Top End Tales

Last post on this blog?

2009-07-15T14:16:00.003+09:30

I have now left Darwin for good it seems..

To follow my blog head to my new blog: southernvalestales.blogspot.com from South Australia and Meadows
Click here for the most recent as of July 15th

Mindil Beach market on a balmy sunday evening

2009-06-21T21:50:00.004+09:30

Even though it was a V8 motor racing weekend,it was suprisingly quiet at Mindil Beach market, but I did not mind as it was easy to park and walk around.
I got a bite to eat and had a chat and came away early as I am packing to leave town next weekend
This UK busker had a large crowd with a very funny patter entertaining.

Great sunset as usual

World Refugee Day, Malak, Darwin

2009-06-21T09:09:00.010+09:30

To raise the awareness of refugee-related issues, World Refugee Day events are held worldwide on 20 June each year.Darwin's World Refugee Day event was held at
Holzerland Park, Malak. Jeanette called in the afternoon to see if I was interested in going. I joined her in going although she was quickly asked to help with face painting the big queue of children.

It was a really great afternoon and evening with great dancing, food and colour and some sobering refugee films. It was organised by the local Melaleuca Refugee Centre and other organisations such as the Multicultural Council of the Northern Territory

There was a Citizenship ceremony as well,Jeanette chatted to this gentleman,

.

A slight detour

2009-06-12T11:33:00.002+09:30

Having left the Northern Territory for a few weeks I am heading back to packup and leave Darwin and am heading to.....?
Meanwhile recent blogging is at southernvalestales.blogspot.com/ which I created for my time in Adelaide.

Breakfast meeting at the Adelaide Zoo for ALIA Specials SA

2009-05-28T20:46:00.008+09:30

At the invitation of Philip Keane, I joined the ALIA Special SA Group for a breakfast meeting at the new library at the Zoo,

It was good to chat to librarians and new and old Zoo Directors ( Chris West with Ed McCallister)

Lots of excitement building at the Zoo as they prepare for the Pandas to arrive

I then took the oppotunity to take a walk around the Zoo with a volunteer guide after the meeting

SA History week talks for Law Librarians

2009-05-28T20:34:00.007+09:30

I accompanied Barbara to her talk to the Australian Law Librarians Group.
Barbara gave an excellent presentation on the history of law librarianship in South Australia.

She was proceeded by a fascinating talk by Master Lunn on the life of Justice Jeffcott in the colonial era.

Judge Lunn and Peter Ivkovic.

Mothers Day at Ironbank

2009-05-26T19:36:00.002+09:30

With her family I visited Barbara's mother on Mother's Day at Iron Bank

"Triple J" Dinner in Darwin

2009-05-05T14:13:00.002+09:30

Last Monday evening,in what was to be my last night in Darwin for a while, Hugh and I entertained three friends for dinner who by coincidence all have first names starting with "J".

They were Jayshree, James and Jeannette. I served one of my regular dinner offerings of Chicken Wellingtons and we enjoyed the "Keyneton Estate Euphonium 2006" given to me by the staff of the Health Library at Royal Darwin Hospital as a parting gift

Some hours later I flew out of Darwin for a few weeks at 2:20 am
Ps Thanks Jayshree for the images you shot and sent.

My last Mindil for a while

2009-05-04T12:49:00.002+09:30

After the trip bush to the Daly, James and I took a quick walk around Mindil Market

After this it was off to Jeanettes for a pleasant al freco meal

Trip to Daly River

2009-05-03T21:50:00.002+09:30

A good long trip with James in his newly acquired Toyota Prado to the Daly River which is located 224 km south of Darwin, with a slight detour on the way home through Batchelor and Litchfield, then a dinner with James and Jeanette at her flat.

Seabreeze Day 2009

2009-05-02T22:57:00.007+09:30

Seabreeze Day 2009
Saturday May 2nd was to quote the publicity, 'feast of music and visual arts, spread along 1 kilometre of foreshore from the Nightcliff Jetty to Chapman Road."
There was entertainment, funfair activities, stalls, exhibitions and displays free for the whole family.
This annual event is all about "community participation" All that was true as there were so many families siiting on the lawns and enjoying the afternnon and evening

I joined Jeanette and her teacher friends and enjoyed the sights, sounds and smells, food and drink. I saw lots of people I knew including Anne Wilson and partner Alan and I think much of Darwin's population was enjoying the tropical evening to celebrate the Dry.

I saw fellow Flickr photographer Donna(aka "GeoWombats") "shooting" her baby.

