TROPICAL LIFESTYLE EXHIBIT

 

Views  from   atop  Museum of  Tropical Queensland, Townsville . Abra photos.

HOUSTON : THE EAGLE HAS CRASH-LANDED

Vallis flight  of  fancy series.

RETURN OF THE SUNBIRDS

 Only recently  having  raised  a  pair of  young  ones , and  seemingly departed for a cooler clime, our resident Yellow-breasted Sunbirds suddenly reappeared  and   began  to  renovate  the  nest  hanging   under   the    hot  back veranda. At  times , it appears  three  birds  are  involved in the energetic  construction , darting in  and  out  with   feathers , grass  and  cobwebs.

The  female  Sunbird   seems  to  be  in  charge  of finally  putting  in  place  all  of  the  items flown  in .  A  male  bird , below , was  seen  collecting  cobwebs   from  window   flyscreens .

It  is a case of  all  hands  on  deck / nest as the  upgrade  continues  , close inspection  of  the  interior  carried  out  as  the  work  progresses .

Our resident  Curlews have  been dive-bombed in  the process  , one of  their old  feathers  picked  up  on   the  grass  .

        

At  the end  of  the day , the  lady of the  nest settles in  with a contented  look on  her  face. 

Vallis series.

ATTACK ON JAPANESE SUBMARINE RECALLED : NORTHERN TERRITORY LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES ARTICLE

German and Japanese naval activity in Australian waters was relatively quiet at the beginning of World War 2, with a dramatic increase following Pearl Harbour in 1941. Japanese submarines began a campaign in Australian waters in the first half of 1942, bound for the Top End. Four Japanese submarines conducted a mine laying mission in areas surrounding Darwin and the Torres Strait Islands between January  12 - 18 , 1942.

On this day 80 years ago (January 20, 1942), HMAS Deloraine (pictured), Katoomba, Edsall and Lithgow contributed to the sinking of one of these submarine, I-124. This was the first Japanese submarine to be sunk in Australian waters. The attack on the submarine came after an unsuccessful torpedo attack on USS Trinity in the Beagle Guff, 74km west of Darwin.

Throughout the war,  Deloraine was tasked with protecting ships from submarines. Immediately following the 1-124 submarine sinking, the Deloraine protected ships travelling from Darwin to Thursday Island. From July, she continued these escort services down in Sydney protecting merchant ships between Sydney, Newcastle, Brisbane and New Guinea.

From 1945 to 1948, Deloraine began minesweeping activities along the NSW coast and around New Britain (island of New Guinea), until finishing up at Fremantle. She was eventually sold for scrap to the Delta Shipping Co. in Hong Kong on  August 8, 1956.

QUEEN HAS RIGHT ROYAL GIGGLE

LONDON : It can be exclusively revealed  that,  in  a  playful gesture, the  Queen sent   mixed  up  One Nation leader Pauline Hanson, above,  a  personal  letter  with   a   card   wishing  her  a happy  100th  birthday!!!!-whenever  that   might  be . 

It was sent  by  Royal  Mail  pigeon post -shot upon arrival- to  Queensland's  Flat  Earth Scenic Rim   after  Hanson  caused  confusion  and  disbelief   in  a  Senate debate   by  saying   she   could  not  remember  on   what  day  she  had  turned  67 .

This  had  caused  an outbreak of merriment  in  Buckingham   Palace  court  jesters when it  was  reported in  the British  media .

A palace footman  told  Little Darwin's  Royal Roundsman, Ned  Forelock-Tugger , the Queen  has a great sense of humour, and had giggled hysterically on  reading  reports  about  the  odd  Orstralian  political event.    

 She had immediately dashed off a letter ,using the tail feather of a freshly plucked  Royal Swan  as a  quill , to  Ms. Hanson.

In it ,she  informed   Hanson   that  according to the Down Under Doomsday Book ,  May 27 , 202l  was  the  day  she  had  turned  67 .   

In  the  attached  birthday card ,  Her  Majesty  said she  had included  Hanson's  100th  to  save  all  the  expense  of  a  separate  letter  in 33  years . The  letter  was  whimsically  signed , Your  Ageless  Monarch , Lizzie Two-Stroke .   

ASSIGNMENT VIETNAM, PART ll

 Further  extracts from  Australians  in  Vietnam  written  by  Adelaide journalist  Ian Mackay , below, now  residing on Magnetic Island ,Queensland , who   covered the  Indo-China war for   the  Far  East  Bureau  of  Television  News Limited . 

In the first part , we  told  how  the   Americans  praised the   "bloody  Australian"  dare-devil  RAAF   pilots of  Caribou  aircraft   who  flew  in  supplies.   He  was  present at  Duc Co  ,an isolated  outpost , run  by the elite American  Special Forces ,   when   the    base  came  under  fierce  attack as a  Caribou came in  to land   , captured  on  film , made  into a  special  which  won  international   praise .  

During  his  time in  Vietnam , Mackay  lived  with  Australian troops, went on operations with them and saw  the  work of  civilian medical teams . 

There had been a time   when  Australians were an  oddity in Vietnam , the only reporter likely to drop in  being Denis Warner  . However,  when  Ian arrived  in  1965 , there was a 4500-man strong  Australian Task Force  ,   newsmen  by  the score , doctors , nurses, teachers ,salesmen, engineers, crooks, even  Swan and   Fosters  beer . 

The Saigon Press  corps  numbered  about  350, described  by a New York Daily News correspondent  as the same  size as a Vietcong  battalion . Reporters  attended  the " five o'clock follies " -the military press  conferences where  the  U.S. daily  version of  what  had  happened  was   released.  The  book  concentrated  on  actual Australians, men and  women , in  the country .

 Of particular note , near  the end , were  Ian's  comments on  the performance of   conscripted   young  National  Servicemen .They had  fitted  in  well to  the Army , but not many of  the  first batch  had   volunteered to  stay on  as  regulars.

Many he spoke to were glad  they had  gone  to Vietnam, but relieved to be home again , alive.

Some resented the debasement  of discipline and  the necessity  of "having to forget  ideals of  behaviour and thought and  become a cog in a machine  whose duty it was to kill other people."

The average conscript was not a conscientious objector in the legal sense  , accepted  National Service as a job that had to be done .

Many had   returned   appalled , in  retrospect, for  what they had done in Australia's name  .

One young  man he knew ,  an artist , arrived in  a relief column at  the fierce  battle of Long Tan  to see  Australian soldiers  walking through the enemy  dugouts  shooting   any  wounded   they  could  find .

AN AMERICAN IN PARADISE ROADSHOW

  An   invitation  to   persons interested  in  sharing  a   return  trip  from  Noosa  to   Cape Tribulation  appeared  on  a   Magnetic  Island  public notice board . In  part, it   read : 

Drew, the  guy planning  the trip, said he had done  it several times before , had lots of  suggestions for  where to go,  for  cheap accommodation, good  food  and  cold beer  , "ha ha." It is not known if the  trip took place , one of the proposed  stops  being  Townsville  or Magnetic Island .