Australian Currency

Australia transitioned to the metric system primarily between 1970 and 1988, with the main phase-in period occurring from 1971 to 1976.
However in February 1966, we changed our currency from pounds shillings and pence (£.s.d) to dollars and cents. 

A big publicity plan was instigated

That was sixty years ago!

Time flies.

£A1 became $A2.
That meant who whole lot of new notes and coins.

Below are the latest.

A two-year period was established, during which both decimal currency and the old currency were legal tender.

Despite the planned two-year transition, the new currency was adopted rapidly, with roughly 85% of the old money removed from circulation within a few months.

Eventually the dollar and two dollar notes were replaced by coins in 1984 and 1988 respectively.The one and two cent coins were done away with in 1992.

Australia was the first country to introduce polymer (BOPP plastic) banknotes,

The first note was released in 1988 and a full transition completed by 1996. 

Developed with the CSIRO, the national Australian research agency, these notes are durable, recyclable, and secure, featuring clear windows and advanced counterfeiting protections. 

They last significantly longer than paper money, making them cost-effective.

Over 45 countries now use polymer for some or all of their currency, including Canada, the UK, Singapore, New Zealand, Romania, Philippines, and Vietnam, due to the increased security and durability.

The Australian Magpie

The Australian magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen) is a black and white passerine bird native to Australia and southern New Guinea.
There are nine recognised subspecies.
G. tibicen tibicen is a large subspecies found in southeastern Queensland, through eastern New South Wales to almost to the Victorian border.
It is coastal or near-coastal and is restricted to east of the Great Dividing Range.

That’s the one we have here.

The adult magpie is a fairly big bird ranging from 37 to 43 cm (14.5 to 17 in) in length, with black and white plumage, gold brown eyes and a solid wedge-shaped bluish-white and black bill. 

The male and female are similar in appearance, but can be distinguished by differences in back markings.
The male has pure white feathers on the back of the head where the female has white blending to grey feathers. With its long legs, the magpie walks rather than waddles or hops and spends much time on the ground.

It is a very accomplished songbird having an array of complex vocalisations as well as the ability to mimic  various sounds.
We get serenaded from morning to dusk on most days except when it’s really hot and they retire to the shade of the trees.
It eats both animal and vegetable matter with the bulk of its varied diet made up of invertebrates.
They frequent our composting vegetative matter on our garden and follow me around while I’m mowing picking up the disturbed insects.

Our guy

It is generally sedentary and territorial throughout its range.
Common and widespread, it has adapted well to human habitation and is a familiar bird of parks, gardens and farmland in Australia. 

This species is commonly fed by households around Australia, but in spring and occasionally in autumn a small minority of breeding magpies, almost always males, become aggressive swooping and attacking those who approach their nests.

Research has shown that magpies can recognise at least 100 different people and may be less likely to swoop individuals they have befriended.

We have never been swooped.We consider our small flock of around six to eight birds to be part of the family now.

Australia Day 2026

I love a sunburnt country,

A land of sweeping plains,

Of ragged mountain ranges,

Of droughts and flooding rains.

I love her far horizons,

I love her jewel-sea,

Her beauty and her terror -

  The wide brown land for me!

                                                                     -Dorothea Mackellar

The day celebrates the formation of modern Australia when the British landed in what is known now as Sydney Harbour to establish a penal colony in 1788.
It’s a day of some controversy with aboriginal people calling it Invasion Day.
They had been here at least 40,000 maybe 60,000 years.
This somewhat divides the country and there’s always a discussion about alternative dates.
We don’t participate in any related activities in deference.
We are just happy to live in a country far removed from all the crap going on elsewhere in the world especially in North America and Europe.

Prosecco

We like Prosecco rather than Champagne or other sparkling white wines when it comes to bubbles.
It’s not only the price difference that is attractive but the light dryness with just a hint of fruit.
The wine is made from the Prosecco grape also known as Glera, a white variety of Vitis vinifera of Slovenian and Italian origin, possibly from the traditionally Slovenian-populated village of Prosecco on the Slovenia-Italy border, now in Italy.

