COVID-19 / Australia / 31st August Update

Australia

Victoria recorded 114 new cases and 11 deaths on Sunday, after its daily case total dropped to double digits for the first time in weeks on Saturday.

Melbourne enters its fifth week of stage four restrictions.
Obviously this has had the desired affect with reduced cases.

Victoria

 

NSW recorded seven new cases on Sunday, as health alerts were issued for a number of Sydney suburban venues due to links with a growing CBD (downtown) cluster. Evidence of transmission between two bus passengers will likely put pressure on the state's government to mandate face masks on public transport. 

New South Wales

Four new COVID-19 cases were added to the Queensland list on Sunday, all of them linked to the current corrective services outbreak in the southeast of the state.

Queensland

People in that state have been urged to consider wearing masks, if they can, as a cluster of virus cases grows and new restrictions are put in place to contain it.

The remaining states an territories are virtually virus free but maintain their border closures.
We are still virus free in our area. 

New South Wales Bushfire Inquiry Report

New South Wales (NSW) must prepare for similar or worse years following the extreme 2019-20 bushfire season, with increased hazard-reduction burning offering only limited help as the climate continues to warm, the NSW Bushfire Inquiry has found.
The Inquiry assessed 1967 submissions and considered a season that involved 11,774 incidents, the deaths of more than two dozen people, destruction of 2476 homes, with more than 5.5 million hectares (13.75 million acres) burnt.

The Inquiry’s report noted last season was "extreme, and extremely unusual". 

"It showed us bushfires through forested regions on a scale that we have not seen in Australia in recorded history.”
"The season showed us what damage megafires can do and how dangerous they can be for communities and firefighters and it is clear that we should expect fire seasons like 2019-20, or potentially worse, to happen again.”

"Climate change as a result of increased greenhouse gas emissions clearly played a role in the conditions that led up to the fires and in the unrelenting conditions that supported the fires to spread, but climate change does not explain everything that happened."
The inquiry's recommendations include "more emphasis on getting fires out early (this certainly may have saved us as ‘our’ fire burnt for a week, albeit in inaccessible country, before turning nasty), improved backburning protocols, training and information around heavy plant use, the right mix of aerial fire fighting assets and increased aerial night fire fighting.”

The 76 recommendations made have been accepted by the current NSW Berejiklian government.

The government has already allocated $45 million more to help prepare for the next fire season. More funds would be needed to implement the recommendations, which include improving the safety of fire trucks and issuing more protective gear to firefighters.

Storm Damaged Trees Removed

Mick, our tree man, was back to get rid of our three uprooted trees.
Job was done as quickly and efficiently as normal.
Now we have another set of completely new views.

There will be considerable remedial work to do on our front and back yards as heavy machinery and soggy ground are not too compatible. But that’s the price we had to pay to get things cleared away.

Am sure by the end of the upcoming summer, with some levelling work and a few loads of top soil the grass will have started to come back.

COVID-19 /Australia / 18th August Update

Australian Statistics

The second wave in Victoria may have peaked and cases are dropping hopefully due to the severe restrictions put in place in the state a few weeks ago. The death rate however is of great concern with the aged care sector sadly suffering disproportionately.

However Sydney has some hotspots which is worrying. Residents of that city are our main source of visitors especially on weekends. Since interstate travel is not possible, we have noticed a great increase in visitor numbers.

Other states are doing ok with their severe border restrictions still in place. eg. Tasmania until 1st December.

Because of this our holiday trip to that state next month is definitely cancelled.

We had two local cases with visitors to restaurants in the area from Sydney testing positive on their return to the city. Subsequent testing of those locals who were in contact have proven negative so far.

It is inevitable that this will happen with ‘weekend warriors’ visiting the area in substantial numbers. 

Our mayor is walking a very fine line trying to support local business who are negatively affected by the lack of tourism while trying to placate residents who are rightly nervous about virus transmission from hotspots outside the area.

But her message is ‘don’t visit unless absolutely necessary’. Our take is this will be ignored so our self isolation policy will continue.

There are a number of official inquiries in progress related to the spread of the virus in Australia.

a) the uncontrolled disembarking of the cruise ship Ruby Princess in Sydney on 19th March which resulted in 712 passengers and 202 crew testing positive and subsequently the deaths of 22 people.

b) the cause of the second wave in Victoria. Possibly lax quarantine hotel administration.

c) the unacceptable death rate in aged care facilities. 

We will post on the results of these in due course.

Boundary Fencing Completed

Now that the fire damaged trees have been removed, it was time to complete the rest of the western boundary fence which had also been burnt and recently demolished.
Neighbour Bob is my ‘go to’ fencing expert and he generously offered to help with the construction.

 

 

As this part of the fence would not come under any stock pressure, it was decided to use star pickets instead of the more substantial star picket/wooden post combo we have used other places. These were 3m apart using 1.5m lengths, with every fourth 1.8m, strung with four strands of long life (blue) high tensile 1.8mm barbed wire.

There were a couple of options for end assemblies.
I usually use diagonal stay.

