Port Augusta – Page 2

The Port and the Arid Lands Gardens.

23/03/2018 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Talk about “Back to the Future” as once again I made the journey out to the Port for the same reasons as last week. I was supposed to head out on

Tuesday but late Monday afternoon I received a telephone call from the Doctor Surgery reminding me I had an appointment on Tuesday afternoon. I probably could have still gone to the Port and been back in time, but I decided to leave it until Wednesday. So, Wednesday morning I headed off to Port Augusta and the Bank. My business at the bank was completed a lot quicker that I had anticipated so I was able to spent some time at Big W, then The Office Shop before heading to the Arid Lands Botanic Garden. I bought three new native plants before heading off for a wander at the Lookout area. There are some really nice walking paths and they would be great to take Benji, but as I said, dogs are not allowed. Yes, I agree they could make a ruling that dogs have to be kept on a leash at all times but there will always be the drongo(s) that believe that rules don’t apply to them and put the native wildlife in danger. I have to say that the weather was lovely, but too warm to leave Benji in the car for any length of time. The Joy Baluch Bridge is the main crossing point of the Upper Spencer Gulf but there is another crossing a bit further up. This is Yorkeys Crossing and is supposed to be the route for heavy vehicles, which are reluctant to use it and instead use the main bridge. There was a pedestrian bridge but due to structural damage

this was closed, so pedestrians are forced to use a narrow pathway on the main bridge. The Federal MP has highlighted this and shown how close the trucks come to people using the narrow walkway, but nothing was ever done. The reason drivers are reluctant to use Yorkeys Crossing is that it is a long detour and the road between the crossing and the main highway, is an unsealed, dirt road on either side, so for big vehicles it can present problems. It also puts added pressure on the main bridge, which, because it is now used by pedestrians, the speed limit is 40KPH over the bridge. The Port Augusta Council have been asking for the State Government to seal the road, and repair the pedestrian crossing, but the previous state government was more concerned with extending a motorway in Adelaide to get people home by cutting four minutes off the traveling time. We really hope the new government can do something about the problems around the state outside of Adelaide.

I spent much of the morning walking the trail towards Yorkeys Crossing and up to the top of the escarpment. I find the view quite pleasant with

Looking back towards the Shop and other buildings

the Flinders Ranges in the distance. Looking back towards the Gardens and the Shop area is quite interesting. Way beyond the hills in the distance is part of the way home. and between where I am standing and where I am going there is nothing – no houses nor people – mind you, there’s no water either. Coming back down from the escarpment to the carpark I had a chat with some visitors from Germany. Driving back to the main road I stopped and pulled off road as best as I could so that I could get out and photograph a family of emu. In the early paragraph of this post I mentioned the problems with allowing dogs in the area – even on leash – because some people would believe the rules don’t apply to them – this was brought home to me as I was photographing the Emu. For obvious reasons, the speed limit in and around the area is 40KPH with restrictions that the wildlife has right of way. As I was parked a white sedan came from the opposite direction and passed me at about 60+, despite the fact that there were Emu in the area – rules didn’t apply to him.

Anyway, I have decided that I need a new camera. My Nikon is getting old and is really overdue for replacement. Think I might have to talk nicely to “She who must be Obeyed”.

Part of a family of Emu at the Arid Lands B.G.

Cool Benji washing the Lighthouse !!

01/09/2017 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Been a

good week – really. Annabell is hosting the ladies coffee on a Tuesday evening and the ladies coffee morning on the Wednesday morning. That said, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this month, are tied up: Monday and Tuesday I help her clean, polish and set things up – Wednesday afternoon I help her put things away. This week – of course – is her last week. I think I have mentioned this before that they each pay a small fee, some of which is used for tea, coffee and so forth, but the bulk of it – other than a couple of dollars, (to keep the account open) goes to charity and last year they gave three thousand dollars – a thousand of which went, via me, to the RFDS. The other two thousand went to two other support groups.

