DARWIN DUCK POND

Trawlers , research  and  pearling  vessels. Persons of  note there  have included  Tug  Boat Annie and  an   architect  who  lived  in  a  flying saucer which  took  off  in Cyclone Tracy.

SHIPPING REPORTER DREDGES UP SEVERAL TOWNSVILLE SCOOPS

Contrary to  bizarre   previous posts  in  this blog claiming this  contraption  is  Australia's  top secret new inflatable Johnston class  killer submarine under attack by the  Red Baron , it is actually  the dredge  Everglade  cleaning out the Breakwater Pacific Marina  access channel  in Townsville , North Queensland . Sand and  silt and  whatever  is  being disposed onshore . But where? With the proposed   dumping of  sludge  on the Great Barrier Reef   at Abbot point  a deservedly red   hot issue , then  the  criminal alternative to  dump it  in  wetlands , you would  think the Queensland  media along the coast  would keep a close watch  on any dredging  going  on  in  their  barnacle patch  .   Not in  Townsville,  where the  Everglade  has been  working for  many weeks , having  previously  dredged  the Ross River for  the Department of  Transport  and  Main  Roads. A  veteran  grumpy  reporter  living  in  retirement  in  the area  said  obvious  questions  the  media should ask  the  Townsville Port Authority  are  what is happening  to the  discharge , large  pipes disappearing  near the main wharf area,   is  it  going  into reclamation, if so, where , what   tests ,  if  any , are   being conducted  on  the  discharge  as  a study   has  revealed   that   there is a problem  with  lead, arsenic , nickel and  cadmium in playgrounds.  Any  in the  sludge coming out of the harbour ?  The kind of question you might expect alert  journalists  to ask .    While   asking  the  port authority  for  info, journalists  might  also  ask it and the Maritime Safety Organisation  what the hell  is  this  submerged  vessel ,  below, looking  like the  Joyita , centre of a Pacific mystery, doing  in the Duck Pond, having  gone under  about  last  May. This  being  the  cyclone season, might it not break away   from  its mooring in  wild seas  and become  a  menace to  shipping  and visiting  nuclear  submarines? 

German U-Boat in  Duck Pond ?

NOTE: Any media organisations  chasing up Little Darwin's news  tips  are  welcome  to  make  a  donation  to  the  blog's  sinking   fund .

ABORIGINAL FACES LINK WITH ADELAIDE MUSEUM COLLECTION ?

These  two  Aboriginal   faces ,  bought years  ago  at  a  garage sale  in  North  Queensland , are  thought  to  have  come from a  large  collection offered  for sale  by  the South  Australian  Museum in  the 1930s, said to be a "never ending  source of interest  to all tourists."  An advertisement in  the September  1938  issue of the Australian Tourist News, a quarterly produced in Adelaide  by  Bond's Tours , carried an illustrated  advertisement  for  the Museum  offering 36  face  casts  and six  busts of  Australian Aborigines made  from moulds "secured by  Museum   officers  during expeditions  to  Central Australia  and  various  parts of  South Australia ." Busts : Painted , four pound , unpainted,  two pound 10 shillings. Faces : Painted , two pound ,unpainted, one pound five shillings . 

 

NOTE: The tourist magazine mentioned  here, in the Little Darwin Ephemera Collection , was edited  by  well known Australian composer  Jack  Fewster , the  front cover photograph, a view of the Adelaide cathedral , provided  by adventurer  Captain Frank Hurley (1885-1962),who started his career as a photographer  with a Sydney postcard  maker , built up a reputation as  the "mad photographer " covering WW1, made six trips to Antarctica , including the Shackleton expedition,  and  voyaged  into  the  Torres Strait  and  New  Guinea.  

TROPICAL STUMP AND FLORAL ART

 

Vallis Photographs

DRACULA IS A REV HEAD

From behind a wheelie bin at the residence of the German Queen of the Jungle , out  jumped  Dracula, above, the Dutch cheese loving Coucal , recently released into the  wild  on Magnetic Island , and inspected  a  noisy  lawn mower   in  action . It ran about  the  mower , came up close, examined  the machine , then scampered  off  into  the undergrowth. 