Bob decided to show me how to build a box version using a huge corner post already there (and only minimally burnt) in combination with a 1.8m treated pine post and 2.75m rail.

It is a work of fencing art! (see video below)
The pickets were rammed in by hand with my trusty yellow ‘machine’ and it was pretty soft going apart from one that took some extra muscle. Tree root probably.

The four strands of wire were run out and strained using a conventional wire strainer and wired to the star pickets.
I normally use two types of strainers, a twitcher (L) or ratchet style (R) which are good for short runs and are easy to use when retightening damaged fences but with this long run the the conventional one is much better.

So that means we are completely boundary fenced and secure now.

There are some internal fences that need attention and they will be the next project.

Yet Another East Coast Low

East coast lows seem to be almost a weekly event this winter. 

We had a few days warning this time to get things secured and on Friday afternoon it arrived with heavy rain.
Over the next 24 hours 50mm (2inches) dumped on us and we were once again quickly flooded.

The ground was truly saturated from the previous two similar weather events.

Over the following 24 hours, another 50mm.

Day 3 another 30mm.

 

 

 

 

The predicted strong winds however did not eventuate. 90km/hr had been forecast but gusts only reached 70km/hr. We were obviously worried that some of the trees remaining around us would not be able to ‘hang on’ in the super saturated soil.

 So that makes a total of 550mm (22inches) in the last few weeks which is half our average annual rainfall.
The creek thankfully has once again retreated quickly but the ground is really soggy.
A check on flood damage revealed that none of the fence repairs done last week were substantially ‘undone’.

There is again flood debris buildup on some fences which has pushed posts over on quite an angle.

This will require debris removal (and burning) then post resetting and ramming. But this will have to wait until the soil dries out. Ramming mud around posts is a pretty useless exercise.

 

Other than that piles of flood debris, logs. branches litter the paddocks.

My spring tasks have been therefore predetermined well in advance.

COVID-19 / Australia / 10th August Update

Australia’s second wave continues lead by a deadly resurgence of cases in the state of Victoria.

Victoria recorded 860 new cases of COVID-19 over the weekend (466 on Saturday, 394 on Sunday). Premier Daniel Andrews announced 12 deaths were recorded on Saturday, while 17 deaths were reported on Sunday which is Victoria's deadliest day of the pandemic so far.

Only essential retailers such as supermarkets, pharmacies and post offices are open for trade under sweeping stage four lockdown laws introduced by the Victorian government last Monday.
All other businesses not granted an exemption were forced to close, but are allowed to work onsite to fulfill online orders. Contactless pick-up and delivery, such as click and collect, is also permitted.

Cases in Victoria 

New South Wales recorded 19 new cases (nine on Saturday, 10 on Sunday), including several school students, which has prompted the closure of at least three schools.

Meanwhile, Queensland enjoyed a weekend of zero new cases.

That state has a total of 11 active cases, four of whom are in hospital.

Meanwhile our neighbour across the Tasman, New Zealand, marked 100 days without a domestic transmission of the coronavirus on Sunday. The country’s successful fight against COVID-19 has made the Pacific island nation of 5 million one of the safest places in the world right now.

Update: 12th August

New Zealand will re-enter coronavirus lockdown restrictions after four new cases of COVID-19 were discovered in Auckland.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said four cases had been discovered in one household but more than one workplace was involved.
Contact tracing was under way but authorities had not been able to trace the origin of the outbreak.
Auckland will be isolated from the rest of the country, returning to level three restrictions for three days from noon for three days.
The rest of the country will enter level two restrictions.

COVID-19 / Simple Preventative Measures

1. Wash Your Hands with Soap and Water

2. Wear a Mask (a good one!)

Thanks to the University of New South Wales for these excellent videos.

Birthday Party Food 1950s Style

Now we are buying groceries via the ‘click and collect’ method, we get to trawl through the supermarket website and occasionally come across things that have been long forgotten.

A couple of these were party pies and sausage rolls.

Food of my childhood.

Got me thinking about what we got to eat at kids’ birthday parties in the 50s.

Here’s my list from a 70+ year old memory:

Lamingtons

Party pies and sausage rolls

Cheerios

Chocolate crackles

Fairy bread

Pikelets

Peter's Ice cream cake (special occasions only!)

Cottees soft drinks or more likely cordials

And everyone was sent home with a bag of mixed lollies (candy) which could include:.

musk sticks, licorice blocks, ripe raspberries, chocolate freckles, gobstoppers, jelly beans, columbines, jaffas, milkshakes, fruit tingles, fantales, steamrollers, lifesavers etc.

Talk about sugared up!

COVID-19 / Case Spike / Victoria 3

Things have gone from bad to worse in Victoria.

A state of disaster has been declared after it recorded 671 new cases yesterday and it was revealed 760 active cases do not have a known source. 
Victorians have spent their first night under new restrictions in response to the state's second wave. 

For six weeks, Melbourne will be under an 8pm curfew as part of Stage Four Restrictions announced by Premier yesterday. 

Victoria

For Melbourne, the new restrictions came into affect from 6pm yesterday (Sunday 2nd August). A curfew was in place from 8pm that evening. Curfews will be in operation from 8pm to 5am every evening. 

