Phone problems & the NBN

March 23rd, 2012

Please note that our phone has not been working properly since Saturday 17th March (we can ring out, most of the time, but callers trying to ring us either get just a dial tone, crackling or other sounds – it doesn’t even go to Messagebank, which is a first). Telstra says the deadline for repair […]

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AACo – Corella Lake on Brunette Downs

March 17th, 2012

It was nice to open up the Townsville Bulletin today and see David Farley, CEO of the Australian Agricultural Company (AACo).  Because he is standing in front of one of my aerial photographs of Corella Lake, one of the large freshwater lakes on the AAco’s blue-ribbon cattle station in the Northern Territory, Brunette Downs. The […]

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Honey production at the Rialto Intercontinental Hotel, Melbourne

March 17th, 2012

Built by Melbourne’s Grollo Family in partnership with St Martin’s Properties in 1982-6 and still in the top 5 tallest buildings in the southern hemisphere (and still well known for spectacular views), Melbourne’s Rialto Towers (43 & 63 storeys high – 253 metres) are located right in the heart of the Melbourne CBD, at 495 Collins Street (corner of King Street). […]

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Fiona Lake on Twitter – FionaLakeAus

March 6th, 2012

Despite not posting any Twitter messages I started collecting Twitter followers, so thought I’d better send out the occasional tweet.  Follow my occasional twitter messages @ FionaLakeAus (the world is full of people called Fiona Lake). What inspired this sudden enthusiasm?  One of my LinkedIn contacts sent a tweet about a possum that broke into […]

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Tanumbirini Station sold to Thames Pastoral Company

February 23rd, 2012

Baldy Bay Pty Ltd  has sold the NT’s Tanumbirini Station to a business apparently new to rural Australia, and about which very little is publicly known – Thames Pastoral Company.  Tanumbirini Station was previously owned by Henry & Maria Townshend, who sold it in 2006. According to Beef Central, David Connolly is the manager of Thames […]

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‘A Farmer’s Life for Me’ BBC television series

February 21st, 2012

‘A Farmer’s Life for Me’ was filmed by the BBC in 2011, and has just started screening on ABC television from 6pm-7pm on Tuesday nights. Filmed during midsummer in the beautiful rolling hills of Suffolk, ‘A Farmers Life for Me’  features 9 varied couples (siblings and married/partnered couples, gay/straight; of all ages & from all walks […]

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Australia’s fine wool (Merino) industry

February 6th, 2012

Imagine if a capital city newspaper ran a story on Toyota wheel drives and illustrated it with an image of a Mini Cooper S.  Can you imagine the resulting  laughter, too? Apparently it’s fine to use any old stock library image when it comes to illustrating a story on agriculture, however.  The Feb 4-5 2012 edition of Brisbane’s […]

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Rural Women Speaking Out

February 6th, 2012

Stumbled upon a very interesting blog piece by ABC journalist Flint Duxfield titled ‘Women are farmers too, so why don’t we hear them more?’  Flint describes the all-too-common occurrence of ringing a farm, speaking to the wife who is clearly knowledgeable but when asked about the possibility of an interview – the wife defers to the […]

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Farm blogs – personal stories from the bush

February 3rd, 2012

There are now quite a few Australian farming blogs – and there are several different kinds.  There are those that are entertaining and informative accounts of daily domestic issues, written by women, which highlight the lifestyle and financial management differences between living in towns and living in the bush.  These blogs are interesting and very useful in regard to […]

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Best Rangeland Practice and Innovation (Bestprac)

January 24th, 2012

There’s a great source of useful rural management stories and interesting information on the ‘Bestprac’ website.  Bestprac is supported by AWI (Australian Wool Innovation) and specialises in the promotion of best practice management of arid rangelands, helping cattle producers as well as sheepmeat/wool producers located in more sparsely settled areas (i.e. lower rainfall farming regions) hear first hand stories from […]

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