Failed Paparazzi and Governors General
I failed in a bid to join the Paparazzi today when the quarry eluded me.
The Governor General, Quentin Bryce (drawn right), was due to arrive in Mount Gambier today for a taxpayer-funded private visit.
I knew she had an engagement at 4pm and figured wrongly she would fly in about an hour beforehand.
I got to the airport at 3pm and discovered she had already arrived. Her RAAF King Air was sitting empty on the tarmac.
She may have had another engagement I didn’t know about, because details of her visit were scanty, but it’s more likely she retired to a hotel.
I opined yesterday about the fact Her Excellency should have been more visible on this visit. (more…)
EJ and EH Holdens
When I started writing this post I thought the picture showed me standing in front of an EH Holden, aged 1, in 1968.
After looking at some photos online however, I think it may be an EJ Holden.
Unique Cars and Parts says: “Produced between 1961 and 1963, the EJ was the first of a bold new shape for the Holden. Gone were the fins of the previous EK model, and a new flat boot and lower roofline was created to keep pace with the more modern looking Ford Falcons.
“The EJ was designed from the Opel Kapitan, but incorporated some American influence, particularly in regard to consideration of aerodynamics. The trusty grey motor was carried over from the previous model, albeit with a few refinements.”
The EJ was introduced in 1962 and according to Wikipedia, the EH Holden was released in 1963, four years before I was born.
A total of 256,959 EH Holdens were produced and sold from 1963 to 1965, when the EH was replaced by the Holden HD series. (more…)
Memory fragments
Do you ever have random flashbacks? I don’t mean of harrowing events. It would be understandable to recall a war, physical assault or natural disaster.
Sometimes I remember things randomly from the past. Little things, like finding a dead cow on the farm at Pambula. Or riding a bike in the rain.
Some of these memories correspond with photos. The line between actually remembering something and a photograph is sometimes blurred.
Does the picture prompt the memory or does it become the memory? (more…)
Looking back with street view
I’m becoming strangely addicted to Google Street View. This picture is from outside our house in Ceduna, where we lived in 1992-93. Kathleen was conceived there 
(more…)
Special moment
The 1982-83 Melbourne Ashes Test is special to me for several reasons. I was 15 years old and it was the only time my Dad took me to the city alone for consecutive days.
We stayed at a motel in Carlton and made our way to the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) each day for five days of gripping action.
The scores were fairly even and below 300 for each team on every day. The crowds were large throughout. (more…)
Odd coins in the change
A reader came into the newspaper office with a 1900 sixpence she had found in her small change, thinking it somewhat remarkable. I don’t think it’s amazing at all, but worthy of a blog post.
I don’t handle much change these days except one and two dollar coins. When I was a child these were banknotes. The one and two-cent coins of my youth no longer exist.
Decimal currency was introduced to Australia in 1966. Pounds, shillings and pence ceased to be legal tender in February 1967, a month after I was born. (more…)
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.
