2019 Blog

31/12/2019: Cheap Down: These folks have ultra-cheap down sleeping bags, pants, jackets, socks etc on Aliexpress for unbeatable prices. What’s not to like about an 800 fill power ultradry down jacket for US$76.76 (Jan 2019) including delivery, or down pants for US46.41, socks for US$16.24, balaclavas for US$24.85 or 480 grams +5C sleeping bags for US 75.88! Certainly worth a look – they seem to have plenty of positive reviews.

If you needed a bit more warmth you could easily add some more yourself, as we did here: Adding Down to a Sleeping Bag

You can buy the down quite cheaply from eg Aliexpress Just be sure to buy eg 800 ‘fill power’ down. The fill power means eg the amount 1 ounce of down will expand to fill (in this case 800 cubic inches). So around four ounces (or around $20 worth of such down added to a bag will make it OK to say -10C. $100 is pretty cheap for a sub zero bag which weighs around 600 grams.Think about partnering it with one of these cheap backpacks and some other budget items

See Also:

Aegismax

Budget Pack Mods

Ultralight hiking on a Budget

31/12/2019: We are dirty little devils: Ancient humans procreated with at least four other species: https://www.inverse.com/article/61940-ancient-human-four-species-mating-mixing

31/12/2019: Bertrand Russell’s Millennial Advice (1959): Ask only, ‘What are the facts’ – always full of good advice, and his ‘History of Western Philosophy’ is one of a handful of my list of the greatest books ever (NB does not include the Koran or the Bible, but does include Freud’s ‘Interpretation of Dreams’ and Kazantzakis’ ‘Freedom and Death’ and Tolkien’s ‘Lord of the Rings’): https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/12/30/weekly-climate-and-energy-news-roundup-392/ ‘in his new paper Richard Lindzen addressed the important issue of the temperature difference between the equator and the polar regions during the last major ice age and the last major warm period. The temperatures in the tropics did not change much from the cold era to the warm era. Thus, we should not expect a strong tropical “hot spot” during the current warming. Observational evidence of temperature trends show one is not occurring, thus a strong positive feedback from water vapor is not occurring.’ Relax!

31/12/2019: 200,000 hectares (and how many living creatures) gone overnight but it is nothing new and all down to uncontrolled fuel build-ups: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/history-of-disasters-shows-there-is-nothing-new-about-nations-destructive-blazes/news-story/f43c2a6037a8b0e422a69880bce10139

30/12/2019: Thomson River Canoe Trip: This video had somehow disappeared from my page so I have resurrected it. Somehow I managed to video most of the trip with my late friend Steve Cleaver with a non-waterproof very old video camera. There is no editing. It is all just as I filmed and narrated it. Nonetheless I think you will enjoy it – and it will give you a good idea of what to look forward to on this wonderful river – including fresh trout for dinner! Cheers, Steve. NB. This section: Bruntons Bridge to Cowwarr Weir is a two day trip. I guess I must have canoed this river a few dozen times – how privileged am I?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4ntrDS5GNE&feature=emb_title

PS: Summer this year (2019) there is not much water anywhere in Gippsland (and of course fires everywhere) but there is still enough to enjoy a trip down the Thomson. You can have an enjoyable journey from about .2 metres on the Coopers Creek gauge though you might have to get out at a few pebble races. Looks more like .3 on the video.

Also there is water in the Latrobe eg from Thoms Bridge (Yallourn North-Morwell Rd Rd) down to Sale (swing bridge) is approx five days of delightful flat water paddling (take a water filter; this section of the river is muddy).

The last section (shown below) from Kilmany South (two days) is arguably the most scenic: the river is bounded by a strip of magnificent riverine gums on both sides, though there are some quite large sections of forest too. Bird life is particularly varied and plentiful. There are vast numbers of perfect camping spots along the river.

The section from Noojee down to Willow Grove is probably the best but will need some clearing. Get cracking. Also the Tanjil is worth considering (eg from Costins or Rowley’s Hill Rd down to Blue Rock).

See:

Long and Lazy River

Tanjil River

PS: The cover photo is of Steve coming down one of the Thomson’s better rapids (The Chute – which can be inspected from the T1 track 4WD only) the same year (2006) but on a different trip (when we put in from the end of the T9 track (off Stoney Creek Rd) for a day trip. (NB Road ‘officially’ closed but it could be re-opened by determined canoeists. I did it last time – now your turn).

