What are YOU doing right NOW

[fwdoz]

Fixed the first line for you Geoff

 

[Hawkear]

Lot of quartz in that dirt. mmmm!

 

[fwdoz]

Smacks of a South Sydney rugby team job

 

[Moneybox]

You can't please some people, the poor little bunny was only trying to let the water out

 

[Mackka]

Just finished my daily morning walk and for the last couple of days I have been using hiking sticks as I had read that they help with stability and can help with knee and muscle issues in the legs as well as promote arm and upper body strength. Well, all appears to be true. Muscles are not cramping especially on the hill climb and knees don't ache. So a big thanks to my mate Anton who is currently walking the Camino de Santiago walk in Spain. It's only 730 Kilometers and introduced me to these sticks. Anyone else use them? Cheers Mackka

 

[grubstake]

Just finished my daily morning walk and for the last couple of days I have been using hiking sticks as I had read that they help with stability and can help with knee and muscle issues in the legs as well as promote arm and upper body strength. Well, all appears to be true. Muscles are not cramping especially on the hill climb and knees don't ache. So a big thanks to my mate Anton who is currently walking the Camino de Santiago walk in Spain. It's only 730 Kilometers and introduced me to these sticks. Anyone else use them? Cheers Mackka

I haven't used them myself, but I've read of people who tried them for very rough hiking in NZ and to their surprise, found them invaluable. So you might be onto something there!

Incidentally, if you're interested in a non-action, thoughtful movie, featuring the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage, check out The Way, with Martin Sheen and his son Emilio Estevez, who wrote, directed and stars in it:

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_way_2011

 

[David-Karratha]

Just finished my daily morning walk and for the last couple of days I have been using hiking sticks as I had read that they help with stability and can help with knee and muscle issues in the legs as well as promote arm and upper body strength. Well, all appears to be true. Muscles are not cramping especially on the hill climb and knees don't ache. So a big thanks to my mate Anton who is currently walking the Camino de Santiago walk in Spain. It's only 730 Kilometers and introduced me to these sticks. Anyone else use them? Cheers Mackka

Done lots of walking, and I always use at least one pole or stick. I’ve a range of sticks, some I’ve made and several I’ve bought. Studies have shown significant benefits and everyone I know who has tried using a pole, ends up adopting it as part of their their standard kit.
A good walking pole is invaluable when hiking (carbon-fibre is amazing stuff) and a good pole or walking stick when generally out & about is always useful. They’re great for discouraging the occasional snake, prodding doubtful looking ground and assisting with balance on areas with dodgy footing. I’ve also used one to protect myself from a large dog that tried to attack me.
‘The best walking poles will have a nice wide neoprene or cushioned strap on them, this goes across your hand and takes up most of the weight that you put on the pole. Your fingers only hold the pole very loosely, with the strap taking 99% of the force. Many pole will also have an internal spring that can be locked, which also can reduce impact.

 

[Mackka]

Thanks David. Yes I must say that as each day I use them I am becoming more use to them and now it is just a matter of increasing my comfort on the grips which i am grabbing too tight and not allowing the straps to work to there full potential. I had to use them as a Crow deterrent the other day, there must be a nest close to where i was walking. Temperature currently at 0845 QST is 28C, summer has come early so it will be sn afternoon walk. Cheers and stay safe. Mackka

 

[Dave's Office]

I've spent half the day looking at caravans on Caravansales.com, I have to get serious about getting a Caravan as Miss Kay reckons she's not going to do any more extended trips in the Minniebago after we copped 300ml of rain over 2 days at Hat Head back in June. I was checking out this great looking Snowy River 20ft van when I came upon it's Country Of Origin, China, can you believe that some company here is selling a van called a "Snowy River" and it's from China , I'll be buggered.

 

[Mackka]

Better than it being called the "Yangtse River"

 

[user 4386]

I've spent half the day looking at caravans on Caravansales.com, I have to get serious about getting a Caravan as Miss Kay reckons she's not going to do any more extended trips in the Minniebago after we copped 300ml of rain over 2 days at Hat Head back in June. I was checking out this great looking Snowy River 20ft van when I came upon it's Country Of Origin, China, can you believe that some company here is selling a van called a "Snowy River" and it's from China , I'll be buggered.

The bodies and frames are built in China and shipped here (they bought Regent caravans). Then "By 2021 our Melbourne factory employed over 130 people, making it one of the largest caravan factories in Campbellfield – the home of Australian caravan manufacturing! In 2022, again we outgrew our factory and opened a second factory in Somerton. 2022 also saw us expand our range adding multi-terrain caravans and pop-tops to the lineup and to reflect expand our marketing beyond the industry to sponsor James Courtney’s Ford Mustang in the Supercars.

