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In an article in today’s local newspaper, the Liberal candidate in the local electorate [Tristan Weston], who looks as though he will just be beaten when the final count of votes is ascertained, had a couple of useful comments, which to my mind, suggested it was a pity he was going to fall short. The item, in the Macedon Ranges Weekly Community Voice noted that:-

“Mr Weston, a police detective, told the Weekly that regardless of the final result, he was satisfied with the job he did. ‘Obviously it would be great if we can win. It’s too early to call it one way or another, but there’s nothing I would have or could have done differently. I think the days of the local MP sitting back comfortably are over. This is a marginal seat now and everyone knows marginal seats will usually be looked after. I’m very happy with that and think the people of Macedon can look forward to more attention from their local member’. Mr Weston said the Liberal Party’s policies for Macedon had been formulated after consultation with the community. He said if a Liberal government came to power, it would honour its promises irrespective of who the local member was.  ‘Both Joanne Duncan and the [former] government have been sent a message. If they want to claim a [local] victory out of this, it’s a victory in name only because she’s being given a crystal-clear message that the community are not happy with how she or her government were doing things. I think she’s being told in no uncertain terms to lift her game. If she stays local member she’s on notice.  I think I’m done an enormous job for the community by making it a marginal seat’”.

I couldn’t agree more, and as I commented on here a few days ago, the current member, who looks like continuing in that role,  has had it far too easy for the past decade, and before this election, has barely had to do much to keep her seat!  This time, the Liberals made a determined effort with a good candidate, and while they may have fallen short, have made everyone realise that this electorate could change hands very quickly next time. around

Certainly, that is the way the day started after a night of very poor sleep, this writer didn’t really want to go anywhere this morning. When we eventually did get on the road, we immediately made the wrong choice as to which route to travel [I have two options of a morning], and as a consequence, a stretch of highway just out of Sunbury that is normally traversed in 3 minutes, took over 25 minutes this morning. Had it been because of an accident, I would have been much  less annoyed than I was to discover that this monstrous delay at peak hour on a 110 kph stretch of road was due to road works been set up early!!!  A little bit of forsight on someone’s part could have avoided all that hazzle – but then sometimes, I think these ‘road people’  do things like that for a bit of a laugh!!  Well supervisor on the Calder Highway this morning, it wasn’t funny!

Meanwhile with respect to the outcome of the weekend’s State Election, it would not be until late this afternoon before the existing Labor Premier, John Brumby finally accepted the inevitable, and conceded defeat for the outgoing government, when he realised that his Party was not going to be able to win enough seats to retain the government. So it seems that as of tonight, Victoria has a new Government – the Coalition of the Liberal Party and the Nationals, and  new Premier of Victoria will be Ted Bailleau. Obviously I’m quite happy about that because ‘my team’ has won for a change!!!  Not so certain, is our own electorate here, the Macedon seat – apparently the vote counting is continuing and is still very close, although most pundits seem to be giving it to Labor’s Joanne Duncan, again!  That will be a pity, as I would have liked to see this electorate fall in line with the new Government, and have it’s first Liberal representative for a decade.  We will have to wait on that one.

The news in the cricket was not so good – for Australia –  while we didn’t lose, we didn’t win either, with the match ending in a draw after another mammoth batting display by the two English batsmen who finished yesterday’s play not out. That’s where they stayed until the game ended this afternoon  –  not out, and broke various records along the way, the most impressive of which was the  biggest partnership scored in Australia by England in the history of the game.  This report from sportinglife.com

“England will head for Adelaide tomorrow still convinced they can win the Ashes after Alastair Cook led their second-innings escape from the Gabba.  Cook was the cornerstone in record stands of 188 with his captain and fellow opener Andrew Strauss and then an all-comers’ best against Australia down under of 329 with Jonathan Trott for the second wicket.  He finished unbeaten on 235 – his first double-hundred in first-class or Test cricket – alongside Trott (135no), as England declared on an astonishing 517 for one.  After Strauss’ 110, this was the first instance since 1924 of England’s top three batsmen each making centuries.  The circumstances of the feat made it all the more notable, after England had begun their second innings needing 221 runs simply to make their hosts bat again in the first Ashes Test.  Few made much of their prospects of rescuing a stalemate at that point, even on an ever-improving pitch”.  The English scorecard showed  Strauss 110; Cook 235 not out; and Trott 135 not out, leaving the team at the end of their innings, when they declared, on 1 wicket for 517 runs!!  That record partnership between Cook and Trott –  329 runs!!    The final team scores were England: 260 and 1/517 declared.  Australia: 481 and 1 for 107 at the end of the match.

