Looks like all the children will be removed from Nauru. That has to be good news, even if they should never have been there in the first place.

That is good news but when I started the thread I was sort of hoping we could have a non-political forum.

What's not to like about some classic Lopez

https://www.instagram.com/p/BphiZJbnC5B/

Have a great weekend of waves everybody.

My young bloke turned 18yrs old today.

Stoked we've got him his this far, relatively unscathed!

Congrats Rabs, it's a big milestone. I've got three boys coming up and I shudder at the thought of what could happen and how we're gonna guide them through it.

Good news!....................................................................................................................................................................................................pot is still only $220 an oz in SA.

@Stu, Cheers. A combination of unconditional love & pure luck I reckon! Good luck with three ;-)

Sorry Guy, strictly non-political from here on in. The best recent news for me! I have retired and consequently expect to triple my hours in the water.

So much for keeping it non political....

Anyway great link GS.

I reckon Jerry Lopez is the Jimi Hendrix of Surfing.

And its always a good day for some Deep Purple

https://youtu.be/ikGyZh0VbPQ

Lots of good news there, we are a diverse lot.

Heard about Tom yesterday. Tom is 95 years young, lives in his own home without any help, still drives and lifts weights 3 times a week at the local gym. I'd like to wager Tom puts it down to clean living!

Up early for a dawnie.

Ah goofyfoot, there's nothing more rewarding than young'uns around your table. That is good news and means you get to design a whole bunch of new boards for them too...Better extend the garage rack. My grandkids are very small and Ive already got their little quiver started.

Excellent news GF. You'll cop heaps of life advice between now and then so I'll spare the effort, but suffice to say you've got a big, exciting year coming up.

Great surf with old mate this morning. We were grommies together back in the singlefin days. Its fantastic the mates we all make and keep because of this crazy beautiful thing called surfing.

You young dads are living the best years of your life, its just the best.

Great stuff Goofy! All the best with it mate.

GuySmiley, brilliant forum topic by the way. Cheers! Nothing quite like spreading good news....

That’s great news GF! Sleeping is overrated anyway haha.
More good news: our sport isn’t even a sport, it’s a dance with nature, that looks cool as f%#k to outsiders because, well, it is cool as f%#k! Best club by far to be in. Lucky us

Well done goofy that's epic, it is such a good journey! Congrats to BB for increased time in the water!

A tinge of sadness, satisfaction and elation here as the youngest completes Yr12 and exams, it's been a massive year for rites of passage, and his growing very much into his own independent man. Great opportunites offered to him too and it's all good character and hard working ethos that have permitted it. The last few years have been the best of my life, really the last decade of both wonderful young people growing up. Heaps of funny stuff, the constant return to nature for them, the new boundaries they push themselves. Best ever!

Being surrounded and loved and watched over, and healing. Working hard and going to sleep tired but happy. It's been an epic week.

Happiness today as I could help develop others in their interest. The bit I like the most is seeing the progression, the achievements. That I am alive and incarnated to do this, so good!

Oh yeah, and a new board! Such a special board! Cannot wait to surf & treasure it.

So a question to you more experienced surfers: how does it all change when children go their way into the world? More surfing for you? Was there still time to surf together? Did surf trips get better/bigger with them?

Goofy, that's great news. Congratulations!

Stu, happy to hear of Murakami. Will visit the wonderful Unity Books on Monday.

Jealous of your Springy surf. Still in a fricken 4/3 and booties (and a hood on windy days),...

...but yesterday was sunny and warm and I surfed two of my favourite reefs with not a soul around. 2ft super fast beachie this morning; excellent bank, and again no one around.

Summer is coming - even to Wellington. Surely. Maybe :-)

Only two weeks left of my horrible antibiotics. Beer soon, yay!

When the grom tipped over to the next level, with a driver's licence it was on.......Had to go and explore all "those spots" that we used to look at with the slide projector! With the comical jab do reckon you can remember how to get there dad? ha ha ha We've done heaps of those old trips now, with him at the wheel and his mates in tow. You've got all that to look forward to, its epic. Our new phase is doing the old trips down south NSW with only single fins, been great for the young blokes going off.

The first thing to say is no matter how old and independent they are or where in the world they travel or live you never stop being a parent. There is no magical time when that parental care and desire for everything good for your kids switches off. My two kids loved their boogie boards and went from them into competitive swimming into their late teenage years. That, along our encouragement, gave them very high levels of self discipline and confidence. Apart from the beach we also hiked with them for weeks at a time here in Australia most years. While neither really surf both love the beach/outdoors and have travelled and hiked extensively and for long periods through Central and South America, Asia, Europe and the UK. My son has also trekked mostly by himself in New Zealand, the Andes, Nepal (twice) and Switzerland and dived throughout the Caribbean and the Galapagos. Both have "filled" all the pages in their passports .... they now help us plan our overseas trips.

Shit...'sposed to be apolitical in this thread so take the above on the other level.

Edited Post: having my rant elsewhere, apologies for being negative in a positive thread.

I did buy a little boat this week, so hope to get back out and do some fishing.

@Island Boy.The stuff about avoiding alcohol on antibiotics is a load of bullshit. When antibiotics were first widely used after WW2 they were mostly prescribed for syphilis. The medicos decided that people were less likely have sex and become re-infected if they weren't drinking, hence the warning about not drinking while on antibiotics. For some reason this furphy has continued to this day. My GP concurs. Drink beer now my friend. I think this qualifies as good news.

Nice work veloocityjohnno. You sound like a proud man. What a grand feeling been proud is.
I am only half way through with my family, but i cant wait to see them continue and evolve into the wonderful humans they are becoming.

Thank you all for the replies! P'tai, that sounds totally epic, I cannot wait. They have already organised their own trip DS after it is over, he is super keen to see the ocean there (I've mentioned it can be super heavy duty) - it's all them in their space. Stu's mention that his kids' BMX tracks were their space without the adult world being there was a good reminder to have. It will be nice as the travel and surf swings back. We did Single Fin Days a bit too, he would ride this priceless classic board and be saying "Dad its terrible!" haha! They have their moments, he flows well on a wave.
I remember reading of one family with adult children that all saved up their wages over the year and did a month in BC snowboarding every Christmas - that seems like an nice reunion.
Cheers GS, well done on what you provided your children with. I'm in awe to hear how it progresses. Swimming has been a great thing here too. I'll take that on board too, that you never stop being a parent. There was a time when I thought I would die any day, and remembering that I need to be here for others steeled me to keep going. The hiking sounds great, I might put out feelers for a couple of bigger trips in the next year.
& cheers Brainiac - you are in the best part, it truly is magic. Keep throwing seaweed at them!

some really good news.... the drug war is over in canada.

the quality, variety and low prices are astounding.
the eadibles are the best — measured, reliable dosage for the smoothest ride (cost $2.50).

It’s been a fantastic five months. Going to be hard to head home next week and back to average weed, no choice and sniffer dogs.

Thanks for the nice words everyone, it’s exciting that’s for sure.

Some fantastic other posts here too, great stuff. Hope everyone’s getting tubed

Gary would also like to congratulate Goofy on his impending arrival.

Gary is in the midst of a great holiday with his progeny. They're not old enough to surf yet, and the water around Gary's private parts of Victoria is still a bit cold for them to swim, but they've loved watching Gary catch a few waves on this tour and will be having a go when they get old enough. It's a damn good time, and it's been a holiday with plenty of surf.

VJ it's strange at 1st, our youngest (19) left 2 months ago and at 1st it was very weird just the 2 of us around, but that changes real quick and now it's minimal washing and cooking, more time in the water and we can do what we like...… good news
The other good news is when we catch up it's great, and we all relate now on an adult level which I find easier, but my wife still misses them at home as mothers do.
Last year I had a great surf trip with the eldest lad that believe me made up for the late teen years crisis and we now connect on a mate level now that is worth all the hassles.
Good news

Agree.

Nice work , Goofy. Congrats to you and your lady. May she be the best little right foot forward grommette to ever regulate the MP.

great news Goofy, from a fellow goofy. Blowin both my kids turned out natural footers.

Congrats GF! Not quite at that stage yet, gotta find a decent girlfriend first :p

Good news is that I’m just boarding the plane home from Vicco and there’s a cafe/bar at the gate with long necks. My body is a wreck I’ve had 5 surfs in 48 hours and it’s November! Life is good :)

spent weekend camping with five families in a national park near where I grew up. Kids from age three to teenagers roaming around loving the freedom. Massive nature buzz. Encounters with shark kangaroos echidna red belly black snake sea eagle and dolphins surfing. Campground full of people from all over the world. Super chilled vibe. Weather everything from cold front storming through to blazing sunshine. Spent most of the time body surfing or pushing groms onto little waves. Felt very lucky. Also loving the positive stories in this thread.

Sounds sick lomah, so good to see the littluns roam free eh. Congrats goofyfoot and ill echo what others have said - get your surfs in now! The number of times swell arrives when I'm 'on duty' is uncanny.
Our littlun has just turned four so is old enough to question everything and form his own ideas which can be both profound and side splitting at the same time but he's still young enough to be unguarded. As much as the earlier years are cool and ever changing its so much fun just chewing the fat with him now. Its an absolute privilege watching a littlun grow and discover the world, our work means I do the majority of child care which has its moments where I feel like my head will explode but I wouldn't change it.
Not sure if he'll surf but seeing how its a total buzz for him jumping white water makes me think it won't be long before he ventures further out, swimming is coming on as well.
Good news today, after a bit of diy the littlun came over with a toy tea cup he'd put some water in and said 'a beer for you daddy because you worked hard' he got his own cup and we cheersed our 'beers'. Moments like that are priceless.

national parks are great places for kids and if you are into walking young kids love being carried around on their parents backs in those special back packs.

....... and you can get an all parks (except Kosciusko) sticker at a discount if you buy it with your rego. Bargain!

On Sunday, the 13th (2nd hardest hole) 410 yd par 4, smashed my drive just clipping a low hanging twig but laying up for a nice approach. 120 yd pitching wedge in, full swing, one bounce, plopped into the cup- Eagle!

Next hole, do-able birdie putt, farking 3 putted- that's golf.

My dentist gave me a voucher I couldn't read but handed that in and the whole round came to $15, lunch and onsen tax included.

Flat here but winning.

Back in Swellnet town, and what do I see? Well, this thread for one. And good stuff it is too. Especially with some of the other guff that's been given a run of late on here, by the looks.

Anyways, McEvoy! The lad doesn't disappoint! Cheers champ! Here's to a lazy few hundred not 'hard-earned'! And looking forward to a beer and a paddle in his home-town in a coupla weeks. Yeeeeew!

Finally jagged one of those Simon Buttonshaw Gash shirts that occasionally get hocked on Instagram. I rarely use IG and Browny only ever makes 66 of them which sell fast.

Anyway, it's a damn good design this time 'round and I got inside the good number.

Feeling wrecked today from a big few days of surf. who would have thought springtime in vicco.

just booked direct flights coolie to hobart- $310 return.One month walkabout tassie feb-march-stoked and neck and shoulder coming good.
good bodysurfing shoreys in tassie anyone?

Funny, Blind Boy, I just bought a ticket to see Amyl & the Sniffers and Surfbort...for $20!

Doubly good news after You Am I's homage to Spinal Tap show got cancelled this week.

hey Dave, you will have a blast, east coast Bicheno - Binalong Bay & Bruny Island.
Daci and Daci Bakers in Hobart. Arguably the best bakers in the cosmos.

Tasmania has twice the length of coastline as NSW .

More diversity of surfing challenges. We both know that’s worth an extra place on the rankings.

8th on the Tasmanian surfing rankings.

I’m surprised you haven’t heard of me.

Yeh, my great achievement was over three rounds of 2ft weak onshore slop. I imagine your event was at Shippies.

Bought a used 9’6 soft board for myself / young son to use tandem in the tiny stuff. Got it out for the first time in the hot weather last weekend and had a bunch of fun just messing around and belly boarding together. Agree with all that’s been said above re kids, incredible to have them around.

Left the city early Tuesday morning; dead flat, near gale, cloudy.
Stopped for a great coffee at the usual, raced down the long, windy dirt road, then surfed perfect HH right point waves for 4 hours. Warm, glassy, sunny.
Perfect day off.

Oh, and I had my first Campari soda and first whisky in 3 weeks. Heaven.

The mate I was visiting in Tassie was state champ . We hung with him for 6 weeks and travelled everywhere. Such a cool place to explore.

Into the trip he had a comp at the West Coast classic . We tagged along and i went in the event for a laugh. Beat local legend James Homer Cross in one heat cause he forgot to screw one of his fins in ! Haha .

Great waves. Good people. Epic place.

really looking forward to tassie now, thanks for the stoke.
staying at snug beach first week so have to check out bruny i reckon.

Tassie is a great place to view wildlife, particularly mammals. Some of the most exotic roadkill you’ll see anywhere !

Seriously though , it’s an epic place to interact with animals. Friendly beaches are a nice place to do just that.

Good luck seeing a Tassie devil. I never got to see one which sucked . This is despite lugging a roadkill wallaby wrapped in a tarp around in the back of my car for a day then using it to berley them up at night. No devils but a nice bit of disgruntlement from the missus after wallaby juice leaked over our stuff.

PS I’m not saying that you shouldn’t indulge , but there is awesome blackberries growing wild that time of year . I gorged on some next to a trout filled stream and had a hell time. A hell time except for the fact that it made me constipated for 3 days. My mate reckons it’s cause they spray the blackberries with poison. I’d still do it again though , they were that good.

You won't find a vacant camp site at Friendlies, Bruny or any other coastal national Park or state reserve camp location during summer these days - these areas have been inundated with winnebagoes, wicked campers, interstate surfers and large vans for more than 7 years...last summer it was so overloaded that there were tents set in the no camping zones at Friendlies - the car park areas that are gravel based.....Bruny locals are trying to keep their heads above the piles of refuse and excretion that the hoards are leaving behind and there is a new ferry operator who is assuring more punters per day......quiet, uncrowded Tassie?...totally done and dusted.

Tassie is good quality lived there for quite a few years in my teens most of my best mates are from there or live there.

Wave wise every coast is different.

The south to SE area is a real mix of beachies, points, reefs, river mouths with all kinds of nooks and crannies and some world class set ups.

The east coast is kind of similar to areas of NSW not many reefs but some fairly consistent quality beachies with clear water and yellow sand bottom..

North coast is one of the most fickle coast in OZ but has more reefs per square kilometre than perhaps anywhere in Australia.

West coast is similar to Viccos west coast or areas of WA powerful rip type beachies normally at the end of beaches and is more often to big and almost always windy even when offshore.

Then the SW corner is one of the most remote untouched, unaccessible and wildest areas of OZ

Sure some areas can get crowded like anywhere in Australia, but plenty of empty uncrowded waves too, and the locals are generally very down to earth and friendly.

I've been glassing a board this arvo while you pricks, or at least some of you pricks, have been arguing about Trump - don't worry, I'll be back in that thread shortly!

It's the forgotten art in board manufacture is glassing, not to mention the most unglamourous. It stinks, your clothes gets messy, fingers get sticky, and the only way to clean them is with industrial strength thinners that are strong enough to dissolve your DNA chain.

Try a handful of washing powder to clean your fingers Stu. It gets the bulk off so you only need a little thinners

Yeah, my glassing aficionado buddy concurs with the washing powder.

He's also a big laps man. Are you?

Took a few hours to shape on a Saturday night with Benny Hearn standing over my shoulder yelling out "Not like that, like this!"

I chose a fish design only cos it's relatively easy to shape but in the interim I've got my taste for fish back. When I saw the blank again this arvo I got a kick of excitement thinking about how it'd ride. Dennis Wright, old Itchy from Addiction, did a small clean up of it then we glassed the bottom this arvo, blood red resin tint with average laps - nothing significant, it's a small wave board after all.

Shaped a few blanks when I was a kid but for reasons unknown I never glassed them.

I'm tempted to hire a bay and go at a blank with no instructions next time. See how that turns out.

Do it . Now that you’ve got a fair grasp get in there and freestyle it. Working in a proper bay would be amazing. Where did you shape that one ?

"Shaped a few blanks when I was a kid but for reasons unknown I never glassed them."

Ha ha...im glad it wasn't just me then :D

yeah its a trip alright,have shaped a board years ago and had it glassed professionally and it actually went o.k but you could see it was a home made job,bit wobbly when looking at it,also glassed a board that Mctavish shaped me,well thats another experience i can do with out,glass on fins.......well again it came out o.k but never bothered doing another...good experience though,shame its so messy.

shaping a fish @stu .... it seems timely to once again link this.

https://vimeo.com/48631493

I'm shaping the board down at the Glass Hut in Wollongong. Corey who runs the joint is pulling it altogether.

Corey's got a hell of a lot going on there with guys working out of the bays, plus a few labels getting boards cut on the AKU shaper or glassed. At the moment there's Stretch, DP, Benny Hearn, Chad Ryan Shapes, Addiction, Serpent Sleds (Andrew Mooney).

And on the topic of first made boards, here's a few shots Blowin sent to me of him riding the first board he shaped:

Lived there in my teens too and still do (8 generations of Tas in the family here) - unfortunately the situation has changed significantly and it's a challenge to find a quiet wave anywhere within 2 hours of Hobart....local beaches, peninsular, points etc are always maxed out when on...the good news is that sea kayaking is still under the radar....to be accurate - the SE ( Tasman peninsular) is not a smorgasboard of reefs, beachies and rivermouths as someone has inaccurately posted...the number of accessible waves is very limited and given the large surfing population down here, crowded when on......

Over the years have bought a fair few sticks of various WA shapers last one off Wayne Webster and never bothered to suss out the 'how its done".

Just getting set for retirement like Blindboy so its on my list of must do's some where after getting more waves and become the local serial pest in the water.

Great stuff Blowin. I have never shaped my own board. Norm Fitzgerald at Keyos on the basis that I turned up more often than anyone else, once had the unenviable task of trying to teach me to shape. Several butchered blanks later I went back to buffing and ding fixing!

Interesting Blowin and good pics too!
I started in about '93 as a reaction to the boards (and limiting close tolerance blanks for that matter) on offer, and a series of shapers laughing at me because I wanted a new board with volume distribution similar to my beloved Brothers Nielsen White Pointer. So I (rougly) copied it: nice board! Had a discard 70's fin glassed in. The narrow pintail held magnificently in the heavy down south waves, and the foam forward paddled in nicely. The most difficult part early on was finding a blank that would get (most of) the foam distribution I wanted. Thankfully, Burford now does 70DON blanks. I doubled down and built my own jig and then curves were millimetre perfect.
Have they changed in 25 years? Um, bottom rockers remain same, single/double concaves have evolved, I'd mod the deck rocker to contemporary, and put modern rails on the sides, and sprout side fins for 2+1, otherwise no. I'm happy. Maybe wider tail with a couple of wings for smaller wave versions.
FWIW modern shop and custom boards are way better than their 90's equivalents as they have incorporated foam tailored to normal humans while keeping the feel most people like - I'm too far gone down the other path to switch to this.

Agreed VJ .

That’s why I haven’t shaped a board in nearly a decade . There is so many boards that are 80 percent of what you need floating around on the racks today.

But it’s the 20 percent of what I WANT that’ll drive me back to a dose of white lung.

Ha ha maybe. I think I have just been spoilt by always having access to great shapers. When I was working at Keyos Jim Beardsley was shaping there. Geoff McCoy had just left to start McCoys, Simon and Terry Fitz were across the road at Shane's, McTavish was at Barry Bennett's, Midget was in full production and that was just the A team!

Might I suggest another way to make them - chambered paulownia? More expensive, more time consuming, far less toxic, and a completely new wonderland of new lessons to learn as you fcuk up your latest creation because you didn't get weight/float/sealant right, or line up the grain consistently, or you put a chamber where the fin plugs need to go. It is genuinely renewable, you can walk wood shavings through the house, the planer loves the timber, and they have a feel and buoyancy that is completely refreshing, really something new. Very satisfying to cut, the little spokeshave on a red cedar stringer is *so* nice...

Way out of my league johnno, my son is a chippy and has banned me from further abuse of timber.

@TasX

When i said

"The south to SE area is a real mix of beachies, points, reefs, river mouths with all kinds of nooks and crannies and some world class set ups."

I meant from South East Cape area up to Swansea area (including Bruny) not just Tasman peninsular or South Arm.

That's in no way an inaccurate description.

To be honest , you’ve got to have a grasp of basic skills with the equipment used in the building process such as a plane . But I think a lot of crew try it when they are young and don’t have much success , but as you get older , rudimentary hand / eye coordination improves and it becomes more about visualising the outcome. Picture the board you want and take away the excess foam !

It’s trite to say , but it’s like all sculpture- and you’re sculpting , no doubt about it , that’s the romantic part !- you’ve just got to remove the parts of the blank that aren’t part of the surfboard you want to ride.

Have another go BB . Worst thing that could happen is you’d wind up covered in foam and sharing a laugh with your mates at your expense.

Right up until you take that thing out and spray them in the face whilst ripping on your own creation.

That’s a silky machine.

Looks like it’d hover over flat sections and knife it’s swallows into the pocket.

Could be the Brown brothers Crouchen Riesling I drank with the Havati and olive on rice crackers talking.

Either way. Looks nice.

You’d be straining at the bit to hit the water on that thing , heh ? I would be.

Id like to get one of those too. Would like one with a thinned down tail and they look like fun even though Ive never owned a twinny. I made my first board at 14 because I couldn't afford one and blanks were $7 and I bludged glass and a planer off my cousins who were learning shaping with Geoff Wakefield in the western suburbs. Dad had a surform..(good name for a tool eh). It came out pretty good and went OK until I tried it in big Fairy Bower and big Gravelly waves and learnt about rails a bit more. My next one went great and I finally turned 17, got my car and I had it for years until I got stoned at a beach and forgot to occy it on. I finally bought a great factory made secondhand board with tubes, palm trees and a sunset sprayed on the bottom which I always wanted after seeing Fitzgeralds HB boards. Haven't made one since...Maybe its time again. In 1971 to 1974 when I surfed there a lot, there used to be an old guy who was always at Fairy Bower. He was pretty skinny, not much hair, may have had a little moustache and rode a 7 foot something Keyo. He was the oldest guy out there and charged for his age. Do any of you guys know his name. My friend and I were the youngest Bower boys at the time and he really encouraged us with a bit of coaching advice when it was big...Making a new surfboard again yourself must be Good news.

Nice work Stu.

I'll leave all that to the experts.

Me and resin of any kind do not get along. Just thinking about the feral botch-up jobs I've made of ding fixing in the desert is enough to keep me away from any kind of board making and leave it to the experts, of which luckily there are a surplus around here.
Enough for several lifetimes worth of great boards.

Just on good news, my favourite ding fixing moment was working for Bylsey at 69 Shirley.

He asked me to set these fins on some shittbox beater. I had everything set up ready to go, rovings, hot mix etc etc.

He showed up with a tally. Put a pie in the microwave. Donned the gloves, drank the beer in between setting the fin.
Ate a pie straight from the microwave whilst doing it that was hotter than the sun and dripped boiling hot pie juice all over the repair and then in the middle of it, sold a board to a fat kid who rocked up from Brisbane with his parents. Beer in one hand, pie in the other.

Sadly, that shop, which used to be the old Sky shop is now an Uber-gentrified set of tasteful units bought up by big money city people.

Cheers for throwing those photos up , Stu.

Got to love shaping your own stick. Gives a deep sense of satisfaction riding a board you’ve made yourself and the process itself is pretty fucking cool. Foam is such an unreal material to work with . Firm and forgiving but easily pared away , a lot easier than trying to shape something as hard as timber , that’s for sure.

The first board I made was in 2001 or so . I’d been struggling at a wave I love with its abrupt takeoff and immediate down the line speed . I didn’t think the wave necessarily required a longer board , but i definitely needed to get in as early as possible.

Board fashion at the time wasn’t providing many solutions as I realised I needed a normal board outline only way thicker in the right places . Nothing off the rack available and I didn’t have the patience to undertake the trial and error, minimum 2 boards from a custom shape to get what I was after so decided to take matters into my own untrained hands and have a go at shaping it myself.

I started with a 6’0 Dahlberg that I loved but which was thin as fuck . Traced the planshape on butchers paper ( shitfight ) , then cardboard from a fridge packaging and was set . I got a blank from a shaper where I was living at the time and commenced going about everything the hard way.

Working outside on a pair of sawhorses, my first lesson was that foam goes fucking everywhere. Obvious to everyone except a stoned as fuck , virgin shaper I guess. It took probably a full week to shape . Do a bit , overthink it , walk away , then do a bit more later.

Little things got me . Like needing a spoke shave for the concave stringer section at the nose of the deck . Never would have thought of it till I was forced to . Enlightening journey and a reinforcement of my respect for quality shapers.

Finally got it how I wanted it and took it to the shapers to get it glassed. The look on his face told me enough about what my chances would have been getting this style of board shaped by someone else. Even when he had it in his hands he was trying to talk me out of it ! He relented , glassed it as it was and I was away.

The board went exactly as I’d hoped. Early entry with extra volume but rails foiled out to nice and fine. Rode some epic waves on that thing . It’s snapped now but I can’t remember where or when it happened...bizarre.

Too bad that I peaked so early as a shaper. It’s all been downhill for the 7 boards that followed. Been a nice little giggle for my mates though when I’ve been talking up my latest shaping effort then they finally lay eyes on it and it’s fucking atrocious. One effort was shaped in a hurry for a last minute Mentawai trip whilst I was in the Kimberly’s. I’ve never been that big on accurate portions and so I usually just freestyle the amount of catalyst for a resin mix. Compound this with the fact that I was attempting to glass a board in a tin shed with an air temp of around 38 degrees and shit went south real quick .

Resin drying in stalactites hanging from the edges of the unglassed deck and massive uneven lumps covering the whole thing. No shit , that resin mix went off in under 5 minutes. I would have binned the whole thing except it was my only back up board and I’d been talking it up so hard. Sanded the whole thing back flush , taking huge gouges off the unprotected foam all over the shop . Figured I’d just fill them with resin and it’d be sweet.

It wasn’t sweet. Wasn’t anywhere near sweet. The board looked like it had been knocked up in a sheltered workshop and rode worse than it looked. It lasted 3 surfs. Mates absolutely pissing themselves as it literally fell apart wave by wave. Nicknamed the Great White Shark as it had that much jagged fibreglass hanging off it by the end that every time I slid to my feet I got cut to fuck so badly it looked like I’d been attacked by one.

Anyway , that’s my shaping story. So much fun . It’s always good to hear someone saying they’re going to give it a go cause you know they’re in for a good time no matter what and if it happens to go half decent then it’s a huge win.

Doing it in a proper shaping Bay would be a treat , but sometimes best to be secluded and left to your own devices, just so you can really get your freak on and indulge in some eclectic mind fuck that know one else would pass with a modicum of quality control.

Anyway , can’t wait to see the photos Stu. Hope it performs.

As it turned out I had zero talent for ding fixing or any kind of selling in a surf shop. All I was fucking good for was driving to the bottle-o and buying cases of Coopers.

The ding shop : the last bastions of unrefined hedonism .

I bought a few boards from a name Seppo brand whilst I was in Bali last year. Great boards and really friendly, helpful staff , but the shop itself was a suburban retail wet dream safe zone that left me unmoved no matter the amount of blonde wood and polished floor. Probably because of the blonde wood and polished floor.

A while later and just as I’m about to board a flight back to Oz and I landed my fat arse fair on the stringer on the bottom of the board , leaving a couple of massive cheek prints divided by a crumpled stringer. As embarrassing a ding as you will ever see. There’s no cool explanation behind an arse shaped ding no matter how you tried to spin it.

So I had to get it fixed back in Oz. Straight down the coast to Margie’s upon landing and go to a ding fixer in the industrial area for a Friday lunchtime drop off. No chance to get it fixed before the weekend I supposed, but the fella there in his glassed over sneakers gave me a glimmer of hope when he said come back at closing and see how he went.

I rock back in the afternoon and there is people everywhere sucking beers and lunging durries .Probably as busy as the pub , crew on milk crates and paint tins and eskies and deck chairs all on it. I’m told the ding doctor is still into it and to go into the shed. There’s old mate chugging hard and putting the final polish onto the arse impression, now looking perfect.

Wish I’d thought to take him a six pack .

Salute to the ding fixer !

Bylsey was trying to help me out and give me a job at a time when I was a bit hard up.

Night before my first day he rings me at midnight.
"Mate, I've had to go out to Nimbin, I've left the keys buried outside the fourth rock on the western entrance at the Bangalow public dunnies".

So, I'm starting the day scrabbling around like a weirdo outside the Bangalow public dunnies looking for a set of keys.

Couldn't find the keys. Drove into Byron. Sat there for an hour. Couldn't get hold of Bylsey and ended up going surfing at Tallows.

Opened the shop up about 3pm and sold nothing.

It went on, pretty much as it began.

Curiouser and curiouser, Blow In.

Hot tip: You never go round the factory without at least a sixer on a Friday arvo.

Ha ha. Quick job. What was the wallet damage?

When I worked in a surf shop in the old days, if the surf was pumping we just wouldn't open. I used to look at my boss in the lineup and say "its nearly 9am I suppose I better go and open". He would look at me and shake his head and say naaa don't worry about it. That was really good news. Bosses are different now.

Driving up to Sydney isn't my idea of a relaxed Saturday, but when a dirty old Nev appeared on Gumtree showing some promise I figured I'd swing north and take a punt.

Some backstory: I'd always been keen on getting a Pro Circuit Board, I find them fascinating as they're the pre-cursor to much that came afterwards, the epoxy experiments, Salmon S-Core, Surftech, and even Firewire. To date, a PCB has eluded me. Last year I went close to getting an AB BS but lost out.

So even though the seller of this board had no idea what it was ("Surfing board 1.8 metres long") I took the risk. When I got there I was disappointed as my first impression was an old Nev with a coat of white house paint and a flash fluro jobby on top. Nice, but not a PCB. I paid $50 and drove home bummed.

When I got home, however, I cleaned it up and I'm almost certain it is a PCB. There are no PCB markings, though they were stickers anyway, someone could've peeled them off, the Nev sticker is a bit brown where the clear sections are, it has exactly the same colour scheme (but not pattern) as another Nev PCB I've seen on here, and the same belly channels too. And the knock test tells me epoxy.

It's in fantastic condition, and if it is a genuine Nev PCB then I'll be thrilled. Fifty bucks well spent! Of all the shapers who licensed to PCB, Nev is the guy who pushed the 'alternative' construction barrow the furthest.

PS: I wrote the above text on the Vintage Surfboard Collectors site yesterday arvo, and also tagged in Nev. It's definitely a Pro Circuit Board, a Munga Barry model, and compared to the few PCBs left it's in great condition.

Stoked for $50. Looks like a nice planshape . Munga rode a similar looking board in Bunyip Dreaming. And Occy rode a Nev epoxy board very much like it in Bunyip dreaming too. Bonus section of him riding it at Turtles in the extra clips on the DVD.

A mate of mine down your way picked up. Pyzel Phantom with JJF fins , new leggie and deck grip for $400 yesterday too. There’s some epic bargains to be had.

Oh , yeah - Surfing board 1.8 metres is fucking awesome. Red flag !!

PS Your stag horn is looking a little second hand too.

Stu - Just reread your post with the realisation of the depth that you are a board hound. Must be the buzz going on the treasure hunt , finding that rough diamond, unrealised slice of history and functionality, sitting under appreciated in a garage somewhere.

Id ask what your dream find would be for a board in pristine condition, with a proud heritage only obscured by a light layer of wax and a thick layer of dust for less than a hundred dollars and for sale within 50 kms of your house . But you’d have to lie so as not to alert the sellers.

Good luck out there.

I haven't been trawling the classifieds as much as I used to. In fact, about this time last year I had to hock off ten or so boards to pay for my Hawaii trip. The first one was the hardest, after that I realised I could do it. A lot of those boards were just being horded, weren't particularly special.

But yeah, I'm always on the sly lookout for particular boards, as the weekend score testifies.

I've got a couple of my own dream boards in the shed, such as a never-been-surfed Insight rocker ship from late '92, early '93. I paid a bit more than I would've liked for that, but about six months later I paid SFA for another Insight in great condition and found it was the very next board made - i.e consecutive serial numbers.

My mate Damo has a huge collection and he tells me about some of the scores he's had over the years. Like the guy who went to sell a pristine Lightning Bolt but duffed the eBay ad so the first few shots - which most people use to assess the item - was another board entirely. Probably wondered why only one person bidded on a marquee board.

I tend to collect boards that aren't sought out by the hordes, like brightly coloured McCoys and Hot Buttereds, but rather boards that are integral to the design timeline. For instance, following the channel lineage: Jim Pollard, Al Byrne, Marty Littlewood, Col Smith, Phil Myers, etc.

That's a skill not to be underestimated Freeride. Any time you need practise, there's a bottle-o in regional SA waiting for your arrival.

In other good news, I switched from 4:3 steamer to the 3:2 this week just past and didn't need to have my testicles surgically extracted afterwards. Summer really must be on its way.

I also crossed a personal milestone too - I managed to get two boards that I handshaped for sale in an actual bricks & mortar surf shop (Big Surf Middleton, if anyone's interested). Whether they sell or not, it's pretty exciting.

There's this Thompson guy. Watercooled. He was the real good news, the best news for the viccos!!!

But SA... what streams!!!

'The surfshops at the time were mostly still the outlets of a workshop, smelly with resin and with showrooms full of glossy single-fins – They were hugely exotic and desirable, long before the popout had made boards a throwaway commodity – there was Dick Van Straalen, Jim Pollock, Donny Allcroft, Kym Thompson… I’d dare to want one but only had pocket-money…'

'Just now a memory comes to mind - a quote that’s stayed with me – It was graffiti in Kym Thompson’s shaping room at Watercooled in Torquay – “Pay attention to detail and you’ll be a cut above the rest”.'

https://surfbunker.com/blog/josh-dowling-the-interview

That's real good news!!!!

That is pretty frickin cool.

It’d be a buzz selling your first board as a professional shaper.

I had to pay the bastard at the tip to take a couple of mine.

Congratulations, SS. Let us know how your boards go.

Just checked your local SSTs. 17C! Still 14C here :-/

These were two of my final lines from the weekend. Should be snow for another few weeks but will probably call it a day.

View this post on Instagram

These were likely my last lines of the season (glide crack hop inclusive) - what a fun weekend it was! And what a season as well. Lots of firsts including seeing @shaneackerman dragging a few lines as well (photos to come) #snowsignature #cornharvest #spring #australia #backcountry #roofofaus #steeps #lines #splitboard #earnyourturns #campofchamps #snowdragging #kosciuszkonationalpark #snowymountains

A post shared by Craig Brokensha (@craigbrokensha) on Nov 11, 2018 at 6:48pm PST

Craig was that this weekend just gone>>??????????? if it was you certainly get around.

Asymmetrical deck grip, hey SS. I've done that before, though it wasn't deliberate.

Just checked out your site , Surfstarved .

Beautiful boards , mate.

There’s some cool and talented people post on Swellnet. Like when VelocityJohnno was casually saying a couple of days ago about shaping boards out of chambered paulownia....

Now it turns out SS is the craft master.

Good on ya, Surf Starved. The more shapers, the merrier. Especially on the South Coast.

Tommy's a good egg too.

That's not a deck grip Stu, just a reinforcing deck patch of hex-weave basalt innegra under a layer of 4oz. The asym is purely an aesthetic choice.

Cheers for all the kind words folks. Hopefully they'll sell and I'll be impossibly rich for all of 12 hours.

Here’s some good news ....we got to page 3 before Lifty showed up with his patented non informative, nonsensical, insulting attempt to grab some attention.

3 pages !!!

Even better news is that Lifty's post has just been deleted! Cry foul, cry free speech, those ones will be deleted too.

Just had more daily good news. Sold another unwanted board on gumtree. I'm trying to decide if mans best friend is his dog or Gumtree.

The suns coming up and I’m about to chuck the board in the truck.
First time in 5 weeks
Good news aye
Specially if I get a few
Cheers all

big waves, big boards, big guitar and gerry ...... what's not to love.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BqPq-ynHaz0/

Just spent 2 days at a special place in Vicco where the bush meets the sea. No phone no internet happy days. Surfed and bush walked out.

Went and walked good old shelly beach (Cat bay) last night with the family just before sun sunset, had been a while and brought back many memories it was a beach my Gran use to take me too as a kid to beach comb and a spot i learnt to surf as a grommet....was funny seeing all the crazy surf craft out there trying to catch one foot waves though and the weirdest array of surfers.

I wish i could go back to the same perspective i had as a grommet, i remember when i was very young it actually seemed like a fun wave and everywhere else seemed challenging and high quality, now I'm just so fussy even the good days seem average..

Nice one ID. It's good to realise your changing perspective, even try to alter it where possible.

I ordered a Greenough-style edge board off Phil Myers a month or so back, and a small wave assym off Stuart Paterson even longer ago. Picked 'em both up on Friday and the good news is that with summer coming the small wave section of the board rack is totally kitted out.

I love the outline of that board Stu.

Tell your mate Phil to clue me in on his bass fishing honey holes.

Amasing.

Deluxe.

BTW ....nice deck. Fella that threw that up must have known what he was doing.

Keen eyes might spot a glass fishing float hanging from the Japanese maple tree.

What they won't see is the booby trap set to go off should someone come around and steal it for their wife.

Here’s a bit of good news from today.

The tawny frogmouth living above where I’m staying has hatched the cutest mini me animal you’ve ever seen . Looks like a Jim Henson creation.

https://www.zooborns.com/zooborns/2012/11/orphan-tawny-frogmouth-chicks-rescued-in-dundas.html

I’m not in possession of the strongest mind for legalities, but doesn’t the law of salvage rights extend up to 5 kms inland as far as glass floats are concerned ?

And for a period up to ten years from them being found on the beach ?

Referring to that ancient realm of 2nd salvage of course. You salvage it first , then I salvage it from your place.

A mate of mine grew one special plant next to his caravan in his parents backyard when he still lived there. He used to string that thing with fish hooks like barbed baubles hanging through John West’s Christmas tree . It never got stolen.

Not saying that’s what you should be doing . Not saying that’s what you shouldn’t be doing either .

PS I’ve seriously considered buying one and planting it on a beach then leading her to it’s miraculous discovery. But if she uncovered my plan it’d be my crab covered corpse they’d be finding on the tide line.

Nice boards.

I’m back for a while . Taking care of a nice old fella who needs a hand.

That link obviously isn’t from where I’m at . Dundas .....WTF ? Is that one of the 7 levels of hell ?

Worse places to be than here . Water is incredibly blue and clear at the moment heh . A reef would be nice though !

Ha I just googled where Dundas was and was like, OK, Blowin is deep in the Sydney burbs.

The only place you’d get me to reside in Western Sydney would be Rookwood.

Even then the pallbearers would have a fight on their hands.

I'm thinking mid-North coast Blowin. Great beach breaks, reefs on the rare side.

Big zone.

Surely there’s room for one temporary blowin around there somewhere ?

Certainly contains a few nice stretches of coastline.

Had a few surfs on the Free Flight edge board now, the last two in long point waves where I could begin to feel what was happening. The very first impression is rail to rail 'tippiness', notable because this is a 20 inch wide board, yet it moves quickly from heel to toe, no lag whatsoever like you get on similarly wide fish. In fact it feels like an old style 60s vee bottom despite being a double concave.

It's the edge creating that feeling, lifting the rails from the water and making it perform like a much narrower board. Also, because of the edge the rails are thinner, so there's less foam to sink.

In the first few session on small beachies I had a couple of 'moments' when moving from lateral to vertical. Perhaps the edge was impeding water flow across the board? Not sure. I'd also been surfing a fish for the last month so it was possibly just readjustment issues. Whatever the reason, I had no such problems the last two sessions. It feels like a hull, feels like you're sitting higher in the water, but again, that's a trick created by the edge cause the thickness is the same as any shortboard. 2 5/8 in this case.

The other good news is that on Thursday a mate dropped in on me at speed and we had a hell of a collision, fibreglass crunching, the works. Came up expecting the worst, but the only damage was two impact cuts on my shins, two impact dings on his rail (a Firewire no less!), and not a scratch on my new board.

After the apologies came the negotiations and safe to say I'm happy with the result.

The years pass so quickly.

The seasons seem to be so much shorter than when I was a grommet.

But the change is necessary and it it’s a great metaphor for life. Just when you’re happy and things seem perfect then the world and life can hinge 180 degrees and you’re looking down the barrel of a nightmare.

Alternatively, just when things are down and it seems the world is conspiring against you and you’re ready to grab the whole thing by the throat , the sun will come out from behind the clouds and the rays of good times beam squarely upon you. And you bask in the glow , thinking of where you might have wound up had the winds of change not blown.

At this juncture of my life the winds of change blow and I just let them lift me.

The seasons are short. Enjoy them . Don’t want for the next as it’ll be here and gone before you’ve settled in.

Spring is a time of regrowth and revitalisation. In some jurisdictions the waves may seem to be at their lowest ebb. Take solace in the blue of the sky and the green of the trees ....and surf your fucking brains out when an offshore wind grooms a nice little swell.

Nicely put...the seasonal thing that is. The other good thing about spring, the surf may be waning but the vege garden is waxing like a mofo.

Hey , Stu.

I sure the World’s great economists and demographers would give you a different opinion , but I’ve seen my share of shit and I reckon that living your surfing life and you parked up where you are , with a loving family surrounding you ....you’re in the top 99.99999 percent of the world’s chosen few.

Good things for good people !

I suppose this is no time to complain about the dire bank situation down here then?

Don’t worry about the banks Stu, how about getting a dentist down there! The kids have no teeth!!

Jokes obviously...

That’s what you get when if your entire nutritional content comes from a zucchini.

Where’s DOC’s when you need them ?

Speaking of banks, I have some surfing good news.
It was about 12 months ago me and a few mates decided to check out a stretch of sand just south of a well known beach.
From that day forward we were able to get completely uncrowded waves for months.
Then a couple of huge swells wiped them out earlier this year.
The old parallell gutter along the shore trick makes for the perfect close out bank out the back effect.
I last checked 6 weeks ago. It was still the same.
This weekend it's all back in action!
Surfed both days with barely a few fishermen and some guys out way down the beach.
Now if the huge swells could just stay away for the next 6 months, that'd be great!

That’s the money in the bank that the sandbank hound dreams of...keep it dark and surf the shit out of it.

Went to the the King Gizz and TropicalFuckStorm gig last night. Awesome show. I do think TFS stole the show. Not saying the Gizz were no good but I enjoyed TFS better. They were more dynamic and more freaky. Gotta love ladies with guitars.

This will make your day

https://www.techly.com.au/2018/11/26/astronaut-iss-captures-stunning-time-lapse-rocket-launch/

I get email notifications from NASA when the space station is going to pass overhead. Had many occasions over the past 18 months where I've caught it with clear skies. 'Tis a wondrous thing.

In other news to hand, I hit my superannuation preservation age last Friday. Trying not to wish my life away, as per blowins previous entry, but seriously considering pulling the pin around this time next year. All dependent on the fates, but I am so over work these days.

Re the Space Station. What amazes me is that it's ground speed is 7.66 kilometres per SECOND. Think about that for a ....minute. If that was at sea level you wouldn't even see it go past....

Yeah, it's effin flying Westof. Usually takes about 3 or 4 minutes to get across about 2/3rds of the sky, maybe about 5 minutes to get across if it's flying pretty much overhead.

Just read through the previous pages to catch up, somehow thought this was an old thread.

In other news, echoing a few others here, my youngest (daughter) finished school last year so this is the first year we've had without school issues for 15 years.

Bad news, I've probably been through the toughest couple of years, and I've had a few tough ones in the past. Good news, there are reasons to think that better days ahead.

Bad news, probably had less surfs in the last 4 months than any time in the past 27 years, for all sorts of reasons (tough year). Good news, I'll have about 4 weeks off over xmas/new year and seriously need it.

