The Pope is currently visiting Australia for World Youth Day which has brought out lots of allegations of church sex abuse during the visit. Even with the allegations of sex abuse I still found this cartoon distasteful:
Monthly Archive for July, 2008
Page 2 of 2
Here is a movie I am really looking forward to watching:
The Australia movie starring Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman really looks awesome and it seems like it is sure to be a hit.
I had no idea how much the minimum wage was in Australia until I read this article in The Australian newspaper and couldn’t believe my eyes:
The ACTU chief said the $21.66-a-week increase would give low-income employees more purchasing power but applied only to about 20per cent of the workforce on minimum rates.
He said the full 4.15per cent increase – slightly above the running inflation rate – would only apply to about 100,000 out of the total 1.3million people who were paid the minimum wage because this group received the lowest rate of $522.12 a week, or $13.74 an hour. The rest, he said, were on higher rates. [The Australian]
Now I know why no one leaves any tips in Australia when the minimum wage is $13.74 an hour. I can remember when I was working at McDonald’s back in the US years ago and was being paid the minimum wage of $4.25 an hour. Currently the US minimum wage is $6.27 which is a bit higher, but no where near as high as Australia’s.
However, this may help to also explain, along with all the taxes why the cost of living in Australia is so much higher then in America.
Oh God I hope this is true:
“Big Brother Australia has been officially axed, with Channel 10 holding a media embargo on the announcement until midnight tonight,” fan website behindbigbrother.com reported today.
The site quoted a Big Brother website administrator, known as Lulu-b, who posted an announcement on the official Big Brother discussion forums.
“Hi everyone, I can confirm Big Brother won’t be renewed on Channel 10 in 2009,” Lulu-b said on the bigbrother.com.au site this afternoon.
“A statement with more information will be forthcoming,” the post said.
Behindbigbrother.com reported: “Our sources inside the Big BrotherBB producers, who did what they felt was in the best interests of the show and believed this year would be a season benchmark.” compound tell us the announcement was unexpected for the
NEWS.com.au is seeking comment from Channel 10.
The show’s ratings have been poor since radio jocks Kyle and Jackie O replaced previous host Gretel Killeen as the faces of this year’s series.
Big Brother was even beaten in the ratings by Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan’s Budget speech in May. [News.com]
I would rather watch a federal budget speech then Big Brother as well. I don’t think there is a worse show on Australian TV then Big Brother though the show Farmer Wants A Wife sure is trying.
I was typing on the computer today when I heard a loud commotion outside from none other then once again from my friends the cockatoos:
These cockatoos have been driving nuts lately because they have been tearing apart the big gum tree in my backyard. When I go outside to rake up the mess the cockatoos literally sit up in the tree and fling branches at me. This is an unusual behavior from these extremely smart birds that I haven’t seen before.
Anyway now there was just one cockatoo waddling around my backyard and making a tremendous amount of noise:
I soon found out why because he was calling out to his friends that it was clear to join him:
I had a park ranger tell me that cockatoos will often send one cockatoo forward to scout out an area to make sure it is safe and then it will yell back to his buddies that the coast is clear for them to join him. And join him they did as my backyard was quickly filled with cockatoos:
These cockatoos don’t eat the grass but actually pull out the roots of the grass and nibble on them while also looking for worms. The park ranger had also told me that while cockatoos are grazing somewhere they tend to keep a lookout in one of the trees to look for any predators. So often cockatoos appear to take off in unison for no reason and that is because there look out warns them of something that it sees coming towards them such as maybe a big eagle or a dog.
As much as I like cockatoos, the way they are destroying my backyard makes me think that maybe it is time to get a dog.
This may affect anyone thinking about traveling to New Zealand in the near future:
AIR New Zealand has imposed a salary freeze on its senior executives and pay rise barriers for other staff as it battles rising fuel costs.
Air NZ (aiz.ASX:Quote,News) chief executive Rob Fyfe told staff about the measures yesterday, citing rising fuel prices and the deteriorating economy, the New Zealand Herald reports.