The crowd loved these Nightcliff Primary kids who gave a good performance

The girls:

First Mindil Beach Market of the year 2009

2009-04-30T23:59:00.004+09:30

I attended with many thousands of others the first Mindil Beach Market of the year.
With this next image I also celebrate my 5,000th image uploaded to my Flickr album since 2004!(also my 564th blog entry to this blog)

Re-imaging Library Services Project

2009-04-30T20:12:00.003+09:30

I attended this afternoon with other members of the Northern Territory library community, a talk at the Northern Territory Library, by Wendy Quihampton, Project Manager, National and State Libraries Australasia (NLSA)on the "Re-imaging Library Services Project"
She outlined the 10 projects:
There are ten projects within the NSLA Re-imagining Library Services Strategic Plan:
1. Do it now! - initiatives to improve services immediately
2. Open borders - opening up access to e-resources and services across our libraries
3. Virtual reference - integrating virtual reference as a core function, with a new business and resourcing model
4. Delivery - developing a standard service model for user-requested document supply
5. Community created content - identifying and implementing a framework and tool set for everyone to create and transform online content
6. Changing capability and culture - developing a framework for new work environments
7. Collaborative collections - delivering efficiencies through collaborative collecting
8. Flexible cataloguing - designing improved business processes for collection management
9. Scaling up digitisation - demonstrating the economic benefits of mass digitisation and defining best practice in management of digital collections
10. Connecting and discovering content - enhancing metadata and making collection holdings more visible and linked online.

Farewell from my Health Colleagues

2009-04-29T12:21:00.006+09:30

I was given a nice card, a really good bottle of Henschke red wine from South Australia.
It is a Keyneton Estate Euphonium 2006

and a magazine cover mockup from the team at a lovely morning tea today

International Food and Cultural Festival

2009-04-26T20:49:00.003+09:30

There was an International Food and Cultural Festival tonight at the local Buddhist Temple in Leanyer.

I picked up James from his accommodation at the ANU campus near CDU and we had a meal and a couple of hours of talent and music which included Dragon and Lion Dancing from the Chung Wah Society, indigenous dancing from "One Mob, Different Country" and Irish Dancing.

Friday night at Robyn and Ian's house

2009-04-25T15:37:00.004+09:30

Spent the night at Robyn and Ian’s house Troppo designed house.

They were delighted that I was able to locate a copy of “Troppo: Architecture for the Top End” in one of the local libraries.

Robyn and Ian cooked a great Anzac Day breakfast for their guests... thanks!
This Green Tree frog was one of many about the place; another decided the roof of my car was a good place to sit:

Chloe liked her photo shoot

2009-04-25T15:31:00.002+09:30

Whilst we waited for her mother to come home Chloe posed for me on the front lawn:

Wednesday night at Darwin Sailing Club

2009-04-23T13:28:00.002+09:30

James,Jeanette and Frieda joined Barbara,Chloe and I at the Darwin Sailing Club.

A pleasant Sunday afternoon

2009-04-20T07:13:00.004+09:30

Robyn and Ian have just moved into this lovely Troppo home and we enjoyed several relaxed hours there on Sunday. The house was designed by the famous Troppo architect team as the "Rossetto House" in 1985

Saturday evening

2009-04-18T23:01:00.000+09:30

We went to Sonya and Joes house to help celebrate young Robyn’s birthday.
Some interesting characters there, including “Stretch”, “Bones” and “Curly”. Even Joe it seems never uses his birth name having always answered only to Joe!
I asked Curly to allow me to photograph the very impressive mural on his bar next door. It was created by a friend from an original photograph of one of the local drinking spots at Nightcliff

Saturday morning

2009-04-18T14:40:00.003+09:30

Barbara arrived this morning at 2am on the flight from Adelaide with her daughter Chloe. Barb is in Darwin for a week for training with the law fraternity in the Top End. We had a touristy morning with a visit to the Parap market and then to the Art Galley and Museum. Had my usual lovely brunch at the Cornucopia Café of Eggs Royal.
Chloe enjoyed seeing the crocodiles big and small and also the dressups etc

This is Sweetheart, all 5.1 metres of him....

Interesting to think about the 4 metre monster at Fogg Dam..

A visit to Fogg Dam with James, Jayshree and Peter..

2009-04-12T17:01:00.004+09:30

I promised James via email that on his first weekend here I would take him out to Fogg Dam. Peter and Jayshree joined us as well.

James Duncan at Darwin Sailing Club

2009-04-11T22:20:00.002+09:30

I just spent a few pleasant hours introducing the new CDU Liaison Librarian, James Duncan to Darwin, I drove him around the town and we enjoyed a meal and a few drinks at the Darwin Sailing Club. I first met him in Brisbane a few years ago at an ANZILL Conference. Big change for James, yesterday he was a resident of Wellington, New Zealand.

Dinner with friends

2009-04-10T09:19:00.003+09:30

I was invited to dinner at Margaret and Rich's house with colleagues from CDU library and it was great to catch up socially with some of the team. Jessie and Rod, now living in Alice Springs were passing through Darwin on their way to a holiday in Bali with Jessies daughter and grandson.
It was typically for Darwin an 'al fresco meal',and I enjoyed the conversation, food and wine. This salad was lovely:

Hugh has got his Harley back

2009-04-03T20:01:00.002+09:30

Hugh put his Sportster in the workshop in December to have a lot of work done on it to make it street legal and he got it back today. It's actually had a series of about 4 owners in recent years and he has been the first to have it registered.

