Another coal ship arrives

Overhead, a chopper returns to base after taking the pilot to meet the ship.

Cootamundra Station and pretty Acacia baileyana or Cootamundra Wattle, indigenous to a small area in the south of the state (and now grown far and wide).
This isn't just a pretend railway station, trains go there.
Thank goodness for country towns that are anything but post-authentic. Give me this 'backward' country any day and nice if paired with occasional excesses.

Dubai has raced to become a truly fabled city with which Qantas airline has made closer connections. Ironically, in some instances a stop-over for outspoken Aussie tourists:  bogans meet the uber-aspirational-Arabic-east.
Wonderful to glimps, but unbearable ostentation and what about the contracted visiting workforce who build this city and what about sustainability in those desert sands.

People at Sydney Airport. Slide show. 35 seconds.

If you went to reside in another country would you give up your heritage?  Some Aussie ex-pats never venture far into use of a local language or out of their comfort zone. (Granted, language is a difficult task).  Others are the opposite and are early adopters.
So many of us just don't get it. 'Newcomers to Australia, should be just like us' etc etc. 'Speak English, don't form into groups''.
What is hoped for, in my estimation, is that newcomers will abide by our laws and have some measure of good will towards this country.
What's the problem? It is not unusual for any of us to have weaker degrees of allegiance and have various opinions as to the worth of local endeavours.  And no one is expected to give up their heritage. Around here, we are all entitled to have our own beliefs and customs. 
At the same time, one does wonder about correctness and watering down, of our very few established Christmas customs. Does it diminish us?  I can see the point, but, like I've said, I am still stuck in the eighteenth century and must adjust.
But, let's have full-on celebrations and acknowledge the full range of customs in a significant manner.
  

As it turns out photograph '101' has a surprising subject! A variant of the better know trailer-sailer? Photography 201: the pre-requisites are too high. Ambition can remain undevleoped.

Many of us are a bundle of inconsistencies. It has been said that we dislike what we see of ourselves in others. Just what is the right blend of responsibility, ambition and pushiness remains a mystery to me. A safe pilot is one who has a good excuse for being annoyingly responsible.

An aeroplane where it had rested since WWII in the tropics of Papua New Guinea, in the Lae - Madang area.
A camping trip was organized by a magistrate who was very much at home with his life as an Australian 'kiap' and with his wife and family in Madang. The group gathered in a village before taking on the treck into the tall kuni grass and the waters of the Ramu river and into areas of occuption by the armed forces long ago.
Lockheed Lightning fighter, USA, Alison V12 Turbo charged twin engines, prop driven.

CELEBRATING FLIGHT

A fly past by a group of keen pilots had aircraft going everywhere!
An Air Force base for Catalina Aircraft was once at Rathmines on Lake Macquarie.
Crews trained there and joined WW2 efforts in reconnaissance, bombing and all that, up as far as Papua New Guinea. Women worked as mechanics as well.
A fly past and entertainment seemed to be commemorating those deeds. The wings on these aircraft have boyancy devices and the prop is set high up to keep out of water.

GROUNDED

Aeronautical still life. A jet engine near Fighter World and the Air Force, Williamtown.
I heard it's fifty years since the Russian Sputnik was launched. Communication by satellite has become pervasive. Does this very web site depend on them?

And then, Rugby and the World Cup Quarter-Finals, live from Marseille, (free to air TV) last night, bought us a close competition with a sad ending for the Wallabies. Well done, English 'rose'.

IN OR OUT OF THE LOCAL PICTURE?

Climbing just above a city. From here flying involves the longest possible hauls. Not only that, we are the second tallest people, so economy class seating is a squeeze whilst confined to the gas guzzler contrails.

Are you a risk taker? This country is looking for skilled people and a seminar on migration and employment is at Darling Harbour on Sat 29th Sepember or visit www.immi.gov.au/skillexpos.
Along with some other nationals, more recently, visas allow U.S. and Canadians 18 - 30 to work, travel or study.
Opportunities exist for unskilled workers from far and wide: be wary.
Tertiary study is another option with opportunities that lead to residency.
Bad luck for visitors: the Aussie dollar has been very strong against the $US. Getting our own back for a change!

NEWCASTLE AIRPORT GOES BAT-LIKE

AIR AMBULANCE

yed
Telstra Child Flight had just carried a patient to John Hunter Hospital this evening. It was busy, another chopper arrived soon after, to touch down on the roof of the car park.

Is MASH the greatest sitcom? It has an enduring worth and reruns can be enjoyed on Prime TV. Klinger in drag was ahead of his time and played by Jamie Farr who is always anxious to return from Korea to Toledo, Ohio.