Remembrance Day 2026

Remembrance Day is one of the most important days on Australia’s commemorative calendar. It's a day when we acknowledge those who died or suffered while serving in wars, conflicts and peace operations.
Remembrance Day is held on 11 November each year.

This is the anniversary of the Armistice of 1918 that ended fighting in World War I.
People in Australia and many other countries observe one minute's silence at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.
The poppy is a symbol of remembrance, and is worn on the lapel on Remembrance Day.

Drought? Maybe Not for Now.

This is the follow up to our post of 4th October.

On 2nd October a severe weather warning was issued for the Illawarra and parts of south coast, central and southern tablelands, the central west slopes and plains.

I had been following this weather system as it crossed the continent from the west.
Details provide by WeatherWatchTV indicated that it could be a substantial rain event.
With that in mind I cleaned out all the house gutters which is not my most favourite job.

Lots of ladder climbing.

Saturday the 3rd started with intermittent showers.
But watching the Bureau of Meteorology radar it was obvious that more was to come.
Around midday the heavens opened up with torrential rain and thunderstorm after thunderstorm.
We had simultaneous lightning and thunder at times.
House rattling stuff.
It continued all afternoon and into the evening.

Our local weather station recorded 60mm for the period.
I believe further south we got more.
They even had a tornado in our nearby town just after midday with near 100km/hr winds.
It caused some damage.

Tornados are not a usual occurrence in our area. I can only remember one other in my lifetime.
Anyway, the upshot was our water shortage is no more.
Our tanks, including the new addition are full to overflowing.
Our dams are looking a lot healthier.

And the creek is running again.

Drought?

Preface:

I wrote this post at the beginning of October.

On Saturday, 3rd of October, the heavens opened up and we had torrential rain and severe thunderstorms over a number of hours.

Our local weather station recorded 60mm but we got a lot more.

There was even a tornado in our nearby town which caused some damage.

The water situation on our property has clearly now changed.

A new post is in the pipeline.

El Niño 

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology notes that Pacific indicators and a strongly negative Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) reflect a robust El Niño signal continuing through spring and summer.
Impacts on Australia:
-Higher Temperatures: Increases the likelihood of extended heatwaves and above-average temperatures, particularly across the southern and eastern parts of the country.
-Reduced Rainfall & Drought: Lowers rainfall totals across many eastern and northern regions, worsening ongoing or developing dry conditions.
-Increased Bushfire Risk: Combined with dry vegetation and a warming climate, the dry and hot pattern elevates the threat of dangerous fire weather heading into the warmer months.

Our rainfall stats throughout the year so far has reflected the second point.

It is even more obvious when you look at the condition of our dams.

They are extremely low and in danger of becoming stagnant and developing algae blooms or are dry.

Thankfully we only have four cows to water but they can consume anything from 30-80 litres each a day depending on temperatures.

We have a plan in place to supply stock drinking water from our domestic supply if things go pear shaped.

Another indicator of drought is the state of our creek.

It’s completely dry for the first time in at least 20 years. 

We can walk along its bed the whole length as it winds itself through our property on its way, 10km or so, from the hills behind us to the coastal lake and eventually the ocean.

Bogong Moths

The bogong moth (Agrotis infusa) is an Australian native temperate species of night flying moth.

It is notable for its biannual long-distance seasonal migrations towards and from the Australian Alps, similar to the diurnal North American monarch butterfly.

During the autumn and winter it is found in southern Queensland, western New South Wales, western Victoria, Tasmania and also in South and Western Australia.

Adult bogong moths breed and larvae hatch during this period, consuming winter pasture plants during their growth. 

Mount Bogong, Victoria 

During the spring, the moths migrate south or east and reside in mountains such as Mount Bogong, where they to spend the hot summer months in a state of dormancy in a highly social group-oriented way until their return towards breeding grounds again in the autumn.

This migration is usually inland, west of the Great Dividing Range.

But strong westerly winds during spring can blow them off course and they arrive in huge numbers in the coastal regions.

They are attracted to light and swarm against residential windows and doors at night.

Here’s our lounge room window 30/09/26

They are not dangerous, just a bit inconvenient.

The species is considered endangered.

Numbers crashed by up to 99.5% between 2017 and 2021 due to severe inland droughts, fires at breeding grounds, pesticide use and climate change.

Warming temperatures degrade their cool summer alpine resting caves.
The moths are environmentally important as they provide a crucial, high-fat food source during spring for wildlife in the Australian Alps, including the critically endangered mountain pygmy-possum. 

