The Cairns Diaries

How is Cairns looking Hinge? is it wet season up there?

Hi Dad - its very hot 34-35 but not wet. Nice sunny weekend. We only got the tail of the stuff that cut off the highway south of Townsville. Trucks couldn't get through for almost a week so we're running low on King Island Double Brie.

Of course I flew into Townsville the day this happened: http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/article/2008/01/16/9855_hpphoto.html

And walked through JCU in the rain about 2 hours before that picture was taken. Crazy.

Jeez. Running low on the double brie.

In the public service, is Cairns considered a hardship post?

Should be - such privations!

I'm not sure Margo, often get Southerners up on a couple of month postings, and people from more remote areas (NW WA and NT) often try for transfers. PS grew a lot under Howard because of its proximity to the Cape and Noel Pearson. Seems like a bit of a basket case to me, but most depts have a least a couple of staff here, and some (FACSIA, DEEST, CentreLink) have lots.

Last weeks excitement was being in a police car chase, sort of.

Driving home I'm waiting to turn right at a roundabout and a guy overtakes on the outside (it's single lane).

I think 'Duckhead'
Then I see that 8 cars in front of me is a police car and I laugh 'finally a cop when you need one'

Then suddenly there's around 6 police cars coming from all directions as the looney car drives down the Caravonica Road.

Get home later that night and this story is on the local TV news.

Remind me never to use an old Sigma as a getaway car.

Crikey, hinge! This would have been peak hour traffic ,right? And doing wheelies in the hospital car park, too! Asking for it, he was! Yeah, a complete & utter Duckhead!

Bookmarking.......

Talking to another local the other day, about Cairns and it the economic high times. Some stories:

It's a running joke here that you can't get a tradesman because local property investor Hedley sucks them up to build & decorate apartment blocks. Another developer has a sign stuck to his latest project advertising for painters (rumour has it the units are finished but he can't sell them because Hedley has all the painters).

A govt dept refurbished some offices last year and shipped the workers up from Canberra and paid for hotel accomodation for them for a month (cheaper and the work got done).

A local building a new house got a quote from a local window manufacturer to do his new house. $39,000 and 12 months for delivery.

He was in Canberra and on the off chance asked a Canberra manufacturer for a quote - it came to $13,000, delivered to Cairns, in two weeks. The quoter said this and then said 'Is that OK?'

I suspects that what makes Cairns attractive is going to destroy it.

Seems like it's been raining for ever - the washing I hung out (under our balcony) on Saturday is still damp. Green isn't my colour. Dogs are going stir crazy (cat already was).

Wow, one little whinge on A2K and the sky is suddenly blue and the sun is shining....

won't last though - whingeing on A2k is like eating Chinese food - soon you need to do it again!

.... so washing's finally dry?

five new loads are dry since then!

Might even risk riding my bike tomorrow.

Be carefull!

Frtom your local paper (The Cairns Weekend Post, 23.02.08, page 7)

Apparently we are the most 'bike-dangerous' region in Queensland, but if you saw how the Japanese tourists rode around town you'd suspect that they are skewing the stats.

Council elections this weekend

encumbent Kevin Byrne vs Val Schier (campaigning on a ticket of ending 'development at any cost - which might gain her some traction)

I suspect that Independents will do OK, that's the way I'll vote. That way there will be random badly organised corruption rather than the more professional party-based stuff.

It all makes me think of Grass Roots. I loved it but it fed my cynicism up to pussy's bow.

It was set just down the road from me - and sadly, it was no fiction! They're all bloody corrupt!

It's funny to see those places you go to, in a tv programme.

Hi Margo, where exactly was that council chambers? I always thought it was on the central coast or Gosford - can't even remember the name of the fictional city? Mermaid Waters?

Can't remember the name of the town - but most of it was set around Concord, and Canada Bay, with some views up towards Palm Beach somewhere. The ferries were the River-cats that run along here - to Parramatta. They used to use the big Chinese restaurant, for those Labor Party lunch scenes. It's gone now - replaced by big Thai instead! The coffee shops are still there. We roll through there regularly.

I'm not sure where the actual council chambers were - doesn't look like Canada Bay