Bad news, I'm still sick. Good news, I'll be staying home again today even though they need me in there, I owe 'em nothing and they owe me plenty. More good news, illness gets me up around 4.00 am coughing and spluttering, which just happens to coincide with the Peahi big wave challenge. Good timing!

Hey Batfink, same same with work loaded up with impossible work loads ya ya ya the better you are the more they load you such is the way in aggressive companies, good news is that it drove me to retirement this year..............there is a light and it a joyous thing.

Yeah, they're driving me to retirement too I focus. Have done the sums and those days aren't too far ahead.

Lots of people ask me what would I do in retirement, as though working for a dollar is all there is to live for. I can just see a whole new life spreading out before me.

Go for it Batfink. I don’t know much, but I do know life is far too short for bs

Too true shorey, and hope you find more good news Batfink.
Whilst many of my peers are seeing their children leave school, marry, and even have grandchildren already, I was a bit late in getting to the 'becoming a parent' stage, but becoming a 'dad' (or mum) really is the best thing you could do. Let's be honest though, it can be tough when they're little, and they test your patience like nothing else. On the bright side, they really do make life pretty awesome at times.
My son starts high school next year, and my daughter is a few years behind that.
The good news is that I am taking 2 and half months off from the end of March next year using a combination of long service leave and holidays.
I've not had more than 3 weeks off in a row over the past 15 years of full time work, so it's time for a looooong break and catch up on those things around the home that need doing, have a holiday with the fam, and surf the shit out of any surf that comes my way.

Batfink as surfer you will be far to busy in retirement boredom is for those that have nothing but work in their lives

I haven’t worked for 2 years on the 10th of January.

Good times !

Life still throws up some very shitty deals , but at least you don’t have work politics and the incessant beeping of an alarm clock to compound your problems.

More good news is the far end of the model runs showing the formation and track of what could be an incredible system. Yeah, it's still in fantasy land, but if it comes off you'll wanna be on the East Coast.

Also, Cadbury family-size chocolates are now sold in limited edition blocks with CC corn chips in them. Unrelated but good news nonetheless.

"Also, Cadbury family-size chocolates are now sold in limited edition blocks with CC corn chips in them. Unrelated but good news nonetheless."

WTF. I'm an absolute chocloate fiend but that just sounds wrong..

Good news is that all this rain has washed away the heavy dust left on my car from last week's dust storm which was cleaned 2 days earlier post being serviced.

Don’t talk to me about chocolate.

After going cold turkey from a savage habit of both it and beer ( again ) a couple of months ago , I just powered through a lifetimes worth of both whilst minding a house in the hinterland around here during the last few days.

Consequently, I feel like a piece of shit. I reckon I put on 3 kgs and now my shorts are too tight.

Good news is .....it was hellfun.

That explains spelling Lynch with an I in that email , Stu.

Off trolley.

2 years blowin? Fuck me.
Want a job? I’ve been advertising for workers for months and can’t get any decent ones.

Sorry for clogging the good news thread with work talk...

Unless the job is tube tester for 4-6 foot left handers with an easy roll in , I’m probably not going to be interested.

What do you do ?

Can we talk about the effects of immigration on wages and housing during smoko ?

I’ve always been a huge fan of animals. Fish and reptiles my favourites. But not by that great a margin , I love them all.

Recently I watched a movie called “ The Big Year “ wherein Owen Wilson , Jack Black and Steve Martin are twitchers ( bird nerds ) who embark on the Big Year , an attempt to see as many different types of birds as they can in a 1 year period. The movie is OK , a buddy road movie / journey of self discovery kind of deal.

But it’s inspired me to go on a Big Year.

When I say go on a Big Year , I thought that I’d just casually keep a record of every bird I saw and see how the tally went , not chase them down and travel to spy the things .

Turns out I’m a fucken’ bird nerd also.

I’m up to 42 species in a week. The guy in the fact based movie got 740 in a year to be world champ , but being typical Septics , it was only Seppo birds and Seppo competitors.

I’m bringing it home for the Green and Gold....no damas.

Unless, of course , if I get bored of the whole thing or it gets even remotely difficult.

Anyway , the tawny frogmouth that had a chick outside where I’m sleeping is on a tear . Turns out it’s twins.

CAF ( Cute As Fuck )

So that’s the good news. I needed something good cause I’ve just sprayed 10 cans of fish oil under my car and then spent half an hour throwing up cause I poisoned myself ....yeewwww !

you're a classic Blowin.

I'm a bird nerd too- personal fave, Regent Bower bird, used to see them camping on the mid-north coast. King parrots too.

We have a cool bird here called a 'Kiji' which is a type of pheasant. They live around my house. I wish i could count 40 odd species near me. But, every morning on the way out to walk the idog i chuck out a handful of birdseed for the eager crew of sparrows waiting for me.

Btw, i really like that movie.

Still yet to see these with my own eyes! Look super cute. Apparently there was one in the tree outside a few months ago but I missed it.

The great thing about my backyard is that early every morning there's at least one if not three Kookaburra's sitting out there. Great birds.

We had a couple of kookaburras( great name) that were fairly tame and one day they were fighting over this big skink which both had an end each in there beaks.Well you could actually touch them and neither would let go so this went on for an hour or so, so to break the impasse i got a pair of sicissors and cut the now dead skink in two and they both flew off with half each.....

My favourite feathered friend used to be Wedge Tail Eagles but after getting seriously dive bombed over spring by a big family of Magpies every time me, the wife and the dogs go for our walk they’ve taken the cake. So much staunch, don’t give a shit attitude! I love it!
Nothing funnier than seeing a little Maggie scare the fuck out of a 45kg Doberman

I reckon magpies are my favourite too. So much personality.

Currawongs are pretty cool . Such mellow temperament, but they’re usually the apex of their territories. They’ll get humbugged by everything with wings till they get pissed off , then they own the fuckers. Their song seems to be even more Australian to me than that of the kookaburra .

I’ve seen regents and satin bowerbirds and king parrots already this week . Plus a wedgey a couple of days ago.

Earlier in the year I got to hang out with a wallaby for a few months whilst I was camping. Such a cool little partner lounging around the camp. She had a Joey that was a little legend. Till a pair of wedge tails nabbed it. Those wedgies eyed the Joey off for weeks before they struck.

Once I saw a wedgey grab a full grown red necked wallaby that weighed probably 15-20 kgs. Dug the talons in its back and took off . It got a few metres in the air before dropping it.

I’ve always wondered if it meant to kill/injure it by dropping it , or if it was just too freaking big to fly away with. Amazing thing to witness.

Reasons to be cheerful...
- on the train home after four days in Sydney and stumbling across this thread
- raising three young men on the South Coast, aged 15, 18 and 20.
- a couple of weeks ago, seeing eldest jump off the rocks 30 mins after I texted him to say I’m going for a surf - ‘hey dad, thought I’d join you’
- planning our first OS surf holiday for the family next April.
- doing the mental design/shape of my next short board
I’ve enjoyed every age as a parent, but am really loving being a father of young adults.

Come across this ......anyone old enough to remember the tune its just a gold performance

https://www.facebook.com/Jackstuffcorner/videos/957104887806927/?t=0

The Danes what a culture

I've definitely heard of the song, so maybe an age thing.
Awesome seeing it live though.

"Once I saw a wedgey grab a full grown red necked wallaby that weighed probably 15-20 kgs. Dug the talons in its back and took off . It got a few metres in the air before dropping it."

Be good to see a wedge tail grab a red headed red neck from Ipswich and drop it from a great height

There was a series of movies (spaggi westerns) made by Italians (with Clint ) "The Good the Bad and the Ugly" "Fist Full of Dollars" and "for a few More Dollars" suspect they didn't travel well with age but the tune from "The Good the Bad and the Ugly" is a classic IMHO.

About ten years back I went and saw 'The Ennio Morricone Experience' (now known as the Spaghetti Western Experince) at the Opera House. Five guys on stage with, from memory, 300 various 'instruments' to play recreating songs and scenes from the Eastwood/Morricone/Leone films. Some of them standards - guitar and keyboards - and others improvised - a microphone thrust into a Corn Flakes pack to recreate the sound of footsteps, tall piles of phone books pushed over for each dead body falling. Great gig.

Good luck bb, but I gotta ask knowing you've got a busy retirement to consider, wouldn't you be better relocating North? You know, where the water is warmer.

Great news BB must have been the work on the grout, just got to get my place cleaned up and on the market same same then sold after that need to drop immigration to lower house prices for Blowing.

Yeh focus, the offer was all based on the superb grouting! But, more realistically, we worked our arses off to get it looking its best and we had a great agent in Toby Martin. He always gave 100% in his surfing and has taken that approach into his new career.

We’ve been up the south coast for a week now, surf hasn’t been great but I’ve got two in a day and even surfed a fickle river mouth the other morning. All friendly with lots of smiles in the water and surfing in my 2mm wetsuit is a bonus. Even getting in some swim in my boardies. Life’s good.

The benefits of high immigration largely flow through to the urban property owner (via increasing asset prices), increasing the divide in Australia society between the landlords and the renters.

freeride, the offer was from people who want to live in it and if I am benefitting now, like everyone else I know who owns in Sydney, I have made significant sacrifices along the way. Think 20 years without a surf trip further than the south coast.

No need to justify your good fortune BB.
Good luck to you mate.

I was just making some simple observations about the reality of Australia's socio-economic position.

FR Credit has far greater impact

"It does look like the rate of decline is starting to gather a little bit of momentum now, particularly as we start to see owner-occupiers becoming less active in the market, because previously the downturn has very much been fuelled by tighter credit conditions for investors,"

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-03/home-prices-record-fastest-falls-since-gfc/10576452

All done at a great price, pretty much what was expected when we first considered selling 12 months ago. No politics here! Happy to discuss house prices elsewhere.

Kookaburras.

I started noticing every time I walked out the house this kookaburra would come down and sit on the fence, close to wherever I was.

Then I figured out why.

I was throwing flathead frames into the bush and this enterprising Kooka was grabbing the frames and hanging them in trees for Ron.

All meat eating birds, love eating fish frames.

Kookaburra just smashed a baby brown snake a couple of metres away from where I was rebirthing an old favourite board.

Saved my life !!!!

Maybe.

You been getting a feed , Freeride?

Heaps of flathead.
this old bloke at the dump let slip his honey hole and it's been firing.

nah, I like catching fish to eat.

Wouldn't eat a stinky bull shark out of the river.

We have Tawny Frogmouths, Kookaburras, Magpies, Parrots .... down to tiny little finches and honeyeaters in our garden. Water dishes are they go to attract birds to your garden.

Pelicans.

Saw a flock of pelicans being constantly being harassed by one of those tiny ankle biters once. For 20 minutes or so this dog ran up and down the shore barking at the pelicans causing them to take flight. The dog’s owners were quite happy for the dog to annoy the birds like this right up to the time a pelican flew in and grabbed the dog and flew out to sea with it only to drop it a few hundred metres out. Karma.

I was fishing on Bribie Island up near Buckleys hole.
caught a really nice flathead. Good fish, probably 65-70cm.....about as big as you can keep.
Put it in this little shallow tide depression and kept fishing.

This pelican waded over to it and put it straight down it's throat.

I protested vigourously but the pelican waded off quite smugly.

Classic night, the woman who bought our place has been living across the street, so we got together with her and our agent to toast the deal. Three hours and several bottles later we were all sitting on the deck passing the guitar around laughing like we had known each other forever. Great to sell to someone you like!

I like it! How it should be. Reminds me of a place I sold in Ellie. Insane views, immaculate house, a lot of hard work went into it. Magnificent bush gardens, awesome stone work, big shed... lost count of the people from all over the world who sat at at that table, looking out at the swell. Even had cams looking out the window... non stop surf reports! Not to mention the gym. I'd just finished building a new place, and a heap of units, so time for that one to move. I decided to drive up from Lincoln, surf, put some signs in the shops, put the word out. Rally's fuel stop first, Neutron boys were fueling up for a days diving.

'What;s happenin' ya surfin?'

'Might have a quick one before work... what you up to?'

'Selling the house, going surfing, looks good for a few days.'

'Yeh? Shit how much?'

'Done, I'll come around tonight after work, and bring the check.'

'Deluxe, have a good one!'

I have some good news and some bad news that can be seen as good news.

Last Sunday I decided to do the midday surf shift. By the time I arrived the wind had just started picking up off shore, the sets were sill a good 3-4 even, though pretty inconsistent and there was about a dozen blokes out. Within an hour and a half there was just 2 of us, so I stayed out for another hour an half. That was the longest surf I have had in ages. It was so good.

That night I suddenly felt ill, had a bit of a temp, and a gut that seemed it was starved. (Trust me, it gets fed, religiously), had a couple of panadol and put it down to sunstroke. But it wasn't.

Couldn't sleep and had pretty much convinced myself at 4am Monday morning, that I was driving to the Hospital at 530am. Turned up at Emergency, no one there, straight in to a bed within 10 minutes. Urine, and blood tests and a drip. No pain relief until the doctor arrives to diagnose acute appendicitis. Once diagnosed, the lady with the magic morphine arrives. Happy daze. The imaging department didn't open to 830am, but that final confirmation was the final check. My first ever visit to hospital was going well. Even though I wasn't.

The decision was made due to age and probability of recurrence to cut the useless appendix out. I knew I had a long wait and even got shifted back by a patient who was "determined to die" but the hospital staff had a better idea, but it was going to take a lot of time. By 11 pm I was back in my ward less appendix. By 11am today I was on my way home. Honestly, we have a fantastic health care system and so glad I live in Australia. Good news.

Bad news is I can't drive for a week or go surfing for at least a month. Good news is I've already nominated myself as official surf photographer for the local crew. Well, for the next month that is.

Good news update: Despite my personal belief that I would be fine with panadol and Nurofen, I'm now glad the doctor insisted that I pick up 3 Endos om the way out. Not long now till I get one of those into me.

Thanks Blowin.
More of a lover than a fighter , but I do appreciate the spirit of your comment.

Updated update.
Endone aka Endos,
Comes with a 4 page Consumer Medical Information sheet.
Oh yea man that is good shit pain relief.

My wife says to me "I woulda taken one hours ago".
And that says something, because she has had her spleen removed at 12, bum operated on at 19, appendix removed, 2 C sections, and a fibroid removed about 2 years later.

We did discuss the thought that she should have a long time ago put in a zipper.

Heavy WOTL, wishing you have a speedy recovery.

I had bad news diagnosed with coronary heart disease (in the family both sides I had no other risk factors..........nothing just the genes)

Good news only narrowing in the LAD two stents and all good back in the water two weeks later now 4 weeks and jumping.

Yes we do have fantastic health care system and yeah best part was the sedation instant wack oh yeah.

If any one has a family history a stress test (about 80% accuracy) is worth the cost I had no symptoms and my fitness was excellent but a walking time bomb.

Stress tests are good but a calcium score test are way more accurate, They are a MRI like test that accurately shows heart health. Highly recommend where there is a family history in your mid 40s. Stents only work long term if diet is modified. Good health everyone.

My father died age 48 of a heart attack. Having annual check up next week which includes stress test and this year also coronary angiogram - latter supposed to be "low dose " radiation ?? Is the calcium score test the one which analyses proteins?

H20 dont know re calcium score test the the MRI I know about is a much lower dose than early types and is pretty accurate (Prospective Cardiac CTa) they inject contrast similar to angiogram usually some sort of iodine mate had one the other day $650.

Angiogram is the only sure way of knowing if you go through that make sure your cardio has you on blood thinners before so they can stent you there and then.

You know what’s good news ?

The fact that there’s no DUI for caffeine as I’d be well past the 0.05 on my way to the big smoke right now.

Isn’t it strange how every trip to the airport feels like a Friday ? Forecast looks very good. Good enough to green light an impromptu mission in order to surf some reefbreaks. Damn beachies , they can do my head in at times.

So it’s full speed down the highway . Music blaring on shuffle. Came across an old pop hit from the ‘80s. I used to love this song as a sprog. Still do , particularly the video whose entire attitude is so dated it’d give anyone with modern sensitivities conniptions.

Arrogant colonialist swanning around amongst the smelly foreigners before literally hunting down a dehumanised female and wrestling her into submission.....trigger warning here folks :

https://youtu.be/oJL-lCzEXgI

And thanks for the long range forecasts Ben and Craig. Worth every penny of the subscription. I’m putting my money on you fellas being on the money .

Cheers

Nice Blowin, yeah there are a couple of good swells heading up that way, hope you get your fill of barrels!

Calcium score tests are non invasive, require no medication and are quick and very accurate in determining heart health. For anyone interested please google AU sites. As I said earlier highly recommended for anyone in their mid 40s onwards with a family history of heart disease. Speak to your GP. Stress tests are an indicator of heart health and may suggest an angiogram is needed. Angiograms require day admission into a hospital, sedation and performance by a surgeon. During the angiogram it maybe decided that stents are required if narrowing of the arteries are found. If in any doubt please discuss fully with your doctor. Statins are often prescribed as preventative and required medications. They do have side effects including muscle soreness and wasting. Good health everyone. H2O, must have been very hard loosing your dad at that age, mine went way too early too, miss him heaps.

Appreciate your thoughts GS . Better turn this thread back to its title.
Good news is that modern medicine has made it possible for greater life and quality of life expectancy -
Plus double rainbow over Sydney early this morning!

I wish I had some good news! Imagine being mid sixties, and your fuckin' job is trainin' up and fixing up young cunts! Imagine being me, pristine, just a life with no fucking injuries!

I wake up, and I sprint to the mirror, and I fucking pray, just give us one fucking injury, so's I can be a eva lurvin' swillnut! Here, just strip every fucking hair off me scone, sand blast the fucker, so's I can be a swillnuttin' honcho!!! Make me fuckin' puny... stingerless even!!! Make my knees bigger than me fuckin' quads...

Why didn't I shit me fuckin' pants at and dodge blax, like goofball, brokey, gazz and the boyz!!! Let me feel what its like to be a hidden chickenshit!!!

LET ME BE A SWILLNUT SMASHED CRAB FUCKIN" YOGI!!!! JUST FUCKIN' ONCE!!!!

SAVE THE OTHERS... TWEAK ME... GIVE ME A FUCKIN' HIGHCHAIR!!!

But, nup, just fuckin pristine for another day... again. I gotta go train people. Again.

You wish! Spoken like a true swillnut!

But, no, still no good news for swillnuts...

I recently attended my primary kids school for their awards ceremony. The Principal described how this particular student was tech orientated and how he would find glitches in programs, re write the code, and then email the company to let them know he had corrected their program. For Year 6 scedemic year my son was awarded dux of his school. (Proud dad moment)

Funny thing is he rarely ever did any homework ......my efforts of encouragement often ended up with me reminding him that high school will be very different.

When I told my mother she excitedly replied "oh wow that's amazing, we've never had a'dux' in the family"

"Yes mum, there's a reason for that".

Have a good weekend each and every one of you, and I hope you all get to catch a few. Cheers.

Kookaburras, we've had sometimes up to 4 around these parts, as often as not sitting in the frangipani just out he back door, watching us eating breakfast. Now down to 2 regulars who often sit on our balcony railing out the bedroom window, checking us out and wondering why we aren't out of bed yet, before swooping away down the street. I think they may have a young 'un in a nearby tree.

Love them birds. Also currawongs, no sound is more redolent of my Australian childhood, love that sound, that and the smell of seaweed drying on the beach just sends me back to long gone times.

Thanks for the comments about retirement. I've spoken to a lot of blokes in recent years who have retired to see how they have fared. One fellow just yesterday at a xmas lunch catch up said he found it a bit difficult the first few months, others said they never looked back.

I've watched people over a long period of time, my theory is that if you have nothing in your life outside of work you will probably struggle, but if you do have other things you'd like to do then it's no problems. I've got plenty I'd like to do, including surfing much more than a cube jockey can.

We won't have shiteloads coming in from super, but enough, with a bit of cash in reserve. I'd rather live a life on a bit less than work for another 4 or 5 years and be too old and decrepit when it's time to go.

Looking forward to it, just have to get a few ducks in a row and maybe one more year of work.

Kookaburras. Suicidal/homicidal on the roadside. And an introduced pest here in WA. Just sayin'.

Good News! Gangajang sing "Sunday morning and a hour at church, then I think I'll have a beer with the boys at lunch...colourful shirts colourful terousers...etc etc. Yep its church day and near Christmas..so heres a few goodans if your feeling inclined today. ...Nambucca Christian Life Centre.....Harbour Church Coffs Harbour...Lifehouse Church Coffs harbour....Lifehouse Church Woolgoolga....Elevation Church Yamba....Eastgate Church Byron Bay....Tweed Coast Church Kingscliff....Elevation Church Tweed Heads....Beachside church Currumbin....Elevation Church Varsity lakes.....All good crews at these ones as experienced in my travels...Merry Christmas!

fcuk, is that what the suppression order all the papers were talking about was about.
holy fcuk.

Good to see some waves and xmas crays sorted. Safe travels if your driving on the roads this holiday period. Already had some people roll through stop signs around here, all good and well till you get hit by someone towing a boat/caravan or bus full of people doing legal speed limit of 90km at this intersection. I'd say tourist season but many locals guilty.

Finally debt free after years of work, no more mortgage, car payments etc all paid off , two new boards arrived ,Wayne Websters ,one Desert Storm and a Sniper both EPS epoxy, this will be the start of a new quiver i have in the making , the suns out lifes good yewwwwww .

Well done, Strawbs. Being debt free is a wonderful thing.

And congratulations on the boards. One question: why EPS/Epoxy for the DS?

Being debt free is one step closer to freedom Strawbs. Resist the urges of anyone who tells you to get more debt together for a bigger house, car, trip whatever. Well done.

Two and a half days work left for a month of freedom. That's good news.

Went for lightness and flex in this Desert Storm board, Island Bay ,its the 6 4 and i will use it in clean perfect conditions when there is heaps of water movement late drops but not much wind and chop at my home breaks , plan to get get some bigger ones but they will be heavier glassed versions .Yes Batfink great advice dont ever want to be a slave again to the banks , enjoy your month of freedom hope your score whatever you are doing ..

At 9:23 this morning, the poles tilt towards the sun will reach its maximum, which begins the journey for us, towards winter. Only 69 days till Autumn everyone! But who’s counting...

Daily good news - My John Merrick skin condition appears to have turned the corner . It’s progressive worsening seems to have stuttered at least. Bit early to be planning any public appearances though.

Got to think of the kiddies.

PS Steroids ? They make me feel eggy and generally shithouse. Fucked if I know how crew can take them voluntarily, particularly for extended periods of time. No doubt the ‘roids - in conjunction with near total physical inactivity and pre- Christmas up ramping of food intake- are making my gut muscles increase rapidly though.

Undefeated at scrabble for the past couple of days , so I’m still claiming victory over adversity.

Blowin did you pick up the skin problem in bali?..i had a skin problem on my back that was like little blisters that were really itchy nearly drove me mad,only time ive had it over there...still not sure what caused it.

Yeah , Simba.

Pretty damn sure I got it off the seats on the plane.

Sitting up on the way there and then 2 days in I’ve got this horrendous burn/ rash with blisters on the back of one knee. No other problems.

Then the return flight I’ve stretched out and gone to sleep , 2 days later Ive got this crazy skin condition everywhere that my body came into contact with the seats .

Then it started to spread further.....

So fucked up.

Puffy , swollen red skin on the inside of my elbows that look 100 percent like vaginas. Ragged bumps all over my hands , thighs and forearms. Bright red and itchy as fuck.

Bali rashes are soooo common. Since I’ve developed this little treat of a condition I’ve been googling furiously attempting to determine what it was. So many instances of crew getting hardcore rashes which mostly leave the doctors shaking their heads in bewilderment.

A million ways to get crook in the tropics.

Is your rash completely gone now ?

Yeah happened a few years ago so its gone but took a while ...but sounds like you copped a triple serving.....feel for ya ...ive got a feeling it happens more when its hotter...have you tried paw paw cream or maybe an anti histamean?

Sounds like a good idea on a 6'4, Strawbs. Make sure you let us know how it goes.

Good luck on your skin condition, Blowy. I all of a sudden got old man's rosacea on my cheeks, and went through part of a 30 day antibiotic treatment. Had to bail, as I was having god awful side effects, but it cleared it up. And it turns out that my zinc sunblock was the cause. Feels good to look normal again - within reason :-)

Merry Christmas everybody. May you have waves and good times and lovely people around you. Churrrr!

Wrong thread, dickhead. Why don't you start up your own 'right-whingers' one elsewhere.

And take your herpes with ya, cobber.

Oi!

Here's a real gift that keeps on giving.

https://www.cinemablend.com/television/How-Seinfeld-Invented-Human-Fund-George-Fake-Charity-106037.html

Happy holidaze.

Daily good news -
got up early,
Got better than expected fun size waves.
The water was the warmest in a long time.
Caught up with old mate who I haven't seen in a while.
Had absolutely no reason to go to the local concrete shopping jungle.
Tomorrow is the annual catch up with family lunch day.
Happy holidays every one.

How good, went back to a part of the coast that I used to mission to every weekend it was on years ago when I lived in Adelaide.

There was hardly anyone around and the clarity and warmth of the water was blissful. Raw and beautiful landscapes with the rising moon on dark, setting at dawn as we paddled out for the dawny. Merry Christmas everyone!

Best wishes to the Swellnet Crew and readers for Christmas and the festive season. Nice surf at our local . . . yeah!!!

Saw a golden Christmas beetle on my porch. Hooray! I thought the little tackers were gone. Remember seeing so many in so many beautiful metallic colours as a kid before moving out to WA, and been back 10 years now and had yet to see one. And there he was, doing the golden reflective thing. Yay!

https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/wildlife/2016/11/australias-christmas-beetles/

Funny you say that, i saw a nice metallic green one the other day and though wow i haven't seen one in years and years while when i was young they were everywhere.

The colours of some of them are amazing.

I haven't seen any Christmas beetles lately but I stumbled on this clip " CULT OF FREEDOM : THE TAJ PART" on Vimeo and it's made my morning. My pick for best clip of 2018 and I came on it just in the nick of. I wasn't a huge Taj fan when he was on tour, but since he hopped off my opinion of his surfing has elevated exponentially and he looks so stoked and happy to boot. Inspiring waves and surfing.

Good news is that apparently the Christmas beetles numbers are healthy, according to the abc.

If anyone should make an arthouse movie of my life it will be titled: “chook dreams of Christmas beetles”.
Nothing captures the nostalgia of childhood and lost family life in the bush more than swarms of Christmas beetles covering everything,

I haven’t seen a Christmas beetle forages now that you mention it.

You think they miss being held in a closed fist and having to claw their way out ?

Taj is incredible. Still . He got way better with age. I saw him fuck his knee at the Bluff, tore my heart strings. It’s a long way out the point to watch someone else surf , particularly if you’re lugging beers. Then to see them go down in the first couple of waves....devastating.

His acclaim isn’t universal though...passing through the ‘Gong a few days ago and Taj has parked his car in front of the bin collection area at my mates place where he stayed for a few days . The locals were tying nooses and carving pitchforks ....you don’t fuck with Tuesday bin Collection.

And he was spotted parking facing in the wrong direction !!!!

You’ve got to love apartment block politics.

Jokes, pretty sure the same locals would sleep in the bottom of the dumpster if Taj asked them to.

Yep age isn't doing him any harm, makes you think if Kelly relaxed and got over his envy of others winning and him not, what he could achieve on trips like that.
The other thing with Taj is that he's not as far as I know on the WSL wagon, he's just surfing and representing his sponsors, which makes it even easier for me to digest.

We've had a lot of mature trees unnecessarily felled by a developer on the adjoining acre block to us, one where a breeding pair of magpies have lived for years. Last year they raised three young and this year only the one. Anyway, we thought the male had died somehow with the trees being cut down as he hasn't been around and the female and her youngster have been struggling to ward off the (fucking) Indian Mynas, Noisy Mynas, Butcher Birds, Wattle Birds and Korraburras that call our neighbourhood home (to name just the larger birds here). The good news: its been good to watch this year's young Magpie take an aggressive approach to these birds so we are guessing it might be a male and the alpha male Maggie of the pair is back and restoring order to the skies in the neighbourhood. Happy new year.

I don't know why, maybe it's your left wing views, but i always pictured you living in the inner city area Toorak/Praharan/South Yarra.

I can’t bring myself to kill an animal just because it’s introduced/ feral , but if I was to start then it’d be Indian Mynas at the very top of the hit list.

I did some work experience in a national park - I have to say that a seeing a pig lying dead with a dinner-plate sized hole in its chest due to a shotgun blast didn't bother me a bit.
Unlike the smell as we gutted it ;)

That’s pretty soft Blowin
All our small Aussie natives being killed each and every day by feral cats, pigs destroying delicate wetlands, goats destroying native fragile vegetation (NW wa you proclaim to love)
Lots of ferals to be removed

I’m almost with you on that one blowin, I have mates who go pig and fox shooting. Sometimes it seems like killing just for the sake of killing. Which I can’t warm too... yeah I know they’re introduced and the damage they cause..
But I’ll quite happily tag along when they go deer shooting. Because I like eating it if we get one.

Can’t help it , those animals are just doing what they were born to do .

Couldn’t bring myself to end somethings life because it’s trying to live. Bad karma lies down that path.

The goats of the Norwest - or any free range livestock - aren’t feral . There owners should be held responsible. I’ve got no issue whatsoever with killing every last feral animal to eat , but I could never kill an animal without reason.

Whilst I like the idea of an area free of feral cats , for example, I’d hate myself if it was up to me to pin them .

Sterilise them , relocate them or eat them are my options.

Anyone ever eaten cat meat before ?

That’s the meat off a cat , not the meat out of a cat’s bowl.

I guess cat meat would be better than fox. But that’s not saying much.
I’ve seen footage of indigenous people chasing down cats in central aust ( they can only run 200 metres before giving up) . Do they eat them?

200m
Fuck I’ve travelled a lot further than that to eat pussy...

Sorry I’ll go now

I was a feral-animal killing machine for the first 20 years of my life.
As blowin says... path of bad karma. I’ve got a lot of karmic rebalancing to do.
Still, my hatred of pigs knows no bounds..they destroy everything.

Good news: Macquarie Island declared pest free after 7-year eradication program. There is talk in the Southland region of NZ's South Island of banning domestic cats.
I've now added a new forum topic on feral pests.

I've eaten civet before many years ago in Laos. It was in a sort of spicy stew. The guy said it was mountain cat but civets are not cats, probably closer to weasels I'm guessing. It was tasty from memory.

Oldmate ate BBQed guinea pig in South America. Very strong flavour, most certainly not like chicken.

Happy New Year everyone. Looks like there are OK, if not fun waves at most coasts around the country today - hope y'all get a nice session in to kick start 2019!

happy new year everyone, all the best for 2019.

after 2 montks of barely a waist high wave, the last day of the year delivered with a nice long-period groundswell and all day offshore.

Happy new year!

No waves yet this morning (1/1), but had 3 hours of perfect 3ft righthand point waves to myself yesterday morning. Severson's classic quote ("a surfer can still be alone with his thoughts,,," or whatever it was) still holds in this neck of the woods. Very thankful for that.

The most frequent conversation the wife and I had last year has been acted upon. It's come to pass. We've got a dog.

'Baxter' the five year old Labradoodle was rescued from Mt Druitt, rebirthed in Thirroul as Maxy Walker, and doesn't respond to either name. Fucker slipped the noose at Macauleys yesterday and bolted all the way to Sandon without looking back, I had visions of running the back streets of Bulli chasing the bastard, but finally cornered him when the high tide blocked his progress on the rockshelf. Today I took old Tangles for a walk, new choker leash pulled tight, and missed the best morning of the season. The kids who wanted him, who said yes, they'd walk him everyday and pick up his turds, were at home watching Saturday morning cartoons.

This arvo Maxy choked his way all round town but at least sat tight under the verandah at Ryan's while I had a beer. Came home, shamed himself at dinner, but now he's crashed on his rug looking wholly content.

Kids need a dog.

Good call.

Tangles is a nice tribute to Australia past.

The beige , the bone , the off white , the ivory......

Fuck yeah Stu, dogs are great to have around the home. Even if it’s you who has to walk it..

Stu, get him one of those harness things to go for a walk,those neck collars are shit and choke them and can damage their throat, especially the frothers like yours.

Our next pet will likely be a dog, especially after many years of having a cat.
It made me recall a song my mate wrote that went something like this:

I want to be a dog
I want to be a dog
I want to be a dog
Not a chicken or a cow.

Catchy eh?

Stu we have a rescue dog called Milly 9 months old when we got her,gotta remember dogs are pack animals and Milly didnt know who was the leader of the pack as in what place she sits in the family.
Anyway after a couple months of her doing what she wanted i stumble across a show with Caesar Milan the dog whisperer well took his advice and everything changed for the better.Now Millie is a fantastic dog and knows her place in the pack/family.

Cheers Simba. Cesar has 1,000 clips on YouTube and it also looks like he has a few different series out. Got a recommendation?

Also, old Maxy Walker isn't taking after his namesake, he could care less about balls being thrown to him, or even little toys that go squeak, but put him in a room with pillows...

haha pillow biter eh mmm....anyway i can't remember which episodes we watched but im sure if you watch a few you will get the drift......its all about him respecting you pretty much.....gotta feel for em though as we dont know why they are in a refuge in the first place and they are totally confused and dont understand what they have done wrong........anyway watch a bit of ceasar, show him some love and im sure you'll be alright.Good luck.

Stu - and others with dog issues - get Jan Vennel's The Dog Listener. Brilliant book about how dogs think and behave, and how to give them and yourself a good life. Highly recommended.

And congratulations!

We're had dogs for decades and have unsuccessfully tried pound dogs a few times. Prematurely diseased or arthritic or lumbered with behavioural problems that test the patience of a saint. Like kids the first years of a dog's life are so important and the trouble is most people shouldn't be allowed to have pets/dogs. Buying a dog and leaving it left alone all day and locked behind a gate with maybe a walk a week isn't responsible or good pet ownership. We deal with not getting pound dogs by regularly donating to the RSPCA although we don't always agree with how they operate.

Apart form all the training a dog needs as a dog owner you need 110% confidence in it around young children.

Good luck Stu.

Came home one day and got told we need a lap dog. Cute lap dog duly turned up and grew up to dog that bites, had a dog trainer around (dominance type) and he left bleeding profusely.

One of those small moments in life of smug satisfaction of getting your moneys worth in blood I secretly gave the dog a big reassuring hug afterwards.

Had a dog whisper around next and got valuable advice about dealing with situations where dog gets rabid and bites.

She now spends most her time on my lap..........occasionally rabid but wouldn't have her any other way.

Guy, that’s a shame. One of my dogs now is a rescue dog and he’s a gentle giant. I feel so sorry for them, not knowing the life they had before they ended up there. I can’t handle cruelty to animals, dogs especially, at all.
I encourage everyone to try to house a rescue dog next time they are thinking about getting one.

Yes do give them a try, I should have added a few people around us including a frail elderly lady with a walking stick have rescue greyhounds and they seem to be ideal and exceedingly gentle on a lead.

This morning Max was weighed down by a six year old boof at the end of the lead. Another dog crossed his vision and the SS Maxy Walker pulled anchor, dragged the six year old about ten metres across the grass park on his stomach. Tears from the anchor, laughter from his brothers. Lot of work to do.

@stu,

the dog training instructors would recommend a choka collar with a short lead but that recommendation would also come with instruction on how to use them correctly with food rewards. Halter collars are an admission of failure on the part of the dog's owner and are not recommended.

Labradoodles* are a fantastic family dog breed but the "doodle" bit means its highly intelligent and head strong and Max has had 5 years of running riot elsewhere. I can only recommend you engage a professional dog trainer to come around to give the family some training.

* We have Labradors and 5 year old Lab spends 20+ hours a day sleeping and dreaming of its next meal!

go maxy!
i say take a comfy seat, sit back and enjoy the antics...don't worry too much about training. maxy's antics will bring the whole family much joy and little pain.

i've trained dogs...but they are working dogs. and the techniques aren't that appropriate for pets. but as others have mentioned, and as you well know, dogs are pack animals. when training working dogs, here are some key points. 1/ only one person gives orders in the training phase. there is never any confusion who is pack leader. 2/ we train pack dogs by putting them in a pack of already trained dogs.

you don't have a hope of doing any of that. your pack (wife and kids) are an unruly and untrained bunch as far as the dog is concerned. they don't follow your orders. furthermore, the rest of the pack will let the dog do things you forbade.

aim for getting the whole family behind the no dog on chairs or beds, that's probably the best and most important thing for establishing pack dominance. if you can do that, everything else will be much easier. if you can't...you've got little hope of controlling maxy's behaviour. make sure max has plenty of comfy, regularly cleaned doggy beds as an alternative.

and make sure you have the phone ready to record the next time he drags your youngest all over the park.

Six days into Maxy Walker's stay at Casa Nettle and aside from the odd inopportune ablution he's going pretty good, even kerbing a few of his worst habits. He's not pulling on the lead as much when he walks, he mostly stays to one side, and doesn't completely lose his shit when he sees another dog. All things relative of course, but I've seen enough to know that a few months of intensive work will pay off. Thanks to everyone's recommendations.

The thing he's going to have to work on, and frankly I'm not sure if he'll ever be cured of it, is a taste for pillows and cushions. You can see it in his eye when he moves past the lounge chairs, trying to ignore what he so wants. When he does succumb it's usually when we're out of the room and his expression when caught shows all the contrition of the serial rapist: "It's the cushions fault for looking so tasty." No remorse.

Nah, those dogs are guilty and know it, rolling over, little tails wagging. Max Walker is a cold motherfucker. Just drops the cushion and walks off without tugging any heartstrings, quietly plotting his return to the loungeroom.

Cold blooded mother fucker !

That’s no dog......that’s Rick James , bitch !

https://youtu.be/dJB0BkJlbbw

The tough love option is to give Maxy a cushion with some kero on in, never again will he be tempted but before that best check with Mrs Nettle to determine whether she’s using the dog as a means to renew the “soft furnishings”. Darn the cushions that find there way onto the couch at my place, it’s never ending!

A Labradoodle on a choker chain. That x2 bad news. No good news there Stu! However, the rescue part is good news. As Adam12 suggested, get a proper harness, those choker chains are cruel. Just picture yourself wearing one with your wife on the other end...…

Daily Good News. Just finished "Das Boot" on SBS On Demand. Fukn Brilliant….

Amongst the usual crap on the box over Christmas there has been some real gems. Great reruns of Grand Designs (UK) and nightly Rock Wiz and what is there not to love about Jamie and the Nonnas. Even if you're not into cooking just seeing him interact with everyday Italians and the countryside and cities, semplicemente glorioso.

I love that he puts himself out there. Stands on an Italian street cooking food that Italians think only taste right when cooked by their mum, but never afraid to take shit.

Very generous with himself.

How goods Grand Designs UK!
Kevin the host has such a relaxed vibe about him and some of the projects they have going on are epic.
Tuesday nights one about the couple trying to build a self-sustainable type of property with only 500 pounds was really interesting, and a bit inspiring too. Love it

Totally agree Island Bay and goofyfoot.

Love it when Jamie gets told off by a nonna for not going it right.

This episode of Grand Designs is so inspiring. Tom and his wife are so nice, the real deal genuine people and if you haven't seen it yet, highly recommend. They are brilliant artisans and builders.

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4yhsau

Wow, GS, that place is really something, such imagination and craftsmanship!

Good find, that episode.

Geez I thought I was the only one who liked that show thinking it was an age thing. I like both the Aussie versions and UK ones also.
Anyone catch the Byron Bay episode? Talk about budget blowout!
https://www.domain.com.au/news/dream-house-an-extravagant-exercise-in-blowing-profit-20130111-2clb1/

Kevin McCloud is really good. And having designed and built a house myself, some of the more mad DIY episodes really resonate with me.

I’ll check that out tonight GS.
Island bay I’m going through the same thing myself now so I’m always keen to see what ideas other folks have

Good luck, Goofy!
Lots of hard work, but rich rewards. I built on a section up 100 steps, and everything had to carried up. I had callouses on my shoulder from carrying timber, and every evening I'd come home and eat dinner, then collapse. Never slept better.

Jeez, that Grand Designs home in Cornwall is a statement. "Sings to the voice of its makers," said Kev and he couldn't be more right.

Byron house, $2 mill loss, that’s a serious game of my wallet is bigger than yours

Latest news on Maxy Walker, and it's good! Old dogs may not be able to learn new tricks but they can unlearn bad habits. He doesn't try to choke himself when walking, knows where he can and can't go in the house (he also knows when to push the limits and get away with it), and he doesn't murder every cushion he sees. He's settled in much quicker than I expected; you'd think he'd been here three years not three weeks.

Here he is sleeping with one of my sons just outside the study door. Photo taken five minutes ago.

Dogs are bullshit how much they like people. It’s not even about the food. They’re just legends. You’re kids are lucky and so are you.

Ha...he's got a bed, but whenever he can sleep near someone he takes the opportunity. Amazing how he responds to company and affection. He's slipped right into the pack.

Lovely pic Stu and good news how he has fitted in so well. Wouldn't be dropping any hair I'm guessing which is also great news.

Ha, whoops! Reading everything as being about the dog while neglecting my own flesh and blood.

It can be harsh working out there, or moreso in the ranges at the top of the Eyre peninsula, in those temps. The land itself though has its own allure. I always considered that west coast as if you took the WA wheat country I spent a lot of time in, and plonked it by the ocean. The ocean itself, well some of you here know it well. It's alive...

Last week of the school holidays, the whole nation is celebrating that one except for school teachers of course.

Don’t think it’s just a couple of easy stretches , yoga is fucking hard work if you’re not used to it,

Good news ....the teacher said I was pretty flexible already : https://youtu.be/Xr9Oubxw1gA

My wife is a long term Iyengar practitioner, student, and teacher. You know how we surfers laugh at adult learners who "want to surf for a season" or something equally ridiculous? Well she thinks people who "want to do yoga for six months" are equally worthy of ridicule, and she's merciless about it too. It's all in with BKS or there's the fucken door.

I’ve had a couple of stuttering attempts at learning yoga previously, but just when I start getting into it I’ve relocated and it’s always faded away.

Hopefully not this time. Cause I’m starting to walk like the tin man out of wizard of Oz.

Do you get into yoga , Stu ?

I wore my mat around my neck like a cape on the way there and sweated so much that the instructor must have suspected I had a kilo of heroin ballooned in my date.

So yeah , I’m feeling that adult learner vibe too.

I have irregularly practiced hatha yoga with the same teacher for about 10 years now. I also regularly practice a home based yoga/pilates program Ryan Huxley once sold on-line out of Byron. All those years ago my yoga teacher asked why yoga to which I said improved flexibility smiling. We both laugh about this now because that's what everyone says but along the way students find their breath. The physical practice matched to an easy breath. And that's why yoga is mostly always imperfect but easy.

As a 15 year, 6 day a week practicitioner of yoga, I'd suggest the hardest thing for most "adult learners" to find is an actual authentic yoga class. The shit they sell to the masses now via insta/FB is just a rebranded, whored out exercise version of a few asana poses. The "all in" approach of your wife Stu, has its merits in that it weeds out the modern, inauthentic, come when you like approach of most of the crap you're served up these days. If it requires a commitment, it usually comes from a authentic lineage.

It must be the pants

https://www.social-consciousness.com/2017/06/vaticans-chief-exorcist-warns-that-yoga-causes-demonic-possession.html?fbclid=IwAR2DG_K8kTUadMUsHTZ402X2VzMJ-3Ets1GsCXOqlRHjjcyC3iE7UdghESQ

In Bali last year I got to have a session with a Balinese yoga teacher who was incredible. As you said , he stressed the importance of breathing correctly with a lengthy discussion and instruction at the start then constant reinforcement during the session.

He took time to let me adapt to each pose whilst still maintaining flow and not letting me slack off. Great teacher who came to my hotel for 2 hours session one on one - $15.

The chick I saw this morning was very nice but a bit less onus on breathing and feeling each position properly. Maybe she was over beginners despite the pleasantness ?

Either way , still only $15 for one on one session of 1 1/2 hours.

