Australia

[Akhenaten]

Originally Posted by Jeff Corey

That's cool - I didn't know that they couldn't echolocate. I guess those fruit don't provide much of a chase.

I had to read that six times trying to figure out how chocolate got into the discussion.


I think flying foxes must cause some confusion for lots of folks because we call them fruit bats, and they ain't bats at all. (or foxes, for that matter)

The big giveaway to their non-sonarness is the number of them you see come a gutser into stuff like power lines and TV antennas. Fair dinkum bats do much better in the dark.


Cheers, Jeffo

[Akhenaten]

Originally Posted by Wildy

That would mean that my family probably shot at them.

Aussie tourists in Europe still have something of a reputation, I believe, but the actual shooting seems to have died down, fortunately.

Originally Posted by Wildy

I think it says a lot about the Australians if they can do that. And then you get idiots like Blamey with his "running rabbits" comment.

Originally Posted by Damien Evans

That has to be in the running for stupidest thing ever said by a commanding officer.

Originally Posted by SimonD

Blamey, what a dick. Imagine telling your troops that they were cowards for falling back to prepared postions when you are outnumbered and outgunned.

I remember reading a story about Blamey when he went to see a movie that was put on for the wounded troops. When he come in and sat down, all of the wounded men got up and walked out.

My only comment from a soldier's point of view is that whenever Blamey was mentioned in a discussion about military history, the subject would quickly be changed to this man:

©Australian War Memorial AWME02350



Major General John Monash photographed at Glisy, Villers-Bretonneux area, 25 May 1918.

[Akhenaten]

Originally Posted by FFed

Never heard of it.

Does anyone know what ever happened to Jad Capelja who played Sue Knight in Puberty Blues? I am curious as to whatever happened to her but there is no info available.

She did two episodes of A Country Practice (as Nurse Cotteril) and a movie called Freedom in 1982.

Since then, as you point out, she seems to be unknown.

[Old Bob]

Here comes more,Black Mountain near Cooktown an eerie jumble of black caravan and car sized rocks piled into a treeless mountain. Our aborigine's won't go near it as many people have scrambled in and disappeared. I climbed up a short distance and my dog would go no further. Throw a yonnie down and you hear it bounce into the black depths. A team of cavers entered and found that below ground level deep water goes on down, they came out saying that they never had the right gear to explore,then bolted. Rumour has it that it is infested with big pythons. Tried to ignore the bad feeling the place has but can realize why our aborigine keep away,they have a better warning system than whites. Little rock wallabies around the edges would feed the pythons. If you want to feel bad spirits go there. My friend tells me that an even bigger pile is up the coast a bit but no excess to it except by sea. Also the locals guided us to the most beautiful water fall and large rock pool hidden in the scrub behind Cooktown. A lovely place in winter,sandfly city in the wet season. A nat. park that has casawaries with legs like footballers and a few snakes. One nasty bug we forgot to talk about is assassin bugs, come in sizes from half inch to two inch, had a big one bite me on the leg years ago giving me osteoarthritis in the knee. Got complety rid of it with a zappa and black walnut hull juice thanks to my wife and Helda Clarke.(bloody doctors were useless) A number of bites killed Cook's botanist Charles Banks, as he was studying them. Not seen much but we do have them.

[Akhenaten]

Originally Posted by Old Bob

What the thread losing steam? We have hardly touched Australia yet.

The thread is cruising, but I struggle a bit to keep up

Originally Posted by Old Bob

Some spots in Qld N.T. have their own oil wells, some unkown to the enemy (Gov). The oil is so thin it can be used as deisel straight, just filter. Some years back a bit was sneaking into the system and got sprung. Rumor that motors blow up etc, big checks, fines on ones caught, all because they missed out on tax. Their media mates played it up. Large areas out there to hide a well. My son worked on two leases one 7,000,000. acres, another 5,000,000.

First a few facts about oil and gas exploration in Australia, and then a few of my own anecdotes.

This first quote is pretty technical, and comes from a froggy study into the Amadeus Basin oil field, which underlies the area of which you speak. It more-or-less explains why there are thousands of holes all over the place out there.


Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

Quote:

Résumé/Abstract

The Mereenie Oil and Gas Field, situated in the Amadeus Basin in Central Australia, is the largest onshore oil field in Australia, containing some 367 million barrels of original oil in-place and 900 billion cubic feet of original gas in-place.

Oil is contained in an elongated, anticlinal trap in multilayered reservoirs as rims associated with large gas-caps. Expansion of solution and gas-cap gas is the primary oil recovery mechanism. However, most of the oil is contained in narrow, thin rims in tight reservoirs which are considered marginally economic for development.

The Pacoota Sandstone is the major oil bearing unit. The rims have been partially developed by drilling wells at a one kilometre spacing. The Pacoota Sandstone is CambroOrdovician in age with six to nine percent porosity and 5 to 50 md permeability.

Dedicated production wells have been drilled for the upper and lower reservoirs at an optimum distance from the gas-oil contact to maximise primary recovery. Based on production performance, the average, primary oil recovery factor in the developed rim area is estimated at 28% of the original oil in-place. A previous reservoir simulation study had indicated that two to three percent incremental oil recovery could be achieved by reinjecting the produced gas into the gas-cap. Recent modelling has shown a 10% to 14% incremental oil recovery by reinjecting gas directly into the oil rims.

This innovative rim injection technique provides direct displacement of bypassed and unaccessed oil as well as pressure maintenance. The optimum spacing (between producers) for this gas injection technique is estimated at 1.5 km compared to 1 km for the primary development.

Simulation modelling shows that, unlike primary oil recovery, this secondary recovery is less dependent on well distance from the GOC. A pilot test is currently underway. Based on the encouraging results from the pilot test and simulation results, a field development strategy is proposed.

my bolding

I've bolded some bits that I think are relevant. The point is that oil is recovered from some areas by re-injecting gas into the rim wells and blowing the oil out of the production wells. If they didn't cap most of the holes, there would be oil pissing out of the ground everywhere, like in the Beverly Hillbillies.

Here's a more betterer way of saying it:

Oil and Gas Glossary

Quote:

Gas Drive

The use of the energy that arises from gas compressed in a reservoir to move crude oil to a well bore. Gas drive is also used in a form of secondary recovery, in which gas is injected into input wells to sweep remaining oil to a producing well.

Here's an excerpt from a message board full of petroleum experts.


Oil Field Engine Bulletin Board

Originally Posted by Allan Wright

A stripper well is a well that will produce less than 10 barrels of oil per day. Back in the old days when a lot of wells produced hundreds of barrels per day, they were called gushers.

An oilwell is normally completed one of two ways.

(1) They drill the well and run the casing from the surface to the oil pay zone and cement the outside of the casing. They will continue to drill into the oil pay zone and leave this part uncased. This is called an open hole well.

(2) They drill the well deep into the oil pay zone and then run casing from the surface to the bottom of the well and then cement the outside of the casing. They will then shoot holes in the casing in the oil pay zone at designated intervals. The oil, water and gas comes into the well bore through these holes.

In the early days they would put nitroglycerin in the bottom of the well and set it off to crack the formation so more oil would come into the well bore.
Now they use acid and sand injected at high pressure to fracture the formation with.

Have a good one
Allan

my bolding

Now, the whole point of all this, getting back to your point . . .

Originally Posted by Old Bob

Some spots in Qld N.T. have their own oil wells, some unkown to the enemy (Gov). The oil is so thin it can be used as deisel straight, just filter.

. . . is that there are wells everywhere, and it's a fair bet that a few enterprising souls have come up with the idea of bypassing the whole service station thingy. I think you might have only identified the secondary enemy though. The government might like its tax income, but not near as much as the oil companies enjoy theirs. If I had a secret oil well, I'd be hiding from Shell and BP more than from Canberra.

You're right about the oil coming out of the ground looking like diesel, and I'm sure some of it would work just as well, but I can imagine a few expensive failures too.

The most capped-off wells I've ever seen were on Barrow Island in the late 1970s. I think they capped them off and ran away when the Poms blew up the Montebello Islands with atom bombs, but I don't know what they're doing out there now.

