Hi fellow Aussies

Happy new year to you all. I'm early too Pete but doubt I'll be able to post here in 2007 as I have been a naughty girl.

Hope to catch you all around the traps at some stage.

Take care and hope 2007 brings much rain , health and wealth to all.

O.K.
I am so happy to read your voice, glad you made it through the fires, hope we do here from you in '07 meanwhile, all the best. And off course a happy new year.

Pete

Hey Pete.

I hope I can still post too, just to catch up with my Aussie buddies....we'll see but I don't like my chances.

The fires aren't over for us yet, but we will no longer be facing the front only spot fires and embers as they have done a great job on the backburning and control lines.

Tammy

Chin up Girl, we are all in your corner.

Pete

Hi Pete and Tammy

You guys were up late, I would like to wish both of you and everyone else out
there a very Happy and Safe New Year.

Somehow I don't think I will see the New Year in, been very tired lately and keep on
going to sleep on the lounge, so even having a few drinks tonight will certainly see me
asleep on the lounge once again. We were going to go away to some friends place, but
I haven't been that totally well so I think the only place I will be going to today is to bed.

Keep safe everyone and have a few for me will you.

Jane

Good to see you back here O.Knox, I have been thinking of you and hoping all turned out okay.

Any other tennis fans amongst us Aussies?

It was fantastic to see both Alicia Molik and Mark Philippoussis win their games at the Hopman cup in Perth yesterday.

Sorry to hear you are not feeling too well Jane, hope it all picks up for you.

Well, it is 8am, time for my 5k morning walk.

Cheryl

Well there is about 3 hrs of the old year to go for us in Qld, I am currently watching the Eagles live on the ABC, 2004 Melbourne concert. The Child Bride and I have been to the club and had the mandatory couple of drinks with our friends. The band was so s***h**se that we left to relax at home. I doubt if we will see the new year in together, as my wife has started yawning already.

Because I never sleep, no doubt I will toast myself with a good Aussie red, and wish myself a happy new year, AND YOU ALL TOO>

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!

Pete

happy new year

You too Watsuuup,
ATM there's just me, a bottle of red, and a load of good cheeses.

Happy New Year.

Pete

I have to add that during the last year or so, I have made lots of aquantainces on this forum.
But, having said that, I have made one very special friend. Aussiefox (Cheryl) and I have shared some tough times.
Cheryl, I know that at some stage you will read this. 2007 is goign to be your year.

Having said this, I hope to make many more honest trustworthy friends in 2007, just like Cheryl.

Happy New Year to all my Aussie pals.

Still mid-afternoon on Hogmanay here and we have just had a massive downpour with thunder and lightning overhead just before a sunburst finish to the day - very unusual, and at 5 degrees it's far too mild.

Let's hope for a good 2007, everybody.

May you have a great hogmany, and may the yule logs burn bright and warm for you.

If I had a haggis, I would have a piece and a toast to you with a fine single malt.

Happy new year Cake.

Pete

HAPPY NEW YEAR


Well, it's 2007....hard to believe.

Daryl worked till late last night, the kids were in bed, so it was just me and the Brown Brothers

Thanks for the nice comments Pete, I do hope this is my year, just as I hope it is very good to you and Sally too.

And of course, I hope it is good to all us Aussies, and honorary Aussies

Cheryl

HAPPY NEW YEAR

to all my fellow aussies here & 2007 will be a great year for us all...

Hey nofreelunch
Happy 2007 to all earth and universe
I love Chariots Of Fire!!!

are u a member yet, i dont see u in our member's list

WOO HOO

Are we having some rain or what?

At 4pm an amazing storm started here. Within 15 minutes the ground was flooded, and the lightening and thunder was incredible!! LOL....heard a massive thump in the laundry, our poor dog was terrified, he had charged through the back door into the laundry right up against our kitchen door. Poor thing was cowering in the corner.

The power went off, and the TV's were down. And the local supermarket had to close due to flooding, though is re-opened now.

The good news is it is still raining over 5 hours later. Hopefully this is a good sign for 2007.

Opp. Knox hope the rain comes your way.

Must say it was nice to see a lot of the neighbours out collecting the running water from the gutters and filling buckets etc.

My kids were too busy playing in the water, to collect it. (It is still very warm and steamy.)

Congrats A.F. that is about the best new year gift you could get.

Pete

Stupid ABC aren't broadcasting the Aussie vs France match tonight, in the Hopman Cup....

Can you believe that????

Edited to add; OMG Mark has injured his knee and had to forfeit the game......so very sad.