Mr Fyfe said his own salary and those who reported to him would be frozen. The freeze would be reviewed when business conditions improved.
Mr Fyfe said pay increases for other managers on individual employment agreements would be achieved through reducing staff or boosting productivity. He said some managers faced pay cuts through a reduction in short-term bonus payments.
The airline has nearly 11,000 staff. According to Air New Zealand’s annual report, its highest-paid employee gets $NZ1.61 million ($1.3 million).
Air New Zealand has raised airfares four times since early March as it tries to offset soaring fuel prices, and has warned its annual profit is likely to fall 23 per cent this year. [News.com]
The airline industry has been hit hard by rising fuel costs and it is sad to see a quality airline like Air New Zealand getting hammered like it is. My wife and I traveled to New Zealand last year on Air New Zealand found it to be a really good airline. Hopefully the pay issues with the employees does not effect the excellent service my wife and I experienced when traveling with them.
Here is a perfect example that the search for a celebrity knows no bounds even here in Australia:
FROM Underbelly to bikini belly, tragic figure Roberta Williams has sunk to a predictable new low by stripping down for a men’s magazine.
Shocking few other than her crime baron ex-husband Carl Williams, Roberta has un-zipped her tracksuit in the latest bid to cash in on her underworld infamy.
Not surprisingly, the Zoo Weekly shoot and the accompanying A Current Affair behind-the-scenes segment, to air tonight, was brokered by 2Day FM shock jock Kyle Sandilands before Roberta split with his management company King Kyle last month.
“It was something Roberta wanted to do and we were happy to help her out with it,” Sandilands’ manager Andrew Hawkins said yesterday.
While the convicted drug dealer and mother-of-four thinks she looks “fantastic” in the shots, her ex-hubby apparently had his concerns.
“He was shocked at first cos I’m a nerdy person. He didn’t think I’d do it,” she told the magazine. [News.com]
Roberta Williams is the ex-wife of a notorious crime boss from Melbourne who is currently sitting in jail here in Victoria. She has been all over the news recently especially on Channel 9 and she has become something like the Paris Hilton of Australia because she is famous for being married to a famous mob boss. Considering Australia’s convict past I guess she does make a suitable celebrity for Australia. 
One of my favorite places in all of Victoria is without a doubt the small hamlet of Harrietville in northeast Victoria. Harrietville is not a major tourist attraction and most Victorians probably would not even recognize the name of this town, but I have spent more weekends in the Harrietville area then I have in any other part of the state since I moved to Australia two years ago.
I like this area because it is the closest I can get to feeling like I am back in my home state of Colorado due to the town being located at the base Victorian Alps:
The most beautiful mountain in all of Victoria, the 1,922 meter high Mt. Feathertop rises dramatically over the town:
The best views of Mt. Feathertop can be seen from the east of town where the mountain is at its most spectacular:
Harrietville is located along the Great Alpine Road which is one of the best drives in the entire country.
Harrietville also just happens to be the last town in the Ovens Valley that the Great Alpine Road passes through before it begins its steep ascent up the Victorian Alps and to the Mt. Hotham Ski Resort:
The ski resort is what brings many of the tourist that do come this town during the winter season. The town has a ski shop and plenty of accommodation to support people looking for a place to stay off the mountain:
Besides skiing Harrietville is really a great bushwalking destination as well. Quite possibly the best hike in all of Victoria and one of the greatest in all of Australia is located on the mountain slopes on the outskirts of Harrietville. The Razorback Trail is featured in every major hiking guidebook of Australia and rightfully so with its stunning views of the Victorian Alps:
There is much more to the town then just the ski season and bushwalking though. The town also has an interesting history that began first with aboriginals that used to pass through this area during the summer on their way up to the high country to eat Bogong moths. The Bogong moths are large moths that frequent the high country only in the summer months that the aborigines viewed as a delicacy of sorts. Aborigines however never called the upper regions of the Ovens Valley home.
