Yellow Flowers - But Be Quick

I have been photographing a few local "significant" trees recently.

Yes, as I said, it is that time of year when many trees flower. So they can set seeds into the wet season, and hopefully germinate a few replacement seeds that will become new trees.

While there have been a few over the past few weeks, this past week has been the time for weeping rosewood trees to do their thing. They have a beautiful, pendulous crown and the shade under a weeping rosewood is very dense, for all of about 50 weeks each year.......not 52 though.

They have been flowering this past week or so, and they are very eyecatching with a large dense crown thoroughly covered in bright golden flowers. But you need to be quick, as the flowers are really an "all or nothing" event, rapidly going from bright yellow flowers to almost no colour as the flowers are rapidly shed onto tthe ground. THEN........they lose most of the leaves, but for about 1-2 weeks, during which time they look awful. It is not uncommon for newcomers to think the tree has died, or maybe, succumbed to termites.

Then a verdant green replacement set of leaves arrives on the scene, for another year.



One photo is of a single tree, not far from our house two days ago - in full colour. It is magnificent. The others are of a group of trees on a major road - yesterday they were still resplendent in yellow, but today........look hard and see what is left of the flowers, as a pale yellow brown tinge.......with leaf fall to come. It happens that quickly.

Frog Night

Last night was Frog Night. It rained, about 25mm, the best fall so far this Wet Season and the first decent fall for a month. It rained steadily over about 45 minutes, then eased to a sprinkle.

And the green tree frogs started to bark, and bark.........so loud it was hard to hear inside the house.

Many do not believe how loud they can be and how many there are around, especially in our area. Most local gardens have good surface mulch and they seem to enjoy living in that, but last night they were out singing in their numbers.

Only the males make a loud bark........looking for a mate. That is one way I guess, you need to let them know you are around.

Tonight the noise is not so loud, but there are still quite a few lurking around in the garden.

The green tree frogs seem to have not suffered major reductions in numbers due to the arrival of the horrible Cane Toads, at least so far in urban areas.

While they are very loud after rain it is nice to know they are around. But ladies, take care when going to the toilet; at least turn on the light...........green tree frogs in the loo are common and the hands are clammy. [so I am told!] Definitely better than a redback spider on the toilet seat though.

More Mysterious Steps - in RED and Silver

The steps are spreading...........now more are appearing in both red and silver, as well as the original yellow.

It is intriguing.........who is the perpetrator??

DOGS!!!

Darwin is an interesting town..........not the least for the local dogs.

Current thinking over this post is being driven by the fact that now, at nearly midnight, after walking the dog over the past hour has introduced me to a new crazy lot of dogs, cosily esconsed behind their 2 metre fences.

Tonight we went out a different route, along the new cycle path that covers the new underground power cables. A beautiful smooth 3m wide concrete path, mostly well lit. But then it stopped and we crossed to the other side near houses.

Normally, the walking route, although going past a few houses with dogs, is relatively quiet. My dog, a large Rhodesian Ridgeback is like most Ridgebacks, very quiet........no bark much at all, and the usual dogs tend to bark once or twice and then stay quiet.

No, not tonight..........this lot are a crazy, noisy, fang showing, fence hitting mob of lunatic dogs. And included among the worst were two tiny dogs - about 15cm tall........but oh did they bark! And they were relatively innocous, compared to the rest, those fence smacking types.

I do wonder how this situation would be if a child was walking past at any time.

Sure, we have problems with itinerants, and house breaking, but this was a bit much. Why should these dogs be so aggressive, in comparison to the others?

Miss Kool herself [the Ridgeback] showed considerable self restraint, haughtiness and a deal of derision......those crazy, crazy barking dogs, stuck behind a fence and I am out walking. Up yours! I am sure she was thinking those thoughts or similar.

And not once did a voice sound from within the yard of the barking dog, lights still on in the house or not.

Ah ha.........the obvious cause.............full moon! Yes, RIGHT!

Future Directions of Media and the ABC

New media, old media, newspapers, media moguls, barons....................the comments abound about newspapers, news radio and TV and new media outlets, especially today.

