America’s top male tennis player Andy Roddick will be playing against tennis’ top player Roger Federer in the semi-finals of the Australian Open in Melbourne. Hopefully this well be Roddick’s time to finally beat Federer. I wish him luck.
Monthly Archive for January, 2007
Page 2 of 3
An American contractor in Iraq has been tragically killed by Australian soldiers in Iraq:
THE American contractor shot and killed by Australian troops at a checkpoint near the Australian embassy in Baghdad was a decorated Vietnam veteran and father of a US marine, according to reports in his Texas home town.
Media outlets in San Antonio have named the dead man as Hector Patino, 58, and suggested that he was delivering water to the embassy when he died.
The San Antonio Express-News reported that Mr Patino had served two tours in Vietnam from 1968 to 1970. During that time he was awarded a Silver Star, the US military’s third-highest decoration for valour, the report said.
Could you imagine the headlines in the Age if US soldiers accidently gunned down an Australian?
I was driving to work today and on the radio the commentator was taking phone calls about what people thought about Americans and other foreign fire fighters being paid to come to Australia and to help fight the bushfires. A number of Aussies called in were upset that the government was paying foreign firefighters to come to Australia when they wouldn’t pay volunteer firefighters in Australia. Apparently there is a number of volunteer firefighters in Australia that cannot afford to take the extended time off to fight the fires due to the need to maintain their day jobs. Some of the callers said that if the government compensated them for missing work then they would be willing to fight the fires and the foreigners would not be needed.
Low and behold I pick up the Age newspaper and what do I see the same complaints in the Age as well:
International firefighters are being paid $600 a day to fight bushfires ravaging the state as overworked volunteer crews pay their own way, the firefighters’ union says. United Firefighters Union (UFU) state secretary Peter Marshall said he was "gobsmacked" to receive a leaked document showing government firefighting agencies were paying international crews to aid local workers.
Dozens of professional firefighters from the United States, Canada and New Zealand have bolstered the attack against Victoria’s bushfires since they erupted almost two months ago. The leaked document, from the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) and Country Fire Authority (CFA) to members of the Australasian Fire Authorities Council (AFAC), shows these firefighters are being paid $600 a day, on top of having their flights and accommodation paid for.
Mr Marshall said in contrast, CFA volunteers were sacrificing pay and footing their own bills to help protect Victorians. In addition, more than 800 off-duty paid Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB)and CFA firefighters were sitting idle waiting to be called on, he said.
"Until we got this document, I was always under the impression, and indeed the public would be of a similar view, that this was a goodwill gesture of people coming over to assist; it’s not," he said. "We say this is absolutely scandalous, continually calling on the goodwill of volunteers, yet there’s an underhanded deal being done that was not publicly disclosed.
"There is absolutely nothing wrong with importing expertise … however … before going overseas and paying extra money to personnel from overseas, use your resources here in Victoria." Mr Marshall renewed calls for a retained firefighters scheme, under which a proportion of voluntary firefighters are compensated at an award rate for training and firefighting.
CFA chief Neil Bibby said it had been made clear that overseas firefighters were being paid and, conversely, Australians who assisted firefighting efforts overseas were paid for their work. He also said CFA volunteers continually said they did not want any money for protecting the community.
Make sure you read the rest of the article, but the way I’m interpreting this is that the Victorian government has decided to bring in professional foreign firefighters to aid the professional Australian firefighters to put these bushfires out once and for all. The added help from the volunteer firefighters hasn’t been enough to put the fires out and the way the government is looking at it is that paying the volunteer firefighters isn’t going to help put the fires out any sooner than when they weren’t paying them. I think the important word to remember here is volunteer. In my opinion when you volunteer you shouldn’t expect to get paid. If you want to get paid to fight bushfires than sign up and qualify to become a professional firefighter.
The government has also said that they will not use the Melbourne firefighters to fight bushfires because they are not trained to fight and those firefighters and are needed in the city in case a fire breaks out there. That left the Victorian government to turn to foreign firefighters. Yes they are getting paid very well, but as the Victorian government pointed out when Australian firefighters go overseas they get paid just as much.