Now, I wanted some more native plants so I decided that on Thursday I would take a run through to the Arid Lands Botanic Garden (ALBG) and take Benji with me. I expect you have heard the saying, “The best laid plans of mice and men gang aft agley (often go astray)” and that’s what happened here. Decided to help Annabell with the washing before I left. Got the washing in the machine, it filled up with water – then died. It’s been acting strange for a while now ; we decided there and then to get rid of it and buy a new machine. So we went out to look for a new machine, but she has this thing about front loaders because she can’t reach down into a top loading machine to get the washing out at the bottom. Anyway, bought the machine, they delivered and installed it and took away the old machine that same afternoon, and by the time they did that, it was much to late to go to the ALBG. Might try again for this coming Thursday :o)

Today (Sunday) was a bit cool. Sun was shining and it looked nice outside. The reality is that you can’t see the wind, but we took a drive out to the

lighthouse (30 klm away) and had a wander around – back to town and then a trip to the beach before driving home. Benji loves being in the car but he is not a “stick your head out of the window” dog and he is happy to curl up on the front seat. I have never been able to take a photograph of Benji sitting at the lighthouse. He will sit down no

bother, but as soon as I move away, he follows. I tell him to “stay” but he wont. However, not knowing his background before I adopted him, perhaps there is some abandonment issues there somewhere. He is much the same in the house – I move, he follows and if I really have to leave him and go out, I get a look that haunts me right up until I get home again. However, to be fair I do take him with me most times and he so loves going out in the car.

Friday sees the Official First Day of Spring. The weather over the last few days has been fairly good, so if this keeps up and I get away, it should be a nice day for me and my Associate to drive to the ALBG and Better Homes and Gardens. If I do get to go over to the ALBG I will see how close I can get to the main buildings and decide if I can leave the man in the car or if it’s too warm to do so even with the windows open.

This weekend – or at least part of it – will be a busy time for the RFDS. On Friday we will be involved in the “Meet and Greet” Barbecue for the new owner of Arrium and on Saturday we have a Barbecue at Stratco Hardware Store. I’ve had “fun” this week organising teams for both functions – a double team for Friday since this is expected to be big and busy, and the usual four team for Stratco on the Saturday. Since the AGM in June and the handing over of our cheque for $37,000 to Central Operations, we have been fairly busy and have accumulated a healthy balance.

Swans, Beach and a Day Trip

08/04/2017 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

There are now four pairs of Black Swans at the Wetlands

Up until fairly recently there were areas that were a sort of sanctuary – Benji went there and the WaWa stayed clear. One of these areas was my bed. Benji curled himself up at the back of my legs and slept there. However, over the last week or so the WaWa has become my BFF and she now— gasp— sleeps with me. Thus my bed is no longer a Benji Sanctuary and if he goes up on the bed she stands and barks at him. Oddly enough, she is quite calm sleeping close to him at night – although she is closer to me. She still walks quietly beside him when we go out walking in the morning and at night. I know it’s old hat but still no word about if or when Sooah is coming back and this Friday it will be a year since she left Kongsoon (WaWa) with us. It could be months or it could be another year, or never, we just don’t know. However the WaWa is settling down and we can do a lot with her and the coffee ladies have sort of adopted her and when I

kept her in my room, they asked for her, so I let her out and they were happy with her running around them and letting them pet her . Everyone has noticed the difference in her this last while back.

For a while there was only one pair of black swans at the wetlands. Now there are four pair and we really do hope that we will get to see some little black swans in the not to distant future. Today at the beach much of the seagrass is back but there was more than enough clear sand to be able to play in and we even got to go into the water for a bit, although Benji is not keen and I had to coax him. Next time we go down with the intention of going into the water, I’ll take some treats with me and see what we can do. Other than that it was a great afternoon and the dogs enjoyed playing and chasing in the sand.

Due to lack of aged accommodation here one of the ladies from our church has been moved to Quorn – about 80 miles ( 130 klms) away. One of her friends wanted to go and see her before she went home to Adelaide tomorrow, so I decided to take her. Lovely day, good drive and a fun-filled conversation.It’s not something I can do every few days or even every week, but I will encourage people to visit her as often as we can so that she does not get depressed by feeling isolated, particularly as she has no family here in Australia. The drive from Stirling North to Quorn is not the easiest of drives for us “Townies” with the long winding country road through the Pichi Richi Pass, and the lower Flinders Ranges, but it’s not too bad – bit tight in places, but not too bad. The lady we went to see was bright and cheerful and seems to have settled in fairly well. She has a room at the Quorn Country Hospital and she says she is well looked after and the staff are friendly and very nice. It is a typical, single level, country hospital. It was a good visit and the only tears were when it was time for us to leave and make our way back home. When a bed is available here she will be moved back – but she understands that this could take a while. We did a bit of shopping in Port Augusta before heading back home.

Adelaide and Forever Easy

02/12/2016 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

As expected the weather has been cold, wet and windy and to add insult to injury, the area in front of the house is about to be dug up as the Fed. Govt. workpeople lay in the National Broadband Network (NBN) cables. They are not quite up to my section yet, but they are about seventy meters away – our section is next, probably in the next few days. I am concerned in that there are many people I know who have been discussing the NBN and how slow it is and yet it is being touted as being able to deliver Internet connections, better and faster. Most of the people who are complaining I know and will probably see some of them in the next day or so. I think you actually have to apply to join the NBN and if it is as they say, I shall delay that for as long as possible.