Australia, like a few other countries, has a publicly supported [ie taxpayers monies] national broadcaster, the ABC. It is 77 years old and seems to be slowly reviving, not atrophying from old age..........it is about renewal. That is the buzz word.

But as for most organisations ,without internal renewal, or even a bit of external re- modelling, they do wither.

The article penned by Mark Scott, the Managing Director of the ABC in October 2009 is a very interesting take on the national broadcaster, and the media landscape of the future and along the way, taking a deft dig at those media organisations who want to charge for content. Read Murdoch!

If you are interested in media futures read it here:
http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/stories/s2714143.htm

I think it is, at worst, interesting. At best..........an exciting media future.

Politicians in the Picture - Jane Aagaard

Politicians are well known, world wide, for “getting into the news”.


On Saturday, the Global Green Challenge cars headed off from Darwin to Adelaide. It was a fairly typical Darwin October day………hot – about 36C when they left, and humid – 60%. Not much cloud around, plenty of hot blasting sunshine, and with most sensible people watching, staying in whatever shade was around.

The Speaker of the Legislative Assembly [Jane Aagaard] was the starter, boldly stepping into the sun and waving the Northern Territory flag to get them on their way. She had the honour, as State Square, outside the Parliament Building where they started, is in her bailiwick.

I loved the hat………..and she must like the black top, and the gold chain, that is being worn, as she seems to wear them often.

Solar Car Race - Global Green Challenge Part 2

The solar car race is different to the "conventional" car event. In this race, the vehicles run all day - 0830 - 1800hrs, and essentially stop by the side of the road, to go on the next day.


Previous winners of the event have AVERAGED 100km/hr plus.........yes, that is correct, over 60mph.


The vehicles are built for speed, not comfort and most certainly do not have much in terms of driver comforts - most are closed for aerodynamic efficiency, and a lot of water is consumed by the drivers in the approx 40C temperatures out on the road.


Winners are expected to take about 3-4 days to reach Adelaide, about 3300 kms from Darwin.






See http://www.globalgreenchallenge.com.au/ for more details.

More current photos here - http://photos.globalgreenchallenge.com.au/


The photos are of two overseas entries - from MIT in the US and Cambridge University

Global Green Challenge 2009 Part 1

Global Green Challenge 2009 Darwin to Adelaide

This event began today at 1230 Darwin time.

Today the street legal vehicles departed. These are alternate energy vehicles, and range from a converted “postie bike” [a 110cc Honda] running on ethanol to a Tesla Roadster all electric plug in vehicle which is an advanced sports car.

The Tesla received a lot of attention……….and deserved. It is a beautiful vehicle. But it still has to complete the 3300kms to Adelaide, and like all the electric vehicles range will be an issue.

They are prepositioning generator trucks to compensate for no refuelling depots for the electric vehicles.

There are also some very efficient diesel cars including the new Mini-D, as well as a Suzuki Alto. Even a petrol Holden V8, and they hope to achieve better than 9L/100kms, by being light on the accelerator.

There are more photos at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/surfie999/4039230810/

And detailed information at www.globalgreenchallenge.com.au . There is also a blog run by the owner of the Tesla Roadster, which is a real story in itself. See
www.internode.on.net and go to the Internode blog which focuses on the Global Green Challenge blog [around 21 – 28 October 2009].

Tomorrow the solar powered vehicles leave. They come in all shapes and sizes………more then.

The Yellow Steps

The yellow steps are not enough in number to be John Buchan’s “The 39 Steps”, nor are they as elegant as the Arthur Stace script on Sydney Streets of “Eternity” in beautiful copperplate running lettering, but they are still mysterious, and on our streets.



By now, I have seen them in 5 or 6 locations around the foreshore at Rapid Creek in Darwin, mostly on the bike path in the area, as well as several on paved asphalt streets in the area.

It looks as if someone steps in a spot with a lot of paint then walks out for 6-10 steps at normal pace, leaving yellow footsteps behind.

The old adage of “take nothing but photographs, leave nothing but footsteps” seems true here. The locations are not overly close to houses, nor indicative of someone planning a bit of criminal activity.

