Summer On The Sunshine Coast

We have waited some time for summer to arrive but it sure has done so over the last week or so. Max temperature most days is around 31 or 32 degrees with humidity as high as 75% (which is high even by local standards!). The pool is now about 27 first thing in the morning and warms up to around 30 by afternoon. Humidity is predicted to fall from 75% and I see today it is back around 62%.

Overnight it gets down to about 24. However the humidity coupled with ceiling fans work together to create an effective cooling mechanism. A couple of icy cold home brews help too I might add!

So this is how we fight against the heat! The pool is used up to 5 times per day. A final swim before going to bed ensures a good night's sleep. It was wonderful in the pool last night at 10 pm under the stars, pool temp around 28!

I am not sure I would want to work in this weather though ... unless your workplace was air-conditioned!

The Searchers At The RSL

Sunday got off to an ordinary start when I had a tumble from the bike during my morning ride. Now that would have been a great photo for the blog page, me heading over the handlebars to land on some rough road!

Friends Det and Brenda from the Gold Coast arrived early in the afternoon and would spend the evening at our place . We were really good waiting till after 3 pm before enjoying the first cool ale! We were picked up by the RSL bus and taken to the club. Later other friends arrived and we had a meal and waited for the old 60's group The Searchers to appear.

They were absolutely fantastic, an evening of singing (we knew most of the words) dancing and drinking. They are a thoroughly professional act and really had the place hopping into the late evening. Everyone in our group thought they were fantastic.

After the show the 4 members of the band came out to sign autographs and sell CD's and give autographs. All the 'old groupies' from their 60's days hovered around for some reminder of the night!

We caught the free RSL bus home and got in about 12:30. All of us had had enough to drink! Monday was fairly quiet with King's Beach Tavern for lunch then the RSL again to try to beat those darn poker machines again!

Det and Brenda headed back to the Gold Coast late afternoon while Trish and I looked forward to a good night's sleep and an AFD on Tuesday!

Links Updated - Copy DVD's

I have updated the links section of this blog page.

Recently I have had a request for "How To" in regard to copying DVD's. The most popular DVD Burning Software appears to be Nero Burning Rom. DVD Shrink 3.2 works hand in hand with Nero to make a very good DVD Copying package. Shrink does not have its own built in burner program and piggy-backs with Nero for the burning option. If you want to have a try at using Shrink and Nero have a look at the How To document for "Shrink and Nero" in the Everyday DVD Copying section. It is a comprehensive "How To" and hopefully provides detailed step by step instructions on copying your DVD and getting Nero to burn it for you.

If you prefer the one-click DVD copy method have a look at Magic DVD Copier. I have also provided a link to the Magic DVD Copier website which has all the "How To" documents, especially the information on how to Copy a DVD9 to a DVD5 blank disk. Copying takes about 30 to 45 mins. Magic DVD Copier has its own inbuilt burner program so it does not have to have Nero already installed for it to burn disks!

There are some disks which manufacturers have made very difficult to copy with increased protection on them. Narnia is one such DVD which comes to mind! Shrink won't copy this one and Magic DVD Copier may find it hard as well. For disks such as this you will need RipIt4Me, FixVTS, DVD Decrypter 3.5.4.0 and Shrink 3.2. RipIt4Me is regularly updated so you may need to ensure you have the latest version (Press the Help Tab in RipIt4Me and select Check For Updates). RipIt4Me is a stand alone program and doesn't require to be fully installed on your computer.

When you run RipIt4Me it looks for the other three programs. Their website (link provided in Hard To Copy DVD's) gives all the details on how to use it.

It takes over an hour to copy one of these better protected DVD's!

2 Beef and Reef for $12

Trish has read a few adverts for one of the local hotels and their 2 for $12 Beef and Reef meal. Thought we would give it go so we arrived at the hotel at about 5:45. The place was packed out, "Reserved" was plastered across most of the tables and all other seats were taken. We were told there might be a vacancy at about 7:30 pm.

We adjourned to the RSL and had a few drinks and listened to a live performer. The Aussie Bush Band Bullamakanka were playing later that evening so the RSL was busy too. We eventually got back to the hotel at 7:30 and there were a few spare tables. We had drinks and ordered 2 Beef and Reef for $12!

No wonder the place was packed out, a great meal and only $6 each. We felt almost 'obligated' to stay for a few drinks eventually getting home at about 9 pm just to catch the end of Federer's demolition of Andy Roddick in a Semi Final of the Australian Tennis Open. We will be adding this establishment to one of the 'must do' activities when we have friends up from interstate. But next time we will book before we head off!