Baby Kingfisher found at the gate

2009-04-02T18:37:00.001+09:30

I was about to leave for work this morning and found this little creature under the front gates. It is a fledgling Kingfisher. I asked Hugh to take it to the Veterinary Clinic

Another trip to Fogg dam

2009-03-29T19:22:00.005+09:30

Still have not really seen the monster, but lots of evidence today... the sign and the trap.

Motorcycle Swap meet at Humpty Doo

2009-03-29T19:15:00.004+09:30

Took a trip with Hugh and his friend Christy to the Village Green at Humpty Doo to see motorcycle swap meet.
Ahhhhhh the sound of Harley-Davidson's on a Sunday morning!

Monster Crocodile at Fogg Dam

2009-03-22T20:18:00.005+09:30

I was warned last trip to Fogg Dam about the big crocodile lurking at Fogg Dam.
This photo was taken by a local Brian Hammond and appeared in the Sunday Territorian with this story today: [Note the surname should be Hammond]

Monster croc at popular NT tourist spot

NADJA HAINKE

March 22nd, 2009

A MONSTER croc - believed to be at least 4.5m long - has been spotted lurking near a walkway at a popular Northern Territory tourist reserve.

NEWSBREAKER BRIAN HANNOND, 66, took this picture when he discovered the beast at Fogg Dam Conservation Reserve - about 70km southeast of Darwin - on Friday evening.

Mr Hannond, of Stuart Park, said the saltie was sitting only two metres from where he stopped his car.

"I've never ever seen a croc that size out of the water," he said.

"I didn't get out of the car. But to sit there that close you know why you wouldn't have a chance in the world against him. It's the ultimate killing machine.

"He would be the king of the swamp out there."
r Hannond, a wine seller, said the croc was sitting on the left side of the dam wall walk at the entrance of the reserve - about 100m from the car park.

At the other end of the causeway, he said he spotted another croc.

The reserve is a popular stop for tourists.

Signs warn visitors not to swim in the water because of saltwater crocodiles.

Parks and Wildlife rangers put a trap in the swamps last Friday after they received reports of crocodile more than 3m long in the area.

Croc catcher Robbie Risk urged visitors to be cautious.

"It is a bit of a worry," he said. "People have just got to be wary when they are in the area."

Mr Risk said crocs could enter the dam from Adelaide River during the wet season when waterways flooded.

The sighting comes five days after 11-year-old Briony Goodsell was taken by a crocodile in the access prohibited Black Jungle Conservation Reserve.

Her horrific death and an apparent influx of crocodiles in to Top End urban centers have sparked strident calls for culling.

An NT Government source revealed on Wednesday Parks and Wildlife would cull crocodiles, in particular in the rural area where there is more risk of interaction between crocs and humans.

But Labor MHR Damian Hale in Solomon yesterday opposed plans to immediately cull crocodiles in the Territory.

He said the Government's crocodile management plan had to be reviewed.

Mr Hannond was also against culling the reptiles.

"The crocs have been here before us. People just need to use their brains," he said.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An update Saturday March 28th , in an email from Fiona Douglas today to NTBirds , a mailing list I am on:
"...Later, on the Fogg Dam wall, near the start in the tree'd section, the most
ENORMOUS crocodile. Don't ignore the warning sign about the dam wall being
closed to walkers. The croc was a good 5-6 metres.
Fiona"

Planning Days

2009-03-20T21:30:00.000+09:30

Our team met over two days in what was a quite useful team building exercise. It was great also to meet socially after work at the Darwin Sailing Club.

ALIA tour of Casuarina Library

2009-03-18T21:21:00.000+09:30

On Wednesday evening, our ALIA Top End Group had an official tour of the Casuarina Library that I briefly managed in 2008 before moving to the Health Library.

Magpie Geese at Knuckey's Lagoon

2009-03-15T18:13:00.003+09:30

Local wisdom has it that when the dragonflies are about its the heralding of the end of the Wet, but with storms over the last few days I am not so sure. I checked out the bird life at Knuckey's Lagoon

between Darwin and Palmerston and disturbed these dragonflies and saw only Magpie Geese

Andrew Finegan farewell

2009-03-12T18:09:00.001+09:30

, former colleague from both Charles Darwin University and Darwin City Council Libraries is moving back to Melbourne. A small gathering of colleagues was held on Thursday evening.

Fogg Dam Sunday drive

2009-03-01T18:27:00.005+09:30

I took a trip today on my own out to Fogg Dam. Fogg Dam according to Google Maps is 66.5 km – about 1 hour 22 mins from where I live.
There was plenty of birdlife and also I was warned by a couple of drivers about a two metre saltwater crocodile they had seen on the road!
One driver actually did a U turn to come back to warn me!
I must admit I was nervous for a while paddling about at the waters edge,
but the photography was good

Eerie sunset light

2009-02-21T19:59:00.001+09:30

This was the colour of the sky at dusk, quite eerie..