I’ll need to get up more hours than the engine of the Indian Pacific in order to get any good at it . If I learnt anything this morning it’s that I really , really need to do something about my flexibility.

Hopefully she hangs around for a while so I can get the hang of it to the point of carrying on solo. She’s only a 2 minute walk around the corner. Too convenient.

Nice sunny day yesterday. Bit of swell.

As pretty much usual this time of year.

A few more blow-ins maybe.

Thinking back, at the beach, round town, at the pub (ska band playing), no flags to speak of.

My town is a bit of an oasis, sure, so it's not that surprising. Still, it was noticeable by the absence.

Good barbie later. Lot of legit ledges and grand tales.

And tequila.

The window for this place reopens from tomorrow arvo .... yeah

[IMG]http://i66.tinypic.com/1222pi1.png[/IMG]

hey blown, how's the yoga going?
hey dave, how's your tassie trip going, an update on your adventures would be great.

Just picked up a lovely double-flyer Maurice Cole Watercooled singley from the ding repairer, been waiting to have it made watertight for a few years.

I reckon it's gonna ride reeeaaally well.
[img]https://imgur.com/ZGaEWDw.jpg[/img]
[img]https://imgur.com/ftwjmu1.jpg[/img]

It's either 6'5 or 6'6, the fin box had to be replaced and the dims were penciled just above there so it's a little hard to see with the extra glass.

Isn't it funny how older boards were only measured in length, no other dims provided? I assume you'd choose a board of your desired length, and then do the 'under the arm' test to see if it was really meant for you (which is still what I do these days anyway, regardless of what's on the stringer).

Aside from MC, it also has 616 written on the stringer, which I presume was the sequential number he was up to at that point.

That was my suggestion for the year it was shaped Ben. I surfed a lot of boards similar to that. It was the golden age of the single fin, with the flyers and a tuned fin they could have a tail that was narrow enough to avoid spinning out but wide enough to plane.

Ben has it got flutes on the flyers or are they just repairs?
I always liked the look of flutes under the flyers but could never figure out what they actually do.

Made the most of the flat conditions and got my biggest cray freediving today.
The thing put up a good fight way back on a ledge and I nearly gave up but kept at it and eventually got it in the bag. On the bbq tonight with a couple of beers and life’s good!
Speared some Sweep too but the cray was much more exciting.

Grateful for our summer in Welly. So much surf, and lots of A-grade days.

Terima kasih banyak!

The orders are rolling in
https://www.smh.com.au/education/sydney-teenager-designs-shark-proof-wetsuit-20190205-p50vrc.html

Morg - yeah it's got flutes! Not sure what they do, but they certainly look purdy.

Twice the fun paddling out with a new board under you arm , even if that board is 40 years old . It’d be hell fun taking that thing for a spin , Ben.

Shapers are lucky in that they’re providing fun , thrills and memories that can have functional lives spanning decades worth of different waves , breaks and riders.

I'm really excited about giving it a whirl, but am waiting for the right kind of wave (don't wait to taint my first impression by taking it out in bumpy surf). Kinda reminds me of my old man's Brothers Neilsen down railer that I learnt to surf on.

Also need to find a fin, or work out how to remove the original (I think?) fin from the box that was removed - someone had glassed it in!

Shit winds , overcast and I’ve had a good run lately, so it wasn’t too much of an ask to look after old mate during the day as the women folk went out for a wild knees up . I had a longneck in waiting for after I’d been relieved of my shift. As time marched down towards beer o’clock , the old fella found his voice and started describing how he wished he was still able to move , not leap from tall buildings or run down Black Caviar , just simply move his limbs on request.

Something we all do without any real consideration or appreciation, I take it for granted much too often .

So when the ladies got back chirpy from their extravagant cocktail doused lunch date , rather than crack that delicious, cold Coopers red , i put the old boardies on and did two hours of beach sprints , burpees , push ups , swim sprints and finished with some yoga.

No one around on the beach, water warm and for once it’s not stinking hot. Now I’m showered , tucking into a veggie stir fry and feeling like a God walking the Earth.

A very tired , stiff God to be honest. And it feels incredible just to be able to move whilst I’m still able . Grab it with both hands people, you never know when your last unassisted step is going to be.

Fuck ,that beer is going to be sooooo good.

Is that just the Amyl talking , Stu ?

https://youtu.be/xwTE3hVxiAc

In too short boardies with a rogue nut making the odd guest appearance during downward dog.

Facto, if it's like the one at the bottom of the Bowlo at the worst best point wave in NSW, then good luck to you, haha!

Same spot Craig : post surf lunch time flathead and chips + cold schooner = Happiness

But really , it’s all about the surf club cafe - does a macadamia cream chia bowl with fruit and pastachio nuts that you’d eat straight out of the urinal at the public toilet across the park if that’s where they were serving it. Incredible.

"In too short boardies with a rogue nut making the odd guest appearance during downward dog."

I was feeling the love until you put that picture into my head

Touche Blowin, great feeds from the Surf club. Though I'm partial to the bakery and it's breaky stack and chocolate donuts.

"Facto, if it's like the one at the bottom of the Bowlo at the worst best point wave in NSW, then good luck to you, haha!"

The good news is certain states - Australian footy states - don't really have bowlos and RSLs and such. We don't have rugby league either for the most part. Happy daze!!!!

Good food in my town though. Otherwise you're cooked.

Surf club cafe still got that super uptight lady there?
Think she might own the business.
Hasn't stopped me from buying coffee there but she cracks me up.

Yeah Facto, I'm from South Oz and when people here said they were heading to the "Arry" to watch the footy, I was baffled. In SA they're just rent-a-halls but here they're life-sucking casinos.

Gerringong Film Society set out the foldback chairs on the polished wooden floor of the Town Hall last night. Film they chose was 'Backtrack Boys' and my wife wanted to see it, hence the li'l trip down the coast.

Was chatting to a mate of mine a few months back about issues my eldest boy was having and the advice from BD was competely unexpected. "Get a dog," he said. Moderates kid's tempers, calms them down, acts as a circuit breaker, these were all part of his explanation. So as I've reported elsewhere on here we got a dog, Maxy Walker, and he's been fantastic for all of our boys.

Reason I'm saying this is cos 'Backtrack Boys' follows a fella called Bernie who's set up a program in Armidale for severely troubled boys. "First step is to keep them alive," says Bern. "Then keep them out of jail. Then we chase their dreams."

Core of his program, which was widely discredited by govt agencies, is that each boy gets a dog for which they're responsible. They're shown how their energy affects the dogs and it's the first time they've considered their own energy, leave alone how it affects others. They also train the dogs and take them on the road to various shows.

It's pretty grim stuff at times, a thousand demographic miles from my white bread life, but a fantastic film to watch. To see how programs outside of the bleak institutional path can have positive outcomes. And also how bloody good it is for young kids to have a dog.

Told my mate BD about it and he's gonna try and play it here at the local community hall.

Very positive news Stu, perhaps you have heard of this guy https://www.stevebiddulph.com/Site_1/Home.html

My son's a man now so it's been a while but followed Steve's approach. One of his big things back then was boys need excellent male teachers in primary school in particular. This topic can quickly get into gender politics because in some ways education has become too feminised - curriculum and % of women teachers to men. Luckily my son had outstanding male teachers all through his education and in his sport as did my daughter.

Yeah, I've read a bit of Biddulph, who has some great ideas but needs an editor to better express them. More my fault than his, I guess. Too picky.

Speaking of: Just spent the last few hours on the rocks at the local showing the boofs how to rock hop through the inter-tidal zone, ("Stop when the whitewash hits, wait for it to subside and you get a view of the rocks in front, then move until the next whitewash hits.")

Few tentative moments alone on a shelf with a set hitting, but no bark lost and puffed chests on the way home.

Nice mentoring, did the real hands on practical rip lesson today myself. OK you are in it, do you remember which way to swim to get out? Are you calm? Is it really that bad? A nice result, sometimes being there is the best teacher.

And yep Biddulph really helped when I was a young dad, the question I was asking was 'OK how do you do this?' The wild spirit of Man, grounding initiation in nature - that's still really good stuff today. About to do the 1st road/surf trip with the youngest. It all adds up.

Stu, literary offshoot was the work of Robert Bly, very different to the online Men's groups today...

I’m not sure if your kids read , but I lost my shit on these when I was a young fella https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willard_Price's_Adventure_series

If your boys are into nature these might strike a chord.

https://www.thriftbooks.com/a/willard-price/408994/

One of my favourites- if I remember correctly- made it into the 100 best boys books of all time list.https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Sea_Adventure

Raising three boys has been the given me some of the most frustrating, challenging, rewarding and joyful experiences ofmy life - hard to put into words. Having great people around me has helped.

https://pathwaysfoundation.org.au/ - provided the space to stop, support and celebrate my sons stepping into manhood.

https://ritesofpassageinstitute.org/product/the-making-of-men/ - good practical guidance on supporting the journey from boy to man.

Surfed with two very large orca today. Was suiting up, totally focused on the nice rip bowl out in front, when I noticed cars pulling over and people milling out.

Huge bait ball and lots of sea birds, and in the middle two orca. Paddled out towards them, but never got close, so back to the waves. All of a sudden they were pretty close, maybe 30m away, but fully focused on hunting. Magic experience.

Fun waves, too.

I had a prick of a day yesterday, dog ran away, kids fighting, and Craig's posting photos of fresh runs in Colorado while I'm doing his job. Had enough. Did a kid swap with a mate: our eldest came to my house in the afternoon, youngest went to his.

He took them down the point for a swim while he emptied out his pots. When I picked up the kids he passed me a good size lobster for dinner. The kids already wanted Mexican for dinner so lobster tacos it was.

Nah , I just love seafood and I love Mexican. Combine the two particularly using freshly caught seafood and it’s on .

Eaten a fair bit of crayfish but best ever was cooked by a bloke at the Bluff (81 I think) that I picked up (cray not the bloke) during the day.

He used his own special sauce crumbed and fried was unbelievable.

He was from the Gong just finished a stint on the cray boats in Gero (he didn't eat cray) was travelling with a dog that wasn't his and got to bang a hot girl from NSW while at the Bluff (chances out that zillion to 1).......don't make them like that any more.

Pretty good surfer as well

he probably cooked her a crayfish dinner and served it with a couple of glasses of chilled sparkling.

that would go someways towards increasing your odds.

Just scored an hour of cool chest high runners by myself at a spot that is usually pretty well populated. Gotta be lucky sometimes!

[img]https://i.ibb.co/BnqxsKs/6-A4-DBB0-B-F8-E8-4-B7-F-91-CB-016896-FB9178.jpg[/img]

Not the peak I was surfing, but just a photo of a fun mini- peak from December. Such good fun. Nothing Earth shattering in terms of length , size or any other measure really , but when you score one to yourself you can catch 20 waves in an hour and have a ball. Standing on the sandbank between waves.

Few fish lurking on that inshore gutter too.

Similar for myself. Went for a stroll and noticed a beautiful little mini peak groomed by the wind which was offshore in this spot. Warm , clear water and not a single other surfer to be seen. Had the no-leggie joy session alternating lefts and rights for a couple of hours on a voluminous fish.

Blissfully buggered now.

The colour has been touched up because the photo came out flat. The reality was much nicer ! It looks green when it was crystal clear.

Yep.

Made sure I dropped in on him first wave. He sure seemed unhappy about it . Probably nothing compared to when he went in and found I’d waxed his windscreen and taken a steaming dump on his bonnet.

In reality he was happy to have a bit of company. Some big fish swimming around in those parts. He said as much.

[img]https://i.ibb.co/xfS7Ss3/5-A6508-CE-9091-476-D-8660-8-A686-FAF12-B7.jpg[/img]

It’s pissing down rain here. The relentless bucketing days I dream about whereby it’s nice to just curl up with a book or a movie and gladly indulge in a bit of hibernation.

Thought today of all days that an extra bit of good news wouldn’t go astray. So I’m putting up this old photo of one of the sweetest days surfing I’ve ever had the privilege of enjoying. Rocked up with a mate to see one bloke in a line up which looked like barrels made of blown glass. The water was almost too transparent on some waves. It’s damn clear water when the lip is casting a shadow on the bottom .Good times.

Yes , I do love a lineup shot at an unidentifiable and undisclosed location . True surf porn.

Remember this thread? Some good photos.

https://www.swellnet.com/forums/f-stop/101456

Was almost gonna post a photo that makes me happy, but then I recall this passage I read in a recent Stab article:

"There aren’t that many new waves. At least since Mick’s discovery in 2017. If you can provide the new perfect aquatic canvas for Mick, Mason and Gabs, your contract is now justified. I heard Rippy paid an unnamed South African big wave surfer a healthy chunk of change for The Snake. It seems like all the brands have caught the 'experience' bug and are pushing the adventure side of things. Like exploring? Are you somewhat self-sufficient? Know how to put a trip together? You could have something there."

Here’s a photo which makes me happy :

[img]https://i.ibb.co/HqhV4Wp/5-FA86503-C120-4209-9-A47-B1819-C7-CF975.png[/img]

Lived in this house for a couple of summers. The place cost $100 a week to rent. It came with a couple of Jason recliners , the likes of which I’d never seen before. Surf / dive / fish / swim or whatever then kick back with your feet up , a bowl full of local green and watch the day drift away out the back .

Hardly any one around. A sensitive artist and his Spanish lady lived next door. We got into their routine of long lunches. She’d cook paella and we’d drink wine and smoke hash joints whilst we listened to Edith Piaf and Buena Vista Social Club . She had a thing against yuppies , only she pronounced them “ juppies “ . I didn’t disagree with her.

Me and the artist would catch King George whiting straight out the front. Dive for abs and crays. I got a bit of work on a cray boat , my missus worked at the bakery. Our neighbor got a commission to make driftwood timber fish . He had a worm farm and we’d get stoned and stand next to it , talking worms and gardening like some people stand next to the BBQ talking footy.

I grew some plants in the bush behind us. One night I got pissed and thought I’d go water them under the full moon , got completely lost and it took a couple of hours stumbling till I got my bearings.

Living is the best thing ever.

Hey Stu.

The photo you were going to put up wasn’t from your Spot X was it ?

Ha ! Must be killing you not being able to share the love. But you’re right not too. Here’s some good news .....You can send me the photos if it’ll relieve some of the tension Stu. I won’t tell a soul.

Surprisingly grunty ground swell hit yesterday, lighting up all the interesting spots, and today’s been unreal, too.
Many hours at my beloved local.

As a bonus, I clocked up session number 365 in a year (actually in 352 days). Not easily achieved in these parts, especially without succumbing to a longboard. Stoked.

For at least the last 15 years I've not taken more than 3 weeks off at any one time.

Today is the first day of a 10 week break and I've got so much to do.

On top of this fact I just read Ben's Forecaster Notes.
"Stacks of swell ahead; windows of good winds to boot ".

You booty!

I love autumn.

Just began a train journey back up the coast. What was going to be a chilled journey turned nightmare when the seat next to me was filled with a massive woman . More than filled really. Overflowing with the size of this woman.

The train guard checking our tickets realised my plight and returned after doing his rounds to politely and diplomatically suggest that there was a spare seat amongst the otherwise full train in the next carriage.

So stoked. Now it’s back to being a fun experience as opposed to a hellish test of endurance .

That bar car must be open by now.....

Well, that is good news.

For the unnamed woman.

Maybe she's commenting on an 'ironing and miscellaneous housework' blog at this very minute about how she dodged a bullet too.

And we're all lucky there's such good reception on the ol' train.

Junior Goof has arrived and may be checking out his first Rip Curl Pro this Easter.

Start em young!

Thanks Craig, if by stoked you mean a sleep deprived zombie then hell yeah im super stoked ha ha

Congratulations.

Stoked for you mate. Watching bells ? Bugger could be winning it in 2037.

Awesome GF...hard work from here on with way less time in the water. Thankfully the little ones are all worth the sacrifice. Some golden times ahead mate...enjoy!!

Congrats GF. The highs are real high but the lows can be real low. Go with the flow.

Congratulations to you and your missus GF awesome news.

No matter the ups and downs from here on you have entered a new life well travelled but never regretted a new realm of emotions only accessed through parenthood............there maybe less barrel time how ever.

Congrats GF. A new chapter in your life, maybe a little less surfing in the short term but you’ll have a whole new appreciation for the sessions you do get. And what you miss is more than made up for by the little guy:

Looks like Jokowi has secured his second term, which is good for Indonesia and it's people and anyone going to Indonesia.

Westofthelake must either be on single parent duty or ill or both.
It's common for upfront tradies paying off mortgage to take only a week off/yr.
tbb also never had more than 2 weeks off a year for about 15 years.

Now Ben daydreams waveoftheday dreamrides for Westofthelake's dreamboat.
Post only picture perfect Postcards please...