Here's a little more about the history of oil and gas exploration in Australia:

National Newsletter of the Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia



I'll get to the Jindalee over-the-horizon radar next episode.


Cheers,

Dave

[lionking]

Originally Posted by Akhenaten

Major General John Monash[/url] photographed at Glisy, Villers-Bretonneux area, 25 May 1918.

Interesting you mention Sir John Monash. Few people realise that he was a civil engineer before WWI. He designed a bridge at Hurstbridge which I drive over nearly daily. It's only one lane and not really suitable today, but I would be leading the protests if it were pulled down.

http://home.vicnet.net.au/~aholgate/.../hurstpic.html

[Akhenaten]

Originally Posted by lionking

Interesting you mention Sir John Monash. Few people realise that he was a civil engineer before WWI. He designed a bridge at Hurstbridge which I drive over nearly daily. It's only one lane and not really suitable today, but I would be leading the protests if it were pulled down.

http://home.vicnet.net.au/~aholgate/.../hurstpic.html

Sir John was a great Australian, and I personally credit his fine engineering skills with fostering the methodical approach he had to military matters.

That's a beaut looking bridge, and I hope someone takes an interest in tidying it up. Some crocodiles might help with the graffiti problem.

I think Sir John Monash is worthy of a long post all to himself so I'll get started on one soon.


Cheers,

Dave

[Old Bob]

Dave you do very well,your knowledge, detail and computer skills is impressive.

[Jeff Corey]

Originally Posted by Akhenaten

I had to read that six times trying to figure out how chocolate got into the discussion.


I think flying foxes must cause some confusion for lots of folks because we call them fruit bats, and they ain't bats at all. (or foxes, for that matter)

The big giveaway to their non-sonarness is the number of them you see come a gutser into stuff like power lines and TV antennas. Fair dinkum bats do much better in the dark.


Cheers, Jeffo

Is Wikipedia wrong, then?
"The grey-headed flying fox, Pteropus poliocephalus, is a fruitbat native to Australia. Members of the genus Pteropus include the largest bats in the world."

[uk_dave]

My most favourite thread on this site.

[Jeff Corey]

I'm batty about in meslf. http://www.rollogrady.org/oldfilez/10/bats.jpg

[nettiemoore]

Fruit bats are one of my fave bits about Sydney (i know they're a pest in some places) -- going out at dusk and seeing a horde of they flapping away, silhouetted against is sky is very cool. Do not get sick of it, tho' perhaps easily pleased ...

[lionking]

Originally Posted by nettiemoore

Fruit bats are one of my fave bits about Sydney (i know they're a pest in some places) -- gong out at dusk and seeing a horde of they flapping away, silhouetted against is sky is very cool. Do not get sick of it, tho' perhaps easily pleased ...

Yeah, but they almost destroyed our Botanic Gardens in Melbourne.

[Akhenaten]

Originally Posted by Jeff Corey

Is Wikipedia wrong, then?
"The grey-headed flying fox, Pteropus poliocephalus, is a fruitbat native to Australia. Members of the genus Pteropus include the largest bats in the world."

If it's a contest between Wikipedia and me, then it's Melbourne to a rusty rabbit trap I'm going to lose. Bugger!


Fruit bats are, of course, bats. That would account for the name, I suppose. My mistake was to reclassify fruit bats (flying foxes) as something new and undiscovered by the scientific community. I should have seen how that would end.

Fruit bats and what I've been calling "true bats" are sub-orders of the same critter. Just like the bibble-quoters, I'm going to use Wikipedia as a reference to prove that Wikipedia is right. Why should they be the only ones to try and get away with it?

Here is the real bat-story:


Microbats (vampires and stuff)

©Wiki Commons

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Chiroptera

Suborder: Microchiroptera

Dobson, 1875

• Microbats use echolocation, whereas megabats do not (except for Rousettus and relatives).
  
  
• Microbats lack the claw at the second toe of the forelimb.
  
  
• The ears of microbats do not form a closed ring, but the edges are separated from each other at the base of the ear.
  
  
• Microbats lack underfur; they have only guard hairs or are naked.