Busy birthday

2009-02-18T21:22:00.006+09:30

I enjoyed some early morning phone calls and text messages from around the country

Morning tea with my colleagues.. too much cake...

and then a quick look and listen at the USA Airforce Band playing in the main foyer of Royal Darwin Hospital
Then after work drinks with ALIA colleagues at the Darwin Airport Resort, then a meal with friends at Marrara.

Mild mannered librarian

2009-02-17T20:06:00.001+09:30

Ruby snapped this shot of me today

Monsoon rains

2009-02-17T19:59:00.003+09:30

Fun getting to work these morning.
The monsoon rain seems to hit each morning just before 8am as I head to work in the morning.
The garden looks good, but I have to dump water from the pool each day as it gets too full.

Old friends old photograph

2009-02-13T19:02:00.002+09:30

Sue Milne sent me this image of herself with Philip Keane and myself, taken when we worked together at Adelaide TAFE in 1985

Monday was duck feeding

2009-02-09T23:52:00.001+09:30

On the way back to the airport we dropped into a mutual colleague's house
at Oakden and had fun feeding the ducks on the estate.

Chloe's 3rd Birthday Party

2009-02-08T18:38:00.003+09:30

Early on Sunday morning a Bouncy Castle arrived and was set up in the backyard of Barbara's house.

Another former colleague,Sue Milne was there with her boys.

I escaped the face painting, mainly done by Bec and also Katie who painted Bec

Day on the Green Simply Red Concert

2009-02-07T23:25:00.000+09:30

Busy weekend! I flew down to Adelaide at 1:40am and Barbara and her children picked me up at 7am and we went to the Central Market. We met within minutes our old CDU colleague Peta Kruse and had our breakfast with her. Later in the day, an early birthday treat was a trip to the Day on the Green "Simply Red Concert" at the Peter Lehmann Winery at Tanunda in the Barossa Valley.
Whilst we took our own food it was nice to be offered food by other familes who we chatted with.
Dragon and also Kate Cebrano were very good support acts.

"Des[s]erting for the desert "on Australia Day

2009-01-27T07:15:00.006+09:30

With Rod and Jesie about to leave Darwin for Alice Springs,an invitation to spend
Australia Day evening with them was extended and it was a great evening.
We all brought desserts.

As the theme was "des[s]erting for the desert" it was appropriate that friends gave them a "Deserters Kit"

Rod and Jessie are ready to become grey nomads down the track sometime in the future?

In out of the rain

2009-01-22T22:53:00.000+09:30

Seen on the front porch this evening

More lizard shots

2009-01-20T21:55:00.005+09:30

The Frill-necked Lizard, or Frilled Lizard also known as the Frilled Dragon, (Chlamydosaurus kingii)is still outside the Department of Health and Families library and Menzies School of Health Research at RDH each day.

For more information about Frill-necked Lizards

Seen around the library garden

2009-01-19T18:15:00.004+09:30

We have a visitor at the Library athe moment, Dr. Charlie Corke from Barwon Health in Victoria.

When I snapped a group photograph of the project team, this Frilled-necked Lizard was an observer.

Catching up with Jeanette

2009-01-11T16:07:00.002+09:30

I dropped into to see Jeanette today. She has just moved into her own unit and she needed the help of her friend Roger and myself to move some plants from the balcony downstairs to the garden.. They were heavy..

A long session drinking champagne and chatting in the pool later was a nice reward!

Fogg Dam

2009-01-10T21:48:00.005+09:30

Took my first trip for the year out to Fogg Dam .. alone.
And so it seemed as there was very little birdlife that I could see. I noticed some Common Egrets, Pied Heron (aka)Pied Egrets , Rainbow Bee-eaters, Willy Wagtails, Lapwings. I also saw a pair of Wallabies and a dingo.

Also lots of thankfully dead Cane toads!

Christmas in Adelaide 2008 Part 2

2009-01-03T17:21:00.012+09:30

After Christmas I visited old friends Rachel

and Martin Verdonk

in a long term tradition of having a Boxing Day meal with them.

and caught up with Pam, Dave and Terry.

The day after I went to see Ken and Sue who were staying at Terrys home. They dropped me off next morning at my sisters unit at Unley.

The next morning Barb, Chloe and I met with Philip Keane and Sue Milne in Hahndorf for morning tea toured the shops and a nursery.

and then lunch at Sue Milnes lovely cabin house in Aldgate.

I also went to McClaren Vale and nearby to visit wineries with Barbara.

We both like the winery K1 at Kuipto:

On New Years Eve we took Chloe to see the animals that are in the care of my sister-in-law Jo and brother Tony.

On New Years Day I went with Barbara to catch up with some of her friends north of Adelaide before I flew back to Darwin via Melbourne.
Chloe looked a pretty picture.

Some Christmas colour

2008-12-25T20:46:00.000+09:30

Xmas in Adelaide

2008-12-22T16:15:00.004+09:30

I came down early to Adelaide to attend the funeral of Barbara's father, Max Cameron Coat.His funeral was well attended by over 180 people mainly from the local district.We saw many more of Max's friends when we attended a few days later the the Christmas party at the Iron Bank CFS, which is a popular tradition. Max was an early member and supporter of the CFS
Chloe's cousin Arielle looked cute as Ms Christmas.

