New TV Antenna

Diane and I have different TV preferences, so sometime our programs clash. We live in an area where TV reception is pretty crummy so we, (I, I guess) decided it was time to go digital. So this morning Michael from the Antenna people came and checked our reception and installed a brand new digital antenna. So now we can watch one channel and record another. The question remains: Who's program are we going to watch and who's are we going to record?

Michael on the roof checking the signals

He has a special gadget to measure where the best reception is.

Our new digital antenna

Will it make both of us happy?

Probably not during a football (soccer) match!

St Beatus Caves in Switzerland

 On the eastern side of the lake of Thun, near the famous tourist town of Interlaken in Switzerland, nestled into the massive Niederhorn Mountain is a cave system of which the first kilometer is open to the public during the summer months, on guided tours.

Legend has it that in the middle-ages an English or Irish Monk was sent to the region to teach the pagan inhabitants about Christianity. The monk was known by the roman name of St Beatus. He heard that there was an evil dragon living in the cave. St Beatus was not afraid to confront the dragon. He showed the dragon his holy cross. Enraged by the sight, the dragon ran down the mountain into the lake and was never seen again.

Today there are about 15km of the cave system surveyed, with the first kilometer well lit and open on guided tours during the summer months.

The cave entrance is high above the lake

The water that runs through the cave exits in a waterfall

The view over the lake is magnificent 

The presumed grave of St Beatus

The stalactites and stalagmites are fabulous 

Internal lakes are plentiful 

In the early 1960s I was a member of the Swiss Speleological Society and took part in a couple of expeditions during the winter months into the caves beyond the public access area. In summer, there is too much water running through the cave which makes access through some of the narrow openings impassable.  

Me (foreground) during an exploration trip in the 60s

Surveying the cave system 

Possums visit us

Last night, while watching telly, we heard this commotion on top of the roof. It sounded like an army carrying out maneuvers up there, so we went investigating. Of course as soon as we stepped onto the balcony, one of the visitors jumped into a nearby tree and the other was hiding on top of the TV antenna. 

Visitor Number 1

His mate jumped into the tree next to the house

Visitor Number 2

It is extremely hard to photograph moving objects in the night so I apologise for the 'out-of-centre' pictures.

Water

In Australia water is a precious commodity. Especially so in South-east Queensland. In July 07 our combined dam levels were below 20% and there was talk that Brisbane could totally run out of water. As a consequence, the government adopted drastic measures by building a de-salination plant and  building pipelines to recycling plants. Of course very strict restrictions of water use were put in place. People were no longer able to water their gardens or wash their cars.

But the last few months have saved us, with increasing rainfall every few weeks. Slowly the water levels in the dams increased and today the levels are 47.75% and rising. For the last week it has been raining, sometimes very heavily and more rain is forecast. The predictions are that by Monday the dam levels will exceed 50% which means water restrictions will be relaxed and we'll be able to once again water our gardens and wash our cars.

Of course this rainfall has come at a cost. The small town of Kin Kin, 45 km north-east of Noosa on the Sunshine Coast copped a lot. One person drowned and property damage is extensive.

Here are some pictures from the Courier Mail.

The local hotel took the brunt of the deluge

Water is gushing in through the open windows

Roads are damaged

Is this guy trying to fish his car out of the river?

Parking spot with car-wash facility

Visiting my School Mate in the bush

This post is by request of Roland, another school mate still living in Thun, Switzerland:

In the 50s when I started primary school, in Steffisburg, Switzerland, I met Martin for the first time as we entered the class room of Grade 1 and stayed friends with him until Grade 4 when I moved with my family to the neighbouring town of Thun. I lost contact with Martin until high school when all three of us joined the same marching band. Martin and Roland were drummers and I joined the trumpet section. During our school days, all three of us were pretty close friends, often getting into mischief especially on band excursions.

After school I completely lost contact with Martin until my mother pointed out an article that appeared in the local newspaper showing a picture of Martin who had emigrated to Queensland Australia and was working as a pastry chef at Lennons, then the top hotel in Brisbane. The article mentioned that Martin had produced Swiss pastries for the President of the United States Lyndon B. Johnson, who was visiting Brisbane and staying at Lennons Hotel.

When I arrived in Australia in 1967, we met up again and have met from time to time until about five years ago, after we both retired, when we really renewed our friendship. We now meet monthly for lunch somewhere, either in his town of Beaudesert or near here at Springwood.

Well Roland has requested some pictures, so Diane and I went out bush today to have lunch with Martin and his wife Judy. After lunch, while the girls chatted (and blogged), Martin took me down to his model railway project he is working on where we had fun of our own.

Martin and Judy live at Kooralbyn,

about 70 Minutes drive from us.

They're home is overlooking the valley

They have a lovely garden and fish pond

The boys enjoying a beer in the gazebo

The Swiss chef is preparing lunch

Lovely Swiss 'Kalbsbratwürste'

In his den, Martin is building a super model railway

system which he hopes to complete in the

near future

Of course there has to be a SBB Re460 engine

The faithful Re4/4 Swiss loc pulling the train

Martin assembles a vintage steam loc with modern

carriages

Diane and BB on 'Home and Away'

On Monday morning we left Bondi Beach and headed to Epping to the 'Home and Away' set at Channel 7. Bernard Curry who plays Dive Instructor Hugo Austin in the show met us at the gate and took us into the studio complex where they shoot the show. 'Home and Away' has been going for more that 20 years and consistently rates very high in all capital cities. The show can also be seen in many overseas countries. It was interesting to watch the technicians preparing the set for the following day's shooting. The Summer Bay cafe was already set up as was the police station.

Bernard Curry and BB are enjoying a cup of coffee

Diane joins Bernard and BB in the cafe

Inside the Summer Bay Cafe

Police Sergeant BB warns a suspect

As a film maker myself, I was thrilled to watch the Editor at work cutting the scenes in his editing suite. A little bigger and faster than my own editing set-up. I could only drool.

Half Way

Hi Bloggers, Family and Friends,

We made it down to Sydney. No problems. We had a good trip and now we're enjoying visiting Sonya and Bernie.

Bernie just informs us that he is taking us on Monday on to the Set of 'Home and Away' at the Channel 7 studios in Epping. As a film buff, I can't wait.

More later,

All the best and be kind to each other,

BB and Diane