2 June 2008

Feeling the cold

Winters in Kalgoorlie are short and not very cold, but temperature is a relative thing. It does get down to zero in Kalgoorlie but it’s a dry crisp cold and days starting that way tend to warm up nicely.

I only encountered a handful of days when the wind was strong enough and chilly enough to make indoors more attractive than being outside.

Moving back to south-eastern Australia we’ve experienced a very mild start to winter, but there have been a few hints of what’s to come.

Stopping near Ballarat for lunch I wanted to close the door to keep the cold out; haven’t done that for three years. Read more »

Tags: benambra, high-country, Kalgoorlie, porepunkah, weather
4 comments


4 May 2008

Alpine News

Cleaning up before a big move always reveals some nostalgic items. Today I came across CDs containing copies of the Alpine News.

This was a weekly newspaper that Juliet and I produced from our home in Porepunkah for six months from July 2002 to January 2003.

It circulated in the Bright area and reached a peak of 2400 copies when we also distributed free in Myrtleford. Read more »

Tags: Bright, History, newspapers, porepunkah
0 comments


12 October 2007

October in Kalgoorlie

The weather has been relatively mild so far this month, although they’re forecasting 35 degrees and windy for the “spring” festival on Sunday.

I came home from work this afternoon after a full day inside the office, stepped out of the car and said to Juliet: “This reminds me of those summer evenings in Porepunkah when we used to go for a swim at the river.” It was 29 degrees.

Of course, it will get much hotter in Kalgoorlie and we’ll have more days over 40 than Porepunkah used to get over 32, and North East Victoria gets hot by Victorian standards.

Tags: Kalgoorlie, porepunkah
0 comments


28 October 2006

Our first house at Porepunkah

The first house we ever owned was at Port Pirie, South Australia. We bought it for $45,000 in 1993. We sold it to my parents when we moved to Eden.

We bought a house again when we moved to Porepunkah, Victoria. It was a small three-bedroom hardiplank home on a delightful block in Seamer Street, and cost $81,000. A few years later we moved two doors up the road to a much bigger house, which cost $184,000.

The picture shows the last heavy snowfall at Porepunkah. I think it was in 2000. I remember it was a Sunday in May. We don’t have many other pictures of the little house, and I regret not taking more photos around Porepunkah on the day of that snowfall.

Tags: porepunkah, weather
0 comments


31 August 2006

Race Round

Here’s an update on news from Juliet and I:

Our house in Porepunkah finally sold and we have some spare cash for the first time since 1993. Combined with the fact we can now go out for dinner or functions, leaving the little kids with the big ones safely for a couple of hours, our lives have completely changed!

Kalgoorlie has an active social life and the mood here is really buoyant at the moment, so it’s an exciting time.

The coming Race Round is going to be fantastic. This is Kalgoorlie’s equivalent of the Melbourne spring carnival. It includes some high-quality races intermingled with social events.

Our plan is to attend the Boulder Cup and the Hannans Club Ball (black tie, masquerade) plus whatever else we can fit in between work and family commitments.

Tags: family, Kalgoorlie, Kids, life, Melbourne, news, porepunkah, PR, work
0 comments


12 May 2006

Mild weather continues

I stopped checking the weather forecast for a while and I didn’t miss anything because every day was 23 degrees.

The temperature is now starting to increase and the forecast for Tuesday is 27 degrees. These figures are incomprehensible in May for someone from cooler climes in Victoria. The last low-level snowfall we experienced at Porepunkah was in May!

The mozzies are still buzzing here. Apart from that the conditions are glorious.

A quick check of the Weather Bureau site shows that 30 degree days are possible in every month except June and July.

Tags: porepunkah, PR, Victoria, weather
Comments Off


8 March 2006

Back on broadband

I’ve reconnected to ADSL broadband for the first time since arriving in Kalgoorlie. I wasn’t sure initially if it was available, but it turns out to be in this part of town at least.

I was fairly satisfied with Curl at Porepunkah, but decided to go this time with our home telephone provider Primus.

I’ve opted for a super high-speed 1500/256 connection. It wasn’t too hard to get going and the speed is fantastic.

I’m on a monthly data limit of 5GB compared with 25 previously, but I don’t expect to be using it enough to exceed that.

Tags: Kalgoorlie, porepunkah, PR
0 comments


20 February 2006

A glitch had to happen

Everything had been going so well it must have been inevitable that we’d get a couple of hiccoughs along the way.

Juliet and Dude both managed to fall ill within two days of arriving in Kalgoorlie. Nothing serious, but we’ve made the doctor’s acquaintance.

Our furniture was meant to arrive today (Monday) but it hasn’t. The removal company doesn’t know where our container is! They think it might be in Adelaide. There was a train derailment between Kalgoorlie and Perth which disrupted all rail traffic.

We now expect the furniture to come on Thursday. Our neighbors have helped out with some essentials in the meantime.

The kids have settled in well at school. Hannans Primary has 430 students and is within easy walking distance. I’m pleased Kathleen was able to start there, rather than go to a high school with over 1000 students. Year levels are different between WA and Victoria.

Kathleen and Dude say hello to Mrs Rampling, Mrs Clapperton, Mr Dwyer and Mr Holden and everyone at Porepunkah.

Tags: Kalgoorlie, Kids, porepunkah, PR, school, Victoria
1 comment


23 January 2006

Good walking and cycling trails

There are some great walking and cycling trails in Kalgoorlie. I thought I’d miss the rail trail around Porepunkah, but the tracks here are just as interesting.

There’s one that starts close to my home, goes around the edge of the golf course and skirts several parks.

The weather was much cooler today, so I ran 5km this morning and rode about 15km this evening.

Tags: Kalgoorlie, porepunkah, weather
0 comments


16 January 2006

Farewell to Porepunkah

We had a farewell barbecue last night with friends, neighbors, some former work colleagues and relatives. It was a happy evening and a nice way to say goodbye.

It has surprised me how many people have visited Kalgoorlie and know people working there.

I’m hitting the road today and expect to arrive in Kalgoorlie on Wednesday night or Thursday morning. The car is fully packed with my personal items.

I walked up Winters Hill this morning for a final view of Porepunkah. It’s hard to know when I’ll ever be back. From the top of the hill you can see our house and the house where we used to live.

The oak tree that Dude planted as an acorn at 16 Seamer Street eight years ago is now thriving. That’s a nice way to leave our mark on the village.

Tags: Kalgoorlie, porepunkah, PR, work
1 comment