We had a nice pre Xmas lunch at Robert Coats Iron Bank property with its lovely gardens and roses

Bec was joking about a face lift!
And Chloe looked different preparing for her swimming class:

Chloe and a neighbour, young Alex prepared a chocolate pudding for us

Max went to stay with his father over Christmas so I only saw him briefly.

French girls frog handling..

2008-12-07T17:29:00.003+09:30

We had a couple of French tourists, Priscilla and Sarah visit us and Hugh found this frog near our pool and the girls were delighted to hold a frog for the first time.

Sarah with frog giving her the cold shoulder

Priscilla had the frog jump on her nose!

Picnic Tea at Nightcliff.

2008-12-07T12:03:00.002+09:30

My work colleagues and I had a picnic tea at Nightcliff last night.
The sunset was 'painting' some lovely pictures.

Seen on the way to the office Chlamydosaurus kingii

2008-11-30T13:59:00.003+09:30

Meant to blog this before. I nearly ran over this Frill-necked Lizard, also known as the Frilled Dragon, (Chlamydosaurus kingii) a few weeks ago and snapped a shot when it scaled a tree.

ALIA Top End Xmas Dinner was held at Hanuman

2008-11-29T16:09:00.003+09:30

The ALIA Top End Xmas Dinner was held at Hanuman,one of Darwin's best know restaurants last night. Jayshree and I thanked the group for a great year and certificates were awarded to graduates from the CDU Information Studies programs as well as Silver Pins for 5 years service to ALIA. We also had door prizes etc.

Dot painting

2008-11-23T23:44:00.002+09:30

Interesting story to tell. In the Todd Street Mall on Friday I bought a dot painting from Willowra Community artist , Patsy Ross. Within 5 minutes it fell out of my laptop shoulder bag. On my return from Uluru, next morning on Sunday I checked with the Alice Springs Police Station and I was very lucky, somebody had handed it in!!
Thanks Alice Springs anonymous person for handing it in!!
Image Copyright © The artist Patsy Ross

Uluru

2008-11-23T01:43:00.009+09:30

From the coach

Almost too much to take in. It so big and the Dreaming stories are quite interesting. So much to see and do and take in.

Our tour guides Scott and Tic were great, this is the long and short of it!!

I was lucky to get some reasonable shots of a Black-Headed Monitor(Varanus tristis tristis)

and also some Rainbow Bee-Eaters (Merops ornatus)

I chatted to this couple from Echuca, Ken and Margaret Walter.

The sunset viewing was packed with coach tours and the dinner was a hearty BBQ although strictly not meant to be on my diet these days.

I tried to get some sleep on my way back but no luck.

Trip to Kata Tjuta and Uluru with Emu Run Tours

2008-11-23T00:51:00.004+09:30

Picked up at 6am then breakfast on the bus,lunch on the bus, dinner at Uluru.
An eighteen hour day, over 330 photographs,but a good trip with Emu Run Tours,who I can recommend!

First stop was the Mt Ebenezer Road House and a view of Mt Conner (taller than Uluru)

Then it was a walk into Kata Tjuta (The Olgas)

#3 Trip to Alice this year

2008-11-18T20:52:00.004+09:30

Not coming to Alice again!!
I am working at the Alice Springs Hospital again and it seems I bring extreme weather. As I write we have been warned about a major thunderstorm about to hit and I can hear it now.
Leaving the airport it was easy to see a changed landscape from my two previous trips this year, as there was already much flooding
The flight was delayed by half an hour because of weather. It then took an hour to get to motel from airport because roads were flooded and got there via Power Station.

I took lots of photo's and met 4 lovely speech pathologists up a gum tree (true!!)

Sarah ,(one of the speechies) offered to get me to work on tomorrow (roads still flooded).

Parap Market

2008-11-15T20:33:00.004+09:30

Perhaps the heat and humidity was too much for this little one, fast asleep on Mum's massage mattress

Helliconiums always so colourful..

Always worth snapping a shot , the Beehive Gingers (Zingiber spectabile)are stunning to look at.

I saw library colleague, Tita and her partner there.

Green Frog at night

2008-11-13T06:58:00.001+09:30

I went out to check on the Giant Grasshoppers at night and near them was this frog

Peta Kruse's farewell morning tea

2008-11-12T22:00:00.002+09:30

One of my former team member's at CDU is retiring, I was invited to her morning tea..
There were a lot of staff there and I know they will miss her good humour and concern.

Garden delights

2008-11-11T18:40:00.009+09:30

I found this little guy in our letterbox at home when I checked at lunchtime.
So I popped him into the garden

This evening I found this really big Grasshopper (Giant Valanga, Valanga irregularis.) eating a bush. I asked an expert overnight via email, thanks David Rentz for quick reply.This is a book he coauthored.

The new wheels

2008-11-09T21:23:00.002+09:30

Sadly even this vehicle is showing signs of bleaching by the fierce sun here. It is at least built this century and kinder on fuel with two less cylinders and 1.5 less liters in capacity.

