Ceri

... alright call me a liar !! (I'm speaking to myself)... two minutes ago I couldn't see that photo... now I take a look .. it's there ... whoo hoo!!! ...

Ignore my sh*te web site link then.

I'm chuffed now!!! .. Hubby's been no help.. if you want something done ... do it yourself

Cheers

peewee13

did you fish in the UK ?
It's not quite the same is it.
The feeling of being hooked up to something that is bigger than the boat you are in and is starting to get REALLY pissed off at you is more exhilarating than hooking some crappy six inch pike in a dirty canal.

Ceri

Depends where you've fished in the UK, it's not that bad. Yes Australia is better fishing... but not for long if they don't change the pro laws here.

Tope UK Gower, this pic is not mine, it's a mate's, who emailed me the photo a few months back. He fishes for Tope every year in my home town, in the boat, but close in shore. No Muddy canals anywhere





cheers

karenvirginia

love the pics.
at dusk in melbourne at the park area behind the beach in st kilda lots of people come and feed the possums who live in the trees. i have some good pics, i thought they were really shy and gentle and the fur was so soft! i will be more careful in future!
currently in birmingham, coming out to the gold coast next summer.
al and i enjoy fishing, we did some in the tweed river area a few years ago and it was wonderful. at home i never really do much though al is sometimes found sitting on a cold lake or riverside trying to keep warm and weighing in a couple of drams! is it worth it?
where are you building your house, ceri?
are there any terrible pitfalls we need to know about as we plan to build too?

peewee13

Pitfalls re: fishing & building

Be very careful, the house tends to sink

pommiesheila

Ginny - don't fret too much - you do get used to them!!!

Herman

How about this - we had a massive spider in the bedroom Sydney apartment last night. First time in a couple of years here that one has found its way in (10th floor). I did a quick search on the net today, which confirmed it was a very large huntsman (almost the size of my hand). Anyway, my wife Dysoned the thing and we emptied it out of the window. Good bye Mr spider. Seemed to work better than my preferred option - battering it with a rolling pin - which failed because it jumped like a sodding rabbit the minute I attacked.

The very strange thing is that the night before last we both slept very badly due to lots of weird and wonderful dreams. When we compared stories in the morning I had been dreaming about a giant spider in our home, which bit my old mum, and my wife had been dreaming about cockroaches running everywhere and digging up the floor boards to find a giant 'mother' cockroach. Thats the first time either of us can ever remember having a disturbed night from dreaming about creepy crawlies and sure enough, next evening we find the huntsman in our bedroom. I reckon the bugger was running around in our bedroom and somehow our subconscious was aware of this and trying to warn us!

aussie bloke

scary but harmless none the less.
http://www.austmus.gov.au/factsheets...an_spiders.htm

Sandra

We had a very lucky coincidence - Saturday daytime we visited the Australian Reptile Park up near Gosford, North of Sydney and had a great time seeing snakes and Tassie Devils etc and not forgetting the Spider talk, letting us know all about the world deadliest spider the Sydney Funnel Web. We learnt it did not jump, did not climb up slippy things - not like the Huntsman you found! Herman, the Huntsman can and does do all of those include run 360 degree directions.

Well after a nice BBQ Saturday Night, chatting to Nicki and Terry (two other recent arrivals), we tidied up and my mother moved the Napkins, which had fallen on the floor outside and happly curled up inside was a Funnel Web - we didn't scream shout or jump about - I collected a pint pot from the kitchen and we put this over the spider, we then discussed putting it in a pot as directed by the Wildlife Park, with fresh soil to keep it alive (they take them in for milking for antivenom process). But the fact it was an hours drive the next day and we had planned on the blue mountains we made the brave decision to spray it - and I had a bash with a clog for good measure. Sorry to all you spider fans out there. I did get a rather bad photo through the pint pot of it rearing up at us. We all thought we had been rather calm in dealing with the spider and all thanks to the Wildlife park for the practical demonstration.

We used the opportunity the next day to tell the kids the importance of not leaving things lying on the ground (clothes, towels etc). My son was more impressed by the large spider leg left from by previous nights bashing. The other great thing about the Park is it gives handout leaflets and practical demonstrations to the kids to let them know what to do.

I have a complete and utter irrational fear of spiders/insects - so if I can live in this country anyone can.

Just adding an informative link - other details are also avaliable from the factsheet link posted by Aussie Bloke

http://www.findarticles.com/cf_dls/m...le.jhtml?term=
Cheers

Herman

Thanks for the info. It did'nt look harmless but its good to know for next time!

Gareth W

Strange isn't it ?

I have squashed Redbacks and Whitetips and not really thought twice about it but if I came across one of those big evil sods (even though they are harmless) I'd scream like a girl !