On the world front, I’m a little concerned that  the United States  is going to go ahead with it’s planned joint US-South Korean military exercises [war games if you like] in the Yellow Sea, despite China’s concern that the exercises may provoke Pyongyang [North Korea] into further aggressive action against the South.  At the same time  the South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak has vowed to make North Korea “pay the price” for its “inhumane” artillery attack last week  on a frontline South Korean  island that killed four people and sparked global outrage.  Lee had come under pressure to take a tougher line against Pyongyang after his military’s counter-fire following North Korea’s deadly artillery strike on a border island last week was seen as feeble.  I suppose he has to respond in such a manner, but it strikes me as being a further inflammatory reason for the North Koreans to get ‘trigger happy’!  It’s a very precarious situation up there on that peninsula, and I worry that somehow Australia will get dragged [again] into any longterm conflict that might arise, and all of the ramifications that could arise from that.

I mentioned at the beginning of this contribution, that the day had been preceded by a poor night’s sleep!  I have these moments when I begin to worry and think about all the various little tasks I’m trying to get completed on the home front, and realise that the middle of the night is not the time of day to dwell on such matters!  Unfortunately, my mind is apparently not always disciplined enough to obey the obvious, and occasionally decides to go to work at the most inconvenient times!!!  Bahh!!!!

I guess not really lazy, as I did spend almost 5 hours at the radio station, in the early morning and late afternoon with two very different music programs, but admittedly, inbetween those two shows I was not terribly energetic or  active. I did make a couple of comments through Facebook about yesterday’s election, in response to a friend’s query. Asked how I was going to celebrate the ‘possible’ change of government, my response was as follows:-            “You know, I’m really not sure that we have much to celebrate, yet, if at all, I mean to the average Victorian, does it really make that much difference which of the two major parties is in power? So long as we keep those other ‘extreme’ and…(tharr be more) narrow minded groups from exerting more influence than they deserve. It’s probably good for Australia in broad terms that our system means that after two or three [sometimes more] terms in office, a Party gets on the ‘public’s nose’ a bit and we have a change of government – we think that there is a large group of Labor/Liberal fanatics who will never change their views, but election results prove that a fair percentage of the population do change their minds and attitudes every couple of elections – the ‘swinging’ voters are good for a democratic society because they have that opportunity. A lot of commentators are talking about the importance of ‘the time for a change’ philosophy, and while it can be a weak ‘excuse’ for a poor performance [and in my view was over-used by the Labor rep on the ABC panel last night], I think there’s something in it. It seems to have influenced the thinking in our electorate where the Labor members at both Federal and State level have had an ‘easy ride’ for a decade – I mean in the Fed election in August, there was barely a sqeak from the Liberal candidate and the Party in this area – Maria Van deserved to win that one in a canter because no-one bothered to make much effort to oppose her. At least this time, Triston Weston had a go, and I personlly hope it pays off for him whatever the final result at the State level”.  Received various brief comments but no serious response to that contribution!  Of course, it may be a few days before we know the outcome of the election – it seems the odds are just favoring the Coalition, but on the local front, while the Liberal man is just in front of the sitting member, Joanne Duncan, it apparently is assumed that she will eventually win after the distribution of preferences.  A pity!

Meanwhile, Day 4 of the cricket test – it was certainly England’s day this time. They batted all day, initially chasing 220 runs to force Australia to bat again, and by Stumps on Day 4, the English score had moved to 1 wicket down for 309 runs!!!  Andrew Strauss [captain] 110; Alaistair Cook, not out 132; and Jonathon Trott not out 54. So England lead by 88 runs, and it looks as though, with one day to go, the match is headed for a draw, unless there is a dramatic batting collapse by the English players tomorrow. Doubtful!!