Cheesiest shots

2008-11-08T08:17:00.004+09:30

Recently Jayshree invited Hugh and I around for a meal and she surprised us with dessert. She picked up this fantastic New York Cheese cake from the TAFE Bakery school at the Palmerston campus of Charles Darwin University. She was protective of my health (encouraged by Hugh) so I was only allowed one portion on the night!

Hugh has taken to wearing prescription lenses so he is looking more like me..

Final Mindil Beach market for 2008.

2008-10-30T22:29:00.006+09:30

The final Mindil Beach market for 2008.It closes during the Wet and will return in April.
It was packed so I escaped early!

Visitor from East Arnhem

2008-10-30T22:21:00.002+09:30

Our colleague Nicky visited our library today. She manages our library at the Gove District Hospital in Nhulunby , Gove, East Arnhem Land

Sunday evening at Mindil

2008-10-26T20:34:00.008+09:30

The last Sunday Mindil Beach Market for the year.
Lots of entertainment, plenty to eat.

These rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum)looked very colourful.

The fashion students from Charles Darwin University looked great as living statues

The Islander dancers were good to watch.. especially their hips!!

I took photo's of these two artists painting

Sunset at Fannie Bay on the way home

Mindil on Thursday, almost at an end for the year

2008-10-23T23:05:00.008+09:30

Hugh and I went to the second last Thursday evening Mindil Beach Market for the year.
He has some friends on the stalls, this is Ben from the Magnet stall

Bobby, the Indonesian cook is always a great subject

A young indigenous band were playing

As usual also EmDee a local musician always pulled a big crowd

Two students from Charles Darwin University as 'Living Statues" are drawing crowds as well.

This shot was unintentional in that the flash did not fire but it has some artistic feel about it!

Yet another trip to Fogg Dam

2008-10-18T19:19:00.008+09:30

Its been many months since I last made the journey down the Arnhem Highway to Fogg Dam.

I drove there after lunch today and although I was suprised by the lack of water
considering the recent storms we have had in Darwin, the afternoon had its other suprises.
As I stopped my car for the first time I saw a crocodile of about a metre and half size drop off the dam wall into the water.
It was just to the left of this tree where the crocodile slipped into the water.
The hair was standing up on my neck as I gingerly walked around!!

As I drove out an hour later I was even more surprised to see a rather large buffalo!!

I chatted to a couple of other photographers before I drove home being chased by a storm which was very heavy with rain.

My "newish" car however performed well on the run.

Hughs new Harley

2008-10-16T23:33:00.006+09:30

Hughs latest project is this 1992 Harley-Davidson Evolution 883 Sportster

He needs to spend a bit of time and money on it (indicators etc)
but its something he has wanted for sometime.

A taste of the Wet Green Tree Frogs

2008-10-15T22:54:00.004+09:30

Lots of rain over the last few nights and lots of noise from these guys. Hear them here
This one was quite dark:

Whereas this guy was, well very green!

Snakes alive

2008-10-13T18:58:00.003+09:30

Some of my regular readers have said that I have not been blogging recently. Well sometimes one forgets!! I forgot to blog this snake handling exercise at Mindil!!

I learnt at Singapore Zoo a few years ago there is nothing to worry about so now do it when I can get the opportunity and of course its part of Hugh's job as well
This little chap enjoyed the experience of having a juvenile grass Python on his arm

Alice Springs take 2

2008-10-12T09:08:00.004+09:30

At the end of the week working in Alice Springs I moved from Jeanette's now empty flat to the Comfort Inn Motel which sits right underneath the very spectacular range.

The walk to and from the Alice Springs Hospital alongside the dry Todd River was quite different from my usual sights in Darwin..

When I did get home Singapore ants(Monomorium destructor) had taken over and rendered unusable much of our power points and light switches!

This a pile of dead ants they have been tossed out of the nest in the power point in our dining roon by the other ants. This is the second time this year that electricians have had to replace this same powerpoint

Storms hit Alice Springs

2008-09-23T08:28:00.004+09:30

This is the damage in and around the library at Alice Springs Hospital yesterday.
Our water came from the roof down the window frame rather than from the ground outside.

The first storm hit around 1:30 pm the next around 3pm.
The first was a furious thunderstorm with high winds,
the second a major dust storm.

There was lots of local flooding and a large amount of trees
were knocked down bringing power lines down including on buildings and cars.

Power was out in much of Alice Springs for 12 hours or so.
It was after midnight when we had power again where I was staying
and as I walked to work this morning there was still streets with powerlines still hanging dangerously low and so the streets remain blocked off.

Sunday in Todd Street Mall

2008-09-21T14:39:00.002+09:30

I took a walk around Alice Springs's Todd Street Mall for a quick look at the Sunday Markets

Reg and Rogers Party

2008-09-20T23:56:00.001+09:30

Jeanette asked me to accompany her to the 50th birthday celebration for Regina. It was also Regie's partner Rogers 49th. It was a masked party which made it fun.

