as a few other men in our area, but I was too shy to entertain their attention.

Dante used to help me with my homework and would sit close to me at the kitchen table. One night while he was sitting next to me helping me with my homework he put his hand on my leg, and I thought “oh my god I’m not a virgin anymore”. That’s how naive I was at the time. Anyway one thing led to another and eventually we started a relationship.

We tried to keep it quiet, as we both knew that my mother especially wouldn’t like it. We used to go to the movies after school and go for walks on the beach nearby. One time when we were at the movies an uncle of mine saw us and told my mother. She hit the roof; as a result she kicked Dante and me out of home. Dante went his own way and I was left to my own devices. I was 16 by this time and had nowhere to stay; none of my relatives helped me for fear of upsetting my mother.

I ended up staying with a lady, who was a neighbour, who knew of my predicament. She told me that I could stay with her and she would help me continue with my studies, I was so grateful to her. I would get home from school and cook for her and wash her clothes and clean the house. There was one thing that I found confusing about her, she slept through the whole day and stayed out all night. I was only with her for a couple of weeks before I gathered the courage to ask her why she went out every night.

She told me that she was seeing different men each night and that they gave her money that is how she had enough money to support me. It dawned on me that she was a prostitute, and I couldn’t bear the thought that I was being supported by a prostitute. It went against all of my religious beliefs. I decided to find Dante, as my current situation was partly his fault.

I finally tracked him down and convinced him that I was now his responsibility, and we got a room to rent. I fell pregnant with my first child during my 17^th year. When his family found out that I was pregnant they told me that they would pay me if I got rid of the baby or gave them the baby after he was born. I used that money to go to Zamboanga; Dante had a brother there who was a doctor. I didn’t go there to get rid of the baby; I just wanted to get away from Davao until it was too late to get an abortion.

I only stayed with his brother the doctor for a few weeks. At first Dante’s brother didn’t want me to stay with him but I convinced him that it was Dante’s baby and that it was his families responsibility to look after me somehow. Dante was aware of where I was but didn’t tell anyone else in his family. Once I was 4mths pregnant I went back to Davao to stay with Dante. But after I went back he didn’t stay home much and when I would ask him why he always told me that he was working or playing basketball. One day I followed him and found out that there were 2 other women who thought that he was living with them.

How he managed to have 3 women all thinking that they were the only one that he was living with, I still don’t know. I contacted both women and they said that as I was the one that was pregnant they would leave Dante alone. We lived happily, or so I thought.

Before I gave birth my mother got sick from Meningitis and was admitted to hospital, I tried to visit her as often as I could but my sister told the nurses that I wasn’t welcome there, so sometimes they would refuse me entry into the hospital ward. When my mother passed away, at the age of 32, I would go to our family home to make sure that my younger brothers were being looked after. They weren’t.

My father was already seeing another woman only 2wks after my mother died. In the area that our family home was, all of the houses were abutting each other, and a fire started that couldn’t be put extinguished. Even though the fire started over a kilometre from our home we only had time to get the families clothes, we couldn’t save anything else.

All of the residents who lost their homes were billeted in the local school assembly hall. That was the last time we saw our father for quite a few months, he moved in with his girlfriend, soon to become his second wife, and told us that we would have to look after ourselves. I made sure that the younger ones had somewhere to stay, my sister went on her own, my brother Rueben took care of his older brother Bulloy, and Nilo and I looked after Eric and Jun Jun.

When I went into labour Dante took me to the hospital. I was in labour for 27hrs most of which was spent in the corridor of the maternity ward. While I was there a doctor came to examine me and during the examination I felt an immense feeling of relief while the doctor was seeing how dilated I was. So from then on every time a man walked past in a white coat I asked him to examine me, it really did relieve the pain.

Finally when the first doctor who examined me came back I asked him how many doctors were on duty, he said he was the only one. I now imagine that the first bogus doctor was the cleaner or something and he went and told all his friends, and they took turns at wearing his white coat. Some people may think that this is funny, but it was a long time before I did.

When I awoke after the baby was born it was over 2 days since Dante had brought me there. I asked the nurses if anybody had visited me and she told said that not one person had come to see me or enquired about me. In the Philippines if you don’t pay your hospital bill they won’t let you take your baby home, so as soon as the nurse left I bundled up my baby and escaped from the hospital. When I got home I saw that Dante had taken all of his clothes.

I knew that there were only 3 places that he would go, Cebu, Zamboanga and Manila, as he had relatives in those cities. I wrote these three names on pieces of paper, folded them up and prayed for a long time for god to let me pick the right city. I picked Manila; I didn’t know anyone in Manila. Remember I was 17, naive, and alone. I packed a bag with all of my possessions and went to my grandmothers house to tell her what I was going to do, and asked her if she would send Eric and Jun Jun to me once I found somewhere to stay in Manila.