Autumn reminder!...Huey rewards those timing tide with wind & swell patterns.
tbb admits his dreamrun of waves came outta the blue...now gifting gems to all.
~~~~^~~~~/`~~~~//`~~~/(`~~~/((`~~~/(C`..[ crew )~~~/(C`..[ crew )~~~/(C`..[ crew )

Guys, this is a non political forum topic, can you please take your discussion elsewhere, thanks

"Looks like Jokowi has secured his second term, which is good for Indonesia and it's people and anyone going to Indonesia."

What a relief!

The way politics has been heading I had real concerns for a possible prabowo president.

Good for indo, oz, and all...

Yeah nothing much more to say, but just wanted to continue the politics conversation.

I mean really dude????.....one comment from us both...we are not having a big political discussion, just acknowledging good news.

You'll cop a lot of advice, welcomed and otherwise, about the business of babies, but here's one thing I'll tell you: Their stance isn't concrete as kids. Two of mine still haven't decided if they're natural or goofy.

Congrats Goofy and Mrs Goofy, well done and enjoy! Our young ones were running round the 2003 RC Pro in horned beanies, haha! Entire family is natural, I wonder if it's genetic?

Have fun!

There's been generally shite banks down my way for months now, but today's clean E/NE swell just couldn't be denied and two sessions at the local bookended a fantastic day. Coupla mellow sessions in boardies warm waters, bit of Bunninglingus and a dig in the garden, now I'm swishing some microbrewery beer around in my mouth like it's fucking Grange Hermitage while the cockatoos get raucous in the tree across the driveway.

Good on ya.

I’m surfing the XXXXX XXXXX as it’s got a sneaky bank and it’s overlooked by the ridiculous crowds which have hit town. It was only a few days ago I was remarking how uncrowded this Easter felt.

Turns out every bastard was waiting for the second week.

A gorgeous time of year. Warm water with a nice bit of rain getting around. The wisteria is starting to go a bit yellow so you know what’s coming.

Installed a new sounder in the Sea Wok, fixed up a few dings in the boards and changed the wax jobs. Feel like a new man.

3.55 metres with a 15hp.

It’s just fast enough to outrun Sea Shepherd.

[url=https://ibb.co/Fz9p2SR][img]https://i.ibb.co/5LdZmNb/90-FCF979-8975-4-F3-E-AAAA-199-BC1-EB85-B8.png[/img][/url]

It made the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs*

*Never go full nerd

Good news? https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/apr/23/high-number-of-young-voters-create-record-enrolment-rate-of-968-for-election?CMP=soc_567&fbclid=IwAR2ReJU0sZUgzRra8xHaMcaVn8Ojoh1N1w74SpA1W7vlFmgSOcyLi1RHaM4

Dead YES/NO schoolkid voters need scores of no name candidates to vote for.
Come next week there won't be any Liberal candidates left running.(Good news!)
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/apr/22/liberal-mps-erase-partys-name-and-logo-from-election-campaign-material

The fools have got form regarding this, TBB. Let's cast our minds back...

https://m.huffingtonpost.com.au/2016/05/09/malcolm-turnbulls-new-logo-is-missing-one-important-thing_a_21374129/

Good news! (It's been a while)

I had my best surf in ages today.
3 -5 ft, groomed, and relatively uncrowded.

Paddled out and scored wave of the day straight up. I remember it well. The rest were just a bonus.

All things considered I got my fair share.

Days like these are the gold we seek.

The cropped mobile pic doesn't do it justice. The sets were twice the size, but became more intermittent as the morning wore on..

[img]https://i.ibb.co/pfjgnmd/20190508-190321.jpg[/img]

Great stuff WOL. It was a bit smaller and windier here today after two great days around 6ft. I went out and grabbed a few fun ones before the tide ran out. A chill out day tomorrow might be the go!

Liverpool smashing Barcelona 4-0 at Anfield to make the Champions League final! Doesn't get much better than that! YNWA

Great stuff, BB. And c'mon Brighton vs Man City! We will beat Wolves.

The last time we won the league was the first time I went to the UK! Saw the last game of that season: Us vs Arsenal at Highbury. Great days.

YNWA

Great stuff facto. A lot more silverware to come I reckon. It was a funny sort of game. After that early penalty Liverpool just kept it tight at the back and didn't drive forward as hard as usual but they still created the best chances. Tottenham looked toothless in front of goal and probably should have started with Moura. Good to see Joe get a run at the end! YNWA

You might not want to get too close to Facto , BB.

We’ve finally located a proper homophobe for you to attack. Check the Marges Pro discussion where he has a little stab at my gay brother. The fact that he’s also got Parkinson’s doesn’t stop Facto from having his dig.

What a man !

In the words of Eminem, Facto - “ He May be gay , but you’re a faggot !”

Good news? Great fun waves this morning! A bloke fishing off the rocks, a couple of long distance beach walkers and surfers? Just me!

Good news, we recieved a great early season dump last week and turned the Main Range into a winter wonderland. Me and two mates, the highest people in the country on Friday and Saturday evenings, finding good snow in the mountain lees..

View this post on Instagram

What a day and the first day of June!!! @tysonmillar sliding into some sweet winter goodness

A post shared by Craig Brokensha (@craigbrokensha) on Jun 1, 2019 at 2:27am PDT

Sweet Craig. Love the fact you're earning those turns as they say and also not forking out the daylight robbery that is a daily lift ticket in Australia.

Have you still got the Hello Kitty thermals?

Yes I do Zen, haha but don't use them.

Here's a few shots from the weekend, the sunset colours and scenes Saturday night were other worldly. Like walking on the moon!

[img]https://i.imgur.com/OQZPgs9.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/fi3IDH5.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/qp2zq2P.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/qqcBf8Q.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/XOjQRrr.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/k5uNp89.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/1d3WPFP.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/qyHDQxP.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/BQ5Ek62.jpg[/img]

Defies logic that you can sleep on the snow in a tent and still be warm.
What's the process and gear needed in getting a good nights sleep?

Yeah it blows me away still UL to know you can be comfortable in such extreme conditions where otherwise you wouldn't last half an hour.

If you had an alpine sleeping bag (mine is rated comfort to -9) on pure snow you'd freeze, but you add in a $10 yoga mat and blow up insulated mat and you're fairly comfy. Just wear thermals and maybe a puffy if getting cold.

So just a 3-4 seasons tent for protection from the wind (not cold) then the rubber mat, insulated blow up mat and sleeping bag...

One of these might come in handy too to stay warm.

Just sayin'.

https://thumb1.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/2978116/351308960/stock-photo-beauty-mode-girl-in-winter-forest-beautiful-young-woman-in-fashionable-fur-coat-and-leather-gloves-351308960.jpg

In the background of the last photo yes, we rode Tennison bowl and went to Carruthers late but it was a little low tide and the icey climb out looked sketch with the fading light. Needed boot crampons which I left back at the car.

Craig, about to buy a sleeping mat for below the snow line 3-4 season hiking and have been looking at Thermarest from Paddy Pallin or Bogong Equipment in Melbourne. I know nothing about the one you have linked, what's your experience with them? highly recommended?

Yeah the Klimat ones are cheaper and I've had no issues at all with mine. Looks like the Klimat has a higher R-value and actually packs down a little smaller length(height) wise. Only being 50g heavier as well. I recommend the Klimat.

Craig thanks for sharing those photos......maybe swellnet needs to bring out a coffee table book...?

Interesting how the layers work in keeping the frozen ground away from a warmish sleep, cheers

Yeah it's all about insulation from the cold.

Tyson Millar took these amazing shots from the weekend, first out camp and the second me skinning up on sunset Friday evening..

[img]https://i.imgur.com/pgrVm1r.png[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/skHPbjr.png[/img]

Great shots.

The snow camping looks pretty rugged. You keep a bottle handy or duck outside when nature calls?

Little Austria there in the background? That skinning pic brings back memories - en route to Carruthers? Magic pics. Looking forward to a great BC season.

No, fark, I had to piss 2x on Friday night as I got really low on water and sugar and skulled half a litre before bed. Had to get up twice in the night, bare feet on snow in the freezing cold!

McBain, Carruthers in the background (my fav runs!). We camped near the Tennison saddle, lens compression throws off the terrain a bit.

Cool (literally).

Maybe you could pack a pair of Crocs, super light and may help if you have to duck outside.

Final questions- you come across any other groups up there and what's your contingency if a blizzard comes through?

btw, looks like an amazing experience, you really must know you're alive when surrounded by all that.

why are the politico forums not appearing on front page? The surfing community has ALWAYS prided itself in being at the forefront of social and political issues.

SD, I posted an explanation a week ago on this page: https://www.swellnet.com/forums/politico/459916?page=5

Thanks Ben... Appreciated.. I'm very busy work wise, and not on as much as I used to be. Plus u have pay walled your forecast notes, where I used to put my 2 bobs worth in from 40 years of ocean watching in Qld. So I dont check the page that much.
Its your choice, your baby. Your income. I get that. I disagree with your stance. As I said, the surfing community (Australian surfing community in particular), has ALWAYS been a hotbed for political expression. And for the years I have been here, your own editors have been at the forefront of promoting political debate, which imo is a great thing.
Were u one of the "silent tories"? Is this your way of stifling debate? Putting it on "page 32"? ;) :p
You see that the ABC is being raided as we speak, as was NewL reporter Annika Smethhurst.
Anyhow, good luck with your decisions, Ben. Thanks again . Bye

Zen, funny you say that, one of the other guys we were with had Crocs!

And me and my mates forecast the weather, so the likelihood of being caught in a blizzard should be low. We're very familiar with the terrain and locations even with them being so expansive and also use Gaia GPS tracking which would help getting out in a white-out. We've got a sat phone for emergencies as well.

Other groups, there are a core crew who hit it like us and I think there were 5 other people out there getting the terrain we were. We were the only guys camping though, four highest people in all of Australia :D

Sheepy.

Just go on the threads you want anyway. They’re still there. Dribble still occurs.

At first i didn't like the idea of political threads not showing up on front page, but now I'm looking at it as a positive.

I tend to post on what every threads hit the front page and finding myself not commenting on the political stuff as much anymore, which is good in a way as, it's same shit different day and much of gets negative.

Had to laugh though on the post "thermalben" made on the subject in there, thinking the political topics would calm down after the election, that was pretty hopeful thinking especially after Scomo was re-elected.

“This is what they have under construction right now in India for solar; 225 gigawatts. They are not going to continue with coal. You want to sell coal to India? Good luck with that … May I just say, this is nuts. But I doubt [Adani] is ever going to happen anyway.” Al Gore

If he is right that is good news.

Al Gore hasn't been right about many of his predictions yet.

Even if India doesn't build any new coal fired power plants they still have many recently built and many that wont close down for decades, Adani and others want our coal because there is a demand, they're a business they're not stupid.

BTW. You might find that proposal is possibly an Adani project, they are the biggest private Indian power suppler and already have one of the largest solar farms in India (i think one of the largest in the world) plus one of the largest in Australia with more planned.

Hey Stu and Ben, you know what'd be good news?
If we had some sort of political chat back on the front page of this website.

Why are we not talking about how the LNP have turned a distinctly fascist corner with their targeted raids on media?

Why are we not talking about how an outlet such as the New York Times has an article called "Australia May Well Be the World’s Most Secretive Democracy"?

Andy......Stu and Ben are part of the grand conspiracy to crush free speech.....hang on there is a knock at the front door :-)

I'm outraged, outraged I tell you! Ben and Stu are clearly puppets of neoliberalism and the MSM.

Seriously though, surely what I'm talking about is Quite A Big Deal?

Yeah sorta, but it's question of where they are and how they're accessed.

Anyway, I'll leave it at that.

glad to hear that stu - the political threads are a boring pain in the arse that i usually ignore and occasionally dip into, but in the current climate (and even not in the current climate) the idea of 'kind-of disappearing' them is interesting. i understand the rationale, but still ...

the 'good news' bit of this post:

the betoota advocate has been doing an excellent run of stories on the recent afp raids over the past few days. hard to pick a highlight but the following are up there

AFP Headquarters Erupts Into Laughter After Someone Suggests Raiding A Current Affair

Sky News Announces Dedicated Newspeak Channel Exclusively For Doubleplusgood Australians

Prospective Whistleblower Picks Up A Will Kit Before Sending Leaked Documents

Prime Minister Assures Journalists If They Have A Go, They’ll Get A Go, In Prison Lol

https://www.betootaadvocate.com/

On the home page, why couldn't you re -format the 'In the Forums' notifications like the 'Latest Comments' section? i.e you only see who comments, not the first three lines of their comment.

And I guess if you want to maintain diversity you could limit the Politico threads to a few of the five available slots you have now?

Oh and I guess in order to eliminate the scroll fest comments would need to be linked from home page.....actually it would be great if the Latest Comments section had this functionality...but I'm pretty sure you know this already.

Anyway the good news is you're obviously working on it, and I understand the reasoning behind the decision to 'hide' them.

Anyone wondering about Adani ought to watch this 4 corners story from 2017

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CTv3UBQKYRA

Totally corrupt

X 2 lostdoggy. Fantastic win and she appears to be very grounded and humble. Hopefully those other two fruitloops were watching and learn something.

Why Ash won.

https://www.betootaadvocate.com/breaking-news/link-established-between-winning-grand-slams-and-not-carrying-on-like-a-fucking-pelican/

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/scientists-warn-ancient-desert-springs-may-dry-up-under-adani-plan-20190608-p51vqn.html

More on why Adani ought not to proceed

Sunny and nice warm (relative) blustery winds here today. You've got to enjoy the warmth when it comes.

So, is this thread now the political one? That would be a shame. Can we keep the political discussion in the political threads? Maybe Stu can enable visible text for all the other threads on the front page, but if it's the political stuff then only the username making the comment?

(Agree GS btw)

Politics and good news!

Dunno if this has got a run on Swellnet but to me it's an exemplary bit of leadership - she's on $AU 425,000 so it seems like a great call.

"New Zealand politicians have decided they're already paid pretty well and will urgently introduce a law blocking their own wage rise, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says."

https://www.smh.com.au/world/oceania/jacinda-ardern-turns-down-12-000-pay-rise-as-nz-government-freezes-mp-pay-20180821-p4zyq2.html

& here's a beautiful story:

https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/stories/hummingbird-rescue-michael-cardenaz-returns-georgia

what a kindness and what a response.

Thank you Blowin. I've got more.

We're all obsessed with sandbanks here, right? Well, check this out:

https://www.livescience.com/40132-underwater-mystery-circles.html

The Gary G of fishes.

"It's a surfboard label, they use a lot of religious iconography, pretty subversive too."

"Not only is it ugly, it's derivavtive. Caravaggio did that 500 years ago. Are you gonna get a tribal tattoo as well?"

If you were going to get a tribal tattoo, which tribe would you go for ?

Maori ? Noongar ? Korubo ? Maasai ? Boston Irish ? Revesby Houso ?

I’m thinking of getting my Telstra contract number inked across my forearm as it represents the most unifying subgroup in Australia today. We’ve clearly won the turf war over those Optus fucktards .

Modern allegiances.

Daily good news ? Suns out , wind is light and everyone has gone back to work ....what’s not to love ?

Haha, sounds brutal Stu, she's clearly not someone to be trifled with.

Calling it subversive must have been like a red rag to a bull.

I've got one of these shirts. My wife refuses to accompany me outside the house when it's worn.

Funny thing is it looks like a doom-metal band, but they're just a bunch of guitar indie nerds.
[img]https://imgur.com/NDFTI8K.jpg[/img]

Cool band, Ben.

I find this one more problematic to wear in general public spaces than the Big Black one!

[img]https://i.ibb.co/hfcSfML/dwarves.jpg[/img]

Dunno why?!

Wow, Stunet, tough supervisor. And because of that tee-o?

How would you go with this one, ya reckon?

[img]https://i.ibb.co/V3DqVrd/big-black-t.jpg[/img]

And re: 'fake tribal' tough stickers, surely the two biggest tribes sporting them in Oz, the 'Steroidal Gym Monkeys' and 'FIFO Grubby Subbies', deserve a mention?

The good news?

They do inter-marry.

Actually, I dunno what kind of news that is.

Modern allegiances, indeed!

Talking about T-shirts one thing that did impress me about the new Labor leader is a pic of him in a Celibate riffles T-Shirt when young.
https://www.facebook.com/TheCelibateRifles/photos/a.140078479358943/2511296108903823/?type=3&theater

Old mate had a black T-shirt made up, in big yellow letters on the back he had security printed on the front insecurity. He wore it well being a black belt.

The moon always grabs me, I got this image yesterday evening as the sun set..

[img]https://scontent-syd2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/62549362_10156965495711328_7016376110820622336_o.jpg?_nc_cat=104&_nc_ht=scontent-syd2-1.xx&oh=c613687979c99a788cf8d90326ed66be&oe=5D8E9474[/img]

I did exactly the same thing Craig, pulled out the binoculars to check out the moon as the light began to fade. Sun was below the tree line here, but still shining brightly on the moon which made those craters in the top of the image stand out quite starkly. Almost perfect half moon.

It's called a "quarter moon" VJ. One quarter through the cycle. I love semantics.

Great news on renewables.
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2019/06/15/cannon-brookes-and-the-new-climate-guard/15605208008297

Great to see that guys like this exist - I'd call him a visionary but the whole scenario's too obvious to use that word.
So we can figure that we'll get there eventually with a rejection of fossil fuels but will it be a matter of too little too late.
And unfortunately it doesn't really address the problem that our political system is quite broken.

So heavy that the government can be an impediment to a better nation and a better world.

The good news is that the technology already exists and the economics increasingly favour renewables. In those circumstances the government should be irrelevant.

Considering that this is a good news thread, I cheerily agree with your first sentence Lozza!

Some more good news on the topic, per capita we have the highest uptake of roof top solar in the world almost certainly a result of government run incentives.

We have about 100 wind farms and sure many more to come, big solar farms getting built and more planned, ironically only the other week one of the biggest in Australia constructed by Adani just went onto the gird, but no one mentions this just the other Adani project.

We are on track at current rates to hit as high as 78% renewables by 2030

If it wasn't for our high immigration rates that keep moving the bar causing us to need more energy, things would be looking even better.

Bob Marleys legacy lives on..... mon.
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/how-bob-marley-s-daughter-got-jamaica-to-the-women-s-world-cup-20190614-p51xrc.html

I guess this is good news and quite a surprise.

NASA Says Earth Is Greener Today Than 20 Years Ago Thanks To China, India
NASA has some good news, the world is a greener place today than it was 20 years ago. What prompted the change? Well, it appears China and India can take the majority of the credit.

In contrast to the perception of China and India's willingness to overexploit land, water and resources for economic gain, the countries are responsible for the largest greening of the planet in the past two decades. The two most populous countries have implemented ambitious tree planting programs and scaled up their implementation and technology around agriculture.

More https://www.forbes.com/sites/trevornace/2019/02/28/nasa-says-earth-is-greener-today-than-20-years-ago-thanks-to-china-india/?fbclid=IwAR28pt_rtvCda9YG85mZS-Pgpq0LDYgGPMpnxaeAmTnhnVjGLhHHzPOL494#353375cb6e13

We all know the feeling of missing waves due to work , well maybe not all but I'm sure there's a few of us.
https://www.betootaadvocate.com/breaking-news/surfer-stuck-at-work-during-big-swell-rebels-against-societal-constructs-by-doing-fuck-all/

haha , cheers factotum. I'm late to the party as usual . keep up the good work.
At least the grommies are learning some proper skills in surf schools these days ,,
https://www.betootaadvocate.com/humans-of-betoota/surf-schools-final-lesson-teaches-students-how-to-fight-a-local-after-repeatedly-dropping-in-on-them/

Good news = Had the operation on my eye yesterday. From virtual blindness to very decent vision.

Was a revelation taking the patch off today. Such amazing colours !

A few little twerks going on on the periphery and some weird light flashes when the source of light is at an acute angle , but the improvement is so significant that these are minor issues.

Even a bit of magnification going down which gives ita bit of a Steve Austin vibe.

No surfing for two weeks ! I don’t care. It’s gong to be freezing cold and maybe even raining steadily . So it’ll be comfort zone , good food and chill out watching daily replays of the Brazzo Pro Claim Fest.

Probably put on a few well earned kilos in the duration. Get a nice winter coat happening.

Good times.

https://youtu.be/HoLs0V8T5AA

Great news Blowin! And not too long recovery time, re surf I think you will miss a bit ;)

I’ll come home strong in the back end of winter.

Assuming I’m still able to fit in my wettie.

Cataract on my right eye.

Perfect vision till a three day bender on wet season Indo glassy perfection cooked my eyeballs . You know those days when the midday sun is getting reflected off the mirror surface of a windless Indo day ?

Full sunburnt eyeballs. I’ve had it before, but not that badly . A couple of days away from the sun and the grainy feeling left my eyes but my vision started to blur in my right eye. Within three days my sight was reduced to undefined blobs of pale colour .

I've been legally blind in my left eye from birth- can only see light and colour but no definition. Hasn't really hindered me, still played footy and other ball sports ok. The only time it really annoys me is when you get those grey on grey sessions on dusk. I can't see the waves until they're almost on top of me.

Also, after battling this recurrent ear infection for the last decade, my doc confirmed a 50％ loss of hearing in my right ear.

So, basically half blind and half deaf.

At least I still have my looks.

Not to worry zen lots of voters in AU just proved they are fully deaf, dumb and blind.

{The Daily Good News} Scoop!
"Send Rupert out for some glossy front page ink!"
"Better grab a 6 pack for a Daily Good News Souvenir Edition!"...'That Good Huh?'

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06-21/ash-barty-three-wins-away-from-world-number-one-ranking/11233956

Swellnetonians salute World #1 Ashleigh Barty
The crew were behind you all the way! (Well played both girls).
Congratulations to our new most deserved World Champion.
Birmingham Classic (Final's score) 6-3 / 7-5.

#1 Ash' goes into Wimbledon as firm grass court favourite.
Wimbledon Junior Champ has what it takes...would she dare?
"Come join the Barty Party"...rock on Australian chix!

Good news today: got myself excused from jury duty, so should be able to get amongst that east swell next week. Fingers crossed there's a bank!

Pumping here all week, and I felt totally in tune with my Russ Short Bonzer.

Very happy.

It’s good news when you can just sit and watch the ocean , spotting whales and enjoying a coffee , without tearing your hair out thinking of the waves you’re missing.

Hope everyone else is getting a few on this fine winter’s day.

Bunch of possible reasons, Udo - for me it was pre-booked OS flights that would have taken place during the trial. Apparently they won't always accept that, but did for me.
Thing is, if you get excused, you go straight to the top of the call-up list again, so not always worth it.

I just watched “ The runaway Jury “ last night. Based on the John Grisham novel, it’s a story of a young couple imposing themselves into a jury and influencing the outcome of a trial for their own advantage.

It could be worth looking into if you’re given another opportunity to serve , Pops.

Appears very lucrative and quite possible if the movie is any realistic guide . And I can’t see why it wouldn’t be, Hollywood doesn’t lie.

Ha thanks Blowin, I'll check it out. And nah, I can't think of a single instance of hollywood ever being misleading...

Though having done jury duty once before, I'd say it really wouldn't be too hard for a juror to influence the outcome of a trial... not sure how convincing others to vote "murder" over "manslaughter" would lead to personal gain, though!

You’ll have to watch the movie or read the book.

I wouldn’t want to spoil the ending.

Funny thing jury duty selection. It's meant to be random selection yet me and my young bloke both got a call up on exactly the same date and ticket number (or whatever they call it).
Someone forgot to scramble their voters list I reckon!!!

It's a weird game for jury selection. I got called up 3 times in 18 months before 23 and my father who is 30 years older had never been called up at all. I sent a letter to the Sheriff or whatever they call the position that covers Jury jury pointing this out and and it was getting beyond a joke (especially for my employer). I got excused and been only called up once since (8 years later). Been 17+ years now without a call-up. Must have used up all of my invitations.

Yeah, but how many times have you FRONTED a jury? That's the real question.

Those sarongs didn't steal themselves.

Never fronted a jury brother, and to think otherwise is an affront (never affronted about the sarong).

And the prices I pick up the sarong's for in Bali, they are a steal.

I’m dying to shoehorn in my favourite joke about someone being charged with receiving swollen goods here guys.

Maybe somehow tie it in with Izzy’s appearance on the Star Observer ?

At least there has been no a-salt and battering..... Now you can palm your forehead.

Well the Good News is that there's a few laughs on the The Daily Good News thread, which is always a good thing.
Also, it's gonna be pumping from this weekend to next!
Hope you get a few Swellnet crew.

The good news isn’t that I am on the train heading to Sydney for work for the rest of the week, watching beautiful clean lines marching in to the coal coast.
The good news is my son heading off on a ten day road trip up to the north coast. Chasing waves and sleeping in his van wherever he pleases. Walking in the footsteps of many before him is great to see.

O night in Kiama. Tired and hungry. Local eatery Silico serving take away locally caught Blackish (Luderick) and chips . Delicious.
Word Warning! Don't refer to this fish by its old fashioned nickname to anyone under 35 (esp man bun types) or risk an indignant lecture about .............................

Great score.

Harder to come by locally caught fish meals these days than you’d think was possible.

How can it be cheaper to serve a shit fish from 7000kms away than a cheap local fish ? Bassa from Thailand is cheaper than mullet from the creek down the road .....how ?

"benefits" of globalisation.

but if I stand on the wrong side of a rock down here I'm a criminal for catching a tailor that swam into a marine park.

The worst ever was sitting at the Co-op at Illuka waiting for our fish and chips to cook , watching hundreds of wild , healthy fish swim around in the river at my feet and then being served defrosted shit from God knows where.

You’ve always got to ask if the fish is local , even when it seems ridiculous to do so.

Anyway, good news.....ate a delicious bit of self caught Coral trout for dinner myself. Last few pieces in the freezer.....which ain’t such good news.

"I hope it inspires small businesses to hold their own and tell people to fuck off,” says the righteous Whippy dude.

go the prawns from the Iluka co-op, you pay big bucks for them but nothing beats those kings from the Clarence.
fresh white bread, lettuce and mayo .....bingo.

Along the same lines:

“In 2014, chef Davide Cerretini advertised a special that would forever change his fate: Anyone who left his restaurant a 1-star review on Yelp would get 25% off a pizza.”

https://thehustle.co/botto-bistro-1-star-yelp/

How awesome is this :

“At times, the requests were particularly offensive. He said an assistant to a famous actor – a woman on a television show who he declined to name – recently asked if he would donate ice-cream to the cast and crew. In exchange, the actor offered to take a photo at his truck.

His response: “As much as I’d love to do that, I don’t think my kid’s school accepts celebrity photos as a form of tuition payment.””

Classic.

Freeride- If only I’d eaten the prawns . That was one of the worst dining experiences of my life . Not so much just the poor quality of the food , but the discrepancy between it and what I’d been expecting.

Utter disappointment.

Normally I’d go ballistic, but instead I was just deflated. Such a perfect arvo after good waves and then......battered dogshit from Egypt.

Quick stroll across to road for a beer at the cool little fisho’s pub turned things around.

PS Just remember trying Clarence prawns in Yamba a couple of years ago . Surfed Snapper, then your joint , then Angourie in consecutive days and celebrated with a longneck and prawns as you say.....fresh rolls with butter.

My mouth is watering now thinking about sweet , meaty prawns ....

https://youtu.be/CqT-AvswCZo

Not being very social media savvy those two articles are jaw dropping to a tech idiot like myself. HTF have we got to this evolutionary point in time as a human race that this kind of social behaviour is acceptable (except for an ice cream truck owner and pizza guy)
On the subject of plugging good seafood Skippers on the wharf at St Helens in Tasmania - Good News for your stomach all round!!!

And then there is this! Pretty vacant?
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2019/jul/04/meet-the-murfers-laid-back-mums-or-busy-brand-builders

Makes you wonder what daily problems the world dishes up to the murfing community!!! Be a hard life when the kombucha supply runs out.

Fish eye photos are a gas.

Surfers want more exposure of surf spots.

Chook searches for a 20 pound jalopy

More exposure of the Gold Coast.

More exposure of Vicco (to complete the mag)

Kid gets called a kook.

Midget is already old news in '63.

Classic. Everything's a gas (including Jumping Jack Flash - are you hip to my jive?).

Dennis Desmond from Brisbane and the Wilson brothers from Mexico, however... not so much of a gas (although Nat Young obviously thought it was a good idea and ran with it years later).

The last article in the mag is about the 1963 Australian Championships with 15-year old Nat Young winning. Not hard to join the dots.

Fist and foremost, thank you ED.

Having started reading Don Quixote de La Mancha, I was pondering the migration of language.

This article is a really good example of literacy levels of that time. Yes, there are (fad) colloquialisms, euphemisms that are funny because the context changes over time, but I wonder: are there deeper insights that this literature can provide -can we predict the future by looking at the past?

What do you think Stu? Has the average level of English deteriorated since 63?

Ayp

From Sydney Uni website. You may have read similar in the MSM as the tech develops.

Perhaps the only time Professor Thomas Maschmeyer (BSc(Hons) ’91 PhD ’95) doesn’t have his head full of research questions is when he’s mountain biking. “Trying not to come off a mountain bike as you scream down a hill is a pretty good way to keep your mind away from work,” he says.

Maschmeyer’s work is both fascinating and important. One aspect is based on a distressing premise: there are beaches in the world where no human has ever set foot that are covered in our garbage.

Most of it is plastic that spews from the rivers where it’s been dumped, often on an industrial scale. If you think things are bad now, it’s estimated that by 2050, there will be more weight of plastic in the oceans than fish.

But this article isn’t about the problem of plastic waste. It’s about a potential technological solution, which is already leading to the construction of a new kind of plastic recycling plant in the UK.

The technology is based on what’s called a catalytic hydrothermal reactor (Cat‐HTR), an idea originated by Maschmeyer and developed through his start‐up company, Licella. The process was and continues to be strongly supported by the University of Sydney and a highly skilled team of academics, scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs.

“People are excited by work that could make a real difference,” says Maschmeyer. “With my students, sometimes we have to tell them to go home because they’re working too much.”

What makes the Cat‐HTR process exciting isn’t that it can recycle plastic. It’s that it can recycle mixed plastics, often referred to as contaminated, end‐of‐life plastics. This is the material the Chinese recycling industry no longer accepts from the rest of the world because it is so hard to deal with.

To understand why mixed plastics are difficult to recycle, it helps to understand some basics about plastic itself.

The starting point for most plastic is crude oil, which is rich in carbon atoms linked as rings and chains. Each of the carbon atoms is connected to one or more hydrogen atoms. Collectively, these molecules are called hydrocarbons.

When the bonds between the carbon atoms or between the carbon and hydrogen atoms are broken, radicals are generated. By their nature, these radicals are exceptionally eager to bond with other molecules.

On the plus side, inventing new ways for these hydrocarbons to break and recombine has led to the dizzying array of fuels, chemicals and materials that underpin much of modern life, including a huge range of plastics with qualities like transparency, opaqueness, rigidity, squeezability, toughness, delicacy and all the other features that make plastic so endlessly useful.

Imagine if all our containers were still made of glass, pottery or metal. And how would electricity work if there were no non‐conductive plastics?

Now the downside. In conventional, ie, mechanical recycling, plastics can only be processed with other waste made of the same or very well‐defined mixtures of plastic. Using unsorted, random compositions of plastics gives unpredictable results, producing materials of no use to anyone.

That’s why plastics are sorted strictly into their six classes for recycling, and why most contaminated, end‐of‐life plastic, which makes up about 50 percent of the world’s waste plastic, is burned, sent to landfill or indeed dumped into rivers. Things would be so much easier if all types of plastic could be recycled together using a chemical route.

As Cat‐HTR Technology breaks plastics down into smaller hydrocarbon components, the system uses water and a mix of catalysts to prevent the intermediate radicals from reacting with each other. The resulting liquid is a stew of stable, distillable molecules that can be easily separated into high value components, ready for reuse.

Of all the current recycling methods, this ease of distillation – enabled by Cat‐HTR’s stable product mix – makes the process uniquely efficient.

Maschmeyer’s method also transforms waste plastic in another hugely significant way.

By converting it into saleable products like waxes, lubrication oils, fuels and gases, which can be used to make new plastics, the waste plastic itself is given monetary value. As Maschmeyer says, “Once you give something value, people look after it. They don’t toss it into rivers; they’ll try and do something with it.”

Considering the sheer volume of waste plastic choking the world that can now be monetised, it’s not surprising Maschmeyer’s work has attracted commercial interest. The plant in the UK is being built through an infrastructure investor, Armstrong Energy, and when it comes online, it will convert 20,000 tonnes of waste plastic annually.

And that’s only the beginning. Oil multinationals have expressed strong interest in the oil products the process can produce, and partnerships are being negotiated for more and bigger plants to open around the world, with the Finnish multinational and renewables leader, NESTE Oil, being the first official partner.

It’s an amazing place to be for Maschmeyer, especially considering where he started.

“People realise plastics are entering the food chain and we have a substantial problem,” says Maschmeyer.

Growing up in what was then the rough side of post‐Second World War Hamburg, Maschmeyer was the only youngster in his street to finish ‘Gymnasium’, Germany’s senior‐tier of schooling, topping most years. Following his Australian wife to Sydney, he started a double degree at the University of Sydney in science and engineering, later focusing entirely on science.

After his PhD, Maschmeyer worked in London, then Cambridge. He progressed quickly, which he credits to his Lutheran world view and protestant work ethic. By the age of 31 he was in the Netherlands and Head of the Department of Applied Organic Chemistry and Catalysis at the Delft Institute of Chemical Technology. He became Vice Chair of the whole institute a couple of years later.

Missing the hands‐on research he had enjoyed before his appointment to these senior roles, he decided to return to Sydney as a Federation Fellow.

“Also the kids started to support Dutch soccer teams. I had to put a stop to that,” he says laughing.

He hasn’t fully avoided senior university postings (until recently he was the Founding Director of the University of Sydney’s Nano Institute), but he now happily runs a research team, doing work that just earned him the “Australian Science Oscar” – the 2018 Eureka Prize.

“I have around 15 students doing work in all sorts of areas,” he says. “I think I’m quite good at spotting talent and getting people hooked on a particular journey. And of course, if they’re successful, I’m successful. So, it’s enlightened self‐interest, really.”

With the Cat‐HTR initiative well underway, Maschmeyer is pursuing numerous other high‐impact projects. His current research focus is on another revolutionary technology – a new generation of batteries for storing renewable energy. But that’s a whole other story.

Another aussie initiative dealing with another environmental issue - old tyres.
"Green Distillation Technologies is an unlisted Australian public company formed to solve the problem of dealing with billions of old tyres. GDT has developed innovative technology that converts tyres back into carbon, oil and steel, without producing emissions."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06-02/recycling-australias-tyre-piles/11169386

It’s no stretch to imagine a world where people are scrounging to discover the remnant plastics strewn through remote corners of the world following the initial gold rush of salvaging plastics as the technology is developed to reuse it.

Personally, I consider the current plastic problem to be as much aesthetic as anything else. No doubt whatsoever that the short - medium term future will not see plastic waste being an issue.

It’ll eventually come to the point of the microscopic particles being sieved from the oceans and soil in a similar manner to modern miners reworking the tailings of the mines from previous eras.

No doubt this voracious commercial hunt for remnant plastics will be detrimental to the inhabitants of the oceans , but that’s another problem for another set of eggheads to solve.

Interesting part of that Maschmeyer article is the "strong interest" of the oil multinationals. Seems they don't give 2 hoots about the damage their by-products are causing past & present, but as soon as those pesky by-products can be monetsied they start circling like a bunch of vultures. Sort of like someone taking a dump on your BBQ plate, getting someone else to turn it into a tasty rump steak then selling it to your neighbour.

Recently spent a few days down the south coast, including an arvo with a mate who, after twenty years living OS and elsewhere in Oz, has moved back down the coast. Not to the same town he's from, in fact where he lives now doesn't even register as a town, more a hamlet, but it is surrounded by an array of great waves so who cares about classifications. Paid way under Sydney's median house price for a 1.5 acre block with a creek as a boundary, big enough to fish in or paddle all the way to the coast if you didn't want to make the 5 minute walk.

Needs a bit of work to get it tip top, and he pointed that out to me during an inspection, though he also showed me the best places to catch the arvo sun, where he's putting the board racks, the beer fridge, not to mention the couches to sit and drink the contents of the beer fridge in the arvo sun as the roos hop across the backyard while the kids fish in the creek.

hahaha!! "got lost for a couple of hours"

Reminds me of the time I got really pissed in Hobart on the second day there and made friends with some local girls. Went back to their house, managed to offend one of them by saying that the nude art she'd made looked androgynous. Got kicked out in the middle of the night, totally lost, freezing cold and spent a couple of hours following ridgelines and valleys, faint lights of the city and my nose back into town where I stopped a bakery van on the side of the road at 4 am and he took me back into the city. Still disoriented and very cold, I found a band leaving a music venue and they then took me back to the hostel. A couple of hours rest later the fire alarm sounded and the hostel was on fire. We got hurried out and I was so drunk that I fell asleep on a bench outside until woken by the cold. Then, went looking for my car later that morning, had decided it was stolen and reported it as such to the police and insurance company. A little more wandering around the city and I found it, exactly in the place I left it.... Thought, man, you really gotta cut down on the hooch.

Jeez, that sounds pretty wonderful, Stu.

Really got the thinking hat on myself (and Ms Island Bay) these days, re places to live. Good weather, warmer water, quality waves, etc etc.

Been some great news around our house with the downfall of skinflint celebrity chef George Calombaris. Before my wife and I hooked up she was dating the chubby pie eater, meaning every single time I serve up my thrice-weekly bean burritos I'm forced to endure dramatic eye rolls and a sermon about how her life could've turned out so much differently. You better believe I took great joy forcing her to sit through Georgie's PR-scripted mea culpa with Leigh Sales, all the while comparing my generosity, how I give loose coin to buskers, wave when merging in traffic etc, while ol' pudding face squirmed away on screen.

Haha, classic Stu.
What a disgusting little worm that fella is, your missus certainly dodged a bullet.

Keep 'em coming fellas. I'm gonna show them to my wife and then do a bulk buy of El Paso.

Nah mate, a word from the wise .......... put it in the bank against future transgressions.

Holy shit , you’ve been given the gift that Keeps on giving. Time to put your feet up on the coffee table and start barking orders.

You’re a golden god compared to that melon headed little spiv. Don’t ever let the “ what could’ve been “ go forgotten.

His face tattooed on your chest wouldn’t be an ineffective or inappropriate psychological tool.

With a little good luck on your side you could be eating bean burritos 24/7.

It might be time to apply penalty rates if she wants to continue eating your bean burritos....

My wife reckons she dated Luke Egan.... I still don't believe her.

Byron bodysurfin' Whale hits the sweet spot. (Perfectomundo)
https://content.api.news/v3/images/bin/93d0ff905ab1654ee1e4478c23f85b00?width=650
Scroll down a few frames for take-off & more photos...
https://gramha.net/explore-hashtag/destinationbyron

Went to optometrist seeing floaters and black horizon.

Detached retina surgery that arvo (age related 1 in 10,000 odds)

This 11 weeks ago vitreous fluid sucked out, then laser, then gas bubble installed to push retina back into place (fully conscious but I was OK the anaesthetist, she held my hand) then life seen (not) through a bubble.

No psychical activity no driving nothing, nada, ficken torture.

My good news yesterday bubble finally went absorbed as vitreous fluid returns, today 1st surf still blind in the eye and I totally sucked but man it was good.

A result from the gas bubble is a cataract will require surgery within 6 months and then I find out where the sight ends up all good.

The technology is amazing, we really are lucky to live in this age.

Not a new photo , just a bit of surf porn.

I love this shit. That’s a freshly waxed , virgin surfboard at the start of a great day’s waves. Turned out to be one of the best boards I’ve ever ridden.

Now that’s some good times.

[img]https://i.ibb.co/L9xQR0h/6-E9-DB1-B8-AB1-C-4-CBB-B3-DD-5-ACA4-BB6-FAAF.png[/img]

You’ve already heard it.

Custom version of a stock model with slight dimensional adjustment and heavier glass.

Sadly , these days it’s a bruised , battered and broken remnant of its previous glory . Multiple incursions onto exposed reef and being subject to the destructive power of a vicious Dirk Hartog Island mini tornado will do that to even the most responsive super stick.

Still mentally debating whether to get it recreated or strike out into uncharted territory .

I miss it , but still see room for incremental improvement.

Seeing as this is a good news thread, I'll tell you what I think is good news.

Last week on a couple of slow surf days a mate and I took kayaks and camping gear and headed up into the bush south west of Grafton for a leisurely 22km paddle down the Nymboida River.
Even though the water level was low, the paddle was magic, just drifting down the river in the middle of nowhere, with a couple of little rapids to keep things interesting.

But the real bonus was the freedom - free camping, no permits required for the 4WDing or the paddling, no one to police you or give you a hard time.

The Most Over-Regulated Country In The World still has its moments.

The good news is that Brian knows where his gaoler lives and one fine day he won’t just escape , he’ll escape and end that bastard.

https://youtu.be/c36UNSoJenI

AndyM that's magic. I'm on the coast in that neck of woods and am hankering for a camping trip down the river. The freedom and peace is sensational. It'll have to wait a little though as we are off to Queenstown tomorrow.

Yeah, eight sections on that kayak trail, would be nice to complete all of them, hopefully with a bit more water than this last time.
You've done a few of them?

[url=https://ibb.co/HF6vqcg][img]https://i.ibb.co/VjRyTFB/IMG-2309.jpg[/img][/url]

[url=https://ibb.co/0DyWMZb][img]https://i.ibb.co/DVf6Ck2/IMG-2319.jpg[/img][/url]

found an o'neil psycho 2 steamer in very good condition for $25 at the local op-shop. woo-hoo!

Oz Newspaper Mastheads [ Pell stripped of 'Order of Australia' ]
GG: OAM may be terminated if convicted of crime or offence.(Precisely Pell's case)

NEWS: Losing 'this appeal' PM had promised to write to GG to revoke Pell's OAM.
PM:(Today) "My understanding is that this (appeal loss) would result in the striping of the honours that are decided externally to the government"
"That is a process that is done independently,and that course will now follow."

GG (PM captain's call in off season!)
"I will wait until 'All legal proceedings' have run their course.
Note: Pell has the largest most expensive enduring legal teams on earth.
There's no end to 'legal proceedings' even when free of prison, Pell will likely sue!

Thus Holy GG rescues Holy PM by reneging on promise to sacrifice the Holy cow.
Religion was never on trial & must remain innocent thru eyes of highest authority.

Q: Did 'ALL' the Newspapers get it wrong & prejudice Pell's special leave to appeal?

Went around to a mate's house on Saturday night for a few drinks and a barbie, and my mate, who's a keen woodworker, pointed out a tree in his backyard. "It's a Red Cedar," he said with barely concealed pride.

Red Cedar have a long history in the Illawarra as they were the first industry here. From Stanwell Park to Kiama the escarpment was abounding with large Red Cedar, the wood from which is easy to work with, has a deep red colour, and most importantly, doesn't rot.

Because of this, timber getters raided the Illawarra Escarpment and shipped it north to build ye olde Sydney Town. The wood was known as 'Red Gold'. So rapacious was the appetite for Red Gold that in 40 years the timber getters stripped the escarpment of Red Cedar. The industry collapsed and many of the timber getters moved to the Northern Rivers to do the same up there.

Very few Red Cedar remain and more recent efforts to regrow the tree have been hampered; it's slow growing and also, for reasons unknown, many specimens didn't take.

The Red Cedar in my mate's yard looked awfully familiar, so yesterday I took a closer look at the biggest tree on our block. It grows right next to the deck, sits to the north of the house, towers over it so we get shade in summer and sun in winter. I had no idea what type of tree it was, but because it was deciduous I figured it was an introduced species.

Turns out Red Cedar - toona ciliata for those inclined - is one of Australia's few deciduous trees. And it also turns out the tree in our yard is a scarce specimen of Red Cedar. Always liked that tree, now even more.

Many years ago I bought a coupla trays of Toona Australis seedlings from Terania Creek nursery ( I think, it's a long time ago ) and planted them on our 5 acre property ( Kangarilla SA ) and shared some with a mate. All my trees grew on a steep hill side but Bob's was on prime flat land one of them absolutely boomed. Found out later he buried his large Doberman underneath it and he attributed that to its excellent health. I was a self employed cabinet maker for a long time and Red Cedar was the shit back then ( 80's and 90's ).

karching!......mate was suspicious of a log that got washed up on the rocks at speeds reef ballina years ago.Had a guy come check it out and sure enough it was red cedar,they took it away and i think my mate scored 3000 grand for the phone call.....so whats your address again Stu?

On trees with our next house we hope to either get a house with some old established trees in the garden or some land with established trees. You can’t buy that time it takes for a tree to mature.

Guy Smiley back to Calcium Score tests
Natto and Vitamin K2....Miracle food ..Some fantastic Artery cleansing results out there

Zen are you fond of Natto...?

Love it!

brekky- rice, natto, ontama (coddled egg), nori and konbu.

eat it nearly everday- superfood!

This next month is one of the best times of the year, though for a different reason than, say, late autumn (abundant swell) or late December (holidays and sun). It's all about the early mornings right now. Approaching the spring equinox the days are lengthening at their fastest rate, over two minutes longer every single day, so each week the alarm clock has to be set ten minutes earlier if you want to surf at first light.

The morning sessions are the least crowded of the year and if a proper swell comes between now and October 6 - when daylight savings starts - it's a blessing for the insomniacs who find no issue with setting the alarm to four-something to go surfing. Last year we had a point swell the week before DS began and for three days it was single digit crowds for the better part of an hour.

This week's been pretty damn good too. Beachbreaks only, but clean, largely unattended, with an Instagram sunrise each morning.

very good point Stu.
although I don't see any diminishment of the dawn patrol crew here: the most reliable crowd.

There's a fixed dawny crew at the point, five or six guys who are there before the first ray of sun, every swell, every month, every year. I can peg them by arrival time, so Pearso's car is ALWAYS in the first car space, and it goes along from there. On the beach there's really just me and another fella who can be counted on for year-round dawnys.

Other crew come and go, maybe they get up early one day then you don't see them for a few weeks, or there's a van full of backpackers who get woken up by the banter and come out earlier than they expected.

But that core group is as reliable as the sunrise that follows them. Thank fuck it's only a small group and they're all champion fellas (EDIT: and one lady too!)

Bloke around here organises a loose gathering of surfers to get together and chat every few weeks. It's a little bit Men's Shed...yeah, yeah...though I'd say it's closer to beers and plain talk than any kind of movement.

Few months back we were chatting about the various pecking orders at the point and someone mentioned the staunch early morning crew, about how good it is to rock up in the dark and see the same faces, have those familiar conversations.

Fella sitting next to me, who comes from overseas but moved to the area about twenty years back, said about becoming part of the dawny crew, "Changed my life it did."

Wasn't a grand statement, he almost said it under his breath, but the sentiment was unmistakable. I realised then, if I didn't already know, how valuable those casual relationships are.

Setting the alarm to 4:30am is nothing unusual for Queenslanders. It's why our curtains fade faster.

Surfed a protected pointbreak a few hundred kms from home yesterday arvo. Was in the area due to work and once that was done I went chasing waves. The southerly, however, limited my options.

Ended up at the aforementioned pointbreak which was four feet and, though bouncy and backwashy, broke for about 50 metres along an irrgeular rockshelf.

Sounds good right? This is the thread for it, relaying news of good sessions etc..

Unfortunately there were 25 - 30 guys out, all of them apparently locals going on their ability to jockey for the wobbly takeoff while positioned hard up against the rocks. Not just close to the rocks, but right fucken up against them. They could scratch their armpits with the cunjevoi, and this is with lines of overhead swell bouncing around the lineup, each wave washing them a few feet this way and that.

With light fading the work utes would rock up, and quickly afterwards their occupants would run out, jump, and then sit on the inside, picking one up almost straight away.

Me, I floundered and bobbed and paddled for waves that didn't break. Every time a proper wave came there was either already someone on my inside, or someone would materialise there. Buckling down I sat right on the fucken rock and waited, but before a set came a fella shoehorned himself between me and the (dry) rock. Took the next wave that broke.

So I drifted down the line and picked up scraps. Caught a wave to shore and walked back to my car.

Hard to be angry. Really, what had just happened goes on at my local every time it breaks, only this time the roles were reversed. Guess it's good to see things from the other side every now and again.

Ha !
That’s some classic shit.
Hard to be down on crew owning their shit wave if it’s good enough to draw your own attention even if it’s only for an arvo ,cause you know that when you leave youll be immediately replaced with another one-day wonder blow-in.