Got some beautiful heavy consistent rain here all morning in Brisbane today.
Light showers over the next few days is predicted too.

Hope the dams got some.

I heard someone say that floods may be a prediction for this year....I wonder if it'll happen.

Lets vote Jonhny out then.

Yes I hope that some of dams got some water as well. We survive on tank water and we have
plenty at present, even though they are not full.

We are about 200kms north of Brisbane and we have just had another heavy down pour. We are
heading upto Bargara near Bundaberg for a few days at the weekend to celebrate our 17th
Wedding Anniversay, and no we checked our wedding license and it hasn't expired so we don't
have to renew it just yet.

My wonderful sister will do my surfing for me for a few days while we are gone. So I am hoping
the weather will at least be a little sunshine for some of it, as we will head off to the Bundaberg
Distillery where they make Bundy Rum, one of my hubby's favourite drinks. So he can have
a few for you out there, not for me can't handle the dark rum at all.

Anyway have a nice wet week for all the members out there who really do need the rain.

Jane

Hi all Aussies, (and invaders, dearth invaders).

We have had the most amazing Summer to date, in S.E. Queensland the temp has rarely got above 26 deg
with night time temps as low as 16deg.

This week we have had the kind of rain that we expect in spring, not summer. Global Warming, not here.
Despite all of this it is a real pleasure to enjoy a cool start to summer, no doubt as time marches on we will get our share of hot weather.

Pete

Nice that you have had a mild summer! Maybe the heat has now spread here in North because we on the other have had the mildest winter so far.

I have never in my life experienced a snowless Christmas until this past. There's still no snow and the daytemperatures rise as high as +5 degrees Celcius. We had a very dry summer but autumn and this part of winter has been very wet, so the yearly rain sum is usual.

According to long time statistics there should be an average of 25 centim. of snow in my area this time.

Oh, I read somewhere that they predict that Australia will be hit heaviest by Global warming. Hopefully you don't dry there... you dry and we drown.... isn't the world in balance then

It is very hard to figure nenu, parts of Australia actually had snow on Christmas day, this is unheard of.

At this time of the year we are normally sweltering here in the sub-tropics with temps between 30 and 40 C
and with humidity around 75-80%, night time temperatures are rarely lower than 23-24C.

It has been a pleasant experience for us so far, as many people dread the heat of mid summer.

Pete

I guess noone can really predict the consequences of global warming yet. There are two schools now and the others say that the green house effect would actually cool the global weather. Who knows, but really these kinds of abnormalities in our climate show that something really is happening.

BTW, has Australia signed on the Kyoto treaty? It's a shame that the most largest countries in the world haven't . Although I'm of the opinion that human acts are only a part of this all. Nature is also following it's own cycles of cooling and warming.

Raija

I have been relaxing on my patio watching the antics of 4 geckos ( a kind of house lizard) these little fellows about 10cm long, have a real pecking order. The contested territory is a light fixture that is attracting moths.
The geckos wait patiently without moving, until a moth lands within their range. Bang, they are into action with an incredible burst of speed.
Because they are nearly transparent, you can see the moth go down into their tummy. This might sound dull to you, but, I can watch them for hours.

Pete

Pete, we have them all around the house as well.

When I take a shower they all rush to the bathroom window because the sudden light attracts the moths like crazy and the competition starts.....I know what you mean by competitive!
They also don't care about size of their prey as well.....some of them try out anything that lands on the window, it's just crazy.

The Aussie Thread Gets

Na there just hoping to get a peek at a blue tongue.

Pete

Or is that a frill neck lizard?

I think I wouldn't feel very comfortable if we had that kind of creatures
creeping in our house

They are really lovely little creatures, and they keep the nasty ones away, like cockroaches, and spiders.

We consider them to be lucky, and they chirp like little birds.

Pete

Cockroaches we don't have and spiders I leave alone. I'm just wondering how the spiders get along on winter
when there are no ants or mosquitos or flies to eat. What might they be eating....

[img]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i9/gonsaigon/

In our winter, the same as in the summer, we live in insect heaven.

Pete

If that is the picture of that little creature, it really looks kind of neat. Not frightening at all.
Maybe could get used to having them inside the house....


or not

Mainly outside, inside they hide behind paintings and things, and you rarely see them, they are a bit like a chameleon, changing colours to suit their environment.

Pete

LOL, at my place if you get up in the middle of the night and turn the light on you can hear them scrurrying to get away.

Every now and then, I catch a few and put them outside. I feel they would be better of outside, more chance of getting something to eat.

But I too love them. Very entertaining.