Megabats (fruit bats or flying foxes)

©Wiki Commons

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Chiroptera

Suborder: Megachiroptera or Yinpterochiroptera

Dobson, 1875

Megabats eat fruit, nectar or pollen while microbats eat insects, blood (small quantities of the blood of animals), small mammals, fish and may also consume fruit, pollen or nectar. While megabats have a well-developed visual cortex and show good visual acuity, microbats rely on echolocation for navigation and finding prey.

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

The phylogenetic relationships of the different groups of bats have been the subject of much debate. The traditional subdivision into Megachiroptera and Microchiroptera reflects the predominant view which holds that these two groups of bats have evolved independently for a long time, from a common ancestor that was already capable of flight. This hypothesis recognizes the marked differences between microbats and megabats, while at the same time acknowledging the likelihood that flight has evolved only once in mammals.

The bolded bit is what I was doing. Debating phylogenetic relationships. Yeah, that's it.

Thanks for pointing out my error Jeff.


seeya 'round like a rissole,

Dave

[nettiemoore]

Originally Posted by lionking

Yeah, but they almost destroyed our Botanic Gardens in Melbourne.

Well, feel free to shoot the lot of the buggers then. Just leave a few for my street at dusk.

[Akhenaten]

Originally Posted by Old Bob

We also have a huge array of supposed to be "Over the horizon radar".

We do indeed. It looks like this:

©Australian Government - DSTO

Originally Posted by arthwollipot

If it's only "supposed to be" that, what do you think it really is?

Originally Posted by Old Bob

Haarp, weather control.

Personally, as the basis for a yarn, I like Bob's version, however, Mr Wollipot has those annoying facts on his side again. Perhaps Bob meant weather prediction rather than control.

From the Defence Science and Technology Orginisation:


Jindalee Operational Radar Network (JORN)

Quote:

JORN provides 24-hour military surveillance of Australia's northern approaches, but also serves cililian purposes such as weather forecasting and the prevention of illegal entry, smuggling and unlicensed fishing.

my bolding


Anyway, this is the real evidence:

Originally Posted by arthwollipot

Well, it's not doing a very good job, if I may say so. Floods in the north, bushfires in the south, fifteen years of drought...

______________________________________

Originally Posted by Old Bob

Also we have areas suitable for hot rock energy extraction (push water down get high pressure steam back) Birdsville produce elec. power with a mini hot water system.

Absolutely. I don't know why it's not used more. New Zealand and Iceland do really well with geothermal power and they're just like Australia. A bit.

Most of the places in Western Queensland like Boulia and Julia Creek use artesian bores as the town water supply and it comes up out of the ground hot. Saves heaps in electricity but it smells like sulphur and tastes worse than Southwark.


Speaking of Birdsville, We must mention the Birdsville Races.


Cheers,

Dave

[Damien Evans]

Originally Posted by Wildy

You mean Darwin right? Canberra falls within the area specified by arthwollipot.

Yeah, lets say that, and just ignore that I thought Canberra was 50km west of where it actually is...

[Akhenaten]

Originally Posted by Sideroxylon

A great soundtrack by the Divinyls and lead singer Christina Amphlett even scored an AFI best supporting actress award out of it. It’s a shame the band are seen as one hit wonders abroad (I touch Myself) because have produced a lot of good songs over their almost 30 year history.

Originally Posted by lionking

Oh agreed. One of the best Aussie bands of the 80s. Saw them live once.

Thirded. Also, Chrissy is hot.

Originally Posted by MG1962

I had a huge arguement about this. A recent one hit wonder show had Midnight Oil. I was outraged. A person said, well how do you expect Americans to know about their other music

I pointed out using that critera Led Zep would also be a one hit wonder band

I share your outrage. The Oils rock.

I can feel a poll coming on.


Cheers,

Dave.

[Damien Evans]

Originally Posted by Akhenaten

I had to read that six times trying to figure out how chocolate got into the discussion.


I think flying foxes must cause some confusion for lots of folks because we call them fruit bats, and they ain't bats at all. (or foxes, for that matter)

The big giveaway to their non-sonarness is the number of them you see come a gutser into stuff like power lines and TV antennas. Fair dinkum bats do much better in the dark.