It’s nice to be able to look down your nose at their misplaced allegiances , whilst they’re pissing themselves on the days their local rivals anywhere on the planet.

Well, maybe not anywhere on the planet, but it probably feels that way when they’ve slogged through 348 days of sectiony garbage and now they’ve got local privilege on a clean wall to the beach.

Congratulations swellnet crew..."Hello Manly" Screen saver by Craig Brokensha
Hello Manly (promo) Click thru-or wait until...Surfie Bongo Van (Nice work Craig!)
https://www.hellomanly.com.au/

In a past life I've been on some of the water out that way. Will make an effort to get there soon but it could be a fair while before we get enough water to make it worthwhile. Been dealing with fire near my place. Can't see any rain around these parts in the near future.

JugHead you survived ...again...Good News ....but this has to stop old man
Get well brother
BeachGrit

The rare human who lives life at 100%
Inspiring stuff. Shame on people like Udo and I, who settle for 65%.
Carpe Diem
Stop avoiding the barrel Jug and you’ll be fine next time

Leaving Sydney...

[img]https://i.ibb.co/wg8NvqF/69518384-10156939615009355-7752134369749237760-n.jpg[/img]

How good is concealing child sex abuse?

Stu wonderful prose on the last page. Red Gold. When the youngest and I did the chambered paulownia board project, stringer was Red Cedar - the Aussie one. Like a heartstring in Harry Potter's wand.

First surf was 36 degree low tide Bells and he lugged it down under the cliff the whole way to Centreside. It came alive when it got in the water, got all this buoyancy from seemingly nowhere. The board seems to gravitate into the pocket, has speed, turns well and a has sense of momentum that feels very different. And a Red Gold heart.

I was also thinking if you want to leave something wonderful for the world as an old man, find some run down land on a hill or a river in one of the areas these famed trees grow and plant a ton of Red Cedar, Bunya Pine, Celery Top, or Huon Pine. If you do it well, it will be there 2000 years later.

You could also find an alpine lake and go nuts with King Billy Pine, what a tree and timber that is! Ah, the old trees of Gondwana...

And plant grass too,

Native grass endemic to the area. Like a sponge, over time will replenish aquifers and drought proof your land.

Cheers, VJ. The latest good news in my life is a little more prosaic than the last but it brings a whole lot more relief.

That's what it feels like you're trying to piss out the eye of your cock when you have a kidney stone. They say the pain is worse than childbirth, and I don't care what my wife says about it, she only did it three times but I tried to piss that sea urchin out maybe ten times a day for two weeks. Sweating bullets in the middle of the night over what should be a relaxing slash, gripping the bathroom walls teeth clenched in terror, hopping back into bed body shaking knowing it'll be morning soon, nature will call and I'll have to go through it all again.

Went on like that for a few weeks but now it's over and my pisses are carefree once again.

Ouch! Good to hear you feel better Stu, Dad went through that (and we were none the wiser, he was tough).
I copped a sea urchin at the Fairy Bower once (surfing with Channels) and it was like having little shards of granite rock in my toe for months afterward. I'd operate, all gone, it would heal, oh, there it was again. We don't really get them around here, or if we do, I keep missing them.

Zen, Peter Andrews' book "Back from the Brink" - how to fill Australia with water again, he would agree with you I reckon.

OK more good news, I put down money for the first guitar I will have bought since 1994. Went into a shop where my young one was looking at Teles, and love at first sight! I'm even going to book some lessons as part of the purchase (young one has benefited greatly from this). I feel 15 again... Being of X Gen, it was all about Jaguars - Strats were unaffordable. Then our heros (who must have been as broke as us) started coming up in music vids using said Jaguars. What took my eye was a Meteora, in Lake Placid blue. It really is like they've done the shape since the 60's, all the more impressive that it has been created in the last year. Double humbuckers and some flexibility in sound which people seem to love to play with today. I'm going to be making a lot of noise.

what happened Stu?

I get feet fulls of urchin spines around here from time to time, they move in and get so thick.

thought I'd got 'em all out and about a month later I saw a pimple on the top of my foot. Popped it and an urchin spine came out of it. it went the whole way through my foot!

Nah, not actual sea urchins, just felt like I had to pass a spiky sea urchin out my Jap's. Maybe caused by not drinking enough water?

Never get too phased about actual urchin spikes. During good runs of swell I've often got a few in my feet at any one time. It's come that I now associate them with swell so on some masochistic level I like urchin spikes.

Few years back I hit the bottom with my hand and had one go down the inside of my fingernail then break off down there. That one hurt.

Ah yes Stu, I remember the phone call that day - 3rd July 2013 - "Ben, I'm gonna be late for work today".

And then the email came through, with the subject: "The last bit of urchin had to stay"
[img]https://imgur.com/OF7UJkU.jpg[/img]

So sad to hear about that Rock Lobster moving you on Stu!
[ LOCALS ONLY ]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oh5J33KAaqw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6YOhfHwpLQ

Here I am in the residential equivalent of the after- hours pub lock-in. The women folk have gone to recover their sanity at a “ wellness “ retreat and so I’m doing a four day shift as the carer for old mate.

Could be much worse.

The sun is shining and the birds are singing. He’s napping hardcore , post breakfast , so all I’ve got to sort is lunch and an appropriate movie for the matinee. Being an ex- lead singer in a band in his day , he was all over yesterday’s selection of the Frankie Valli biopic “ Jerseyboys “ . I’m thinking of going with a western theme today. Perhaps “ unforgiven “. Oldie but a goodie.

In other news- Had a phascogale running around on the deck last night. Never seen one of them before. Cute little bugger.

Might even sip on a sneaky beer this arvo as there’s not much else going down. Got a new board and new fins delivered, feeling fit and ready to pounce on a little wave chase in the near future.

Good times.

I’ve been house bound , and by that I mean not straying beyond the approximately 30 metres range of an emergency care alarm , for 4 days now.

It could’ve been viewed a prison sentence but I’ve decided to enjoy it . Knowing how grumpy I get without exercise, I’ve embarked on an arduous regime of bedroom body weight resistance sessions. Set the goal of 1000 push ups in the four days and I’ve just finished.

Thank Christ . News doesn’t get much better than that. I’ve had a gut full of sit ups.....boom tish.

Pretty keen to get in the ocean. Watching the sun sparkle off the water is driving me mad.

Fuck, you must be ripped! Do us a favour and post a selfie while flexing. Shirt lift and trout pout would be unreal too.

Ha yea 1000 push-ups is inspirational, and makes my 20 a day look decidedly like a rather piss-poor effort. I'd be ok if you held back on the selfie though....

Blowin be Interesting if you could do your Pushups after 3 rounds of the Wim Hof breathing method and report back..
its pushups with no Breathe...done on the Exhale.....wild shit !

Ummm...the exercises are for mental health, strength and to get fit .

Allegedly to get fit , cause my exercise routine certainly doesn’t fill 16 waking hours, but it turns out that eating and sipping beers does fill a lot of that time nicely .

I’ve put on 3 kilos in 4 days . No shit....3 kilos.

How is that possible ?

[img]https://i.ibb.co/b3tSNJh/AB7741-C8-6834-41-C6-990-D-371-DD2476-F32.png[/img]

Starting to get a nice bit of definition in my arms from the push ups.

[img]https://i.ibb.co/88hNbM3/4522-B604-7941-4-D63-B833-2-BA8-E0-E680-AB.png[/img]

Bikini ready by summer !

Be careful of the shoulders Blowin smashing out too many push ups particularly with bad technique will cause issues.

Self indulgent but vaguely related story -

I was training with this fella, he was getting ready to fight in the cage. He stripped a whole lot of weight and was ready to go, and I probably saw him two days before his fight.

Anyway, I saw him about a week later and I had to do a double take.

He'd been making up for lost time with the food he'd been doing without and he'd put on 17kg in the week after his fight.

In one week.

I've never seen anything like it.

He was saying he was hoeing into multiple massive stacked burgers each sitting, several times per day, every day.

Plus chips, and beer and all the rest.

Eight pack to beer gut in a week.

Good news. Help is at hand...

https://mobile.twitter.com/markhumphries/status/1177178666402365440

with respect, that abc vids pretty lame

I prefer this one

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=CLxpgRqxtEA&fbclid=IwAR1vtYhAPEQVsX0HmNijgDEqUtbOEgkAcXHX94glyuwEOEVUypLDctGvcOU

Greta sense of humour.

https://metalinjection.net/latest-news/greta-thunberg-comments-on-death-metal-mashup-from-now-on-i-will-be-doing-death-metal-only

Fuddy duddies, the right side of history is a bitch (so to speak), huh?

Hah!

Greta-sketches

https://www.natgeokids.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Greta-Thunberg-facts-FB.jpg

https://content.assets.pressassociation.io/2019/09/25085331/7747812d-0e7e-4295-8b9f-01b3a0b00991.png

https://whowhatwhy.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Greta_Thunberg_Paul_Revere_1088x725-345x230.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D1uF_2vW0AAbf-p.jpg

https://www.al.com/resizer/nR7QsJNU9WBrc48cEiBqCF1qYh8=/325x0/smart/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-advancelocal.s3.amazonaws.com/public/XZARUWFLPBHG3IQKZOKDKZC2OA.jpg

Gretage`

https://previews.123rf.com/images/hummersallad/hummersallad1907/hummersallad190700003/126384875-stockholm-sweden-5-july-2019-16-year-old-swedish-climate-activist-greta-thunberg-demonstrating-in-st.jpg

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQokjpXXUDCnrx5NonPeyc8LZQzf6UUJ_y1gnu-W2pAP71Nb0vcSw

https://mk0scramqyabb60nbao.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Greta-smears2.jpg

https://fashionista.com/.image/t_share/MTY2OTU2Nzk5OTE4ODc2NTI0/greta_final_cover.jpg

https://img.resized.co/buzz_ie/eyJkYXRhIjoie1widXJsXCI6XCJodHRwczpcXFwvXFxcL3MzLWV1LXdlc3QtMS5hbWF6b25hd3MuY29tXFxcL3N0b3JhZ2UucHVibGlzaGVycGx1cy5pZVxcXC9tZWRpYS5idXp6LmllXFxcL3VwbG9hZHNcXFwvMjAxOVxcXC8wOVxcXC8yNzE5MjczMFxcXC9HcmV0YS1UaHVuYmVyZy5qcGdcIixcIndpZHRoXCI6NzAwLFwiaGVpZ2h0XCI6MzcwLFwiZGVmYXVsdFwiOlwiaHR0cHM6XFxcL1xcXC93d3cuYnV6ei5pZVxcXC9pXFxcL25vLWltYWdlLnBuZ1wifSIsImhhc2giOiJjOWUwYTBiZjU4M2NlZTFiNDA4NTk3MmJkZTYzMDYzMWIyZmY1NDlmIn0=/greta-thunberg.jpg

https://static.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/1176930548146692096-png__700.jpg

https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/thunberg9-24-e1569337505537-1200x630.jpg

https://www.usnews.com/dims4/USNEWS/260c3f9/2147483647/thumbnail/640x420/quality/85/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcom-usnews-beam-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fd2%2F68d7af675b593634cc3c209534790e%2Ftag%3Areuters.com%2C2019%3Anewsml_LYNXMPEF8M1CQ%3A12019-09-23T150621Z_1_LYNXMPEF8M1CQ_RTROPTP_3_CLIMATE-CHANGE-UN.JPG

GRETZILLA

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0185/1418/2208/articles/Gretathunberg1_mural_thumb_57a1b219-fb8f-4df6-8619-bbbd3052c076_600x.jpg?v=1568905102

https://www.jordantimes.com/sites/default/files/styles/news_inner/public/Greta-Thunberg_1.jpg?itok=iuPxigBu

https://i.redd.it/ilfcvine90231.jpg

https://c8.alamy.com/comp/TXE635/dusseldorf-germany-march-04-a-float-featuring-an-effigy-of-climate-activist-greta-thunberg-makes-its-way-through-the-annual-rose-monday-carnival-TXE635.jpg

Greta Gallery

https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2019/08/23/06/19/climate-change-4424996_960_720.png

https://www.greenqueen.com.hk/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Our-House-Is-On-Fire-1024x1016.jpg

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b1/57/8d/b1578d3f5997aaf2fbf23ee3a4f64a78.png

https://mir-s3-cdn-cf.behance.net/project_modules/max_1200/bbea9a77629191.5c8d262e6b207.jpg

https://scontent-frt3-1.cdninstagram.com/vp/b736f526462404af97d8131869055c0d/5DB8423A/t51.2885-15/e35/51694856_2205609726168107_7736366407413772729_n.jpg?_nc_ht=scontent-frt3-1.cdninstagram.com

https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2019/09/26/PROC/5d961104-b158-41fe-b987-1de56a1d3edc-GretaPortrait.jpg?width=540&height=&fit=bounds&auto=webp

https://cdn3.vectorstock.com/i/1000x1000/22/77/greta-thunberg-in-che-guevar-style-vector-27252277.jpg

https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/e0275850a0d81da6ed375530b2fee13cdba9f73b/0_374_5611_3367/master/5611.jpg?width=1900&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=d121d311a6ea5385a4545f632188bf98

https://static.bangkokpost.com/media/content/20190925/c1_3341964.jpg

How good is Fact Check*?

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-30/morrison-un-speech/11553594?sf220361219=1&fbclid=IwAR0iOch63b-7CBCNLvRtiB1TcK8BKy4z2R4auxX2bfkOfkA0apuQiHa7eIc

*rhetorical question.

On the outset of four connecting flights the spirits were high. Excitement building as we took our seats on flight 1 , only to lead to dismay as the fog rolled in and we disembarked at our point of departure.

Coffee filled the wait as the fog settled even thicker. Nervous moments ensued. Just as things were looking like they would descend into an airport themed hell , replete with a string of touring pensioners hitting peak whine within minutes of the scenario unfolding, the fog miraculously lifts and we abandon the check in counter and our mind-buckling attempts to reroute our journey.

We land in New South Canton ( Sydney ) with a mere breath of wiggle room only to be told that the catering truck has suffered a mischief, leading to a half hour delay.

So here I sit , content in the knowledge that at least now my boards have a fighting chance of making the flight.

The adventure has begun.....fingers crossed.

No wine involved.

Though the sugary good times did begin to ferment and there was an unstable culture forming which was regularly venting gas.

No alcohol till I cross the equator. Then it’s all hands on deck , matey.....aaaarrggg !

Sumatra.

And I just realised that I’ve underestimated the chronological progression of the journey. In other words , equator be fucked , it’ll be a beer with lunch and a movie. I’m thinking “ Yesterday “ , an allegedly humorous romp through an alternate reality in which The Beatles never existed and an amateur fan with previous knowledge of their discography is propelled to fame by claiming their era defining hits as his own.

Now that I think about it , I may need more than just one beverage to see me through that cinematic masterpiece with my sanity intact.

No beers till the equator ?

Jesus, I’m still sitting on the tarmac at Sydney. Who was I kidding *?

*Myself .

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/oct/21/waving-not-drowning-the-street-children-finding-refuge-in-durbans-surf-scene-photo-essay

Mon.21st Oct,2019
{.Front Page News.}
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Tues,22nd Oct 2019
Google Crashes

Wed,23rd Oct 2019
Tinfoil Hats Sold Out.

Here's some daily good news that common wisdom would approve:

https://www.ceicdata.com/en/indicator/australia/coal-consumption

Click on the 'Max' tab and you get history as far back as 1965. You can see our coal consumption is down about 20% from the 2008 peak. Pretty useful website, you can see all sorts of info. Even our (massive) export of coal has flatlined for now.

more good news:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-09/project-brings-near-dead-reefs-back-to-life-across-australia/11681904

Too bad that the way the government views it is that there’ll be a viable dredge harvesting industry in a few years.

Both bays down here in Vic have really improved in health in the last 20 years with abolishment or strict regulation of different commercial fisheries, scalloping, netting, and protection of sea grass beds, our fishery is actually quite healthy now, i still think some of our recreational fishing quotas are too high though.

Look what has happened in SA their Snapper fisheries is fucked and had to close their Snapper fishery for a few years so it can recover.

Trawling and dredging is the most fucked up thing, i did a short stint on a prawn trawler in Morten bay years ago and the by catch was crazy and most went back dead, the chains on the bottom of the nets just rip up the bottom too (to stir up prawns from mud into nets)

Really if we cared this is the shit we should boycott.

Me and some cohorts just scored prime acreage for a song in God's* own country. The countdown begins to blow this popsicle stand, build an Earthship, Doomsday prep, and surf till death. Huzzah!

*whichever manifestations float your boat.

I have 4 bird baths in my garden all strategically located so that birds big and small can quickly dart in get a drink or bath.

But do this year’s magpie fledglings use any of them? No they don’t, preferring instead to use by old labrador’s water bowl.

It’s very funny seeing the lab watching them laying on his bed, all of 3 feet away, while they squabble over the water.

Magpie fledglings are full of character and playfulness, a joy.

The local wattlebirds like to hop along the top of the fence and tease our Jack Russell mercilessly, squawking at him each time he barks. Hours of fun for all, except the neighbours.

Sitting around a fire about 10pm last night and the bloke who's house we were at answered his phone. He then passed it to me, "It's your wife, she wants to talk."

"Max is shaking uncontrollably and can't walk," she says. "Can you come home straight away?"

Bolted home to see brudda Maxy was indeed in a bad way, shaking and laying prone on the ground, trying to wag his tail when he saw me, while up close his breathing was shallow and his eyes were grey.

I'd had too much wine to drive so I picked him up and put him in the car and Tash drove. I stayed home with the kids and waited for news.

No idea what it could've been. He ate some rotten compost earlier in the day but he'd done that before. Few spiders had been on the move in the yard, that was a possibility, and I was wondering why he'd been barking at an open drain over in the corner of the yard. Snake?

After midnight Tash returned on her own with news the vet thought it was tick paralysis. They gave him an injection and antibiotics, but...

Spent a long night thinking that was the last time I'd see him alive; head filled with melodrama. Then this morning we had to tell the kids what happened and prepare them for the likely outcome.

Drove down there early so we could get to the vet as soon as it opened, and from the expression on her face I could tell the news was good.

"Fortunately you got him in here early. Much later and the outcome might have been different."

Brought Maxy home but I can tell he's feeling ginger. Didn't even bark at the open drain in the corner of the yard, nor the staghorn, and didn't do his mandatory trot around the perimeter either, just walked inside, ate half a bowl of Chum, then crashed on his favourite rug.

Not a dry eye in the house after that tale.

Be strong, Max ....stay away from the light !

Ticks are fucked.

PS Got a few baby Magpies around here too. Little legends .Noisy bastards but.

Dont usually feed him Chum, but the vet said his breathing could be laboured for another 24hrs so we shoudln't feed him any dry foods because it can go down the wrong way.

Poor fella, glad he's ok. We've had a few run ins with ticks over the years. Evil little f****s those things are.

Our vet just bought one of those flash Benz SUV's. I reckon I've paid for a good portion of it.

Haven’t fed any of dogs tinned food for 15+ years. Our current lab was fed dry food early, one of the many recommended by vets but ....... he was suffering terrible skin rashes needing a cream that didn’t work but cost $65 pw from the vet. Long story but a lab breeder we met by accident looked at our dog from a few feet away and proceeded to tell us, correctly, what his problem was, what we feed him and what the vet was prescribing. Bingo! We were told dry food was crap and the only food to feed dogs was raw meat with some vegetables and fruit. We did that and our lab hasn’t looked back. He’s very healthy now, great skin and coat and his shits aren’t sloppy ... something to think about maybe.

Got a message from my daughter the other night. She and the kids howling their eyes out thinking that a tick had got to the much loved family dog. Rushed him to the emergency after hours vet thinking the worst, only to be told that it was not a tick, but an extra nipple up high.......

All the best with Maxy, Stu.

ticks are fucked.

got one on my balls surfing a backbeach at Broken and ended up in hospital having an anaphylactic reaction.

pulled one off my arse the other night- or wife did.

our place is crawling with ticks at the moment.
pulling big paralysis ticks off the ducks daily.

hope he comes good quickly Stu.

my balls were swollen up like grapefruits for about a week.

Not sure I need those images in my head but sorry to hear that FR76. But I have heard that ticks have an automatic drop response when they detect co2 from animals passing under them. I try to hold my breath when walking under thick scrub on shitty beach tracks.

If you’re in a tick area you need to know about Lyme disease. Not really a issue here but in the US and increasing so in Europe it’s a real problem. With the explosion in feral deer here it could become one. There is a correct way to remove one, you can also buy tick removal tools pretty cheaply

best advice I can find for ticks is ether spray, which freezes them instantly and kills them, preventing further toxin envenomation.

then pull off with tweezers, making sure you get the head out.

Dont worry about them falling...its more around ankle height your going to get them
Tick Dragging Tick collectors drag or throw a blanket on the grass to collect them for serum ..can get many in one blanket throw
good money in it i believe $1 each ?

Ticks were an occupational hazard back in the day (along with tiger snakes) over here.

Always seemed to gravitate towards the balls and 'notya' area as well.

And always packed a can of WD40 too for emergency treatment in the field (handy for everything indeed), then back home and the tweezers.

Primitive perhaps, but then again, our hounds got fed Good-os back then as well.

Ticks! Cunts of things.

I looked that up Udo , ,,,"dragging",,, out of curiosity . They also do something called flagging ,, but I think its mainly for the 'black legged tick' species in the nymph stage that live in the leaf litter ,,,which is primarily responsible for lymes disease in the states.

anyone had the delightful scrub itch, which is the larval stage of a mite, I believe?

did some bush regen work with a mate down the bottom end of Broken and was scratching for weeks.

Is there anything in this world itchier than frigging sand fly bites? NW WA scourge!

and to hopefully make everyone smile, here is something beaut from back in August on Mt Field:

https://twitter.com/today_tasmania/status/1162584315168903169

Great wasn't it? We were swimming in a cold stream up in the NE Tas high country with our kids once and had a fullsize Tassie platypus swim right past them, magic.
Pops were you the fellow with the knowledge of flow modelling? I've been gradually building up quite a few 3d items to put into the virtual water... any tips?

Wow, what an experience.
And yeah, that'd be me - still haven't forgotten that you asked if I could model a board design idea in an article a while back; haven't gotten around to it yet.
By virtual water I assume you mean some kind of CFD software? Do a bit of reading on discretisation methods and turbulence models... There's a fair number of different ways to do it, some less stable than others for certain scenarios, some less accurate than others for certain scenarios. If you use the wrong one, the model with either crash or give garbage results. And unless you've got a lot of time, patience and computing power, stick with a steady-state horizontal free-surface model. Modelling a breaking wave in a stable manner, and getting the board in the right location is HARD!

Cheers Pops, thanks for that info, I now know where to dig. Was going to walk before I can run, thinking of a fin in a laminar flow then playing around with angle of attack to start with. A breaking wave, wow!

Australia miraculously dodges a big bullet FOR REAL.

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/government-s-union-busting-bill-defeated-in-the-senate-20191128-p53ezo.html?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR09AiVoeht3bZrPzEOY9_ryziiKP88IY4Pi0zDnvdzxddBOiwHuCmd4uQ0#Echobox=1574921976

The first real rain in my neck of the woods in the past four months!

If you didn't include the first three days of August, that's less than 20mm in that time.

It's a joy to finally see a little bit.

Best part of 15mm.
Quite a few people walking with a bit of a spring in their step.

Glad to hear some moisture falling. Was looking at the observations and noticed Mount Seaview recorded 91.4mm rain on Tuesday, seems very unrealistic seeing than nothing significant at Port Mac and surrounds and rivers observations haven't changed. More weather records being fudged.

Leroy, Mt Seaview is a rain magnet and catches more rain than the coast. There have been a series of isolated storms coming from the west that have fizzled out towards the coast. No fudging there.

Yes, very aware of location and isolated storms, but nearly 4" of rain fell and nothing ran off into the creek/river, absolutely nothing? No one dancing in the rain whilst the area is surrounded by fires?
http://www.bom.gov.au/fwo/IDN60232/IDN60232.560002.plt.shtml
Just seems very odd that's all.
ps, still one of the best drives up and over the divide you can do with the windows down listening to the bell birds

Sometimes things happen that affect the raw data readings. It's usually corrected later though. No-one is 'fudging weather records'.

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/02/22/changes-to-darwins-climate-history-are-not-logical/
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/climate/heat-on-bureau-of-meteorology-over-data-records-rewrite/news-story/30c0bc68e582feb2828915e172702bd1
http://joannenova.com.au/2014/08/hiding-something-bom-throws-out-bourkes-hot-historic-data-changes-long-cooling-trend-to-warming/
I'll crawl back into my box now

I can't read the second link (subscriber only), but Jennifer Marohasy is a climate sceptic, and was formerly a senior fellow at the IPA. That article was published on Watts Up With That, a website promoting climate change denial.

Here's a good explanatory article:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/planet-oz/2014/aug/27/climate-sceptics-see-a-conspiracy-in-australias-record-breaking-heat

Labor were foolish to go anywhere near that Medivac legislation this time last year. Dr Kerryn Phelps provided an irresistible bone when she tabled it, and Labor predictably bit down.

It would have undoubtably been a factor in Labor’s unexpected election loss in May. Maybe that was her plan? Phelps has always been a card carrying conservative, despite her bleeding heart sympathy for the refugees rotting in offshore detention.

Australian’s have shown clearly at past elections that they are susceptible to scare campaigns over weakened border protection. Will Labor never learn?

The real losers in this shit show aren’t Labor politicians denied the career opportunity to sit on government benches, it’s the low income earners having their penalty rates cut, middle income earners seeing their spending power flatline as wages stagnate, not to mention the poor bastards stuck on Newstart being robo-debted while trying to survive at 40% below the poverty line.

When is Labor going to realise these disadvantaged Australians are the ones who suffer when Labor try and take the moral high ground on these types of issues? Who do they represent? A class of Australians forgotten by the dominant conservative political forces in this country, or foreigners (refugee or not) who are seeking are better life by seeking any means to reach our shores?

They should really be changing their name from the ALP to the FLP* if they’re honest.

* Foreign Labor Party

Ever been to India...? Then get this india...

http://www.mtv.com.au/comedy-central/news/mike-nolan-from-the-big-lez-show-has-officially-released-his-own-tinny-for-you-to-get-your-gob-around

Profit Before People ( PBP ) and Fake Farmer Miner’s party ( FFM ) respectively.

Greens are Symbolism Before Reality party ( SBR ).

They all jostle for control of the Economic Zone Formerly Known As Australia ( EZFKAA ). Soon to be the vassal state of New South Canton.

But that ain’t good news.

Good news is that It’s only a few weeks till everyone has a big catch up with their families, gets a bit of time off and taste a slice of Aussie summer.

Hmmm this is not good Factotum it seems we now have one thing in common, a love of Mike Nolan.

The youngsters behind Big Lez and Mike Nolan have a certain genius.

https://youtu.be/heQ6nIiFBZM

One Notion. PHONY.

The F.I.F.O (Foreign Invasion = Fruity Obsession) Party?

F.I.F.F.F.F.O (Fake Independents Fully Freaking Fearful Fools Out) Party?

F.O.F.I (Full Of Fucken Idiots)?

Facto you need to add a reference to the FNQ supporters of One Nation for accuracy. Without them the used cat’s litter brain would still be selling fish n chips.

Smokey moon last night! Very vibey.

[img]https://i.imgur.com/Cz9pgYg.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/eQjACd7.png[/img]

Nice shots , Craig.

Apparently was the smokiest in memory this morning up the coast.

And the good news here ......I’ve entered that longed for surfing monk phase. Getting stronger and fitter again. Up at 4AM into a coffee Luwak and amping to hit the water.

No drinking, eating clean , surfing till I can’t move each day. Bed early and sleep well.

Got to love being in love with surfing. Got to love having your health.

It's been day after day of stunning sunrises and sunsets with all this smoke, and it feels like the new norm. Not good but pretty.

And how good is getting into that routine, frothing on surfing and making the most of it, helps when it's great right in front of you. Enjoy!

Been day after day of grey skies, on/off rain, strong westerlies and big swell down here, kind of like being in the setting of the children's book series "How to Train your Dragon", if any of you read it/read it to your kids.

Well, I'm still alive. and we haven't got nasty bush fires to fret about.

A month and a half of northerly gales and total flatness, though. Not a ripple. Fucken hell, it's been dismal.

Me, I'm making my own nasi goreng, chaining Gudangs, and shitting in the garden as I try to pretend I'm still over there. Wearing the same clothes day after day and waving hello at every schoolkid in Thirroul helps my act.

Actually, got to love picking up a new board, and then going for a paddle.

And if it's a winner, going for a beer and a feed.

Actually, that'll be on the cards regardless.

Huzzah! There's my day set out.

How are your wounds healing , Stu ?

You got any Gudangs left ? Perhaps I could grab a packet for you if you’d like to celebrate Xmas belching fragrant smoke at your family like a pissy Puff the Magic Dragon ?

How good is being able to make someone smile and be happy just by saying hello ? We will probably go back in twenty years and those kid’s kids won’t even notice us as we would be just another tourist.

The good news for me is that I got an invite to surf that Melbourne wavepool next week.

Ligament and muscle damage in the left wing means I'll put the fins on and spear the rights.

Stoked.....and devastated.

Will be interesting regardless. Just block your ears when everyone starts hooting each other’s rides.

Even better news is via a mate on the south coast where last night a wind change saved his skin, not to mention the family house, when the flames were within 500 metres. "We're bloody lucky!"

Damn, I miss Indo now!

Ran out of kreteks a few weeks ago, and it's been windy and flat. Could do with some of your Surf Monk life, Blowin.

Stu, I didn't realise how bad that was. Heal well, and enjoy the pool.

Facto, good luck with the new gun. Pics, please.

That is good news Stu, been on the south coast for a couple weeks now and never seen it so dry, even Bega is brown! We were heading for just north of Batemans Bay exactly where the fire burnt to the water but needed to stay further south. Smoke haze everyday and fierce winds seemingly from unseasonal directions. No surf. I’m hoping for rain because the locals need that desperately, it’s so dry it’s like a different place, nothing like I’ve seen before.

Semi-gun.

Local. Rosey.

Dick n balls.

Haha. Wasn't ready either. Good feed & session, but.

And looks fucken sick.

Board building abandoned and beers sunk because it's fucking roasting over here.

Feeling the pain over there, comrades. We don't want it over here again.

Thoughts and prayers and beers.

Big Xmas show later today. Free piss. Strap yourself in...

Today is pushing towards a 9/10 .

Waves this morning started small and glassy . Post surf breakfast of amazing fresh fruit salad and a mixed juice ( Mango , banana , no sugar ) .

Then it’s back to the waves and a little rising swell saw sheet glass , crystal clear , piss warm 4 foot rights rolling down the reef like an epic , beltable point break. Shared it with about 5 or 6 punters on a guided tour who had zero idea where to sit or how to catch a wave.

They’re ineptitude was glorious to behold. Friendly and harmless....perfect combination.

Then I grabbed a seafood nasi goreng and listened in to the crew at the table next to me as they had a meeting discussing possible agriculture for the local area. One of them was a representative of the Indo fisheries minister and another was a Chinese businessman looking to buy in to the area.

Sure , the talk was OK but the real Indo joy shone when they got up to leave and the fella - who spoke English - was revealed to be wearing this shirt.

[img]https://i.ibb.co/2KrM6Zb/15945-B4-B-17-CA-4721-AC2-E-1-DCF33-D06-D43.jpg[/img]

How is that not a good time ?

Wind is still light. Another surf on the cards.

Not really ,mate. I don’t take photos of the waves too often. Put this up the other day on a different thread. Nothing mind blowing, just pretty !

[img]https://i.ibb.co/d7LNznP/5-C8-EBB2-C-9394-4-A96-9-A60-447-A60-A1-AB41.png[/img]

So are you in the pink or white blowin?

Ps. epic tale on the other thread, I'm going fuckn loopy here with the lack of surf

Neither mate .

I’m just out of frame in a huge overcoat with glistening hands from all the Vaseline.

Just having a good look at that heaving little pit that Mitch Crews is steering through at the Urbn surf pool and thinking to myself....” Perfect wave to body bash when you’ve got an arm like a yabby *”

Out there , Stu !

* Crawchy / gilgy

You may not like Midnight Oil, The Family Dog, or anything else Jim Moginie is part of, you may not even like Jim Moginie, and truth be told he's not much to look at and has diabolical suburban dad dress sense, but if you don't think drinking beer in a Country Women's Association hall with a huge grassed area for kids to run around, on the (almost) longest day of the year, five days out from Christmas is a good idea, then I don't think we're going to get along.

Good news is that last night I was woken by the sound of a torrential downpour. Unfortunately, it’s not landing in NSW where it’s a life or death requirement, but Australia isn’t the only place in desperate need of rain and it’ll be hugely appreciated.

Beyond that , it’s just the nicest sound in the world when heavy rain lands on a dry landscape and drums through the roof above you.

Downside being that it’ll probably liberate and unleash 8 months of dry season rubbish buildup into the previously crystal clear water . If only it was just tonnes and tonnes of plastic instead of tonnes and tonnes of plastic floating in a soup of accumulated disease and filth .

I heard that a surfer caught cholera or some such medieval disease in a lagoon around here after the first rains a few years ago . The urban myth of a developing nation or an unpleasant fact ? Who knows ?

There’s been a couple of dugongs hanging around the lineup lately who I’ve come to consider as benevolent spirits , fingers crossed that they don’t mistake a Pop Mie container for seaweed. Although if that were to happen and they didn’t suffer for it , at least you know they’d never be facing starvation with the endless Pop Mie container bounty on offer in these waters.

Very good news would be chicken wire, rocks and a one way trip out over the continental shelf, but good news on this low life being caught in the act and charged. Hundreds of people have already been through the wringer with these fires, the last thing they need is oxygen thieves like this causing more grief.
https://www.police.nsw.gov.au/news/news_article?sq_content_src=%2BdXJsPWh0dHBzJTNBJTJGJTJGZWJpenByZC5wb2xpY2UubnN3Lmdvdi5hdSUyRm1lZGlhJTJGODE3MDkuaHRtbCZhbGw9MQ%3D%3D

Two weeks till Santa

[img]https://i.ibb.co/MgfKt54/74289-C2-F-9505-41-E8-BF47-5056-BF4-A9-CA1.jpg[/img]

Stoked to snowboard into December in the Australian high country.

Here I am taking the surfing to the mountains..

[img]https://i.imgur.com/oK0YF4W.png[/img]

Thanks for the shot Tyson Millar!

That's a great shot. Amazing so late in the year.

Is that the K2 board you bought in Japan?

Yeah it is, though my flat mate's been using and he's goofy. Haven't ridden it in years, strap in and go... this is weird and then realised second run haha.

Chitatos aren’t too bad . Seaweed flavour #1.

Noticed the little warning on the label ?

“ May contain traces of food and nutrients “

Sent you an email Stu, hopefully you get it in one piece.

Should go nicely with your chips.

Man, I fucking love Indonesia.

I didn’t take this photo , but it’s worth showing to illustrate the flamboyant positivity of the average Indo ie “What could go wrong !?!?”

[img]https://i.ibb.co/f1YDxsP/34-DEA688-A312-42-BD-A8-A3-A109-F59-B5-F8-A.png[/img]

Agree x 100!

Indo is the most incredible cure for western jaded semi-depro syndrome.

Homo sausage ....aisle three in the supermarket.

Look for the handy glory hole dispenser .

Pipeline is the most deadly wave on the planet , A gladiator pit Etc etc

[img]https://i.ibb.co/CsVKPr0/233-C7-F42-8-AD8-459-D-8-CBC-A2170-D7918-D0.png[/img]

But isn’t this the most beautiful wave you’ve ever seen ?

Im getting that painted on the ceiling above my bed . Right beside the mirror .

Remember this one? Deadly yet beautiful.

[url=https://ibb.co/41vLJk2][img]https://i.ibb.co/kmbTMZJ/20191211-225750.jpg[/img][/url]

Good news is that Indo has probably 90 percent less garbage in the water than this time last year at this particular location. The rains which disperse a lot of shit are late ( virtually non existent) , but they were this time last year too.

I’d say it’s definitely the ban on plastic bags having a huge impact.

Even Iron Mike knows the good news at the moment.

[url=https://ibb.co/StzLQMf][img]https://i.ibb.co/pfSmWMh/IMG-0367.jpg[/img][/url]

I'm on the doorstep of a massive jalapeno harvest, maybe 10 or 12 plants each weighed down with 10 or 12 fruit each, and more budding all the time.

Didn't know what to do with them - pickle them? make a sauce? play practical jokes on the kids? - but since we're having Xmas Day at our house and the wife is putting on a huge spread and expecting some input from me, I've just tested jalapeno poppers and they were unreal.

Sliced a few big ones in half, then I spread cream cheese in, sprinkled parmesan cheese, and a few smoky bacon chips crushed up. Heat under the grill and scarf.

Yep. Quality tested one in the alley this arvo. Shame I didn't have the accompanying smell of fresh sewage to go with it, but it was satisfactory nonethesless.

Every Christmas I luckily get a window of waves at this joint in between work commitments. This year, as the years previous just fills my heart and sould with good vibes. So much wildelife, untouched and pristine beaches (Fark off Equinor!) and options a plenty of a surf away from the crowds.

Craig, backroads on the ABC tonight was on the high country around Charlotte Pass

Poor bastard

https://www.buzzfeed.com/cameronwilson/scott-morrison-lookalike-dad-tshirt-canada-australia?utm_source=dynamic&utm_campaign=bffbbuzzfeedozpol&ref=bffbbuzzfeedozpol&fbclid=IwAR1Y9ItQy3FrY0XjhyNAfzBxqfs3KovEU1N2bJ5zBPbMv-Swi47JXPPdXxA

Nice. I've got a Carolina Reaper growing in the garden but it hasn't fruited yet.

Nice pics Craig. I must of just missed you. Flew back east on the weekend after a week camping down that way. Drove back to Adelaide last Thursday afternoon in 47 degree heat with a busted air conditioner. Nearly killed me!

Seeing as stu brought up the subject of hot and spicy food, while I was down there I ordered a curry from George the Marion Bay ‘Curry Nazi’.

The Pork Vindaloo is my go to every time however he had brewed up a special Jamaican Jerk char-grilled Chicken dish spiced with Carolina Reaper, the hottest chilli in the world! I couldn’t resist.

There are tamer options on the menu for those with a more delicate palate....

[url=https://ibb.co/qMJ1LGV][img]https://i.ibb.co/4Z1Nwy3/B8-A3-E15-C-6957-4-CBC-8573-78070-B35-C6-F1.jpg[/img][/url]

Yeah Ben said you were around, just missed ya! And god that must of been a real mental struggle YS! 47 degrees and that long drive egh..

They’re an evil looking chilli. Yeah guy there was some suffering involved but George’s curry’s are really tasty.

[url=https://ibb.co/C0J3Bsn][img]https://i.ibb.co/ggvLyFD/F2-CBC05-F-D61-D-42-B1-BC82-C58-A405-D59-FF.jpg[/img][/url]

How did the patented chilli poppers go down ? They sounded amazing.

Almost as amazing as the coconut Dahl in Marion Bay.

Mmmmmm.....coconut.

Actually foodie magazine Gourmet Traveller had a classic if slightly corny write up on George’s Curries and other Yorke Peninsula culinary delights a few years ago. It’s a good read.....

https://www.gourmettraveller.com.au/travel/travel-news/yorke-peninsula-5271

Jalapeno Poppers coming out tomorrow when the guests rock around. Should have around 30 big ones. The serving time will appear random, but their appearance at the table is critical if I'm to take the wind out of the sails of my wife's duck salad.

I know the season is all about giving etc, but I want people talking about my dish.

Not much can compare with the overwhelming pride of having undercut the achievements of those you love most dearly.

Don’t forget to drop a few pubes in the duck salad just to erase any doubt .

Merry Christmas !

Had a curry recently and notwithstanding the waiter’s warning the chef had only recently come out from India I went all in. Needless to say it ended badly, 2 jugs of iced water and 6 stubbies didn’t quench the numb furnace that was my mouth. The next day I couldn’t sit such was the pain. I didn’t come good for days.

Merry Christmas one and all.

All I want for Christmas is a New Year cyclone swell.

Christmas miracle around here.

Have had a solid downpour of rain with the sky still grey and the potential of more to come. It may have finally put out the fire which has been threatening and burning steadily in the background for the last month.

It may now be a 40,000 hectare firebreak.

Merry Christmas crew. Cheers for laughs , intrigue and entertainment over the past year.

I'm in Port Mac and it dumped last night and early hours this morning after drizzle for last couple of days.
Great to hear the rain on the roof!!

Well that was a jolly jape through the last 6 months good news.

And Stu, passing urchins, OUCH, bit young for that aren't you. And chaining gudangs, and with a rooted shoulder, bloody he'll man. You're at an age where you have to hang on for dear life, not let it all hang out.

Xmas day has been a blast. Did the wife's family thing yesterday. Tis only small, a sister and brother in law the entirety of her extended family.

So the over eating and drinking has been done. Wife and daughter went to carols, rest of today just sitting around, all reading something.

My family, all 8 siblings, don't bother to ring around to keep in touch. We'll see each other whenever. Not a very sentimental lot.

So it's just sitting around, reading and resting. All Xmases should be like this.

Fuck mate , I’ve eaten so much Quality Street that the next edition Gregory’s directory will need to devote a dozen extra pages just to cover the contents of my stomach.

Chilly chilly xmas surf with just me and another two mates but good to get out there.

Merry Christmas everyone i hope Satan brought you dry dreams and wet farts and I hope one day he brings a cure for my dyslexia.

Now you'll have to excuse me, I have to walk my god.

All the best for 2020 surf hounds.

Happy Christmas, degenerates!

Managed to not overeat, then got some 1-2ft subtropical right point runners under everyone’s noses. Mission accomplished. Yew!

Merry Christmas all, hope you had a great day with family and friends, or if you were working you got paid well :)

After a 10 hour work day, I ended up have a solo surf of warm water point break runners, in the rain no less.

Good enough for me.

Driving home in the rain, how goods that! Cannot remember the last time that happened!

Great news Distracted.

Had a solid storm at work today with lightning hitting our building and crashing the 'boom' gate.

Then it flogged down for about 5 minutes. I stood and watched and appreciated.

Forecast for more "showers and thunderstorms". That is good news.

Hope everyone is getting some.

Have a nice day.

https://truecrimenewsweekly.com/true-opinion-modern-australian-nostalgia-is-cross-branded-sweets-and-nothing-more/?fbclid=IwAR0bwvE8Jf4wCVZScNMbZQvaRmUx0HelsRx3AgELvFt132psNefexQtfoLY

Some of you may think this is strange, but I’m sure most will appreciate it ...

[img]https://i.ibb.co/dLjNJ3s/A89-A18-AE-5-FA6-41-D7-B70-F-AD8302021-FC3.png[/img]

After spending many years in the desert and having recently endured the worst of the East coast drought , I crave rain. Always .

When it looks like it will piss down for days I start to get revved like a little kid at Christmas. So to come in from a fun morning of waves starving hungry and then have it start to absolutely bucket down in fat tropical drops just as I’m getting served sate seafood sticks....it just doesn’t get any better.

Cheers Huey you fricken legend

Ha ha...nice one. Well we've had a bit or rain at home, not much, but enough to kick my almighty Carolina Reaper plant into fruiting.

The Carolina Reaper clocks in at 2.3 million Scoville units, which is about 500 times hotter than your bog standard Jalapeno - a pissweak 5,000 Scoville units.

"It has been described as having a fruity taste, with the initial bite being sweet and then immediately turning to molten lava."

“with the initial bite being sweet and then immediately turning to molten lava."

Sounds like my type of girl.

Please , please , please post a photo of your face 20 seconds after you’ve sampled the sweet , fruity taste of the Carolina Reaper.

Fucken awesome name . Pretty sure you’ll be living under a culvert down on Thirroul beach if you try to feed one to any other member of your family. But imagine the yucks !

lol, the Carolina reaper. My bro's best mate lost his father, but before his passing, he made a chilli, for which he was famed. We sampled fractions of a thumbnail some months after the pain of his passing, and the event suddenly became both hilarious and pure agony. Damn that stuff was hot.

Sometimes my wife and i go to this ramen place that does a ramen called "jigoku no ramen" (ramen from hell). There's three levels and the only way to distiguish is by the amount of cha sui you get. One slice- level one, two slices.,.

Anyway, it comes out and it's an evil looking red colour. I'm pretty good with heat and i do level two. I'm too scared to try level three. Just one sip of the soup and i react instantly, start hiccupping, nose starts running, eyes watering etc. Jeez it's hard work but delicious.

Next morning you get a painful reminder that you ate ramen from hell. It's so powerful, even your piss burns. I thought i had a bladder infection the first time!

I usually eat it annually, when i'm feeling masochistic.

Isn’t it strange how you’re not allowed to grow a single mellow mull tree in your yard but there’s no issue with you growing chilli which would melt the face off one of your kid’s mates if they innocently consumed some on a dare ?

I’d be proud of having the raw potency of 2.3 million Scoville units on hand to dispense on a whim. Certainly puts a sinister slant on the innocuous invitation to a backyard barbie at Stu’s place. Bring the right beer and plenty of it or get your snags touched up with the Devil’s DNA.

I aways put a couple of rolls of toilet paper in the freezer for such moments.......

I pride myself on my reapers ,, the fruity smell is extremely deceptive .Have been growing them for years , mainly for a guy who makes sauce out of them.
Used surgical gloves to cut up a few dried ones for seed and weeks later made the mistake of handling the same knife and having a piss afterwards. tears later and much ice.....
Same goes for the eyes ,,
handle with care

Sitting in a shallow bath of ice with the curtains drawn screaming for death to take you, yep .. can't beat it.

We had a rep at work sign a waiver for a Flamin Ron chilli pie at Umina. (Is this the same as the Carolina Reaper mentioned above?)
He took it down to some of his Lebo customers who are always up for a challenge. Not one of them could finish a bite and it was eventually chucked into the garbo, largely untouched.

A couple of weeks later the rep returned to the yard to discover that the owners had come into work the next day and noticed something odd about their German Shephard guard dog. It had suddenly become very lethargic and had literally carpet bombed the area with dog turds. It never got the chance to sign the waiver.

Not sure if those pies have Carolina Reaper in them, but speaking of Cenny Coast, I went to a few chili festivals at The Fragrant Garden nursery up at Erina. They were great fun. Fella who ran it, now deceased, also wrote a book called 'The Fragrant Chili' which is worth getting your hands on for chili history, trivia, growing tips, and recipes.

Still on the Cenny Coast, there's a brewery up there, Six String Brewing Co, also at Erina, that occasionally makes a chili beer. Last time it was available I slowly worked my way through all available stock on the Coal Coast, then when the last bottlo was running low I rang up the brewery and asked if they had any left.

I liked the beer but not enough to drive three hours north and sit alone in a tap room drinking it.

Don't know when they'll make it again but it's still the first thing I check for whenever I walk into the local bottlo.

A few months ago I was raving about a pair of boardies I fell in love with. Black , basic and comfy as fuck. A bit hard to come by in the shops , then my lady found a website and ordered a pair.

No boardies turned up. She flicked off an email asking what was going on. No reply , so she sent an email to PayPal thinking we’d been stitched up.

Then the company got back to us. Turns out their website wasn’t meant to be operational yet . They were very apologetic and said they’d refund the money , which they promptly did...stoked.

And then TWO pairs of their hell boardies turned up free in the mail as an apology ! Fuck yeah !!!

Nice work, Staysurf . Consider me a huge fan.

PS Sorry if that’s not the perfect account of what actually went down. I’m recalling second hand from a seperate country. Epic boardies , exemplary service.....that’s all that matters. Thanks Staysurf

Carolina Reaper....I’m intrigued.

Wouldn’t go near one myself but it renders these two normal people into semi-retards within 30 seconds.

https://youtu.be/tUbo25IrgZ8

Heheheh fast forward to 9:00 that’s hilarious. They are in some serious serious pain

There's about 20 reapers on the bush, only one of them is currently ripe, the rest will be by the weekend which is when I was gonna give it a go.

peace of piss ,dip em in chocolate and pretend there strawberries and choc......or give em to someone you hate.

Surf is proper pumping this morning.

Uncrowded, sheet glass 8 feet plus freight trains and I have a knee too dodgy to surf.

So ....let’s get positive. Had a beautiful dawn stroll along the beach, watching the sunrise . Then a delicious breakfast and a swim which was like diving through molten silk. Now it’s chill out and watch the crew come in from their morning session and just KNOW deep down that they couldn’t possibly be half as happy as they seem .

Surfing .....who needs it !

I do.

https://youtu.be/7s7YR9wS8eg

The..best... Simpsons...episode...ever!!!!!
Even has a cameo from James Woods!

Oh bummer about the knee Blowin.

A week of absolutely pumping surf here in Welly. 10 surfs on my DS.

Get that knee working, Blowin!

I’m trying. Seems to be rapid improvement, but I’m not sure if it’s true recovery or the false dawn of reduced inflammation/ result of rest.

Haven’t been diagnosed beyond Dr Google who has limited the possible injury to either brain tumour or scurvy. Currently hedging my bets and performing YouTube recommended physio for both outcomes.

Can you get your hands on a knee brace? DonJoy, I seem to remember they're called.

Already got one. Not the full leg JJF effort . Covers the knee with a couple of stiffeners down either side. It definitely makes a difference but I’ve just got to go easy surfing till it’s stronger.

Daily good news is rekindling the old love affair with Indo Jungle peanuts ( Kacang ).

Such sweet , tasty , crunchy delights. Probably not recommended to eat the entire 500gm packet in one sitting though......buuuuuurp.

Good news is coming back to your car after a surf and remembering that you’ve still got half a bacon and egg roll (with extra grilled tomato and onion thanks) and half a cup of coffee waiting for you.

Luxury!

.... or the time I found a two day old vegemite sandwich thrown down the back of the kombi late a night while suffering a bad case of the munchies!

This morning I awoke to really strong westerlies, strong enough to blow the wheelie bins over, which isn't a step on the Beaufort Scale but it should be. Cursed the wind 'cos, despite being a favourable direction, the sheer strength was ruining a primo swell - solid 4ft, long interval, from the south-east.

Thing was, there was little wind at Bellambi, just 5kms to the south, and little wind at Wattamolla, just 30kms north. The wind was localised which meant it was katabatic winds off the escarpment (air cools up on the plateau overnight, gets pushed over the edge by light westerlies in the morning and the cool, high-density air falls with gravity, creating strong, localised, but usually short-lived wind).

Went home, did some work, fed the kids, dressed them, then tagged out when it felt like the wind was dropping. Drove up my favourite street and with the wind easing and waves sparkling like De Beers diamonds, enjoyed an uncrowded session.

I would have killed for a westerly, no mater how strong Stu.
that deep SE angle was so prime for here, but with a high tide and northerly running through it, basically unsurfable.

so glad we at least got a day of pumping surf from Uesi. Switching into "good surf" mode was unreal, an almost alien feeling.

seems like every swell is fucked by bad winds in the absence of the traditional summer Tradewinds pattern.

Woke this morning to find the dragonfruit have all gone into simultaneous flower. Such spectacular looking plants when they do so. The bees were going nuts .

Plan today was to preserve energy for the big high tide this arvo and hopefully get a favourite slabbing right on but the waves looked too good and now I’m pleasantly knackered at 10AM.

Fuck , I can’t rave enough about the Desert Storm . Even though my knee seems to be getting better I can’t get off the thing. Had it in some 4 foot barrels a couple of days ago and it was like a guided missile through the guts of some smokers , yesterday it was chewing through sections on some super fast reef runners and just now it was making short thrift of bowling 6-8 foot walls.

It loves it all.

Top 5 boards of my life easily.

A win!

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-25/equinor-abandons-plan-to-drill-for-oil-in-great-australian-bight/11997910?utm_medium=spredfast&utm_source=fb_abc_adelaide&utm_campaign=khoros&sf230584675=1&fbclid=IwAR3fvAJaJ8o-BDwHJk5SrNXOOg7ICoJCttXh6nZ6tNywB7kILFO7SjLOUvc

This rain is amazing. It’s like Snow Day at Springfield. Watching the rain radar over here and there’s not really much there except for a little smudge which just won’t quit. The reality is a constant, steady drizzle which gets a bit heavier every now and again.