Dorky

I love your new banner Gonsiagon. LOL

Break the drought.. coming soon.

Dorky

Dorky my friend patience is a virtue, all will be revealed in the fullness of time.

"When the rain is coming down, it's the talk of the town".

Pete

I am also in the grips of the worst drought in 15 years. But my philosophy is:

Each day this it doesn't rain, is a day closer to rain.

I am forever patient.

Dorky

Pete, my friend, I am not a patient person..........I want to know about your banner NOW

My holiday was fantastic, Lake Mulwala is one of the few lakes left with any water, thanks to the Murray.
Though the locals tell us if we don't get deluges of rain in April, they are going to drain it, to provide irrigation for the farmers..............So fingers crossed for rain - as always. Lake Mulwala is actually 22 metres deep in most places, that sure surprised me.

I'll upload a couple of photo's when I get around to it.

Nice to see you around and posting again Nenumphar

Cheryl

Glad to see you back again Cheryl, I knew that you would have a great time, you're right, the lake is a lovely place.

Pete

Hi Cheryl and welcome back! I've been already wondering where you dissapeared, glad you're still here!

It's funny how the rain is on everyone's lips nowadays. You, there, are praying for rain and we here are praying it wouldn't rain! I mean, we have been having so much rain the last autumn and also this winter, although it's difficult to call this winter because we still have no snow, which is unheard of at this time of the season. I have never in my life experienced these kind of weathers and never watched the new year turn in several plus degrees with no snow!

Although I'm not a big fan of snow it still makes one wonder what this climate change is going bring us. But I think the turn can't be so sudden, I'm sure we'll still see snow this winter and also frost.

Would also love to see your holiday pictures here!

Raija

Hopefully these pics aren't too big, but will only post a couple, just in case.
The first one is my two youngest children, being towed behind a speedboat. The ride lasted for over 15 minutes, and they had an absolute blast. My husband and I got to go in the speedboat, hence the pic.

The second one is where the Murray river becomes Lake Mulwala. I took this while on a Paddle boat cruise. ( I took over 400 photo's in our 9 days away...LOL )

Well, the kids sure seem to have a ride of their life! ... little dangerous, though...

And you don't seem to suffer from water shortage...

BTW, where was this destination, in Australia?

... wishing summer would be here soon

It looks more dangerous than it is Raiija, they both had on life jackets, and are both good swimmers, but apart from that the driver of the boat keeps a very close eye on the kids.

The Murray river divides NSW and Victoria, once you cross the Murray from Victoria you are in New South Wales. It is about the only lake that hasn't dried up in Victoria. The Murray gets its water from the Snowy Mountain range in winter, from the melting snow. That is my understanding, Pete may be a bit more knowledgable on that. It is a man made lake, and the level and amount of water is controlled by 'gates' . They let the water in and out depending on the need of the farmers. It was drained completely in 2002, and looks like it will be again in April, but it is the only source of water for the farmers, if there is no rain.
From memory, I think the Murray River system is the 7th largest in the world.

Just watched 'Sleepless in Seattle' again, for the umpteenth time,....I really love that movie.

nice pictures....
i think they had a great ride there

Glad you enjoyed your holiday, Cheryl.

Nice pics, the kids seem to be having a great time.

Take care

Cake



Hi Nenumphar

Still no snow in Finland? It's unbelievable.

Here in Scotland it's wet, windy and mild. The weather forecast for the weekend has snow in the hills and in North West Scotland - we'll wait and see because half the time they get it wrong.

Last week's long range forecast was meant to be wet every day.
But on Tuesday and Wednesday it was nice and sunny, I went for a walk and took some photos on both days.

Amazing. We have had a couple of hot days, normally by the end of October we are sweltering.

This year we have not had any hot weather until mid January, the subtropics usually have a daily maximum of around 29C from October until December, with ever increasing humidity (around 75%-90%).

Thisyear we are all still comfortable with days 5-6C below average. We all know that this too good to last, but, we will enjoy it while we can.

Pete

It is unbelievable, indeed! At the end of the week the southern part has got some snow but where I live (some 300 km north from Helsinki) there's no snow.

We have had a few mild frost days now and the sky has been quite clear. I LIKE THIS! It's beautiful now that the frost has fallen on the ground and in the evening when you go for a walk and the street lamps are on, it seems like you were walking on millions of tiny diamonds.




As I said earlier Pete, the heat from which you normally are suffering this time is now located here in Europe. Enjoy your mild winter (summer?) now while you can! I, too, don't believe that we could get by this winter without snow and frost. But I enjoy this as long as it lasts!


EDITED for the sake that it has began snowing