Yes, we have a normal amount of graffiti activity around the Darwin city area on walls and even public items such as electricity junction boxes…………….but painted footsteps?? Have they been elevated from graffiti to folk lore – Eternity was!

The first time the steps were seen, I, like others I suppose, assumed paint had been spilt, and someone walked in it, barefoot. But when now at least 6-8 more have been seen………..we do have a story, surely. When did they first appear? How many locations are there? Who is the perpetrator?

Watch this space………..maybe.

Pride of India - More Great Flowering Trees

Pride of India – the name says it all. A fantastic flowering tree that gets to about 8 m [40 feet]. Botanical name - Lagerstroemia speciosa. Alternate common names – crepe myrtle or Persian lilac [there are others too] Here in Darwin they are flowering right now, mid October. There seem to be three common forms here in Darwin – pale pink, cerise [dark pinky /red] and lilac, and often they are inter mingled where they have been used as street trees. Unfortunately, they can be somewhat susceptible to termites, and there are a few sad specimens that seem to have been somewhat significantly damaged by termites, probably as a result of stress due to poor watering in the dry season, where not all street trees get well looked after by the adjacent householder.

They say that the tree benefits from year round watering, but the most magnificent flowering specimens tend to often be relatively less irrigated. There is a trade off between large well grown trees and plenty of flowers – so a balance is needed to get both.

This year the trees seem very prominent with excellent flowering.

Bangalore in India has some excellent specimens, and they are commonly grown as ornamentals in SE Asia – Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, India, Singapore and tropical Australia, even as far south as Sydney. There was one at my parents house in Sydney, but it never grew to be the giant tree seen in the tropics, more like a large woody shrub. Still flowered beautifully though, and deciduous!

At this time of the year, when it is hot, very dry and dusty and the weather is plain just stinking hot, the presence of some of these great flowering trees in full bloom do help to lift your mood.

As does a good mango - yes, it is mango season too!!

Ignominy

What a way to go.............the Holden Commodore, long the lust car of the masses in Australia. A boy's first car, maybe the first kiss car for a lady. Most certainly a car used to do a bit of speeding or hooning in many parts of Australia. And a Holden Commodore last weekend also won the Bathurst 1000, an iconic car race in Australia.

To be injured and broken, sitting quietly on a suburban nature strip...............and to be subjected to the indignity of some local council parking inspector slapping a yellow "take notice" sign: to be moved or else! It obviously was not moved, and then followed up by a formal fine notice [ in the plastic sleeve].

And the final indignity..............being dumped upon by the yellow flowering fluff of a local melaleuca tree.

It is still there............some considerable time later.

The event has been watched with interest, as it is travelled past almost every time we leave our suburb by car.

Those MAGNIFICENT Poinciana Trees - Again

I know I have had a post about poinciana trees before - even about this time of the year. Afterall, this is the time of the year they flower.

And flower they do............magnificent canopy of orange - red or red flowers that literally cover the tree. Leaves are gone, mostly, just a few remaining black seed pods from last year and red flowers, and red flowers and red flowers.

They occur in many areas around Darwin and the intensity of the flowering is virtually in inverse proportion to the amount of water received during the dry season. Lack of care seems to help with the leaf drop and massive flowering...........almost the "last hurrah", a galant effort to procreate before the storm season commences.

This magnificent specimen is in full colour, although they do grow much bigger, and is in Robinson Road, Millner.

It is spectacular.

Yes........I know that trees in flower have had quite a few posts of late. But.....'tis the season!

And they do look great!

You have to be positive at this time of the year. Hot days - 35 - 37C and very, very strong sun, that seems to burn and burrow through bare skin in minutes, so getting out and doing much between 1100 and 1500hrs is very foolish. The old colonial adage of " Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun" is very true. You tend to be lethargic and seeking shade and a good overhead fan, or even better.........into the air conditioning. The weather is very sapping of energy if you are working outside.

The photos were taken around the middle of the day, but from a short venture out of an air conditioned vehicle, to take them without too much shadow.

These trees absolutely flourish in these conditions.