I have improved the photo as much as I can. Alas that I can never take it again, Steve has been gone now for ten whole years. Seems unbelievable: ‘The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ, Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit. Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line, Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.’ Omar Khayyám

See Also:

Canoeing the Thomson River

Only the Moon and Me

How Green Was My River

30/12/2019: A Cure for Tremor? https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01-15/tremor-cure-incisionless-brain-surgery-treatment/10715942?fbclid=IwAR2GT0HZXZH0NzrYx7sxsFw5yxlVexYpSyuhp2p8Pmp-qoBhuAb8tQpIsXk

30/12/2019: It seems quite likely Willis is right and there is no ‘equilibrium climate sensitivity’ – just a few 100s of billions down the drain: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/12/26/a-decided-lack-of-equilibrium/

30/12/2019: Tim Blair has hit the nail on the head here: Life is not a serious business (unless you live in the inner city): https://quadrant.org.au/magazine/2019/12/the-laughable-lust-for-seriousness/

30/12/2019: Failed Apocalypse: Willis is a Breath of Fresh Air: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/12/27/failed-serial-doomcasting/

30/12/2019: If Solar Panels Are So Clean, Why Do They Produce So Much Toxic Waste? Solar requires 15x more materials than nuclear: https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelshellenberger/2018/05/23/if-solar-panels-are-so-clean-why-do-they-produce-so-much-toxic-waste/#5ffa44b8121c

30/01/2019:

29/12/2019: The Arch – Update: Della: ‘The new archway is beginning to settle in and look much less stark with the lower plantings taking off now and the roses starting to climb the uprights. What a difference a few months make in the garden (especially when spring and summer are also involved!) Thanks Steve Jones for the structural work and for laying those tedious pavers: Every glance out the front door now makes me smile!’

Xmas 2019:

August 2019:

29/12/2019: Marvelous Mitchell Day 3: What a wonderful ruin - like something from Ozymandias. Construction of this weir at the junction of the Mitchell and Stoney creek commenced in 1881 but the weir was destroyed by floods in 1893 soon after completion and has never been repaired. Two other attempts to dam the river at Billy Goat Bend and Tabberabbera both came to nothing so that the river remains the last great 'free' river in Victoria. In winter it is common for enough water to be flowing down it to fill one of Melbourne's large catchment dams in a single day, so that a weir like this much higher up such as the one at Swinglers on the Thomson would guarantee Melbourne fresh water for a long while to come. Mind you I am not sorry that it runs free. Dams in Tasmania already built could just as easily supply Melbourne via a pipeline across Bass Strait.

I'm afraid I just kept snapping away at it.

And camped right in the shelter of it overlooking a swallow-filled billabong.

Here the jungle seeks to reclaim it like Angkor Wat.

This Banyalla is growing right out of the wall.

And these two seem to have it surrounded.

You can walk right out along the top.

What a huge pool it still is above the weir. it would have provided very good water for the Lindenow Flats.

The Stoney Creek on the left of the photo was clearly used as a diversion while they built the weir.

The stones from the weir lie scattered below it making a very complex rapid.

My camp is quite dwarfed by the weir.

It was lovely to wake in the morning to this enchanting view.

The weir's stones have been worn quite smooth by a century of rushing water.

Next to last view.

A dragon watches me pass.

The very last viwe of the weir as I head downriver on mostly flat water.

Two dragons.

But there are still a few difficult rapids.

But only 1-2 spots to camp below the weir.

One of the last siltstne cliffs is riddled with caves.

These look as if they contain ancient rock art.

But it is an optical illusion. They would have long since washed away.

A beautiful noxious weed?

The first glimpse of 'civilisation'.

But still a couple of tricky rock gardens.

The reed beds quiver.

At last the 'Final Fling' rapid.

A dead stag had fetched up here. Despite his being more than somewhat overpowering I could not pass up the chance of a trophy without even a gun!

You can walk around this rapid on the right hand side - recomended.

Ony a bit over half an hour to go mainly on flat water.

And real willows hove in sight. What a delight they are!

On the car/bike shuttle I chanced upon a family of emus.

It was a truly delightful three day trip. Younger folk could probably do it more quickly particularly in higher water levels - but what's the hurry. Unfortunately the summer has turned hot and dry and there is now not enough water to follow in my footsteps but put it on your bucket list for when the autumn break comes along - or you might chance to Catch the Wave if it rains higher up the catchment over the summer.

