Xmas Day

Xmas Day and its 30C.
Quite hot in a santa hat...Inge is in the garden doing some weeding. I have a seafood xmas meal to look forward to of prawns and mussels. A lot of people have a BBQ lunch or visit the beach for a swim.

Blackbird nest along the path

The photos are of a small blackbird sitting on its nest by the side of the path we walk along by the creek. The blackbirds here are really cute and fly around wagging their long tails.

When we saw how close the blackbird had built its nest to a path which is used a lot by people we were worried that vandals or children would destroy it as it was quite easy to spot.

Sure enough a week later and there's no trace of the nest, its gone! People here have no respect for the nature that surrounds them.

Storm season again

Storms are a part of living in Brisbane, a sub-tropical city. The storm season runs from approximately October until March each year.

Thunder and hail storms often develop in the afternoon, moving across from the west. Less common is the threat of a cyclone, but it can happen.

Today was a classic storm. It moved in quickly, big black clouds, lightning, wind and lots of rain. 10,000 home without power, chaos on the roads with car accidents.

Wine cheaper than water in Australia

Wine is now cheaper than water in Australia due to the surging dollar and changing tastes.

Some shops are now selling clean skin wine for as little as two dollars a bottle.

The plummeting prices are being blamed on a grape glut and the subsequent oversupply of wine.

In the past the excess was exported, but the rising Aussie dollar has made it harder to be competitive.

Australia Road Trip

This weekend I did a 1800km round trip to pick up my glider which I bought together with a fellow club member.

It was a good trip with nice weather underway. Shame to see the deathtoll of kangaroos along the roadside, there must have been hundreds!

The temperature inland was 39C.

The journey down took 11 hrs with brief stops for breakfat and lunch in McDonalds. We stayed in a motel and drove back on Sunday another 11hrs.

So I am now the proud co-owner of a sailplane.

Brisbane River

We recently took a walk along the Brisbane River near where we live. This stretch of the river is only 15km from the city centre but is a small patch of wilderness. The water is salty not fresh as the seawater comes quite far up the river on the tides. Brisbane has quite a few suprises one of which is its river.

Acacia Trees in Bloom

So after the purple Jacaranda bloom of October comes the orange acacia bloom of November. It really is beautiful to see the trees in bloom here along the roadside, its a real sign that Spring is turning to Summer, not that you need reminding with the increase in temperatures day by day. Soon we will be sweltering at Xmas dinner...