The first European to settle this area was a man named William Buckland who was giving grazing rights over a large portion of the Ovens Valley. A few years later in 1852 gold prospectors made their way up the valley as they panned the Ovens River:
A mining settlement that was called Germantown at the time was established in the area. A year later famous botanist Baron Ferdinand Von Mueller passed through the area on a government sponsored trip to do a scientific survey of the area. By 1863 grazers had discovered the Bogong high plains above the town and began driving cattle up there during the winter to graze.
By 1876 the settlement had reached its mining peak as the alluvial gold ran out and large mining operations were launched. More labor was needed to work in the mines which brought many Chinese migrants to the settlement. The settlement grew so big that it could support a school filled with 350 children:
In 1879 the Germantown settlement had grown enough to where it was officially proclaimed a town and dubbed Harrietville. Eventually the gold would run out and the town would shrink in size and what remained centered around the cattle industry that was still bringing stock up to the high country every summer as well as the logging industry:
The logging industry advanced to where locomotives were even used to pull trees from off the mountains:
Mills used water power from the Ovens River to keep their operations going:
Fortunately today Harrietville is no longer a logging area with the town surrounded by beautiful swaths of gum trees:
For those interested in learning more about Harrietville’s history the town has a small museum dedicated to presenting the town’s history that is worth taking some time to check out:
Much of the towns historical past can still be seen today as Harrietville is littered with historical buildings such as this church:
Not everything is historical in Harrietville though as many bed and breakfasts and hotels can be found in town as well as many new homes that various real estate companies have for sale:
It appears I’m definitely not the only one who has discovered the charm of Harrietville judging by the new homes going up, but this is definitely a place I wouldn’t mind owning a home at one day myself.
If driving up the Great Alpine Road it is definitely worth spending a day in Harrietville to enjoy the small town atmosphere and spectacular scenery. For those into bushwalking, no trip to Victoria would be complete without hiking the Razorback Trail. Finally for those into skiing Mt. Hotham is the best area in Victoria for skiing as well. So no matter how you enjoy the area the important thing is get out and experience this great part of Victoria.
In the Age yesterday they had an interesting article about recently discovered photographs of Victoria and New South Wales that are over 100 years old:
IN THE 1870s, Beaufoy Merlin and Charles Baylis criss-crossed Victoria and NSW with a horse-drawn darkroom, lugging equipment that was ingenious but heavy, and working magic with chemicals such as mercury and magnesium that may ultimately have killed them.
They created an extraordinary record of life in Australia 130 years ago — streets of packed earth wide enough to turn a wagon and human figures, some sharp and some turned ghostly by movement that the slow shutter speeds of their cameras could not handle.
Now an extraordinary collection of nearly 1000 of their photographs has been found under a Sydney house. A selection of the pictures will go on display next week in the National Library of Australia. The photos lack captions and library staff hope members of the public who recognise scenes or businesses can help identify them. [The Age]
The Age wants people to contact the National Library if they can identify the buildings in the old pictures but on its website the Age only has one picture out of all the old photographs for people to view. Not exactly the best way to get the public involved in identifying the buildings if you ask me.
It was strange enough when an Australian man sold his life on E-bay last week, but this story really takes the cake:
New Zealand man has put his soul up for auction to the highest bidder, noting that it is “a merry old soul” rather than a “funk soul brother” but that he would “would like to think there is a bit of funk in there somewhere.”
Walter Scott, 24, put his soul up for sale on New Zealand Internet auction site TradeMe, and so far has received more than 100 expressions of interest.
Bids in the auction, which was to close Thursday, had reached $189 late Wednesday.
Scott said he had been thinking about selling his soul for ages.
“I can’t see it, touch it or feel it, but I can sell it, so I’m going to palm it off to the highest bidder,” he said. [AP]
I don’t know what is more absurd, the fact the guy is selling his soul online or that there are people out there willing to pay hundreds of dollars to buy it?
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