Did you know...

Fact for the day:
The first manned flight in Australia was in 1858 in a balloon. This was launched at Cremorne Gardens, Melbourne's first 'pleasure gardens' (precursor to amusement parks). Cremorne is a small suburb in on the edge of Richmond in Melbourne (and is where my brother lives).

An attempt had been made two years earlier in Sydney which resulted in the death of a child, not because the balloon crashed, but because there was a riot among the paying viewers when the balloon didn't ascend.

From: Aviation in Australia by Jill Blee

Blown away

No, my dog Amos isn't

flapping his ears. He is being blown (almost away) by a 30kt (approx 60km/h) winds (even at ground level) that regularly rip through the carport at work. Geraldton is a windy place.

Hence the trees struggle to grow straight.

This is the most famous leaning tree in Geraldton. Mainly because someone has made a clearing beside the highway and put 'photo attraction' signs up. There are better looking ones, but this is the easiest to photograph.

Everything including the kitchen sink

A new way to move house?

Note the guy holding up the powerline! Hope they weren't moving far.

Oh the strange things we see from our kitchen window in 'Trashfield'

Tourist attractions...?

The little town of Denmark in the South West of WA is known for its forests and wineries, but the main tourist attraction (at least they'd like to think that because I bet it cost them a bit of money) is the World's Largest Barometer!

It was donated by a retired Dutchman who landed in Denmark (perhaps the wrong Denmark??) 10 years back. He ran a barometer museum in the Netherlands and couldn't part with his 12m tall record breaking beast. So he brought it with him. Guess he couldn't fit it in his cottage.