The rain had stopped this morning, and all seemed calm outside, however by late morning, it was raining again, steady drizzle, enough to sadly prevent my son’s cricket team from getting some much needed play this afternoon – they have not had too much because of all the wet Saturdays we have had, so far this season.

Did my citizenship duties this morning  –  an early visit to the local polling booth to vote in today’s State election for the Electorate of Macedon, and even at that point, there was a brief queue to get to the electoral table.  Today, voting for both the Upper and Lower Houses of State Parliament. There are 3.5 million Victorians eligible to vote today,  and voting takes place on just the one day between 8am and 6pm, although there have been pre-polling and postal voting facilities available for people not in the electorate or unable to vote today. We have had 11 years of Labor Government in Victoria  – I decided that was enough, and voted Liberal this morning!! Probably not a surprise to most who know me!  There are 88 electorates in all, and counting of votes will commence as soon as the polls close at 6pm.  I hope to have some progressive comments as the day proceeds.

Meanwhile, purchased my first Christmas gift this year, for my eldest girl  – rather an early start for me. In fact it was a morning spending money – something I’m never keen to do very often – with visits to the supermarket and the local garden supplier, needed a few little new plants to freshen up and add some colour to my front garden.  It was perhaps a bad  omen, but I sent a message to Adam – hoping he gets some cricket played today, and he was rather confident it would happen!  Not long afterwards, it started to rain again!!  Misguided optimism!

Well, with the weather deteriorating outside, what else can a guy do, but adjourn to the television set, and watch Day 3 of the Ashes Test Match?  We left Australia last night on a score of  5 wickets for 220 runs. By lunchtime today, that score had moved to 5 wickets for 329 runs, with the partnership between Brad Haddon [our wicketkeeper] and Michael Hussey sitting at 184 runs [Hussey 124 not out, Haddon 79 not out]. The pair’s 186-run partnership is one run shy of the Ashes Gabba record for Australia for the sixth wicket, held by Steve Waugh and Ian Healy since 1998-99. England failed to take a wicket in two-and-a-half hour first session but bowled without luck.   By the Tea  break, yes, they were still there –  5 for 436, Hussey on 176 and Haddin on 134. Haddin didn’t last long after Tea –  out for 136, and the Australian score then 6 for 450 after a partnership between the two H’s of 307, a lead over the English score of 190 runsm still more to come, hopefully!  However, Michael Hussey went out a few minutes later  –  for 195 runs!!!  Bad luck!

Back to politics!  The polling booths closed at 6pm, and as tonight’s ‘election coverage’ commences on the ABC,  the first reported exit polls, and final polls from this morning were indicating the election would go towards the Coalition [Opposition] –  Labor people pessimistic, Liberals optimistic, but not confident. The voting turnout – affected in many areas by more heavy rainfall at different times throughout the day. With a high % of pre-polling and postal votes occurring [perhaps up to 900,000], this is likely to slow down the final result if things are close at the end of tonight. Pre polling votes won’t be counted until Monday!

By 8pm, a clear swing away from Labor, but is it enough? Swing seems to be all over the state rather than in a few predicted areas. The only Independent member of the former Lower House loses his seat to the National Party [the other half of the Liberal/National Coalition], and the results overall being given to us on the tally room floor are suggesting a likely change of government.  Though surely, it is too early to claim that as yet?

By 9.30pm,  the election coverage is suggesting quite strongly to us that there will be a change of Government, from Labor to the Coalition, although many seats are admittedly still too close to call.  Surprisingly, even  in our local electorate of Macedon – well, Joanne Duncan is in real danger of losing the seat she has held since 2002, though again, the outcome there will depend very much on postal and pre-poll votes. Overall, at present, a 5.4% swing to the Coalition.

[As an interlude, at Stumps on Day 3 of the Test Cricket match, Australia lead by 202 runs, with the match scores so far being:  England: 260 and  0 for 19. Australia: 481.  Two more days of play.]

I wonder if anyone [apart from the writer] is reading my little contributions from day to day? Just say hi, if you happen to be passing – say what you think, lol!!!   I hopefully react to criticism, by trying to improve, so no need to feel you have to please my ego!!

I’m just an ordinary guy who loves to write!!  And read – what you have to say!