Our hosts were Jenny and Peter.

Long road to Alice Springs...

2008-09-19T18:32:00.008+09:30

Jeanette collected me at dawn on Thursday morning and we headed south.
We stopped briefly at Hayes Creek, Mataranka, Elliott,
Daly Waters, Wycliff Well, Barrow Creek, Tennant Creek
and the Devils Marbles and Ti Tree and finally Aileron, along the way.

We camped for the night near Kunjarra "The Pebbles", north of Tennant Creek. This was really nice sleeping in our swags under the stars and under moonlight. Even though we were 8 km away from the Stuart Highway, we could still hear the traffic and occasionally also aircraft high above us.
Breakfast was al fresco

When dawn came it was also very pretty but it did reveal that Jeanette had a rather nasty insect bite on her leg that she had attended to later at the Ti Tree Health Centre later in the morning.

We then took a side tour to see the Devils Marbles or
as its known by the traditional owners "Karlu Karlu"

Wycliff Wells claims to fame are UFO and alien sightings!!!

We reached Alice Springs mid Friday afternoon.

Sunday roast... well sort of!!

2008-09-14T19:32:00.003+09:30

I got a call mid morning from Julie. Could Hugh or I help out on one of the Darwin Sailing Club rescue boats. Seeing as Hugh was celebrating his 30th birthday in New York (and Mick Jagger was there!!) , it was down to me...
I raced down to the club, they radioed Rescue 1 and I climbed aboard and spent the rest of the day out on Fannie Bay. The roast bit comes about because I failed to sunblock my face. I look a bit like a badger today only red!!
It was however a glorious day...

They fell down!!

There was lots of good racing

Dreaming 08 Alice Springs

2008-09-05T21:56:00.008+09:30

I enjoyed the first day of Dreaming 08 after attending the cocktail party the night before. The trade exhibition was launched with a group of local school children drumming. They were Drum Atweme who are Town Camp kids between 7 and 13 years of age who perform around town under the tutelage of Peter Lowson who is the Youth Services Coordinator at Tangentyere Council

As usual the conference was a great opportunity to network and catch up with old and new colleagues.

It was good to meet people I had only communicated with via email or telephone.
Terence Harrison from Royal Melbourne was on such person

Also Ruth Sladek from Flinders University was another and I think we all appreciated her presentation and the work she has being doing.

I even met keynote speaker Loriene Roy from the USA, here in the middle with the Mayor of Alice Springs,Damien Ryan and the Executive Director of ALIA Sue Hutley

Jenny Paradiso , now with Ex Libris was another I caught up with.

A great librarians T-Shirt

Health Libraries Australia Professional Development Day

2008-09-02T19:06:00.001+09:30

On Tuesday before the start of Dreaming 08, health librarians from around the nation gathered at the Centre for Remote Health for a professional development day

Many of the group took the opportunity to visit the Alice Springs Hospital Library.

We met with Chris and Kath
I saw this book on display which is rather topical for me right now!

A trip to Alice Springs

2008-08-31T19:25:00.000+09:30

I headed to Alice Springs to attend a number of events. I arrived on the Saturday afternoon. I took the opportunity to visit Anzac Hill again as a storm approached. Then next morning I drove out to the Territory Desert Park which was marvellous.

Sunday night Darwin Festival

2008-08-18T07:53:00.003+09:30

I decided to volunteer this year for the Darwin Festival, having not been involved before(other than one year in which I attended the Dya Singh performances twice)
See a short video here to see why I went twice!!!

I attended a couple of sessions to learn about my role and then OHSW training. On Sunday it was down to the Botanic Gardens Star Shell where I acted as an usher and general hand which included 'bumping" seats into the venue between performance. I got to see the indigenous dance companies up close and as a volunteer blogger and photographer got some great shots. The staff and other volunteers are a great friendly bunch and we seemed to work well together.

Dancers from the Kenbi Dance Company from the Belyuen community across Darwin Harbour

Pukatja Dancers from the Central Australian community of Ernabella

Leo's at the Darwin Sailing Club

2008-08-16T07:33:00.004+09:30

Julie Adams organised a gathering of friends (herself, Robyn,Jenny and Jayshree) sharing Leo birthdays at the Darwin Sailing Club. It was a nice evening with a fabulous sunset and a mixture of people from around Darwin. There were great snacks and lots of good chats.

Tropical Garden Festival

2008-08-09T23:40:00.008+09:30

I had my first walk around the Tropical Garden Spectacular in the Darwin George Brown Botanic Gardens.

Lots of colour and some of the local musicians

eg JK

and also Rodger Bradshaw,

from Jabaru were playing

Some fun stilt walkers were parading around.