She gave me all the money that she had, which was only 5pesos, and told me that we had a cousin who was a purser on the Williams shipping line, and he worked on the ship that ferried between Davao and Manila. I stood at the bottom of the gangplank to the ship waiting to see a lady of the right age to follow up the gangplank. I knew how things worked there, I would follow a lady up the gangplank but a little behind her, carrying my baby, I would be stopped by the attendant and asked for my ticket, I would then tell him that I was the babysitter for that lady up ahead and she had my ticket.

In the Philippines you never question someone who you think is rich, so he let me go. I sat on the deck out in the open trying to avoid the ticket collector, but he finally came to me and asked for my ticket. I admitted to him that I didn’t have a ticket but that my cousin was the purser on the ship. My cousin was called, and I introduced myself to him. I begged him to let me stay on the ship until Manila and that somehow I would repay him if he paid for my ticket.

After he did this for me I had another surprise, they found Eric. He had followed me onto the ship and hid in a toilet until the ship had left the harbour. Being only 4 years of age I had to admit that he was one brave little boy, but it meant that I had to ask our cousin the purser to stand me for another ticket for Eric.

Kelvin, my baby, was hungry, cold and dirty, and was crying constantly. A lady came over to me and told me that for some reason she felt connected to the baby and asked if she could hold him, she also gave me some money to buy some milk for him, as I didn’t have breast milk due to my malnourished state.

While she was nursing my baby I told my story about how I had done my raffle and Manila was chosen to find my baby’s father. But that I didn’t know anyone in Manila and I had placed my trust in God. I showed her a photo of Dante, she was shocked, and she told me that she knew him. He was a distant cousin of hers and she was going to Manila to his wedding.

When we got off the ship, her father and mother were waiting for her; she introduced me to them and was slapped in the face, in front of me, for bringing me with her. I explained the situation to them and told them that we had only just met on the ship. I forced them to give me a bed for the night and promised that the next day I would leave them alone.

The next day I found out where Dante was working and went to his office. There I showed him his baby and convinced him to take us in and cancel the wedding. We then moved into a room that an Aunty of his had. They were very poor and survived on the pittance that Dante’s mother sent to them. Once Dante’s mother found out that we were living with them she stopped sending them money. Of course eventually they told us that we would have to move out, because they would starve without his mothers help.

The night they turned us away a cyclone was battering Manila. We walked until we got to Munoz Markets where we could stand out of the rain and wind, we just stood there for hours, until eventually I asked Dante where we were going to stay. Thinking that he was the man and would know what to do. He said that we would just stay there until someone feels sorry for us and takes us in.

I was not going to just stand there and wait for something to happen. Eric was already picking up the centavos that people were throwing at our feet. Passers-by thought that we were beggars. I handed Kelvin to Dante and told them all to wait there; I would find us a place to stay.

I picked up the skewers that were thrown on the street, they were used to skewer the chicken feet that were being cooked and sold on the sidewalk. I then stuck them in the ground as I walked and I kept going until I found a sign advertising a room for rent. I knocked on the door of the house with the sign and made a deal with the owner to let us stay there on the promise that I would pay them as soon as we could, and that I would cook and clean for them as well.

The room that she gave us had a dirt floor, I mad a hammock for Kelvin so that he wouldn’t have to sleep in the dirt and Eric lay across mine and Dante’s legs to keep him off the floor as well. Dante and I slept sitting up. Dante lost his job as soon as he broke off his wedding because his wife to be was the manager’s secretary. But I have to give him credit; the day after we slept in the dirt he got a job as a taxi driver.

A soon as we had saved some money I went off again to find somewhere better to stay, that is how I met the woman who I will call Mummy for the rest of my life along with hundreds of other people whom she has taken into her home. Mummy had a big house not far from Munoz Markets and someone told me that she often rents rooms out and that she is a very kind lady.

I went to Mummy’s house and told her my story and straight away she said that I could stay in her spare room. Compared to sleeping on a dirt floor I felt as though I was in a palace at Mummy and Kuya’s house, Kuya is Mummy’s husband, and he likes to be called Kuya because he likes to think that he is everyone’s elder brother. A nicer couple you would never meet.

Tourism Investment

An investment in the Tourism Industry in Katherine in the Northern Territory of Australia is a sound investment. In the Katherine Times, Katherine’s weekly newspaper, on 16/7/08, the front page says TOURIST NUMBER UP.

