The Antipodean thread

[Smithy]

Brilliant Talbot lol

 

[Harp]

"K" is for Kiri Te Kanawa. :eusa_clap

 

[cookie]

First Recorded Aboriginal Music in Georgian England

Fascinating story:


http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment...ongs-song-for-1793-london-20100919-15hy3.html

 

[lolly_loisides]

Well I never thought I'd say it, but if I had a lazy $1.5M I think I'd move to Werrington. Werrington House was built in 1832 for the daughter of Governor Phillip King. The house & land (4 and a half acres) are heritage listed. It probably needs a ton of money spent on it, but even so.......
http://www.jimaitken.com.au/show?rd=1&ref=GLM10232

 

[BinkieBaumont]

"Oh its a bit too Dickensian for my taste"

 

[BinkieBaumont]

"But this is right up my alley and in my old stomping ground of West Perth"

Take the Tour?

http://www.realestate.com.au/property-apartment-wa-west+perth-106836425

Fuzzy I know but the building is at the end of the street from my old apartment in 1987

 

[lolly_loisides]

"Oh its a bit too Dickensian for my taste"

I thought that too - I can just see Miss Havisham living there.

 

[BinkieBaumont]

"Or Mr Haversham?"

 

[lolly_loisides]

No, just crazy old Miss Havisham. It's thought that Dickens may have based that character on an Australian woman, Eliza Donnithorne.

 

[lolly_loisides]

Dollar dazzles again, topping 96 US cents

Start packing your bags (or at the very least start internet shopping).......
http://www.smh.com.au/business/mark...g-96-us-cents-20100925-15r6r.html?autostart=1

 

[BinkieBaumont]

" I love the Movie Christmas in Connecticut," but in reality it may be Christmas in New Joyzee, if I can tee it with Aussies Chums living there at the moment"

 

[lareine]

Is anyone still interested in the Christchurch earthquake? It hasn't gone away, you know We have endured more aftershocks than I could count over the last three weeks, including some last night which caused more damage to our house.

The city will take months if not years to recover from this. Of course what the tourists will see will be polished up (can you believe they kicked Civil Defence headquarters out of the Art Gallery to prepare for an upcoming art exhibition, right in the middle of an emergency?!), but it's a bit different for people living here. Many homes must be demolished and many other people don't even have basic sewage and waste water services yet. It's the disaster that just won't quit.

 

[Smithy]

Is anyone still interested in the Christchurch earthquake? It hasn't gone away, you know We have endured more aftershocks than I could count over the last three weeks, including some last night which caused more damage to our house.

The city will take months if not years to recover from this. Of course what the tourists will see will be polished up (can you believe they kicked Civil Defence headquarters out of the Art Gallery to prepare for an upcoming art exhibition, right in the middle of an emergency?!), but it's a bit different for people living here. Many homes must be demolished and many other people don't even have basic sewage and waste water services yet. It's the disaster that just won't quit.

Very sorry to hear that Lareine. I knew there had been hundreds of aftershocks since.

My sister and her family got fed up with it and have buggered off to Noosa for 2 weeks to get away from it.

Don't blame them at all.

Take care.

 

[cookie]

NZ hero of Battle of Nui Dat Obit

http://www.smh.com.au/national/obit...d-in-howitzers-at-nui-dat-20100928-15vox.html

 

[Benny Holiday]

The news here has reported on some of the aftershocks Lareine, but typical of this day and age when your average member of the general populace seems to have the attention span of a goldfish, those updates have faded pretty quickly. One of my close friends is from Christchurch originally and I've been talking to him constantly about his family back there and how they're coping in such trying conditions. Our thoughts and prayers are still with you!

 

[tuppence]

I would rather hear about Christchurch, than some stupid model getting glass in her legs. No wonder I yell at the T.V.

I'd be interested if you posted linkss to news articles.

I guess I could google it myself, but you might know the more important ones.

 

[lareine]

Happy to oblige!

Here's a really interesting map where anybody affected can put a pin in their location and tell their story to the world. Mine is in there somewhere!

So far, more than 17,000 households have claimed against the Earthquake Commission for broken chimneys (by far the most common thing to fall).

There are still areas without basic sewage services. They have been given portaloos in the streets.

Discussions about how to rebuild the city will go on for who knows how long. When Napier was flattened in 1931, they took the opportunity to build a new city that is now world famous for its art deco style. Might Christchurch do something similar, or will we end up with cheap concrete boxes filling the gaps where heritage buildings were torn down?

People reported their animals acting strangely just before the big earthquake. This is going to be pretty interesting for scientists, as this is a wonderful opportunity for them to learn more about how to predict earthquakes and what the aftermath will be.

The quake counter is at well over 1000 aftershocks now. We can't feel anything below 3, but we have had hundreds that everybody felt. This site shows some really interesting graphs and maps where you can get some idea of how badly we've been hammered in the last month. The last big one that I felt was on Thursday morning while on the fourth floor of my office building. The whole structure was obviously shaking and swaying.

 

[lareine]

Just after I submitted that last post the house shook again. Short and sharp this time. If you have ever been in a timber-framed building when somebody slammed the door and the whole building rattled, you'll be able to imagine what it's like. I don't suppose it was much more than a magnitude 3, but it goes to show that the earth has not gone quiet yet.

Edit: it was a 3.9 but quite deep at 12km, so it didn't feel as intense as some of the shallow ones.

 

[LordBest]

I just had my first vintage sighting today. A young woman in Smith street at around four this afternoon wearing a white dress with some kind of red print, seamed stockings and I'm fairly certain her hair was done in a vintage style. Sadly I only spotted her as she was decanting from the tram so I did not get a good look. If by some remote chance she is reading this, you looked splendid.


Lareine, do continue to keep us updated, the media is failing in its duty to do so, as is its wont.

 

[lareine]

Thanks LordBest. We continue to get bad aftershocks. On the one-month anniversary of the September 4th earthquake, we were treated to a 5.0 which was felt across most of this island. It was the strongest aftershock we've had in weeks (although it was not felt as strongly at our house as some of the more recent ones) and freaked a lot of people out. I've been reading stories of people who haven't showerd in a month because they're too scared to put themselves in that vulnerable position. Goodness knows I was reluctant to shower myself over the first few days, or even to use the toilet. At least our sewers kept working -- there are many people still sharing portaloos in the street.

We heard today that a historic [what I believe is the first] high-rise building in Christchurch is to be demolished. It would just cost too much and take too long (to the detriment of all the businesses nearby) to make it safe and restore it Another lovely old heritage building in Sydenham is also to be demolished. Of course there are lots of non-heritage buildings going or gone as well.

And yet we've had beautiful weather, the daffodils have been and gone, and apple trees and strawberry plants bloom in my garden just as if nothing had ever happened. I feel like somebody stole an entire month of my life and replaced it with four weeks of fear and uncertainty. Mother Nature stole our springtime and replaced it with something nastier