Here is another example of wasted taxpayer money:
A NIGHT of drunken skylarking has left a Ukrainian tourist with a hangover he will always remember – and taxpayers with a huge bill.
After a night on the drink, the 19-year-old man scaled down a cliff at Sydney’s northern beaches suburb of Manly but got stuck half way and passed out, The Daily Telegraph reports.
After being alerted by a fisherman, rescue workers found him asleep on his back on a ledge 30m above sea level at North Head early yesterday morning.
The rescue operation will cost taxpayers at least $10,000.
But the man will only be charged the cost of the road trip to hospital – likely to be as little as $700. [The Daily Telegraph]
Here is are some incredible Google Earth images of Great White Sharks being seen near beach goers at Sydney’s famous Bondi Beach.
Click the image to go to the link.
I wonder who will be first to blame this unusual dust storm on global warming?:
SYDNEYSIDERS have woken to a massive dust storm that blanketed the city in thick red dust, leaving Sydney airport in chaos, ferry services suspended and health authorities worried.
Large areas have been shrouded in dust as the state experiences severe winds and unseasonably warm temperatures.
Bureau of Meteorology spokeswoman Jane Golding said dust had settled on much of the state, including Sydney.
“We’ve had reports of low visibility up out as far up as Moree, Dubbo, Canberra’s got some raised dust in the area and Wollongong, so it’s very widespread,” she said.
The blanket of red dust began to shroud Sydney just before dawn after a cold front moved in from central Australia and western NSW.
It came as the state was experiencing unseasonably warm temperatures and followed reports of visibility reduced to just 10m in Broken Hill.
A Sydney airport spokesman said 10 inbound international Sydney flights had been diverted to Melbourne and Brisbane.
“They may get back later in the day,” he said. “We’ve got departures, they are occurring, but it’s slow.” [Daily Telegraph]
I have never seen a dust storm as severe as this one on Australia’s east coast but I once saw a wind storm in Victoria two years ago that brought dust from the Outback that caused the sky to have a red tint to it. The amount of dust from this storm is absolutely incredible though.
Here is a photo gallery with a bunch of photographs from this dust storm. Here is a sample:
The flight to Australia from the US is a long one so it was with much relief that I landed at the Sydney Airport. However, as usual the Sydney Airport is only a bit better then what I experienced at LAX due to the incompetent immigration and customs agents that continuously screw up my visa status. Nevertheless I was able to eventually clear customs with only mild aggravation and boarded my next flight to Melbourne.
Once in the air and on our way to Melbourne the window seat I had rewarded me with some outstanding aerial views of quite possibly the world’s most beautiful harbor city:
I have sailed up and down Sydney Harbor before, but from the air you can really appreciate how big and how far inland Sydney Harbor really goes compared to being at sea level:
Besides some good views of the harbor, I also had some nice close up views of the famous Bondi Beach:
Here is another close up view of downtown Sydney:
Eventually the plane flew right over Botany Bay which was the location where Captain James Cook first landed on the continent of Australia:
It was through these heads on April 29, 1770 that Cook’s ship the HMS Endeavor sailed through to begin the British exploration of Australia:
As the plane continued to fly along the east of New South Wales, the sun began set over the beautiful coast line:
It was dark by the time I landed in Melbourne, but I was definitely glad to be back in Victoria. As beautiful as Sydney maybe both from ground level and from the air, Melbourne is still my favorite large city in Australia and I was glad to be back.
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