I am going to drive everyone nuts by talking about our weather :)

(Chris is already familiar with this)

This morning it is overcast, I don't think it will rain but when the sun comes out it will get quite humid. It rained fit to burst last week. The first two days brought 8-9" to the region and then it held off for a while and came down again. I wouldn't be surprised if we had not had 14" or so over a week. Enough to re-fill all the dams and soak the ground. The grass has gone mad in a later summer burst of growth. It is likely to keep growing strongly for a month or two yet.

This morning nutty daylight-saving time of 7:00 am (sensible non-clock-fiddly Queensland time of 6:00am) it was 27C upstairs inside and a humidity of 72%. Just a tad on the hot side and too humid already.

You know it is humid when after a shower you just cannot get dry. After a while one starts to wonder whether you are drying shower-water or perspiration. Mmmm ... the wonders of living in a warm climate.

Cold in the other hand is Armidale - 200km inland on top of the range. I remember picking straws with Valerie as to who might get up to out young crying child in the night when it was -10C outside and it felt like -8C inside. Vive la difference! I prefer the warmth and will put up with the humidity.

Tom

Customs vessel "Corio Bay" tied up at Coffs Harbour

We had our staff Christmas party which involved cruising round and round the harbour whilst the bar did a roaring trade. Must admit I found it quite relaxing and I was too busy taking photographs to drink much myself. Just enough.

This was taken from the cruise boat just before it set off. The customs boat looked quite business like and impressive amongst the usual trawler fleet and cruising yachts.

This photograph was taken with my 5mp Panasonic FZ20 12x Optical. This camera should be very popular it has amazing performance and takes exceptional images. A high quality zoom lens with image stabilisation really works. Too many new camera buyers are consumed by the "more-megapixel" mania even though the actual physical sensors are often so small that you would need a magnifying glass to find them.

This is a "lensbaby" image - typically out of focus but it has a sort of charm of its own

Felicity had the hint of a cold and was relegated to sit on the porch rather than risk infecting her elderly grandmother. She took it in very good spirit but because terribly bored as she had not brought her reading glasses. After a while I decided to amuse myself by trying once more to master the tricky "lensbaby" lens - manual everything - none this auto-exposure, auto-focus stuff - even the aperture needs a special tool to replace a special washer. At least I feel that I took the picture with the help of the camera and not the other way round.

Aliya on her spinning rope act

Aliya told me that no one had been succesful in taking pictures of her act due to the movement and poor light. I took it as a challenge and I think she was pleased.

My real work is as a self-employed Chartered Accountant. What I mean by this heading is what I would like to be my increasing alternative work as a photographer. It is too much spending and too little income.

I am working on that though and it is getting better. I have left my run a little late in life but I think my "eye" was always "in" even though my technique and experience is lacking.

I enjoy it and fortunately I don't have to support myself by photography so that gives me the wonderful freedom to take the pictures I like. Perhaps if I get good enough I can continue this way. It is a luxury only the very best can afford. So I must become very good and I must become commercial. I enjoy a challenge and this is only another one of many.

The work I post up here is my photography work. It is not posted commercially but rather as evidence of my style and what I like to do.

Tom

This is a picture of a handsome devil who is just a little modest :)

Taken a little while ago (all right I will admit it) a long while ago. I dared Felicity to take this picture and the little devil did!

Coffs Harbour is a small city about half way between Sydney, the capital of New South Wales and Brisbane, the capital of Queensland. About 1970 its population was 14,000 it is now 65,000.

It has a sub-tropical climate which means that it does not frost on the coast. It is far enough south to miss out on cyclones (tornadoes) - the last one here was in the early 1950's so they could happen. The climate is mild and warm but we do get winter gales from the south and it has been known to be cold and wet. Generally it is pretty good though. The climate is not good for farming as we have long dry sunny periods and sharp spells of high rainfall. There is no wet or dry season and one summer might be wetter such as this year but the previous one was very dry and exceptionally hot.

Coffs Harbour itself is in a little round valley close to the coast. Its "river" is "Coffs Creek" and it is only 6kms long. There is a low but fairly steep range close to the coast north and south of the city that provides spectacular views of the coast but is fairly useless for agricultural pursuits other than banana growing or forest.

Inland it is fairly rugged with a river valley that runs north and then east into the sea via Grafton 85 kms north of Coffs Harbour. Further inland there is a richer tableland that is suitable for cattle rearing and dairying but access is fairly difficult by steep winding roads due to its elevation. It gets quite cold on the tablelands which are 3,000' to 4,000' high.

Coffs Harbour, like most of the North Coast of NSW, was originally a timber-getting area with seemingly endless stocks of hardwoods and Australian Cedar timber. There is still a fair bit of timber left but concerns about the depletion of stocks has resulted in the timber getting industry almost disappearing over the last 30 years. Bananas grown on the steep coastal slopes were a major industry but very labour intensive. Cheaper production costs in North Queensland mean that the banana industry is slowly dying. There is fishing and some dairying. But generally farming is not a good occupation here as the quantity of broad acre farmland is negligible and the rainfall too erratic.

