Dear leoj,

That particular brother of mine lives in
Byron Bay. He has a magnificent house and
garden so I guess he's doing all right.
I keep getting photos from him of the
beautiful array of wildlife that frequent
his garden. My favourites are the family of owls
and the most unusual native birds to numerous
to mention here. I end up framing the photos.
He's a lovely bloke, and I'm very proud of him.

For those members of the out of touch brigade, and I see we have several on the forum. You know who you are, the ones that still hanker for those good old colonial days of A.B.'Banjo' Paterson and his 'Man From Snowy River'. May I suggest that an appropriate day of celebration for the so inclined, could be May 24th, how appropriate, not only is it Queen Victoria's Birthday, it is also Empire Day, cracker night for the crass, two events of major significance in Australia's history that unfortunately are now sadly neglected. After a full day of culturally sensitive activities, including tug boat dancing, ferry boat racing, and having disorientated citizens wandering through a mirror maze, such fun. The day could be capped off with a finale of incendiaries, including tuppenny bungers, Roman candles, Catherine wheels, and sky rockets. Oh! the joy, I can hardly wait!

Paterson has banjos , on the river
The Paterson Festival on New Year's Eve is an event to be enjoyed by the whole family. In beautiful Tucker Park, beside the Paterson River, experience an exciting evening of live music, fireworks and children's entertainment with banjos.

The Outback Hippies keep the kids on their feet with a program of music and dancing from 6pm to 9pm. There's also slippery slides, laughing clowns, body tattooing and a free playground for the kids. Plus free balloons and lollies and banjos.

The main fireworks at 9pm allow the youngsters a chance to see a fantastic display lasting eight minutes. The Outback Hippies entertain you till midnight with their great blend of of rock, blues, roots and country. And on the stroke of midnight, celebrate the start of the New Year with a dazzling five minute fireworks display and banjos.

Food and drinks are available to purchase. There are barbecue steak sandwiches, pizza, fish, calamari, chips, beef rolls, delicious sweet treats, ice cream, coffee and more. Or, you can bring your own picnic and banjo.

This is a wonderful family night not to be missed!

Hi NNN, Sounds wonderful and so uplifting, a couple of questions;
Exactly where is Patterson? I could not find it on the map. Is there an express bus service to the event from Oodnadatta? Not that I live in Oodnadatta, but I thought it is the type of culturally sensitive celebration the Oodnadattians (natives of Oodnadatta) would want to attend. Also, and a big also this is, the culinary delights on offer sound absolutely yum dilly umess, however I note with some angst that there are no 'Dagwood Dogs' included on the menu, surly an oversight on your part. I also googled the event, and note with some poverty, there is a $5 entry fee, $15 for rich people, surly that can not be true. Also I do not have a banjo, but my partner owns five ukulele's, she wont miss one. Could I bring that to the event and celebrate A.B. 'Ukulele' Patterson instead.

Patterson is surly not in Victoria , he's Australian. But your spelling of Oodnadattians would make Banjo the Zither swing his stockwhip round and give a cheer . And a few jumping jacks and double bungers.

NNN. I am fast realizing that outside of myself, you are the most sensible contributor to the forum, bar none!