The bubbles are produced by use of the Charmat Method not the more expensive Méthode Champenoise or Méthode traditionnelle
The Charmat Method is a way of making sparkling wine where the secondary fermentation ie. creating the bubbles takes place in large, pressurised stainless-steel tanks instead of individual bottles.
It involves adding sugar and yeast to a base wine ie. a previously fermented wine, in a sealed tank, trapping the CO2 for effervescence, and then filtering and bottling under pressure.
This results in fresh, lively bubbles and prominent fruit flavours.
The wine is very popular in Australia and is made from locally grown Prosecco grapes.
The first commercial vineyard in Australia was planted in 1999 and its first vintage was produced in 2004. It is now grown across 20 Australian wine regions.

The Italians are not happy that our locally produced wine is called Prosecco. 

The UE renamed Prosecco to Glera in 2009 to make room for the protection of ‘Prosecco’ as the name of the Italian geographically protected wine as in the map above.

The change was supposed to reduce the ability of other producers (in Italy and overseas) to label sparkling wines made elsewhere as Prosecco by using the grape variety's name.

In 2013, the Australian wine industry successfully challenged an EU application to protect Prosecco as a GI in Australia, with Australian Deputy Registrar of Trademarks verifying that Prosecco is a recognised grape variety in Australia.

The name change has been rejected by wine producers outside Italy in addition to Australia.

Having said that we only drink Italian Prosecco.
We have tried at least 10 from the DOGC and DOC areas of the region.
The one we have settled on is above.

2026! Happy New Year

Christmas 2025

Christmas greetings to all my readers.

Welcome to Summer / First Bushfire of the Season / Update 7/12/25

Late afternoon on 30th November we were advised that a bushfire had broken out in the state forest 3km to the north of us.

Winds at the time were gusting to 50km/hr from the north west which meant we were in the fire path.

The NSW Rural Fire Service put the fire at Advice Level meaning we should monitor the situation.

Within an hour the wind swung around to the south, accompanied by ten minutes of teasing light rain, pushing the fire away from us.

On 1st December, the first day of our summer, the Advice Level remained.

The fire had burnt out around 13ha overnight.

We heard a helicopter mid morning but assumed, as they were not ‘water bucketing’, they were  checking the fire via thermal camera.

At lunchtime the winds were once again gusting from the north west at again around 50km/hr.

However around 6pm the southerly change came in with reasonably heavy showers dropping 11mm over three hours.

We all breathed a bit easier and now wait hopefully, for the RFS all clear.*

There are two free camping grounds in the vicinity of the fire ignition point.

Whether someone’s fire got away there or not is just supposition.

But there has been a lot of rain over winter and spring so copious amounts of undergrowth has sprung up in the forests.

With hot, low humidity weather and gusting winds any carelessness with open fires is a recipe for a potential disaster.

Readers may have gleaned, we are a bit paranoid about bushfires around here, even the smaller ones.

Back in 2019 a small fire started west of us and burnt unchallenged for a week or so until adverse weather conditions turned it into a raging inferno, known as the Currowan Fire, eventually destroying 500,000 ha (1.25million acres ) of country and taking lives and property over 74 days.

Once bitten. Twice shy.

Update: 7th December 2025

*Our fire is finally off the list.

Others have not been so lucky.

Saturday 6th December was a brutal day. Temperatures in the high 30s, strong dry westerly winds and low humidity.

Total fire bans in many of the state’s districts.

Unfortunately there were some major fires.

One in the Woy Woy area of the central coast just north of Sydney destroyed homes.

More than 76 fires burnt across the state, 20 of them uncontained, this morning.

Thanksgiving in Australia

Australia, for obvious reasons, does not celebrate Thanksgiving.
But some communities and families, particularly American expats do.
These celebrations can take place around the American Thanksgiving date or be adapted to fit the Australian calendar ie. moved to a weekend to accommodate work schedules or the Australian spring season.
Interestingly the Australian external territory of tiny Norfolk Island is an exception, as it does have its own public Thanksgiving holiday on the last Wednesday of November.

The holiday was brought to the island by visiting American whaling ships way back when.

Norfolk Island has quite an interesting history.

The island was uninhabited when first settled by Europeans, but evidence of earlier habitation was obvious. Archaeological investigation suggests that in the 13th or 14th century the island was settled by East Polynesian seafarers.

The first European known to have sighted and landed on the island was Captain James Cook on 10 October 1774 on his second voyage to the South Pacific.

When the First Fleet arrived at Port Jackson (Sydney) in January 1788, Governor Phillip ordered that a party of 15 convicts and seven free men lead by a military commander to take control of Norfolk Island and prepare for its commercial development.
As early as 1794, the Lieutenant-Governor of New South Wales suggested the island’s closure as a penal settlement as it was too remote and difficult for shipping and too costly to maintain.