River Heights: Glenaladale Weir: Began Trip .65 ended .66; Waterford: 1.63-1.57; Crooked River: 1.31 - 1,26. These figures probably give you some idea about the comparability of the three gauges. Adventure Pro claimed the river was canoeable from .6 on the Glenaladale Gauge. This is probably about right - for packrafts anyway, but you would expect portages across many rapids. I know I just managed a few and portaged 2.3 at nearly 2" more water than that. That being said this section of the river is characterised my very many long still deep so you might enjoy the experience even when river heights are low - as they are at the moment.sections where you might have to paddle against a headwind. It would be much more enjoyable with a couple more inches of water eg .8 on the Glenaladale Gauge.

Times:

Angusvale Camp Ground to Jorgensens 4 hours

Jorgensens to Amphithesatre Rapid 3 hours

Amphitheatre to Den of Nargen 2 hours

Den of Nargen to Glenaladale Weir 2 hours

Glenaladale Weir to Final Fling 2hours

Final Fling to Glenaladale Bridge 3/4 hour.

Portages approx 1/2 hour.

Campsites: are not wonderfully numerous on this section of the river., though they are to be found. There are hardly any between the Amphitheatre rapid and the Den of Nargen for example, though there does appear to be a bench a chain up from the river on the true right bank which might provide some good spots. There are also not many spots after the Glenaladale Weir, but there are some. Mostly folks have been camping on the lovely sandbars along the way and at the confluences of major creeks. There are shadier spots a little further away from the river which you really need to look out for (look for the benches I mentioned earlier). There is a delightful spot on the true left bank just above the Roaring Mag Creek, for example.

The Glenaladale Weir camping spot is a delight. I camped there and above and opposite Jorgensens. The trip took me 14 hours on the water, so it would have become fairly tedious if done over only two days. You would have to make an early start and a late finish at very least. If you are packrafting you can get out at the Den of Nargen and walk up to the Caravan Park.. Doing so would cut nearly five hours off the trip making it much more suitable for an overnight trip. Of course with more water (and fewer years of age) it might be done much more quickly. You should allow some leeway so that you can perhaps wait an hour or more for a suitable camp to show up.

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/remote-wonnangatta-day-two/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/a-wonnangatta-spring/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/a-wonnangatta-spring-day-two/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/a-wonnagatta-spring-day-three/

Section 1: http://www.theultralighthiker.com/wonnangatta-kingwell-bridge-to-black-snake-creek/

Section 2: http://www.theultralighthiker.com/wonnangatta-black-snake-to-hut-creek/

Section 3: http://www.theultralighthiker.com/wonnangatta-hut-creek-to-waterford-bridge/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/canoe-wonnangatta/

For River Heights: http://www.theultralighthiker.com/canoeing-the-wonnangatta-catching-the-wave/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/pack-rafting-the-wonnangatta-mitchell/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/videos/dawn-surprise-rapid-wonnangatta-river-australia-day-2017/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/wonnangatta-waterford-to-angusvale-day-one/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/wonnangatta-waterford-to-angusvale-day-two/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/wonnangatta-waterford-to-angusvale-day-three/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/videos/canoe-wonnangatta-the-movie/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/12/23/marvelous-mitchell-river-day-1/

28/12/2019: Marvelous Mitchell Day 2: I spent a wonderfully restful night under the huge walnut tree lulled to sleep by the noise of the river rolling past - and surrounded by deer! The walnuts are a great magnet to them. They clearly check them daily to see whether a leaf or a nut has been discarded for their delectation. I notice that on the map this few acres has a National Park boundary around it on the map so that it may be a remnant of private property for all I know. What a weekend retreat!

Going...

Gone.

Such an enchanting river. I would be paddling for nearly eight hours today. Quite a big day for me.

There are some big carp in the Mitchell, and I'm sure more desirable fish too.

A relict brachychiton (kurrajong). They are a feature of the lower Wonnangatta/Mitchell though nearly a thousand km South of where they are much more common. A beautiful and very desirable tree.

I got out to take a look at a beautiful campsite just above the Roaring Mag creek on the true left bank. A lovely honeyeater joined me.

What a great camp in the midst of this tiny piece of temperate rainforest.

Cobbanah Creek on the true right bank would be a pleasant campsite so long as there were no flash-floods. On my map there is a small lake (or dam) about 200 metres long about 200 metres up the creek. I will check it out when Iwalk the Mitchell River Walking Track which parallels the river on the true right bank.

The rock faces at the entrance to the creek look almost as if they were man-made which they weren't.

What a beautiful limpid pool!

It goes on and on forever.

Unfortunately it means (as such things always do) that there is a major drop ahead. And here it is: the Amphitheatre rapid. It started way up there. I walked it - on the true left bank)

And it is still going on way down there.

