Lorne's floral emblem?

It's been a good year for agapanthus.   I guess there have always been a lot of them around Lorne, but this year they're very noticeable because they're all in flower:

Then I noticed these signs.   Seems agapanthus aren't popular with everyone!

A great view

It's a great view from Teddy's Lookout!

Qdos

One of our favourite places around Lorne is Qdos.  This is a gallery/cafe/B&B, set in a natural amphitheatre.   Over the years, we've bought lots of coffees here, and once attended a wedding reception, but we've not yet acquired any works of art.  

Traffic

There can be great traffic congestion on the approaches to Lorne during summer, especially from late morning until mid-afternoon.   It's always a mystery to me where all these people are going!    I know some are headed to the Falls Festival, but not many were taking the turn off towards the festival site. Nevertheless, there was a tailback for several kms on Tuesday.

[Edit - another image, showing some traffic management in place]

Just a couple of hundred metres away from all the traffic, things couldn't have been quieter at the lily pond.

Why these screens?

Each year when we return to Lorne, we notice a few changes. Often, these aren't great, although the roadworks over the last few years have changed things. This year, as we arrived, we noticed these new screens – why have these been erected, we wondered?

On closer inspection, we noticed that some of the old vegetation had been removed and new vegetation had been planted in the area.

 

And lo and behold, a sign on the screens! It seems that it may be difficult to apprehend those who illegally remove vegetation presumably to enhance their view, but steps can be taken to minimise the benefit that  might otherwise result from such actions.

Lorne

We've survived Christmas, including the rain and thunder during the late afternoon and evening.   We've even managed to pack up sufficiently to enable us to head  off to Lorne today for a short break. 

Christmas Greetings

Best wishes to all for Christmas!

"Hijacking" Christmas

Quoted in Cut & Paste in the Australian on Tuesday:   Rob Brooks in the SMH referring to "...the cynical attempts by Christians to hijack the whole fiesta for their own religious ends".
"Hijack"?     Come now, just who's done the hijacking here?

Trip Advisor usage

Over the past couple of years, I've posted a number of reviews of hotels (and some restaurants) on Trip Advisor.    TA recently sent me an email of encouragement, and in it they mentioned some readership figures - over 11,000 in total.   They also set out the countries in which readers were located.   The breakdown was as follows:

Your readers

41% of your readers are in United States 27% of your readers are in Australia

17% of your readers are in Israel 15% of your readers are in other countries

The property that attracted most readers (over 1000) was a hotel in Bangkok.  Presumably the longer that the review has been available to be read will mean that more people read it (although as a review ages, it moves further back on the site as later reviews are posted).  The Bangkok review was posted last June.  While this isn't recent, it's not a long time ago, either.  Perhaps surprisingly, the second most read was a review of the RACV Noosa resort (even though the review was only posted in August this year).   However, I haven't been to the USA since I've started posting on TA,  so none of the reviews relate to anything in the USA. 

Christmas stamps

I save the stamps we receive on letters, and pass them on to "Sammy Stamp" (who use the proceeds from their sale for worthy causes).    In the process, I've noticed that several of the Christmas cards we've received this year have stamps from previous years.    One had a 2009 stamp (with an additional 5 cents) - 

Several have a stamp from last year, including this one - 

And of course many have had one of this year's stamps.  There are several, but they include these -

 Clearly people save their unused stamps to use the following, which displays commendable organisational ability!

Is it worth trying to beat the fare increase?

Public transport fares are increasing on 1 January.    I generally use a Myki with "Myki money" on it but with this, you're charged at the fare at the time of travel.  So the increased fares will apply from 1 January.   However, I could beat the price rise by stockpiling Metcards.  This would involve buying a number of 10 x 2 hour cards at the current rate, and using them after the increase takes effect.  Of course there are practical limitations on this, the main one being, is it really worth investing a lot of money up-front and running the risk of mis-placing the Metcards?    Also, we're being told that at some stage next year they’ll be phased out (but I think you would have to have a big stockpile of cards before this was a practial issue).  Decision yet to be made........

Robert Friedland's view of the world

I have been an observer of Robert Friedland for a number of years, and was pleased to be invited to attend the recent lunch function conducted by the Melbourne Mining Club at which he spoke to a receptive audience of 500 or so.   Never backward in his views, his view on the current debt problem in Europe was - "The situation is hopeless but it's not serious".

His view is that Europe will be of diminishing significance in the global economy, and so the place to invest is in the emerging markets.    He stated that, "Europe is not important anyway; it's just Disneyland.  It's basically a place the Chinese will go to sample foie gras".

This is fine for him to say, given that much of his great wealth derives from his stake in Ivanhoe Mines, which is developing the massive Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold deposit in Mongolia (albeit with considerable input from Rio Tinto which owns in the vicinity of 49% of Ivanhoe Mines).

