Hot, Hot and Getting Hotter

The day in the Bay turned out to be a scorcher. No, we didn't go to the beach and get lobsterised like the tourists. Stalwart that we are, we still managed to enjoy coffee and cake at the cafe without recourse to air conditioning during transit.







Travel wise, I spent a few hours - yes, hours - trying various combinations of places, flights and airlines only to finish up dizzy and totally confused. The confusion didn't cloud my understanding of the standard of service you could expect from Air China; the fares are cheap and the service, so far as I can understand from passengers reviews, even cheaper. Comments like: poor maintenance, broken IFE, bad food, crappy, smelly, rude, unhelpful and filthy toilets, seem to be the most favoured by passenger - even business class passengers!. All of which means, despite the low $1700 ticket value, we will NOT travelling with Air China even though stop-overs in Beijing and Seoul seem to be a tempting excursion. JAL seem to be beckoning again ...

The answer? Caraway - what else?

Heat At last ... Phew, Who Needs It?

Summer has come for a couple of days; it's sun, sun and sun - just like the travel posters. That is fine, so long as you are not working outside. Yes, you are quite correct: I don't have the sense to follow that advice. On a cool day I decided to re-paint the deck; verandah to some, although it doesn't have a roof so really ... That was fine until Phoebe decided to show up. The paint dried quite quickly which was a blessing so all's well that ...

I came across this sick crossword clue this morning while sitting on the deck, watching the birds and munching a bowl of fibre and yogurt:

" Seed in empty garage?"

answer ... ?

And The Levy Was Dry ...

I know it's "levee" in the song, but the flood of anger about the other one has almost drowned my optimism in a sea disbelief. The tide certainly has turned on the outpouring of generosity that has been trumpeted as typical of the Oz character. The Premier of NSW have come up with the most inane of reasons why Sydney dwellers shouldn't be levied - sometimes the stupidity of politicians exceeds expectations  ...

I calculated that what I'll be paying is not even enough for a meal in a cheap restaurant, two tickets to the movies, a decent haircut, ... I could go on for pages; certainly not enough to affect our travel plans. I have always said, "If you pay lots of tax you must be lucky enough to have lots of income." The levy is, after all, just another tax and I know of no other way to finance a socially responsible government. I have just read this: "With taxes you buy civilization" - how true ..

Travel-wise we have had a deluge of ideas, but it seems likely we'll fly to/from London via Tokyo again. We'll probably have two weeks in Japan both ways - earthquakes and volcanic activity permitting. One thing that we'll avoid is the ice and snow in the UK ... there was enough last year for our aged bones ...

And They're Off ... Now, Now Don't Get Excited

If you fancy an economic flight to Europe via Japan, JAL are offering return tickets at less than $1400 - max time from departure to arrival back where you started is 2 months. It's a bargain, but no good for us - more research required ...

Mean time at the manor ... I've spent all morning painting the decking. Not what I'd call a culturally exciting experience, but the domestics you get these days are just not up to doing anything remotely technical - it required use of a paint brush, roller and ladder; far too complicated ...

A Cuckoo Idea?

The Australian birds are always a wonder - usually bright coloured and loud voiced. We've been serenaded by a cuckoo for a few days. You have to feel sorry for the cuckooed birds that spend all waking hours feeding their not-so-little lodger ...

A squawking cuckoo leads me on to what seems to be a yearly event - the debate about a new flag for Australia. Since it is Australia Day I thought I'd suggest an appropriate design.

If Assies insist in acting like them why not ... the main disadvantage will be having to change the gun laws so we can all go around like Ms Palin et al ...

Orsetrailier Day Mate - Fair Dinky Clobber!

G'day mate. Owdya Be? It's Orsetrailier Day mate; a day for mates, mate-ship and mating at a matey barbie with your mates at a mates place with their mates being matey. That's the matey Orstrailian Way mate. A day to burn the traditional Orstralian National Dish mate. Snags and steak mate. Washed down with a couple of six-packs of  beer mate. No worries mate! No veggies mate. No wog food mate. Mate it's just Ossie tucker mate. It's the Ozzie Way mate.