Fabulous Yellow Median Strip Flowering Trees in Darwin

Around September / October each year the median strips are alive with colour............lots of yellow, nothing else.

They are planted along several areas in the northern suburbs of Darwin. The median strips are otherwise, pretty bare. No fancy irrigated grass, no exotic herbaceous plants, no palms! And for about 10 months of the year the trees are very ordinary looking.

The species is a tough tree that could be planted, in difficult conditions, that is not going to fall over in most heavy storms or cyclones. The species actually grows reasonably well in awful, hard lateritic shallow soils. And does not require much irrigation. Would seem to be a fair choice for a major thoroughfare street tree.

When green and not flowering, it looks straggly, daggy and not all that well shaped. But when it flowers it is absolutely fantastic. To see the mass of flowers emerging from a tree in the most awful growing site is something special. It is not a final, spectacular, last gasp at procreation either........they flower every year. Remember Tabebuia argentea - a great tree for tough conditions.

Trower Road, near Casuarina Shopping Centre.........and all the way along Trower Road to the end, near Brinkin is planted with them, and just coming into flower now.

AFL - Last Saturday in September

Most Australians would recognise the significance of the heading - The AFL Grand Final.

It has come and gone; Geelong the victor over St Kilda, in a very close game in which the lead changed quite a few times, but Geelong was in front when it counted..........at the end. It was, for me, a non AFL devotee [ really - I could not care much] worth watching. A good close gritty game.

BUT......the big question now..........what do AFL fans do on a Saturday afternoon, or rather between Thursday and Monday, as there are games each day in that period? Is there now time to mow the lawn, fix the car, chat up the wife or girlfriend, or even.........go surfing.

There is life after football.

More Fabulous Local Trees

As a follow up, there are a few more spectacular trees to be seen around Darwin at this time of year. Yes, there are some fabulous looking red poinciana trees, but have a look at this specimen.




Fabulous flowering and a very sweet perfume

Adjacent to the rain tree! Consensus is that the yellow flowered tree is Albizzia lebbeck or Siris tree.

The Mighty Rain Tree

Musing while walking the dog can lead to putting fingers to the keyboard.

The rain trees around the city are moulting, indeed raining! Yes, huge quantities of faded yellow fluff, the remnant materials around the flower.


Rain trees creep up on you, very slowly. You do not notice the small ones, and there are quite a few around the city in open space areas and parks. But the older ones are memorable...........huge trees, with no doubt a few memories. Many would be well over a hundred years old, with huge towering and widespread crowns that reach out across the roads and paths around the city.

Those along Gardens Road near the city centre are absolutely monstrous trees, surviving I would guess major cyclones in 1897, 1937 and 1974, at least, plus many smaller cyclonic events. They probably date from when the area along what is now Gardens Road was a Chinese vegetable garden back in the mid to late 1800s.

The one that I noticed is a bit more curious, being along the edge of Rapid Creek but obviously a very large tree. Part of the area near Rapid Creek was a Jesuit mission in the late 1800s, and the two trees are both very large and close to a small ephemeral freshwater creek, now not flowing this late in the dry season.


The trees must be old........the area was not used much, not even during WW2, between the Jesuits mission and the establishment of the modern suburb of Rapid Creek in the early 1960s. These trees predate the modern suburb - they are just too big.

But who planted them and when?

I do not mind - we need these large trees for shade, and the mighty rain tree sure provides that, along with a place for the odd bird's nest - in this case a pair of pee wees [see middle photo].

They are also very sturdy, and have survived cyclones - large and small . That is a big plus. Big is what they become, so they need a large space..........but a great tree, and the city is better for their presence.

Singapore F1 Grand Prix - SHAME JOB

What a hoot..............that squeaky clean Singapore, that city state of no smoking, no nothing and with t- Shirts that proclaim some of the "DON'TS" of Singapore should have been the site this time last year at the 2008 Singapore F1 GP of one of the big nasties of the sporting world of 2008.

It has been all over the media in Australia this week and last, caused the sudden resignation of two of the senior racing staff of the Renault F1 Team, provoked much media comment from the luminairies of motor sport...........with Nelson Piquet jnr deliberately crashing his F1 car, under instruction from the now departed team heavies, to allow his fellow Renault team member to win at the 2008 Singapore F1 GP.

