20 March 2008

Good Friday holiday

The Herald Sun reports a Uniting Church cleric who believes Good Friday should be dumped as a public holiday in favor of something to do with reconciliation.

That’s the sort of nonsense you come to expect from the Uniting Church.

I have written before about how Australia’s public holidays need an overhaul, but I never envisaged dropping Easter or Christmas.

Australia’s demographics have changed, but it’s important we respect our Christian origins and observe the major feast days. To do otherwise would be to suggest that our value-system has changed, and I don’t believe that’s the case.

Labor Day is the most obvious holiday to be dumped and made uniform across the country.

Tags: Australia, holiday, religion, society
0 comments


19 March 2008

Long weekend

I’m about to begin my first four-day weekend in nearly three years. The joy of working on a daily newspaper is such that we work most public holidays.

I work every third Sunday, in lieu of which I have Monday off eight days later, ie a three-day weekend. But four days in a row has been reserved for annual leave.

This weekend is an exception. Good Friday is one of our two statutory holidays. My Monday RDO happens to coincide this year with Easter.

I had worked the previous two years on Good Friday to finish the paper, but this year that isn’t necessary.

Tags: holiday, life, media, newspapers
1 comment


21 February 2008

Melbourne

I managed to spend some time in Melbourne during my flying visit to Victoria. Melbourne is a great city and its public areas have improved immensely since I was a child 30 years ago.

Docklands is now an attractive cosmopolitan residential and dining precinct where there was once shipping.

I walked from my hotel in Collins Street to Docklands for dinner at a Cambodian restaurant (my first taste of that cuisine) and took this photo with my mobile phone looking towards Telstra Dome and the city.

For the record, Cambodian food was a cross between Thai and Chinese; very tasty.

Tags: dining, holiday, travel, Victoria
0 comments


27 January 2008

Home again

We left Falcon at 9am and arrived home in Kalgoorlie at 6pm. The nine-hour journey was much better than the 13-hour detour we had to endure on the way out because of the highway closure.

I took some back roads this morning via Boddington, Pingelly, Brookton, Corrigin and Narembeen to Merredin. It might have been a little further but wasn’t much longer in time considering we had quite a few stops.

Ah, the joys of travelling with children. Why is it they need a toilet break 10 minutes after you’ve stopped for everyone to relieve themselves? Read more »

Tags: holiday, motoring, travel, Western-Australia
0 comments


24 January 2008

Beach moments

We had a particularly enjoyable day on our beach holiday with some interesting moments.

The waves at Florida Beach looked bigger than they had been for a few days, but were still moderate, then literally out of the blue some giant swells rolled in. By that stage Juliet and I were holding Maggie and Jim respectively with their floaties on.

When the first monster came, your hero surrendered himself to the wave and lifted Maggie high into the air. I’m told Juliet did the same with Jim, but actually threw him airborne.

Needless to say, Juliet and I were dunked. Michael Jnr, who was watching from the shore, said Maggie didn’t even get her face wet and Jim came through remarkably unscathed.

The little ones then departed the water. A few minutes later kids near us shouted the alarm for a stingray. I’ve heard false alarms before for sharks, but this one sounded genuine.

I headed towards dry land and saw a five-foot wide dark stingray in the water about 10 feet away. I’ve got no idea if it was deadly or not but had no intention of finding out. Steve Irwin RIP. Read more »

Tags: entertainment, family, holiday, mandurah
2 comments


21 January 2008

Beach erosion

We visit several beaches on a regular basis while on holiday. Two are nearby at Falcon and one is about 5km away called Florida Beach.

Last year we visited Preston Beach a couple of times as well, but the surf is much stronger there and we were concerned the twins could be caught in a rip.

Florida Beach is good because it usually has moderate waves with not too much undertow. Some days it has no waves but there is nearly always a pleasant swell.

Compared with last year though, we’ve noticed the sandy area between the water and the vegetation has diminished. In fact, there’s a three-foot drop from a narrow strip of sand to the waterline, which varies depending on the tide. The drop remains constant though and it didn’t exist last year.