In 1824, the British government instructed the Governor of New South Wales to reoccupy Norfolk Island as a place to send "the worst description of convicts". Its remoteness, previously seen as a disadvantage, was now viewed as an asset for the detention of recalcitrant male prisoners.
The British government began to wind down the second penal settlement after 1847, and the last convicts were removed to Tasmania in May 1855. The island was abandoned because transportation from the United Kingdom to Tasmania had ceased in 1853, to be replaced by penal servitude the UK.

The next settlement began on 8 June 1856, as the descendants of Tahitians and the HMS Bounty mutineers, including those of Fletcher Christian were resettled from the Pitcairn Islands which had become too small for their growing number.

The Pitcairners occupied many of the buildings remaining from the penal settlements, and gradually established traditional farming and whaling industries on the island. Although some families decided to return to Pitcairn in 1858 and 1863, the island's population continued to grow. They accepted additional settlers who often arrived on whaling vessels.
The island was a regular resort for whaling vessels in the age of sail.
The first such ship was the Britannia in November 1793. The last on record was the Andrew Hicks in August–September 1907.
They came for water, wood and provisions, and sometimes they recruited islanders to serve as crewmen on their vessels.

We have done Thanksgiving once at home in August to avoid the hotter month  of November.

And on two occasions with extended family in the USA.
I like the celebration there a lot and just not the huge amount and great variety of food.

It’s always an experience for an only child with no immediate family, apart from a daughter, to be witness to such big family gatherings.

Oh, and this island is the home of the famous Norfolk pine.

Australian Time Zones

Australia has time seven zones if you include the island territories of Norfolk, Lord Howe, Cocos Keeling and Christmas.
The mainland states plus Tasmania normally have three.
There are a few oddities.
Broken Hill in New South Wales chooses the South Australia zone as it’s closer to Adelaide than Sydney.

Central Western Standard Time is an unofficial, albeit clearly signed, zone that applies at roadhouses for some 340 kilometres of Western Australia up to Border Village roadhouse on the Nullabor near the South Australia border.

But all that changes on the first weekend of October when daylight saving time kicks in until the first weekend in April.

The Australian mainland plus Tasmania now has five.

Both Queensland and Western Australia plus the Northern Territory rejected the concept.
A bit inconvenient especially for those living on the heavily populated coastal region of the New South Wales/Queensland border.

But it is what it is.

Some Local Beaches (before the summer tourist invasion)

 

Gannet Beach

Bawley Beach 

                 Murramarrang Beach

Fence Repair After Flood Damage Done (Almost).

After a couple of weeks delay due to ongoing extreme wet weather, a friend came down to help with the flood damaged fence repair.

And even then we had a day housebound when the heavens opened up once again.

Rain total for July and August in our area was just under 600mm (24 inches).

The average rainfall for those two months is 150mm (6 inches).

Record rainfalls have been noted all over of the state.

The lower end of the western boundary fence needed a new strainer and stay and wires restrained.

The western creek bank fence also needed a strainer/stay plus interrow steel pickets redriven and wires strained.

Before:

After:

We decided not to make the western boundary/creek bank fence one continuous unit to potentially reduce any collateral damage to the former during the next inevitable flood.

Five days later, after four days of gale force winds, a large tree fell on the creek bank fence.

Another repair job pending.

The western end of the southern boundary fence needed a new strainer/stay and wires restrained.

Before:

After:

All went without incident apart from marauding leeches enabled by the super wet conditions.

A good spray of Aerogard on exposed limbs and clothing seemed to deal with them.

We also began removing flood debris from the collapsed part our northern boundary fence.

The conditions for work in the area were not good.

Water was still lying there and a heavy matrix a sodden grass, logs, branches and other unidentifiable stuff was ‘woven’ into the fence wires.

We only got about two thirds done before calling it quits.

It’ll have to dry out more before another attempt.
The area has been electrified off the prevent cattle escapes.

And to finish off, we cut down dead trees that were leaning over the eastern section of our southern boundary fence. They were supported by their crowns so had not done any fence damage to date.

But if left they would eventually fall and take the fence with them.

That all went without incident. Chainsawing up trees with their trunks and branches under pressure always needs care.

So it was a 5 days of hard but rewarding work. 

But our 79 and 80 year old bodies were grateful for it to be finished.

Dismantling Vineyard Infrastructure

In August 2019 I posted about ceasing my vineyard activities.