People are only allowed to leave their house for work and essential health, care or safety reasons.

Outside of these hours, people are only allowed to leave the house for 1 of the following four reasons:

-To purchase food and necessary supplies. This must be done within a 5km radius from where they live. Only 1 person per household can leave for essential goods, and only once per day. For some people the nearest goods and services will be more than 5km away. In this situation they may travel beyond 5km to the nearest provider. If they are unable to leave home because it would mean leaving a young child or at-risk person at home unattended, then they may accompany you.
-Exercise once a day for up to 1 hour within a 5km radius of the home. Gathering sizes will be limited to two. If people are unable to leave home because it would mean leaving a young child or at-risk person at home unattended, then they may accompany you.
-For care and health care including accompanying someone for essential medical care if you are a carer, guardian or necessary support person. The 5km limit does not apply to care or caregiving.
-Work. Study at TAFE and university must be done remotely. The 5km limit does not apply to work.

People are also allowed to leave the home to visit a partner or as part of formal or informal shared parenting arrangements.

Persons escaping family violence can also leave the home.
Leaving home in case of an emergency is permitted.
People must continue to wear a face covering when leaving the home.

Central Melbourne Last Night

Regional Victoria has moved to Stage Three Restrictions.

This means people must stay home except for the following four reasons:
-For food and essential supplies
-For study or work
-For care and healthcare
-For exercise or outdoor recreation

When outside the home, a face covering must be worn.
No visitors are allowed at home and people are only allowed to gather with one person from outside the household in public.

As for New South Wales, 13 new cases were recorded overnight. Masks are now recommended in supermarkets, on public transport and at churches.

Repairing Flood Damage

Our creek empties into a coastal lake a few kilometres east from us.
It is usually cut off from the sea by the beach.
When we have lots of rain, as we did last weekend, and the creek floods, water can take ages to dissipate from our area as the lake tends to backup.

But this time round, a huge surf and the pressure of a large inflow caused the sand bank to breached and the lake water flowed out to sea.

The lake has now become tidal. How long that lasts is unknown. The huge surf has washed a lot of sand away. It can take some time for the ocean to return it.

Pics: Gail Wild

So as the creek returns to its natural water course and the pasture starts to dry out, we are now in the process of fixing the flood damage, mainly to fences.

Large amounts of flood debris built up against wires and posts pushing them over or in some cases flattening them completely.

This is a bit frustrating as a lot of the fences had just been replaced following the fires at the beginning of the year.

So it’s a matter of clearing away the debris, resetting or replacing the posts and straining the wire.

Fencing seems to be a never ending job this year.

Dan Murphy’s

Normally we buy wine direct from a group of selected wineries in various regions eg. Hunter Valley, across the country whose wine we know will be consistently of good quality and reasonable price. Sometimes I have been known to indulge in some of their upmarket products eg. Pikes “The Merle” Riesling from the Clare Valley for special occasions but that is another story.
For quaffing wines we usually rely on our supermarket wine shop as it’s easy to pick up half a dozen of their specials when we go grocery shopping. Sometimes they can have real bargains.
But with Covid-19 changing our shopping strategy from instore to ‘click and collect’, we have had to give the liquor purchases a miss as they are not included in the internet purchase system.
So recently I turned to the well known Dan Murphy’s.

While they have a chain of good wine shops Australia wide(two within an hour’s drive, one north and south of us), they also have a strong on line presence with a wide selection, good prices and very quick to the door courier delivery even for their rural customers.
Looking at their range I was taken by the variety of foreign wine they keep in stock.
We usually stick to Australian or New Zealand products but took the opportunity to broaden our wine horizons a little.
So with a strict $20/bottle limit, over the last few months we have bought wine grown in France, Italy, Austria, Spain, Germany, Argentina and Chile.

Some of the more outstanding ones have been wines from France’s Cotes du Rhone, which are usually a Grenache/Shiraz or Mourvèdre blend sometimes with a small percentage of other approved red grapes eg. Marselan.
Rioja Tempranillo from Spain has always been a favourite even at the crianza level and Dan had a really good one.

Surprisingly cheap Burgundys can be good and not so fruit driven as our lower end Pinot Noirs tend to be. When you can pay up to $1000 for a first growth Burgundy, you wonder how much better it can be than a $19 one. Certainly not 50 times better.
I was also happy with their range of Loire Valley Sauvignon Blanc the home of Sancerre. They are not so in your face ‘varietal’ ie. tropical fruit/passion fruit /capsicum/asparagus character caused by more methoxypyrazine and thiol compounds as the NZ wines.

A huge surprise was a Carmenere from Chile. Wonderfully complex with fine tannins and a long finish. This red grape variety is of French origin from the Bordeaux region but is hardly grown there any more. The phylloxera plague of 1868 killed most of it off. Chile imported the vines in the 19th century thinking they were Merlot hence the variety has been preserved.
Chile has now adopted it as their signature grape.
So Dan the Man, as he is known here, is now firmly on our wine supplier list.