BREAKFAST-WITH GREEN ANTS - AT TIFFANY'S

Butterfly,one of many, attracted to grapefruit tree containing  green ant  nests , head  of  one  ant  visible  on  right  border . 

(Grapefruit. Buttefly. Vallis.)

TROPICAL GEM UNDER REPAIR

Magnetic Island  has long been  described as  Townsville's jewel in the crown  . But right  now  it  is  showing obvious  signs of  having  been  battered  by cyclonic weather,  heavy rain  , flooding  and  tidal surges. In fact, one resident said the island looks like a third  world country in  parts due to the damage.

. .

The  cyclone damaged   Picnic Bay jetty, above, is closed off to the public. and the nearby beach with its  stinger  net  and  surf club  has  been   gouged  out . 

 

During  the  downpour , all the steams  on the island   became torrents , Gustav Creek  caused  extensive   damage  to  the  road  bridge  , below,  at  busy  Sooning Street, causing  it  to be  closed  off  , traffic diverted around it, which in turn has damaged  roads , there being  a patchwork of filled in potholes .  A  major new bridge  will have to  be   built  at considerable  cost .  

The following  photograph  shows  the  closed off   bridge  site cleared.   

 

Still visible  , below,  are  large trees    washed down  Gustav Creek  and  there are  many fallen trees  elsewhere. The  many large  coconuts  on  trees could become a  hazard  if  they  start  falling  on  passersby .

. 

A  large part of  the  Nelly  Bay beach  is  closed off  to  the public,below,   to enable dune  stabilisation. 

The following photograph is a view of  Nelly Bay  beach  from  Nelly's  Groyne , which  is  in  surprisingly  good  shape, showing   foreshore  damage, machinery  and  debris washed  up .

  Still  closed to the public is  the Alma  Creek   footbridge,  below.

(Island.  Damage.  Magnetic .)

RARER THAN A TASMANIAN TIGER

While  poking about    a   dark   shed   at  a  North Queensland   garage sale, our  Shipping  Reporter  thought he   had discovered evidence of   a long extinct  Australian  animal  which  would  rock the  zoological world   when  he came  across  the  above   critter.

At  first glance, it   looked like  a  Duck- billed Platypus- with hands  !!!! 

Shaking with  excitement  , the waterfront roundsman  tottered out  into the sun  and  examined  the  stunning   find  more  closely. 

Imagine his  disappointmen  when he  found that  it was not a rare link  with Gondwanaland going back hundreds of millions of years , but  an  illustration from  the back of  a slim recipe  book  about  Dutch cooking  in Tasmania .

And  the  animal  was indeed  a dressed up   platypus , wearing  Dutch clogs and   carrying  a  Dutch  tulip!!!!! 

The book was produced  to mark the 350th anniversary in  l992 of  Dutch  explorer and  merchant    Abel  Janszoon   Tasman , of the Dutch East Indies Company, first  sighting of  the north  west coast of Tassie   in l642 ;  later  spotted  smoke  on  the  south  coast, probably from Aborigines.

During his  seafaring he also confirmed Australia was  an island   continent    and   named  New  Zealand  Staten Landt.

The Dutch ambassador  to Australia,  J. Cornelius, came  from Canberra  to Tasmania for the  350th anniversary . He  said  that  if Abel  had  been offered  the  recipe  book when  he  first  landed,  he would probably have stayed on in Tasmania and history would have   taken a   different course. Grannie Smith apples  are included in some  of the  Dutch  dishes , Tasmania known as the  Apple  Isle .     

(Dutch.Tasmania. PLatypus.)

ISLAND ON THE HOP

 

Magnetic Island wallabies.  Vallis  pix. 

(Wallabies. Island.  Queensland.)

THE FIELD OF PLAY BEFORE BIFFO BEGINS

 

Queensland Country Bank Stadium ,Townsville . Vallis.

(Stadium .Townsville. Views.)

SIGNS - SOME NAUGHTY- OF THE TIMES

Display  at  Townsville  craft  fair in which some ,if not all,  signs  looked  as  if they were made in  America  because  when  it  comes  to mentioning  derrierre  it   is  ASS , not  an  Aussie   derivative , but  one frequently  used  in  the  USA , recently  liberated  by  a  braying  ass .

 (Craft. Signs. Trump.)

SHIPPING REPORTER KEELHAULED

As a  result of  researching   books and  notebooks which once belonged to a  marine  engineer   with a  link to  an  American  Marine  in  l942, found in a  Townsville garage sale ,  our  waterfront  roundsman  could  get  a  job   building  Australian  billionaire   Clive  Palmer's  replica  of  the Titanic.

Why? Because   the  notebooks  contain a  wealth  of  diagrams and involved  formulae  related  to  ship  construction and  performance  of  various  parts .

Ships construction , important  measurements  is  the  heading  in a section  which contains  handwritten  information that covers the  thickness of steel needed in the framing of  a  vessel , its  floors  and  other  parts , vital for  Titanic ll.  As expected, rivets also  get  a  mention .

Dealing  with keels , it  goes into  considerable  detail .   In respect of  the bilge  keel , it must consist of two  centre girders  to resist  rolling .  A duct keel   must   be   scalloped .

Laws  of  perfect gases  is another  subject covered in   depth , including a  number which   Palmer could use  in  his   election  campaign  on the stormy  bounding main, seeing he is the skipper of the Trumpet of  Patriots windjammer ,  inspired  by Donald Trump who is fast  turning  America  into  the  Wreck  of  the  Hesperus . 

Other  topics  include  combustion,  steam , turbines, nozzle  velocity,  air compressors , entropy and  reversed  Carnot. 

(Titanic. Palmer. Trump.)