And as they travel up to 1,000 km from breeding grounds they act as important flower pollinators.
That the current strong seasonal winds have blown migrating swarms into urban areas like Sydney and the NSW coast is an encouraging sign of potential species recovery.

Sick of Trees Falling over Fences

Especially when the trees/branches nearly always belong to one of our neighbours.

This big branch was still attached to the tree and we cut up as much as was safe. 

It was a bit dangerous to remove completely. I didn’t want it rolling on me.

What’s left would have had to stay there until nature decided to take its course.

So I made temporary fence repairs around it.

Within two weeks, however, it detached itself completely from the tree taking two panels of fencing with it.

But now it could easily and safely be cut up and permanent repairs made.

Here’s a few more examples of damage.

To be fair sometimes one of my trees is also a culprit.

Black wattles (Acacia mearnsii) which a fairly prolific around here are a bit of a pain.

They are fast growing and short lived. They have a very shallow root system, no deep tap root and are subject to borer attack.

As a result they are easily susceptible to branch wind damage and uprooting.

Some eucalyptus species shed branches as well, particularly when they are under heat stress. See top picture.

Uprooted Black wattle

Inevitability this means fence repair.

Wires need to be rejoined and strained, intermediate posts reset or replaced and sometimes strainer posts and their stays need to be renewed.

On the upside at least there’s fire wood in some of them.

Firewood

A repaired fence

A New Sydney International Airport / 25th October Update

Sydney Airport (SYD), officially named Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport, is an international hub located about 12 kilometres (7miles) south of the Sydney central business district. 

It is the primary airport serving Sydney and its metropolitan area and is the main hub for Qantas, the flag carrier of Australia, as well as Virgin Australia and an operating base for the Qantas low cost subsidiary Jetstar.
Situated on Botany Bay on just over 900ha (2,240 acres) of land with three runways, Sydney Airport is one of the world's longest continuously operated commercial airports, opening in 1920, and is the busiest airport in Australia, handling over 41million passengers and 350,000 aircraft movements in 2024.
From the picture below it’s easy to see how close it is to the city and surrounding suburbs.

As a result a curfew exists between 11pm and 6am because of noise concerns.

Other problems include the international terminal being separate and a considerable distance from the two domestic terminals making transfers inconvenient.

The local, state and federal governments had investigated the viability of building a second major airport in Sydney since the 1940s.
On 15 April 2014, the Federal Government announced that Badgerys Creek would be Sydney's second international airport, to be known as Western Sydney Airport (WSI) or officially Nancy-Bird Walton Airport.

The airport would not be subject to curfews and would open in phases, initially with a single airport runway and terminal.
It was to be linked to Sydney Airport and downtown Sydney by local roads and motorways, and eventually by extensions to the existing suburban rail network.

In May 2017, the Federal Government announced it would build (pay for) the second Sydney Airport.

The new airport started construction in 2018 and was completed in mid 2026.
The first freight plane, a Qantas Airbus A321, landed to the bemused attention of some of the locals a few weeks ago.

Airlines offering commercial flights on sale include:

Jetstar: Starting October 25, 2026, operating flights to Melbourne, Brisbane, and the Gold Coast (flight JQ362 being the first to leave).
Air New Zealand: Starting October 26, 2026, running international flights to Auckland.
Singapore Airlines: Starting November 23, 2026, with flights to Singapore.
QantasLink: Scheduled to begin Embraer E190 services in March 2027.

Update: 25/10/26

A New Water Storage Tank

Back in July 2025, I posted about a severe weather event that destroyed one of our (very old) water storage tanks.
After a little procrastination I decided that we needed to replace it.

We did have 30,000L of water storage without the missing tank but with the predictions of increased drought conditions and higher temperatures due to climate change there was a bit of an incentive to increase storage by another 10,000L.
A very dry and warm autumn and winter here plus the situation in the northern hemisphere over their summer so far was further proof that things could get tough.

I decided that we needed a squat tank so that the overflow of our current house tank would run into it.

They have changed the design of the tall tank that we already have so the inlet of similar one next to it would be too high.
Unfortunately the War in Iran had the effect of increasing plastic prices considerably so our original tank budget needed a rethink. Linear Medium Density Polyethylene (LMDPE) is the common material used.

It is food grade quality suitable for safe drinking water storage and is all imported.

But we bit the bullet in June when Bushmans had an end of financial year sale where we could save a few dollars.

Delivery time was 6-8 weeks as each tank is made to order.