Cheers, Jeffo

Um, yes they are. They're Megabats.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megabat

[arthwollipot]

Originally Posted by Damien Evans

Yeah, lets say that, and just ignore that I thought Canberra was 50km west of where it actually is...

I got a mate totally flustered when I told him that Adelaide is actually almost due west of Canberra. He wouldn't believe me. I had to get an atlas and show him.

[Akhenaten]

Originally Posted by arthwollipot

Australia has approximately the same land area as the continental United States, and about 10% of the population.

Almost all of that population is crowded onto the eastern edge, between the mountains and the sea.

Originally Posted by Damien Evans

And 90% of the rest are in either Adelaide, Canberra or Perth.

Originally Posted by Wildy

You mean Darwin right? Canberra falls within the area specified by arthwollipot.

Originally Posted by Damien Evans

Yeah, lets say that, and just ignore that I thought Canberra was 50km west of where it actually is...

Canberra is never where you expect it to be. It moves about to accommodate the ever-mobile Lake George, which some believe has mysterious subterranean connections to New Zealand.


totaltravel.com

Quote:

It is renowned for emptying and filling on a cyclical basis, and for the treachery of its waters when full (a number of people have drowned).


Lake George is a freak phenomenon. It has been known to disappear virtually overnight. The lake has been totally dry in 1837, 1870, 1902, most of the1930s and the early1980s. It has been completely full in 1852, 1897, 1925, the 1950s and the mid-1980s. There is no pattern to this strange phenomenon.

Well, maybe it's not all THAT mysterious.

ABC Stateline

Quote:

During the lake's history, numerous reasons have been given for its mysterious fluctuations but a seminar in Canberra last year [2003] said without doubt, evaporation was the cause. For almost all this century, there's been discussion about diverting a nearby river to keep the lake full.

My story is better.

[Akhenaten]

Originally Posted by arthwollipot

I got a mate totally flustered when I told him that Adelaide is actually almost due west of Canberra. He wouldn't believe me. I had to get an atlas and show him.

I've had to do the same thing to prove that Melbourne and Birdsville are on a north-south line.


Did you know that Hobart, Sydney and Brisvegas are all in a straight line?

[arthwollipot]

Lage George has been more or less dry for at least the last ten years.

[Akhenaten]

Originally Posted by Jeff Corey

I'm batty about it meself. http://www.rollogrady.org/oldfilez/10/bats.jpg

Many people react with fear and loathing.

Originally Posted by nettiemoore

Fruit bats are one of my fave bits about Sydney (i know they're a pest in some places) -- going out at dusk and seeing a horde of they flapping away, silhouetted against is sky is very cool. Do not get sick of it, tho' perhaps easily pleased ...

Originally Posted by lionking

Yeah, but they almost destroyed our Botanic Gardens in Melbourne.

Originally Posted by nettiemoore

Well, feel free to shoot the lot of the buggers then. Just leave a few for my street at dusk.

We need batallions of combatants armed with batarangs to round up batches of them in the batanic gardens and disbatch them to Sin City.

[Akhenaten]

Originally Posted by arthwollipot

Lake George has been more or less dry for at least the last ten years.

Aha!eleven!!

Just about the same time frame that many Pacific islands have been experiencing a sinking feeling.

Quote:

In 2002, Tuvalu was hit by a record high tide, which covered much of the island and flooded its airport. The situation is deteriorating rapidly.

Evaporation? Global Warming? NWO? You decide!

[Akhenaten]

Originally Posted by Akhenaten

I think flying foxes must cause some confusion for lots of folks because we call them fruit bats, and they ain't bats at all. (or foxes, for that matter)

Originally Posted by Damien Evans

Um, yes they are. They're Megabats.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megabat

Yeah, I had teh dumb when I said that. I fixed it up in Post #254.

Love the name. Very Meatloaf.


Cheers

[Akhenaten]

oops

[lionking]

Originally Posted by Akhenaten

I've had to do the same thing to prove that Melbourne and Birdsville are on a north-south line.


