House Painter

Inge deserves all the credit for doing the most of the painting in the house both upstairs and down. It really gives the place a new fresh look gone is the horrible beige colour to be replaced by nice white, turquoise and lime green walls.

House and Garden get a makeover

So things are changing rapidly at our house and garden. Today we took the decision to remove three of the palm trees in the garden, they are a pain as they drop leaves and seeds in the pool and take up space offering little shade. So 2 samoan guys turned up at our door today and did the tree cutting so the photos are before and after. The awful old and rusty shed is going as well.
Also the floor laying upstairs is reaching completion, probably all finished tomorrow. Looks really nice, far better than the beige dirty carpets that were upstairs. We finished the painting upstairs and now Inge is busy painting downstairs while I work behind the computer. The ensuite bathroom is also on schedule, the plumber comes back next week to finish that off.
In just short of 2 weeks we move our furniture in. All very hectic and lots of expenses all at the same time, money is going out like nobody's business!

A decade of high temperatures

Koala cooling off in a bucket!

Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) has confirmed that 2009 ends Australia’s hottest decade on record.

And 2009 was Australia’s second hottest year on record.

Melbourne recorded its maximum temperature on record, 46.6°C and the State’s record maximum temperature of 48.8°C at Hopetoun.

August 2009 was the warmest on record with an unusual winter time heatwave when eight consecutive days of temperatures hit over 35°C.

In Australia, each decade since the 1940s has been warmer than the preceding decade.

This suggests an apparent shift in Australia’s climate from one characterised by natural variability to one increasingly characterised also by a trend to warmer temperatures.

Our new House!

So on 12 Jan 2010 we got the keys to our new house. Its been quite a stressfull time as buying a house here is so different to Holland, everything is different and we were new to it all. No address of the house here on the blog as everyone has been informed and we dont want personal information on a blog that anyone can read.

Here's Inge opening the door so we can start cleaning. A photo of the view from the kitchen.

On the 2nd day we are still cleaning and wiping the walss ready to do some painting so some busy days ahead. Its nice to be in a house knowing its yours, we are glad to stop renting as its not the same as Holland..too much control by the owner and letting agent.

Its 31C today so it was warm in the house even though nice breezes blow through the house. At the end of the days work I took a dip in our pool...beautiful, perfect temperature and a nice way of cooling off.

Fire and Flood vs Snow and cold

A code red catastrophic fire alert has been declared for much of south Australia, with dangerous bushfire weather conditions to intensify today with temps of 41C.

The code red alert is the highest available under Australia's new national bushfire rating system, and has been declared for the northern country and northeast regions.

In stark contrast to the bushfire warnings around Australia, Queensland's central west is still on flood alert.

The weather bureau has issued fresh flood warnings, as water levels keep rising.Some towns will be cut off for at least 10 days, with the rivers in full flood. Helicopters are delivering essential supplies to isolated properties.

This is in stark contrast to the very cold weather of Europe and the USA....certainly makes you think about climate change and more extreme weather.

Rainy Xmas & New Year

This is a webcam photo from the Boonah gliding club. I didnt bother going out today because of the forecast of rain and sure enough we had a downpour at 12.30pm.

Almost every day of the Xmas and New Year we have had rain. In inland Australia they have had a lot more than here in Brisbane almost 300mm in 24hrs in some cases so the farmers there are really happy as it means a good crop at the end of the summer and a welcome break after years of drought.

You never really appreciate how important rain is until you spend some time in Australia. In Europe it rains constantly throughout the year so there's always enough water but here in Queensland the rain falls in just 3 months and when it does it falls all at once so the dams have to fill to provide water for the rest of the year.