Racing on the Harbour. 
The events are probably something to do with privatisation of the Port!
Long term locals will lamely sit back while Gladdis et al  make all the real decisions about the Hunter.

Watching the boat races, Sunday, Port of Newcastle.

Take off and go left. Where we first arrived and today leave again and again.
And return.
Free trade but imagine trade in China going back to the Opium Wars  when Britain was hungry for trade say in silks and teas together with the import duties earned but China wanted to keep overall control of their trade and kept a closed door policy.  Opium from India came in via British merchants.
In 1839 in Canton the Chinese prohibited Opium and took actions that lead to attack by the British navy who were successful and China was compelled, mind you, to open more ports to trade - Shanghai and Hong Kong had their beginings. France applied pressure to win access for missionaries!
Inroads by the West led to second thoughts by the Chinese who tried to resist. The second Opium war in 1856 found the enemy right in Beijing.  Drastic incidents lead to a very punitive act when the Old Summer palace was burnt down by the British in the main.
While loss of life is of most concern, just imagine the Palace which had 350 splendid, opulent hectares of unique buildings and priceless treasures in a magical landscape.  All destroyed. The quaint unique palace that visitors see today, does not compare with the original.
Struggle by the Chinese did not end there and trade and dealings with the West were not for the faint hearted. The writer, Jung Chang, sheds light on this period in the book, Empress Dowager Cixi, published 2013. Jung Chang was featured on Nightlife on ABC radio. Her book is not sold in China.
  

Free trade agreement is anticipated between China and Australia. We can try.  China has quite a history about trade and hugh trouble. 

It is sad and difficult to celebrate at this 'shrine' to the beginning of our occupation of Australia.  The consequences for the Aborigines are truly terrible.

Closer to the place of the first European footprints.  Present day Kurnell.  At the foot of the monument.

This is where Captain Cook came ashore at Botany Bay during his voyage of discovery in the seventeen hundreds.

Up front in Brisbane.
Sydney had the colonial Rum Corp.  Today its the Wine Corp.  Corruption is a constant feature.

It is unbelievable that certain characters stand for election and that electors vote indiscrimminately for those who have absolutely nothing to offer apart from their own personal wheeling and dealing, rip offs and making more money to add to their existing fat bank balances. The electors are blind.
You find these MPs relaxing on the seats of parliament, hand out for a good salary, eager to get away to do the real business undertakings with the big end of town and with no passion for the welfare of the state and its people.
At the same time those MPs that are eager, innovative and hard working cop a lot of criticism.

Post-cyclone. Nature lurks in the streets of Townsville Queensland.

Massive sweet potato with purple 'flesh' from the new community garden growing near shopping centre Wallsend.  This variety claims more benefits for us than the other varieties with yellow or white interior. Flavour was good, colour....well...it's different.

What is it?  A museum piece.  In Townsville.  Guide rail off the Bruce Highway twisted by cyclonic flood waters. Oops. Wrong way Go back!

Is it two dinosaurs one of which is a road train in Queensland.  Are they fleeing south? And west. Darn, I was there just a month too soon to see the tail end of a cyclone, best from a safe distance.  Stress would be building north of Cairns where the people await the onslaught later today. I imagine surface water will find its way far and wide.

Wonder what they do in this workshop?  In Wallsend. Says it all.

After the match, Newcastle Knights, blue and red, won 20 nil, last time. This week a loss with the opposite 2/20. The money behind the team sounded in crisis. Mr N Tinkler. But that was last week The white fence is there to discourage pedestrian crowds from wandering across the road and it works in the main.  In one instance, on another busy road, some elderly and others continued to cross when just clear of the fence and I know of one who was hit a glancing blow by a motorist.
Free trade agreements happen.  Gooseberries or Kiwi fruit from France are on sale in Coles.  Is that how Renault cars are claiming a new share of our market? As they have done forever, on and off, on and off.  However, Renault is tied up with Mack trucks, Nissan, Korea and Eastern Europe for a start.    
 The French Peugeot company, which still has original family member shareholders, is shifting production from France and merged with Citroen a long time ago.  China would be a player overall.   

Strangler! Townsville.

Flinders Highway A6 Queensland has urban legends about unsolved crimes.
The Burdekin River which the A6 crosses near Macrossan is featured at http://www.bonzle.com .... rail lines were warped and helpless when hit by floodwaters. But I can't make a link to these specific historical photos.

Premium fuel, 182.8 cents a litre, independent service station central Queensland. More expensive then in Newcastle.   Library probably in Hughenden.  Rail line and a red soil culvert.

In Queensland, the Burdekin river or similar on getting closer to Townsville and the coast.  Unlike southern rivers this river has extensive wide flat sandy wet and dry areas possibly less than a third of which is pictured. Full flood would be something else. Townsville is reached at the end of the day with a full moon and the wide open plains left behind us.   Across this very long corridore, along the Flinders Highway in northern Queensland the population is insignificant in number and it is quite a task to provide what they've got.

Capricorian sunshine feels alright early in the day.  Townsville.
A big yell out for our government services and we are probably very fortunate. I can skite, like others before, that I've just had 5 hours and 9 mins of invasive surgery and a few days later am home again pottering around. So far so good!