In fact when I was living in Arizona a few years ago Australian firefighters were deployed there to help the US firefighters battle a giant blaze there. Everyone was extremely appreciative of their help and no one questioned if they were paid to much. If Australians don’t want help from foreign firefighters than demand your government hire a larger standing professional force. I willing to bet the government doesn’t want to do that because it would cost much more to pay and maintain a larger standing force every year when massive bushfires like Victoria has seen this year is a once in decade event. It is cheaper for the government to maintain a smaller force augmented by volunteers and then if a once a decade blaze occurs they can bring in foreign help.
Just listening to people on the radio and then reading about it in the paper the complaints to me were beginning to take an almost xenophobic tone. It’s too bad that people are spending more time on this issue than focusing on getting these fires put out; than they wouldn’t need the foreign firefighers in the first place.
Here is an incredible shark attack story:
A diver escaped a 10-foot shark’s attack by poking the animal in its eye after it had already chomped on his head once and was preparing for another bite, witnesses and officials said Tuesday.
Eric Nerhus, 41, was flown to a hospital with serious injuries to his head, body and left arm after the attack Tuesday off Cape Howe, about 250 miles south of Sydney.
The shark grabbed Nerhus by the head, crushing his face mask and breaking his nose, said Dennis Luobikis, a fellow diver who witnessed the attack.
"He was actually bitten by the head down — the shark swallowed his head," Luobikis said.
The shark, believed to be a great white, came back for a second bite, clenching its jaws around Nerhus’ torso and leaving deep lacerations in his side, said Luobikis.
Nerhus wrestled free of the shark’s jaws, and later told rescue workers he had poked the shark in the eye, an unidentified worker from the Snowy Hydro Rescue Helicopter service told local media.
Nerhus was pulled from the water by his 25-year-old son and rushed to a hospital, suffering blood loss and shock.
"Eric is a tough boy. He’s super fit," said Luobikis. "But I would say that would test anyone’s resolve, being a fish lunch."
Shark attacks are relatively common in Australian waters, home to some of the world’s deadliest sea life. Scientists say there are an average of 15 shark attacks a year in Australia — one of the highest rates in the world — and just over 1 per year are fatal.
I don’t know if I would consider 15 shark attacks a year "common" as this article describes especially when only one person a year gets killed by a shark here. It is more dangerous for me to drive down the highway than worry about getting attacked by a shark. Personally I’m more scared of the jellyfish whenever I go to the beach than I am a shark, but none the less this is an incredible story of survival at the very least for this diver. Every Aussie I know has always said the best thing to do if attacked by a shark is to poke it in the eye; it is good to see it works.
This what my flower garden looked like before summer arrived here in Australia:
During the winter and spring here Victoria received plenty of rain which caused my yard to be mostly green and the flowers to bloom. Now in the middle of the hot, dry Aussie summer it is quite a different story:
As you can see my grass is a dead brown and the purple flowers that bloomed are gone. Notice my fern has completely dried up and died. Due to water restrictions we cannot water our yard or garden. The best my wife and I could do is use water from the washing machine to give to the garden. This water has been able to allow us to prevent a complete disaster of our garden as you see there are still a few flowers blooming. My grass is so dead now that the kangaroos won’t even eat any more. You’ll have to take my word for this, but if the kangaroos won’t eat then that is some really dead grass.
More details are coming out about the Sydney terror cell broke up by police:
MOHAMMAD Ali Elomar was elated. Having allegedly just bought five high-powered rocket launchers stolen from the Australian Defence Force, he began canvassing possible targets such as NSW Parliament House and the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor in Sydney’s south.
But Mr Elomar had allegedly been plotting a terrorist attack in Australia’s biggest city long before the purchase of the rocket launchers in October 2003.
Earlier that year, NSW police had intercepted a phone call inwhich he allegedly stated: "Look what is happening overseas. It is a war against Muslims. We should do something about it over here."
Mr Elomar never got the chance to go through with his alleged plan. He was charged with terrorism offences in November 2005, and remains in custody. Yesterday, details emerged of how seven stolen rocket launchers – anti-tank weapons that can penetrate concrete and destroy a passenger vehicle – fell into the hands of Sydney’s underworld.