The plan was to just let the vines do their own thing and any subsequent occupier of the property could start things up again if they so desired.

What I didn’t take into account was that when the cattle were brought up to eat down the grass in the rows during the growing season, they would also eat the vine leaves.

So after a number of years of this happening and, with their ‘engine room’ continually removed, the vines eventually died.

Only now have I decided to dismantle the vineyard infrastructure after removing and burning the dead vines.

This involved removing the inter row posts ie.star pickets, some of which will be recycled into fence repairs. Some had been originally driven into our sandstone subsoil and refused to budge. These were broken off and what remained driven further into the ground.

The future of the vineyard specific inter row posts is up in the air.

Maybe they would be ok recycled into fence repairs.

Then came the rolling up a few hundred metres of high tension wire.

The wire strainers were removed from the end posts most of which will be used for firewood, a few for fence repairs.

The wire and strainers have been offered gratis to the neighbours, an offer already taken up by some.

Two blocks completed.

One to go.

Preparing for Fence Repair after Flood Damage

Back on the 7th July I wrote about the damage an east coast low weather system caused with flooding and gale force winds.

Logs and debris washed down our creek and across pastureland taking fences with them.

Trees also fell across fences.

We had to wait for things to dry out before initiating the repair program.

The first part was to cut logs, some quite big, and fallen branches off wires and assess the materials required ie. posts, star pickets and strainers.

Our first priority was the south west corner of the south paddock where the cattle could easily disappear into the bush. With feed at a minimum during the winter they do tend to want to ‘roam’.

In the interim we protected the area with an electric fence. 

Seven thousand volts is a quite a deterrent.

Having been zapped accidentally a few times I can vouch for that.

An East Coast Low / July 2025

What is an east coast low?
East coast lows (ECLs) are intense low-pressure systems that occur off the east coast of Australia. They bring valuable rainfall to the east coast and tablelands. However, they can also bring damaging storms and cause coastal erosion and flooding.
They can occur at any time of year but are more common during autumn and winter, most frequently in June.
East coast lows often intensify quickly over 12–24 hours. This makes them one of the more dangerous weather systems to affect the eastern coast.
The bureau of meteorology (BOM) was very concerned about the intensity of one forming on the weekend of the 28th June.

They were expecting the cell to impact the New South Wales coast from Monday lasting through until Thursday.
Torrential rain and damaging winds were predicted.
They advised the cancellation of discretionary travel.
Monday night it started to rain here and didn’t stop until Wednesday night.

Tuesday we were forced to stay inside all day.
Rain pelted down. 

Over 250mm (10 inches) in 36 hours. 310mm (12.5 inches) in total over 3 days.
Then in the evening the wind got up.
Over 105 km/h (65mph) gusts. Amazingly despite a few light flickers, our electricity stayed on. Others in area were not so lucky. Some had a power outage for 3 days.
Around 10pm, I heard a big bang just outside.
I thought one of our trees had fallen.
I ventured out onto veranda with a torch and saw that our very old spare metal water tank had virtually exploded. Obviously it couldn’t handle the volume of water going in despite the overflow outlet working ok.
There was metal strewn about the front yard. Worse, 10,000 litres (4500 gallons) of water had been let loose thankfully away from the house.
Next morning, Wednesday, I was up at sunrise to take a look. Thankfully our main tank, plastic, was undamaged. 

Our bottom paddock was awash as was the side one. The creek was in full flood.
We assumed the lake our creek runs into was open to the sea as the surf was huge. 8m (25ft) waves reported. So we were hopeful to see the water drain away quickly but it was slow at this stage.
Other places around us were flooded. Our state emergency service were issuing evacuation orders for homes around Lake Burrill.
With the huge surf and high tides, the storm runoff couldn’t get out of the lakes.
They were still doing food drops into the area on Thursday.
Thursday dawned sunny.
I did as much of a boundary walk as I could.
The flooding in the paddocks was gone and despite the creek being back within its banks I couldn’t get over so didn’t know what damage had been done on our southern boundary. It was a very deep fast flowing torrent.
But on the north side of the creek in the southern paddock there was considerable fence damage. Huge logs washed downstream, now left stranded by the receding water, had taken fences down.

Friday morning another boundary walk. Northern and part eastern ie. still our side of the creek. Eastern fences ok despite being piled high with flood debris and a big tree down but supported by the top wire.