They say all publicity is good publicity...........but for a Singapore keen to promote an almost "holier than thou" corporate image, across many disciplines, can it be good for Singapore and the 2009 Grand Prix, this coming weekend?

It is a street race, with many areas of the downtown sections of the main city area either blocked off or with difficult, circuitous access. It happened that I was there the weekend prior to last year's race and have also been there recently. The lights provided for track illumination are fantastic.

Many locals hate the steeets being blocked, and cab drivers are especially robust in their irritation. I think it fair to say that many are less than happy!

Singapore will get publicity, and it is run in the very late afternoon/ early evening local time in Singapore on a Sunday, and Sunday is family shopping day for many Singaporeans, so that timing creates local havoc. Are the two compatible? Local straw polls say no, with many indicating it is just for the tourists, tickets are too expensive for locals, and they would be happy for it to go away. Alternately, they intend to go away for the whole weekend.

But now infamy has struck...........forever to be known as the site where an F1 race was thrown!

Copulate and Perish

Just a variation on the old catch cry - populate or perish, a familar one to the child of the 60s and 70s.

Trouble is, the new heading is still pretty apt.

A new study has just shown that the cheapest way to lower carbon emissions is ............wait for it..........better contraception. Very plausible really. The more of us there are, the greater are the carbon emissions.

And at $7 per person to extend contraception / family planning to all who want it / need it is cheap compared to us all driving renewable energy fueled electric cars at $131 per person.

Read more http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/40476 . Light hearted entertainment is useful sometimes, even if there is a serious twist in the tail.

The Power is Underground

Today is a big day for the household...............the power went underground and was energised. I guess the new power line has been under the ground now for about a year, but finishing off the requirements to finally move from the above ground system to undergound has been slow and tedious. All that remains to be seen of the old system at our place is the old above ground connection close to the roof.

There seem to have been so many minor and major problems, including the total reconstruction of the Casuarina sub station that basically exploded about a year ago, and meant a major diversion of resources to fixing that issue, as it impacted on about half of the Darwin population.

The most recent hiccup was the discovery, about three weeks ago, that many of the electrical boards in the household power boxes would have to be changed - why? They were made of, or contained, asbestos. I am not sure it was a big issue.......the meter board just sits there quietly doing its thing, rarely, if ever, being disturbed. At least in changing over the internal power board, we had a new digital smart meter installed, so that was some sort of improvement even if we do not get much benefit yet from that equipment. At least it does easily allow some time dependent charging among other benefits.

The whole process of undergrounding power in our suburb was supposed to be finished a year ago. And it pretty well was, but for lack of resources to finalise the process.

At least now, hopefully, with a new substation at Casuarina [it supplies us] and underground electricity cabling, that some of the wet season / storm season power outages will be significantly reduced. They will not cease..........that is almost too much to expect and 100% time supply is unrealistic here in a region well known for violent thunderstorms. But reliability should be much better.

The big cost benefit comes from power security and safety in the event of a significant storm or cyclone, often resulting in fallen power lines. Hopefully there will be reduced community costs in managing electricity through that type of event.

As for any significant change.............well, probably no. But it does make it a bit easier to grow a garden and not have to worry about the trees in the powerlines though.

As for the telephone...........another story. They were supposed to also be upgraded to an undergound system, but it seems to be still eons away. No one knows, no one can give advice and it seems to have disappeared into the behomoth that is TELSTRA. May a pox be upon them!!! Maybe it is all tied up with the National Broadband Network.........but it is a disgrace in communications, execution and customer treatment. Good old Telstra......and there is no real other option.

I am annoyed that it seems as if the new telephone system will be copper cabling. Fibre to the Premises would have really been nice, and this is becoming more common in new or refurbished developments around Australia. It seems as if Darwin will be treated to a second class system AGAIN.

QANTAS - The Beginnings

It is 2009. That is 90 years since the England to Australia air race that was to prove whether it was possible to fly between the two regions.