We had insulation installed in the house this morning. The guy arrived at 6:45 am and on his way home by 9:30. Pretty hot and sticky today. When he emerged from the ceiling he was saturated from head to toe with perspiration and on his way home for a shower and a swim!

I Need To Update Some Of "Les' Links"

I will need to do some work on some of the links in Les' Links. For some reason the account I had with 4Shared no longer operates. I have done some searching and have come up with with a Free File Hosting site called "Mediafire". I will update the links slowly.

Mediafire say that anything I upload will not be removed. Time will only show whether this is right or wrong!

It appears you can use Download Managers with Mediafire. This means a quicker download and the ability to 'resume'. This means if you are cut off for any reason while downloading you can continue your download from where you left off when you reconnect.

A Download Manager is a program which tricks the download site into believing three people are downloading the same file at the same time when the reality is only one person is downloading. This means the download is faster than if you were downloading 'on your own'. It is not three times faster I am afraid. The total download speed is limited by your internet connection.

There are Free Download Managers available on the web. Just go to Google and type in "free download manager' and you will be directed to a site where you can download one and use it for free!

Hopefully ALL links in Les' Links are working at the moment.

Summer Arrives

Today is probably the first 'hot' day we have had this summer. In the backyard just prior to lunch it is approaching 31 degrees, the pool is already at 28 and humidity is around 65%.

With two brews on and the warm weather, the beer is brewing quickly. Today is a bottle washing day. A bit warm for it but the pool is always there if required! At least the warmth will see them dry quickly!

As you can see in the background, Trish has been to our local Bunning's store and the birdbath has taken on its new role.



The local Caloundra RSL has won the Best Club Of The Year Award for Queensland on 4 or 5 consecutive occasions. They have some great entertainment there. Visitors who stay with us all remember their night out at the RSL.

Over the last couple of years the 1960's pop group "The Searchers" have toured Australia and have played at the Caloundra RSL. The group is pretty well the same as the time of their hits in the 60's. I have been watching their web site in the UK and saw they were touring Australia again this January. They are playing at the Caloundra RSL on Sunday night. Having prior information via their website I have been able to book 8 seats right up the front for the show. I think they are better now than what they were in the 60's. It will be a great night.

The drummer and one of the support vocalists are not from the original 60's group. However the new vocalist was a lead singer with the one hit wonder group "First Class" with the 70's hit "Beach Baby" so is a pretty reasonable 'replacement'.

Friends we met on our Vietnam China trip are coming up from the Gold Coast to attend the show with us and we will be joined by two couples with whom Trish worked at the hospital.

After The November Fires

At last we are experiencing some warm weather. In the backyard it gets to about 28 in the afternoon and humidity around 60%. Pool is usually close to 28 degrees by mid afternoon and very pleasant indeed.

On a recent bike ride through areas affected by the November bushfires around here we can now see some regrowth occurring. Incredible thing is our mother nature.


This photo again shows just how close the fire got to some people's homes.






Also great to here that temps are cooling off down in Victoria and there have been some substantial falls of rain too which has allowed firefighters to get well on top of the many bushfires!

On a sadder note, one of our next door neighbours passed away on Thursday after an 18 month battle with cancer. Marcia had been in her home a couple of months longer than we have.

New Paint Released!

My mate Keith sent me this one!

Brew Time

After a 12 kilometre ride this morning it was time to give the front lawn a mow and do a few other chores around the house - pool, pool filter etc. Then followed a quick swim in the pool!

After drying off it was time to change the kitchen into a brewery! About an hour or so later two more lots of home brew were beginning to bubble away. 5 dozen bottles to be exact and these should be ready to bottle next weekend and then to drink about 4 weeks after that. One lot is "Gold" (the top selling XXXX mid strength beer in Queensland) and the other is a Bitter.

I have made a couple of changes to this Blog Page in the right column.

I have added a couple of links to make it easier for readers to Bookmark this blog (Firefox terms) or Add to Favorites (Internet Explorer terms).

It took a fair bit of doing but was great mental exercise. I had to play around with HTML, the language used when creating web pages for the internet. For example the green color in the link writing is referred to as #009900. When Blogger saves it it renames it as rgb (0, 153, 0). Blogger allows you to do this. For someone coming to the problem without much HTML knowledge there was heaps of trial and error.

A Good Laugh!

The next time you are flying and someone keeps bothering you in the next seat, just pull out your laptop and go to this website (making sure they see it).

This will keep them quiet for some time .... not to mention scared sh...........ss!

http://www.thecleverest.com/countdown.swf

You will need to press "Back" to return to the Blog Page.

