End of an Era

Sold a business today. Its been a year in the doing but only in the last two weeks has it really started happening. Of course "She who must be Obeyed " being the principal figure in all this had to work her butt off from Lord Howe Island.  Such is the technology that a small laptop and an internet connection made it all possible. They have no mobile phone coverage on LHI so Skype was used heavily.  At least when you need a break you can go and have a snorkel with the turtles. When a buyer is ready and wants to buy now then there is no alternative even if you have booked a trip away six months previously.  Its just another step on the road to retirement although SWMBO has got plenty more for me to do.

Just a Ride to the Office on LHI

Phasmid Central

In Dick Smith's early days he arrived at Ball's Pyramid with a scout troupe to climb the rock.  It is the 50th year since the climb and he is going back for a photo to commemorate the feat in 1964. There were numerous photos taken back in 1964 but one in particular showed a dead creepy crawly bug that was being eaten by ants.  This photo lay dormant for over 30 yar until someone in the know who could recognize the bug as a phasmid was flicking through the photos in 1998.
Entomologists were getting excited. It took some years to get through the red tape but eventually a crew was allowed back on the rock and settled down for the night. Sure enough phasmids were alive and well and out of the reach of rats that never made it over to the rock.  Four were taken and sent to Melbourne zoo where the re-education began and the harvesting of eggs.  Phasmids are back on Lord Howe island now but hidden away in boxes and chicken coops.

Phasmid

Lord Howe

Spent the last 10 days on Lord Howe Island.  Henry Lidgbird Ball was sailing past in 1788 taking some of the first fleeters out to Norfolk Island when he spotted this one. I guess naming it after the navy's top boss at the time was a good move as he end up becoming an admiral himself much later. I didn't take out any travel insurance. It's only 1000km off the coast writes he who had to change the return dates twice and pay extra accommodation.  It seems stormy weather combined with a mountainous island, a narrow airstrip and a smaller plane don't mix. Resulting in 30% of all journeys to and from the Island being disrupted in some way.  I'll remember that next time.  There is much to do here and we did not cover the list properly so a return trip with insurance will be required.

Mt Lidgbird left Mt Gower right

Do the Sutures suit you?

Richie Benaud has had his dramas over the years but the latest is skin cancers. He is 25 yar older than me but the result could be the same. I am getting bits removed now even though I have been wearing a hat for the last 20 yar. "She who must be obeyed" has been spotted by the sun as well.  I just get the scars but she is getting the plastic surgeon.  They don't really use plastic  do they.

Do the Sutures Suit You?

 

There is a yellow yoke

that gives the skin its glitches

It doesn't seem a joke

but I am still the one in stitches

 

Dr Phil has spied a dark patch

so he's used his nasty knife

and now I have a crosshatch

but I guess its saved my life

 

As I'm standing in my skin

I can see the scars that grin

they seem to have a style

when I move I make them smile

 

So the heat is good for beaching

but there is something I am teaching

when your laying out in situ

just hope the sutures suit you

 

 

 

Crosshatch

 

 

 

 





Plastic Surgeon required

Murrindindi Revisted

Turned out to be a hot 34 degree day for the stroll (climb) up to Wilhemina Falls.  Even though I had been in this area before I had not seen these falls. They are more of a gusher across the slabs than a direct fall but still well worth the walk.  The approach is a tad sanitised with a number of steel staircases and chain link aids.  The old saw mill sites have been converted into camp grounds (user payment system at the reserve entrance) complete with shaded picnic tables and revolving hotplates over the firepits. This generation of walkers are spoiled.

38 yar ago we made a bed out of fern fronds and had an hours kip at 1:00 am before moving on to find more control points and ultimately the hash house (Now Fern camp).

Fern camp



Couldn't resist a paddle at the cascades seeing it was a hot day.  Yet another old sawmill site that makes for a good picnic area.

Murrindindi Scenic Reserve

I am off for a walk tomorrow as part of the retiree's ramble to the Taggerty area. I paid a visit to the archives and found that in 1984 Mt Despair was the site for the Victorian Rogaining Championships.  I dug back a bit further and found the first ever MUMC 24 hr walk I went on. It was 1976 and just to make sure you were alert Mt Despair was check point number 1. These events required walking in order so straight away we went up the side of the hill in gungho fashion.  On arriving at each checkpoint and I quote "you will find a jar containing, a raffle book, a pencil and a razor blade".  Those were the days  if you couldn't pay for your raffle ticket then they slit your throat. HaHa.

 The Website Murrindindi Scenic Reserve map is 1:50000 the same scale as the Taggerty  sheet we were given 38 yar ago.  I have overlaid both to match them up and the start point back then is now called Ferns Camp.  This was Hash House B. We spent the next 15 hours or so roaming around to eventually arrive at Hash House A, an old sawmill. I have plotted some of these points on the locality map. I wonder if I can still find them.





Murrindindi Map

A Reading Milestone

About 8 months back I mentioned the Wheel of Time fantasy series by Robert Jordan. I was about half way through at that stage but today I finished the final book, Vol 14 A Memory of Light. Perhaps it would have been better titled a Memory of Start because I cannot remember exactly when I started reading this yarn. It is certainly the longest tale I have read and took me at least a year to get through it. This may be the longest ever written at over 10,000 pages. What is the longest story ever written?

Guinness Book Of records says Marcel Proust with his 13 Volumes of  "Remembrance of Things Past" is the longest.  However this does not even crack 10 million characters. The approximate total for Wheel of Time is 20 million characters or 4,056,130 words. For comparison Harry Potter comes to 1,081,170 words for 7 volumes.  Well at least there are other books I can read.