Darwin has a significant memorial to Ross and Keith Smith who crossed the Australian coast as the first plane to make that journey, and Ross Smith Avenue in Darwin is actually the original airstrip used then and for many years afterwards.

As part of the planning around that race, two intrepid Queenslanders left western Queensland in 1919 in a new 1919 model T Ford to drive to Darwin to attempt to plan and locate and develop suitable airstrip sites for the planes to use after they left Darwin. They came up a reasonably direct route via the coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria, and eventually to Darwin.

REMEMBER - no roads then across that track line. It would be a very tough trip!

Yesterday the very same vehicle returned to Darwin along the same route as part of the 90th Anniversary Celebrations around the flight events. More about that later in the year.

After reaching Darwin back in 1919, by a very awful route [ requested by the organisers it seems] without establishing any airstrips, they returned south down the same approximate line of the Cross - Continent Telegraph Line, establishing airstrips at places like Katherine, Daly Waters, Newcastle Waters close to the telegraph line [ it does sound more sensible doesn't it?] then turning east across the Barkly Tablelands into western Queensland. Daly Waters and Newcastle Waters airstrips are still used today, although Daly Waters was upgraded to a significant paved strip for commercial use some years after the initial development, and it remained a major alternate commercial airstrip for many years, as well as serving QANTAS on the early England - Australia air route.

The real outcome of the trip was the establishment in 1920 of Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services...........yes, QANTAS. These commissioned land adventurers, both who saw service as pilots in WW1, saw an opportunity to capitalise on the air race and the now small, established airstrips to develop an airline to serve the region. It has gone on to bigger things.

There was a small commemoration event on 8 September at the Qantas Hangar in Parap, on the site of the original Qantas location in the NT, adjacent to the original airstrip.

The old car apparently went well on the same journey 90 years later. No doubt there will be signifiant media coverage of this part of the whole exercise, and the air race itself.

Darwin has had a very major part in the development of aviation in Australia, even you could say communications, as it was also the prime repeater location on the England - Australia telegraph route.

Higher Internet Speeds Coming-------maybe soon

Australia’s $31 billion National Broadband Network (NBN), a project announced by the Federal Government earlier this year, will catapult the country from 21st to 8th place on the world’s most fibre broadband-enabled countries worldwide by 2013, according to analyst Strategy Analytics. The government-backed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based solution aims to deliver 100 Mbps service to 90 percent of Australian households, schools and businesses over the next eight years.

“The future of broadband is clearly in fibre,” says analyst Ben Piper, a director at the company.

“The existing Telco xDSL infrastructure is reaching the end of its useful life. Soon it will no longer be able to support increasingly bandwidth-heavy consumer applications.”

Rankings just released by Strategy Analytics show that eight of the world’s top ten most fibre broadband-enabled countries are Asian and Eastern European. At the end of 2009, 51 percent of South Korean households will have a fibre connection, making it the most fibre-connected country worldwide. Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Lithuania round out the current top five in the firm’s rankings.

Singapore will overtake South Korea for the number one position by 2013, says the company.
Part of the Singaporean Government’s “iN2015” initiative is the construction of a 1 Gbps FTTP.

Not only will there be high speed fibre internet to the premises, there will be free wireless coverage across most of Singapore. Many areas are covered by wireless already - major shopping centres and many public areas such as public buildings, even some commonly used open space areas such as parks. The high speed internet roll out started a few weeks ago, with finalisation slated for the end of 2012.

Australia is clearly not among the top 5 players, but will be doing ok if the NBN ever gets up momentum and coverage improves.

Singapore is making a major effort to be both wired and unwired. And a new breed of cafe sitters, along with their computers and PDA phones haunt major coffeee shops around the island. Not a bad option when it is 32C outside - and an iced latte is at hand too.

Australia needs to hurry this process of higher connectivity and internet speed or we will be left behind - again. Without this access Australia will not be considered appropriate for a regional finance centre or other businesses that inreasingly rely on electronic communications.

[partially sourced from Electronics News Australia]

Could a Crocodile Be YOUR Friend?