This is our fifth tank from this company. One was a replacement for that destroyed by the 2019/20 bushfires.
The tank turned up a few days ago and three of us, the driver, a neighbour and I rolled it off the truck, across the front lawn and onto the old cement pad.

Once the inlet was lined up with the outlet of the old tank, the overflow and outlet valve were fitted.

All took around 45 minutes.
I then started to fill the new tank with enough water, around 1000L, so it would not blow away.
We had been experiencing some pretty windy days leading up to delivery.
The old and new tanks were connected by some simple plumbing 

We just need some substantial rain to fill it. 

Update: 04/10/26: Torrential rain on 3rd October filled the tank to overflowing.

The 23rd Commonweath Games

The 23rd Commonwealth Games took place in Glasgow between 23rd July and 2nd August. 

There were 74 Commonwealth Games Associations eligible to compete, all of whom sent athletes to the championships.

There are 56 Commonwealth countries but sovereign states, home nations, and overseas territories compete separately eg. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each send a team. They don’t compete as the United Kingdom.
The state of Victoria, in Australia, originally won the bid to host the 2026 Games across regional hubs like Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat, and Gippsland.

The state government cancelled the event after estimates ballooned to over A$6 billion, deeming it financially unsustainable for taxpayers.
The city of Glasgow offered to takeover hosting the games albeit with fewer sports and using established venues and no dedicated accommodations.

Victoria paid $589 million in compensation and termination costs, which included helping fund Glasgow's scaled-down replacement
Medals were available in 215 events, spread across 10 sports.
Six of them included Para sport competition: 3x3 basketball, athletics, bowls, cycling, swimming and weightlifting.

The other four sports were artistic gymnastics, boxing, judo and netball.

Finnie, the game’s mascot 

The streamlined 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow dropped several main disciplines:

- Whole SportsTeam and Ball Sports: Hockey, cricket, rugby sevens, squash, badminton, table tennis, and beach volleyball.
- Combat and Other Sports: Wrestling and triathlon.
- Aquatics and Shooting: Diving (leaving only swimming/para-swimming) and shooting.
- Specific Sub-Disciplines: Road cycling and mountain biking were excluded with cycling restricted only to track cycling.
- Gymnastics: Rhythmic gymnastics were not featured, with gymnastics limited solely to artistic events.
- Athletics Events: Road events like the marathon were missing from the track and field program.

Australia did well, as usual, particularly in the swimming finishing with 37 gold, 16 silver, and 23 bronze medals in that discipline.

Total medal count below.

The 2030 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXIV Commonwealth Games and commonly called Amdavad 2030, is scheduled to take place in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India, in October 2030.

What’s a Spurtle?

You would think a person with 50% Scottish blood would know.

I first came across the word when scrolling through the current Netflix documentary selection.

The Golden Spurtle is a film about the World Championship porridge making championship in Carrbridge in the Scottish highlands.

And a Spurtle is what you traditionally stir porridge with. 

It dates back to the 15th century.

It’s a long, slender wooden rod, often decorated with a stylised thistle on the end, designed to be stirred in a continuous circular motion. The smaller surface area prevents oats from congealing into lumps better than a standard spoon.

They are typically made from beech, cherry wood or maple and come in a range of sizes.

Apparently you only stir clockwise with the right hand.

Anticlockwise stirring invites the Devil to your breakfast.

Have beaten porridge for the last 75 years that may answer a few of life’s questions.

My Scottish father, an aficionado of the boiled oaten breakfast, never passed on this information to me.

Spurtles are locally made in Australia and readily available.

But I think at this stage I’ll stick with the spoon but try to remember the stirring rule.

Now to the competition.

People from all over the world come to compete.

How a mix of just oats, water and a little salt can each be so different, I have no idea.
I just use traditional commercial oats and some water, no salt, and cook it in the microwave.
Sacrilege!

But this is serious stuff and the rivalry for the prize, The Golden Spurtle, is intense.

Here’s a YouTube preview of the documentary.
Carrbridge’s other claim to fame is the Carr Packhorse Bridge.
The word "Carr" has nothing to do with motorised transport but is derived from the old Norse word for boggy area.
The bridge, built in 1717, is the oldest stone bridge in the Highlands.
It was severely damaged in the "Muckle Spate" (the great flood in August 1829) which left it in the condition seen today. 

It is now unstable and is recommended only to be viewed from afar.
Jumping off the bridge into the River Dulnain below had long been a popular pastime for younger locals and the more adventurous tourists.
We passed through there after leaving Inverness on our 2006 trip around Scotland but unfortunately, not being aware of any of this, didn’t stop.