Tomorrow I start working on another problem – that of finding a new Vet. Not that I need one and could probably put the issue off for some time, but I think I should do this now – when I don’t need a vet. The problem is that Mustafa – our vet for many years – has gone back to Turkey for an indefinite period. His mother is very ill and he has gone to his family home to be with her and at the moment there is no indication when he will be back. I have heard good things about the Vet at the ABC Village, so I will probably go and see her and ask if she would accept Benji as a patient. As I said I don’t need a vet right at the moment but it’s good to know that there is one around that you can call on if needs be.

Yesterday the boy and I drove to Port Augusta. It was a warmish day (33c) but I kept the A/C on most of the time so it was a pleasant enough drive. I got some of the things I was looking for at Better Homes, but I still need a trip to Bunnings to get the rest of what I need for the back garden. On the way back up to the main highway we stopped off at a park and I took Benji for a walk to stretch his legs for a bit and this time I did remember to bring a water bowl with me.

Amazing – truly amazing! Yesterday – as I said – the boy and I drove to Port Augusta and back – it was warmish to hot and we drove with the A/C on. Today, it’s chucking it down and the temperature is about 19c and this is the last day of Spring and whilst it is now in the records as the wettest spring ever, perhaps it’s giving this last rain storm – just to make sure. The interesting thing is that the long range weather forecasters have consulted, whatever it is they consult, and suggested that we are going to have a long, hot summer and that a hot summer means hot north winds off the desert – increased levels of Hay Fever. Not fun in the sun.. And talking about illness, I discovered something new – well new to me anyway. There is this thing called Thunderstorm Asthma, which I had never heard of until a few days ago. Apparently it is caused by the pollen absorbing moisture, which then breaks up into smaller fragments and dispersed by the wind. The smaller fragments can reach the lower areas of the lung and cause terrible consequences. From what I was reading there have been 8 deaths in Victoria ( Melbourne area) in the last few months. Bit scary.

Yesterday (Thursday) I was in Adelaide and arrived home at midnight last night. I did not drive down as I normally would but went down by coach. I decided to have a quick check of my on-line mail before my taxi arrived. To say I was in shock is an understatement – Easy Gone!. How, why what… My taxi arrived to take me to the Bus Terminal and all the way down to Adelaide on the coach I thought of little else. The last thing Easy asked was for us to make a short travel post for his unwell cat friend and I was thinking about that and how I could sent the cat to Mount Gambier and the Blue Lake and I will do that. I think we are all still in shock with the suddenness of events and I am so very, very sorry. I wish there was something I could do. Our thoughts and prayers are with Easy’s family and when I came home last night, I gave Benji an extra hug.

Benji and Walking and WaWa Panic

02/11/2016 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Part of Ada Ryan Gardens on Monday Afternoon

Tuesday am: Got up, dressed and out with the Benji at 6am this morning. We have not gone back to the old route and are in the process of planning a new one. The reason I didn’t do this before was simply that with the old route I had become a slave to the fitbit and was more concerned with steps than enjoying a walk with my dog. I am not going to let that happen again – so a new start and a new route and an acceptance that the 10 klms a day was forced and sometimes I was taking the dog out at 10:30 at night because I needed to make up distance and I knew where to go and what part of the route to take that would allow me the steps needed to achieve the goal. A thoughtful gift from my younger son had a sting in the tail. But the thing is that there are not so many different places to go walking here and generally if I am not going to the beach, wetlands or the gardens I go walking in the dark around the area. The dark because it’s quiet and because there are no flies. I hate flies and living in outback South Australia is not much of a help in that regard :o) With all this rain and flooding I think it’s going to be a bad season. The only recent change was the drive out to the Wild Dog Hill Conservation Park. Not something I want to do on a regular basis because the track is so appallingly bad in places.

I had to smile!! A lady from Chattanooga – on another site- was complaining about a high electricity bill. It was $300. There are people here in South Australia who dream of a $300 electricity bill – almost salivate really! The highest electricity costs in Australia and among the highest in the developed world. Some of the largest companies in the State considered closing down for a while to try and combat the soaring electricity costs in South Australia. Only last week one of the Electricity Providers wanted to increase costs and the application was turned down by the regulator. The provider is now appealing against the regulator’s decision.