There was a timed lanscaping competion

James Morrison Quintet at Sunset Jazz Sky City Casino Darwin

2008-08-04T08:40:00.003+09:30

The stage setting was fantastic ,under the stars, the sound was great

James Morrison was preceeded on stage by a couple of sets from local jazz ensemble Bob Marshall's Jazz Band

here is a short video I shot of James playing electronic trumpet:

Sunset Jazz at Sky City Casino

2008-08-04T08:26:00.006+09:30

What seems to become an annual event is listening on a lovely Sunday evening to jazz at the Sky City Casino lawns with friends. We heard a local jazz esemble followed by James Morrison. I was joined by Jessie and Rod,Jayshree and Peter,Peta and Pierre.

We also chatted with Tita from Batchelor Institute

It was great to chat and wine and dine on snacks

ALIA Garden party

2008-08-03T14:39:00.002+09:30

Press coverage of our recent ALIA Garden party appeared today:

in the Sunday Territorian's social pages.

Sunday afternoon

2008-07-27T23:42:00.003+09:30

Hugh looked fit as I headed off to have a meal at the Mindil Beach market with Jeanette.

We chatted to this biker, who despite the evil scarf was an ok guy.

My new library and a new role

2008-07-27T22:03:00.003+09:30

Recently I started a new role as the Reference Services Librarian with the Department of Health and Families, based at the Royal Darwin Hospital.

It’s a great team and I look forward to the different challenges of working in a special library, very different from those of academic and public libraries.

The library is in a garden setting near the Menzies School of Health Research, and the Centre for Disease Control (NT) and other facilities incuding the Northern Territory Clinical School in association with The Flinders University School Of Medicine.

Its also a short scooter ride from home!!

The Family Barnett of Brayville South Australia 1964

2008-07-26T19:51:00.001+09:30

Having lost some images recently when a hard disk drive failed I am putting this one for safety's sake on the Internet!

Not sure where Mum was and I was the photographer. I guess it was taken by me with my Agfa Rapid format camera in about 1964 or 1965 .
Brother Chris is with our father who died in 1966.
Ann is sitting along side Michael then Anthony

Christopher Barnett my brother

2008-07-26T16:00:00.003+09:30

I was searching through some old paperwork and photographs today and found this torn photo of my brother Chris. Chris still lives in France, he has been a French citizen for many years now. He is poor health and it was nice to find him looking happy and well perhaps nearly 40 years ago! He has been writing poetry and plays throughout the world ever since he left school. See this discussion of one of his plays which "Selling Ourselves for Dinner" which was commissioned for the Adelaide Festival in 1982

I scanned a couple of things last night. This article comes from " A Book to Write Poems By" published as a school text by Rory Harris and Peter McFarlane in 1983. Peter wrote about Chris working at his school:

The next is one of my favourite poems by Chris, which was also published in the same text:

Saturday morning at the Darwin Sailing Club

2008-07-26T13:39:00.000+09:30

I took a brief visit on Saturday morning to the Darwin Sailing Club, at glorious Fannie Bay.

Birthday barbecue at Jayshree and Peters

2008-07-25T23:17:00.002+09:30

Tonight Hugh and I spent a very pleasant evening at a barbecue at Peter and Jayshree’s home to celebrate Jayshree’s birthday. Julie joined us as well.

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Mindil Beach Sunset

2008-07-24T21:48:00.003+09:30

I escorted Jo-Anne to Mindil Market to enjoy some red wine, food and the sunset with thousands of others.

Adelaide visitor

2008-07-22T21:57:00.005+09:30

An 'old" colleague from South Australian TAFE dropped into my office today. I worked with Jo-Anne Rivers many years ago. She is in Darwin to do some training for the Health Library for ExLibris a library technology company. I invited her to have dinner with me at the Darwin Sailing Club and a pleasant evening was had.

She had fun texting a friend in Adelaide describing her balmy location!

Mindil Market Sunday

2008-07-20T20:40:00.007+09:30

I enjoy a meal on Sunday at Mindil Market. Hugh and I usually have a run on our scooters. I also chat to Lenore, the lovely Juice lady where its really fresh juice,

and I also get a bite to eat from a huge variety of choices. It seemed to be a bit quieter tonight although the "Drumming Monkey" show had the children really jumping

ALIA Top End Garden Party

2008-07-18T23:55:00.005+09:30

The Chinese Gardens at Charles Darwin University were the setting tonight for another successful ALIA Top End Garden Pary. Members of the library profession from most sectors enjoyed the lovely ambience of the gardens and as in previous years chatted on into the dark. A big thank you as the Convenor of ALIA Top End to my colleagues especially Marg,Bernie,Jessie,Suzanne for doing the organising. It was a great success and I should have said so on the night!

Interstate vistors included Damien from the ALIA Board and his partner Justine.

ALIA Top End meets at Northern Territory Library for NAC

2008-07-17T23:23:00.004+09:30

A group of us met at NTL to meet Damien from the ALIA Board as part of the National Advisory Congress Regional meetings

Then some of us moved down to the Mindil Beach markets to wine and dine and chat.

Trip to Adelaide

2008-07-12T17:28:00.002+09:30

Barbara picked me up early on Saturday morning at Adelaide Airport and on the way to her home we dropped in on Karen and then Gumeracha where we showed Chloe the delights of the Big Rocking Horse complex.

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