A manager of one of the Tourist Parks is quoted as saying that it has been a bumper season. His park and others have been booked out every night, serving 100 meals each night to the hungry tourists. The caravan park in question has a capacity for 500 and they have even had to let caravans camp in areas that have been designated as no parking areas due to lack of available accommodation at other Tourist Parks in the area.

If this doesn’t prove that an investment in Elvira’s Paradise is a wise investment then what will. Elvira Loquias has a 79acre property with approval to develop a Tourist Park. She is looking for an investor to contribute $300,000 to help complete the development.

The difference between her Tourist Park and the others in Katherine is that it is the only Park in the Katherine area that didn’t get flooded in the 1998 flood, so not only will the Park be successful during the tourist season it will also be the best place to stay during the wet season. Because of its location you can be certain that the guests and their property will be safe even if Katherine gets another flood where 6ft of water inundates the main street.

In the same article it says that the Tourism Authority believes that visitors are staying in Katherine longer due to the ever increasing attractions of the region, even the huge upswing in fuel prices hasn’t deterred the tourists from coming to Katherine. The Authority itself encourages investors to consider and investment in the accommodation industry in the region.

It also states that one problem facing the tourist industry is limited accommodation options, Elvira’s Paradise will help solve this perceived problem. Elvira with the help of further investment, will be providing Bali Hut style accommodation and quality furnishings. The quality of accommodation has not been seen in a Tourist or Caravan Park in the Northern Territory before now.

Investing in Tourism in Australia

Tourism NT recently commissioned a tourism research Group at Charles Darwin University to help develop a vision and positioning for the industry in Katherine. It revealed that the primary motivator for people coming to the region was Nitmuluk National Park and its Gorge, fishing and indigenous cultural experiences.

Its position was also mentioned, being on the only road leading to and from Darwin and at the crossroads to the east and west. In the news article in the Katherine Times on 16^th July 2008 it is quoted as saying that The Nitmuluk Gorge was perceived as being a motivator for an initial visit to the region but people returned to the region because of other attractions available.

This is why an investment in Elvira’s Paradise is a sound investment, despite the ever increasing cost of fuel the tourist numbers are growing, each year surpassing the previous one. In another article in the same newspaper it states that the lack of four star accommodation in Katherine is a hindrance to keeping the tourists in the region for longer stays.

Should Elvira Loquias find an investor willing to invest the $300,000 that she needs to complete her Tourist Park, she will be providing accommodation of a 4 star quality. The investor can be assured of the security of his investment because Elvira is offering a 40% share of the property and business.

With the value of the property being estimated at over $1.2m on completion of Stage 1 this means that the astute investor will have made a profit of over 50% in less than a year, with a continuing 40% share of the net income generated by Stage 1.

What an investment opportunity. But thats not all, the mining industry is booming in the Northern Territory. Within the next 2yrs, that is by the year 2010 there will be the opportunity to provide accommodation and meals for the staff of 3 mines that will be beginning production. They have already let it be know that they will be needing to accommodate their workers in or around Katherine.

Without doubt a Tourist or Caravan Park, if you prefer, with motel or cabin style accommodation will be a very secure investment in the Katherine region. There already is a dire need for more accommodation facilities in the region, what will it be like when the mines commence.

Invest in Accommodation

The accommodation market in Katherine, Northern Territory, Australia, is booming. There are hardly any houses or units for rent and no rooms for rent. Very few of the Caravan Parks in Katherine accept permanent tenants, preferring to save their sites for the tourist market.

By comparison to other regions of Australia there aren’t even many homes for sale on the open market. If you are thinking well there must be plenty of land available in or around Katherine you would be wrong. The last residential block to be sold went for just under $90,000.

The cost of building a reasonable home, not flash just reasonable, is in the vicinity of $300,000. So for around the $400,000 that you would have to spend you will get a rental income of $300 per week. Some would say that it isn’t a bad return.

I have a proposition to put to you. For a similar amount you could invest in Elvira’s Paradise, the newest Caravan Park in Katherine. Your capital growth would be higher than it would be if you bought a home, and your return on investment would be much higher.

Elvira Loquias is looking for an investor to become a partner with her in Elvira’s Paradise, she is offering 35% of the freehold and the business, in return for a $300,000 contribution. This money will be used to complete what she has already started.

Elvira has already invested over $550,000 in this project, once completed it is estimated that its value will exceed $1.2m, giving you a profit of $120,000 in only a few months, plus 35% of an estimated $60,000 profit per annum for Stage 1.