The bigger waves flow into the sandy cliff and sometimes go above. It seems inevitable that more beach will cave in to the sea. Climate change, man or nature? I don’t know, but in two years I doubt that beach will exist if the trend continues.

Tags: holiday, mandurah
1 comment


17 January 2008

Wireless broadband at Falcon

I’ve been silently cursing Telstra while on holiday at Falcon, near Mandurah, for the poor wireless broadband connection. Considering that Telstra’s prices are double those of competitors, their wider coverage is an important selling point.

But after reading the Mandurah Mail today I realise it’s not Telstra’s fault. Apparently they applied to Mandurah City Council to install a communications tower in Falcon near the fast-food precinct, but the request was denied.

The councillors thought it would have an adverse impact on the area’s amenity. We’re talking an ugly commercial strip here with no views of the beach or estuary!

The case went to the administrative appeals tribunal, which strangely referred it back to the council and asked for discussions to be held with Telstra. Talk about bureaucracy gone mad.

The mayor was quoted saying he wanted Telstra to consult more with the community. Well, as a repeat visitor who contributes to the city’s prosperity I can tell the council they should stop standing in the way of progress.

Tags: holiday, mobile, Technology, Telstra
0 comments


14 January 2008

Staying connected

Last year on holidays I kept in touch with the electronic world using my mobile phone as a modem with a laptop computer. The connection was slow, and as I later discovered, very expensive (about $500 on casual data rates).

There’s a strong argument to not stay in touch at all. I resisted that because I’m an info junkie and in my job I don’t like surprises. I can read emails on holiday without having to act on them.

This year I have a USB wireless modem. The cost is still excessive ($89 a month) but I know in advance what it will be, and the connection speed is better.

The laptop suffered a casualty though at the hands of Margaret, who pulled out 10 keyboard pads. I’m a pretty good typist, but without clear direction I kept entering a comma instead of an “m”, etc.

I finished up buying a $20 keyboard from Harvey Norman to attach to the laptop until I figure out a solution. I haven’t been able to reattach the letters myself.

Tags: computers, holiday, mobile, Technology
0 comments


12 January 2008

Changing times

When you haven’t seen someone or something for a year or so your sense of observation is more acute. It’s harder to notice gradual change if you see something every day.

But if you haven’t seen someone for a year it’s easier to tell if they have put on weight or turned grey.  It’s the same with places.

We have returned to the same holiday house at Falcon we stayed in last January. The house hasn’t changed, but the neighborhood has.

The vacant block next door hasn’t been developed yet, but it’s now for sale. A new subdivision has been opened up for development between the house and the nearby shopping centre, called the Olive Waters Estate. It’s not built yet, next year I expect it will be.

We visited the Jolly Frog restaurant on a canal between the estuary and the Indian Ocean. The development on the other side of the water was startling.

Since last year, nothing has closed as far as we could tell. Most of the new activity was in construction. In addition to Hungry Jacks, Noodle Wok and Red Rooster there is now a McDonald’s as well. That’s progress, I suppose.

Falcon still has a nice mix of modern buildings and beach shacks. I wonder how long that will last.

Tags: holiday, mandurah, memories, Western-Australia
0 comments


12 January 2008

Movie madness

We took the kids to see Alvin and the Chipmunks yesterday. It cost $80!

The tickets were $11 each. The popcorn was something like $6.50 and the drinks were about $5 each.

The popcorn came in sizes of massive or extra massive. The drinks were super large or super super large, and they didn’t have any juice.

Every business needs to make money and I imagine cinemas struggle somewhat in the face of competition from video stores and pay television, but the food and drink prices are virtual extortion.

We saw one parent smuggle sweets in for his kids, ruefully explaining it was just too expensive. I think we’ll do the same next time.

Juliet and I went out for lunch while the kids watched their movie. It cost us $71 for a three-course meal with a bottle of wine.

Tags: entertainment, family, holiday
2 comments