All the North Coast area is very similar and each river valley seems to "sell" much the same thing: "wonderful climate", fresh sandy beaches, very scenic, poor farming, no industry, relatively low population. The road and rail links between Sydney and Brisbane are the lines of communication (other than air) and all roads inland have to go up over the escarpment and then over the Great Dividing Range. Most inland towns of any real size are at least 200 kms from the coast and separated by fairly rugged country. There is no rail ink to the interior between Newcastle, just North of Sydney and Brisbane (at least 800 kms).

What make the city tick? It is strategically placed and has the busiest regional airport in NSW. It has become a major holiday destination with a good number of international standard resorts. In 1971 it had one high school. It now has 5 government high schools and 3 private high schools and a university. It is becoming an educational centre. It has a new base hospital and a good number of medical specialities. Slowly but surely it has become the largest urban area north of Newcastle and south of the Queensland border.

For a town that only has relatively poor agriculture and virtually no major industry it is firing on quite well. The per capita income is low by Australian standards and unemployment is also relatively high - most of this is driven by the fact that it is simply a great place to live (if you can get work - or you have retired).

Tom

When I came to Australia we arrived at Yarrawonga on the Murray River. Shortly afterwards we moved to Euroa on the Hume Highway. There Dad plied his family's trade in managing a small soft drink factory.

When the owner tried to sell it apparently was not profitable enough. The land it was on was valuable but there was no money in that. We cast around for a business to buy and ended up buying one at Kempsey on the North Coast of New South Wales.

Small factories were already on their way out and we were one of the first to hit the wall. In the meantime I had met my future wife. When we returned to Victoria I kept in touch with Valerie and we married and she came to live in Victoria also.

Meanwhile I had a job as a clerk in an Accountant's Office. To get the job I had to promise to study to become an accountant. Being a pliable sort of person, I agreed, and one to keep my promises, I actually got there. I could not see a career path where I was and I had enjoyed the northern climate. So I started looking for jobs and succeeded eventually coming to Coffs Harbour via Armidale. Valerie's parents lived in Coffs Harbour at the time and I am sure that my family saw some secret plot to lure me from Victoria. Nothing could be further from the truth - there was never any plot or mention of coming north from Valerie's family - it was my own idea from start to finish.

We have raised a family of five children in Coffs Harbour. Simon went to Newcastle to University but when Andrew was ready to go we suggested Brisbane to him as it was easier to get to than Sydney and the cost of living less. Valerie has relations there and it just seemed easier. Although we are about half way between Sydney and Brisbane it is about 6 hours by road to Sydney and now only 4.5 hours to Brisbane. Mainly due to being slightly closer to Brisbane, the roads and traffic volume, the freeway runs straight into Brisbane CBD whereas the freeway into Sydney dumps you about 20kms of chaotic traffic out.

After Andrew, then Ben then Jeremy and now Felicity. Andrew and Ben are permanent and Jeremy increasingly so. Felicity is starting her second year of university. Simon came back to Coffs Harbour many years ago and now is settled in Coffs Harbour.

So we have many reasons now to visit Brisbane regularly. I also have clients up there that add to the reasons.

Because students tend to move about a bit we have come to know many areas of inner Brisbane and almost feel like it is our second home.

I bought a 70cc Honda Chaley scooter to get to work about 1972. I think I looked and perhaps felt a bit silly on it. But it was immensely practical. It was just a bit far and too time consuming to walk and if I took the car it denied its use to Valerie and it just sat in the sun all day. Buying another car was an extravagance that was not warranted.

Besides you could fill the Chaly with fuel for 70 cents in those days. It was very economical and could keep up with the traffic flow in town. It had a centre stand and when I wanted to pick up something from the shops at the weekend I found it would usually park in the space left between two cars. A thow-over pannier bag set - perfect.

I remember a group of guys riding past one day on "Harley's" when they saw the "Chaley" they laughed and cheered and I took it in the good-natured way that was intended and acknowledged them ruefully.

I stepped up to a Honda XL 175. This felt like a monster bike after the Chaley. I had moved my work to the other end of town and the "175" made the extra commute a whole lot less of a frazzle. The 70cc of the Chaley would get me there but it always seemed flat out.

When we moved out of town to where we were building a house I found the Pacific Highway traffic too much. The XL either would not keep up with or I was unwilling to keep up with the rest of the traffic. It did not have a screen and I had not bought any special motorcycle clothing so having ones jumper ripped off in the slipstream was not one of my choices of fun.

Besides this was exacerbated by semi-trailers overtaking me. The highway at that time was one lane each way and the edges were full of potholes. I therefore had the choice of wringing the neck of the XL and going faster than my comfort level, staying on the bitumen at a slower pace and risking getting sucked under a passing semi, or moving over and doing a bit of off-roading through the edge potholes. None of these choices suited me and we had graduated to two family vehicles so the XL was left in the shed, the registration ran out and after a while I sold it to finance our new stove. Very sensible (cheer).