I was hoping to get back to Sunbury this evening before the storm hit  – there had been warning signs along the freeways re ‘severe thunderstorms, flash floodimg imminent!  Well, I almost made it, just reached the outskirts of town when ‘all broke loose’, as they say. In a matter of five minutes many of the lower lying intersections and other parts of the roads around Sunbury were awash with fast rising water. Sunbury has many hills around and within the town, and most of them lead to lowpoints – when we get the kind of 20 minute downpour like what hit me as I reached the town, the water rushes to those lower points. Added to that, it suddenly became quite dark, and I was finding it extremely difficult to see clearly through the windscreen. However at least I was in the town, not out on one of the surrounding country roads or highways [just hoped Jodie wasn’t out in this – I knew the boys were both watching the cricket from brisbane on TVs somewhere, and Susan was at work, was just worried about the whereabouts of my youngest].

A couple of times, I wondered if I should pull over and stop but decided that as the rain wasn’t slowing down, and I really didn’t have far to go [having already decided to forego the planned shopping visit and head straight for home], it would be better to continue – traffic was heavy and relatively slow because of the waterlogged intersections I was going through – so we kept going. Looking at a report later on, it sounded as though we were in the middle of the worst of it – ‘thunderstorms and flash flooding have hit the northern suburbs of Melbourne [with] South Morang [to the north east of here] and Sunbury alresady experiencing the brunt of the bad weather’. So I wasn’t imagining it!!!

• This isn’t Sunbury, so obviously other parts including the citry were hit pretty hard by the rain, hailstones, thunder and lightning, as the following report indicates

“UPDATE 7.38pm: WILD storms ripping through Victoria have prompted hundreds of calls to state emergency services.   Winds of more than 100km/h have wreaked havoc across the state, and the trip home is already turning into a nightmare in Melbourne, with major train and traffic delays across the city.Wild storms left a trail of damage in Victoria’s west before hitting Melbourne a short time ago.  By 7.30pm, the State Emergency Service had received 1160 phone calls for help as the worst of the storm front passed the central region.Heavy rain was being dumped from Geelong to Werribee just before 5pm as the fast-moving storm front hit the city”.    That front reached us here in Sunbury at around 5.30pm.  Three hours later, all is relatively calm outside, still raining, and strong gale force winds are expected through during the night

Meanwhile, up north in Brisbane, the Ashes Cricket almost got through a full day’s play until cut the day short late in the afternoon.  At Stumps on Day 2 of the First Cricket Test between England and Australia, the Aussie team, in response to England’s score yesterday of 260, had taken their own score to  5 wickets for 220 runs, still 40 behind the English.  Unbeaten, on a score of 81 not out is Michael Hussey who has restored the Australian score after a middle order batting collapse. Hussey himself considers the game is evenly poised after two days, which is probably a fair statement.

Meanwhile in the world of politics, the Victorian State election is to held tomorrow. This morning, I called in briefly on to the way to work, at the radio station to give my Friday morning sports report, and the on air host mention that he hoped to have the two leading contenders in our electorate on air, about an hour later for a bit of a debate about the main issues. I realised that I would be out of the car and in the office by then [where I can’t pick the reception from Sunbury], but somehow managed to get back out to the car as ‘Ron’ was interviewing the sitting Government Labor Member, Joanne Duncan – she was actually on the phone [Ron had been expecting his guests to come into the studio I think] but at least she put in an appearance at the time requested. Her Liberal opponent didn’t turn up  – well, not on time anyway, I think he came in just about the time the interview with Joanne finished. I heard him speak briefly but couldn’t keep listening. In between those two interviews, I couldn’t resist a brief note on Facebook, which was quickly followed by a second one  – neither of which, strangely enough created any response, which was a little surprising. Perhaps it was just as well!!……………..I said: -“Congratulations to 3NRG’s Ron Bourke for ‘attempting’ to get the leading Macedon candidates for tomorrow’s State election to debate on air this morning, the issues  –  thanks to Joanne Duncan for at least finding the time to accept Ron’e request. Where were you, Tristan, missed a great opportunity for some last minute self/Libs promotion?”……………………….a few moments later I had to retract that ‘accusation’ with……………”Ahhh, I was too quick, he came in late, can’t pick ‘my’ station up in the office, my apologies – good effort anyway Ron, great presenter for interviews!!”