Chilling , eating tasty treats. Might even go and get a sneaky long neck and drink it whilst listening to the patter on the roof and leaves. Couldn’t really be fucked going up the street but.

Australia......Gedditintaya !!!!

[img]https://i.ibb.co/v3Yy2PT/BFA18-CCC-3937-4095-9675-BD090-D020-CB0.png[/img]
[img]https://i.ibb.co/f0ZCwCL/8-E170-A3-A-AC38-4851-8-AE9-DA181554-D15-D.png[/img]
[img]https://i.ibb.co/frktRM1/635033-A4-B669-48-AA-BEDE-EE411-C2-D8449.png[/img]

Remember the dial up days? Me too. As someone who has been waiting for at least 6 years for the nbn the good news is that it finally arrived at my place last Wednesday.
About 3 years ago they had it constructed up to about a half a km away, but that's where it stopped. The nbn rollout map saw our address getting pushed back every year. Our typical ADSL internet was a line speed of 3mb/s which somehow managed to run enough tech stuff at the same time, just, kinda, most of the time, sort of. However it was near impossible to watch vimeo vids. Netflix suffered, and the internet through the TV was unusable. I guess as bit of a consolation for the delay they installed FTTC Fibre to the curb (not curve) which I imagine is a fair step up from the node type.
Anyways, I was told that I would get a 20 minutes heads up text or call before they arrive. Old mate calls and says where are ya I'm at your house.
.
I arrive home to find my wife had let them in and it was already working. Old mate said that they weren't supposed to install the modem, only the nbn device, but he did it anyway. Legend. For that I scored him a 10.

Harvey Norman were flogging off 450 mhz computers with 8gb hard drives for $5000, and this was the Number 1 song at the time, for far too long.

My old internet having a real bad day.

[img]https://i.ibb.co/qsnKwtZ/Speed-test.png[/img]

The nbn...about fucking time! Happy surfing!!

[url=https://ibb.co/4p066XS][img]https://i.ibb.co/vkM77Td/Speed-test-2.jpg[/img][/url]

To make way in the vege garden I've harvested most of my chillis. If anyone knows a good chilli sauce please point me in the direction and I promise to use words like "delish" and "lovely jubbly" when reporting back.

Carolina Reaper (hottest chillis on Earth), still plenty more of these on the bush.

Manzanos and Habaneros - which were the hottest chiilis before the eggheads started crossbreeding them in their labs.

Bwaaa ha ha ha ha haaaaa...!

Hard to write the sadistic laugh of a mad scientist cross-breeding chilli's from Hades.

Wow! That's some harvest.

Look up malaysian/singaporean chilli sambal. Or chilli puti. Both freeze OK too.

I watched a youtube vid of a bloke making a killer hot sauce just recently- i'll see if i can find it.

Week or so ago a mate came around and took a bunch to make some chili sauce. Told me over the weekend that it's "diabolical" which is a nice compliment.

Dammit, can't find it- cleared my history.

Basically roast the chilli's drlzzled in oil, let cool, de-seed with gloves then stew them with cider vinegar, garlic cloves, salt, brown sugar and reduce by half. Blend and strain through a chinoix.

Bottle in sterile bottles or jars and enjoy.

Keeps for ages.

Might be white vinegar- may have to check.

"I promise to use words like "delish" and "lovely jubbly" when reporting back."

Don't you fucking dare.

Nor should you use words like "nourishing", "wholesome" or the dated "amazeballs".

And chillies are certainly not part of your "journey to wellness".

Namaste.

Travelling through SE Asia years ago, i made it a rule to eat food piled with most chilli i could stand. My rationale was it would make my stomach a hostile environment for any nasty belly bugs that may wish me harm.

Must have worked- didn't get crook once.

Salsa Roja:
2 or more habanero chillies, 1 ripe tomato, 2 tbsp finely chopped red onion, 1/4 red capsicum, 2 cloves garlic, 1 tbsp fresh coriander, 1 tbsp virgin olive oil, 1 tbsp malt vinegar or blanco tequila, salt, fresh black pepper. Use food processor, Chop all ingredients finely, add oil and vinegar/tequila and sufficient water. Pulse briefly do not puree, add salt and pepper to taste and serve cold (will keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks)
Additionally I make chilly powder out of my Habaneros / Trinidad scorpions. Use very, very low oven heat and do over several sessions to ensure they are dried out completely. Need to cut open the fruit and remove stems - can leave seeds in
Cheers!

That sounds bloody good saurusv1!
+1 on the tomato peeling tip. An extra little tip is to score the skin a little first (in an x shape) - pour the boiling water on and wait for a bit and the skin peels itself off.

Oi Stunet, eaten one of those Carolina Reapers yet? Unless I missed it somewhere...

Nah....I had enough of an experience to know not to progress. That was with an offcut the size of my pinky fingernail, and still I had to go sit in a corner and opt out from reality a while.

Some people don't like stringy bits of skin in their sauce (my mrs being one).
I find it a waste to chuck them out, so I just eat the skins after I peel them!

I've never bothered to peel them in any recipe where it said too and never found a problem.
just blend it in.

It just doesn’t get any better than Autumn.

Today was the PERFECT autumn day. Not too hot , not too cold . Proper Goldilocks weather. Cool morning with deep , ultra blue skies. No wind tending lightest Westerly. I felt like something doing something different so we went early to a clear water hole and had the most beautiful swim you could believe. Not one person around.

The ocean is everything to me , but the bush is a solid second place getter.

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North coast of NSW has gone from record and heart breaking drought to classic rain drenched paradise. A million shades of green and everything is indeed standing up alive.

The big dry was devastating to the bush but the bounce back of life has been stunning. Those trees resilient enough to survive have gone gangbusters. It’s a shame that so much foliage and fruit was dropped but that’s life .

We went to reap a bit of harvest from a bush block we’ve been tending for about 15 years now. Mangoes didn’t handle the drought but the foliage is super healthy now. Blueberries, mulberries ( third fruit in 9 months ! ) and passion fruit are good. Avocados gaining condition rapidly. Kaffir limes ready. Macadamia on the way. Pineapples looking amazing. Veggies pumping. Coffee on its way.

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Fuck yeah....Australia is an incredible place.

Got it for a song back then and myself , my missus and my brother built a house for my parents there.

East coast is so inviting but the West coast is where my heart is.

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Sick looking spot.

I like that basic bush shack thing you posted once best though.

I'm waging war with pythons at the moment.
fuckers are trying nightly to get in the chook and duck pens.

I love snakes but its getting hard to get a good nights sleep.

there's a real big fucker, thick as my arm, head like a closed fist.
he's getting very cranky at getting yanked around by the tail by me at all hours.

Shack life through the years

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Blowin, may not be an issue at your place but the soils in and around banana packing sheds are known for high levels of arsenic and dieldrin from the good old days.

Mate , I love snakes . Always have. You’ve got no influence over them whilst that food source is ready to be tapped no matter how rugged you get with them .

Distance or death....they’re your options for removing a python from the hen house equation.

I was looking for the bong in those pics.

We always used to stash the bong in the background, kinda like those Where's Wally books and see if anyone would notice.

The toxins pumped into this place would have been off the charts. What can you do ? At least it remains in the soil and leeches downhill. Still better than living next to the average suburban street.

Fifteen years later and still finding blue banana bags everywhere.

BTW.....I don’t live there. Too far from the water !

When I went Full Retard Raw Vegan smoking was over.

But I ate mull with EVERY meal and I eat way more than three meals a day.

North Coast NSW...... When in Rome etc.

Ah ok, sorry. I thought you lived there and were stoned 24/7.
Put 2 + 2 together and got a shit load of weed getting grown there. I didn't mean to sell either..

Huh ? I don’t understand the question.

I was somewhere else.

But in reality....I just worked for my money. If you were in WA between 1995 and 2018 and you didn’t claim your fortune you missed the opportunity of the century.

Not a redirect, just a simple truth.

If you were born an Aussie between 1955 and 1980 you were given the golden ticket.

I’m calling the single best period for any general population in history. EVER.

Right place . Right time. ......Fuck yeah.

I’ll have a Wednesday night Pre / Mid / Post Apocalyptic drink to that !

re: pythons.
Only another month to go and they'll hibernate up for the winter.

all the fruit trees around (guavas growing like weeds everywhere) are full of flying foxes and the pythons are welcome to them.
I know when they get one, because they scream bloody blue murder.

till then, I'll keep up the night patrols.

Timeless stuff blowin.

I can really appreciate the 'minimalistic' approach to living.

If and when you do decide to sell it you can incorporate the latest marketing catch-phrase, (pun intended)

"The perfect place for avoiding pandemics and a great place to 'Self-isolate'"

Curious, how far from the coast is it?

If you can locate them ( snakes ) during the day you’re ahead of the curve . But they are sneaky buggers.

The guavas are gold. Same with the ice cream beans. Reliable self propagation and good yield whilst providing nice shade for emerging plants.

Do you grow coffee , Freeride ?

It seems like guavas and coffee are the most suited for the soil here....like weeds. Maybe same at your place ?

yeah, there are coffee bushes everywhere along the creek line.
I've had a few goes at making my own, but the reward for effort is very low.

this place was an old banana farm too.

had a fair bit of soil rehab done to try and get rid of the arsenic deposits.

not much of a fan of the guavas: most fruit infested with fruit fly or other grubs.
self seeds everywhere.

West of ....most days from the verandah you can see the ocean.

15 minutes by car.

Anyone live in hinterlands ?

There’s definitely advantages to living away from the coast. A few surfers hidden away around there doing their thing.

My dream is to get my own little slice of north coast hinterland. My mate has a killer place just out of Uki- props if you know how Uki got it's name and no it's not aboriginal.

Off grid, grow most of my food, barter with my neighbours, fish and surf.

That's me.

Agree about the coffee and a lot of effort for low return. Dragon fruit are the go. Vicious spikes if you get to close, although the no maintenance makes up for that. Got about 80 fruit of a couple of plants in January and was shitting like a fruit bat for a week

UK1, zen? All about the wood, right? Had a mate in the same neck o’ the woods. Top spot.

Same spot , Indo.

The whole place was a banana farm back in the day. Then the arse fell out of that and the valley fell fallow. A bit of dairy but mostly just crew living quiet lives*, remnant forestry , bit of dairy . The town nearby I used to be a big deal. Double wide Main Street so the bullock wagons could turn around. Really beautiful spot with extremely nice people.

The shack was an old banana packing shed which we made liveable whilst we built the house. A chippy’s version of glamping !

A mossie net tent on a platform with a resident diamond python in the rafters . Once the house was built it sat empty for another few years till we came back East to visit and chose to hang for a few months whilst a close friend slowly made their way into the next life ( Mesothelioma) .

We tried to support her battle with cancer by researching alternative medicines. This led us to discover the benefits of Veganism and then raw veganism. We went full on raw food in simpatico but she died a chemo filled junkie. I’m not judging her on that whatsoever.

Anyway , I went from a pisshead desert reef rat to an East coast beachie raw vegan hippie flat out. Mull cakes and fruit bowls for breakfast. Surfing low period beachies on home made boards whilst permanently off chops stoned . Lived that way for about 8 months. No work , just healthy eating, surfing and stoned. Got super fit and lean.

Then returned for another year in the desert working my arse off. Sucking piss with the boys. Every fifth week in Indo. Quit. Year off . Back to work ...repeat till we'd had enough.

That was a decade ago and I haven’t touched meat since. Don’t do pot much either. Laying off the piss. Haven’t seen a reef break in 5 weeks !

Photos of the same shack today. Last photo is from further on the property, the shack in the middle of shot....sneaky !

The hollow tank was the shower ! Had a water bag hanging. The place has weathered well for a decade of neglect. Cost fuck all to make liveable in the day. You could still do the same now and I’ll guarantee if things get weird that heaps of crew will do the same. Find an old milk shed and turn it into a house for $300 and some second hand tools.

That’s a good thing. It was getting fucked before the virus. Peak strange was a label board builder getting his boards made overseas by cheap labour and then spending thousands turning a perfectly good Northern Beaches Sydney house into ....a more expensive Northern Beaches Sydney house ( renovation ) for a profit whilst trying to claim “ green “ credentials. Shipping boards across the planet , exploitive labour practices and Ponzi scheme capitalism burning through the Earth’s resources.....guess who !

Hint : Minimalism and knocked knees ....Crypto enough ?

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This talk of regional hinterlands, I expect one of the changes from this event is an exodus from the cities that'll outnumber pilgrims marching towards Mecca. It's gonna make the last ten years of seachange look tame in comparison.

We've got an event that has rattled people to the core, shaken their belief in the safety of the metropolis - in fact the metropolis is now a place to be avoided.

A great many people who've retained their jobs are now switching to online. My wife works four jobs, and every one of them is transitioning to online. This will change the nature of workplaces on a scale we've never seen before. Employers will realise this as much as employees.

Many people who've lost their jobs have been forced out of their comfort zones. This will be the time for reassessment, to do what they always dreamed of.

So brace yourself, regional surfers. The influx of people will also bring infrastructure and development which regional govts will be crying out for - jobs etc.

In the short term there'll be extra housing stock on the market as second and third properties get hocked but price depressions will quickly be corrected by the aforementioned new arrivals.

Very true , Stu.

The digital nomad is already transforming locations. Look at Canggu.

That’s why people are dreading the Telstra tower being installed at the Bluff. It’ll become a permanent city of insta influencers and cyber workers. The most attractive thing about the place - real time community and physical presence without cyber intrusion- will change 180 degrees and an entirely different demographic will move in.

The shift from the cities you mention will go exponential but it’s already happening apace.

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A lot of people are cashing in their chips at the Sydney real estate casino and using the money to set themselves up elsewhere and a lot of crew are GTFO because they’ve realised that the cost/ benefit ratio of a Sydney Lifestyle and a Sydney sized mortgage is all out of whack.

But lots of people are just over it already . The congestion, the hassle, the loss of amenity. Particularly with the “ vibrancy “ of the joint eradicating any cultural attachment they once held for the place. White flight may not be a pleasant dinner party topic but that makes it no less real. When I say white flight I mean to employ the term as generic and not actually referring to skin colour or race. You don’t have to be white to mourn the loss of Australian culture or the vibe of a place.

Around here stalled for years. It seemed immune to the growth that I’ve seen in most other places. Then ......Boom ! The last two years it’s changed dramatically.

I've been cooking like Jimmy O for the last week. The kids and I have stripped the vege beds and got to work. I'm sure the old wives take about onion growers surviving the Black Plague would've also included chili growers had the plague also torn through Mexico.

Photo is backlit so colours are shit, but far right is chili sauce with Habaneros and a few manzanos, hence the really orange colour (trust me). Hot but not ridiculously so, and it has a very 'apricoty' flavour. Already scarfed one whole jar the same size.

The small jar second from right is made by my mate Scott from some Habaneros I gave him. It's reduced right down. Needs to be handled with care.

Middle three jars and plastic container are chili sauce I made last night. There's around thirty chilis in there, including ten Carolina Reapers, plus all the seeds, just because Covid-19. Tried some last night and it's trace elements only. Gonna need a dripper to serve it up. Buggered if I know how we'll get through it all.

Second from left is a chili paste from a mate up the road, prepared with chilis I gave him. It's reduced way down and is more gum then liquid - not sure how I'll use it. At left is honey from the same bloke.

Behind is what's left of the crop. Tonight I'm gonna make Salsa Rojas on rec from Saurus.

The dripper line made me LOL.

They look unreal.

Ever find that the background of people’s photos are just as interesting as the intended point of the shot ?

Special mention goes to the blue rough-play arse paddle on the window sill .

Who’s been a naughty boy then .....spankies !

I’ve realised that the cross pollination of the twin tendencies of the Youth to have zero regard for the virus and their love of stirring adults through controversial behaviour has revealed a great marketing opportunity.

So I’m going to exploit this consumer niche by starting a clothing brand called “ Infected “.

Hats . T Shirts. I’ll even put out a trend forward line of matching Tracksuit combinations. These things will go like hot cakes.

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If Affends and Obey can strike a chord, why not Infected?

What about Infvcted?

Totes edgy.

Holy shit !

I forgot about the obligatory misspell. Rookie error.

Obviously need you on the helm of marketing when we take this thing global , Andy.

Infvcted !

To be fair, the young vegan wellness generation have been crying out to the boomers and co to stop filling the ICU beds with cardiovascular disease for years with their zero regard for “you are what you eat” philosophy

So it’s nothing new

Just stirring ya up blowin ;)

Jeez Stunet, I know this is the good news thread, but that is one helluva rosy future outlook you postulated above.

Oh, there'll be a 'correction' out of all this that'll fundamentally change Australian society alright, but erm, how can I put his delicately...NOT FOR THE FUCKING BETTER, short term, long term, probably even long, long term.

And I'm a jar half full kinda guy.

A jar of Carolina Reaper conserve.

I think another look at Umberto Eco's famous list may be in order.

Not here though.

Let's not bum our highs.

@Blowin

Looks like someone already stole your brand name and even have some damn awful looking silky tracksuits complete with "infected" down the arms and legs just like your design

I kid you not

https://infected-apparel.com

Just found out a mate of mine is recording a conversation with Richard Fydler tomorrow. Probably air in about ten days time with a full length podcast the day after that.

Who is he Stu and what's the gist?

Also, any more on releasing low-security prisoners into the community?

Can't divulge just yet. Not a huge name in the surf world, though I reckon you would've heard of him. I can vouch for his story being one that's well worth listening too.

RE prisoners: Released over the weekend. Those on remand are free till new legislation is passed for how cases are heard, low-level inmates have - as far as I'm aware - had their sentences commuted.

Curiosity is piqued.

Yeah I'm surprised that the release of prisoners hasn't had greater media coverage - some preliminary stuff a week ago in the ABC and the Guardian but I can't find anything since.

As if the media is going to broadcast the fact that existing prisoners have been released .

What would go through the minds of those prone to criminal behaviour or civil disobedience if they knew that even those already convicted weren’t a governmental priority ?

Probably the same thing as those who love to drink drive when they discovered that random RBT was over ie time to do what I do best...grab a carton and hit the road .

It’s a green light for the dregs of society.

Interesting that even shrill rightwing buffoons like Jones and Hadley who normally love pushing the old law and order buttons don't appear to want to take this on.

Wife's working today so I can't ask her. I suspect that, as a story, it's been drowned out by every other shade of corona. Also, when you drill down, the story ain't as sensational as it sounds: those on remand haven't yet been charged, so the headlines won't sound as shrill, and the prisoners (which I'm not sure of the timing of their release) are low-level. Maybe a creative program producer could spin that into a story of an impending crime wave..?

The concern, at least for my wife, is the lack of resources for vulnerable people and how that's gonna drag on already stretched programs.

Doesn't quite sound dramatic enough for The Australian does it.
Still wonder if there's a potential angle of "throw em out on the street with nothing" from an empathetic ABC or Guardian point of view.

I heard on ABC radio the other day prisoners now need to be separated or something, i think they spend pretty much all the time in the cell, and when this happens their sentence gets reduced (i think one third of sentence)

Not good news if you are a victim of crime, dreading the day of release of some criminal, that has most likely already received a sentence way to short :(

"I heard on ABC radio the other day prisoners now need to be separated or something"

Umm, can you be more specific Indo :)

That is good news Stu. And in further support for Darwin's theory:
:https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/29/church-goers-around-the-world-ignore-social-distance-advice

Bloody 'ell Stu, was that for real or some alternate reality version of the comedy channel?

Those guys give religion a bad name.....and remind me of the giant from Jack the Giant Slayer with his little side-kick attached.

[url=https://imgbb.com/][img]https://i.ibb.co/k939ZqX/Jack-the-giant-slayer.jpg[/img][/url]

There's some funny comments on the youtube channel for this vid.

"I am writing from germany and I ask you guys in the name of the rest of the world: "How did your country became a superpower?"

@blackers - it's ok mate, who needs hand-sanitizer when you've got holy water! Sheesh.

Cherish that Goof. Keep it in the bank for when you have to remind yourself just that.

Paddled out this evening at a quiet little spot down here, two guys out taking turns who came in as I was walking down the track.
Had a solo session in fun lightly ruffled onshore peaks until the sky turned pink and the water turned black.
Got changed on the dune looking out over the ocean and down the coast in both directions and there wasn’t one sign of human activity to be seen anywhere.
The cleanest freshest air coming straight off the ocean, not a drop of litter around, and in that moment you could have absolutely no idea what the world is going through.
This really is the lucky country, sometimes I need to remind myself that more often

Great stuff, GF. As our freedoms get reduced, small moments can assume greater significance.

Good stuff GF. I last had it like that just over 3 weeks ago for 2 straight days.

Today is another day and this morning the swell is up on the MP so I checked what's open and what's not. As you know the Shire of Mornington (SoM) does not have control over the ocean side but all other beaches controlled by the SoM, including all beaches in Westernport Bay, are now under Stage 3 lockdown and are closed to swimmers, walkers and surfers (as advised this morning by SoM). Looks like its the bike in the bush for me today.

Haha. I had that same sort of epiphany last Thursday. Was out solo before another mate got out and was just looking around. No signs of humanity, no bullshit with what’s happening on land and all that mattered for that moment was nothing else but that waves. I giggled at what I thought was a very cliche’d moment.

Good news .....the missing trolley from Toowoomba Woolworths has finally turned up.

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Im struggling to imagine how this got here. In the middle of a beach which is 15 odd kilometres long .The nearest shops with trolleys is probably 25 kms away and a few kms inland. The nearest town is 8 kms away.

Did someone take it on a mafia style “ Sleeps with the fishes “ boat ride ?

I can just picture a scuba diver descending to the bottom and seeing a shopping trolley trundling along in the current.

WTF?.......anyway while im bored heres one from the achives ....diving off the rocks south of Depot beach years ago i came across this Dolphin laying in a perfectly shaped hole in the white rocky bottom but as it had kelp growing around it as the surge came the kelp covered the Dolphin completely and when it surged back there was the poor Dolphin,sorta scared the crap out of me as he was in about 20ft water.Closer inspection revealed he had a lump on the back of his head,not a bullet hole but a lump of sorts which is what i assumed was the cause of his demise......was a freaky sight almost like he had been purposedly placed in the perfect size coffin.......

Blowin, folk used to chuck trolleys and all manner of other stuff off barrenjoey headland (diving off the joey on a flat day is a real eye opener. Trolleys, concrete, bit bits of rebar, all right under the takeoff zone!)
Maybe one of them somehow drifted all the way up there? Or there's another headland nearby where the same was done?

Nothing like that , Pops. There’s headlands at each end but they sure don’t need shopping trolleys to attract fish.

That’s if you’re talking about a homemade reef. The area is spotlessly clean .

Dunno if the trolleys were thrown off to intentionally make a reef... I suspect more likely it was just dickheads doing it for a laugh.

Woohoo !

https://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/another-wet-month-for-parched-murray-darling-basin/531321

Daily Good News [ STOP PRESS ]
Over 80 Regional Newspapers Fold (More to follow)
Advertising Revenue is down 75-80% (Doesn't cover costs!)
Closing...
7 independents (Nsw/Vic/Act /Tas) (Note Qld are mostly News Ltd)
14 ACM
60 News Limited
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9uN-9i50V8
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2020/apr/01/news-corp-to-suspend-print-editions-of-60-local-newspapers-as-advertising-revenue-slumps

TV 9 Shares halved.
TV 7 Price (2020 price $115m) > (1/40th of 2011 sale price)

Foxtell & Kayo (Subscribers are Fleeing)

Facebook / yr down $15.7 billion (-19%)

Google / yr down $26.6 billion (-18%)

https://variety.com/2020/digital/news/facebook-google-ad-revenue-loss-coronavirus-1203544502/

Great news!

The Bureau of Meteorology's outlook for the coming 3 months is wetter than average, with warm water off the North West of the country bringing rain bearing systems across central Australia.

This will also bring cooler than average weather to much of the southern mainland. More here: http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/outlooks/#/overview/summary

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Upside

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Great a wet cold winter, bans on surfing and fishing and Indo trip not looking great.

Some good news:

https://www.9news.com.au/national/coronavirus-ballarat-engineer-builds-world-first-ventilator-for-covid19-patients/93939ab8-321d-441b-8590-c841166cc5e7

Practical, inventive, using what you have & know. Well done.

OK....we are all looking up at the jackboot of a police state as it sits on our throat , there’s a deadly virus loose afoot the Earth and it looks like the Easter holiday fuctard hordes are STILL gonna descend like Old Testament locusts on the small town lineups.

Combine this with a Pink super moon waxing hard mid-week and there’s a very good chance that the slightly rooted could easily morph into the fucking ridiculous.

So I’m endeavouring to do the right thing.

Nothing but good stuff till midnight next Sunday. I’ll still be here but I’m committed to remaining mercilessly upbeat come hell or high water.

See you on the other side arse stains.

Good to get in the water with the housing for the first time in maybe 6 months yesterday afternoon.

Wanted to nail one of those inside out shots but didn't quite get any keepers.

Here are a few that I did get though. Followed this by surfing for 2.5 hours on my mid-length in crisp, clean and clean autumn light. A beautiful afternoon before everything started getting shut down :/

[img]https://i.imgur.com/6ZHZ7qo.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/rBNjYpq.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/5NNLCRU.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/vVlckSE.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/GMqtGGf.jpg[/img]

Yep, this was my good news yesterday, up a knife-edge ridge in northern NSW to a platform looking north to the Lamington plateau and Springbrook.

Perfect autumnal weather, excellent vis and that smell of the change of seasons.

It may be an enforced break but I'll take it just the same.

[url=https://ibb.co/MM7HNDX][img]https://i.ibb.co/qkp81MZ/IMG-2541.jpg[/img][/url]

beautiful. my favourite walking is along knife-edge ridges...as long as there aren't too many leaps across thin air from rock to rock.

Yeah, beautiful! Can't beat bouldering and scrambling around the bush and coastal environments.

miss it so much. that smell and feel of sandstone...nothing like it.
i used to regularly climb the cliffs below the palm beach lighthouse that you can see in craig's photo posted above. i remember "space vampires" was a favourite, along with "crack of dawn".

Good one Craig and Andy, both equally good and the places on the coast where you can do both in the one day are very special.

Yep how good is Australia?!

Perfect beaches and beautiful hinterlands, surfing, walking, 4WDing, camping...

And you've inspired me Craig, no more shitty photos taken with a phone - I'm guessing you've got some good gear but that's some nice crisp photos.

Yeah, these shots were taken with my old Canon 7D, have a new Mark II that I use out of the water though. You don't need to spend too much for a decent camera, it's more so the lenses and the eye :)

My DSLR is too heavy to take on long-ish walks, I'll have to bust out the little Canon G12 again, it's passable.

Jeez you can spend some cash

[url=https://ibb.co/JpVZhrz][img]https://i.ibb.co/5jmZ7s5/Screen-Shot-2020-04-06-at-10-06-51-am.png[/img][/url]
[url=https://imgbb.com/]picture safe app[/url]

Thanks Zen. And yeah you can Andy! I got an old housing off a mate for a few hundred. Has limited functionality so you have to set everything before you put in the camera but it gets the job done for a play around!

I miss Indo.

Good news is that the waves will just keep breaking and will still be there when we reenter the world.

[img]https://i.ibb.co/ZKPRhbL/28110-AF5-7-F32-43-C7-A784-75264989-F079.png[/img]

In other surfing good news is the resurgence of the length in boards. Go watch Tom Curren on his 6’9 destroying Santa Cruz and tell me it isn’t freaking awesome. I’ve posted this vid before but fuck it ....one of the best displays of surfing ever.

Santa Cruz at 1:40 and 3:40.

https://youtu.be/sq0k3mIafH0

6’5” Wayne Lynch ridden in WA....I miss that board. Unfortunately didn’t survive an axing Boranup lip.

[img]https://i.ibb.co/n8W18Gb/104-C2-A95-EB31-4941-A70-F-A07697703-BF7.png[/img]

When’s the Tom Carroll Surfer’s Journal episode come out ?

I need a fix of that goblin shredlord. Glimpses in Gripping Stuff.....he is fucking crazy. Such a direct style.

Gripping stuff era.....when the floater was king.

Was surfing less fun without airs ?
][img]https://i.ibb.co/c3sxntK/DFBF0391-79-A0-4-D65-9-F4-B-5615-AE2654-F2.png[/img]

Considering that only a tiny fraction of surfers can actually do airs I’d have to say that it doesn’t really make much difference.

My neighbour is a prawn fisherman and dropped off a box of beauties after returning from trip last weekend. Snapper fishing is totally banned in SA but I just pulled my last one out of the freezer. The Easter feast is on! Happy Easter everyone.

One good thing happening currently is the night time walk. We've had clear starry skies recently, and upon getting home two days ago a meteor/fireball streaked across the sky in a general west-east direction. It was there a second and a half and traversed the entire sky. A bit of fire and cloud around it, flashing.

Lo and behold, we are about to enter that time of year the Lyrid meteor shower happens, with a peak into April 22/23, which will also coincide with a new moon, so it will be dark. Could be pretty good.

Reunion Island Surf Story (Fantastic Waves & No Sharks) Chill Session! WTF
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqgrAR7Bw_4&feature=emb_logo

As I explain in this post below, it was great to see my mate Ollie out and frothing on surfing after having a bit of a rough trot and falling out of love with it last year.

His aim.. to generate speed on rights which is tricky with his prosthetic back leg. After surfing with him three times over the weekend he was getting the hang of it and even throwing the board up into the lip. Insane to see!

Wow!

Never underestimate the healing powers of the waves. Not just the body, the soul.

Onya Ollie.

I take my hat off to ya Ollie,a bit of inspiration goes a long way ...keep going and well done.....Craig good post.!

I tell ya, this Wuflu ain’t all bad. Not by a long shot.

To be honest , I’ve been praying for a little reprieve from humanity for quite some time . To put it bluntly, I’ve just wished that people would fuck off for a while .....with a caveat that no one got hurt.

And here we are . A very pleasant little time warp.

Streets and beaches are empty. Caravan parks are shut . It’s possible to go for a stroll and see not a single person......bliss.

Except for the virus happening, I’d be getting pitted on the other side of the country by now. But if I’m forced to remain on the East coast then it’s a sweet way to go with the town in lock down.

I’m not straying more than a km or two from the house. Barring a couple of runs to see my parents and do a bit of gardening/ harvesting, I’ve actually gone further in my 13 foot boat than I have in my car in the past month or so.

Everything is within walking distance. I might have missed a few better waves by not driving around chasing them but I sure as fuck don’t miss time spent sitting in a car.

Days are much more relaxed. Getting into a serious coffee ritual and the caffeine uptake is getting a bit crazy. Spending time around the place, a few odd jobs. Getting shit sorted.

Could be much worse.

I’m loving it.

Anyone else finding an upside to the Wuflu ?

Yeah, the best thing about the lockdown has been surfing alone or with just a few other locals.

blowin, looks like you're a powerful owl...
[img]https://ih1.redbubble.net/image.1138479791.6251/raf,750x1000,075,t,fafafa:ca443f4786.jpg[/img]

Chook.....how are you finding life under lockdown ?

Is it effecting you to any great degree ?

I'm a Kookaburra with Bower bird tendencies.

I wonder if Myers-Briggs did anything on that?

in many ways, not a lot of change for me...i worked online from home anyway. and i can easily get all my groceries and weed delivered.

but i have no outdoor access now...can't just go sit on a cliff and watch the clouds. can't head down to royal national park for the day. surfing is completely ruled out...the crowds are ridiculous.
being a layabout doesn't work so well when everyone else is now a layabout in a small area.

Shit . That’s heavy.

Good luck with it . The stories of crowds seem a bit abstract from here , they’d be a bastard to deal with.

Hopefully some good news for you sooner rather than later.

It sounds like you’re on to a winner there Chook. Pretty much where I’m at. I think for a lot of people, putting aside the economic and health concerns, this has been a positive experience.

it's not that bad. i'm happy and comfortable at home.
i've put surfing on hold for the moment, so don't have to deal with any crowds.
i'll be out out in the water again soon enough. and when i do, the board's going to fly, i've been sanding it with 1400 grit paper. it's so smoooooth, i can't stop fondling it.

and there's plenty of good news...we didn't get hit like italy, spain, uk or US..

Very funny Zen referencing Myers Briggs like that.

We have Powerful Owls around here and I don’t think Blowin is one at all. The thing about POs is they are deadly silent, never a sound even in flight just a shadow in the night sky.

The one bird missing from Chook’s list are mynas in all their forms - Indian, Noisy and Bell. Undoubtedly the most annoying little twerp of a bird on the planet or at least this part of it. Now who here on SN could be a Myna? Mmmmm .....

A step in the right direction.

https://7news.com.au/news/qld/chinese-billionaire-sells-huge-australian-cattle-stations-to-queensland-family-c-1011388

Why exactly is it a step in the right direction? Whether this is good for the country depends on multiple factors. A. The Price. B The revenue from the property C. The amount of local employment the property has before and after the sale D. Whether the new owners increase capital investment etc etc etc.
It's a little more complex than Aussie = Good / China = Bad.

So you two idiots would be fine if an Australian paid way too much for the property, as long as they bought it off a Chinese person, and didn't have the resources to improve it?
What happens if a Chinese bloke offers an Aussie farmer a price too good to be true for his property and he says yes to a sale? You blokes would think that's shit.
What happens if a Chinese person buys a run down property and then spends a shit load of cash improving it, hiring local labour to do the work? Is that shit too.
Christ it must be weird going through life thinking as little as you two do.

FFS, because the combined properties are water rich and run about 80,000 head of cattle now owned by an Australian pastoral country with the benefit of profits and tax receipts remaining in Australia.

It'd be good news if it was bought back from an Ethiopian billionaire too.

Australian ownership good/Vic local outrage bad.

I'm sure you're aware who Hamilton is, a left-winger of impeccable pedigree, not a shouty RWNJ, yet he believes Chinese-owned property and biz is a threat.

Sure, it's not all simple, but I feel more comfortable knowing it's locally-owned.

What did the new Aussie owner use to buy the property? Fairy dust? You do realise the Chinese bloke who just sold the farm takes the cash out of the country? Please tell me you understand that.
You have zero understanding of the farms finances but you're happy to say the deal is good no matter what the purchase price, the farm's revenue, or the current condition of the asset. That's stupidity of the highest order.

Zenagin. You said the deal was good news for the country, when you clearly don't have the necessary information to make that claim.

I took it on face value.

If you have the information that the deal is bad for the country i'd respectfully ask you to put up or shut up.

Hey VL, it is good news. Let me explain. Back in my surveying days, I got a great contract for most of Tassie to do, and it took time. In the north of the state I was working around towns where dairy farm after dairy farm was being sold, long held family farms gone. Why? Well, the land was being bought by forestry companies, at the time they were promoted as a great tax offset, and it was all legal. Large amounts of funds were flowing into this. So the daily farm became monoculture complete with baited traps for all the local critters. The family moved to town, or elsewhere, getting up to twice the going market rate for the farm (anedotal, told to me). The locals who were employed on those farms, not so much work if it's just all eucalptus nitens rustling in the breeze.

How is the current situation any different? Instead of an agro-forestry distortion in policy, leading to capital mis-allocation; you get a similar capital mis-allocation from a different cause. The result is the same. Let me explain, again.

In the wake of the GFC, Bernanke's Fed did QE, printed out of thin air, and began a chain of asset buying that led to the 'everything bubble'. The Chinese watched, and I believe have replied - yuan printing, used to hoover up overseas assets - real things like farmland. Some of it could have come from their current account surpluses and savings, but their 40+Tn debt buildup post GFC suggests otherwise, if you can believe any of the numbers. So, you get the same result - a huge (gargantuan) flow of funds coming into a local market and distorting the prices of (in this case) land and resources. It has troubling effects (in this case foreign ownership raising sovereignty issues and local jobs/opportunity).

zenagain. Go and read my comment again and then look up the definition of "if". FFS I never claimed it was bad for the country so I don't need to provide the evidence. You on the other hand, said the deal was good, provided zero evidence and took it at face value. The only thing you've got to draw your conclusion from is the price paid for the property and the ethnicity of the buyer and seller. You're just a little lamb lost in the big bad world of agri-business finance.
Silly nationalism at its finest.
VJ, I like your in depth discussion. It's a breath of fresh air. Yes markets get distorted all the time, but it's not exactly only the Chinese doing it. The timber plantation fiasco was all out government's fault.
Family trusts, tax concessions, agri-businesses domiciled in tax havens, water buy-backs etc etc etc, all favour the big boys in Agri-business. We need to clean up our backyard first. And if what you say is correct and everything goes tits up for the Chinese land buyers, guess who wins in the fire sale.

Can you dumb it down any harder blowin? You do know about sovereign risk?
Pad out your slogan, and let's examine the consequences of your latest brain fart.

So other than pissing and moaning about it on swellnet, what exactly do you want done?

One of the biggest mistakes Australia ever made was allowing foreign ownership of Australian land.

"Cessation of foreign ownership of Australian soil."? Wow. Like a confiscation.
And what happens when other nations retaliate? There go all those Australian owned villas in Bali, and Australian owned surf camps in Indo. What about all those Australian owned mines all around the world? They will get confiscated too. Not only that, your mad plan would piss pretty much every country in the world off, causing export markets to collapse. Great plan. You've just destroyed the economy and caused mass unemployment. But I'm sure Poorlean and ignorant racists will clap and cheer your plan.

Wrong- you put up all these hypotheticals to overstate and over complicate your argument and then say the onus of proof is on me to prove that it was good for Australia. Plus you throw in a couple of insults for good measure which is not a path I'm going to go down.

But, let me say again, on face value, i think having a valuable piece of productive real estate back in Australian hands, employing Australian people, poducing Australian bred livestock for export and no doubt financed in Australia can only be good for Australia. In addition, the family owned pastoral company are no lambs themselves and I could hazard a guess they did their checks and balances before signing off on the sale.

Nationalism is not a dirty word especially with regards to food and energy security. If you're happy to have more and more of Australia in foreign hands, so be it. Don't expect the rest of us to march lock-step in following your skewed views.

A couple of things, I wish Australia would follow a Norwegian path of nationalism- they rightfully believe that their natural resources are the property of the people. The distribution of wealth is much more even in terms of the worth of the top 20％ of earners compared to the bottom. As you would know they have a sovereign wealth fund in the trillions invested around the world in various and diversified ways which will ensure their prosperity for generations to come. You my friend seem to be happy to sell the farm for a few shiny beads and a warm blanket.

Last week I posted a link where a Chinese billionaire snapped up a heritage trophy farm been in the same family 170 years. I believe now that 100％ of Australian wool exports are now Chinese owned and controlled.

What's your blanket made from Vic?

It brings a smile to my face to know that the days of humouring the people crying “ racist “ because Australia is unashamed in asserting its sovereignty are coming to a close.

Fits in with the daily good news thread.

If the ALP is genuine with the reduction in immigration and temp visa workers then they will be unstoppable .

Going to be interesting to see how parties like One Nation go next election, IMHO they are now more relevant than ever.

Pauline hasn't been that far off with a lot of her views on China etc and imagine if we had an election now and Clive Palmer ran those same anti China adds, he would receive even more votes.

"I believe now that 100％ of Australian wool exports are now Chinese owned and controlled." BULLSHIT.
You're most welcome to your opinion, but stop making up silly claims like this and misrepresenting my statements. Foreign ownership of land is complex. Sometimes it's great for local communities and other times it is lousy. It's not a black and white issue.
"Nationalism isn't a dirty word". Hasn't worked out that well for Brazil, UK, North Korea, USA, Zimbabwe, Venuzeula, and pretty much every country that's gone down that path in the last 30 years. In most cases, the flag waving and racism is just a distraction for the masses so they don't see corrupt scoundrels wrecking their countries..

Indo Dreaming. What you are seeing is a fragmentation of right wing nationalism around the western world. We have the shit for brains lunar right and opportunists pushing the anti-Chinese barrow in a desperate attempt to distract the public from their own incompetence and stay in power,
At the end of the day, the uber Nationalist have been found wanting during this crisis. Trump, Bolsonaro, Johnson, will all be gone for their woeful performance which has resulted in the unnecessary deaths of so many of their citizens. Their nations are in more shit than a Werribee duck. Female progressive leaders (or conservative leaders who respect the science) around the world have shone. That's a fact.
Hopefully enough Australians can see Uber-nationalism has been a complete failure and punish anyone at the ballot box who follows Trump's ideas.

I'm not misrepresenting your words- i'm responding to you without resorting to insult or hysterics.

Nationalism has worked spectacularly for my example of Norway. I said that is the model I would like Australia to adopt. You introduced those other basket case countries that for the most part are Authoritarian or dictatorships embued with prolonged and systemic corruption to bolster your argument.

I should have fact checked the wool export being Chinese controlled- i read that somewhere just the other day. If it's not true, i apologize.

But, back to my original post, I believe that having these pastoral properties back in Australian hands is a good. You are welcome to think otherwise.

Also, the other day i wrote that I believe that Australias business relationships should be built on reciprocity and mutual benifit, not on aquiesense. There is nothing you can say that will make me change my mind on that and we do not have that relationship with China hence that is why I am against Chinese ownership of Australian assets and resources. You can call me racist, I don't give a damn.

"In most cases, the flag waving and racism is just a distraction for the masses so they don't see corrupt scoundrels wrecking their countries."

And sadly this is news to some. Most?

Guess who Australia's biggest foreign investor is.

And Australia's biggest foreign landowner is and has always been the UK...well, since Australia was invented. By them.

Hey, it's complicated.

Uber- nationalism?

Goodness, is it a stretch to think that most normal people might like to pass things down to their kids?

Australians (and any foreigners for that matter) not allowed to "own " property in Indonesia Vic. Has to have Indonesian interest on titles, long term leases a bit different but no outright ownership, I,m sure Indo dreaming could clarify the details but no comparison to be had there.

Correct and I believe followed by the USA?

Last time I checked though you can own a business or land in those countries?

edit, that was in response to factopuppydale.

Also, I was going to mention Indonesia too Mike. I'm against Indonesian ownership of Australian assets too.

@ Vic Local

"Female progressive leaders (or conservative leaders who respect the science) around the world have shone. That's a fact."

What countries are you referring too?

Can you throw out a couple countries and names?

Only two i can think of off the top of my head is one with NZ, but compared to Australia our death rate per million is the same and Australian per million infection rate is lower than NZ, and Scomo is male and central right. (And a good deal of cases came from that cruise ship, could have been a much different case if it stopped in NZ instead)

Im guessing you are talking about some European countries most doing very bad.

I dont have much knowledge of these leaders you are talking about but only other one i can think of is Angela Merkel of Germany

Germany is doing very good death rate wise per one million, but not so good otherwise, its number 6 in the world for number of infections.

Russia is just below it at number 7 with much less cases per one million and less deaths per one million.

I dont see any pattern, in right wing or left wing, or women or men leaders, i only see a pattern of countries going into lockdown dealing with things best or a pattern of warmer climates seeing to be less affected than colder climates.

BTW. Taiwan and South Korea are countries who have dealt with things the best, what are their leaders?..

"I'm not misrepresenting your words". You were Zenagain. You said I thought the deal where the Australian bought a large agricultural property from a Chinese owner was a bad deal for the country. I never said that and you know it.
I just criticised you for making the claim the deal was good for Australia when you didn't have any of the necessary information to make the claim. I also called BS on your wool claim. At least you had the courage to put up your hand and admit a mistake. Unlikely Blowin will follow that example.
And most of those basket case countries I used as examples of failed nationalism were democracies (with flaws) that became dictatorships. Tin pot dictators generally don't take power with the gun these days. They chip chip chip away at democratic institutions and then rig elections or refuse to hand over power when they lose. Hey, have you been paying attention to the USA lately. Trump's nutter mates took over a governor's office at gunpoint. Can't you see the problem here? I also agree with your Norway example, but that's not exactly the nationalism model blowin has in mind.
Leases or outright ownership in Indonesia is a moot point. If blowin got his way and Australia took back land owned by Indonesians, those leases wouldn't be worth the paper they are written on.

Indo Dreaming. Check out this article re female leadership and Covid 19
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/25/why-do-female-leaders-seem-to-be-more-successful-at-managing-the-coronavirus-crisis
Bojo in England and Trump in the USA had ample warnings about the virus. They saw what was happening in China, Iran, Italy, and Spain, and then screwed up big time. England's death rate per infection is off the charts because the NHS has been undermined for decades and BOJO simply didn't prepare the nation while downplaying the seriousness of the virus. Brazil is a mess and getting worse because their leader is a dangerous fool.
The other country that is a big worry is Indonesia. Poor healthcare, a weak central government, and high population densities is a dangerous mix. Jokowi isn't hopelessly incompetent, but cultural factors are a big problem there.
The big tough nationalists have failed miserably.

Moot point ? It was made by you? Talking about Aussie "owned" surf camps in your rant above?? I think you need a surf mate

mikehunt: The ownership/leasing status of Australian (in terms of money not legal status) villas is a moot point IF Australian took blowin's advice and started confiscating land owned by Indonesians. They'd get confiscated either way.
There are consequences to blowin's mad schemes. I'm not too sure retirees in Bali would be overly happy with the obvious retaliation if blowin got his way. Thank god blowin and his political hero Hanson are ignored by the powers-that-be and end up crying on the side lines because they don't get their way.

Some form of nationalism is coming whether you like it or not. It's a terrible turn of phrase but there are forces across the globe resisting globalisation and instead looking for safety in the nation-state. Turn on the news and see what's happening. It's happening elsewhere, it will happen here. In the next decade a new form of nationalism will become political orthodoxy the same way Neo-liberalism slowly became orthodoxy through the late 70s and 80s.

Now you can either resist that to the death, hold onto an outdated ideology and watch the world change without you, or try and understand what's happening.

In a political sense, I hope that clever Australians can get out ahead of the curve and control the change, the same way Hawke and Keating got out ahead of the Neolib wagon and put their stamp on it, one that thankfully included many progressive and socially just anchor points. To do so now would be to harness a great power and guide it; use it for it's best ends.

I'm not naive to the wayward capacity of nationalism, I know my history, but I believe - have to believe - that understanding what's occuring is key to good outcomes.

Argh okay, sorry its just click bait article for the female followers of the Guardian the facts and figures dont support it.

Like i said Australia and Scomo has done just as good as Jacinta and NZ or even slightly better based on per million figures which is really the only way you can compare countries..

Germany hasn't done well at all its only their health system that is exceptional, and Russia is doing much better and male and nationalistic..

Yeah Taiwan has done amazing women leader yeah but progressive leader?...dont know but wouldn't have thought so?

South Korea is also a big stand out male and progressive?

Singapore was also doing real good, but got blasted by a second wave, hate to say that to being a big fan of their government, but something tp possibly learn there.

BTW. It's funny a very left news outlet taking a women are better at this than men outlook, i though according to the left men and women are the same and you can say a few words to yourself and changes your gender when you want?

The smart countries would be offshoring in India. A politically stable country, democratic with a similar system of law not to mention a huge pool of labor. English is spoken as well facilitating trade. Millions ready to be lifted out of poverty and geographically close to established and emerging markets.

I'd be moving my manufacturing there.

"Some form of nationalism is coming whether you like it or not."
Stunet, There's also going to be renewed globalism as well.

Many nations are going to work out that international problems (global warming / pandemics / ocean plastic / natural disasters / multinational supply lines etc require global solutions. We can expect countries working on these together. China, whether you like them or not, has stepped up with soft diplomacy handing out PPE to Pacific nations, African Nations, Central Asian Nations etc. We've also witness scientists working on a global effort during this crisis with open source research.

