Rejoice and be glad. The grader is nigh. Country road....
 But a sealed road means more traffic.... more tourists.

Vanuatu has been devastated by cyclone Pam.
The map is from Lonely Planet guide and shows the island kingdom.
ABC media is taking donations today, Friday.
Aid donations can be made to Oxfam, Australian Red Cross, Plan Australia, Care Australia, World Vision, UNICEF, Save the Children, Adventist Development Relief.

Other islands of the Pacific have suffered.

Vanuatu is a republic with about two and a half hundred thousand people. A small population.
  Languages are Bislama and French. 40% are educated in French language schools and 60% study in English language instiutions.
  In the past the Anglo-French Condominium of the New Hebrides operated there.
  Independence came in 1980 amid years of unrest. Father Walther Lini was a figure there.
  The famous Land Diving or bungee jumping is from the island of Pentecost.

  New Caledonia/Noumea with the French connection is an island neighbour which is not usually heard about in our media.

Let there be light...
....light into mystery?

What is it that breathes fire into the equations and makes a universe for them to describe? (Hawking re ToE)

Mostly greenery but a phone caller is busy on the arm of a heritage figure.

 Something nothing.  Different conditions of water, sky, light.

And hurrah. Summer has been free of bush fires in our region. Humid, some rain, hot, but no fires.

Like sands in an hour glass....

There was talk of postponing our census usually done every five years, in order to direct funds into updating the department you could say.
 A lot of other places have a census every ten years some with sampled surveys, for instance, Argentina, Spain and France.
 The UK (64 million) does a full census every 10 years as does the USA (320 million) where the last questionnaire was short namely ten questions. 
 In comparison, our form is giant with 61 questions but our population is low (23 mill) and a full census of every household is attempted.
In France (63 million) annual surveys and rotating samples is an unusual method. Smaller towns are counted every 5 years and larger towns are sampled annually.
To each his own.

Will green Hakea beat yellow Geebung?  Sports day 2015.
 The day became sweltering. Even a polar vortex would have been welcome.

Digging up the Road lead to a detour yesterday. It was all go as the house on the corner was under renovation as well. They're digging a hole in the road  is another likable song for children from ABC media.
  Now, the dialogue in Peppa Pig, for instance, is from real voices that have good enunciation even if they have a nice distinct accent.
 Why do most other cartoon characters on TV sound stupid and shout?    How do the neural networks under formation in a tiny child process the bizarre offerings ?
 Shock horror.  Peter Rabbit on you tube bereft of UK English. The very essence of a show is lost in any remake.
Thankfully we are adaptable to offerings from all over the world and don't need remakes.
Bananas in PJs has become unaustralian in the hands of overseas artists, the outdoors do not reflect our scene at all, the cartoon has simply gone generic. 
Hope we don't eventually dumb down on a generic diet.

Last photo is of random drug testing unit.   

Setting up again. Newcastle Show tomorrow for three days.  The greatest show on earth- not.
Outside the show ground, the police were making a show of strength with random drug tests on motorists.
A drug bus/coach, a trailer and the latest vehicles made up the ambush. State elections are just around the corner.

A shout out for blueberries following the Hep scare.  Chinese products were suspect. Take pity on our producers. However, it turns out these are from New Zealand!  Can we live with that? 
The berries are rather good tasting.

Rail truncation work to the east towards Wickham.    Work goes ahead in leaps and bounds, after all, the state election is nearly upon us.

Plymouth Rock.  Rocks Maitland Show.

Rodeo, Maitland Show. Events for little kids - were they six year old kids and upwards. Very small kids rode very small calves.
  Children turned into little adults yet there is a valid role for childhood and skylarking is aok.
  I've got nothing to lose. If you stop and think, how does this sport relate to the future 'adult' male? We are told our families increasingly suffer trauma and murder by the male.  It reflects on the male's psyche.
  Lashings of domination, cruelty and toughness at an early age were part of this 'fun' event and one applauded by the crowd.  

 Barrel racing at the rodeo at Maitland show.
Heading for cover from a shower of rain it can be seen that one small section of the big old grandstand offers some shelter.  Most of the stand is fenced off  and in need of repair, I suspect.  The country showground barely survives no matter where it is, I suspect.  

A little gift from Thailand. 
Something for everyone. Directions and uses: Take one to four tablespoons as a supplement.  Mix with hot or cold drinks and smoothies.  Mix with cooked rice. Use in place of butter or margarines. Use as a cooking oil (savory and dessert).  Ideal for hair and skin moisturizer.  Use as a make-up remover. Use as a sunburn prevention.
Yes, coconut is trending.  The labelling: organic, raw, unrefined.
Coconut plantations as a vast monoculture are environmentally undesirable and no better than palm oil plantations that involve clearing jungle habitat.
I am not endorsing all the above uses of coconut oil.

  Coconut Trees are easily grown in the tropics. Most scenes are framed by a lovely fringe of leaves.  Palm fringes and flowers may serve as  decoration for a special occasion - bilas.
  The trees eventually grow tall and there is always a bit of a risk that a coconut might hurtle down. Locals in PNG would see a misfortune like that in supernatural terms 
  A plantation looked like this following a storm.  Or were the trees just past it.  I forget - lossim ting ting. In Papua New Guinea. Upper photo is the Madang Resort hotel some time ago.
Back to pre digital days as my little old camera has troubles and smartphone pics could be taken more seriously. One of these days. Maski.  