Did you know that Hobart, Sydney and Brisvegas are all in a straight line?


http://www.yvonneclaireadams.com/Hos...Hobsydbane.jpg

And the other thing is that some people in Melbourne couldn't accept that they were watching the cricket live from Sydney at as it was dark there and only twilight here. "Look at the atlas" I said, but I still couldn't convince them.

[lionking]

Okay, this can not possibly off topic. After spending the last few hours listening to Aussie songs, this is the definitive list of the top five. This is correct, no correspondence will be entered into:

Hoodoo Gurus "Bittersweet"
The Church "Under the Milky Way"
Easybeats "Friday on my mind"
Hunters and Collectors "Throw your arms around me"
Powderfinger "These Days"




That is all.

[lionking]

"Stranded" by the Saints might just make it. If anyone nominates John Farnham, I'm sure I can find where you live.

[Damien Evans]

You're The Voice by John Farnham must surely be up there...

SO should Am I ever Gonna See Your Face Again, Khe Sahn, Four Seasons In One Day and Great Southern Land.

[Jeff Corey]

Originally Posted by Akhenaten

Many people react with fear and loathing.
We need batallions of combatants armed with batarangs to round up batches of them in the batanic gardens and disbatch them to Sin City.

We need to be armed with bat'leths, of course.
We were talking about this at the local and one guy was insisting that bats were rodents - flying mice. He didn't believe me when I told him they were more closely related to primates.

[HawaiiBigSis]

Originally Posted by Akhenaten

Canberra is never where you expect it to be. It moves about to accommodate the ever-mobile Lake George, which some believe has mysterious subterranean connections to New Zealand.

What? There's a lake in NZ that rises when Lake George falls?

[Sideroxylon]

Some great mentions so far. Here's a handful of my favourites.

Sunnyboys – Alone With You
AC/DC – It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)
Radio Birdman – Hand Of Law
The Celibate Rifles – Electravision Mantra
Died Pretty - Blue Sky Day
Masters Apprentices - Because I Love You

[Akhenaten]

Originally Posted by HawaiiBigSis

What? There's a lake in NZ that rises when Lake George falls?

Yes. Gully Bull Lake. It's near Waikikamookow.

[Akhenaten]

Originally Posted by Old Bob

Here comes more.

Black Mountain near Cooktown is an eerie jumble of black caravan and car sized rocks piled into a treeless mountain. Our Aborigines won't go near it as many people have scrambled in and disappeared. I climbed up a short distance and my dog would go no further. Throw a yonnie down and you hear it bounce into the black depths. A team of cavers entered and found that below ground level deep water goes on down, they came out saying that they never had the right gear to explore, then bolted.

Rumour has it that it is infested with big pythons. Tried to ignore the bad feeling the place has but can realize why our aborigines keep away; they have a better warning system than whites. Little rock wallabies around the edges would feed the pythons. If you want to feel bad spirits go there.

My friend tells me that an even bigger pile is up the coast a bit but no access to it except by sea.

Okie Dokie. Let's have a little look at this one.

I'll bet some people think Old Bob and me are making all this malarky up as we go. Not so! Some of it's even in real books and stuff, although a few items haven't quite made it through peer review yet.



Black Mountain

©Australian Explorer.com



The boundary line between this dimension and the next can be made out in the centre of the picture. I stitched two photographs together to get this view, that's why there's a seam down the middle.

According to the Geological Society of Australia Inc (Qld Division), this is what it is:

Originally Posted by Geological Society of Australia

BLACK MOUNTAIN, COOKTOWN

This enormous heap of boulders is not a result of a volcanic eruption, but has accumulated during the weathering and decomposition of a body of granite rock known as the Trevethan Granite.

The granite was originally intruded as a molten mass deep below the surface, where it solidified about 240 million years ago in Permian times.

Erosion gradually removed the rocks above and exposed the top of the granite body. This was sparsely fractured, and weathering and
decomposition could advance further only down these few weaknesses, to leave large rectangular corestones in between.

Once isolated by removal of the weathering debris, the corestones suffered little further deterioration, apart from rounding of their corners.

As erosion and lowering of the surrounding land surface proceeded over millions of years, more and more corestones were left piled up over the granite mass.