Let's just pray the nationalism is in the form of tightening our supply chains for essential products rather than the USA / Brazil model. That's a recipe for economic and humanitarian disasters, and failed states.

If we don't travel internationally for business, study, holidays, and cultural exchange, we will end up travelling for war.
The scary thing is, I can't see Scotty from Marketing being a globalist at all. He's a Trump-lite flag waver, and that may please the Hansonites, but it's terrible for the country. I will leave you with my favourite Hunter S Thompson quote, written in 1972 but perfect for this discussion 48 years later.
"The main problem in any democracy is that crowd-pleasers are generally brainless swine who can go out on a stage & whup their supporters into an orgiastic frenzy—then go back to the office & sell every one of the poor bastards down the tube for a nickel apiece.”

Hey Vic, can I ask you a question regarding my original post?

Having met all the criteria you outlined above, do you think the business returning to Australian ownership is a good outcome?

"If we don't travel internationally for business, study, holidays, and cultural exchange, we will end up travelling for war."

It's a real stretch to say that a rise in nationalism will result in a decrease in the above.

The rise in nationalism we're looking at revolves around a rejection of globalisation, not a rejection of international travel, multiculturalism or anything like that.

Having met all the criteria you outlined above, do you think the business returning to Australian ownership is a good outcome?
I simply don't know. I would need to know the following to make a judgement on that question.
1. Amount of cattle on the property.
2. Condition of the property.
3. Value of water rights (if any)
4. Corporate structure of the buyer and seller.
5. Where the companies are domiciled
6. Any tax concessions available for the purchaser and seller.
7. Any forward contracts the property has for agricultural products
8. Loan terms and conditions (if any)
9. Where the bank is domiciled (if any)
10. Any financial backers of the business, where they are domiciled and their tax arrangements.
11. Potential for other revenue streams
etc etc etc. This could be a good deal for the country or a shit one. Just because an Australian bloke bought the property off a Chinese bloke doesn't make it a good deal.

"The rise in nationalism we're looking at revolves around a rejection of globalisation, not a rejection of international travel, multiculturalism or anything like that."
Really? Trump, Deturte, Bolsonaro, and to a lesser extent Bojo are very much circling the wagons and rejecting most forms of globalism, much of it is being done with a deeply racist odour. None of those countries are going well and all have a very bleak future.

Do you think Australia can move away from neoliberal globalisation, which I see mainly as an economic thing though with social implications e.g. mass immigration, and still maintain a muticultural outlook?

Stu, good post. You can see it too.

History is cyclical. The emotions we are facing, the situation in relation to trade flows opening/lessening, the flows of people, it's all happened before. It's now the time to swing toward nationalism. This does not have to be a bad thing, for any of you lefties anxious that the rest of us will don jack boots and goose steps. Nationalism in Australia doesn't work that way. Look at the nation of the ALP leadership of Curtin and Chifley, which became the Australia of Menzies. By 1970 it had equal highest standard of living in the world, shared with Canada. Big resource based economies, with supported value adding in manufacturing. Agriculture supported. Anyone thinking Mussolini is barking up the wrong tree here. It was nationalist under both parties, and backed itself and protected itself. Then for some reason this policy was all thrown under the bus.

There is one thing to caution, and it relates to Australian ownership. We've never really owned the Commonwealth locally. Before Chinese money it was Japan in the 80's, before that it was the UK from Federation. Domestic ownership has always been really difficult, as access to capital has been a constant problem, always having to source it from overseas in the absence of a local pool of capital. We have recognised this in the past. If we go back to 1911 and the foundation of the Commonwealth Bank (not what CBA is today) - I believe part of the reason for creating it was to have a domestic pool of capital. But somehow it hasn't taken off. If we want to own Australia, we have to accumulate the funds (hey, hello there pension funds...)

A good read is the NSW crisis of 1932, when the loans (offshore capital) got called in and Jack Lang said "No."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1932_New_South_Wales_constitutional_crisis

And a book:

https://www.amazon.com.au/1932-Gerald-Stone-ebook/dp/B00BSKX24C/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

Following, we have long been a country of being ripped off. By 1790 the NSW Corps had become the 'Rum Corps' and was distilling, importing and ripping off the population for great margins on their monopoly. Today, many of life's essentials are priced with an 'Australia tax' as you no doubt know. Does it have to be this way?

Next, we seem to sell off the furniture to fund today's lifestyle to the latest up and coming power at bubble prices, then astutely buy it back when it all crashes and the up and coming power isn't, and leaves, licking its financial wounds. We're on the cusp of this stage, now. Hope you all had great barbies over the last 20 years and enjoyed the flatscreens and trips overseas. In financial markets, this is a "short sale" and the re-buying is "covering". I mean, it's not how I'd run my household, but I'm just a little voice in a big nation...

And lastly, an observation from an immigrant: Australians don't seem to back themselves. A Commodore is not a great car, but a 'bogan' mobile, a 'dinosaur'. Forget the fact that for the money, it was one of the world's great bargains, an affordable RWD car with top level performance, and a wagon and ute to boot, developed on a shoestring into something quite good. But Australians turned their backs on it, and now it's gone. Picture this, multiply by millions. I'll never understand why Aussies don't back themselves more. Seriously, some of the stuff we create, some of the intellectual depth - ah, it's bizarre. Backing the country needs to be policy again - you contact the department and say "I want to manufacture something here," and what you get is advice to do it in Thailand. Bizarre, again. If you want to have a first world nation, you need to value-add.

So how about a nationalism that sees Australia back itself, use its resources for it's own best benefit, develop its creativity; protect and nurture its people and itself? A wealthy, stable country will also attract capital, if it is needed. Given much of the world is about to get really chaotic, it would be nice to build a great shelter from the storm.

VJ, that's an interesting analysis but very much seen through the lens of an Aussie.
I see four big geo-political trends.
1. A rapid economic and social collapse in the USA. This is really dangerous.
2. The rise and fall of strong-men leaders. If the likes of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Bolsonaro, Trump etc don't accept election results, these countries could very well fall into civil wars or total dictatorships.
3. The continued sidelining of middle democratic powers such as Canada, NZ, and much of Europe.
4. The continued rise of China as a superpower. Whether you blokes like it or not, China is the only game in town for so many nations in Africa, Central Asia, and SE Asia, and increasingly Eastern Europe. The West has created the void, China has stepped into it.
My big fear is Australia chucking our lot in with the USA, pissing off China, and becoming a global irrelevance with a third rate economy
My big hope is Australia walks the tightrope between China and the USA while forming a large coalition of democracies in Europe, Canada, SE Asia, India etc. If the orange lunatic gets out of the Oval Office the USA could repair the damage and join a coalition of democracies to re-establish a global law based order. The world is going to need a serious counterbalance to China. We need to remake globalism after this crisis. Retreating back into our borders is the worst thing Australia could do.

I’m going to try get this thread back aligned to its original intent. You blokes need to give your dialogue a rest. It is literally taking over most forums on the site.

Was able to get a group of blokes together today for a social round of golf, 9 in all - an irregular but valuable social club. Everyone grateful for the chance and It allowed for the varied experiences of the last 6 weeks to be shared. Like nothing had changed but also like so much had. No hugs or handshakes. No post round beers and laughs, playing in pairs only and even standing around after felt unnatural. Was good though and wasn’t taken for granted by anyone. An increased appreciation for each other. A couple impacted in life changing ways.

Weather was stunning and hit them well.

The daily good news is... this thread is back on track! Good stuff Roystein.

In more good news, I completed* my first ever paving job, a little home job for an outdoor shower area. Just in time for winter :)

*95% complete.

good call Roystein, post deleted

I'm stinging for a round of golf, been ages for me.

I went for a surf check today, flat and onshore but some crusty old locals were foraging for a little succulent that grows just above the high tide line- apparently good as tempura.

Also bought an old bench and sanded it back a bit. Half a dozen coats of stain and i've got a killer bench just outside to enjoy a beer in front of my herb garden.

Tomorrow, my wife and I are taking the dog hiking into th hills behind my house. There's a cool lookout and a couple of giant boulders about the size of shipping container, perfectly round that look like they've been split in half with a katana,

I'll see if i can find a pic.

[url=https://ibb.co/sbB032y][img]https://i.ibb.co/MZXYNsM/DSC-0015.jpg[/img][/url]

pic doesn't do it justice- i'll try and get a better one tomorrow.

@ Zen
"The smart countries would be offshoring in India. A politically stable country, democratic with a similar system of law not to mention a huge pool of labor. English is spoken as well facilitating trade. Millions ready to be lifted out of poverty and geographically close to established and emerging markets.

I'd be moving my manufacturing there."

I agree, anyone know why India isn't such a big manufacturing source?

But we still need to spread the eggs around lots of other countries have low wages and overheads in SE Asia.

Looks like the Good News thread's morphed into interesting stuff...
Zen, re India, keep an eye on the rise of Modi's Hindu nationalism (which seems from afar to have some supremacist elements; seeing a rise in violence against Muslims and Christians there plus unjust imprisonments). Not meaning to finger point, just that they might not be as stable as we think.
Edit: sorry, missed the posts above trying to get the forum back on track...
Daily good news for me (well, a couple of days ago anyway), is that I was able to visit my parents for the first time in over a month. It's the little things, right.

Good news is seeing the ocean off the East coast so visibly alive as it is today. Super pods of hundreds of dolphins trailing across kilometres of coast. Schools of baitfish of all sizes . Sharks , seabirds.

It was all happening.

Yep, we're just about to go on our hike now. I'll try and snap a couple of better shots.

Is a lovely walk. Nice in the snow too.

Yep that looks beautiful Zen.

Good news? I spent 7 hours splitting wood yesterday, got three trailer loads.
A bit sore in the shoulders today but I've got firewood from now until the apocalypse.

[url=https://ibb.co/4YkJCyc][img]https://i.ibb.co/3MKkVXw/IMG-2580.jpg[/img][/url]

At my house the apocalypse would be coming in a couple of months.
Jealous of your red gum. Nice stacking.
Hand split or machine?

Worthy stack of fire wood.

I understand about the sore shoulders bit, painting a ceiling at the moment. Amazing how a 200 gm brush can feel about a kilo after a solid session overhead.

There’s a art to splitting wood. Most people go straight for the middle of the log whereas it’s best to go around the edges first before attacking the middle. Works a treat and no you don’t end up splitting it too small after all many of those chunky bits will end up being split down further anyway. Oh use the heaviest log splitter you can find and not one of those dinky fibreglass handled ones sold at Bunnings. Like a good glassed to last gun a good log splitter will see you out. Mine is a 25 year old Cyclone Hytest, good as new, splitter one side, sledge hammer the other.

Recently fitted a new hardwood handle to my log splitter. Got it from Krugers in Sydney, an Australian company operating since 1911.

I've got a pile of firewood that, until a couple of minutes ago, I was pretty proud of.

I’m jealous of that Andy. I have to buy my supply this year, first time in 4 years.
We had a freak storm in April back then, trees were coming down everywhere. I drove the freeway north out of Sydney in the middle of it all, and was literally driving 80 Ks in the middle lane while trees either lay on the road, or came down in front of my eyes. I lost 5 trees in my suburban back yard alone, during this one storm. Big bastards crashing onto neighbours roofs and everything. I ended up choosing the room to sleep in based on its safety from falling trees
[url=https://ibb.co/NFYzR36][img]https://i.ibb.co/2FKBJ67/F27316-A8-7-C50-4388-B79-A-714-F1-E1134-E0.jpg[/img][/url]
Anyway, no one got hurt, and an arborist left me the 3 good hardwood trees in a pile of easy to manage pieces
[url=https://ibb.co/Pc5L7sb][img]https://i.ibb.co/k4h7RVr/2-D91-E351-252-A-4-CE9-A9-D4-96388-C895-E90.jpg[/img][/url]
Wrong.
Not easy at all, it was my first fireplace and me and even the fiskars axe were no match for these slabs. Luckily a friend lent me his splitter for the week, and I spent the whole week at it.
[url=https://ibb.co/SdBqPsW][img]https://i.ibb.co/BrB8tzd/74-F9-BB7-B-ABAA-44-E2-9699-97-F4-D3-C83-FF0.jpg[/img][/url]
Good times. I love the atmosphere of a fireplace, a few drinks, and music.
Beats TV every day of the week.
Well, they were good times.
Got no wood now, and it’s getting cold...

Yes I hear you Roystein and others, that one should have been in the politico thread.
OK some good news, or, how to make lemonade out of lemons.

Surf today was my son and I, with 3ft sets, alone on a bit of beach/reef not really bothered with. The weekend belonged to the crowds. I took out a remarkable board and midway through the session paddling back out it felt funny; it had lost it's fin. I wasn't overly bothered, mentioned it to my young one, showed him to his surprise. The board has done this before, so I kept surfing.

The next wave on it I stayed on my belly and bodyboarded a right. My son was paddling back out, looking intently. "Dad, board swap." he said as soon as I got back out.

What happened then was a lesson on how to ride finless. Keep in mind he's never done this before, but is a very good snowboarder. Takeoffs into standing into turns, trim, edges were in well, little cut backs - I could see his mind ticking over "how do I do this... and this... and this..." He was getting a good deal of speed and honestly looked like he had a fin in for most of the riding. Hand placed into wave face to mimic a rudder. There were big smiles and the odd look of surprise as the board threw up a challenge.

So I came out of the water where I should have been bummed out on losing a fin, instead really happy at the learning, growth and teaching I'd seen.

Sounds fun, VJ.

I think the most essential requirement for finless surfing is good knees.

Well picked up Inzider, I've got red gum on the left, flooded gum over the back out of sight and I'm not sure what that stuff in front is.
All hand split, I'm too tight and too egotistical to hire a hydraulic splitter :)

And speaking of neat stacking, if you've ever been up in the European alps they take it to another level - in the Arlberg, a man's worth is judged by his wood pile and that's barely an exaggeration.

Question. who needs a tv when you've got a fire?
Answer. All those people who smashed their TVs at 2pm the other day, filmed it, and then read out that speech about revoking their vote.
Fuck me that was entertaining. Just when you thought the internet had hit rock bottom, that community stunt popped up.

Good stuff vj.

Show us your stacks fellas!

I had a couple of Spotty Gums removed from my front yard that were over-hanging the footpath.
Old mates wanted me to pay $1800 to get rid of the wood and leaves.
Yea naa, I 'll get rid of it myself, without any plan of how I was actually going to do that.
I told 'em to just stack the wood along the front and pile up the leaves in the corner.

My wife txted me at lunch time and told me how much wood was stacked out the front, not to mention the leaves and branches. Unreal, I'm going to get some good pieces when I get home...

Arrive home around 5pm and there was not one single off-cut of trunk left.
It was ALL gone, except for the branches and leaves.

I spent about half an hour each Tuesday arvo for 2 and a half months getting rid of the leaves and small branches.....you'd be surprised how much you can fit into those bins if you keep doing the climb aboard stomp down.

Now I'm just waiting for the right time to spark up the backyard (mini) bonny.

There's a section in 'The Future Is Unwritten' where Joe Strummer is waxing lyrical about the primitive yet progressive function of fires; where problems get sorted out, where ideas get expanded. Sounds kinda earnest, and Strummer always is, but goddamn it if that's not the conversation I want around my backyard blaze.

The thing I find with fires is that it allows for space around the conversation, it allows time for pauses and thought.

There's less desperation to fill the silence with noise.

I hand split between 10 and 20 cube a year for my family's fire needs. Having an ozzie missus Means the lounge needs to be 27 degrees Celsius if it 5 degrees outside.

If you really want to up your firewood game read this book

The latest Scandinavian publishing phenomenon is not a Stieg Larsson–like thriller; it's a book about chopping, stacking, and burning wood that has sold more than 200,000 copies in Norway and Sweden and has been a fixture on the bestseller lists there for more than a year...

Its called Norweigan wood.

https://www.amazon.com/Norwegian-Wood-Chopping-Stacking-Scandinavian/dp/1419717987

Game changer read if you want to up your understanding about firewood science

How good is anything cooked on an open fire.

Anyone ever checked out Almazan kitchen on Youtube? They're getting a bit silly now but some of the earlier ones are awesome.

That’s the thing about the North West - no devices/ no internet and so the fire is still sacred.

An image from Norwegian Wood - I'll stick to my shitty arse stack thanks very much.

[url=https://ibb.co/zHdgY4k][img]https://i.ibb.co/WpCXw2T/Screen-Shot-2020-05-04-at-7-32-43-pm.png[/img][/url]

"a thoughtful attempt to understand man’s age-old predilection for stacking wood"

We’ve never not had wood heating, it’s everything that others have said above ... there is nothing better that letting a fire sap every bit of energy out of you and slowly slipping into a deep sleep, perhaps after a good meal and some red. Our dogs love them too, falling into a coma with their heads on the hearth. Our current dog is shameless sitting in front of it head nodding fighting sleep and finally dropping in front of the fire dead to the world. A fire is a joy.

Talking of books , I’m currently enjoying Last Drinks ( Andrew Mcgahan ).

Spot on , Stu.

Three things one can watch for ever - a fire, the sea and the mountains.
Inzider I refer to my wife as The Lizard - I swear she's cold blooded and doesn't start to move until it's at least 25 degrees. Lucky she's at that stage in life now where the hot flushes have kicked in and I'm saving a bit on wood supply :)

I received my book today from mixbook.com and it’s unreal

I suspect there’s plenty of people out there like me who have shitloads of precious photos on their phones.
I’ve seen people lose everything when their phones die, so this was something I’d been planning for a couple of years.
I did some research and found this company to have a great quality and price combo, which I can vouch for.
It was easy as to to, even from my phone. The hardest part was going through 8000 photos and culling them. It took some time but I got it to 1300 shots, basically my life over this last decade. Now I’ve got a quality 93 page coffee table book that is instantly one of our most valuable possessions.
Thanks iso
I recommend it fellas

"That’s the thing about the North West - no devices/ no internet and so the fire is still sacred."

Ah yes, Blowie, the ol' bush telly. Matched with the star show, there's your night's viewing.

You were up there for 4 months last year, yes?

When you going back up, post-Covid, ya reckon?

Could be a late one this year, especially if Indo is not a goer.

Facto....didn’t get there last year . I was meant to be there a month already this year. Still like to get there but I reckon it’ll be packed as fuck.

A few sneaky sessions going down apparently.

I miss it .

What about yourself ? Reckon you’ll get there ?

Dunno.

In the internet age of the 'hit & run' mission, who knows? Hasn't appealed in the past. When you've done the old months at a time for years at a time, it's a different experience I wager.

Funny that Indo is way easier if time poor, and cheaper too, these days.

But never say never.

When you last been over and up?

got a 40 pound jew off the stones last night.
left the house at 7.52, high tide was at 8.02.
was home at 8.17.
line snapped as I tried to wash it up on a rock.
wave receded and I could see the fish there, put a mad scramble in and got a clean gill grab just as the next wave hit it.

I find these days that I’m enjoying the small swells , the fronts , the Northerlies which set in almost as much as the epic days. I just like being there and hanging out without crew around.

Was last there in 2018. Flew from Indo to East coast , then drove across the bottom, went to Hartog , stayed NthWest from mid March till August then spent a month Great Southern before driving back over East. Only left up north cause we’d agreed to mind some friends house. All good though. WA rules. Whether it’s subtropical reefbreaks and coral trout or sand bottom wedges and KG whiting. Fuck , I miss it all.

When were you last there ?

No internet bluff unless you get up the ridge . Certain spots at certain times. I think there’s wifi at Gnaraloo . Probably the most expensive data in the world

Freeride...Geez , you’d be feeling pretty good about that. Looks like you’ll be eating some primo for a while.

Incredible how acute the duration of the bite is on these extreme moon phases sometimes. 20 minutes of red hot action surrounded by hours of dead air.

Did you get it on soft plastic ?

Got a few snapper myself this morning. Ocean is alive with either Mack tuna or frigate mackerel . Fight so good , taste so bad. Few decent specimens amongst the multitudes.

It’s always good to see the ocean alive , hey . Just think , back in the day that’s what the yellowfin would’ve been like - acres of fish boiling in every direction. It pays to taste like shit if you’re a fish.

Freeride bang on tide change not much changes! what did ya get it on...i’m thinking x-rap, croker or livey or some other hard body- just cause i’m hardbodies mad ATM for the mullet run.

I got it on a white 6 inch paddle-tail plastic. just about to tie on a x-rap but this place is so rocky and shallow it loves stealing hardbodies.

it had 2 freshly eaten just under-size bream in its guts.

really healthy fish, very thick through the shoulder.

I'll give the head and otolith to the DPI for the angler research program, and it'll be interesting to see how old it is.

how good is the dpi program, have had most donated jew otoliths before and the last report jew caught 4 x - and the bloke that recaptured his own fish.

My go to paddle tail is the 6 inch zman swimmerz put out good vibes - check out fishtraps zerek just deadly.

Do you cutlet or fillet?

fillet.
put a fair bit in vac bags in the freezer. now I'm feeling good, was down to the last jew parcel in the freezer.

hooked three good ones last winter and lost all three. stoked to get one and its only May.

Would a big Jew only swallow prey whole or could they bite in half? Walking up the beach one night after a fishless fish and found a just legal size Bream, still wriggling but bitten clean in half. Or would that be a small shark?

I'm green with envy FR76 ,,and sounds like an impressive save ..
I'm missing driving up the beach at the moment to hunt a jew. Too lazy for the rocks on the off chance, , you need a mountain goat and a sherpa in this terrain.
The old 4wd is set up well for the sandy fishing expeditions but alas the NPWS is keeping the tracks closed till at least the end of the month. Boat ramps have been open for local use but open stretches of sandy beach are off limits. At least the commercial mullet fishermen don't have to worry about traffic blocking a shot. The boys have told me of the horse bream , greenbacks and jewies swimming around . I try to block my ears or try to fool myself into believing they're full of shit , but sadly I know they're not .

A good tip for bleeding your fish is to put a deep cut in front of the tail as well. The blood will drain out instantly.

Good to hear that the federal court has ruled that feral horses can be removed from the Victorian high country.

https://theconversation.com/national-parks-are-for-native-wildlife-not-feral-horses-federal-court-138204

Waiting for a new sneaky swell pulse this evening. It didn't eventuate but luckily enough there was a underlying NE windswell to 1-2ft, hitting a triangular bank at right angles allowing wedgey peaks into down the line runners.

The cloud moved offshore and as the sunset started to pop, I ran back to the car and grabbed the housing. The scenes were beautiful..

Nice!
Witnessed similar scenes here this afternoon.

I know you can't view Instagram posts through a browser unless you've got an account/are logged in. Might have something to do with it?

Ah that could be it, though if not a private account I thought you still could. Weird. Ie like viewing on a news site.

You could be right. I've tried to view posts on Swellnet's account through a browser and I get this.....

[img]https://i.imgur.com/1MSS4W7.png[/img]

Yeah, i've tried that. You can scroll, but can't view posts.
Maybe they've banned me from stalking!

Cont...Vic Parks are gonna employ Pros with Silent/ Night guns to shoot the Horses.(Hmm!)
https://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/court-decision-clears-way-for-brumby-culls-20200508-p54r2n.html

15th Feb -15 Dec Vic 'Alpine Park' Hunting Season for dear .
(Pest Animals & other species) must not be hunted in this park.(Which are Horses?)
https://www.parks.vic.gov.au/things-to-do/hunting

Right Man for the Job!
https://m.betootaadvocate.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Baird-Back-Flipping.jpg

Right Man for the Job might be a woman!
https://26uepavkh8yx35d834o3oay1-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/TaylorRiding.jpg

Not saying Vic are relaxing Guns in Nat Parks, but it does blur NP 'Pests / Other'.
tbb is not across Vic Hunting Laws...either way, that's a broad broom for Govt!

Let's see if we can't make AndyM - man up & shed a tear!
tbb is brave enough to give it a try...tell yer kids to look away.
[ Real proper Boomer Tearjerker Alert ]

They Shoot Horses Don't They...Racing Cars...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7l4L6HW5mQE

swellnet & Craig, quick look! WOTD has your name all over it!

We'll follow ya in on the next set!

Nice! Dead set crack up Huey! That should buy the crew a few hours
Right crew let's get to work! Shh...will yer quit yer splashin' about!

Whole crew wish to view Craig's Xmas Lockdown snaps...Aye! Aye! ...Well Durr!
tbb is just saying if there was a way to see Craig's gallery, that'd be proper, say yes!

What if tbb said he outsmarted the matrix thingy & has seen the light. (Impossible!)
Hang on! Is tbb saying wot he ought not be sayin'...me thinks not...he's a joke he is!
Please Gromz don't do what tbb may have foolishly attempted...it won't end well!

https://digiztal.blogspot.com/2019/12/view-instagram-public-profile-photos-without-account.html
https://www.reddit.com/r/Instagram/comments/dnb2i7/view_instagram_without_an_account/

There you are Craig! We were just tripping out over yer wicked holiday snaps !

"Wot! So the whole crew just signed up with Insta whilst I tore shreds off WOTD?"

Yep! We all tested positive for Viral installation instability! Aye! Aye! Shocking it is!
I think we might've broken swellnet again boss! Oops!

tbb up to the office NOW! This can't end well! (Already grounded, see if tbb cares!)
Just repeating...Please don't break the internet...swellnet policy!

The real original Alan is about to leave the real original 2GB building.

Next...

https://www.betootaadvocate.com/uncategorized/ben-fordham-to-decide-between-kissing-jones-ring-or-casting-it-into-the-fires-of-mount-doom/?fbclid=IwAR2UtH7IYTJFzhwiBVTUQ24srsu1ig_MUs1eMLF-vvEV8McENMV-MYZTqlI

Mate of mine worked directly with Alan Jones for a considerable period of time.

No surprise to hear her say that he is indeed a total count.

This is how people like Jones rise to the top of the power tree in conservative circles. Be shameless and ruthless. Never admit you're wrong and always punch down. Let your political enemies have both barrels on a regular basis, and let your political allies know that the guns can quite easily be turned on them too.
That's how grifters like Jones carve out a very lucrative career. Good riddance you toxic mother-fucker.

Starting to enjoy painting.

Not to the point where I’d consider making a career out of it or anything. Just finding that it’s quite meditative kicking back with a bit of music and changing the colour of your world.

I’ve done it for a few days here and there on construction sites and found it a bit dreary. Different story when it’s your own place getting the makeover.

Nice admiring your surroundings anew at the end of each day. Doesn’t make for the best sleeping conditions though , especially with this cold change which has just come through last day or so.

You can either freeze and breathe with the windows open or be snug and overwhelmed by fumes.

And while we're at it, Kerri-Anne can take her botox, her eastern suburbs matron facade and her Alan Jones-lite schtick and hit the road too.

What about this bloke? Poor bugger lost his job.

"Who knew the answer to "What has Pete Evans been cooking?" was "himself."

https://junkee.com/pete-evans-qanon/253541?fbclid=IwAR1M4v-N-Nk-VDnGJhb1Ed4PkjA7unSGi1NyrVLopoVQLhMglxUV0aZbL40

Seeing as Gloria the parrot is about to fly the coop forever, let's give this just one more run.

A truly subversive cultural moment and television at its best.

That Jacko Jackson interview after uncle Choppers on utube...GOLD
1980's VFL thuggery

That moment when Alan Jones got cooked should have been broadcast daily as a public service.

Back under your rock , Alan.

Ahh Pete Evans, crackpot of the highest order.
Recently had a (ex )good mate , anti vaxxer and covid 19 chicken little sending me link after link of crazy conspiracy theory regarding the whole covid thing, pretty much covered them all then started up (again) on why he doesnt vaccinate his kids , dumb cunt for a smart cunt,always been an attention seeker so I had just figured it was another chapter of that behavior until final straw was when he started sending me Pete Evans stuff faark me , (I think he even ordered one of those light boxes). The guy is a chef!!! Thats a year 10 drop out right? Celebrity doesnt make you smart, like having a pro surfer or footballers opinion (if they were batshit crazy aswell).
First person Ive ever had to actually block on my phone and email and ive known him 30 years (mate , not pete evans). This virus is causing mental illness cases to skyrocket.
As for Alan Jones, dont see lot of people feeling too bad about him getting sick , good riddance too a total wanker.

"This virus is causing mental illness cases to skyrocket."

Nah, they were already there, they're just being brought to light.

Mental virus shines light on Skyrockets
tbb will take that as comment... (Sorry! No good news dept!)

Not so much a mental health crisis but the banning of self therapy is mental.
Disabled & carers said the same, most got more ill & spent a lot more on health.

tbb is still bound by a Govt inflicted mental & physical lockdown.
Govt banned my own paid for 100% Covid resistant 'therapy' very average pool.
Can't physically travel well or walk very far on a beach to the river or surf.

As a direct result Myositis / Bipolar ramped to shut me down > weight gain.
I suffered headaches, dizziness, CSR (Blotched Wobble vision)
All bound up, back in the sarcophagus, totally paralysed. Can't face another day!
Depression rears it's head, only now tbb picks it, not a recommended skill set .

Phoned Lifeline (Recommended!), then my GP & onto a health Plan.
I 'm now spending my Covid handout on block booking boring Physio Exercises.
tbb went mental when Govt stole his pool & still can't touch it!

Lockdown is still very real & damaging (Healthwise) for the ill amongst us.
In our world...2 months without therapy equates to around 6 month's hard slog!

tbb's Surf lockdown is nearing a year & now gotta slug the tollway to nowhere fast.
If that don't sound half mental then tbb just hitched a ride on the road to recovery.

thanks TBB for your thoughts but he wont listen to me, let alone anyone else, wish it was as easy as that, crazyness is not just as simple as beyond blue tv adds

Hang in there TBB local pools might be opening soon.

Here, further north from you they are working out their safety plans with intentions of getting people through the door so pools near you are probably doing the same. Hopefully not long to wait now

TBB, well done getting onto lifeline and your GP - two best things you could do.
Hang in there, things will get better, this too shall pass.

All the best TBB,
I also appreciate your posts and the amount of work/research that you put into them.
Thanks mate!!
Stay well.

TBB, appreciate your work, and your tone of voice, and your tastes in music of course! Always interesting. Fare ye well, comrade.

All the best TBB - your one of a bright kind in this world of (often) beige sameness.

Open Salute to #1 swellnet frontline support crew.

First up! The boss swears swellnet is not a news site, but some sorta surf site.
Sorry boss! Crew welcomed many refugees fleeing spazz mainstream news...

Daily Mail was hanging off swellnet's every word...
"Swellnet readers have reported this! swellnet say that! ...Blah Blah Blah!"

Media Mogul Ben had the world on a string! Did he abuse his overlord powers?
No animals were harmed during ill fated launch > [ Locals Only Bumper Sticker ]

Check here: List of powermad swellnet gurus that controlled the world for 15 secs.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8166043/Its-perfect-storm-surfing-trip-Selfish-Australians-flocked-coastal-towns.html

Surf Reports now Devil's Commands & Surf cams became spy cams. (Tough Gig!)
Boss was copping plenty of crossfire...jumping into the trenches with the crew.
Ben: 'Never knew Surf Reporting was a Top 2 hazardous profession...incoming!'

tbb also had a rough isolation & his heroes threw several swellnet lifelines.
Never once expecting overwhelming kindness & well wishers + sound advice
I feel better now all thanx to 'you' the swellnet crew... tbb is Huge fan!

swellnet mental health support unit were upfront, alongside Lifeline :13 11 14
Lifeline assisted Mental Health sufferers (again myself) + record covid DV victims.
https://www.swellnet.com/news/swellnet-dispatch/2020/03/13/postponed-lifeline-classic-board-swap-2020
Social distancing thwarted swellnet's committed health plan.
Not deterred & without delay swellnet Craig launched covid-19 forecast modelling.

Whole crew salutes Craig & Sara, please accept our humble {Civic Health Award}

Other swellnet Gurus received clean'n'green awards..AndyM {Stoked}
Maybe swellnet helped get a few Qldurr Surfies elected...cowabunga.

swellnet informed of Beach Bans & stirred up interstate SD rivalry better than any.
Effluent Stay The Fuck at Home advice & carried on about That App Clap Trap.

swellnet & crew were ever upfront providing {r.i.p} Tunes,Flicks + #1 Comic relief.
Big shout out to swellnet Comedy Club...so funny & Ben's Jukebox is best in town.
swellnet Surf Flix + Pool Comp +Ranch marathon +Goldie Film Festival + SBS Punk

Mad professor Blowin was doing his rounds, has a cure for everything he does.
#1 Surf Journo Stu made up stories where there were none & no one even noticed!

Today's offering : " What causes Sea Foam? "
Huey: " Been meaning to fix the half flush ! " *****
Goodvibes : "Farken grouse brew Stu !" ** #@ ** * Burp!

'Wake up to yourselves Crew + you surf Legends shouldn't idolize Stu like that !'
Just cause Stu conjures up surf tales outta thin air, it doesn't make him a Surf God!'
Froffin' at the mouth...tbb also gets intoxicated by Stu's brew! " All Hail Stu! "

Covid Crew salutes #1 swellnet *****

Wave of Support ~~~~^~~~~/\~~~~/(~~~~/(`~~~~/(C......./(C`..[swellnet )

Haha. Great work, TBB.

Ya know you've really made it when the Daily Mail is on your case, fellas!

Keep your posts coming, TBB. I always enjoy your unique and well-researched input.

Best of luck getting through your current battles.

More good news.

Went for another stunning paddle down a section of the Nymboida, just me and a mate and 8 hours of pretty much wilderness.
A foggy start gave way to a perfect sunny day which was a huge plus because I spent a fair amount of time falling off and also swimming and portaging through a couple of tricky sections which were beyond the capabilities of me and my huge sit-on-top kayak :)

Added bonuses - free camping and no-one else in sight for about 6 1/2 of the 8 hours.

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Nice one Andy. Love the chronological order of photos from eerie fog to big blue sky.

Yesterday the wife dropped myself, our eldest, and a few of the kids in the street up the top of the escarpment with our bikes, and we then spent all arvo traversing the hills behind the suburb, starting around 450m elevation, ending near sea level, but covering about 12kms.

Late arvo, tracking through temperate rainforest under a thick canopy so it felt later than it was, one fella had a big bingle. Few tears, bit of a freak out, no wind, kinda spooky, and he feels lost so he wants to go home. When I tell him we're less than a kilometre from his house as the crow flies, he spins out. All the kids do. They can't believe it. So close, but it's another world up there.

It's like I've been living next to Waimea Bay all this time and only just realised it.

Nice work , Stu.

Talking of discovering unrealised joys to your ‘hood , myself and my lady have been taking advantage of the strange sand formations occurring in recent times. We jump in the Sea Wok at low tide on calm days and cruise the coast around here finding little beaches which temporarily appear amongst the permutations and headlands.

Crazily beautiful coves which usually consist of rocky shorelines become pleasant expanses of pleasant white sand. Pull ashore or anchor just out and enjoy a picnic and a swim or dive.

Secluded delights without a person around . Those beaches may not even exist after the next swell .

Even found a potential little abbreviated first point Noosa replicant hidden amongst the rocks of one extensive headland.

Funny you say that. Just behind my house we live pretty much at the base of what would be considered hinterland, with kilometres and kilometres of forest to the west of us heading almost unbroken to the Japanese Alps.

A couple of weeks ago, my lady and I packed our bento's and the dog and set off on a hike into the hills. We did about a 5 hour round trip following an old trail that was a traders route during the Edo period. Agents would deliver fish and rice from the coast far inland and I guess trade it for whatever villagers would trade. Along the way are little stopping points marked by various cairns or little Buddha's. Once you are deep in the forest, you could be at any point in time. Some of the little statues date back three, four, five hundred plus years. I love the fact that the Japanese respect them and leave them be as opposed to back home where they'd be damaged or stolen in a heartbeat. Nice to get out into the fresh air and sample the serenity. So much serenity.

I'll try and find some pics.

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The statues and things pre-date white Australian history probably by 100 years or so. Amazing to think I have this on my doorstep.

Mutly was trashed after- he's getting on a bit.

Yew*!

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-09/margaret-river-to-see-first-five-star-resort/12335832

That's not very good news.

Maybe the trigger points thread would have been more appropriate?

Grubby?

https://www.domain.com.au/news/buyers-keen-on-south-east-queensland-property-but-border-restrictions-bite-959392/

Just enjoyed an hour-plus chat with Muz Bourton. Began on one specific history, a tiny town twenty miles inland from Port Campbell and then expanded inexorably outwards taking in more people, more places, and more ideas, interweaving them all.

Good work Stu on the bike riding front. Took my kids trail riding the other day . The look of stolid determination on the little fella"s face [3.5 yrs old] was a joy to behold. I like to ride my bike amongst the gum trees.
Plus I've managed to snavel a few runners three times in three weeks! at the dreaded Dribs. Good news indeed.
Gotta love that JobKeepsurfing supplement.

Pre dawn run with the dog on the beach.

Bolt home cos, against all odds, the shorey is looking the goods.

Cooking little sesh.

Coffee.

Gardening and shit in the warm winter sun.

Pedal up the escarpement fire trail. Meet the boy at the top for the run back down.

Last night's rain makes for shin deep mud and stacks galore.

Boy wants to do a jump session at the bottom so I pull up a crate and watch.

Stop in at the charcoal chicken for Gatorade - me yellow, he blue.

Sleep all arvo.

Bottlo.

Stout.

Two schooeys in.

If only you could bottle days like that and stash them away for when life ain’t all peaches and cream.

Sounds like a solid win.

Good work, Stu.

Just had a bit of day like that. After a month or so of feeling shit, both physically and mentally, with lots of sad stuff going on, and surfing like an absolute super-kook, I've slowly gotten my head on straight again.

Today I had blinder on my 7'6 Spartan in the morning, then spent the day with my wife lapping up the winter sun. Back out late arvo on the DS till dark.

No wind. Max 3 crowd. New, toasty wettie.

Wouldn't normally write this, but I'll do my damndest to bottle this day, and will try and come back and read this when it turns sour again.

Unreal

Funny you mention it IB, I got a new wettie that I tried for the first time this weekend.

I had my old steamer for a good 5 years, and the first thought when I got into the water was "Oh this is what a proper wetsuit feels like". Toasty indeed! ( which makes me happy as I don't like being old and cold)

And got a few too, which is always good. It never ceases to amaze me how one session, or one wave, or even one move, can sustain you until the next time.

Finally managed to join Blowin's Ponzi scheme, with a tiny little cottage less than a km from where I grew up.

Where do I apply for my top hat and monocle?

slow down pops, that comes with the 'portfolio'

good onya though, that's gotta feel good...

lone protest hero

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=112182180539759&id=109430544148256

Hasn't really sunk in yet... bit of excitement, bit of nerves, lot of relief that I don't need to talk to any more agents for a good while. Think it'll really hit home once we move in.

Thanks gents.
Syppo, what's the deal with that (nambucca) story - what's the background?

Good one Pops, better than paying someone else's house for them.
I had to get a bit of a loan for some work around my house and had to get a valuation since the last one was back in 2007. Found out that my place is now $215k more valuable than it was 13 years ago. Good for us, but its shite for those trying to enter the 'scheme'.
On another note re the north coast I found out that my descendants ere some of the first 'white' settlers on the mid-north coast. Here's a small extract from the 1947 newspaper where it is acknowledging the passing of my great great great grandmother aged 97 years old.

"She was 97
years of age in August last, and had
resided in this district over 50 years.
She leaves a family of eight sons and
two daughters, besides 49 grand-
children, 60 great-grandchildren and
6 great-great-grandchildren.
Deceased was possessed of a won
derful constitution, typical of the
early pioneers who hewed their way
into the scrubs and forests arid made
homes in the days when there were
no roads and few facilities or com
forts. Despite her great age, the
late Mrs. Reedy retained her facul
ties and remarkably good health.
At the age of 11 years deceased
landed in Sydney with her parents,
from Cornwall, England, where she
was born. They came out in the
sailing vessel Merry Pleasant, and
the voyage occupied nearly seven
months. It almost ended in disaster,
as when approaching Sydney Heads
the vessel mistakenly headed for the
spot where, just a year before, the
Dunbar was wrecked on the rocks.
Fortunately the Merry Pleasant es
caped a similar fate, but during the
few perilous hours while the ship
was in danger of going ashore the
passengers were kept below, and
naturally there was much excitement
abroad. Mrs. Reedy never forgot
that exciting introduction to Austra
lia.
Immediately after landing in Syd
ney, the family went north to the
Macleay River and established them
selves among the earliest pioneers of
the Mid-North Coast. Needless to
say, she saw remarkable changes on
this part of the coast in the three-
parts of a century since she first
took up residence on it.
The Teague family, of which de
ceased was a member, became well-
known on the Macleay, and there
are many descendants to carry on
the good work of their forebears.
Thankful for their deliverance from
a watery grave at the end of their
long voyage to Sydney, the family
transhipped the same day to another
sailing vessel which was to take
them to the Macleay. That short
voyage took a fortnight, at the end
of which time the family were de
lighted to land on the soil on which
they were to make their home.
They were greeted by Mrs. Clark, a
sister of Mrs. Reedy's mother and
one of the first white women to set
tle on the coast. Mrs. Clark had
heard through the meagre means of
news transmission of the time that
the vessel the Teagues were on had
been lost at sea, so the meeting was
the more joyful when it was reveal
ed that the rumour had been incor
rect.

The young couple left the Mac
leay and came further north, to the
Bellinger River, making the journey
over rough bush tracks with horses
and carts to convey their belongings.
That was over 70 years ago. They
took up a selection on the North
Arm of the Bellinger, where Mr.
Reedy cut cedar to keep the pot boil
ing while the farm was being clear
ed as time could be spent on it.
The Bellinger in those days was
alive with blacks. There were only
a few white people. Others besides
the Reedys whom the old lady re
membered were the McFadyens, the
Nicholsons and the Murrays. For
tunately most of the natives were
friendly, and apart from the hard
ships of early pioneering they lived
a peaceful life. They were prac
tically isolated from the outside
world, confined mainly to news only
of their immediate surroundings."

Pops ...this is an extremely personal question and I completely understand if you flag it , but I’m curious what size mortgage you’ve got . I just like a bit of anecdata to keep me abreast of what’s going down around the place.

Cheers

I haven't really followed it pops

just seemed a very stark image

she looks like a fucking hero

Cheers Pops.

I don’t particularly enjoy prying but I really appreciate knowing the acceptable limits of debt people will consider and just how normalised these debts have become.

Not sure if normalised/acceptable are the right terms for me - more resignation that that's what it costs to live there, and as WotL says, better to be paying off that debt than paying off someone else's.

Black cockies and RAAF Caribou’s flying overhead at the same time.

That’s a good day.

YNWA

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/liverpool-win-premier-league-live-17899441

Ironic in a way that Chelsea "stole" the title off them a few years back via the Gerard slip & a Willian goal, then handed it to them this morning via a brain slip (Fernandinho) and Willian goal.
Taking nothing away from Liverpool though - they've been outstanding.

Sure am... from before the Abramovich days.
Needn't ask who you support. Congratulations, must feel good to finally get over the line.

My first trip to Blighty was the last time they won the league! I saw the last game of that season vs Arsenal at Highbury.

A long time between drinks.

And in further related good news...

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-26/australia-and-new-zealand-to-host-2023-fifa-womens-world-cup/12394688

Yeah - and with home advantage we'd have to be in with a shot of winning it (especially if the likes of Sam Kerr are still going strong). Hopefully the girls can get some more media coverage too.

https://www.facebook.com/LiverpoolFC/videos/192504322156288/UzpfSTEwMDAwMjAxNDkzNzk0NzozMDA4ODEzNDI1ODYyNDU5/?id=100002014937947

Important purchase of 153,415-hectare north-western NSW property by National Parks & Wildlife Service.

The purchase adds important ecosystems particularly the intermittent wetlands fed by the Bulloo River.

The property is rich in Indigenous and European history, including containing an ancient trade route that brought stone axes in from Queensland to the north in exchange for a drug extracted from local trees.

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Huh?

https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/europe-prepares-to-reopen-to-foreign-travelers-including-australians-20200627-p556ta.html

Great.

Just tack on an extra couple of weeks for when you get home and have to quarantine.

Dogs.
Very good news indeed
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"Morrison to tear up Victoria’s Belt and Road Initiative deal with Beijing

Scott Morrison will legislate to tear up Victoria’s multi-million-dollar Belt and Road Initiative agreement with Beijing, creating laws that will also ban a raft of other deals with foreign governments found to be against the national interest.

In an unprecedented move against Chinese interference and the protection of state secrets, the use of external powers under the Constitution to direct state, territory and local governments on national security issues will effectively kill dozens of agreements with foreign governments and institutions.

The Foreign Relations Bill, which will be introduced to parliament next week, also extends to universities and captures any questionable agreements between Australian public institutions and foreign governments.

In a major flexing of its constitutional powers, the Morrison government will cast its net over all foreign relations agreements struck by lower tiers of government, amid fears that national security has been compromised by often secret deals between state governments and foreign powers.

The move could have rippling effects for the private sector, with the Foreign Minister given powers to review any private infrastructure contracts that a state government signed as part of a BRI agreement with China.

The list of agreements that could be scrapped under the proposed legislation will range from sister city agreements, popular with local governments, to memorandum of understanding deals and include all legally and non-legally binding arrangements.

Continued: (quite a bit more)https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/morrison-to-tear-up-victorias-belt-and-road-initiative-deal-with-beijing/news-story/ec1fa27c29897246b6b152420d004a0f

A sneaky bank in an unlikely location cranking all week. Maximum crowd - 3. Good news indeed.

Stunt toddler soars to new heights, to claim ride of the year.
[ Comes with a Rad Warning ] Do not try this at yer local.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-31/girl-in-taiwan-lifted-into-the-air-during-kite-accident/12611426

After last years drought thankfully coinciding with mangoes undertaking their biennial break from fruiting, this year’s return to regular rainfall is making them go gangbusters. It seems that the drought is almost beneficial in that it weeds out the weaker trees and hardens the survivors do that when conditions improve they grow like crazy.

The Heidi variety are straight out of the gate with blooms like I’ve never seen. The R2E2s are also looking the goods for a later season harvest.

Freakin’ mangoes .....I can’t get enough. I’m not often in town for the harvest and so it’s going to be a pleasure going full Bubba Gump on those juicy , heaven sent orbs .....Dried mango , Frozen mango , mango smoothies, mango ice blocks , sliced mango , mango salad..... mmmmmmmnnnnn.

Fingers crossed / touching wood they escape the hail and thunderstorms.

[img]https://i.ibb.co/jkS7mGP/4741-A415-4979-4-A3-D-AD06-C11-BFF1492-D6.png[/img]

"The good news, however, is that leading thinkers among the world's economists are still grappling with the embarrassing question of why their profession's advice over many decades seems to have made our lives worse rather than better."

correct me if im wrong but im sure mangoes like it dry while they flower /fruit.

Here you go VJ

“Here is the good, the bad and the ugly truth about mangoes and rain.

The Good

Good rains make the fruit grow bigger at a nice and slow pace, allowing the fruit to have ample time to mature.
Good rain achieves not only larger sizing but more of each size, higher yields.
Bigger sizing equals more edible mango flesh, more bang for your buck!
The right amount of rain helps the fruit mature properly at nature’s intended rate, providing abundant time for the fruit to move through the ripening phases.
With the right amount of rain, mangoes will ripen to optimal flavor with ideal sugar concentration and flavor.
Good rain makes a smooth and tough-skinned mango, perfect for protecting the flesh.
Tough skin mangoes tend to be free from most blemishes and nix.
The fruit stays on the trees longer with good rain and the season will last longer.
Good rain influences the juiciness and vibrancy of the mango.
Good rain produces good, strong yields.
The Bad

Bad rain causes thin skin, causing the mango to be more susceptible to bruising, scuffs and/or scratches.
Discoloration and black spots occur with too much rain at the wrong time.
Too much rain can seep into the fruit at the stem and cause internal rot and a poor pulp/water balance.
Too little rain makes for small sizing and low yields.
The Ugly

Severe, prolonged rains can cause and accelerate Anthracnose.
Fruit flies love to breed and thrive in heavy rains; an orchard with fruit flies (or their larvae) problems will close for export entirely.
Heavy rains delay harvest, pickers cannot operate in the mud so they have to wait until it is dry to pick, causing holes in the supply programs.“

Stu....the first step in solving a problem is acknowledging you have a problem.

In reality , think how much better the world would be without those decades of theoretical economic malpractice.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-australia-environment-tasmanian-devil/tasmanian-devils-set-paw-on-mainland-australia-after-3000-years-idUSKBN26R0HC

great news

now go get those fox cunce

Dunno if it would happen but imagine devils getting stuck into cats, foxes and rabbits.

when I did trapping was told they go the fox cubs
outcompete that way
saw some magnificent spotted tail quolls too

Few photos from Saturday night, when the surfshop downstairs hosted a slide night. Running the projector was photographer Mick McCormack who back in the eighties made a name for himself swimming in tight at Aussie Pipe, 'Razors', and Hawaiian Pipe. Mick was softly spoken but had a sharp recall on every slide and even the random photos that made up the grommet wall - surf mag photos and posters blu-tacked to the shop wall - some of which he'd forgotten had been published.