As for the election, the general view seems to be that the outcome could be very close, though hopefully at the kind of deadlock that took place at the August Federal election! Well, we have had all of the promises and commitments from all sides as to what ‘their’ Party is going to do for the rest of us – though of course, ‘politician’s promises’ need to often be taken with a grain of salt!  My personal prediction is that the Labor Government, which has been in power in Victoria since 1999, will be re-elected again, even though 12 months ago, that seemed an unlikely proposition. The Liberal/Nationals Coalition opposition seemed to be in the box seat, but their leader, Ted Bailleau, has not I consider, inspired Victorians enough to consider him an appropriate Premier of this state.  I think he is a nice enough guy, but not sure if nice guys necessarily make a strong and decisive leader.  There feels like something is ‘lacking’ in that respect, but then, I’m just looking at it from the perspective of an outsider, and maybe that is the kind of character Victorians are looking for – but will that be enough to get voters to put him in front the current Premier, Labor’s John Brumby, who in the past few weeks has presented himself in ways we have not seen him before – as a family man, trying to identify with the general populace.  We should know one way or the other within 24 hours!

Yesterday’s drive to Bendigo was quite enjoyable [and would have been even better had there not been a meeting to attend to, the purpose of the trip.  I think it  was just a ‘day out of the office’ granted to me by the boss as I had no major role up there other than picking up and delivering a group of tenants members from the  train, and handling a bit of  ‘paper work’ during the course of the day.

Bendigo itself is located about 153 kilometres north  west of Melbourne [therefore 113 from Sunbury], and is the 4^th largest city in Victoria [behind Melbourne, Geelong and Ballarat]. It’s a beautiful city, quite old in places, being a significant gold boomtown of the Victorian era. The discovery of gold in 14851, created [as it did for the Ballarat area] an influx of migrants from around the world, seeking to make a quick fortune. Bendigo is notable for its Victorian architectural heritage and gold mining history. Since 1851 over 22 million ounces of gold have been extracted from its goldmines, making it the highest producing 19th Century goldfield in Australia in the nineteenth century and the largest gold mining economy in Eastern Australia. It is the largest finance centre in Victoria outside of Melbourne as home to Australia’s only provincially headquartered retail bank, the Bendigo Bank,  Impressive Victorian buildings line the wide streets of Bendigo, as a reminder of the rich history built from one of the world’s most exciting gold rushes. One of my favourite buildings in the town is the Bendigo Art Gallery, although I’ve not had the opportunity to visit it for many years, and unfortunately, didn’t have the time to do so yesterday.  Certainly it is not a ‘country town’ with the traffic around the main city area, quite heavy yesterday, and the city itself, a very business metropolis.

Anyway, we were well looked  after at the motel conference centre, where the organisational meeting was conducted, and also well catered for the ‘lunch’ part of the proceedings. Very nice food, although by the end of the day, I’m not sure that it did me a lot of good!! Ended up rather tired and lethargic by the evening, although we did manage a walk in the warmth of the late afternoon, perhaps that bit of exercise was ll-advised on this occasion.  That ‘tiredness’  actually continued into today  –  a Thursday that seem to literally ‘drag on and on’ as if someone had stopped the clock!!!

Meanwhile overnight, the weather changed, again,  and it rained throughout the night, and into much of today, which while bringing a bit of welcome relief to the few brief hot days we had just had, the change was not so noticeable indoors. But I must  say that the affect of the rain on the gardens is a beautiful sight to see – when I returned home yesterday afternoon, the gardens at the front of the house looked quite dry and depressing even though it had not been many days since the last rainfall  –  but this morning, and again this evening, the freshness and new colour to the shrubs and flowers was a delight to see.