Make sure you read the whole article about how this terrorist cell came about. It just makes you wonder how many more terror cells are out there that no one knows about?
Here are two short videos I shot during my trip to the Stirling Ranges in Western Australia.
This first video is shot from the bottom of the ranges:
This second video is from the summit of the mountains:
Next Posting: Albany, Western Australia
Prior Posting: Hiking the Stirling Ranges
Hiking the Stirling Ranges
The Stirling Ranges are really an oddity in the mostly flat southwestern Australia. This area thousands of years ago was once under the ocean. The rocky peak you see below was once a rock outcropping that had waves crashing against it at one time. However, a geological fault line here pushed the rock outcroppings upward after a large earthquake to form the Stirling Ranges:
The highest point of the Stirling Ranges is Bluff Knoll pictured below:
Looking at it from below I could easily picture the ocean waves crashing against the surface of this rock. Bluff Knoll towers over the surrounding country side at an elevation of 1,095 meters above sea level. This was the main hike I wanted to complete during my visit to the Stirling Ranges. The starting point for the trail was only about a 10 minute drive from the caravan park we had stayed at, which allowed me to get a good early start on the trail.
I had read that the weather here at the Stirling Ranges is very unpredictable since it rises at such a high altitude so near the ocean. The unpredictability of the weather I would quite clearly find out about on this hike. The day started out quite nice with partly cloudy skies. The trail head began with a nice kiosk providing plenty of useful information about the ranges. The hike is just over 6 kilometers round trip and is recommended for people with moderate fitness. The hike usually takes people 3-4 hours to complete. The trail is also very well maintained:
You can also see from this picture, the bush is pretty thick all around trail until you reach the upper heights of the mountain. The Stirling Ranges is well known in biological circles for being home to many types of wildflowers and plant life that does not exist anywhere else in the world. As I ascended the mountain I saw plenty of flowers and plants I have not seen before:
As I ascended over the tree line a great view towards the western portion of the range opened up:
You can see from the shadows that a heavy cloud cover was starting accumulate over me. This was a sign of thing to come. The cliffs that towered over me were quite impressive to view as I ascended up these wonderful mountains:
To the Summit
I also had a great view of the parking lot below where the campervan was parked and my wife was sleeping in that morning:
My wife has a bad knee, so steep hike like this one, she usually does go on with me. This hike is steep enough that I really wouldn’t recommend it for anyone with leg or knee problems.
When I reached a saddle on the right hand side of the peak the famous wild flowers prevalent only in the higher altitudes of the ranges came into view:
Allegedly there are more species of wildflowers in the Stirling Ranges than in all of the British isles. Pretty amazing:
It was at this saddle I decided to sit down, drink some water, and get my camera out of bag to take some pictures. I nearly sat down on top of a poisonous red back spider:
Chalk up another near death experience for me in Australia. Spiders were not the only thing running around in the upper reaches of the range, so were snails:
From the saddle I also had a great view of the farm land to the south of the range:
Notice in this picture the salt lakes encroaching on the forest land from the south. Also notice the darkness taking hold on the peak. The peak was becoming shrouded with clouds and the wind had picked up noticeably. I had to take my hat off because the wind was to strong to wear it. Plus the temperature had dropped substantially and I had to put a sweat shirt on. I could feel that rain was on the way; so I packed up my stuff and hurried to the summit of the peak. I was literally jogging up the trail to reach the summit before the rain.
I reached the summit and it was very windy. I actually had a hard time standing just trying to take pictures from the summit. I had no plans to stick around up there to long and enjoy the view. It was windy and freezing cold with rain on the way.
This is what the view towards the south looked like:
Here is the view looking to the north:
Notice how dramatically the national forest land gives away to the surrounding farm land. The farm land you see continues north for hundreds of kilometers before becoming desert outback.