The Northern Territory is full of crocodle stories. Crocodile Dundee helped make it that way. They regularly appear on the front page of the NT News , the local newspaper, and there are several large tourist ventures that use crocodiles as their money spinner.

Locally, they are VERY respected. Definitely not to be abused, or treated lightly.........or it might cost you your life.

It seems as if that is not always the way things are. I am a bit shocked, but a recent news article shows a Costa Rican man actually playing with his pet crocodile. Read about it here; see the photos.
http://www.news.com.au/travel/story/0,28318,25940391-5014090,00.html

It is mind boggling. Not something one does lightly.

Tour de France 2009 - THE END

The penultimate stage - the climb to the finish at Mont Ventoux - was, as expected, awesome. Grunt, guts, gasping, grabbing and getting blown around.

The visual appeal is absolutely spectacular. This moonscape area above verdant green lower slopes, and yesterday, a monstrous wind of somewhere between 30 - 90kms per hour [depending on the time and area] made for tricky cycling and VERY tough.

As they say, when the going gets tough, the tough get going, and yes, the race leaders were very much at the pointy end of the peloton. Some great tactics and some grunty cycling by the top five or six of the cyclists.

It is one hell of a tough climb.

In about an hour, I shall sit and watch the final stage into Paris. A bit of a laissez- faire event until they reach the Champs Eleysee, when the serious racing begins as this is where there is what is effectively a criterium up and down the Champs. A race for the sprinters today.

But yesterday effectively decided the outcome of the GC [ general Classification, or overall winner]. Alberto Contader retained the Yellow Jersey and second was Andy Schleck with Lance Armstrong third.

The 3rd place by Armstrong is absolutely outstanding. To be away for three years at the absolute top level of a sport and then return to a third place in what is one of the toughest of the tough sporting events is awesome. Sure he does not have the climbing power of a Contador or Schleck, but he is a master tactician plus a lot of grunt and guts and that was seen to great advantage on yesterday's stage. However, they do all need to finish today to get a podium finish!!

Contador - who already had won in 2007 - is a great climber. A few people have questioned whether he is "drug free", and there have been issues around that, leading to his team being not invited to compete last year, although he had tested clean. Neither I or you can answer that.

The French have zeroed in on Armstrong AGAIN this year for drug testing, but it seems as if there might be a touch of spite, methinks.

Lets wait ands see on both issues.

But the tour is a fantastic visual spectacle -over all the various stages, which ran live on TV here in Australia each night for the past three weeks. Yesterday, there were estimates of 600 - 700 THOUSAND spectators who were actually on Mont Ventoux for the final ascent. That is some crowd! There was a vast crowd - definitely.

Normal sleeping patterns recommence tomorrow evening.

[photos from two sources wikipedia for Mt Ventoux; google images for the mountain grades]

Have You Flown Lately??

Flying is a smart way to travel long distances...........or is it? As a long term resident of a reasonably remote region of Australia, flying is about the only option to go anywhere, unless you are prepared for the multi-day long distance road or rail journey. And as for international travel, well, Australia is an island, so it is aircraft or ship, if you leave Australia.

But time is important to most...........so one flys. But is it a pleasant experience? Lots of blogs pontificate on the traveller perspective and how terrible the experience was [funny though, not too many positive comments, which seems a little unbalanced], and how obnoxious the fellow traveller can be. Sure, like most people travelling in Business Class or equivalent on long haul flights I find that it is much more pleasant and a real step up from Economy.......but you sure pay for it. I cannot recall it being awful. On short haul flights [ 0.5 - 2.0hrs] economy is ok, but does one need a lot of liquids or food of dubious character anyway? The old adage of liquid in equals liquid out still applies. Just a seat and settle down to read or quietly entain yourself.......or take a train, increasingly common in Europe or Asia now. Point to point times are usually comparable.

This article and the comments are a reasoned set of thoughts on the crappiness of airline travel, and through that, the unthoughtful, inconsiderate and down right rude behaviour of people. Are we all that inadequate that the ability to smile, say please and thank you and generally behave tolerantly and reasonably to one's neighbours, on a aircraft or almost anywhere else has just evaporated in favour of a mindset that screams "me me me me me" at all times, in all circumstances? That behaviour code is called good manners.