Ceri

I'm building in the North Brisbane region. Pitfalls... it took me months and months to find a builder which I wanted. We must have walked around every display house in Brisbane comparing prices etc.The packages are very confusing. I bought my Land separately to a house.. we actually found a big piece of land which some bloke had bought years ago to build, but never got round to building on it (it's in an established area.. no more land available) We couldn't believe our luck.. bought it before the Boom here, and it backs onto a protected bush reserve.

Anyway, Everything looks cheap at each builder, but you've got to add up the actual cost.... most advertised houses, although they say includes this and that... they do not include driveways (which can cost you 6 grand on top)... floor tiles or carpets (they are only included to the designated areas, like bathrooms, and splash backs etc) Their display homes normally have extra's in them (things which are not included in the price)

Like the house which we are building... we wanted all the floors tiled.. the builder said it would cost around 8 grand on top, so we priced tiles ourselves and worked how much it would be if we do that job ourselves, or get an independent tiler in to do it for us... we recon if we do it ourselves it's going to cost in-between 3 and 4 grand... a saving of 4 grand. Driveway: the building company said 6 grand, but he also said it would be cheaper to find your own paver than to go with his company.

We've also removed a lot of their extra things like cooker and stuff, which they will deduct from the price... because their Kitchen is horrible! And buying our own to put in.

It can be simple as you want building... we are fussy Gits ... we've done so much changing of the plans to their off the plan house... almost been a year now... god they must hate us! My partner drew up the house in cad.. and changed it all... they kept getting it wrong, so back the plans go to be drawn up again.
A friend of mine found a builder, signed the contract all within one week... but I think he rushed into it, his house is not what he really wanted... too small for him and his family.

I'd recommend to do your homework.... don't fall for sales talk in the display houses/villages. Go to as many display houses as possible.. pick up their spec's and pricing to see what's included, and what isn't in the price).. compare them all to eachother. Something which looks the cheapest, may actually turn out to be the most expensive because of what they do not include in the price. When you find the one you want ask how many changes you can make to the house... most builders will allow you to do this.. some allow up to 5 changes free, and anything else is extra, but it's still quite cheap... we've made heaps of changes, taking out some internal walls and moving them to another part etc.. making dwarf walls to some areas.. putting in extra windows for aircons to bedrooms , etc etc.... oh and the kitchen ... I've totally ripped out theirs (too small)... and put our own plans in. They abouslutely adore us down at the builders! .. I think they say "here come those foreign b*stards again"..

Anyway, we've finally got it sorted.. plans back approved, all we need to do is a few things like colour plans, and electric plan (where you want the lights to be etc).


Yes the fishing is easier here ... I can remember sitting on a sea wall freezing... moaning to my partner, I want to go home.. I can't feel my feet! This is one of my Plus things for Australia (fishing, weather and wildlife)... I haven't got anymore plus things

The Tweed is good for fishing, only been there a couple of times with the boat myself., I usually fish the Bay, and the Gold Coast. The fishing in Brisbane s not much cop if you don't have a boat.. there's not many Land Based areas which are quiet, free from people . When we first moved up here from NSW, we soon got p*ssed off with fishing from the land.. and picked up a boat. (quite cheap.. if you look around), but unlike Britain you need a licence if your engine is over 15hp (I think it's 15, or is it 20)... which is pretty easy to get, take a short course (2 day).. answer some questions, a short practical in the instructors boat.. that's all (cost about $120 AU).

Cheers

colind

Now you guys still in the UK have something to worry about:

Tesco has rejected claims that using natural predators instead of pesticides to protect its fruit is increasing the chances of customers being confronted by black widow spiders.

Three British women have found the potentially-deadly species in their grapes in separate incidents.

Tesco says the spider, whose venom is 15 times more potent than a rattlesnake, is not deliberately used on suppliers' crops in the US.

Company spokesman Jonathan Church admitted it is possible the move to using natural predators, including harmless spiders, and less pesticides could have allowed the more lethal spiders access to the fruit.

He says suppliers have been told to step up checks on products before they are exported and the company is looking into where the grapes came from and how the spiders may have got in the produce.

"The idea is to reduce pesticide use by introducing natural predators instead, but we do not use black widow spiders," Mr Church said.

"It is possible that is why the spiders in these three cases have got through because if we had used pesticides they would be dead.

"We do seem to have had three cases very close together but it is quite rare when you consider the amount of grapes we sell."

In one case a woman is reported to have discovered a black widow, which has red markings on its back, climbing up the side of a colander as she was rinsing grapes in her sink.

Last week a dead black widow was said to have been found in another bunch of Tesco grapes while last month one was reportedly found alive among grapes in a fridge.

Ginny

Thanks very much for posting that link. It's just what I need. I'n trying to get my son into knowing whats what (nearly 5 yrs) whilst remaining fairly calm. It ain't easy!

Any way thanks again.

Ginny