Minister for Transport, NSW, with red handbag, was trainspotting today and electioneering on the local rail, plus bus, network.
Save Our Rail group was on the ministers path to Hamilton station where she caught the Telarah éxpress' for the Maitland area.
Not much action occured hence the substantial police presence was not overworked.
Slightly more interesting photos failed to process.
What status does Newcastle have in state budgeting?  The rail in Western Sydney has a number of extensive rail and bus interchanges. They are nothing new in Sydney.  Of course, the population there is much higher. Decentralisation would be encouraged if more resources came to the provinces.

At the gallery of NSW, a Pop art moment.  Marilyn Clones?  Conservative liberals can not stand on their own two feet.  They proclaim stability and unity at any price. The patriarchy is so last century.
  Game of thrones? No, not like that dynamic game.  More like a brooding House of cards.  MPs prepared to live with a very unsatisfactory leader for a favourable deal over submarines. Seems to miss the point. Is that as good as it gets?

9.18am post spill.  Imagine the hubris from now on by Abbott. Now he says the country is doing well - now that's a change of tune.

Teetering wharf.
Unexpected change keeps us on our toes.  Even chaos looks good compared to the present conservatives.
Stability continues to make me uneasy.
The country needs revenue and the government seem incapable of raising any equitable taxes. Even remove seemingly essential taxes.
Infrastructure and more and more roads are proposed. Instead, limit cars and turn to renewables.  Even lip service would be a start.
This country and its circumstances mean it can't be as posh as a Dubai or a Shanghai. Yet.  If that is the goal what price are we prepared to pay as wealth depends on high growth and consumerism but recent thinking points to the limits and inequalities of all that.
 The prime minister talks of journey. But we have a race to alter our lifestyle via policies that seek growth yet toy with what we hold dear and enjoy.  Social capital needs care.
 A sustainable journey is the only way to go and one free of inequalities. A brave leader will take it on.
Setting limits on the illness industry goes without saying but why only target GP services and more so for the needy?
 Instead reign in endless higher order health services and over servicing and countless pharmaceutical products.
 Same with higher education.  Begin pruning at the top. 
   

   

A lone weed. And bee.
Unbearable, Abbott had even more hubris at the press club. Who will take him on?
That he will be liked by the average person is just too much to take given his promise of lower taxes - read lose half of our services - stress on security, demonization and blame of others and saving us from them plus economy, economy and more economy.
Blameless victim with a mantra.  Nothing substantial. Devoid of uplifting ideals.
Concern for future generations?  Then climate change policy should be number one.


Number of coal ships waiting off shore: 20. 
 

Newcastle baths pounded by waves Friday.  The tide was receeding.

  Eye strain, stress and compulsive viewing this weekend with the Socceroo's victory and Serena W in Melbourne - a knock out with Toyota styled celebratory leaps!  The pair were in complete contrast.

    At the swimming pool the usually benign seating was submerged. Experience leads one to step back to avoid a shower. A man said he ruined his camera there in the last storm.

Still cat napping as the new year rolls on.

Tuesday and the river at Kempsey was wide, muddy, smelly and swirling with debris following lots of rain. Try getting along a back road where the pot holes expand into sheets of muddy water and worse. Don't ever drive in flood waters.
Pioneering work on expanding highway Number One was at a standstill.
Not a good day for a motorcyclist. 
Naturally the weather hardly compares to the Juno event.

Socceroos are the roos that are most important tonight in Newcastle as they  play against UAE, United Arab Emirates, in the Asian Cup. Semis.
Rain has not kept the big crowd of fans away from Hunter Stadium.

Evening and mother marsupial and little joey were nibbling the grass.
 Ever watchful,  the presence of a camera led mother to make an utterance to alert little joey to return to her pouch.
 Joey then hung from the pouch to continue eating the grass.  Mother returned to grazing as well.

These little mothers, with joey in the pouch, are quite small compared to the local 'roos.  I guess they are wallabies.

Short of suitable knives while camping?  The saw came in handy.

Take the ferry, Curranulla, to the township of Bundeena. Probably in 'the shire'.

Power stations would be cranking up today.  All that fossil fuel up in smoke. Hot weather with maximum humidity are our lot. Air con and fans at the ready. These are the days when power consumption is highest.
 Every beach is closed because a five metre unwelcome visitor has taken a liking to our seafront and has been sighted on several days.  Believe sharks are a very very ancient ?fish. The closure of the swimming areas for several days is unprecedented.  Swimming pools are an alternative.

Pop art is presented for children of all ages in a lighthearted preview on the concourse of the gallery.  The exhibit itself is extensive and diverse.  

Fellow humans have been immersing themselves in grief or often finding a whole lot of interest in total strangers such as celebs or the size of the celebs rear.   
 Naturally, we have feelings for a victim. A tragic death or illness of a citizen is very upsetting. One would best try to keep it in proportion.
 We honour a total stranger in an overblown manner. Words, flowers, cards, twitter.
This week, a terrible slaughter occurred in Africa, literally thousands were slain. Other areas suffer continuous losses.
 We need to get real. Get affronted and seek resolution of unappealing problems. The problems are not cute.