Tennis and More Tennis

The Australian Open is well under way. Free to Air TV is showing games from centre court while Pay-TV is showing 2 matches from the outside 'Show" courts.

This is all a bit too much to keep up with for us lounge lizards who watch our TV sets.

Fortunately the Picture In Picture facility on our TV enables us to watch two matches at the one time .

Tennis starts late morning and finishes well into the evening! There is hardly enough time to get on the internet!

We have been getting quotes to have insulation put in the ceiling and hopefully it will be installed next week.

Temps here remain in the high 20's while in Melbourne it hit over 39 degrees yesterday with a minimum of 29 overnight. We are having a cooler than average summer while Melbourne is just so much hotter than usual.

Mystery Of The Extra Charger!

We seem to have acquired an extra Motorola Razr V3 phone charger. We have contacted recent visitors and none of them even have a Motorola phone.

Perhaps we got two chargers when Trish bought it?

I have a Motorola V3 but it is the slimline version and the charger for it is perpendicular when plugged in. This one runs horizontally!

Do we both have the early stages of Alzheimer's disease?

Did we accidentally pick one up from somewhere during our recent visit down south?

Not Much News I Am Afraid!

The Hibiscus plant has gone, replaced by a birdbath with holes drilled in the bottom to enable the water to drain from it. It will become a new plant box. There are many creepy crawlies here which love to attack plants and it appears the most attractive plant for attack is the Hibiscus! Our plant had terrible pimply looking leaves, new flower heads would drop off before they opened and lately it has been covered in 1 cm long grasshoppers. A kind of mosquito type bite caused the pimply leave and small black beetles would cause the flower heads to fall. It seemed the creepy crawlies thrived on whatever we sprayed on the plant. Problem solved, the Hibiscus has gone!

We have 27 forecast for today but just before midday it is pushing 30 with little wind. The N/E sea breeze should come in shortly. The pool temp is rapidly approaching 28 right now.

The pool looked inviting overnight!

Russell gets his new 4WD tomorrow and it won't be long till they are on the road with the new caravan in tow!

Saturday Update Again!

I have added a couple of items in the right hand side window of the blog page. It is a shortcut to Add this site to Favorites ( if you use Internet Explorer) or Add this site to Bookmarks (if you use Mozilla Firefox)

Just hold Control down while you type either the T or the D (depending on your browser) and you will get a little window opening up inviting you to save News From The Sunshine Coast so you can visit the site more easily in future.

Weather continues warm to mild for this time of year. Max most days is about 30 while the minimum is about 22. Most mornings the pool is about 26 nowadays and gets to about 28 mid afternoon.

These two photos are from Arj and show our grand daughter Charli checking out her pool in the backyard and then a day or so later discovering what leaves are in a Melbourne park.

Victorian Bushfires

As many of you know, my sister lives a few kilometres out of Omeo on 20 or so acres in a picturesque little spot. She and Peter stayed and fought during the last serious bushfires a couple of years ago to save their home. So far the 2006/7 fires have not affected them. Swift's Creek, which is about 50 kilometres south of where they are, was expecting burning embers to hit the town yesterday.

These were the scenes outside their Omeo home yesterday. Everything is tinder dry and ready to burn. The smoke is from fires some way to the north.

The winds pushing the flames are more likely to be from the north and push the fires southwards. In most cases this is away from Omeo and where they live. She was saying that the main road to the south connecting Omeo to Bruthen is closed. Their only 'way out' at this stage is over the top of Mt Hotham.

Meanwhile here on the Sunshine Coast the rain clouds are clearing slowly and the sun is able to pop its head out again. Not too hot, (Victoria has all the hot weather at the moment) but this morning after we arrived back home after an 11 kilometre bike ride the humidity was 92% after the rainy weather! Now just before 11 am it is about 29 degrees and the humidity has dropped to 85%. This is much higher than usual! The pool is looking good for this afternoon!

Localized Rainfall

I have mentioned how localized rainfall can be here where we live. We had very heavy rain for about an hour between 3 am and 4 am this morning. It just poured down. When I eventually emptied the rain gauge this morning I tipped out 50 ml.

Later when on the internet I saw that Maroochydore about 20 ks north of us received a paltry 2.5 mls while Brisbane which is 70 k's south of us (as the crow flies) did not register a drop.

The pool is full of water again (up to the overflow) and the garden has had its best drenching for a month or so. It won't need any watering for a few days after this. I even managed to get out this morning and feed the front lawn. All will be a beautiful green again in a few days.

The weather is overcast and grey with temps climbing slowly to the mid twenties. I see Victoria is getting it hot again today!