Don't forget to drink and drive mate - it's tradition mate!

New Videos Uploaded - Now For Some Art

That's a double wrap! Most, if not all, of the vids from the last trip are posted ready to be ooed and ahhed.

http://www.youtube.com/user/MalcBilton

All of which means: I have to wake up my thinking bits and make some arty-farty for the Sydney shows in March - not that I expect to be selected ...

It Must Be The Weeds

Another pile of weeds and another Blue Tongue Lizard. This time, the beast was a large adult with attitude ... hissing attitude - and a reluctance to be resettled.

I suppose if I was a cold blooded critter the prospect of dozing  for a few hours in the middle of a pile of bacterially-heated, festering greenery would be the equivalent to my experiences in Sheffield; I spent time under a thick duvet, in a centrally heated bedroom, while outside, the ice and snow lay deep, crisp and even. Comfort zones come in all shapes and sizes ...

Thinking about comfort ... spare a copper or two for the folk flooded out of their nests in the recent Ozer floods: http://www.qld.gov.au/floods/donate.html

Wait a few days and no doubt there will be an appeal for the Vic floods which are just beginning.

The Things You Don't Expect Even On Sunday

Reluctantly, I agreed to help the domestic servant weed the last bit of an overgrown garden. In the blazing sun and wielding a large garden fork, I attacked the jungled mass with the enthusiasm in Genghis Khan intent on conquering Asia. What I didn't expect was to find a small Blue Tongued Lizard curled between the tynes. Fortunately, the little creature was unharmed and could be relocated. Reluctance and bluster was thus suitably turned to delight ... being Sunday, it seems, somehow, appropriate.

Pristine ... Well Not Really

I've just been down to the seas again, to the cloudy sea and the slime,
And all I ask is a long stick or a net to strain it by ... Sorry Mr Masefield!

The pollution notices were out again on one of the local beaches - it's been raining, so all the noxious stuff, which was bottled up, has been give it's freedom. Not that it bothers the hearty holidaites - not a jot. Little Johnny or Jill can make nice sand castles with the blackened sand and paddle in the smelly little stream emerging from the garbaged choked pond just behind the dunes. "What harm can it do? The signs? No. No. They must have been left there and someone to idle to remove them. Another, ice cream dear? ..."

Even so, I had a splendid walk over hill and beach which, I'm happy to say, avoided beached, flabby, tattooed whales and their ill-mannered offspring. Cicadas near deafened the ear and the weather was far from cool and balmy all of which added to the physical effort. An excellent stirring of the bits-and-pieces!

And That's A Wrap!

Thanks to the wonders of modern computing power, I've edited all the video from my last tip! Square-eyed and almost chair-bound - at least it feels that way - I can now move on to ... Deity knows what ...

First up, I'll have to decide what, or if, to make for some Arty Farties in Sydney. This means whatever-it-is will have to be ready for late March. Got to do something with my copious spare time and it's good to have other interests ...

Weeds have been conquered! That is, for a couple of days and if it stops raining ... which it has, so that there is now no excuse not to go a walkies in a vain attempt to get fit and keep a slim-line profile. Ah, the vanity of the over-fed and under-worked. Is there no end to it?

Rain ... What Else?

It's not the weather for sun and surf - again ...

We put on our water-wings to go to the shops and were nearly washed away by the down-pour. Still, it's not as bad as Q'land and WA. The main thing, not to do, is build your house on a floodplain - something, that seems to be a habit no matter where folk live in the world ...

The good side: it's better to stay at home and play with the computers, eat cake and drink good coffee ...

Some Like It Hot ... Phew ...

Today we seem to have been granted a typical summer's day ... it's lovely and warm with some cooling breeze; the latter being the advantage of living next to the ocean.

When we left last year I put all my oil painting brushes in clean, sunflower oil - to save cleaning them and on the advice of a well practiced painter. I didn't bargain for all of them setting like jelly! Hence, a frustrating time trying to rejuvenate them. Lesson learnt ... take the time to clean 'em and dry 'em in the old-fashioned way and you don't have to fork out handfuls of dosh buying new ones.