Now up in Brisbane today, the long awaiting ‘Ashes Test Series’ commenced – the first of five cricket tests between Australia and England. Certainly, the English supporters were pretty confident of a good win in this series, if the comments of one of my online friends in the UK was anything to go by. However, things didn’t start out too well for the English, when their captain decided to have a bat. He himself lasted just three balls before he was heading back into the dressing rooms – not the kind of start that England had hoped for, and assumed. Anyway, while there were, during the course of the day, one or two good batting partnerships by the English batsmen, overall, Day 1 of the Test had to be Australia’s day! And one man in particular  –    Australia’s Peter Siddle took a sensational hat-trick on his 26th birthday, and his return to test cricket after suffering some injuries and a form lapse,  as Australia dominated day one of the first Ashes Test.  At the time he took that hat-trick  [3 wickets in 3 successive balls, a rare occurrence at any level of cricket by a bowler], I was in the car, on my way home, waiting at a railway crossing actually! My phone buzzed, just seconds after the third wicket had been taken  –   I knew it would be Adam [son number 2]  –  with his brief to the point message ‘Hat trick to Siddel’.  I can always rely on Adam , if something significant happens in cricket, or in sport generally!!………………………..Peter Siddle finished with 6-54 as England were dismissed for 260, the Victorian claiming his first five-fer of the year. It was a cherished moment for the 26 year-old on his birthday, considering he last played Test cricket 10 months ago against Pakistan following a stress fracture of the back  Anyway, it was Australia’s day, with England all out not long before stumps for Day 1.

Scores: Day 1 of First vTest Australia vs England: England all out 1^st Innings:  260 [highest scores were Ian Bell with 76 and Alastair Cook 67]. Apart from Siddle, Xavier Doherty in his first Test match picked up 2 wickets.  At Stumps on Day 1, Australia in response were o wicket for 25 runs.

It’s a beautiful morning in this part of the world – we have had a couple of quite warm days and nights now, and the same is promised today, following a rather strong gusty north wind blowing around the house overnight.

A good day for a drive in the country, well shall we say further north into the ‘country’ than I already am, for despite it’s proximity to Melbourne, I consider Sunbury to be still an element of country living, city style! That’s the ‘promo’ that attracted us here in the first place, out of the suburbs to a semi rural environment, and while development has been substantial in the past 27 years, it remains to my mind a very pleasant environment  to reside in. But we are heading further north today  – to Bendigo, about an hour or so up the divided highway from Sunbury, where our organisation has planned a general meeting of members. I’ve been given the okay to drive straight from here in preference to driving south into the city and then returning for a late morning meeting. So it’s a slow and relaxed start to my Wednesday, and a chance to catch up on the local regional newspapers.

It was there that I noticed a story involving the Principal of one of the local secondary colleges, Sunbury Downs, the school that my youngest daughter attended for six years, during which time I was a member of the School Council, and Council President for the last two years of Jodie’s attendance. In fact, I’m rather satisfied to say, that in that latter role, I was part of the selection panel that appointed the current principal – in fact come to think of it, that was the third time I had been a part of the Principal selection process in a school, choosing this man’s predecessor some years earlier, while back in the Primary School days, as School Council President on that occasion also, we had a changeover of principals – appointed a woman on that occasion, and I believe she is still there, many years down the track.

Back to Sunbury Downs, which school has received an award –  it was apparently the only school so recognised amongst 17 Victorian employers for it’s support of the Australian Defence Force [ADF] and it’s reservist employees. Reporting from the local ‘Your Community Voice’ this week –  ‘While management have to allow their military employees to leave when necessary, Mr Moore [the School Principal] has offered ongoing support to the school’s chaplain, Marcus Allcot, who is also a chaplain to the ADF. “I believe any staff member at the school is going to be more highly performing if they’re got a rewarding and morefulfilling personal life,” Mr Moore said. “Kids gravitate to Marcus because he’s of interest to them. Kids want role models, someone to see and look up to, so to have a role model with this stature in the school with this level of interest and uptake in the defence force, that’s positive”.’  Principal, Brett Moore, received, on behalf of the School the ‘Defence Reserves Supportive Employer’ award.

Quite sad to hear the news during my drive back to Sunbury this afternoon, that as a consequence of second explosion a few hours ago in the New Zealand mine, all hope of any of the 29 trapped miners surviving last week’s explosion, had now gone, and relatives had been advised that their loved ones were dead.  So after a few days of vague hopes of a miracle, that optimism was suddenly dashed, and instead replaced by the grief of tragic loss. I imagine there will be a lot of repercussions come out of this with angry responses already from relatives that a window of opportunity was losta few days ago to make a rescue effort.  But the rescue team has always insisted that an attempt was too dangerous because of the potential for further explosions, and I think that rightfully they will stick to that proposition. The fact that it was five days before that potential explosion occurred – naturally to all concerned, that seems like a ‘missed opportunity’, but it will never really be known whether a second explosion might have occured earlier, were a rescue attempt made.  Tragic, but bad luck all round!  Certainly however, though expected as I suggested yesterday, a very sad ending to that disaster. Despite that, the safety record in the mining industry in both Australia and New Zealand is fairly good, especially when compared to the numerous ongoing mine disasters in places like China which costs hindreds of lives each year!