Addendum 1:

Inspired by the 2025 documentary about the Golden Spurtle, an annual Scottish porridge-making competition, the Central Coast town of Pearl Beach, NSW, is preparing for its own oat-fest on August 8th 2026

Addendum 2:

The Pearl Beach competition is now completed.

H5N1 (Bird flu) in Australia / 5th November Update

The deadly strain of bird flu, H5N1, has arrived in Australia and threatens a list of 100 native animal species, including birds, land and sea mammals.
Two birds, the brown skua and the giant petrel flew from the sub-Antarctic region to southwest Western Australia, were confirmed to be infected with the deadly virus.

Until the infected skua was found on a remote beach near Esperance, Australia was the only continent free of the deadly virus.

Brown skua

A giant petrel, found several kilometres away, also tested positive for the H5 strain.

Brown skuas and giant petrels are a common sight offshore in southern Australian waters in the winter months, but they will rarely risk venturing on to land.
So when two of these birds were discovered sick on beaches a few kilometres apart it was a sign something might be wrong.
Both birds have since died.

Giant southern petrel

Australia’s unique wildlife, which has evolved in isolation for millions of years, could be particularly vulnerable to H5N1.The list of at-risk animals includes: bird-eating raptors, including white-bellied sea eagles, powerful owls and wedge-tailed eagles; black swans with no defences to the virus; Australian sea lions; rare parrots, including the tiny populations of orange-bellied and swift parrots; and Tasmanian devils as they eat carrion.The risk of an outbreak in farmed birds is also high, with potentially devastating consequences. Australia’s largest chicken meat producer announced on it had locked down access to all its farms in Western Australia, even though they are all north of Perth and more than 700 kilometres from where the infected birds were found.Experts had warned it was inevitable for the virus to make its way to Australia via migratory birds. 

H5N1

Now that it has come from the sub-Antarctic region, governments and experts say a wild outbreak is likely. The Australian government committed $113 million to preparations to deal with an H5N1 incursion, with an emphasis on planning to swiftly identify an outbreak and responding to limit its spread. 

This includes teams to swiftly remove carcasses of infected animals to prevent further spread and stopping farmed poultry from mixing with wild birds.

Stay tuned for updates!

Update:10/07/26

The first case of deadly H5 bird flu in local wildlife, as apposed to migratory, has been recorded in a bird, a greater crested tern, found on the South Australian coast, in what experts said was an escalation of the disease’s arrival in the country.

Greater crested tern

Update: 01/08/26

In its latest updates, the federal Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry confirmed a further 20 birds from Kangaroo Island and the south-east coast of South Australia had tested positive, including a silver gull found at the town of Robe.

Silver gull

Australia’s Chief Veterinary Officer, Dr Beth Cookson, said this was the first detection ever in a silver gull in Australia.

Update: 03/08/26

The mass deaths of greater crested terns were announced in South Australia over the weekend, with 49 dead terns and 35 unwell terns detected by aerial surveillance. Samples from some of those animals were sent to the CSIRO for verification and have come back positive.
This is Australia’s first mass mortality event from the deadly disease. 

Update: 05/11/26

*From 12 August 2026, there are changes of how on H5 bird flu detections are reported.
Reporting will be based on events, rather than individual bird detections, where an event may involve one or more birds. The new number of positive events captures all previously reported individual confirmed detections.

Detailed data can be found here.

There have been no detections in poultry or the wider agriculture industry.

A long-nosed fur seal has been announced as the first confirmed death of a mammal by the deadly bird flu virus. Up until now the virus has been found only in birdlife.

A red fox found in suburban Adelaide has been infected with the H5 bird flu.

11/9/2026 and South Australia has recorded the first death of an endangered Australian sea lion from H5 bird flu. Experts say about 12,000 Australian sea lions remain – though a more recent estimate put the figure at less than 10,000. Most of the population are found in South Australia, with the remainder in Western Australia.

Almost one in five Australian bird and mammal species is at high, very high or extreme risk from the bird flu virus now spreading in Australia.

Five bird species are assessed as being at extreme risk, meaning that they cannot survive where the virus occurs. They include the Christmas Island frigate bird, the Herald petrel, Houtman albatross, imperial shag on Heard Island and imperial shag on Macquarie Island.

The highest-risk marine mammals are the sea lion, fur seal and elephant seal, and the highest risk land mammals are the Tasmanian devil and eastern quoll. Eight species of dolphin are at risk and one, the common dolphin, is at very high risk.