Video editing is going reasonable well ... only two-and-a-half tapes to go.

I have to be honest - everything seems so quiet here ... even though there are quite a few tourists clogging up the beaches.

Snakes Alive!

I thought that I'd heard the worst for the poor souls flooded out of their homes in Q'land, but no. The residents of Theodor have a plague of snakes! Considering that most of the Oz snakes are as friendly as a your average drunken footy fan, it bodes ill for those rummaging in the dark corners of a sodden house while looking for the family silver.

When you see the holiday brochures for this island continent surrounded by water which, according to Oz propaganda, is "God's Own Country", there is no mention the nasties that abound outside of the concrete and steel. Reality has come as a bit of shock to hundreds of tourists now marooned in the Sunshine State ...

Be Prepared ... It's Got To Be Global Cooling ... or Wetting

We arrived in Oz three weeks ago expecting summer. It seems that the Rainbow Serpent, or whatever, is having a bit of  a schizophrenic episode at present. One day we're sweltering in mid-30 degree temperatures with no wind and the next it's pouring with rain, blowing half a gale and cold enough to rug up like it's a Pommy winter.
Last night found us wrapped in fleece blankets and car rugs while we watched the telly! We could have put the heating on, BUT IT"S JANUARY FOR KRISTOS' SAKE!!!

Things could be much worse for us. The poor souls up in Q'land are up to their eves in filthy water infested with who-knows-what and in some parts they have been warned that Noah et al have been seen sharpening their boat-building tools. On top of that, some of the sewage works are expected to discharge their excremental sauces into the swollen rivers during the next few days - when you gotta go ...

What can you do? I've found my Boy Scout Annual (1955) and we're adopting the appropriate attitude: "Be Prepared!"

It's The Film I Tell You!

It happens every year  when I return to the nest - the film needs editing ... This years swag only spans a total of 10 hours take-time and, red eyed and sleep deprived, I've edited about 6 hour to date. So far, I'm somewhat swollen headed - no, dear friends, more than usual - because some of the movies are splendid, both colour and content wise. I am delighted with my Sony HD handycam which, although it uses mini-tapes, produces great footage.

A quick coffee and I'll  chain myself to the computer again ...

Art Show or Art 'n' Crafts Market ...

The local Art and Craft Society are having their annual show. As per, it looks more like a local flee market. So many pieces on each of the free-standing display panels that it seems just a clutter of stuff. Some average to good and most terrible to poor. Is it art? Honestly, I don't really know. The horse sculpture made from a set of spanners just doesn't look anything more than a Mechanic's Hobby Project (Retired Mechanic's Projects, Vol 9, 1901) , the dozens of beach scenes and flowers are as boring as ever, the abstracts are so abstract that they are muddled and the pastels seems to be dripping with sugar. All very nice for those who like what the know and want something that matches their curtains ...

The trouble with having seen some really exceptional Art - it taints the eye ... so sorry, but the local show made me cringe even when I made allowance for the social reasons for the event and the membership of the Art and Craft Society.

That said, I'll no doubt engage my hypocritical genes and join the Society so that I can go to the Life Drawing events later in January ... there is no other choice if I want to continue what I was doing in Sheffield. Ah, the benefits of living in The Sticks.

It's A New Year Dawning ...

"Morning has broken like the first morning ..." -  I'll leave the rest of the song to you, a cappella if you wish.

My morning broke too early, but, thanks to the live-in au pair, I had the compensation of a cupper and shortbread to easy my lazy self into what turned out to be a very hot day. It does make a change from frost and snow ...

My New Years Resolutions are ... nonexistent! That's the only way I've found that I can keep them and also shows what little credence I give to the practice of making such resolves in the first place. Have you ever had the misfortune of knowing someone who both makes and keeps such resolutions? If you have, you'll also have experienced what utter pains in the backside these creatures are. Say no more ...

Another year of untold possibilities, of adventures new and unforeseen foolish mistakes. Let the games begin!