There are, as far as we are aware, three interests in Arrium – one from Japan, one from Korea and and a British company and as far as we can make out, the British company is the front runner. The Administrator is hoping that the company will have a new owner by Christmas. My one concern – and the concern of many – is that the unions don’t screw things up by doing

something silly. For this to succeed we need everyone working together. I don’t know if it’s just me ( probably is) but I get the impression that we are being sidelined. In the past when the media wanted a quote from a Mayor in the region it was to Mayor Jim Pollock they came for a comment. These days they look to the Mayor of Port Augusta for a comment. I stated in a post some time ago that I didn’t want the current Mayor to be elected. I felt we needed a strong, independent voice, not a party hack who will fall into line with whatever North Terrace decrees. Jim Pollock looked like a Mayor and inspired confidence – this one does neither. The sideline is subtle, but I think it’s there.

Amazing how quickly things change. In the news last night the British Steel Company was the “Front Runner” for buying Arrium, now, today less than 24 hours later the South Korean Steel Company is being “courted” and an Arrium Delegation is in South Korea.

Had a serious panic this morning. I was working on the front door installing a new security door and left to go fetch another tool. And yes, I did leave the door open. A short while later I happened to notice that there was no WaWa. I searched the house for her and could not find her. I searched all around the grounds – nope. Locked up and went wandering around the area looking for the lost WaWa. Came back to get the car and go further. Decided to search the house again – nothing in my room – nothing in the other rooms – went into Annabell’s room – nothing…….wait, was that a movement?? Lifted the cover and there halfway under the bed was the WaWa. You have no idea how relieved I was to see her. I complain about her but I never want any harm to come to her. I was just so glad she was safe and well – little pipsqueak bully that she is!!

Rain,Wind and Lazy Days.

21/10/2016 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Last Friday I drove down to Adelaide in lovely weather. It was an excellent day for a drive and I enjoyed the journey. Well I did until I reached the crossroads of the State ( The Tin Man) and discovered that I had left my laptop bag at home – so an exciting two days ahead – no laptop, no modem and – more importantly – no diary. That’s the first time I have ever done that. I completed the task I had to do at Elizabeth, then continued on to Adelaide and met up with a young friend who is currently continuing her studies at Adelaide . We spent a few hours drinking coffee and catching up with each other’s news. I walked her back to the railway station then caught the tram to the Central Market. My son had asked me to look at some computer things for him and the computer store was halfway down Franklin Street. The walk to this store was something I had done many times before, but on this occasion it was a nightmare and I was in pain not long after I got off the tram. When I finally got to the computer place it was to find that the store was closed down and empty – which – to say the very least – was a tad annoying! Anyway, got back to Rundle Mall, rescued the car from the Car Park and drove to the hotel. Once I unloaded the car I was in no mood for anything other than getting my feet up. I did buy a small notebook so I was able to keep a note of things for my diary. I spent most of the evening propped up on the hotel bed with a good book.

The Saturday meeting didn’t last long since there was only one item on the agenda – what used to be called an “in hunc effectum” meeting before the use of outdated Latin phrases was discontinued about four years ago. Anyway, by 11:30 I was on the road home and called Annabell to let her know I was in Port Wakefield. The drive home was something else. Given the poor state of the highway, depressions, potholes, poorly repaired sections and a high wind into the bargain, it was not the relaxing drive it was the previous day. The Port Wakefield Road is part of Inter-State National Highway 1 and I believe the responsibility of the Federal Government. I arrived in Port Augusta tired. I did some shopping there, had coffee and fuel and headed out to the last 80 klms.

Since coming home the weather has been wild and windy and to round off a bad weather week, it has been raining heavily all night. There was an interesting report on the news the other night about the consequences of all this rain – things are growing like wildfire – I know that by the continual battle against the weeds that we are all having – but already the pollen count has been very high and starting to foreshadow what could be the worst hay fever season on record. I spend a small fortune on weed killer and by and large the weeds laugh at it, have a ball and invite their friends to the party.

It now be official! I went to my diet people this morning and was weighed at 82.7 kilo.Not good but a lot better that I had expected and a loss since I was last weighed a few weeks ago. I not only want to get back to where I was before the operation but to push further to about 77 kilo. I shall be happy then. Anyway this bad weather has not been “all bad”and not going out at night means that my Associate (Benji) and I had a few lazy evenings plonked on the bed, propped up watching season 6 of Downton Abbey. I had a look and season 10 of Lewis is not out on DVD yet. I have all the others.

Stormy Weather Continues.