 Later on it reappeared, followed the  mower  from  the front drive  to  the  clothesline  area  at the back of the house   and  fluttered up into  shrubs,  flew down  near the  mower, strutted about , scratched and searched  for  insects .  On seeing the Queen of the Jungle, the person who bestowed the unflattering name upon it because she said  it is as ugly looking as  the fang man , he ran towards her back door, no doubt  expecting  to  be  fed.
 

However, the lawnmower started up again and Dracula took off in pursuit ,obviously fascinated by  things mechanical  on wheels  and  a  fan of  the TV show ,  Top  Gear . 

Mower chaser

After darting about the mower, Dracula once more flew into shrubs, hopping from branch to branch and took up a position on the top of an aviary from which it watched the tall grass being cut down . The bird seems to have lost a tail feather or two . After the grass  had been cut , Dracula flew down and searched the area for insects , easier to find in short  turf. Dracula makes its presence known by making loud  calls at the backdoor of  two residences  and gets stroppy if not immediately fed. Out exercising her  leg after a knee operation, the Queen of the Jungle  was making her  way home from a nearby  supermarket  with the aid of a walking stick  when she suddenly became aware  she  was  being  followed  by  bush, street  and  tucker wise  Dracula.



To retrieve pawpaws from a feral tree  which had grown through one of   the Queen of the  Jungle's  aviaries, this writer , days after the lawn mower chase,   had  to carry an extension ladder into an overgrown adjoining property, some of the  weeds   chest  high,  snaky  looking.  Two Currawongs had already pecked a ripe pawpaw .  Carrying a  pawpaw in each hand, a  glance was made to  see  where to put my foot  down  the leaning  ladder  and there  was  a dark  blob  on  the  second  rung , causing fright-a  snake !  No ...  Dracula, the  inquisitive  Coucal ,  climbing the  fabled  ladder  of  opportunity . When  I  called out to the bird  it flew up  onto  the aviary , inspected  fruit still on the tree  , then fluttered off to the Queen's menagerie , where she gave  him  some  pieces of  the $20 a kilo Dutch cheese  he likes , which  he  is  shown   munching  above. In  all, eight fruit were  picked , leaving more  to  ripen.     

ICE SCOURGE ACROSS THE NATION

A man  under the influence of ice  jumped  to his death  from a  high building  in Darwin ; a  woman  there , also  said to be  an ice user , slashed  her arms   and   bled  to  death.  In  Victoria  the government  has ordered an inquiry into the  crystal  metamphetamine  , ice, epidemic . The  Brisbane City Council has called for  government  assistance  in  cleaning  up  drug factory sites after  police raids , there said to  be  40 drug  factories in the city .     Across  the state there have  been  vast  numbers of  drug labs closed down in  the past year indicating  that  there is  a large  drug  trade in  the state .  Letters and  articles speak of  young  family members  destroyed by  ice , drug  dealers  active  in  public housing  areas , residents  living  in  fear  behind  locked  doors,police  and medical services people having to deal  with  deranged, aggressive and  struggling individuals.

   

AIRNORTH TAKEOVER BY US

Following  the  recent   Bristow Helicopters Australia   85  percent controlling stake  in  North Australia's largest regional airline, Airnorth, there is talk that  the number of  direct fights  between  Darwin  and Townsville  are  to be cut  to  three  a week , instead of  five, possibly due to impact of  the  wet season on activity in Top End  .  Bristow is  a  British  civil  helicopter  operator  based in  Aberdeen,Scotland , part of the Bristow Group  whose corporate headquarters  are in  Houston, Texas . Bristow is the largest provider of  helicopter services to the  Australian oil and  gas industry. Airnorth, based in Darwin , with  13 aircraft,is the only regionally based  Qantas  code  share  partner,  carries more than 350,000 passengers  and  services West Australian mining centres , NT settlements,western Queensland ,   Timor  Leste  and  the  Philippines . Bristow is  involved in fixed wing operations  worldwide with  affiliates in Nigeria and  Brazil and last year bought 40 percent  of   Eastern  Airways  in  the United Kingdom .