examinator - please excuse me for highjacking your thread for one minute, but I just want to make a quick comment to CJ and Ludwig now that I've found them on the same thread together. It relates to a thread which I missed at the time and which has now been archived.

CJ and Ludwig

Great little interchange on 'Ten Thousand Boat People!', you two.

I usually give up on Ludwig after a few posts on such threads, but I must say, CJ, your tenacity has inspired me to hang on in there next time too. Your calm and consistent rebuttals were a delight to read. Sorry, Ludwig, but I thought you were soundly thrashed and more than a little rattled in parts.

And of course you know I'm such a neutral observer in these debates! :)

Sorry again, examinator! I know CJ and Ludwig will have the good sense to ignore my comments and not derail your happy thread.

But I just had to have my say on that one! :)

Bronwyn,
Go stand in the naughty corner...now!

Have you thought of taking your doona down to the bottle shop and setting up in their walk in fridge for a while? Wooly nightie, fluffy slippers,doona a hot chocky drink. The looks on the tradies coming in for their supplies would be priceless.

;-) he he he

Thanks Foxy

My turn to daydream……

.
Atop a rocky headland on Magnetic Island

Through the leafless limbs of a kapok tree

Adorned with spectacular large yellow flowers

I see a tropical city on the Coral Sea

.
In the other direction spinifex and hoop pine

Haphazardly grow on boulder scree

An odd mix of fire-promoting and fire-sensitive plants

Of desert grass and rainforest tree

.
Below on the beach of Rocky Bay

I see people wandering naked and free

Just enjoying the winter sun

Not concerned about who might see

.
.
Ahh yes, what a wonderful part of the world I live in

http://members.iinet.net.au/~mtattersall/TownsvilleArtsRegion/Tsv_Images/TownsvilleLocMap.jpg

http://home.st.net.au/~dunn/townsville.gif

http://www.cairnsunlimited.com/images/w_townsville.jpg

http://briandesousa.com/bicycling/touring/images/aust/MagneticIsland_B1.jpg

http://www.australiantraveller.com/images/galleries/3173/065-picnic-bay.jpg

http://www.simbravo.com/blog/uploaded_images/IMG_0827_resize-752066.JPG

What a great thread this has turned out to be!

So many different images from everyone - reminding me of what
a great country we live in - whose beauty can be
felt by all the senses.

The Australian landscape has often been described as
lacking in spectacle - yet I don't agree the "sameness,"
that people often describe arises from the sheer size of
the various geographical environments - the country is
in fact extremely varied and has numerous areas of
spectacular beauty - as illustrated just by our few posts.

I was born and raised on the Atherton Tablelnad,that fertile little microclimate west of Cairns where on any given day, you can wake up sweating without having a stitch of clothing on, or use a doona all year round,up near Tumoulin.

There are some bloody good drinkers in the Northern Territory,and some serious competition for them in Cairns and its hinterland. Its spring all year round up there,and its the role of brown air conditioner fluid to make it bearable. The non drinkers go for dope,and the Statue of Captain Cook with his hand leld out,on the main road in from the airport, shows how high the marihuana grows in Cairns.

Yesterday in Romsey Victoria there was snow,down to about 1500 feet. I have no doubt you could have run around in a set of boxer shorts in Cairns, or Townsville. The coldest night I have ever spent in my life was in Townsville.It was a night in Late May and a cold snap ,had taken a detour from Antarctica through central Australia,and sleeping in a cold steel truck cabin with only two blanketts, daylight could not come soon enough. Driving I could not drink to ease the pain either.The earliest frost I ever saw in Atherton was the fourth of May and the latest the 23rd September. Similarly one year we had ten days with nine below zero frosts.

They say that drinking slows down the onset of dementia, so an early spring in the tropics should serve them well. Ah! six dollar jugs never got a chance to get hot.

Ah yes Xammy, a dollarbird! I didn’t make the connection between ‘clicking’ and the harsh distinctive cackles that this bird utters. But now I can see it.