Other smaller boulder mountains are known in north Queensland and appear to be a feature of humid tropical climates. The black colour is only a coating of lichens and inside the granite is pinkish grey.

Yes, well, that's all very nice, but what about the legends?

Overlander.com has this to say:

Quote:

These giant piles of granite boulders have been the subject of Aboriginal and European legends and leg pulling for decades. Even the Aboriginals have been guilty of the latter and some well meaning people have gone away thinking that they have got the real mythology, only to be the subject of a new corroboree in the old days and a few laughs today.

The locals will tell you yarns about the mountain that will make your ears curl and the hair stand up on edge. They always know someone who has climbed it, got lost in the caves or someone who has vanished forever.

Well, I can't leave it at that without my own story.

There are indeed similar outcrops to this along the coast up on the Cape, and I know of at least one that's accessible from the Daintree-Cape Trib road. It's at a place called Bouncing Boulders, or something like that, and the rocks there (my guess is basalt) bounce off each other like rubber balls when you throw them.

Here's a quote from another forum that discusses this phenomena:

Originally Posted by Jim

Rocks do bounce like tennis balls if you can find them.

The only place I know that they exist is between Cape Tribulation and the Bloomfield River in North QLD. It used to be (about 10 years ago) signposted on the track until it was declared an Aboriginal Sacred Site and the signs were taken down. Hard to find now.

Does anyone have GPS co-ordinates? It was a fascninating place and it is sad that it cannot be enjoyed any longer by everyone.

Cheers,

Jim.

While we're on the subject of Far North Queensland Aboriginal legends about boulders that swallow people, here's a story about a place that I've visited many times, and hardly ever disappeared.

It's from a trip report at Travel Library.com

Quote:

Babinda Boulders

There's a swimming hole south of Cairns that has claimed quite a few lives over the years. Aboriginal legend has it that a young maiden drowned herself there after being rejected; she now haunts the boulders, taking the lives of any unmarried men who are foolish enough to swim there. Plenty have scoffed, and plenty have drowned. I'm a skeptic, so I felt compelled to swim there, but we, er, ran out of time.

paul
paulbakker@hotmail.com

______________________________________

Originally Posted by Old Bob

Also the locals guided us to the most beautiful water fall and large rock pool hidden in the scrub behind Cooktown. A lovely place in winter,sandfly city in the wet season. A nat. park that has casawaries with legs like footballers and a few snakes. One nasty bug we forgot to talk about is assassin bugs, come in sizes from half inch to two inch, had a big one bite me on the leg years ago giving me osteoarthritis in the knee. Got complety rid of it with a zappa and black walnut hull juice thanks to my wife and Helda Clarke.(bloody doctors were useless) A number of bites killed Cook's botanist Charles Banks, as he was studying them. Not seen much but we do have them.

Geez mate, there's about six new topics in that paragraph.

I'm on it.


Cheers,

Dave

[Akhenaten]

Originally Posted by Magnifico2.0

Lame.

So, how are we going?

[Giraffe107]

Babinda Boulders are dangerous. And not because of some watery tart, either. The rocks are huge, and have deep ravines between them. Very easy to get sucked under, especially around the wet season when the water is high and fast. Not sure if Paulie saw them in person, but we were there in the dry and even then it was easy to see how easily you could get sucked under.
And why does it take young men? Well who is more likely to try and have a swim there, a 15 year old kid or a middle-aged woman?
There is a swimming spot upstream where you can go instead, next to the picnic area. That bit is safe. It's a beautiful place to visit, full of Ulysses butterflys.

Speaking of hot water coming out the ground, it doesn't actually save much energy. It's too dangerous to pipe to people's homes (in Thargomindah for example it is 90C) so the council has to install cooling towers...

[Akhenaten]

Originally Posted by lionking

Okay, this can not possibly off topic. After spending the last few hours listening to Aussie songs, this is the definitive list of the top five. This is correct, no correspondence will be entered into:

Hoodoo Gurus "Bittersweet"
The Church "Under the Milky Way"
Easybeats "Friday on my mind"
Hunters and Collectors "Throw your arms around me"
Powderfinger "These Days"



That is all.