Being situated on a total of 79acres there is plenty of room for subsequent Stages. Mine worker’s accommodation will be a priority by 2010. Elvira has calculated that the 50 cabins requested by the mines being developed in the area will provide a profit of over $1m per annum after completion of that Stage.

I have never seen a development with such potential as this one, nor have I ever seen an investment with such security of returns and capital investment. This development cannot lose, Tourist accommodation in Katherine during the dry season is scarce and available motel accommodation during the dry season is virtually non existant.

The NT Tourism authority shows that over 800,000 tourists come to the Northern Territory each year. Most drive and all who drive must pass through Katherine no matter where they are heading in the Northern Territory.

How Do I Find an Investor

Someone please tell me, how do I find an Investor for Elvira’s Paradise. I must be doing something wrong because it can’t be the returns that she is offering or the security.

Where else can you get a probable 100% return on your investment within 2 yrs. The security offered is a 40% share of the property and business. If you consider the medium term of the investment i.e. 5yr returns you as the investor will probably quadruple your money.

So it can’t be the return, is it that people are hesitant to invest in the Northern Territory of Australia. I can’t imagine why, have a look at the growth of the Northern Territory. Tourists are continuing to flock to the Territory despite the cost of fuel.

The mining sector is booming especially in the Katherine Region, in the not too distant future there will be a dire need for accommodation for the mining staff. This will affect the tourism industry if we don’t do something about increasing available short-term accommodation.

I was talking to a friend the other day who lives in Emerald in Central Queensland. He was telling me that all of the caravan parks and motels are fully booked because of the mines in their area. Nobody could confuse Emerald with a Tourist destination, it is only a stopover for people who are travelling further west, and a tourist has trouble finding accommodation in Emerald.

Some of the parks are only offering donga style accommodation, and they are getting in excess of $300 per week for single bed in a donga. At Elvira’s Paradise Elvira is going to have Bali style huts and quality décor. Katherine property values will explode in the next couple of years due mainly to the mining boom but also because more and more tourists are learning about the Northern Territory.

Where else can you go for a holiday and be absolutely guaranteed that it won’t rain between the months of May and October and the temperature is usually hovering around 27deg during the day and rarely goes below 15deg at night. We in the Northern Territory take our weather for granted, but the visitor’s wake up in the morning and say “what a beautiful day”, our answer is “this is what every day is like”. Just another day in Paradise, hopefully, Elvira’s Paradise.

In Darwin’s “The Sunday Times” on 6/8/08 there was an article about the accommodation shortages in Darwin and Kakadu, the same, only more severe, applies to Katherine. There are many caravans parking along the side of the road because they can’t get a site in one of the caravan parks, they are all full.

Elvira Loquias’ project is in a win/win situation, except for 1 thing, she needs to find another $300,000 to complete the project. If you research what your costs would be to set up another similar project you would be looking at having to invest well over $1,000,000 to achieve what she is trying to do.

If you are thinking about investing, give Elvira’s Paradise a thought. If someone can show me a better return with the security that Elvira Loquias is offering I will help promote the product or investment.

Help Elvira Loquias find an Investor.

Elvira’s Paradise is looking for an Investor. Somewhere amongst the millions of people using the Internet there must be someone who is interested in investing in a Caravan Park in Australia, or knows someone who wants to invest in one.

Elvira is looking for someone to help her continue with her development. She is prepared to offer a percentage of the freehold and the business. This will give the investor an immediate realization of his investment, as well as excellent potential returns.

She needs $300,000 to complete Stage 1 of the project; in return she is offering a 35% share of the property and business. She has 79acres only 10klms from Katherine in the Northern Territory of Australia. Stage 1 will utilize only 2.5acres of the property leaving plenty of room for further development.

Once completed, Elvira’s Paradise will be uniquely positioned in the market place. The first Tourist Park when entering Katherine, in a flood free zone, with a quality of accommodation and décor not seen in Katherine or even the Northern Territory. Presently there are 7 Parks catering to the tourist and 5 locations with Hotel or Motel style accommodation, all of which are full during the tourist season.

The Motel style accommodation available in Katherine is all the same, one could say generic. Elvira’s Paradise will be providing Bali style accommodation, quality timber buildings and furniture; décor that is pleasing to the eye, a spectacular swimming pool and beautiful well maintained gardens.

There is a dire need for another caravan park in Katherine as the existing parks are booked out; some by up to a year in advance, and the motels have an excellent occupancy rate of 90% for the tourist season. The mining industry is booming in the area, so even the low season will begin to show high occupancy rates, once the next 2 mines have commenced full production.