Maybe some people should NEVER travel, on any mode, or at any time.

I have always found you get more from people by being pleasant than you ever do by being awful towards them - pleasantness begets the same in response. Do not forget that.

http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/stories/s2632386.htm This is well written and the comments are worth a read as well.

1994 WAS a GOOD Year

Australia has a reasonable reputation as a producer of fine wine. Some areas are definitely very good and the SW of Western Australia has an excellent reputation for a distinct style of good, big, long lasting red wines among others.

Cape Mentelle is among the better producers.

I enjoy a good red and recently we indulged in an excellent drop from my own cellar. One that had been around for a while.

With a cool dry season evening [been quite a few recently] and a great steak a decent red wine sure adds to the enjoyment. And it is supposedly good for you too.

It was a great year - 1994!!

Too Close to the Truth??

Cartoon copyright 2009 - Sherman's Lagoon - Jim Toomey.



This is a bit too close to the truth................

Food Calorie Labels MIGHT Be Wrong!!

Oh dear...........what do I choose?? A nice muffin or a muesli bar, both with the same calories on the label.

The truth might be they are not the same.

Food harder to digest, nominally with the same calories as softer food that is easier to digest, might actually have lower available calories to you, the eater of the food.

Sounds sensible......sometimes.

And it might also explain why you are actually consuming more calories than you think.

The link to a recent article in New Scientist magazine puts it all in perspective
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327171.200-the-calorie-delusion-why-food-labels-are-wrong.html?full=true

As the pundits are already saying, eat less processed food for better health - but it might also be better for the waistline.

Toto's Africa - Like Never Before!!

Monsoon frogs love rain...........lots of heavy monsoonal rain, storms or a steady tropical shower.

And there is a song to match this figurative metaphor............Toto's Africa, a hit from a few years ago. It has a great beat and evokes Africa very well.

BUT.............to really add some topical flavour a recent adaptation is just fabulous. Use the link to have a look yourself. And turn up the volume, while you watch the youtube video. It is an absolutely FANTASTIC 6 minutes of sheer fun!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjbpwlqp5Qw

Toto's Africa by Perpetuum Jazzile, performed live at Vokal Xtravaganzza 2008 (October 2008) at Lubijana

America - from a South East Asian Perspective

Americans think they are loved world wide. This could not be further from the truth. While many might admire the USA and aspire to be in America, many also do not admire or condone things American.

A reasonably recent article - roughly November 2008- lays out a fairly clear agenda of the view from south East Asia.

It is worth a read.
http://www.spp.nus.edu.sg/ips/docs/pub/pa_tk_United%20States%20and%20Southeast%20Asia_2008.pdf

NT Open Garden Scheme

The Northern Territory has an open garden scheme, which functions during the Dry Season.

The scheme operates with local gardens open to the public - and these gardens are very varied in size, style [or lack of] and tend to represent what may be achieved in local conditions. Garden size is "pocket hankerchief" to several hectares. Most are far removed from the classic stylish gardens of Europe or even temperate Australia. Classic regular form - think of the gardens of Versailles or St Petersburg - is usually absent.

Some gardens have been excellent in 2009...........and some I think ........well, this is a public blog, so enough said.

I was dragged against my choice all of 70kms out of Darwin today to visit an extensive 4 ha garden. Some interesting ideas, and over 4ha the garden was a bit variable, but covered most of the main points of shade, curves and a lead through to something different. Tropical gardens NEED shade......lots of it, to moderate heat and harsh light with mulch to conserve moisture.

They did have about 500 roses.....ONCE......but they are dying off slowly, now down to around 300 and still declining. This is not rose country, you are always struggling, so why try when failure is almost assured - disease seems to get you every time.

But it was not all that awful........a good veggie garden, cool nooks among the trees and it seems, lots of irrigation, obviously from their own bore- so much so in places that the lawn was all sedges from overwatering.

Not one of the top few, even for large extensive gardens, but ok.

Still, I think I could have used my time better. Although the other half insisted I go......oh well.