Originally Posted by lionking

"Stranded" by the Saints might just make it. If anyone nominates John Farnham, I'm sure I can find where you live.

Originally Posted by Damien Evans

You're The Voice by John Farnham must surely be up there...

SO should Am I ever Gonna See Your Face Again, Khe Sahn, Four Seasons In One Day and Great Southern Land.

Well, at least you won't have far to look. lionking.

Originally Posted by Sideroxylon

Some great mentions so far. Here's a handful of my favourites.

Sunnyboys – Alone With You
AC/DC – It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)
Radio Birdman – Hand Of Law
The Celibate Rifles – Electravision Mantra
Died Pretty - Blue Sky Day
Masters Apprentices - Because I Love You

Adding to the above are these songs, in the order they were mentioned in the thread:

The Newcastle Song - Bob Hudson
Advance Australia Fair - Peter Dodds McCormick
The Happy Little Vegemite Song - I. Havenoidea
Bound for South Australia - Some Sailors
The Band Played Waltzing Matilda - Eric Bogle
I Was Only Nineteen (A Walk in the Light Green) - John Schumann
Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport - Rolf Harris
Everyone Else Has Had More Sex Than Me - This Is Serious Mum (TISM)
Boys in Town - the Divinyls (from the movie Monkey Grip)
I Touch Myself - the Divinyls

MG1962 mentioned Midnight Oil, but no particular song.


So here's the start of a list that I'll keep updated until there's enough for a poll. Derision for any of my inclusions will be graciously accepted.

1. The Newcastle Song - Bob Hudson
   
   
2. Advance Australia Fair - Peter Dodds McCormick
   
   
3. The Happy Little Vegemite Song - I Havenoidea
   
   
4. Bound for South Australia - Some Sailors
   
   
5. The Band Played Waltzing Matilda - Eric Bogle
   
   
6. I Was Only Nineteen (A Walk in the Light Green) - John Schumann
   
   
7. Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport - Rolf Harris
   
   
8. Everyone Else Has Had More Sex Than Me - This Is Serious Mum (TISM)
   
   
9. Boys in Town - the Divinyls
   
   
10. I Touch Myself - the Divinyls
    
    
11. Bittersweet - Hoodoo Gurus
    
    
12. Under the Milky Way - the Church
    
    
13. Friday on my Mind - Easybeats
    
    
14. Throw Your Arms Around Me - Hunters and Collectors
    
    
15. These Days - Powderfinger
    
    
16. Stranded - the Saints
    
    
17. You're The Voice - John Farnham
    
    
18. Am I ever Gonna See Your Face Again - the Angels
    
    
19. Khe Sahn - Cold Chisel
    
    
20. Four Seasons In One Day - Crowded House
    
    
21. Great Southern Land - Icehouse
    
    
22. Alone With You - Sunnyboys
    
    
23. It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll) - AC/DC
    
    
24. Hand Of Law - Radio Birdman
    
    
25. Electravision Mantra - The Celibate Rifles
    
    
26. Blue Sky Day - Died Pretty
    
    
27. Because I Love You - Masters Apprentices

[Akhenaten]

Originally Posted by Giraffe107

Babinda Boulders are dangerous. And not because of some watery tart, either. The rocks are huge, and have deep ravines between them. Very easy to get sucked under, especially around the wet season when the water is high and fast. Not sure if Paulie saw them in person, but we were there in the dry and even then it was easy to see how easily you could get sucked under.

And why does it take young men? Well who is more likely to try and have a swim there, a 15 year old kid or a middle-aged woman?

Or me. That's a worry.

Originally Posted by Giraffe107

There is a swimming spot upstream where you can go instead, next to the picnic area. That bit is safe. It's a beautiful place to visit, full of Ulysses butterflys.

Kiddie Pool.

Originally Posted by Giraffe107

Speaking of hot water coming out the ground, it doesn't actually save much energy. It's too dangerous to pipe to people's homes (in Thargomindah for example it is 90C) so the council has to install cooling towers...

Well, yeah, 90°C (194°F) is getting a bit much. Here's one of the cooling towers.




Here's an earlier version of the same idea.




Cheers,

Dave