He regards the media (which he describes as the "merchants of chaos") as being obsessed with Europe.   Perhaps he does indeed have a point, but for many of us the issue is that our superannuation is tied up in investments that are affected by the gloom coming from Europe.  Unfortunately, we didn't turn everything into cash a few years back and retreat to Mars, thus giving us the opportunity to return to Earth in the present and to start investing all over again.
For what it's worth, Friedland is not so worried about the USA.  He reckons that, if necessary, the US will just "print money" to solve any problems that it may encounter.

Here are some images from the immense Oyu Tolgoi construction site (unfortunately, not taken by me).

Hawley House wetlands

As previously mentioned we stayed dor 2 nights at Hawley House while in Tasmania (see http://www.hawleyhouse.com.au/index.html)  .  Much could be written about this property, but of particular interest is the wetlands that have been created there.  On the website, it's stated that the gardens have been literally scraped from the bedrock, but they now include some impressive wetlands with associated vegetation (said to have a National Heritage classification).   Wandering through parts of this, with only the noisy croaking of frogs at all times of the day, you could imagine yourself to be miles from the rest of the world.   

Other parts of the gardens have a range of exotic plants from cool temperate through to sub-tropical plants.   There is also a 20 acre vineyards and a 350 acre wildlife reserve.

Within walking distance are large fairy penguin and muttonbird rookeries, although we didn't get to these.

Looking out to sea

Hawley Beach (not part of the wetlands, obviously!)

Tram stop

I passed by the new tram stop outside the State Library in Swanston Street (Swanston Walk?) recently.   The roadway is now open only to bikes, and has been elevated to act as a platform for passengers when boarding trams.     Bikes are supposed to obey the normal traffic rules and not ride past the tram when passengers are boarding.   Passengers are expected to remain at the kerb (behind the yellow line) until the tram arrives.  Emergency vehicles can use the tram tracks.

Rain Gardens

On 19 November, I commented on some innovative drainage arrangements in our area.   I'm indebted to Amy for the information that these are called "Rain Gardens".

I said in my previous post that I thought these were working quite well, and I thought that the images supported this.   However, in its wisdom, the Stonnington council apparently took a different view.  Perhaps they thought that the drains were prone to be blocked by the loose surface material.   Anyway, the two rain gardens near us have now been rebuilt!    Let's not ask how much ratepayer money was devoted to this project!   The images below are of the work in progress (over a period of a couple of days)  and the final (for now?) result.

 Final result (the reddish material is a layer of stones)

Foxes and rabbits

I was aware of the story that a fox had hitched a ride across Bass Strait on the ferry some years ago.   Whether or not this is true, there's now a brochure in Tasmania which we saw several times at tourist information offices about the issue.  The brochure sets out a number of reported sightings and other information suggesting the presence of foxes, albeit at present in very small numbers.  It asks that any further sightings be promptly reported.  The Tasmanians are worried that if foxes become established in Tasmania, they will have a devastating effect on the wildlife.  Thus, they appear to be taking this issue very seriously, for example see the website - http://www.dpiw.tas.gov.au/inter.nsf/ThemeNodes/LBUN-5K438G?open.    However, although we saw lots of "roadkill" in Tasmania, we're pretty sure that we didn't see any foxes.

No doubt it's unrelated to the (near) absence of foxes, but we were surprised by the number of rabbits in Tasmania, at least in the coastal areas.   In the beachfront reserves at both Hawley Beach and Devonport, they were readily visible in the middle of the day.  And at dusk, driving along the road next to the foreshore at Hawley Beach, we lost count of the number we saw.   We were told that little or nothing is done to control their numbers in these areas.   The complacency in this respect seems to be quite a contrast to the concern that exists about foxes.  Perhaps the view is that there's enough grass to go around?

The Don River Railway

I missed out on the Ida Bay Railway while in Tasmania so I was very pleased to notice that the the Don Rover Railway was operating on the day that we had some time in the Devonport area.   In fact, this railway operates daily.   It's run by the Van Diemen Light Railway Society and uses part of the trackbed of the former Melrose line which was a branch line on the Tasmanian rail system.  However, when the preservation group took over, the rails had been lifted so they had to completely rebuild the line.   It's not a long line, but it is a picturesque route on the banks of the Don River, from the very substantial workshops in the town of Don to the previous junction with the main rail system at Coles Beach.  The terminus at this point is alongside the main railway line, although there is no permanent physical connection.    

In addition to the workshops, the facilities include a railway station (formerly at Ulverstone), a signal box (from Launceston), a turntable and quite a number locomotives,  carriages and wagons.  The collection includes some magnificently restored carriages (perhaps this is related to the fact that the society has been the recipient over the years of a range of government grants).

On the day we were there, a rail car was operating, but apparently a restored steam locomotive operates on Sundays. 

 Restored carriage

 Inside the workshops

 Driver's view down the track

 At the Coles Beach terminus

Locomotives in the yard