Here is the view looking towards the east:
The Descent Down
It was about now that it started to rain and I quickly began to make my way back down the mountain. As I descended down the mountain, I looked back up at the summit and you could see it raining up there and as I continued down I only got hit by a sprinkle of rain and then the clouds blew away as quickly as they came in:
By the time I got back to the campervan it was really nice out. All in all, it took me an hour and half to climb up the mountain and only 45 minutes to get down because I was keeping a slow jog most of the way down because of the rain. My wife had lunch ready for me when I got back and it was nice to sit back, eat lunch, and enjoy the view:
After lunch we drove back down the mountain and began heading towards the southwestern port city of Albany. The highway we drove on was a nice scenic ride over a saddle that ran through the middle of the ranges:
Eventually the highway began its descent down the south side of the ranges. We were soon rewarded with great views of the Stirling Ranges from the south side:
Just like on the north side of the Stirling Ranges, the views of the ranges over the wheat fields can be quite spectacular:
All in all spending a couple days in the Stirling Ranges was a great time and one of the highlights of our entire two weeks in West Australia. However, it was time to leave the mountains and head for the beautiful port city of Albany.
Next Posting: Video of the Stirling Ranges
Prior Posting: Across the Wheat Belt
Across the Wheat Belt
As we were traveling south from Wave Rock towards the Stirling Ranges, we found ourselves driving through the heart of Australia’s wheat belt. About every 50 kilometers we seemed to come upon another small town that had one thing in common, a big grain elevator. The amount of wheat produced in southwest Australia when actually see it, is staggering. Just fields after fields of wheat like what you see below:
However, what is also staggering is the amount of salt lakes we saw swallowing up the country side. This picture is of the huge salt lake near the small town of Lake Grace:
As we drove to Lake Grace we also were hit with the biggest swarm of locusts we had seen yet. The small road we were on I could see ahead was covered in black because of all the locusts on the road. As I drove up the road towards them they all jumped up into the air and I could barely see. The locusts swarms are literally of biblical proportions in West Australia and I almost expected to see the rivers turn red and Charlton Heston to come out the bush after that locust swarm.
What else came to mind as we drove through the wheat belt was how all these peaceful towns with their grain elevators were all involved in the biggest UN corruption scandal in history. The UN Food for Oil Corruption Scandal had tentacles that reached all the way over here to the Australian wheat belt. The Australian Wheat Bureau or AWB for short was implicated in a massive kickback scheme to then dictator of Iraq, Saddam Hussein. Millions of dollars of hard cash was sent to Saddam in order to secure the UN wheat contract in Iraq.
This picture of the AWB chairman has ultimately become the symbol of corruption in Australia:
At Last the Stirling Ranges
As we continued traveling south of Lake Grace, the Stirling Ranges finally came into view:
The Stirling Ranges began to loom larger over the surrounding wheat fields the closer the mountains we drove:
It was nice to see some mountains after driving through so much relative flatness. The Stirling Ranges were by far the largest mountains we had seen so far in Western Australia and the highest summit in southwestern Australia is found here. As we entered the national park land the change in scenery was quite amazing because we suddenly went from clear cut farming land to a forested area. In fact this satellite image really gives you an idea of how the Stirling Ranges is effectively an island of what the natural Australian environment in the area used to be:
As you can also see from the above image the range is not only surrounded by farm land but also the numerous salt lakes are slowly creeping towards the park boundaries, which means the last natural environment in the area may be under threat of destruction from the salt lakes.
As we entered the park from the north we immediately saw to our right a turn off to the Stirling Ranges Chalets and Caravan Park. This caravan park actually ended up being the best caravan park we have been to in Australia. It cost us $20 dollars for a site for our campervan which is cheap plus the facilities were all very clean. Additionally the owner was extremely friendly unlike other caravan parks we have been to and was genuinely very knowledgeable about the area. He had plenty of trail maps and he helped me organize my visit to the ranges in order to get the most out of the two days we intended to stay there. There was actually a nice walking trail on the caravan parks property that provided pleasant views of the ranges. The spot we had our caravan parked provide us with a nice view of one of the peaks of the range:
Here is the sunset we were treated to as we sat down to eat dinner that night:
The next day I would be able to do some hiking in these beautiful mountains.
Next Posting: The Stirling Ranges
Prior Posting: Wave Rock
Recent Comments