This writer has been a little busy over the past few days – my head mixed up in Genealogical matters  – searching through online versions of old newspapers seeking little bits of family ancestral news.  A bit of a ‘new light’ has been thrown upon some of the original settlers here in Australia,  facts that I’d not been previously aware of, and my searching, while answering a few questions also opens up a whole lot of new questions!  I currently in regular contact with at least two distant cousins, who for a change, are just as interested in the family background as I am myself. Usually it’s a bit of a solo effort  – most people you come across in your researching are interested but generally not enough to be too bothered – too many other things in life to occupy oneself with!   Of course, in many ways, I can appreciate that attitude – my own research came to a major standstill for the best part of two decades whilst the family were growing, and employment roles took a bit more of a priority than they do these days.

Of particular interest has been reading some of the memoirs of the early families. Many of them were part of the coach building industry  [before cars began to take over at the beginning of the 20^th century].  The daughter of one of our coach building ancestors described a couple of aspects of the business she enjoyed been a part of as a young child – an example with the following brief paragraphs.

“One great pleasure was watching the buggies being painted and Dad drawing fine lines along the spokes of the wheels, and transfers with gold size on backs of buggies.  Emily used to get one shilling for putting the first coat of paint on a wheel.  She loved stirring the little kegs of white lead with a stick, and the varnish and paints, and also putting the marker into the rim of a tyre and wheel so they would bolt up properly after cooling.

Doing the tyres was really worth a watch.  In cold weather they were heated at two forges, and to grow tall enough to make the bellows blow was a real treat, as Emily was small and at first was lifted up to reach the handle.  In the summer they were done outside as there was a round solid slab of iron beside a (tyre hole) as it was called.  The tyres were put on an outside round fire and heated and then quickly lifted to just touch the wood of the wheel which had already been laid on the round iron and by quickly slipping in the marker where Dad had marked both tyre and wheel, the rim was then belted on with a sledge hammer and then quickly cooled down with buckets of water thrown all over the rim as it would start to burn the wood”

Meanwhile, it’s back to 2010.  It is disturbing to hear that little progress in terms of a rescue of the trapped miners in the New Zealand coal mine has been achieved. I think friends and relatives have been hoping that there would be another ‘Chile style’ miracle rescue as occurred in October, but as the days go past, it is becoming more and more obvious that these men have been lost. It also seems that the town of Greymouth is struggling to come to terms with the tragedy that is slowly unfolding on a mountainside 28 miles away. This report on the affect of the disaster on the town, appeared in the Telegraph  newspaper a few hours ago, and was written by journalist Bonnie Malkin

“Scattered through the town are 29 families awaiting news of their loved ones, including two Britons, who have been missing since a powerful explosion ripped through the Pike River mine on Friday afternoon.  In the latest reports coming out of the area, rescuers admit hopes are fading for the 29 men, after a remote-operated robot broke down shortly after being sent into the tunnel. The robot was equipped with a camera which would have provided the first pictures inside the Pike River mine. But in a blow to rescue hopes, Grey District mayor Tony Kokshoorn said the robot had short-circuited shortly after entering the mine.  Certainly, the disaster has hit the mining town hard.  In Greymouth’s close-knit community of 10,000 people, almost everyone knows someone who is missing.