Part of the northern, not so good. Flood debris had completely flattened about 50 metres even to the point of pulling wooden posts out of the ground. Big repair job pending there and can only be done when the ground dries out. 

So that section needed to be electrified off.

Got the cattle up to the house paddock and locked them in so they couldn’t escape. There was about a week’s grass for them.

Then I turned my attention to the destroyed tank. Managed to ‘cut it up’ into manageable pieces and move it away from the house.
Sunday I managed to get through to my southern boundary via a neighbour’s property as the creek was no longer impacting them.
And to my surprise no fence damage. Lots of trees and big branches down however.

Then I turned my attention to electrifying the damaged northern fence.
Needless to say we didn’t need all this.
Apart from the fencing damage, the paddocks are now saturated. The grass will stop growing and hay for the cows will need to be purchased.
I will need help with repairs which can only start when the water table drops, estimated to be 2 weeks time.
Got to love life on the land.

Low Sugar Jam

As a diabetic, I am always on the lookout for sugar free/low sugar and low carbohydrate food items.

I wrote about sugar free jams back in 2023.

Unfortunately that brand became quite expensive with high delivery costs.

I reverted to Diabetes NSW recommendation which was a French product. 

It still had 10% sugar content but it was all fructose rather than sucrose so a lower GI ie. 19 versus 65.

Fruit content was 50% which is normal for commercially produced jams.

Then I came across a product range from a family company, Quincey Jones Jelly & Preserves, based in a small town on the Victorian/NSW border.

Their jams and marmalades contain 3.5% sugar and 70% fruit.

They all taste great. 

And I am willing to ‘wear’ that sugar level. My blood sugar tests show I have things under control.

A bit expensive, yes, but order enough and you get free express post shipping.

And they have more than just jams in their range.

I don’t normally recommend businesses on my blog but this one is worth checking out.

The Price of a Cafe Coffee v DIY

Been a lot of discussion lately about the increasing cost of a cup of coffee at a cafe.

Back in the day, $3.50 was normal for a medium sized cup.

Now it’s around $6 and some people say heading for $10.

A cafe owner broke down the costs.

For a standard flat white with a single shot about 12 grams of coffee beans are needed. At an industry average wholesale cost, this comes to approximately 38 cents per cup.
Next, there's the milk. A regular flat white typically uses around 200ml of milk. If you're paying $4.00 for a 2-litre bottle, that's $2.00 per litre, making the milk cost about 40 cents per cup.
Additionally there’s the cup and lid, which usually cost around 20 cents together. 

Therefore total ingredient costs for a single cup of coffee come to roughly 98 cents.

Labour is one of the most significant costs in making a cup of coffee.
Consider a full-time, permanent barista working an 8-hour shift from 6 am to 2 pm. The award hourly rate is $27.17.
Adding in superannuation (401k) at 11%, holiday pay at 7%, sick pay at 3%, and workers' compensation at 3%, the total cost to the business per hour is $33.75, or $270 for the entire shift.
If a barista can make 200 coffees during this shift, the labour cost per cup is $1.35.
However, this cost can increase on weekends, reaching around $40 per hour on Saturdays and $50 per hour on Sundays. Therefore, how much it costs to make a cup of coffee can vary significantly based on the day and the number of cups sold.

The gross profit from a cup of coffee involves subtracting the ingredient and labour costs from the selling price.
Assuming a flat white sells for $5.00.
First remove the 10% GST (goods and services tax) which is 45 cents, leaving $4.55.
Deduction of the 98 cents ingredient and $1.35 labour costs leaves final gross profit per cup is $2.22.
Out of that the café then has to pay for rent, power, insurance, and other operational costs like cleaning and garbage disposal. These costs can add up  per week. The combination of profit from the coffee and other items sold at the café all have to contribute to covering these expenses.

We hardly buy coffee out anymore.

It’s now considered a treat.

We do it ourselves at home ie. DIY

We bought a reasonably sophisticated manual cappuccino machine for just under $1000.

This is the third of the same brand model each subsequently updated we have bought over the last 20 years.

So machine longevity is about 8+ years.

Our imported Italian beans cost retail $36kg or $0.72 for a 20 gram double shot.

Milk $0.35 (supermarket home brand)

Labour $0

Overheads $0.20 (machine/power)

Total cost $1.27 cup.

Why would you buy cafe coffee on a regular basis these days?

The above figures are all in Australian dollars.

$A1 =  $US0.65

$A1 = £0.48

$A1 = €0.56