Despite being a gun swimmer, able to mix it with the Hawaiian macho-photogs like Don King and Dan Merkel, Mick mentioned how his personal mission was to appear invisible, try not to disturb the wave face or the lip so the surfers could perform naturally, which is no small feat when you see how deep he burrowed himself, but it also served him well when you see how close some of the surfers came to his lens.

First photo is one of Mick's fave subjects, Kent Klassen - "He was right into his karate," said Mick - at 'Razors'.

Cool. I see MIck around a bit. Seems to be a pretty humble guy. Always asking if I've been in the surf. Never a mention of his own exploits.

Just had an insane walk over the hill to the next beach south. Didn’t see another human the whole time. Looking down on the first beach from the headland and there’s an eagle ray jumping in panic then bolting across the top of the water in fear for its life . The culprit turned out to be a decent size tiger shark which somehow managed to soon make itself disappear in the shallow clear water over sand . Not even 5 metres deep and it evaded detection, shows how limited drones are.

Half way up the hill and a big fuck off army helicopter zoomed past at eye level. Full camo colours and loud as hell.

Lost myself in thought on the walk up and over through the crazy beautiful palm jungle , scoped the beach on the other side -onshore but very pretty and deserted - then smashed a banana and a sweet , sweet mango amongst the littoral rainforest . Listening to the birds doing their thing , watching a brightly coloured lace monitor cruise past .

Skolled some water and powered back up the hill lost in wonderment of nature. Getting glimpses of the ocean on the descent back to home beach and saw a nice White shark probably three metres , a squadron of half a dozen cobia shooting south in the top of the water column and an osprey lazily sitting high into the light Southerly without flapping its wings once .

Gorgeous purple current out wide .

Almost home when a second army helicopter flies past at eye level .

Made it home without needing stop once on a walk that’s quite demanding.....buzzing with good energy. Now I’m pleasantly fucked and feeling quite content.

Australia is an amazing place. Cheers Huey you fucken legend.

Early for the Cobia?
Was paddling back out at Crescent in Autumn one year, classic east swell, when a nice wave walled up in front and then a school of garfish exploded out of it. I went to duck dive, hoping there were no more garfish to come when this 3ft Cobia appeared, cruising inside the wave, me looking up at it, before I had to put my head under. Awesome.

dunno why but there always seems to be more cobes down that way.

I went to take the young fella for a grovel at ........ this arvo. Car wouldn't start.
NRMA membership came in handy. Fucked battery, guy got me started, drove to battery place in Ballina.
There I met the guy who started Bite Club.

Shined plans for surf. Went to Ballina Skate park, that was sick.
Home to make dinner for fam.
Bit of light left, went for a quick spin.

Came up with a real solid greenback tailor. Stoked, first one Ive caught for weeks.

not sure whether it was a straggler or the first of the post-breeding fish back from Fraser Island.
It was long and skinny and hit the lure extremely aggressively so I think the latter.

Can’t believe you can just go for a stroll and see a tiger and a white like it’s nothing.. that’s crazy

It’s never nothing Goofy.

Always a big deal when I see a white. As much as we don’t want them to be elevated to an unrealistic and untouchable status , there’s definitely something charismatic and iconic about them . Perhaps because they were not much more than a myth for most of my life and then one day you’re looking at the water same as ever , only now there’s this beast you’ve imagined for so long casually swimming past. The first one I saw felt like I was witnessing a thylacine in the flesh.

Doesn’t hurt that they are brutally proportioned animals with a fluid grace which has to be seen to be appreciated. Although I’m jazzed every time I see one I’m no longer surprised by it. They’re out there and they’re not uncommon.

Any big shark is still a thrill really. I can’t imagine ever tiring of the sight of them.

I took a stroll today too.. I just saw a useless onshore line up , a shit load of sand and a few seagulls. Ahh well , maybe better luck next time .
Not actually taking the piss ,but witnessing the wildlife in the ocean doing it's thing is special , and often overlooked by downward glaring trail walkers staring at their fitness watches.

"downward glaring trail walkers staring at their fitness watches."

How weird is that?

Go for a walk in the beautiful outdoors and see pretty much nothing.

Humans eh?

Bruce said it best .. " It is like a finger pointing to the moon , {slap} don't concentrate on the finger,,, or you will miss all that heavenly glory"

all that wind from the W'ly quadrant can't be good can it?

has Mullaghmore got protection?

Mullaghmore, to give you just one example of a great many, is on the west coast but faces north-northeast.

Conversation in Irish pub at 6PM on Wednesday 4/11.

Patrick : Oh , Liam . P’haps we call it a night . The night is a fine bit o craic but the waves will be foirin’ in da morning’ .”

Liam : Aww feck off Patrick ya daft wean. Tis going to be lashing in the morn . Winds at tirty tree knots . Best we settle down and have a wee drink around the fire where it’s nice and warm.”

Patrick : Oh Liam . Wind your neck in you silly melter .Then again you may be right and all so be a good lad and get another round in then.

I'm procrastinating so here's a story. It ain't mine, Mick McCormack told it during last Saturday night's slide night, and I hope he doesn't mind me retelling it.

The tale involves this photo of Jervis Bay surfer John Clout at Aussie Pipe that appeared in SW Photo Annual 5:

As Mick explained, the photo was taken on a big day in 1983, very late in the afternoon with just a couple of surfers left in the water. Mick got caught inside and was battling to push through the whitewash and not get swept down the reef and lose precious daylight minutes swimming back.

Looking out the back he saw John take off on a big wave, but first Mick had to deal with the wave in front of him. He dove under, kicked hard and came up the other side to get a clear glimpse of the wave John took off on, except he was no longer on it.

'Must've blown the drop,' thought Mick who kept kicking hard as the wave approached. It was a big beautiful, empty wave, and when he realised he was going to be able to punch through, Mick lifted his waterhousing and quickly fired off a frame to "honour the wave", as he said.

He didn't even look, just lifted his arm up as he was below the surface, pulled the trigger, then concentrated on not getting sucked over.

A short while later the sun set, Mick went in, noticing that John had already left, and that was it for the day.

Six days later he picked up his developed photos from the day and flicked through them. There at the end was a tack-sharp photo of a supremely barrelled John Clout, yet Mick couldn't remember taking it?

Thinking it through, the puzzle revealed itself when Mick realised that the big beautiful wave wasn't empty after all.

Continuing in the Irish vein, anyone here ever kissed the actual Blarney stone?

Or reckon they've been in a TV commercial?

Step right up, to be sure etc etc

I had a whole Aussie grass-fed sirloin so decided to dry age half of it. I kept it in the fridge in my cabin because it's very rarely opened. My goal was 45 days.

Yesterday was day 45. I trimmed it up and removed the pellicle and mouldy fat. I got three small but nice steaks. Had a pleasant nutty smell.

Anyway, cooked them up last night with my control steak. You can see, the yield leaves a lot to be desired when dry ageing. However, what was lost made up in flavour- I only seasoned with a little sea-salt and cooked as I really wanted the meat to shine through. Intense beefy flavour with a very subtle blue-cheese aftertaste. Not at all unpleasant.

Will I do it again? Probably- but I'll probably only do 30 days and maybe with a different cut.

Is it personal , Zen ?

Do you just harbour a deep hatred for cows ?

[img]https://i.ibb.co/bQQB6NP/AB4-BB03-E-E185-4-ED7-8-D03-93685140-A2-B7.jpg[/img]

( pretty sure that’s a cow . Could be wrong . It looks like Paddington Bear crossed with a Labrador )

Mmmmmm .. I've had the pleasure of eating many aged prime cuts. A fringe benefit of being a commercial fisho is often having a solid relationship with the the local butcher. {and bottle shop owner / publican and various taxi drivers , but I digress} Stuff you won't see for sale , but sourced and kept for their own personal consumption,.
I'm just glad I got my fish fingers ,eggs and chips down before I glanced those posts.

@stu, I liked how you put the "Vegetarians, turn away now" comment after making it necessary to scroll past the pics first...

"Had a pleasant nutty smell", haha as opposed to a 'netty' smell, which at a guess is a bit fish-like?

Bring on beef week ..
https://www.betootaadvocate.com/headlines/casino-bloke-and-rockhampton-bloke-punch-on-over-whos-town-has-the-best-beef-week/

Bob Brown finally brings a crucial topic into the spotlight.

Of course, the woke left and also right-wing economics won't want to know about it.

Good news nonetheless I think.

https://theconversation.com/bob-brown-is-right-its-time-environmentalists-talked-about-the-population-problem-148347

Good news?

Chew Tapendatol SR, then swallow. Preferably washed down with a 'wee nippy sweetie'.

And a scoob, of course.

A comment on another thread reminded me of something I saw this morning....the two Osprey fledglings down the road are starting to make regular appearances and it looks like they may be ready to take life on solo.

Crazy when you see their nest which is built on a flimsy branch a metre or so from the top of a huge Norfolk pine . Hard to believe that something they’ve made from spit and twigs could possibly survive the howling winds it’d be subjected to up there. No nails , screws , nuts and bolts. Particularly impressive when you consider it’s basically made with just their lips and feet seeing how Ospreys don’t have any hands to speak of.

In regards to the mention of drones and ospreys . As much as I despise drones , I don’t think the ospreys give too much of a fuck as long as they’re not being continuously buzzed directly over their nest . Even then it’s questionable when you see the way that they are relentlessly hassled by every other bird in the vicinity anyway. They don’t get five minutes respite from being humbugged by some pesky little bird or another.

[img]https://i.ibb.co/3FzvnxM/84-AD48-DD-AEE2-4-D61-A0-F3-1-E6728-C9-B719.png[/img]

The last few days were full of good news.

Drove down out the back of Coffs and up into the New England national park.
Started at Point Lookout at about 1350m, up in the clouds amongst the Antarctic Beech trees.
Dropped about 1100m over 21km the first day, down to the headwaters of the Bellinger River. Rock hopped for about half a day then set up camp.
Rain was pretty constant and there was a cracking storm that night with thunder rolling up and down the valley and lightning illuminating the ridges.

Next day was more of the same as we followed the river for another 20km through pristine sub-tropical rainforest and further downstream, past long-abandoned settlements.

Meanwhile, it rained and hailed and the river kept rising.

Just at the end of the walk was what should have been an easy 50m wade across waist-deep water, however the water was now flood-brown and flowing quick.

Walking across with a pack on the back would have been a big mistake but luckily I had an oversize dry bag with me. Everything went in the dry bag except the empty backpack which stayed on my back.

Ended up stripping naked and using the dry bag for buoyancy and stability, walked/floated the final crossing.
Subsequently felt as hardcore as G.I. Joe with a kung fu grip.

Next day was a 17km paddle down the same river, through rainforest and then farmland, ending at the locality of Thora.

Amazing four days and the sort of stuff that keeps you alive.

[url=https://ibb.co/Mg4KXZP][img]https://i.ibb.co/3TqVJ4S/IMG-6231.jpg[/img][/url]

[url=https://ibb.co/RhcpnPg][img]https://i.ibb.co/SQBXT06/IMG-6234.jpg[/img][/url]

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Yeah , Awesome ,
Sounds like you could slam a 'fully loaded can'..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLIIKrJ6nnI

Absolutely amazing AndyM. That is living life to the full. Well done. Also the most positive post i’ve seen on SN for a good while. Inspiring stuff.....

Andy -Were you carrying your kayaks through the walks ? How far between paddles.

The section from Point Lookout to Darkwood Road was just a walk with a car at each end, kayaks locked to the roof.
We then re-sorted the cars (3 hour + round trip shuffle) and paddled Darkwood Road to Thora.
Kayaks are big heavy plastic bastards, so no walking in with packrafts.
Heard a story of others who accessed the Bellinger via Sirius Road with packrafts.

Blowin, this app is s great start, complete with links to water levels.

http://www.waterwaysguide.org.au/paddlesafeapp

Heaps of fish FR, didn’t see any bigun’s but they were everywhere as we were wading through.
Next time you’re down there, maybe drive to the end of Darkwood Road, throughthe unlocked public access gate, and to Dardanelles Bridge.
Beautiful area and would surely have fish.
Dardanelles Bridge is better than it sounds, hasn’t been a bridge there for decades and is close to pristine.
Can get the tribe right to the water’s edge.

Cheers Andy. Just downloaded it and it looks unreal. Keen to get into it. Cracking time of year for non ocean related activities.

Nice stuff Andy. Have been talking for ages about doing a similar trip down the Upper Macleay using li-los for the water stretches.... need to get serious. Tricky thing is the car drop off and pickups.

Damn that looks good. The bush looks at its best in the rain.

FYI...one of the solo men was a warriewood/ n Narra local and shaped for McGrigor

Doesn’t it Chook.

Antarctic Beech forests in the mist and the rain are fantastic.

My first board was a McGrigor . Wonder if the solo man shaped it ?

Out of the water today so I went for a gentle walk to scope the ocean. Definitely on the cusp of summer . Saw my first cicada . Nice blue current running from the North. A couple of feet of pretty North East swell with a squadron of a dozen solid kings swimming through the lineup. They would’ve been at least metre long . Ospreys , whales and no one around.
Good day to be alive I reckon.

haaa... "The statue, coincidentally called Saved by a Whale's Tale, had not been intended to actually save a train."

Does this mean that Australians might actually be able to buy reasonably priced crays?

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-11-03/china-broadens-trade-war-against-australian-imports/12841142?fbclid=IwAR2bKloiikaONRX5Ggh8Z7oorzndWnKdSCknl8bxlT1MrQqCbGsMwTO2fmE

Depends on their break even price AndyM. I heard somewhere that this is in the region of about $50/kg but stand corrected. If this issue spirals and the industry tanks then the only winners will be the recreational fishers. The other downside is we won't be able to watch Aussie Lobster Men for a while!!!

Mentioned last week how I was on Radio National's 'The Book Shelf' chatting about Malcolm Knox's latest book, and the poddy has gone live.

Well there you go, some contemporary art with both form and function. (The whales)

A win for the little guy... opposed and commented to council on a DA by a rich Sydney developer. It relates to the retention of old man banksias, red gums and a few others , and the established wildlife corridor to the National Park ,{video evidence over10 years} , as well as 'tracked machinery' to tear it all down ,, haha
Old mate has to rethink and amend his grand plan ,, suck it fuckwit.

yeah cheers guys, , it gets better , He now can't touch one faarkin branch on one tree without a qualified wildlife expert /"fauna ecologist" present. NPWS are onto it and are backing us too.
And that's just the start .
Game on.

Had my first surf today in sometime, surprisingly empty, good size for someone coming out of lockdown, drove home tired but stoked listening to the Sandpebbles. Life is good.

Hey Stu I saw that photo today of Conor. I can’t comprehend the view they must of had at that time. Simply mind blowing stuff

Two weeks ago I woke with wincing pressure in my left ear, the same ear that always gives me grief with infections, perforations etc, however this time the pain felt deeper, not the surface sting like a typical canal infection but a blunt tension towards the grey matter. Figured it was a middle ear infection so I called my GP who apologised as he couldn't see me for a few days.

My research told me that middle ear infections could be fixed by antibiotics, namely Amoxycillin, and by chance I had an unused and out of date script of Amoxycillin that my Mum brought around because that's the sort of thing my Mum does.

Thinking about it now, I can't quite believe that I used dodgy medicine to fix something so serious, but in my defence my thought processes were blighted by pain - it was getting pretty bloody bad.

So I took the antibiotics, twice a day till they ran out and I was sure my ear felt better. Not completely healed, but better, I even went mountain bike riding last weekend.

This week the pain came back in a major way. Tuesday night I was prepared to stick a knitting needle through my ear as the pain from the pressure was so bad. If I sneezed or even swallowed a bit too vigorously I'd wince from the discomfort.

Because I'd cleverly consulted with Dr Google I cancelled the appointment with my GP last week, but this week I needed help. I got in to see him yesterday and explained how I had a middle ear infection, how I'd self-disagnosed, and how the pain had endured most likely because I didn't take a full script of Amoxycillin. He got out his little torch to look in my ear.

"You have an infection, a bad one, but it's in the ear canal. It is not a middle ear infection, my friend."

Apparently Amoxycillin wont work on outer ear infections, so the doc gave me hydrocortisone drops to fix the infection and steroid tablets (solone) to relieve the inflamation and pain. Both of them with my name printed on the label and in date too.

However, I can't surf for a week (the doc says two weeks but I reckon it'll be fine after one).

Bloody doctors - what would they know hey??? When I had glandular fever my Doc said no surfing for six months. I lasted two. Went surfing, had a relapse and it ended up being eight months.

Hey Stu,
I hear (no pun intended) your pain.
I've got a 90% exostosis (surfers ear) really bad in my R) ear and got an infection on top, Thankfully my local GP referred to an ENT as the infection would not clear despite anti's and steroids.
The ENT cultured my ear and found I had an MRSA ('golden staph') infection- probably from sharing my stethoscope with colleagues without adequate disinfection-I won't make that mistake again. Had to get a compounding pharmacy in NSW to make up the drops specifically and they worked a treat.
All clear now but left with worse tinnitus and wearing earplugs in the surf to stop the bone growth.
Hope you get over it soon because from my experience I would describe ear pain as "exquisite"!!!

Curious about your experience and the MRSA infection, as my left ear is forever causing trouble. Doc says there's a bit of exotosis, yet friends have more advanced bone growth without all the complications I've been having, so perhaps there's something else at play?

My wife spent 3 months (at least), multiple medicines, multiple doctor visits, steroid drops, super pain killers like Endones and finally specialist help getting through her ear infection. Her ear canal had literally closed up and by all accounts it nearly landed her in hospital. She literally could not sleep. But gee it was a slow and painful recovery. Pardon the pun, but by the sounds of it you may have something similar and there is no quick recovery. To be honest her local GP was pretty hopeless and it wasn't until she went to the specialist that she started to get better.

glad to hear you're on the mend, stu.

i use aqua ear. a few drops in each ear after a surf. for really dirty water, put in ears before and after surfing. it works really well at drying ears and stopping infections. i was getting infections all the time.
you can even make your own -- isopropyl alcohol with a little bit of ascetic acid (white vinegar).

I've had an MRSA infection in bother ears for the better part of 10 years. As the warmer months approach, I would visit my local ENT guy twice a week to get the pus sucked out to enable me to hear again. When the weather cools down, they don't clog up. The last few years have seen my right ear only become blocked so that was a sign things were getting better. This last summer was the first time in a decade I haven't had to visit my doc on a twice weekly basis. As a result of this, I have lost 50% of my hearing in my right ear. Luckily, my left ear is fine.

My Doc (who I'm on a first name basis now) says that it came about from over cleaning my inner ear with cotton-tips damaging the soft tissue and perhaps surfing in dirty water. I now wear silicone ear-plugs year round and have done so for a long time.

Btw, I didn't experience much pain, but the ear discharge was pretty pongy, my ears itched like buggery deep inside and being almost constantly deaf for the summer months was driving me crazy.

Bloody ears. I've had both drilled...one for each hemisphere, I reckon. And pun alert, I hear ya, Zen.

I got a radical ear infection in Ko Pha Ngan - couldn't even touch a solitary beard hair on the fucked side without super pain - and my hearing in that ear is now shithouse, even post-op.

And aqua ear is essential in any tropical waters for me. And no plugs or blu tack.

Actually, I've canned blu tack period. Too maddening. In real colder climes, I'll bust out the hood.

I've never seen Blu-Tac here. And you can get the silicone ones pretty cheap on Amazon.

I can't surf without plugs these days, kinda like driving without a seatbelt. I'm so used to them it just doesn't feel right without them.

Your not alone Stu with trying dr googles self treatments. My ear blocked one duck dive and never unblocked. I tried everything before watching youtube videos of removing ear wax with peroxide solution. pouring some in I heard a sizzling sound, first sound I heard for ages in that ear. It did clean out the wax - but the wax wasnt the problem. The extosis in my ear had just reached closing point. All the peroxide did was strip the protective wax off the outer canal. Next thing it got infected and had massive pain similar to what you described.

Re: blu tack or plugs, I tried doing it in both ears. Too weird an experience in the water for me. Too insular. Then I tried doing it for the bad ear. Then I thought "really? What's the point?" I'm bloody half deaf anyway.

And I've got blu tack on tap.

Actually, I don't even know when a hood will get a go. Last time I wore one was in Scotland.

I guess you can get real thin ones.

Right, I'm off for a quick dip. In boardies!

you can get ear plugs made that are molded to your ears. they are a whole other league of comfort compared to blu tac or generic chemist ear plugs.

God I love boardies. I get about a month if I'm lucky and the water is still on the cool side. I'm about 3 weeks away from hooded 5mm, gloves and booties and it will stay that way until about May where I can pull down the hood and maybe ditch the gloves.

Plugs remain in, year round as mentioned above.

Stu, join the brotherhood of the hood.

get this 0.5mm titanium one into you.
https://www.seventhwave.co.nz/shop/gloves_boots_hoods/Hoods/LiteHood.html

thank me later.

deffo no boots.

the feet can suffer but the ears are expensive and keep you out of the water.

also, the excuse: sorry mate couldn't see you, couldn't hear you becomes plausible deniability.

in summer, there isn't the cold to cause exostosis, so you don't need the hood then.
if the issue is water getting stuck in your ears, then aqua ear will do the job.

exostosis aside, as we age our ear canals narrow and water is more easily trapped, causing infection. a bit of exostosis and age, would no doubt lead to even more chance of getting water stuck and infected.

I'm amazed even up here the number of surfers my age or even younger who need to spend 6 months out of the water due to surfer ear.

fuk that shitt.

it's easily prevented.

" I'm about 3 weeks away from hooded 5mm, gloves and booties" Zen have you ever thought of investing in a Thermolution heated rash vest. Best dollars I ever spent on surfing paraphernalia!!

Good to meet you today Stu - put a face to a name and all that. Apologies for the lack of notice, just not that often that I’m passing through your area. Good luck with the ear!

I'll check it out Gary. Cheers for the heads up.

Edit: just had a 2 minute squiz and will delve further. Looks very interesting.

0i Freeride, you got one of those NZ hoods, hey? Is it the duck's guts? Very decent price.

As for time out of water after the ear ops, I did 6 weeks, I reckon. Maybe 2 months tops.

I was exaggerating for dramatic effect.

But that constant drama about crook ears seems to really drag on.

No, I don't. I used to have the Triple X one made by local Lennox bloke Don Munro, but he stopped making them.

Exactly the same thing, and I will get one for next winter, the Inzid one I mean.

BCC cut out of my chest yesterday. Out of the water for a few weeks. Cover up, be generous with your sunscreen and smart with your sun exposure fellas and ladies. Especially if you’re a ranga.

Ear infections and wax build up removal -
simmer garlic clove in olive oil. let it cool down then use a dropper whilst lying on your side on the couch , drop several drops of the oil into ear canal and let soak for ten or more minutes. Oil will soften wax and the garlics natural powers will work on infection. Repeat several times over a few days. Submerge head in bath and wax should pretty much fall out. happier days.

Didn’t pick you for a carpet man , Zen.

Thought you’d be more likely to strip the rug off and have a wax finish.

Top tip, Inzider. Today I had someone tell me that exact formula. Swears by it too.

I used this remedy on my kids when they were young and had ear infections and it worked well. I use it on myself when a wax build up needs gone.

Got my first decent (for me) wave in 2 years this morning. Long time trying to get back with lower and mid thoracic issues. May thanks to those contributors to surfing heath threads eg, MB's hang with knee raises and FR's 3 waves per session no matter what form however bad. Also swiss ball jack knife. It was only about 2 ft but to pump down the line and finish with a cutback felt just grand.

Oh Petey
https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/reality-tv/pete-evans-will-not-appear-on-upcoming-season-of-im-a-celebrity-get-me-out-of-here/news-story/4b552640b71a87c94bf194b55e797c69

On Sunday arvo my eldest and I got a lift to the top of Bulli Pass, where we joined two mates to ride a couple of DH tracks, the aptly named Big Balls, and the recently built Lyrebird Lane, which has technical features more akin to a Canadian bikepark: technical drops, bottomless rollovers, gaps and chutes, and all of them cut into a 45° hillside.

I nailed a few, discretely opted out of many others, and we all got down to the fire trail buzzing; happy to be in one piece. We then went and did a short loop, tight and technical but fairly flat, a breeze compared to what we'd done, and like the bloke who surfs XL Mavericks but then slips on the rocks coming in, I took a spill and landed on my head.

Long story short, first point of contact was just behind the crown of my head, which must've thrown my neck foward as I had a shooting pain between my shoulder blades. Fortunately there were no tingles and I had full movement in my limbs. Couldn't sleep much on Sunday night and I tore strips off myself for obvious reasons. Consternation was written across the doc's face on Monday and he sent me straight to the radiologist for X-rays. "I'm worried you've got a compression fracture," he said.

So the reason for the post in this thread is cos there's no fracture, and as the doc says, the compression is in the thoracic spine so it's supported by the ribs. I've gone from a possible six weeks out of the water to just one.

The fact I was only degrees away from an altogether different injury hasn't been lost on me.

The Crash Test Dummy.

Mate.....stay safe . But still have a go cnt. It’s a hard one.

phew....glad that turned out for the best stu.
that's it, i'm not taking up mountain biking. it's a litany of injuries from what i can gather.

Well, you were warned, Stuart.

Plenty of new 2nd hand bikes for sale round here.

Top marks Stu for having a go and glad it all worked out well. However I would exercise caution in these type of pursuits at a mature age . Like older guys who flirt with skateboarding it seems to often end in tears.

Lucky, mate dislocated his foot a few months into mountain biking, was at a 90 degrees to where it should point, still not right two years in

Yeah Facto, it's obviously not possible for the written word to ring in my ears, but your original warning was as good as. However, I won't be selling my bike, or if I do it'll be to upgrade to a 29er for added rollover capability through steep, tech sections.

Realistically, I reckon I'll leave those kinda sections alone, plus a few other features that skew the risk vs reward ratio. More than anything I realise that I've got to rewire thirty-something years of surf programming. You can't pull into closeouts on the mountain, you can't gamble on 'maybe' making a section. Thirty-something years of surfing has taught me how to hold my breath, cop a lip, or how to starfish across a shallow reef when things go wrong, yet when things go wrong on the bike there's no soft exit, so it's 100% commitment or don't even bother.

Before I stacked it on Sunday I'd spent that morning and all Saturday with the Boy building up a solid table top in the bush near our joint. Maybe four foot high by ten foot long, links up a section of track with a hip at the top and a ladder drop below it. Beautiful bush, temperate rainforest with a complete canopy like you're inside a cathedral.

He came back on late Sunday arvo and said it was a good jump. Me, I'm gonna leave it alone for a while.

So good that you’re spending time with the lad and even better that he wants to hang out.

At one stage years ago you’d see groups of kids riding around town with picks and shovels on their way to building ramps and bike tracks which I thought was the best thing ever. The council even dumped soil in a few parks so the kids could make their own ramps.

Still awaiting the return of some of my gear after my son and his mates helped themselves to the shed one day

Good effort with the jump. Would have been a nice project. Beautiful looking location.

The tree on the left looks like a widow maker. Touch wood.

Stu, glad to hear you’re all good. Lucky!
Mate of mine broke his neck about 2016, solo MTBing down near Bega, NSW. He was in his final stages of training in his mid-life career shift from army officer to Doctor. He’s a big unit. Went over the handlebars, landed on his head and knew something was up immediately - mechanism of injury and immediate symptoms. He had his phone in his backpack and spent more than an hour gradually shifting position to take it off, open it up, get his phone out and call for help. Long recovery but he’s 100% now.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/25/shivering-dublin-bay-swimmers-slighted-for-fancy-robes
Let the scrotums tighten! I love this.
Post operative recovery time and drugs can be blamed.
PS: Has anyone ever actually made it right through Ulysses?

Apart from the usual bumps and scratches here's a list of injuries my mates have sustained while mtbing: broken ribs, a broken collar bone, a cracked hip bone and a dislocated foot. I've been lucky so far with only a few cuts and bruises and a badly jarred knee that refuses to come good. I've gone over the handlebars only the once but on a narrow foot bridge crossing the Yarra River. Luckily I managed to grab hold of the hand rail otherwise it would have an inglorious 10 metre drop into the water!

The thing about all those injuries my mates have sustained, all at low speed 100% splat no slide.

I raced Downhill mountain bikes for a few years. I know one quadriplegic and one paraplegic from racing. Seen broken femurs, knees, arms and some really bad concussions ( my wife).
Like skateboarding if you’re in your late twenties to early thirties or older and just starting out. Quit now!

My brother and nephew are both mad keen downhill bikers... They're crazy! Though Luke (brother) comes from an extensive wakeboard history - with plenty of scary accidents - which probably made his transition into biking easier.

@Soggydog,

I also raced through the early to mid-nineties. Gave it up after a few bad crashes, one at Thredbo, December 1997, which I walked away from but totalled my bike, and then a broken collarbone a few months later. Had many other cuts and scrapes along the way. Like a footy player, for a few years there I always had a bandage somewhere on my body or carried a limp.

Don't have many photos from that time but here's one racing at Yarramundi in '96 - so I was 24. Narrow bars and no goggles!

If I think back, it wasn't only the injuries but the imposition mountain biking had on my life. I've never been a particularly moderate person, so when I do something it's all or nothing, and that meant there wasn't room for downhilling and surfing. I had to make a choice.

My bikes and gear got stolen in either '98 or '99 and I didn't even report it to the cops. That was it.

I recall a few years later hearing about Johnny Waddell's crash and thinking it was all getting crazy. That was when FMX was really starting to influence MTB and waterbars weren't enough, proper jumps were getting built and sculpted into runs.

These days it's totally off the chain what they do. They're lucky if a big crash is only a season ender.

I've followed my eldest boy back into it and he loves slopestyle and downhill. I keep mentioning XC because he has impressive endurance, but he's young and just wants to jump and go fast. We'll see where it leads.

Differences? This time 'round I'm paying far more attention to my surroundings while on the bike. I can pop out the back and ride for hours amongst native bush, alternating between dry schlerophyll and rainforest, and mixes of the two. Whenever I stop and point out a particular species of tree my son looks at me like I'm a street preacher.

It's also an amazing place to be a mountain biker; one kilometre to the east of our house is the coast, one kilometre to the west is an escarpment 400 metres high that runs for a 100 kms and has a network of trails crossing it.

This year, as the COVID crowds drove me mad I could go up onto the escarpment and ride solo or with friends, snatching views of the point and the beaches down below, knowing it was crowded, and return home totally energised.

Just gotta control that rush of blood when the trail tilts down or a good jump appears. Ain't 24 anymore.

Johnny Waddell's crash - five months in hospital and had to learn how to use his body again from scratch.

Fuck that.

Stu, a while back you were saying to me with regard to white water kayaking, just charge that rapid, just go for it.

I'd rather be conservative with pushing the limits and be able to still function and go to work tomorrow.

When I was learning to snowboard many moons ago a mentor of mine said if you're not crashing you're not trying hard enough.

Dunno about that Chook, but he certainly had an evel glint in his eye.

Stu, regards you pointing out plant and animal species to your son- keep at it. Even though it probs bores the shit out of him now, one day he'll thank you for it while he's boring the shit out of his son. I loved my dad for that very same thing. It's priceless.

Stu no doubt you have seen this vid and are probably chaffing at the bit to have a go ....just make sure your ambulance cover is up to date....good luck!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiABolnJtXw&ab_channel=ExtremeTricks

Faark Simba- I lost count of how many times I said Faaark. Especially the last two runs. Man, that is just balls out.

When I watch downhill vids with my son he inevitably chooses clips from Whistler, and most of the time it's Dirt Merchant or A-Line - arguably the most famous jump line in the world, at least with how it's entered the MTB vernacular.

If you think it looks easy, just remember Russki kooks from St Petersburg think Teahupoo looks a breeze.

Wish I knew how to post photos Stu I got a couple from WA races and a few from the great white north, we loved it. The crew, the race day the prep. I had a real understanding wife who never really kicked up too much fuss when I was re-building my bike in the lounge room prior to a race weekend.
The expense and more so the lack of trail development in WA made me lose interest. I’m just glad I got out in one piece.
I lived on a mountain in Jasper National Park, 1800km of gazetted trails. I miss that part and the crew the most.
Dirt merchant is a sick trail!! I’d shit myself at teahopoo but could shred the fuck out of dirt merchant........once upon a time.

Stunet if you havent already watch return to earth the latest anthill production with your son. Has this section with a crew of 10 to 15 year olds absolutely sending it at Whistler. Also has a section somewhere in the hills on Oahu with a who’s who of the mtb world going nuts. You can download and watch for free on the red bull app.

Stu,gotta say im enjoying these vids and liked the way he was following the bike in front so you could see the jumps and get a better perspective of how fast and dangerous it is....only thing i can compare to mtb riding is when i was a kid and going down 'rolly polly' hill in the wet and breaking on the grass but just sliding so trying to turn the bike but the goose neck wasnt tight enough haha and handle bars turned but not the bike....shame there was a knee high fence at the bottom....and the other later on in life riding home with a six pack doing reos on the embankment of the road only to have the handle bar snap off...but wasn't all bad, 6 pack landed on the grass so only lost one......dam goose necks!

Years ago, I read a profile on Ayrton Senna and the writer noticed that whenever Senna watched motor racing, say replays of his races or even just on the news, his fingers would start jumping, and it took a while for the writer to realise he was changing imaginary FI gears (back of the steering wheel) - Senna couldn't passively watch F1, even relaxed in his lounge he involuntarily responded to it.

I'm leagues away from those guys in the vid but similarly can sense every approaching feature and almost feel the weightlessness.

After my two incidents, I've ordered a Leatt collar brace. Gone the rubber one for now, but might step up to the stiffer, hard plastic one. The boy's wearing full face whenever he's riding gravity or jumping but I haven't got a brace for him. I think maybe I should.

I had a quick squiz then hit pause to save it for Friday night viewing. Looks unreal, thanks for the heads up.

Check the party train in the first two runs here. Keep an eye on the guy in the yellow duds and what he does, especially in the second run when he's directly in front. Note the guy filming hits a tree with his back wheel at 3:45.

Also note it's filmed on GoPro meaning those jumps are way bigger than they appear.

Snowboarded Whistler/Blackcomb half a dozen times, place is epic. Can't get enough of these MTB vids. Great mate of mine been MTbiking all his life, lives in Vancouver and has a place up at Whistler. His son is 18 and hardcore but him being in his mid-fifties still loves Whistler because there's runs for all levels. Those double blacks that those guys charge are pretty intimidating. When this covid thing ends I'm keen to get there during summer.

I ride a hardtail (Scott Scale) pretty nice bike but kinda regret not getting a full suspension bike. Mine suits my level pretty well, I used to be a bit of a BMX bandit when I was a kid but have nowhere near the courage I used to have now.. I want to invest in a dropper post next just for making adjustments on the go.

Holy shit that was a buzz......first question, obviously ya gotta have a good bike so what are they worth????????????? and boy must be a lot of injuries......so taking on a run for the first time would be a rush or do ya take it easy?

Yeah Simba, coin, a lot. I got a second hand dual suspension 160/160 Norco for $1,750 which is the absolute ground floor for enduro/all mountain bikes, while the ceiling...well, there is no ceiling for costs.

It's nutty what people spend, and keep on spending, on their bikes. It's a very different attitude to the simplicity of surfing and one of the things I dislike about it, though I don't have to engage with that side of course. I've got my bike, protective gear, and a bike mechanic mate.

@Zen, my son didn't even know Whistler was a snow resort! Now, in his mind it's a bike park first and people only snowboard there when they can't ride bikes.

Also, it's impressive how he can watch a clip and almost instantly recognise where it is. I recall my parents spinning out when I recognised the location of waves, which to them looked all the same, and now I do the same to him 'cept it's trails.

Although not downhill biking, when Stu says "It's nutty what people spend, and keep on spending, on their bikes", I think he's referring to this gem from The Checkout.

"@Zen, my son didn't even know Whistler was a snow resort! Now, in his mind it's a bike park first and people only snowboard there when they can't ride bikes."

How good is paint ?

Lipstick for a house.

After a pleasant morning in the brine it’s a fine Friday arvo perched up on a scaffold watching a previously sin- ugly old house come back to life. Every brush stroke protecting and prettying whilst some good tunes pump and the sun shines .

The hard work was pressure washing 20 years of mould off the members , replacing the rot and installing new posts / rafters where the original builder thought cantilevering the last couple of metres of a verandah corner without even joining the rafters was a hell good idea.

Stop to periodically check what the Swellnet crowd have to say and gallop towards a good weekend. Yewww.

Before
[img]https://i.ibb.co/0mwXDVw/B06-ED03-C-9035-4-F32-98-FC-640-FEAA8540-C.png[/img]
After
[img]https://i.ibb.co/0cxtQj1/EC15-A0-CF-E86-A-4-EFE-A13-E-BCBBD158-DF0-A.png[/img]

You got a thing against white ?

But yeah...undercoat.

Go with the mission brown you reckon ?

[img]https://i.ibb.co/3ywmKHK/E06-CB51-B-2888-41-E5-AA54-92-A43-F1548-E4.png[/img]

bakers white, half strength.

just pulled the scaffolding down today...but forgot to take the protector things off the power lines.

Too privileged ? Is there such a thing ?

I’m currently in the process of building an entire identity constructed around an old Duran Duran video I caught late at night recently.

Too much white is not enough. I’m going full Kanye.

First step was locating the pants and then putting together a wardrobe and then the house. Because.... priorities.

You should get up here. We can sip Singapore Slings on the verandah whilst the coolies work the yard.

Already picked out a starter outfit for you from my collection.

[img]https://i.ibb.co/R46xH7x/98728-DCE-213-B-47-F5-9-D49-404187167412.jpg[/img]

Beige is the colour you paint your house at Mt Druitt.

That way the brown hangman’s noose doesn’t discolour the timber work .

"White just feels too privileged and brown too exotic."

That's pretty funny.

But as a middle class Caucasian male you would say that.

And I’ve got a thing for hunkering down snug next to a fireplace on a windswept and exposed coastline as the elements assault.

Maybe we should house swap sometime ?

I guess you’d want me to remove the spy cams from the bathroom first ? They seem to be a sticking point for some people. They don’t seem to mind the live streaming GoPro under the glass coffee table though.

Blowin I just let my wife design and I stick to the labour

[url=https://ibb.co/XkTDJKH][img]https://i.ibb.co/dJytKVZ/88-ADD386-A423-4552-B139-1584893-D3-FB4.png[/img][/url]

..and by labour I mean the painting. I can’t take credit for the rebuild

Ooh...you’ve got some square meterage ahead of you cobber. Good luck.

Looks nice though.

PS The Mid life cyclist vid above was a pisser.

Yeah that was some slow, thirsty surface. Old job though, I had Keramas finals day running on the iPad, the day Steph got a ten. Climbing down the ladder every time Turpel suggested it was worth it

Finally cracked it to becoming an antipodean version of an aristocratic euro -trash falconer.

In true Aussie style it’s nothing less than that king of meats known as Devon ( Polony ) which brings the birds to the yard. Kooka just about breaks his neck getting his laughing gear around that seedy concoction of cow’s lips and arseholes.

[img]https://i.ibb.co/QMcqKT0/BB6-BC65-D-BEC9-411-C-861-B-3923-E54-E9580.png[/img]

YIIIIIPPPEEESS!!!!

My first impression of the obviously posed photo above, was, 'shit have a look at the size of that wedgetail dwarfing that bloke!!!' Then I realised that its just a tiny little kookaburra!!!

The photo is obviously a desperate, lost scream for help. Thankfully, even from shockingly bad news, good news can arise, like a phoenix from the flames!!! I'm highly trained, experienced and employed to quickly sum up the state of the human body. Around 50 years of continual experience now, which, as stupe' highlighted, is welcomed here, and many have requested and made use of on here... always for free, so here's some more... for free too!

Firstly, shocking, although typical example of chronic, internal rotation. Yep, I hear you, as bad as it gets. As I said, typical though, of the modern, 24 hour keyboard jockey. However, also typical of the average laborer, deckie etc. Absolutely no rear delt structure at all. Which ties into the complete lack of lats on display. Some of the worst I've seen!!! Zero lats... despite them being mean't to be the most powerfull muscle in the upper body. And no, that's not a twig that the kookaburra is perched on, its supposed to be a bloody forearm!!!!??? Good grief, popeye forearms are the marker of how much real world work a person is capable of... obviously this bloke is a real softy!!! Which then automatically ties into triceps... looks like another classic, 'who needs them to type all day anyway', case!!! I deal with this scenario regularly, and the weakness's are very quickly, dramatically exposed. 100 pushups and chinups quickly become 1 or 2 feeble, struggling, quivering efforts, when done in correct, structure enhancing and building form.

The subject of the desperate photo above displays the chronic, classic mistake when desperately trying to 'get abs'. Despite the obvious gut suck, a protruding rib cage with under developed abs is the result. Typical of any starving person, whose abs, although atrophied, are visable, and the total lack of thoracic muscle, supposed to be covering, protecting and supporting the ribs is glaring. Spare ribs anyone!!! Which then leads to the heavily sunken, fade away chest. No upper chest development at all, which in the long term, combined with the shocking internal rotation is why this early onset of kyphosis, (hunchback) is so obvious.

However, as I said, the real good news is that it can all be fixed! Bruce Lee outlines all of the above, and famously worked hard to display the exact opposite. Lats, forearms, triceps, abs without protruding ribs... basicly all over balanced development.

Here's a great exercise addressing the above example of shocking internal rotation and kyphosis, that highlights any weakness, and that everyone should do daily. Most surfers really struggle even getting in the correct externally rotated position, let alone doing high reps with resistance, necessary for any protection of the shoulder structure, especially paddling etc. Because of the 'hip bone connects to the thigh bone' situation, the kyphosis invariably leads to lower back problems so common in surfing. External rotation, the modern 24/7 keyboard bloke's saving grace.

Its always good news!!!! For free... again and again and again!!! Time to get off those beloved keys, forget the desperate gutsuck, and up up and away!!!

In a nutshell!!!

Ha ha someone is reading too much into things, going off Blowins personality from these forums i don't think he posted the pic to try to prove or say anything about his body, i think the pics exactly what it appears, more about the stoke of connecting with nature

BTW. Im no expert but judging by that pic, Blowin looks healthy and trim any middle aged guy would be happy with his physic.

'BTW. Im no expert'

We already know that dreamer, after all, its not your area of specialisation, that is, 'weirdo stereotypical racism and misogyny at the 'dandy markets', that ben highlighted, that is being discussed here!!!???

'Hmmm..

Let's replace "burqa or niqab" with "biniki", the location from the "Dandenong markets" to "Bondi Beach", and let's switch stereotypes - Australian wife/husband, muslim bloke watching from the side.

Let's then see how this woman interacts with you (and how her husband reacts) after you "accidentally bump into her".

C'mon ID.. really? Why do you need to see how they react following fake body contact? What would it tell you that you wouldn't otherwise get from asking them a question?'

https://www.swellnet.com/comment/550723

So again, you say, 'BTW. Im no expert but', so, why are you even commenting here? Why feel the constant need to offer totally uniformed, ignorant comment...again...

Shielding the poor bloke from reality... again, with ignorant, inexperienced, uniformed comments isn't helping at all. So, again, considering,

'BTW. Im no expert but'

Why are you even here, commenting?

Ha ha! Awesome.

Thanks for the laugh but more importantly, thanks for the vid. I'm going to get a band and incorporate that into my daily routine.

I think you're a bit hard on Blowy, he looks alright for a middle aged fella.

'BTW. Im no expert'

So, considering dreamers asserted lack of experience and knowledge, sluggo, why???

Why are you supporting swillnutty ignorance sluggy??? Huh???

Hahaha, I thought you'd like that zenny!!! 'The band' is coming out... I like it!!!

But, yes, its the best rotator cuff exercise going zenny, covers the whole show in one movement. Watch the whole thing carefully, form is crucial. reversing long, lifelong ingrained, incorrect patterns.

Id better go, its quickly becoming a 'swillnut band' thingy... again... in a nutshell...

So in summary you are saying that :

I’ve got the body of a labourer/ Deckie/ hard grafter whilst being too soft and weak for real world work .

Also that Im sucking my gut in and am simultaneously starving .

And here’s what Bruce Lee looked like at my age

[img]https://i.ibb.co/5YRgj7B/730-A9110-1534-4-A09-AF0-D-FECF504-A2-B94.jpg[/img]

PS Thsnks Zen , Indo , SS .I’m just a regular 48 year old making my way the only way I know how. And that’s just a little bit more than the law will allow.

Lots of things to love about the Tweed Coast, one of which is the close proximity to amazing camping spots. Fun fact: the weekend's northerly winds were gusting 30-40kts overnight Saturday, seemingly a localised downslope effect. At the same time, elsewhere winds were anywhere from calm (Canungra, Beaudesert) light to moderate (Seaway, Cooly, Casino, Lismore). Only Cape Byron was fresh to strong.
[img]https://imgur.com/Jh0iTtj.jpg[/img]

Nice shot Ben.

Stu.....you gonna stay here on the dark side with your shiny new three finned machine ? ( sticking to the Mulga Bill theme )

Reckon I'm gonna drop one and switch back to three. Just have to figure out how it;s going to work with the planshape I'm after.

Yesterday's Thruster wasn't - 'twas about six or seven years old, from before I got into assyms. My next new board will be though. Still sold on the concept and feeling, just figuring out how to mesh it with three fins.

Gotcha.
I'll be very interested how that turns out for you.
What're you thinking will work best? Side fins offset or something?

Thoughts switching between a simple assym planshape - bit longer on the toeside and that's all - and assym planshape plus heelside front fin shifted a touch forward.

I'm wary about skewing the Thruster triangle so one front fin is closer to the rear fin than the other.

"So again, you say, 'BTW. Im no expert but', so, why are you even commenting here? Why feel the constant need to offer totally uniformed, ignorant comment...again..."

Spot on and to the point.

Cheers, MB.

I reckon there could be a meme in that for all threads and occasions that'll save everyone a lot of precious time.

Yeah I know what you mean Stu.
Hard to predict what would work better... my intuition is that if you move one side fin forward, you might need to shift the centre fin slightly off centre to compensate?

Reckon I could just about fill a PhD modelling different possibilities for that one.

That's a third possibility, though everything I've done with asymms so far has had the fins balanced across the stringer - each fin in the quad cluster was equidistant from the stringer as it's cousin on the other side.

Oh, and just so the crew up above are clear: "BTW I'm no expert on asymmetric surfboards."

Slippery slope , Stu.

$10 says you’ll be proudly riding a Fred Rubble by Easter.

PS Weren’t the original assyms thrusters ?

Not Thrusters, the first assym that I know of is the board Bob Cooper brought to Australia in 1959.

Jeez there's some gold to be mined on here!

Just read M.Bs response to Blowin's photo and downloaded the clip of the shoulder band exercise. Win/Win!

FWIW I reckon M.B was a bit harsh on Blowy but stiff shit!......a well composed and entertaining post all the same!

I've reached the mid-point of my life, statistically speaking, without owning a mid-length and only two longboards - a 1964 Gordon Woods and a 2012 Shenzen special - neither of which gets much action, but this morning I've got a beautiful 7'10 Mackie mid-length sitting next to me and I wonder what's in store.

bit of fun, some different lines.

all depends. its not the end or even the beginning of the end.

One of his smooth glide designs Stu? Sweet. As FR said, lots of different lines await.

Not sure, Blackers. It's a lender from a mate as the local has had unreal high tide, small wave banks.

I was thinking more about a mid-7' to 8'0" stretched out egg, double-ender kinda deal, something with enough tail volume to at least enable turns, but with a deep vee this Mackie pintail supposedly gets the job done. I imagine the turns will involve more tail pivots than rail arcs.

If a board gets your mind ticking over and makes the surf even more appealing then it’s a winner I reckon .

All that glitters is gold.

What you really need for that high tide bank is a 6’5 Neck Beard.

Nice, it looks like one. Should be a heap of fun but heaps different from your usual shortboard. Enjoy. Looking forward to the report.
From his website:

Well the good news is that the Willy wagtails have survived the rain event and now have two chicks which one has done its first solo flight over to the kentia palm guided by mum and the other is standing on the edge of the nest flapping its wings really hard .Mum/Dad have gotten behind it encouraging it to make the leap....must be scary first time.....cant believe the dedication those parents showed thru all that rain and wind recently.I can see them from my ensuite window thru the palm tree as they have made a nest on the tv antenna and felt for em ,thought the nest was going to break down .....gawd natures unreal.

We've got a few here that do training runs flitting between the Holden and the Ford parked out front. I watch them each day out my study window and cheer them on.

My own good news is that I'm finally putting my foot down and taking a stand. No fuckwit is gonna 'make the gravy' at the Nettle household this year. Christmas may not taste the same, though I reckon it'll be sweet and zesty without having to listen to PK's dirge on repeat.

Here’s some good news :

400 odd millimetres of rain may have reduced the sheer numbers but the remaining mangoes survived and are thriving.

Before 3/12/20

[img]https://i.ibb.co/NpcXX75/5-AF9005-C-D430-4-D1-C-B400-43562157-F082.png[/img]

After 23 / 12 / 20

[img]https://i.ibb.co/TBQDTvr/84-A4-FB37-C9-EF-40-EA-BEE0-736128-D5-D8-F0.png[/img]

I was thinking Neil Purchase Jr lookalike

Agree Westof....I just got the full trim an hour ago myself. Liberating.

It's going in a few days time. My twins - who I clippered to a #3 last week - are gonna return the favour.

Neils been quite no new surfing footage of late ?
Go the blade Stu feels great and get your Doc to look over noggin for Skin cancers

Guy - Same as any surfer’s partner . She insures the hell out of him and sends him on surf trips to dodgy third world locations.

Pauline Hanson is Miss January Burka Pinup for Refugee Council of Australia.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/politics/2021/01/15/hanson-domain-social-good/