Old Newspapers

I'm a sucker for old newspapers, and while they may give a particular view of history, at least you can see what people were reading at the time.  I've just discovered the National Library online newspaper archive.  You can find it here: http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper.

The Adelaide Advertiser is there from 1889 to 1954 and you can download complete newspapers in pdf format. 

Among other things I discovered, none of us boys got a birth notice until Alan (unless I didn't look thoroughly enough) and he obviously didn't have a name when the notice went in:

 (click photos to enlarge)

I can prove I am not a baby boomer but was born while the battle for the Rhine was on:

On the day Pete was born, the Advertiser ran two stories on the front page about Communists, as well as an aerial photo of Port Adelaide wharves, due for some upgrades:

I also checked out the Centralian Advocate, Alice Springs' paper for a long time.  In 1952, it was published weekly, and the Feb 22 issue reminded readers that Al's birthday was the 10th anniversary of the bombing of Darwin (although Alan didn't get a mention!).  Also, the Finke Races were coming up and Bob Smith of New Crown station was the club's president (we knew Bob when we were in Finke in 1973 - he was probably still president):

Anyway, all very interesting, and much more accessible that the microfiche files in the State Library in Adelaide, where I last looked at old newspapers.

Road Rules

This post is entirely for my own interest - and ongoing as I think of things to add.  Any help would be appreciated.

21st Century Road Rules

(as amended to suit current conditions)

1.  Merging onto a freeway requires the expectation that cars already on the freeway will get out of the way.

2.  Texting and/or phone use are mandatory in all situations.

3.  All vehicles on a freeway should travel at the same speed; in particular, vehicles in the overtaking lanes should take care not to overtake anything.

4.  Vehicles turning left into a carriageway should wait until there is oncoming traffic on the right before making the turn.

5.  Drivers entering a freeway should immediately cross into the middle lane;  using the left-side lane is not acceptable.

6.  With traffic lights, a yellow caution light is always a signal to accelerate.

7.  Drivers should take care to always stop at a roundabout, especially if it is deserted.  Alternatively, drivers can speed through without looking left or right.

8.  Drivers turning left should never give way to pedestrians;  drivers should never give way to anything unless they might otherwise die - even then giving way is still not recommended.

9.  Speed limit signs mean slow to the speed of the vehicle in front, unless there is an opportunity to overtake.

10.  Drivers should accept that there is nothing that need slow or impede their progress, in particular double lines painted on the roadway, or school crossings.

11.  If drivers choose to use turn indicators, they should wait until actually making the turn before doing so.  As a general rule, brake lights should always come on before turn indicators.

40 Years Celebration

  On 8th May fifteen off us congregated at La Bel' Amici on Beach Street to celebrate the 40th wedding of Rob and Doortje, and as a bonus, Mothers' Day as well.

The restaurant specialised in pizza and pasta and the table looked like this with 8 adults and 7 grandkids tucking in:                                        (click on photos to enlarge)

The pizzas were excellent:

The kids enjoyed the party, with lots to eat and drink:

After gorging ourselves, we adjourned to Derna Crescent to cut the fabtastic cake that Jac made.  It featured a little mountain devil that Jac made completely from edible stuff, and gumleaves with the names of the whole extended family (inc Andrew and Sarah who couldn't be here) and a quote from my mountain devil song:

We sang a verse or three of "Little Mountain Devil" before cutting the cake:

Nara was very keen to help cut the cake:

We had a great day and got just a little bit emotional!  Then to top it off, John and Sue were in Melbourne and we had a great lunch together the next day at Montalto Winery on the Peninsula.  If our 50th wedding anniversary is as good, we'll be very happy!

Portsea holiday

  Doortje and I had a wonderful few days away at Portsea in between chemo treatment and assorted appointments.  We left on Wednesday (4 May) after an appointment at the chemo day ward for maintenance on my PICC line, deliberately set at 8.30am so we could get away - finally left around 1pm because the line had to be unblocked.
  We stayed for 3 nights at the Grange Resort opposite the jetty at Portsea, went for a ferry ride to Queenscliff, a bike ride to Point Nepean, walked along the beachfront and jetty, and checked out the ocean beaches and Sorrento shops.  We twice ate at the Portsea pub, food passable, atmosphere okay.
  On the way home on Saturday we checked out the Briars at Mt Martha, a historic homestead and large grounds that includes wetlands and old gardens.
There is a set of photos called "Portsea Holiday" at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rob_james/

and here is a sample showing our Portsea apartment to the left of the pine tree.

South Aussie Visitors

(Unfortunately, blog entries are in chronological order, rather than their contents).
At the end of April, Jan came to Melbourne, and then Cameron and Trent and his family came to Frankston for a couple of days.
On Easter Sunday we took Jan to the Botanical Gardens in Frankston for lunch and Easter egg hunt, along with Dan, Mon, Ronja, Jac, Pat, Mason, Millie, Nara, Sully, Helmy, Perran, Harvey and Theo.

Then on the 26th, two of Lester's boys, Cameron and Trent came for tea with Trent's wife, Shylie, and four kids, Jonah, Lataiya, Bowen and Loklan.

Here are Lataiya and Shylie with Loklan on the back deck.
On the 28th they all came back to pick up Jan for the drive back to SA.  I was impressed with Cameron's campervan, which is a 1977 VW LT35 - it would be very rare in Australia.

From left:  Bowen, Jan, Lataiya with Loklan, Trent, Cameron, and Jonah and Shylie behind.

Photos

I like photo essays as much as word ones, so I've experimented with a collection of my car photos, which can be seen at my flickr URL here:-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rob_james/

You'll see the album rather pretensiously called "A History of My Vehicles".  Here's a sample: