More Visitors From Down South

Tuesday was a busy day. Friends and their family from Melbourne dropped in for lunch prior to flying home on Tuesday evening.

The house had not seen so many visitors before. It was great fun for all. The air conditioner got a workout!

After the guests headed off to the airport the rest of us hit the pool (a pleasant 28+ degrees in the water).





Following the swim it was time to check out the stones (again) and even watch a little bit of TV!






Later we headed to the Dicky Beach Surfclub for tea and then popped in to the Cold Rock IceCream shop for a sample! Charli seems to enjoy the ice cream!

Nifty Gadget

I must admit I do enjoy playing around on eBay. Most days Trish and I ride our bikes for up to an hour as exercise. When asked "How far do we ride?" we give a very rough estimation of the distance. I was browsing eBay and saw these Bicycle odometers up for auction. I successfully bid for one (total = $18) and it arrived yesterday. Looks pretty nifty doesn't it? My successful bid was 99c and the postage was $16.99!

From this photo you can see the read out from this morning's ride, I travelled 13.2 kilometres, the ride time was just over 40 minutes, I took the photo at 7:52 am and I averaged 19.35 kilometres per hour. You press the large black elongated button at the bottom and it changes 'mode' and tells you the total time the bike has been ridden, total kilometres and even the current temperature. This morning's ride took place in a temp of 28 degrees (that is in the sun).

The odometer easily clips on and off the bike for safe storage. Would be a great gift for Christmas I reckon!

The link to Appznet on the right has temporarily changed. An email I received says it MAY return to the old link address but temporarily it is at http://www.appznet.com/best/index.php If you wish to get to all the free software available for download you need to register to get into the Appznet site and you are asked to supply an email address. You can always use a simple Hotmail or Yahoo free email address if you want to.

I have adjusted "Les' Links" so the link now goes to the new Appznet site.

Summer Arrives

The weather has suddenly hit its summer straps. Warm sunny days and coolish evenings.

Trish, Kate and Charli arrived by plane at Maroochydore at about 6:20 pm on Sunday. The new surroundings were a little too much for Charli and she decided she did not want to sleep. Monday started out nice and warm and of course a growing girl needs her Vita Brits to get the day off to a good start. The house is jumping again!

There were lots of things to do, swim in the pool, remove the tan bark from the garden, rearrange the stones, check out the house (sorry about those finger marks on walls and glass) and most importantly, rearrange the CD's. An afternoon nap was NOT something she wanted to do!

Charli is still checking out the pool (it is at about 28 degrees nowadays) and is becoming more confident.

We expect a 'full house' tomorrow with Melbourne friends Carol and David along with Sian, Craig and their two daughters. They have been at Noosa for a week and have an evening flight home from Maroochydore. Check out time from Noosa is 10 am so they are popping in for a swim!

A Lot Warmer

After some extremely pleasant but mild and clear weather, today has been sunny and quite warm. The temp was 26 at 9 am while the pool was at 25. It is about lunchtime as I type and the cool sea breeze is already blowing from the northeast and blows right 'through' the house. The temp will probably get to about 28 or so this afternoon.

The backyard is enclosed so does not always get the best of the breezes. The house faces northeast to catch the sea breeze during the day but the downside is the back of the house faces southwest and, late in the summer afternoon, gets the setting sun. The blinds help to keep the sun off the living areas at the back of the house.

Sitting beside the pool under the shade of the palms is the place to be late afternoon!

Busy Days

The wind has been out of the south and southeast for well over a week now and this has meant moderate temps for us here on the Sunshine Coast. Overnight temps have been below average by a couple of degrees. Today the wind is more north easterly and this indicates things are about to warm up. This morning the pool was 24 degrees but it was up to 26 degrees yesterday afternoon. Temps are forecast to be in the low 30's for most of the First Test match between Australia and England in Brisbane and no rain is forecast. Nights are warming up too.

A few things were put off till Trish 'went to Melbourne' and these are now being done. The new mattress was delivered, Trish's new bike is in for a first month check, the side fence has been 'painted' (and looks OK don't you think?), Library books have been returned, lawns have had their first mow for several weeks and Doctor and Chiro appointments have been attended to. There were quite a few DVD's I had copied which Trish wasn't excited about watching so I have watched those and spent much of yesterday ($1 DVD Borrow day) refilling 6 empty rewritable DVD's. The new external writer came in very handy.

Work continues on the new access road with lots of landscaping now going on. There is even going to be a concrete pathway following the new road.

By the way, first steak on the new Weber BBQ (it works the same way as a Weber Kettle BBQ and you cook with the lid down) was very impressive!

Trish and I took 6 kids away with us to India in the mid '90's when I was Principal of Langwarrin P.S. Daniel was one of those kids. Here he is seen 'on site' in Dubai. Thanks for the photo Terry and Jan.

BBQ Christened

We use the BBQ a lot here in Queensland particularly in summer when it can be very warm when cooking inside regularly. The 'old' BBQ was showing its age a bit so we decided to 'upgrade'. As with most things here it has to be ordered in. The new BBQ arrived at the shop Friday afternoon and I drove in and picked it up ready to assemble on Saturday morning.

I then received a call from friends Max and Margaret Lanyon who are visiting their daughter in Brisbane and wanted to drive up for a visit. Max and Margaret are from Victoria.

I had just unpacked the BBQ onto the floor of the garage when they arrived. We had a great time drinking several home brews before adjourning to King's Beach tavern for a few more beers and a lovely lunch on the balcony overlooking the sea.

We arrived back home mid afternoon and they headed back to Brisbane while I headed to the garage and the BBQ. The instructions said construction time for a professional was 15 mins and about 30 mins for the layman. Nothing was mentioned about a layman who had consumed several home brews and about 4 schooners!

I got it together in about a good hour I suppose and after checking everything I did not have any bits left over either!

The patio looks good with the new BBQ in place. I cooked my breakfast on it this morning.

Today Sunday, is the first birthday party for Charli. Family and friends (including proud grandma Trish) are gathering at Kate's for the celebrations. Trish, Kate and Charli return here next Sunday evening while husband Arj is on a special music assignment for the school for the week.

Blackened Bikeride

This morning I jumped on the bike and headed off to check out the damage from Thursday's fire.

Click on the photos for a larger view.

We live to the west of the local airport and this photo shows the eastern fence line. The worst part of the fire went to the east of the airport.




I have previously had photos of the Duckpond area. The fire burnt around the duckpond and right up to Caloundra Rd (the main road in from the Bruce Hwy).



The fire crossed Pelican Waters Blvd and burnt right up the Little Aths running track and the Village Life Retirement home. These stumps were still smouldering this morning.



This photo shows beside the Village Life Retirement Village looking towards the Little Aths grounds.





The last photo I took was as I was returning home. It shows looking through blackened trees towards the airport.

School, airport closed by blaze (from today's local paper)

Caloundra was surrounded by flames and smoke blanketed across Coast skies yesterday, as one of the worst bushfires in memory raged out of control. More than 150 residents of aged care homes in Golden Beach's Blaxland Street and 160 students of Caloundra City School were evacuated yesterday as thick smoke spread throughout the area. The heavy air proved too much for some elderly people, who had to be treated for smoke inhalation. Worried parents rushed to take their children home, while residents of Village Life, an aged care home, were taken to the Caloundra Power Boat Club, where the Red Cross sent an emergency response team of 13 volunteers to care for victims.

The Caloundra Airport was also evacuated and the Caloundra Hospital had contingency plans in place if fire fighters failed to halt the blaze's destructive path. Caloundra Road and part of the Nicklin Way were blocked off by police for hours, effectively cutting off access to Caloundra and Golden Beach while more than 100 firefighters battled the blaze on the ground with support in the air from two water bombing helicopters. The fire came too close for comfort for some home owners, with the flames coming right up to the back of homes, as well as Caloundra Indoor Bowls Club. The fire began as a wildfire in bushland off Bells Creek Road just after 11am and despite seven fire crews immediately rushing to the area, the dry conditions and 40 knot south-westerly winds were enough to turn the bush into a tinder box. It had burned more than 400 hectares in less than three hours, making the jump from inaccessible bushland to Pelican Waters before 2pm. Triple 0 calls immediately began flooding in, as the plume of smoke spread across the Coast and residents in the immediate area started smelling smoke. By 4.30pm ground crews were reporting they had more than 70% of the fire contained, but an additional five fire trucks and crews were called up from Brisbane to help local efforts, with more placed on standby. A late wind change gave fire fighters some relief in the early evening, but they continued to fight the blaze overnight and it's thought additional heli-bombers will join the fight this morning to "get the jump on" any spot fires which may flare up mid-morning when the wind is expected to turn again. What started the fire is still not clear, but it's thought that a lightening strike from Wednesday's storms may be to blame. Police praised the fire officers who worked tirelessly to ensure there were no injuries or loss of homes.

Fire Pretty Well Out

The excitement is over. The fire which threatened homes and 2 schools at Pelican Waters is well under control with hotspots being mopped up today.





The wind would change from time to time and this would bring the smoke closer to our home. The closest the fire got to us was about 500m away from the house. This meant it was pretty smokey and created some eerie scenes during the afternoon.



Helicopters water bombed the fire collecting water from the local Bellvista Lake. At one stage flames were clearly visible from our front window.








Today has been spent cleaning up. Ash is everywhere making quite a mess. Even now an occasional bit of ash is blown into the pool. I have cleaned the pool twice so far and I have hosed all the ash off the patio and around the pool.

Trish flew to Melbourne this morning but we were both up early cleaning the floors and dusting the tables and furniture. The house needed a good clean after the howling winds and ash.

Click on the photos for a larger view.

More photos of the fire can be seen by following the link under Les' Links on the right to "My Photos" and looking in the Fire Photos folder.

More Fire Pics

The view from our front door looking towards the sea.







At the end of the court showing how the fire is burning behind our estate and headed to the left side of the picture. You can see the missing fence palings through which I took the previous photos!


The current view towards Caloundra.
Click on each photo for a larger view.

Fire

A large grass fire has broken out beside our estate in today's strong wind. Fortunately the wind is blowing the fire away from our estate. No property is in immediate danger from the fire. The road is the 'new' access road at the end of our court!

Smoke billows into the air.








The smoke heads towards Caloundra.







Click on each photo for a larger view.

Unwelcome Visitor

It is blowing a gale today but now the wind has switched to the south west. This morning humidity in Brisbane was 37% which is virtually unheard of here in SE Queensland. It is a much cooler day than yesterday but very uncomfortable with the strong gusty wind.

I am going to change how photos are presented on the Blog. You can hardly see what is in some photos so I will post bigger photo files which, when clicked on, should come up bigger in a new page.

You don't need too many of these to destroy heaps of flowers in the garden. I saw this big guy today. He is no longer eating plants!



Our estate continues to develop with work on the new stages well under way. Roads are carved out and the land is leveled for blocks.



Streets are filled with new houses or houses under construction.






In Queensland it seems the government prefers to bus students to a large school rather than build a new school on an estate as happens in Victoria. The Catholic and Anglican Education communities have united to create a school on this estate called Unity College. Eventually the school will cater for 1200 students from Preps through to the end of Secondary School.

Judy Coldwell Passes Away

I was a school principal for about 10 years. During that time I came to depend upon certain people around the school for their support and advice. The Assistant Principal was always a great sounding board as were other senior staff. The Office Support Staff could always be of great advice and support too.

Judy Coldwell was my Secretary during my first stint as a school principal at Doveton North. We got along really well and I valued her local knowledge of what would work within the local community and what wouldn't. Judy knew all the families so well and often provided invaluable background information on a family situation which helped put things into perspective. We couldn't be more unalike. She would never use bad language, did not drink but was always there when advice was needed. I knew when Judy came into my office, closed the door and said, "Can I speak with you for a moment Les?" that she would be providing me with valuable feedback or advice.

Judy also had the confidence of the community. Parents would often broach a sensitive issue with her knowing full well it would be passed on to me (or whoever) for action.

Judy was a fierce family person as well. Nothing came before any member of her family, it was her reason for being!

Judy's husband Bob was frequently around the school sharing a grin and a smile with everyone. He too would sneak into my office, close the door and pass on a blue joke. I don't know where he got them from but almost every couple of days, there was a Bob with a new joke. They were a devoted couple.

On our trips to Melbourne, we always made a point of popping in to catch up with Judy and Bob, often being their guests for a meal.

Judy recently retired from work within the last 18 months or so.

She passed away from cancer at 3 a.m. on Wednesday.

She will be missed. Trish's and my thoughts are with her husband Bob and their family.

Skydivers

Today is hot and blustery with the temp expected to get to the low 30's. It is one of those days you get with a hot northerly wind, very similar to what Melbourne can get! Pool temp this morning was 24.6 and overnight the air temp got down to about 19 or so. Yesterday the pool was up to 27 and was pleasant for swimming.

Riding into the wind was hard work this morning.

I have reconnected the external DVD drive to the computer and all is working fine. No black out problems - fortunately! The problem was the faulty power board I was using.

We ordered a new BBQ yesterday and it is a bit more upmarket than what we are used to. It is a Weber BBQ and you cook with the lid down! We are due to get it by next weekend. The color we wanted was not in stock.

Not far from us we have the Caloundra Airport. It is expected to be relocated in the next ten years or so and the airport site will become the new Caloundra town centre. It will also be the site of the train line being built to connect the Sunny Coast to Brisbane. Eventually the train line will go through to Maroochydore.

A Skydiving business runs out of the airport and this photo shows the amateur skydivers waiting apprehensively to board their plane. I just like where they have positioned the toilet block in this photo! Very appropriate I think!

Last night we ate at the newly refurbished Dicky Beach Surf Club. Everything there is bright and new and the meal we had was OK too. Not quite right on the beach but it has surf views and the large 'open air' area ensures you catch the sea breezes.

On The Air Again

There seems to be built in power protection into a computer. When there is a power irregularity the computer power supply trips off to protect the computer from damage. This power supply then needs to be tripped back on. This is done by turning the machine off for 45 minutes or so. However it seems the computer must be totally disconnected from the power, i.e. removing the power cord too. After failing to get the computer to run again yesterday I removed the cord last night as a last resort. And when I plugged it back in again this morning computer lights flashed and it started to load!

I am not game to reconnect the external DVD drive just yet though! I still think the problem was the power board I was using, not the external DVD drive.

I will try it later today. Here is the offending unit!

Keith is a good mate of mine and sends me heaps of interesting attachments to emails, most of which are out of place on this page! He sent me "Flying Gonzo" which is in Les' Links (to the right). It is a bit of fun, something like the Footy game I put there previously. It is not a big download and a bit of fun for those spare minutes.

Thanks Keith.

I have also heard Judy Coldwell is not well and has been admitted into a palliative care type facility.

Unthinkable Happens!

It has happened! The 'big' computer has had a nasty accident and I think the power supply has died. All this and on a Saturday too when it can't be repaired! Luckily we have Trish's Laptop so I can still get a bit of a "daily internet fix".

I bought an external DVD burner on eBay and it works fine. As the burner would be used on both the main and laptop computers I set it up with an old power board which would allow me to easily add and remove the new DVD Drive and put it on the laptop as required. It seems the power board is not working properly and when I connected the power to the external DVD drive the main computer went to the dreaded "blue screen".

I managed to get it to go again by leaving it for an hour or so and then starting it up, but when I connected the DVD again the big computer just cut out. It has been like that for some time just refusing to go!

A new power supply is not too expensive and fitted quickly.

Wednesday night's rain failed to materialize and we only got 12 mls.

We drove through incredible rain down to the Gold Coast on Thursday to catch Det and Brenda again. I fantastic day on Thursday followed by an alcohol free day on Friday! We did not make the bike ride either. I expected to see a good 20 mls or so in the gauge Thursday night but there was just 1 ml. Rainfall in this part of the world can be extremely localized.

We bike rode today. We pass some very nice properties. This is one of the favorites!

The BBQ is getting on a bit and looks a bit tired. We are checking out what is available. You can sure pay a lot for your everyday BBQ! We use the BBQ almost daily, especially summer when it is too hot to cook inside. The feeling is we will spoil ourselves a bit and get a good one this time!

Trish flies to Melbourne on Friday.

Pool still has not been repaired. The guy wants a hot day so the fibreglass will "go off" properly. Temperatures into the 30's for Monday with storms to follow so it might get done then!

Best DVD Copying Program - DVD Shrink 3.2

I have added a link in "Les' Links" (on the right of this page) to an excellent DVD copying program called DVD Shrink 3.2. This program has been forced out of operation by the Hollywood film producers about 18 months ago. However the program is usually still available at many sites.

With this download I have included detailed instructions on how to copy DVD's. The instructions are for several programs (including DVD Decrypter which is also out of business) however you really only need to use DVD Shrink instructions for most of today's DVD's.

Some 'difficult to copy' DVD's such as "Narnia" need to use the 4 programs included with RipIt4Me.

DVD Shrink can be designed to work with Nero Disk Burning Program but it does have some problems with Nero version 7.

You need to get into DVD Shrink's Preferences to set it up to work with Nero.

Have fun!

Cup Day On The Sunshine Coast

Our local racecourse (Corbould Park) is the scene of most activity up this way on Cup Day. No public holiday here but quite a few businesses close for the afternoon and the town becomes very quiet!

About 15000 went and I don't think there were any horse races on either. But there was lots to drink and lots of partying! This photo shows cars still parked outside the course at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday morning! Drink driving is an expensive and annoying offence in this part of the world! The day was about 28 degrees so the weather was conducive to enjoying a few drinks!

No rain was forecast for Monday so the 21 mls we received overnight were a bit of a surprise. We are into the "Storm Season" and severe storms are predicted for later today (Weds) with strong winds, and storms tending to heavy rain overnight. This prediction is also for Thursday and Friday nights as well.



The recent rain has meant some of the parklands need mowing. Trish is seen here on her ride this morning.



Pool temp was at 24.3 at 7 a.m. this morning and today's temp is expected to be about 27. It was 25 before 9 a.m.!

We are driving down the Gold Coast tomorrow to catch up with Det and Brenda, friends we met on our trip to Vietnam and China. However with the storms predicted we intend to be home well before dark. The pool is being repaired on Friday and we expect a new mattress to be delivered then too.

This photo was taken this morning looking over the estate. The clear skies and warm weather don't indicate what we are in for with tonight's weather!

Trish flies down to Melbourne on Friday Nov 17 and she returns with Kate and Charli on Sunday Nov 26th.

Graeme, I hope your grief over the passing of the Hibiscus was brief and all is now well again!

Rain At Last

The rain did arrive .... eventually. 22mls in all but most fell in an hour or so Saturday afternoon. Other areas around Brisbane got as much as 85 mls. It seems it was our turn not to get as much this time. The garden got a great drenching and the EL Riordan Memorial drain worked a treat keeping the back garden from flooding and water flowing back into the pool!

Here is the front lawn, the photo was taken this morning! Amazing what 22mls of rain can do. With all the rain the weather is warm and humid this morning. Temp was about 27 degrees and humidity was almost 70%. Great ceiling fan weather!

It is Andrew's (our grandson) 6th birthday and he celebrated yesterday down in Melbourne at Macca's!

Face painting is all the go at the moment it seems!

He and a few friends (as well as his sister Emily seen in this photo) had a great time from all accounts.



Happy Birthday Andrew.

You can click on these photos for a bigger view.

Friday's Update

Not a lot has happened over recent days. We caught up with good friends for a meal at Muang Thai restaurant on Tuesday night. The food there was great and we had a good time. Colleen and Peter are a couple Trish met when working at the Sunshine Coast Private Hospital.

Did another brew this morning so I should be bottling again mid week!



Thursday was very slow for me as I had watched Australia Vs New Zealand on TV Wednesday night. It finished at 2:30 a.m. Thursday morning!

We again rode our bikes but this time returned to our former riding area which had previously been the home of several persistent swooping magpies. They have now gone so we are safe to resume riding in that area! I will cut my 'cable ties' off my helmet in the next day or so.


October here was very dry with only 16 mls of rain (Oct avg is 81 mls). The front lawn sure shows it has been dry. We expect rain tonight though extending throughout Saturday and into Sunday. Hopes are for 40mls+!

Did you know keying in *#06# on your mobile phone gives you the phone's serial number? Could be handy to know if the phone ever was stolen I guess.

Pool chip is due to be repaired next week at this stage! I have held off watering the front lawn to save water in anticipation of needing to half empty and then refill the pool to get to the chipped area.