The General Chat Thread (2016-2022)

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And if you're going for the mind link, shown above. Corrugated cardboard box cut into strips, doubled, covered in tinfoil shiny side in. Short strips of sellotape used to hold the layers of cardboard together
 
This evening we went to the 3rd comedy show of this years festival, DR Phil Hammond, very funny but also political. Just before the show he walked in through the front door of the theatre then shook hands with everone on their way upstairs.
 
Here we don't have roos, but in many areas there are deer. You have to keep your eyes peeled for them 24/7.
And as far as road kill goes, everything from snakes to coyotes to deer and all types of animals in between. Some stretches of road are worse than others.
 
Yorky said:
We probably walked a difficult 8 km and climbed up (and down) a thousand steps. I was completely knackered. That and the difficulty of getting in and out of tuk-tuks which were built for a race a foot shorter than me!

Back home now.
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Sounds like I need to be a bit fitter before doing that..
 
Cinisajoy said:
Here we don't have roos, but in many areas there are deer. You have to keep your eyes peeled for them 24/7.
And as far as road kill goes, everything from snakes to coyotes to deer and all types of animals in between. Some stretches of road are worse than others.
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Mostly badgers on our roads.
 
Yorky said:
We probably walked a difficult 8 km and climbed up (and down) a thousand steps. I was completely knackered. That and the difficulty of getting in and out of tuk-tuks which were built for a race a foot shorter than me!
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I've now discovered that the whole site is 1,600,000 m2. Not that we saw it all, of course.
 
Lullabelle said:
Mostly badgers on our roads.
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Very few badgers up here. Usually rabbits and hedgehogs, however when I used to work on the roads [the A1 mostly] we saw quite a few foxes [usually wandering dog foxes I assume]. I'm afraid it sort of put a lie to the story that hunting kept the numbers down - that road accounted for more foxes than all the hunts in north Yorkshire put together.
 
Cinisajoy said:
Here we don't have roos, but in many areas there are deer. You have to keep your eyes peeled for them 24/7.
And as far as road kill goes, everything from snakes to coyotes to deer and all types of animals in between. Some stretches of road are worse than others.
Click to expand...
The thing about deer is that they are easy by comparison. I have lived with red deer, roe deer and the little one whose name slips my mind after another stressful day fire watching, all my life. Deer is relatively predictable in the UK. Their eyes also shine in car headlights unlike kangaroos!

I've hit deer in the UK, but I can tell you one thing that stands out here in Australia. When you get a signpost saying watch for kangaroo for next 5 km, in the UK with the deer equivalent you would be luckily to see a dead deer in that stretch. Here, you will see 10 or 15 dead kangaroo at the side of the road. All fresh kills because kills are cleared very often (daily?) from the roads. The numbers hit, even ignoring the sheer differences in the vehicle count (here if there are more than a couple of vehicles at a set of red lights, it is unusual and does make the travel news!) are simply staggering and mind blowing. Until you've seen it, you can't comprehend it. Kangaroo are not only mindblowingly stupid and erratic, but also completely invisible at dusk. They are almost impossible to spot in the dry season in full sunshine. Without reflective retinas, they simply appear.

Talk to someone in the UK about hitting a deer and it's a big deal. Try that here with kangaroos and it's a fact of life here and unusual to find someone who hasn't hit one in the last 12 months. There's actually a separate insurance option to cover hitting kangaroos when you take out insurance!
 
Spent a stressful day watching another fire. 2,500 hectares so far. That is between 3pm when it was reported to sun down at 8pm. And I had no transport. Today was a level 2 out of 6 day. Very low risk day.

It's only 13km away and was on emergency status until midnight. The advice notice had an Australian edge to it (my bold).

Advice
If you are in the area of abc, xyz or def seek shelter it is too late to leave.
Protect yourself from the heat of the fire.
If you are in the area of uvw do not leave, as the road north is affected by fire.
Firefighters and aircraft are working on the fire.
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It is too late to leave! How's that for useful advice. And you're on you're own now... Err. If it's that bad I won't be sitting at a computer watching the internet updates and around here forget mobile phones and reception, it doesn't happen.

Early on, it got as black as night later on.

DSC_0594.JPG


That's property going up. Grass fires produce white smoke!

It's been downgraded to watch and monitor... If the wind changes direction (due to on Sunday) it will come this way.

Advice
Conditions are easing however people in the area of xyz, abc and def should continue to monitor situation.
Decide now what you will do if the fire reaches your property.
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Yep, it still has that Australian casualness to it!
 
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
The thing about deer is that they are easy by comparison. I have lived with red deer, roe deer and the little one whose name slips my mind after another stressful day fire watching, all my life. Deer is relatively predictable in the UK. Their eyes also shine in car headlights unlike kangaroos!

I've hit deer in the UK, but I can tell you one thing that stands out here in Australia. When you get a signpost saying watch for kangaroo for next 5 km, in the UK with the deer equivalent you would be luckily to see a dead deer in that stretch. Here, you will see 10 or 15 dead kangaroo at the side of the road. All fresh kills because kills are cleared very often (daily?) from the roads. The numbers hit, even ignoring the sheer differences in the vehicle count (here if there are more than a couple of vehicles at a set of red lights, it is unusual and does make the travel news!) are simply staggering and mind blowing. Until you've seen it, you can't comprehend it. Kangaroo are not only mindblowingly stupid and erratic, but also completely invisible at dusk. They are almost impossible to spot in the dry season in full sunshine. Without reflective retinas, they simply appear.

Talk to someone in the UK about hitting a deer and it's a big deal. Try that here with kangaroos and it's a fact of life here and unusual to find someone who hasn't hit one in the last 12 months. There's actually a separate insurance option to cover hitting kangaroos when you take out insurance!
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You are right about the eyes. I would not have thought about that. Interesting on the insurance.

Now try to stay safe.
 
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
Spent a stressful day watching another fire. 2,500 hectares so far. That is between 3pm when it was reported to sun down at 8pm. And I had no transport. Today was a level 2 out of 6 day. Very low risk day.

It's only 13km away and was on emergency status until midnight. The advice notice had an Australian edge to it (my bold).



It is too late to leave! How's that for useful advice. And you're on you're own now... Err. If it's that bad I won't be sitting at a computer watching the internet updates and around here forget mobile phones and reception, it doesn't happen.

Early on, it got as black as night later on.

View attachment 5394

That's property going up. Grass fires produce white smoke!

It's been downgraded to watch and monitor... If the wind changes direction (due to on Sunday) it will come this way.



Yep, it still has that Australian casualness to it!
Click to expand...
Try and keep the roads free for those that may really need to use them. Those fighting the fires & possibly helping anyone injured.

A sort of "we've told you, now do as you're b****y well told!"
 
classic33 said:
Try and keep the roads free for those that may really need to use them. Those fighting the fires & possibly helping anyone injured.

A sort of "we've told you, now do as you're b****y well told!"
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Nah, it's the 'you're on your own, good luck's approach to life.

Just one (human) injury in the end, thankfully. A firefighter got burnt. But I would imagine quite a lot of livestock didn't survive.

Various places have opened up floors of hotels to the homeless and those simply evacuated. The main showground in Canberra is telling people to take their horses there.

The local showground is still hosting the volunteer army doing the repairs from the major fire to the north last month which was slightly smaller. I guess they have more work to do when they are allowed on scene. the tarmac road leading to our dirt road is closed, you had to stop and say where were going to to get through... It could have been much worse but for the torrential rain that fell at intervals today during various thunderstorms. Yet only 5mm of rain but that area is flat, on the flood plain, not that there is an water in the flood plain.
 
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