Sadly, we buy Chinese imports equivalent to the value of what we export to them (balance of trade) - which includes the value of the one third of all our iron ore that they buy from us!

And which Snowy Mountains?:

https://asiamarvels.com/eternal-snowy-mountains-in-china/

 

[Dave's Office]

They are great looking vans Goldie, but I'll be buying an Australian made van and that's nothing to do with the political situation. Thanks for the info, I appreciate your research which leaves us better informed on the topics we're looking at. Cheers from Dave

 

[user 4386]

They are great looking vans Goldie, but I'll be buying an Australian made van and that's nothing to do with the political situation. Thanks for the info, I appreciate your research which leaves us better informed on the topics we're looking at. Cheers from Dave

My sentiment also overall - but not easy. You need to look around then - Regent, Ezytrail, Titan, Regent, Harvok, Goldstar to name just a few are the same story,

 

[RM Outback]

I've spent half the day looking at caravans on Caravansales.com, I have to get serious about getting a Caravan as Miss Kay reckons she's not going to do any more extended trips in the Minniebago after we copped 300ml of rain over 2 days at Hat Head back in June. I was checking out this great looking Snowy River 20ft van when I came upon it's Country Of Origin, China, can you believe that some company here is selling a van called a "Snowy River" and it's from China , I'll be buggered.

Truth is cobber even made in Australia vans, the convenience options are or have components made in China Sign of the times sad as it is more than likely anything termed modern is fitted out with fasteners/equipment made in you guessed it

Could make for a good thread Products that are not Made in China it'd definitely help anyone trying to navigate Products that actually have a quality value no doubt

 

[user 22230]

Brought a Yamaha SBS recently as not to kean on the cheap Chinese knock offs. Pulled a wheel off and proudly cast in the rim. "Made In China"

 

[Solid Luck]

In the car Waiting for the rain to rack off.
Found these in one spot with 5 minutes of starting about half an hour ago.
I want to find their mates

 

[fwdoz]

In the car Waiting for the rain to rack off.
Found these in one spot with 5 minutes of starting about half an hour ago.
I want to find their mates

Doing the same in the caravan. Looking at the radar we might have 1-2 more hours of rain yet coming from Stawell way

 

[user 4386]

Truth is cobber even made in Australia vans, the convenience options are or have components made in China Sign of the times sad as it is more than likely anything termed modern is fitted out with fasteners/equipment made in you guessed it

Could make for a good thread Products that are not Made in China it'd definitely help anyone trying to navigate Products that actually have a quality value no doubt

A lot shorter to compile a list of those with no components from China than of those with. It is difficult - even in the case of Snowy Mountain vans that started this, to not buy them would put hundreds of Australians out of work. Even for entirely Australian-owned businesses, we just don't make in Australia enough components that are required for most things that we manufacture here. And we probably could not do so if we tried - we lack both investment capital and workers. You can't do much more than check if a company is dominantly Australian-owned and whether it is dominantly manufactured here - and perhaps whether that part that is not made here is made by other than China.

And "Australian owned" is a can of worms itself - it simply means more than 51% Australian owned - a number of major Australian companies are nevertheless owned tens of percent by China (just less than 51%). And companies like Energy Australia are actually Chinese owned. China does not have a huge investment though (e.g. Belgium has nearly five times as much invested in Australia than China, the UK has 8 times as much, the USA 12 times as much). All 4 of our biggest banks are majority USA-owned, BHP is 73% USA owned, Woodside Petroleum 74%,. China appears to be pulling out of Australia anyway.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-56234776

 

[user 4386]

I just checked - there is actually a huge trade imbalance between Australia and China (i.e. they pay us far more for our goods than we pay them for theirs). Which works against their attempts at trade sanctions against Australia - they have to buy from us. So we have more coming in from them than going out to them, and we have very low unemployment, so I guess not everything is bad at present. We just need to reduce our dependence on them for our exports over time by finding new markets (probably far more effective than us not buying Chinese at present, although we can do that as well - but I suspect that is more a "feel good" factor than an economic weapon). Doing that also makes their trade sanctions just as ineffective....

 

[Manpa]

Seems the rain is widespread, sitting on the verandah waiting for the rain to clear. Pleasant though watching the pelicans swim by and the water starting to fill the bay.(Venus Bay SA) Added a few new bird species to my list.