SENSATIONAL SCOOP BY SHIPPING SCRIBE

  FAMOUS  HORSE  JOINS   HEADLESS  MERMAID !!!

A strange  rock  formation similar  to   the   head  of  Alexander the Great's famous horse ,Bucephalus, has  suddenly appeared  next  to the badly mutilated , mysterious mermaid on rocks  at  the  entrance to Magnetic Island .

When our  excited   Shipping Reporter  phoned in  and said he had a Pulitzer Prize winning story  for the blog , we thought he had  finally flipped, lost  his connie agates , or  been swilling  too much Bundy rum . 

However , we  realised that if  his  extravagent claim  proved correct , and he won the Pulitzer for journalism , the  Little Darwin Incorporated , No Liability, Cayman Islands, shares  would  go berserk on the New York Stock  Exchange.  

 

Anyway, our waterfront  scribe   produced the  above  photograph of the  poor headless and armless  mermaid  with   the weird   horse  head  , which was  not  evident   weeks  ago.

At first, the Shipping Reporter admits  he thought the beast   was  a  de-horned  unicorn ,  no doubt  expressing  sympathy  with  the  maltreated,  fibreglass   mermaid .

A FOREST OF MASTS AND NEWS DISAPPEARING INTO THE OZONE HOLE

 Shipping  Reporter  dispatch  from Magnetic Island. 

Ahoy , landlubbers !  Climb aboard !  Lots  happening  here  on   Townsville's  Jewel  in  the  Crown .  Interstate   visitors    being   tested   for  COVID , no  mention in  mainland  media, which  needs  a  regular  jab  of  real  journalism and  a  touch  of  the  cat-o'-nine- tails  on  a  leaking  Wikileaks  prison  hulk  in Cleveland Bay . 

The heavy rain  has filled  the  area  near the ferry terminal known as "The Hole " , recently sold , with plans to  turn  it  into  the   major development  that  was supposed to happen there  many  moons ago, but did not . Work had  started cleaning up  the site. Now it is full of water ,below, birds  using it  to  train  for  the  Tokyo Olympics. 

The  fact  that it  bucketed down on the island is  evident  in  the following  photograph of a hungry  Curlew, tired  of  the  splish ,splash, splosh sound  of  rainwater off  the roof  dropping  into  many  buckets.

An advertisement which  appeared in  the Australian Financial  Review calling for  expressions of  interest in  major development  of  the  area at  Nelly Bay known  as  the  Pope's land ,  owned  by the Catholic church, is currently  being  shown about  the island . Appears not  to  have  grabbed   the   attention  of   the  mainland  media . Many  other  newsworthy and  offbeat  items  being  worked on , including  the   incredible   following story.  

FLYING OVER DRENCHED CAPE YORK PENINSULA AFTER CYCLONE

Special  by  Aeronautical  Correspondent  Abra 

Aurukun airstrip  on  Gulf , west  side of  Cape York.  

Three  Lockhart River area  views  above  on  the  east   coast . 

MASSIVE SUPPORT FOR JULIAN ASSANGE WORLDWIDE , POOR LOCAL MEDIA EFFORT

Residents of  Magnetic Island-and a  dog-show strong  support for  Julian Assange . Because  Julian lived on  the island when he was  a  boy and  islanders  were   also  supporting  freeedom  of  the press,  you would think the  Murdoch Townsville  Bulletin would have  covered this  event. No.

Instead, on the bottom of P2, it  ran   a  short report  with  no mention of  the island demo at Picnic Bay , where Julian used to romp. It is understood another  group  held  a demo  in Townsville 

The  island  show of support   got  a  good run on FaceBook  and  elsewhere. 

Darwin  activist  and marathon  civil libertarian   campaigner, Robert Wesley-Smith  ,  who described  Assange as   the  Magnetic Boy Hero  in emails , fired  in another  message  after the London  verdict with  a  photo  of  the  Brisbane demo in  support of Assange  held  in  the Anzac Memorial Square .

More to come about Free Julian Assange petition.

SPLAT ! THE ART OF ROADKILL

An  usual  object  on  the  road (above )  attracted the attention of   our   peripatetic  photographer , Vallis . At  first, he thought  it was a  poor critter out of Kenneth Grahame's  Wind  in  the  Willows, a victim of  roadkill .  On closer  examination ,however,  it  was  found to  be  be  a  flattened  canetoad , an imported pest , a  danger to native wildlife.  Rain had  brought out  many  toads  which  hopped  onto   roads  and   became  targets  for  motorists. 

Days  later, having been run over by more  vehicles,  it had  evolved into  the  above  shape. 

QUEEN EXPERIENCES SNIFFY WHITE CHRISTMAS DOWN UNDER

When the Queen of the Jungle woke today she was overcome by a strong  smell of vanilla . Using  her nose  like a  bloodhound, she  made her  way to  the  back veranda  and  was  stunned  to  be  greeted  by a  white Christmas scene.

 A  large  clump of rain orchids in an aviary ,above,  had burst into  a mass of white flower , emitting  the  overpowering  vanilla  odour, almost causing a   nearby busty garden gnome to sneeze.  

It seems  the orchids were just as confused as her majesty because the orchids  usually flower in  a dry period , indicating  there will  be welcome  rain within a  week or so. In this case , it  has  been raining fairly well, especially overnight  for  several  days .

A nearby commoner  , who often attends a tea party at  the royal residence, reported her rain orchids were also a mass of white flowers ,below..   

Cockatoos   supplied a  veritable   snowstorm  when they flew  into  the royal estate for  a  garden  party  near  the  turtle  bath .

ASSANGE VERDICT PENDING

 In recent  weeks, Darwin's longtime  activist  and   civil liberties  campaigner Robert Wesley-Smith  has been sending this blog emails about the looming Old Bailey verdict in the American attempt  to extradite Julian Assange of Wikileaks  fame  . In  these  emails he referred to Assange as the Magnetic Boy  Hero, a reference to the  time he  lived  on  Magnetic Island , Queensland ,   with  his mother . The above illustration is from the latest  email highlighting   the   Assange  support meeting  to  be  held  in  Anzac Square , Brisbane . 

Strangely, the Murdoch  Townsville Bulletin  has virtually treated Assange as a non person for many months. Then  again, Julian did not kick a football like JT. The Bulletin  has not  highlighted  the  pending decision ,sought  comment  from islanders who are deeply concerned about  Assange. Robert Wesley-Smith  is  available as a  news editor in Darwin and Townsville 

During massive demonstrations in support of Assange in London a tent embassy was  established , a reminder of  the Aboriginal one set up  in  front of parliament house , Canberra.