Years later. I had given up checking what a rider was riding when I passed a motor-bike on the road. (Those who own bikes will know what I mean). When my eldest son bought himself a 185 trial bike that was cool but unflustering. Then his 10-year-younger brother (our fourth son) decided he was getting one as well that was more "uncool". Eldest was looking for a bigger bike so it was "arranged" that youngest bought his old bike (in good condition) and "Dad" wasn't going to let them go out and enjoy themselves without him going out to keep and eye on proceedings and perhaps enjoy himself as well.

So Dad bought himself a brand spanking new XL 250 Degree. It seemed "so big" that he had to get eldest son to ride it home for him but after a few wobbles around the backyard it all came back again.

And so to the big adventure, family bike outings ... Anyone who knows these parts will know that we have endless kilometres of forestry trails - ideal for trail bike riding. They would also know that a good number of them are steep, very steep, so steep that they give a close resemblance to a cliff in places. Students of the things that make humans tick also know that young people have no sense of mortality and that the steeper trail the more challenge and the more fun. My boys also din't mind dropping their bikes every now and then, they were scratched anyway ... But Dad had a new, shiny one and was a bit more cautious in his idea of "fun". The upshot is that I didn't go on many family bike outings, I redefined my idea of terror after the first couple and discovered that they were much better riders than I would ever become. I took to going off and exploring by myself on the easier trails and at my own pace. Now that was fun, but it is not a good idea to be in your own in the limitless maze of half-made roads that forms our local fire-trail network. If you fell off somewhere out there by yourself it might be quite some time before someone found you. So I stuck to the easy stuff and restricted my explorations and after a while it became boring.

I bought a Cagiva 600cc which was nice. It was a pretend-trail bike but really happier on the road. After one very wobbly trip over a very slippery greasy wet clay fire trail I thought I would stick to the road in future.

The Cagiva had a known problem with its ring-gear and starter motor and when I had a repair to the stator that hinted at worse to come and was simultaneously alerted to the price of original parts I became worried.

The dealer who sold it to me offered my money back on a trade to a Yamaha XJR1300. I was on the rebound and that was the only thing they had on offer in a true road bike that wasn't head down and bum up. I took it for a test drive and was "sold". Great big pussy cat. Doesn't handle but it is nice and smooth and quiet to ride. Just poke along at the speed limit and does it have some torque when you need it. No more being pushed off the road by aggressive semi-trailers. This big thing can keep up with the traffic flow and incidently I have bought proper clothing this time.

More on my bikes later. I still have and love my XL 250 but it has only done a little over 6,000 kms - a total dwarfed by the "1300". The "1300" is really only "1250cc" but some sort of one-upmanship makes them call it a "1300". When you get to this capacity does it really matter?

My sense of humour comes to the fore so I made myself up some small decals "12 1/2" and put them discretely on finishing plates. No one knows what I am on about but it is an allusion to the famous Moto-Morini "3 1/2" bike. I have a quiet smile to myself but it passes right over everyone else. You would have to be a well read enthusiast to work it out.

Tom

I don't know who to attribute this quote to or whether I have phrased it correctly, but it is very true. Much of the world's ills are caused by the disinterest in history and the nature of humanity to need to repeat it.

I have found a similar quote that says much the same thing:

"What experience and history teach is this - that people and governments never have learned anything from history, or acted on principles deduced form it" (Philosophy of History) George Wilhelm Hegel 1770-1831.

As the world order lurches to the right we still talk of the evils of fascism and yet we can see emerging hints of the fascist mantra in control of the press, governments that lie and get away with it, populist policies for the "proles" as George Orwell foresaw and the dead hand of government regulation and information gathering. Restrictive and repressive new legislation takes away civil rights to "protect" us against terrorism. Australia has not had a terrorist attack on our shores (for which we should be thankful) and yet we are giving faceless men and women incredible powers to interfere with our "freedoms" and anonymously create files on anyone that is an enemy of the state.

We have also vastly increased our manpower in our secret services. Given that they might not have a lot to do, wouldn't it be normal for them to start up a few files on anyone and everyone who may have the wrong sort of leanings? Perhaps the next step on the slippery slide is to deem anyone whose views are not popular to be deemed a "potential terrorist"?

Its a worry, we live in a wonderful country of toleration and goodwill. I would not like to see the abuse of powers granted to be used as a tool to stay in power. I do not have a problem with governance at the moment but I would hate to see the system of checks and balances weakened to the point where there is temptation for their abuse.

We rely on the fair mindedness of those in power and of the independence of the judiciary.

My opinion is that the rule of law should and always should prevail. Governments may vary to the right and left but never too far in either direction. Totalitarian governments of either right or left have been proven evil by history and should be prevented at all costs.

The problem can arise when one particular government thinks it has a divine right to rule and will stop at nothing to achieve it.

History? A study of history will show that citizens rights have, on occasions, been eroded with their willing compliance when they have been convinced that these erosions are absolutely necessary to protect them from an outside threat. They have cheered at mass rallies and endorsed these governments by re-electing them. Their governments took aggressive stances against other nations until the rest of the world finally intervened. Who am I talking about? Well we can start with the Taliban, the former government of Iraq, perhaps Mugabe, and many historical governments, that would be a start, but the list goes on ..

Tom