Do your research, have a look at Tourism trends for Australia, especially in The Northern Territory. Tourism NT, the marketing body for Tourism in the Northern Territory says that the NT had 853,000 overnight visitors and holidaymakers for the year ending March 2008. Most of these visitors travelled through Katherine, nobody comes to the NT without a visit to its Capital City, Darwin, and if you don’t fly into Darwin, that is if you drive, or travel by bus or train, you have to pass through Katherine.

The greatest opportunity we have is the commencement of the 2 new mines in the district, should we be successful in the tendering process, we will have an immediate need for more accommodation facilities. The mines have an expected lifespan of at least 10yrs and will pay for the accommodation of its miners whether there is a tenant or not, and this is 7 days per week 52 weeks of the year.

If you ever meet Elvira Loquias you will see that she is a unique, determined and ambitious woman, she has a heart of gold and helps anyone who asks. Should you decide to become and investor with her, not only will you be getting excellent capital growth and returns, you will also be helping an unforgettable lady achieve her dream.

If Anyone is Interested in Investing in Elvira’s Paradise

In April 2007 I bought a 79 acre block of land with a house, about 10klms from Katherine in the Northern Territory. In December I gained approval from the NT Government to develop a Tourist Park. Initially the permit is for 5 cabins, 8 caravan sites and 5 camping sites. This initial development will only take up about an acre of the land, so as you can see there is still plenty of room for future development.

Katherine is 300 or so kilometers south of Darwin, and the only way that you can get from the Southern parts of Australia to Darwin is through Katherine. We get 10’s of thousands of tourists passing through or staying in Katherine each year. If you are traveling from Western Australia to Darwin you also have to pass through Katherine. As I have driven around Katherine, in the past, I have noticed many tourists camping on the side of the road because the existing Caravan Parks have been full. There just isn’t enough accommodation available in Katherine during the tourist season. Our tourist season is during our Dry Season, in the northern parts of Australia we don’t have the seasons that most of the rest of the world has. We don’t have Summer, Winter, Autumn (Fall) or Spring, we have the Wet Season and the Dry Season, and it is the Dry Season when the tourists flock to the Northern Territory. I am looking for investors to assist me in developing my Tourist Park, which my husband insists on calling “Elvira’s Paradise“.

The Bird and Bali

My man related this story to me. He was getting some fertilizer out of a bag kept on the patio, at the time he had a glass of coke so he put the coke down on the table. The bird started to drink the coke, so he took the coke back and got some water for the bird and put that onto the table and went back to his chore with the fertilizer, putting the coke back down on the table. As soon as the coke was back on the table the bird left the water and started drinking the coke again. Then when John (Amanda’s husband) was having a beer in the afternoon the bird came up and sat on his hand and started drinking the beer. Now the bird prefers coke, beer and lemon lime and bitters to water, he will still drink water but not if there is anything else in our hands. We have named him Blue, but he won’t answer to the name. His family hangs around the house while he is there with us but wont venture as close to us as Blue does.

While I was in Bali I met some very nice people who are going to help me get the different products over to Australia, and maybe they might even come over and help me erect the Huts and Gazebos, so if anyone wants some information on Bali or its products just drop me a line and I will be glad to help.

Back from Bali

Well I’m back from Bali, I loved it. Imagine 24hrs shopping, a woman’s paradise. I have bought so much for the Tourist Park that I think that we will have to go into the retail business. While in Bali I finally got to meet Harry, our Agent, he introduced me to Made who will be making our Huts and Gazebos, and we went to East Java to source some furniture. Harry also introduced me to Yoyok who will be making most of our furniture. I have also bought some stone products, pavers, tiles and statues to place around the Park. As a result I am sure that Elvira’s Paradise with now be a beautiful place to visit.

I went to Bali to buy the huts and gazebos but fell in love with the culture. It was a business trip but was also the best holiday that I have ever had. Every other trip I have ever taken has ended up with me needing to have a rest afterwards, this time I managed to relax a little, maybe Bali rubbed off on me. I tell everyone that Bali is a Holy place, it just seems that way to me. The people are friendly and not because I had money, when I got there I had a little cash but intended to use my credit cards, after the first day of shopping my cards were put on hold even though I notified the companies that I was travelling. So Harry paid for everything for the next couple of days. Have you ever heard of such a thing, going to Bali to spend up big, and then having to rely on people with whom you intend to do business? But they were very nice about it.

One little problem that I saw in Bali is that the plumbing seems to be the same as the Philippines and they drive the same, if you have ever been to either place you will understand what I mean. While Harry was taking us to East Java he was driving on a single lane dirt road, passing buses and trucks and sending text messages on his phone at the same time, that was scary. Other than that it is a beautiful destination.

Elvira and Amanda ouside their Bungalow in Bali.