While the close relatives of the men gather twice a day for updates from the police, their expressions worsening as the rescue is further delayed, the rest of the community is also grieving.  While many churches have been left open so that residents can light a candle and say a prayer for the miners, a sign on the window of the ANZ Bank simply reads: “Our thoughts are with you all”.  At the nearby Salvation Army building a drop-in centre for residents has been set up. Air New Zealand has sent in support teams and the Red Cross is operating as an information centre for the relatives of the miners.  But spirits in the town remain low. Streets are mostly deserted, and the mine rescue is the topic of conversation in every shop, café and motel.  Captain Charles Prattley, local Salvation Army officer, said the entire community was “depressed”.   “There doesn’t seem to be so many people out on the streets going on with their lives, everything has quietened down and seems very subdued,” he said.  “People are not doing their shopping or doing ordinary things, everything seems to be on hold.”  Robin Kingston, assistant priest at the Holy Trinity Anglican church in Greymouth, acknowledged that the wider community was losing hope as the days ticked by without news of any rescue attempt.   “The feeling around the place is that things are not looking at all good and the chances of getting the men out alive are becoming less and less,” he said.  “People are becoming quite pessimistic. “They don’t want to give up hope entirely, but they are accepting that short of a miracle this is not going to be a good outcome.”

The windswept coastal town, wedged between the mouth of the Grey River and the shadow of the Southern Alps, was founded on coal mining. The first European to visit the area was Thomas Brunner in 1846, who discovered coal in the Grey valley, and several other places in the region.   It is not the first time that the area has been hit by a mining tragedy. In 1967 an explosion rocked the Strongman mine, just 18 miles from Pike River, killing 19 of the 250 men who were working underground at the time”.

A further matter of quite serious concern in the Asian region is the report I have read this evening that North Korea fired dozens of artillery shells onto the South Korean  border island of Yeonpyeong, triggering an exchange of fire as southern armed forces went on their highest state of alert.  In what appeared to be one of the most serious border incidents since the 1950-53 war, South Korea’s government convened in an underground war room and air force jets were reportedly scrambled to the Yellow Sea island. Two South Korean marines were killed when North Korea shelled the border island, according to the military..  In an MSN report it was noted that   ‘about 50 North Korean shells landed on the South Korean border island of Yeonpyeong near the tense Yellow Sea border, damaging dozens of houses and sending plumes of thick smoke into the air, YTN television reported. “A North Korean artillery unit staged an illegal firing provocation at 2.34pm local time (1634 AEDT) and South Korean troops fired back immediately in self-defence,” a South Korean ministry spokesman told AFP’. It’s not clear what has prompted this sudden ‘attack’ by the North, but it must be viewed with some considerable concern by South Korea, and really, by most of the western world.  Instability between the two Koreas could have serious consequences for all of us!

A beautiful Spring day this Saturday, just what the local Uniting Church ordered for it’s annual ‘Car boot and craft stalls’ sale day. Not been so involved with the church ctivities these days, I had no role to play, but I did call in briefly this morning – to greet a few people, and browse the bookstall [always one of my favourite occupations].  I’d actually forgotten about the sales – despite advertising it on the radio station over recent weeks –  was reminded following an early morning visit to the town centre, for a routine blood test, a visit to the chemist, fruiterer, and other spots. The hive of activity around the Village Green and the Uniting Church [located on the ‘Green’] jogged my memory, and I was pleased that they had achieved such a glorious sunny morning. Two years ago, this function was washed out to a large extent, when one Saturday in the middle of the drought, produced a few hours of heavy rainfall – it was probably the only day in weeks, that it had rained that year!!

Over the past 24 hours or so, I have been doing some research on my family history – or more to the point, writing up a section of the ‘book’ that I have been working on for many years now, albeit slowly!  The new information I received on Thursday night has inspired the spending of a bit of extra time on this ‘interest’. I have so much material that has been collected from various sources over the years, but I never seem to have allocated the time [or been able to] to consolidate a lot of the material.  That is what I have been working towards over the past two or three months, and while a little tedious at times, it is also a fascinating ‘occupation’, always something new is being learnt or found, but as is common in most aspects of genealogy, one problem solved, or query answered, is another mystery created.  Family history is a never ending task!

We are receiving disturbing news from New Zealand of a mine explosion overnight,  with between 20-30 miners and contractors trapped underground after a massive explosion in the mine.  Initially yesterday, attempts to rescue the 29 miners trapped bythe explosion were delayed because of fears of another blast caused by a gas build up, although I ubderstand that rescue attempts are now been undertaken.  There has been no communication with the missing men since an explosion in the Pike River mine on Friday, but the owners continued to holdout hope the missing men were still alive