01/10/2016 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Friday 30^th September

Yesterday was an odd day in that I was able to post things and get most of the mail through. Today it is a different story. Today there is no mail, no internet and no telephone. I think the clean-up has started today in some areas. We still have 22 major electricity pylons down so that being so I suppose that we should be considered fortunate that we have power for lighting and heating. The Broadband network and the mobile (Cell) phone network are both down. At the moment I am using MS Word and will transfer this to WordPress when the system becomes available again.

The storm may have eased in this area but it still continues in Adelaide and the South East . We have TV and I just saw on the news that a man believed that warnings didn’t apply to him and he tried to drive through flood waters – and yes, he had to be rescued . I think the amazing thing about all of this is the fact there has been no serious injuries or loss of life.

Port Pirie was saved in that the wind eased and the town was saved from flooding although just down the road in Port Broughton, they were not so fortunate and there was a lot of flooding in that little township. I also hear that the Barossa and the Clare areas are flooded. There is serious flooding in many parts of Adelaide – houses and properties inundated.

Optus went down on Wednesday and has still not come back on again. Telstra is on and off and on again, then off. I just wish they would make up their minds. At the moment, it’s off again so no internet and no telephone calls, either mobile (cell) or landline.

All afternoon the clouds have been dark and it has gotten progressively colder as the afternoon wore on. It’s just coming up to 5pm and it has now been raining for the best part of half an hour. It just refuses to give up. Even as little 20-25 mm will be enough, given all that has gone before, to send many small rivers and creeks into flood. There is concern about the flooding of the Port Wakefield river. Normally this is a creek that has very little water in it, but given this volume of rain it can quickly become fairly aggressive as it gathers water from the surrounding catchment areas. If this happens it can flood quite quickly and cut off the main highway at one end of the town. (It’s happened!!)

In Port Augusta there was a fair amount of structural and environmental damage and the Joy Baluch Bridge – the main bridge across the Gulf was closed because of its height and the danger of the high winds. There is another crossing further up the gulf but it is a serious detour to Yorkeys Crossing and round the top of the gulf and back to the main highway.

At the bottom of the Eyre Peninsula, the city of Port Lincoln is still without electricity – or any power. Most of the food has gone and there are now concerns about potable water and there is also concern regarding the sewage systems. A modern Australian city and food relief packages are being flown in – like a third world country in crisis – bread, some package food, baby formula, milk, water etc.

The Smelter at Port Pirie took a hit and will be out of action for repairs for about two weeks. Arrium also took a hit and was forced to close down, at a cost of about six million a day. Andrew, my son, was called out to the mines at Middleback and he and a team were working frantically to avert a mining “catastrophe” (his words) – although what that was I have no idea – he did not

elaborate.

The clean-up and restoration will take weeks, if not months and there will be the usual “Blame Game” My own view is I don’t care about the politicians and their point scoring off each other, but I believe there should be an investigation into why these pylons came down as they did. Trees in the area were unaffected yet these steel pylons, 22 of them, were bent in half as if they were child’s toys and not major carriers of high voltage electrical power lines. I would also like to know, whether it’s good or bad, who supplied the steel for these things. But I think that might be something that we never get to know, but a state-wide failure that put 1.7 million people in darkness is something we should get to know.

Latest: As of 7am this morning the main highway north at Port Wakefield has been closed due to the flooding of the Wakefield River. There are major diversions in place through Two Wells and Virginia for cars, buses and light trucks. Heavy trucks are stuck.

All Change!!

19/03/201219/03/2012 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

As it happens I will not be going to Adelaide after all. The business that needs to be done is no longer important enough to warrant a 500 mile round trip to Adelaide so it’s been cancelled. I was going to go down with him but there you are. Now I’ll have to stay and work if I get the call. Pity, really – I was quite looking forward to the day in the city. If there is no progress at the Hardware shop here by Wednesday I will call Port Augusta and check if they have the treated pine logs in stock. If they do I will take the trailer through on Friday and load it up. This will give me the weekend to get started. I’m really quite looking forward to seeing it finished, although I realise that this could take a little while. I tend to become impatient at times and I should learn to take things easy a little bit more. I have started to become frustrated with the cement block at the other area I am working on. I bash and smash but it never seems to get any smaller. I think the previous owner much have hired a whole freaking cement truck!! I thought gardens were supposed to be places of relaxation – how wrong was I !?!

I took the dogs out for a walk after I got changed yesterday. It was a bit warmer than I thought and I should have taken the bag with the water bottle and bowl with me. As it was the little man ( who is 10 years old – 70??) became a little bit tired so I ended up lifting him up and giving him a carry for a bit. He was quite content to be in my arm for a little while. I put him back down about five minutes from the house and he managed the rest of the way. I must remember to take the bag in future.

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