Visitors Depart For Melbourne

John and Sue Logan did return to spend two more nights with us. They had their daughter Amy with them who had been staying with other relations in Brisbane.

We watched the cricket, loved the Chicken Avocado pasta and enjoyed the night till about 3:00 am. That is a bit late at my age. Part of the evening was spent outdoors enjoying the summer night and the backyard. It is a very pleasant spot to spend time with friends and cool drinks in hand.

On Monday we hit King's Beach where big surf and huge crowds made things a bit difficult. Back home and the pool before seeking some refuge from the hot day in a shopping centre while John's car was serviced. The Bowls Club for tea and a play on the pokies before transferring to the RSL Club and another donation to the pokies there.

They left at 7:30 this morning (Tues) to head back to Melbourne expecting to get to Dubbo this evening and into Melbourne late on Wednesday. It is over 1800 k's for John and Sue to get home.

The next day or so promises to be AFD's (Alcohol Free Days).

A Quiet Saturday

The weather remains cooler than you would expect. I would expect it to get into the low 30's daily at this time of year but I don't think we have had a 30 degree day since mid November. Pool is at about 24 in the morning and struggles to 27 in the afternoon. Last year it got into the low 30's every other day!

However this does not detract from a pleasant hour or so spent poolside having a a cool drink and enjoying the backyard.

Last night we watched the movie "Jindabyne" and I would suggest it is a movie you wouldn't go out of your way to see.

We half expect John and Sue Logan to return this afternoon but we will wait and see what happens. Possibly Chicken and Avocado pasta and a look at the 20/20 cricket match involving Victoria this evening on TV!

New Beach Side Pool Open

Caloundra is well known as a family oriented holiday destination. The Caloundra Council invests heavily in promoting tourism and tourist venues. The King's Beach surf beach precinct is great example of this. There has always been a King's Beach sea lap pool. This was recently bulldozed and a family friendly resort style sea water pool was constructed in its place.

It is a great place for families and provides a safe swimming environment for all ages. It is free and open to the public.




It caters for all age groups and is a part of King's Beach, Caloundra's best known surf beach. But as you can see from this shot, yesterday's weather was overcast and showery making the pool an ideal place in which to spend the afternoon. When you click on this photo you can see the many wind kite surfers in the distance. I counted 19 of them yesterday!

The King's Beach area also hosts various attractions for holiday makers. There is a great water fountain with huge jets of water blasting over the crowd.



There are other attractions too such as this trampoline. King's Beach is within walking distance of many units and apartments and also close to a variety of eateries and The Caloundra Surf Club which describes itself as having "Million Dollar Views". They serve drinks and club meals and naturally they also have a good bank of poker machines.

Remember to click on the photos for a larger view.

Friday Afternoon Update

The weather continues cooler and showery. Though the showers are small in number they can be quite intense dropping a quick 4 or 5 mls in a few minutes. Over the last couple of days the total rainfall is heading to 20 mls and even the EL Riordan Memorial Drain is working.

This carries overflow water from the back garden out to the front street. It has an illustrious history which I won't go into here!

Melbourne friends John and Sue Logan stayed overnight Thursday. They drove in early Thursday afternoon and we all enjoyed a few drinks as we watched the Australia Vs England Test match from Sydney on TV. As usual, we hit the RSL for an evening meal and so Sue could feed her addiction to the Poker Machines.

A quick but cool swim Friday morning before we watched the end of the cricket on TV and then they departed for John's mother's place about 20 minutes from here.

In 2006 we had 1318 mls of rain which is about 88% of the usual total rainfall for Caloundra (1574 mls). Our wettest day in 2006 was January 8th when we had 110 mls.

This is a 'panorama' photo I took when at the MCG while in Melbourne recently. It is actually 4 photos combined into one panorama shot. Click on the photo for a larger view.

Home To The Sunshine Coast For R&R

We flew in to the Sunshine Coast about 5 pm on Sunday, collected our bags and jumped in the car and back home about 6'ish.

Very tired we decided on Fish n Chips for tea, no more going out for a meal for a couple of weeks after our hectic 12 nights in Melbourne. The photo shows "The Palms" a spot we visited for a meal twice while down south.

Monday was definitely mow the lawns, do some washing and tidy up a bit.

Tuesday saw the beginning of the 5th Test from Sydney so the lounge room was about as far as I got. With plenty of cricket and tennis on TV, everything seems planned nicely for the next few days.

However John and Sue Logan are in town on Wednesday evening so I suspect there is more mischief to be had.

Weather is unseasonable cool with a mere 25 tipped for Wednesday!