And some more. It would be quite a thrill and/or dangerous iof there was a bit more water.

I put in again at the bottom.

Here is a look at the wonderful siltstone cliffs of the amphitheatre. There is a walking track to a lookout on the tops of them.The river becomes quite gorgey for a couple of km - and there are about 5 Grade 3 type rapids.

Like this one, but I just bumped on down it.

Another one.

Could be quite exciting in higher water.

Time for a lunch stop in a shady spot on the true right bank. It was quite easy to pick up a few bits and pieces of smashed canoe (centre)!

Another Grade 3 rapid.

Then just deep slow pools and pebble races till we get to Woolshed Creek and the Den of Nargun.

Some ducks enjoying the river too.

Woolshed Creek and the Den of Nargun. You can camp here or walk up the creek for car access if you want a shorter pack rafting trip. You need to keep a sharp lookout on the true right bank. There is a nasty drop right after it which you can portage on the right bank.

That was it up there.

What a treat to see these two little guys. It was a hot afternoon so there were lots of them out having a drink to cool off.

An interesting monolith.

What a spectacular rock-face.

Finally the ruins of the Glenaladale Weir loom into sight, like something out of Ancient Egypt. A fine spot for an overnight camp - and a but of an explore of an interesting piece of Gippsland's history.

What a wonderful place for swallows to nest: there were dozens of them wheeling and curving around the ends of this buttress.

I will have lots more photos tomorrow after I have spent the night relaxing and cooling down.

Times:

Angusvale Camp Ground to Jorgensens 4 hours

Jorgensens to Amphithesatre Rapid 3 hours

Amphitheatre to Den of Nargen 2 hours

Den of Nargen to Glenaladale Weir 2 hours

Glenaladale Weir to Final Fling 2hours

Final Fling to Glenaladale Bridge 3/4 hour.

Portages approx 1/2 hour.

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/remote-wonnangatta-day-two/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/a-wonnangatta-spring/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/a-wonnangatta-spring-day-two/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/a-wonnagatta-spring-day-three/

Section 1: http://www.theultralighthiker.com/wonnangatta-kingwell-bridge-to-black-snake-creek/

Section 2: http://www.theultralighthiker.com/wonnangatta-black-snake-to-hut-creek/

Section 3: http://www.theultralighthiker.com/wonnangatta-hut-creek-to-waterford-bridge/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/canoe-wonnangatta/

For River Heights: http://www.theultralighthiker.com/canoeing-the-wonnangatta-catching-the-wave/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/pack-rafting-the-wonnangatta-mitchell/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/videos/dawn-surprise-rapid-wonnangatta-river-australia-day-2017/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/wonnangatta-waterford-to-angusvale-day-one/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/wonnangatta-waterford-to-angusvale-day-two/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/wonnangatta-waterford-to-angusvale-day-three/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/videos/canoe-wonnangatta-the-movie/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/12/23/marvelous-mitchell-river-day-1/

28/12/2019: Watch Betelgeuse – this could be the show of a lifetime: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/12/26/is-betelgeuse-in-orion-about-to-explode-in-a-supernova/

28/12/2019: Random Chance – why weather records are set: http://catallaxyfiles.com/2019/12/26/record-temperatures-and-random-chance/

28/12/2019: Issues 2020: A Fracking Ban Would Trigger Global Recession: https://www.manhattan-institute.org/issues-2020-economic-consequences-fracking-ban-recession

27/12/2019: The Best Decade in History – yet all the doomsters can peddle is how much worse the future will be! Poppycock! https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/12/25/the-best-christmas-present-to-humanity-ever-weve-just-had-the-best-decade-in-human-history/

25/12/2019: Naturehike Carbon Fibre Walking Pole 135 grams: $38 each with free shipping (to Australia). US76 per pair. What’s not to like about this? I received a pair for Xmas. Stripped of the strap and its aluminium screw mine weighed 128 grams each on my scale and fold down to just under 50 cm (20”) – 51/110cm according to the Specs. They come in three lengths. Mine are Short – the shortest and lightest. The other two lengths are Medium 54/120 cm $ 140 grams and Long 57/130cm & 145 grams.

The hand grip is very positive but is longer than ether of us need, so that I think I could trim a few grams off that weight, probably bringing it to under 120 grams – if I wanted to foresake the screw fitting at the top – which is bigger than a camera thread anyway.

This is just marginally lighter than the new Gossamer Gear LT5 poles at 130 grams stripped (though they are longer – 60/130cm)) . However they cost US$195 per pair, plus shipping. I/we have been quite happily using Massdrop’s Fizan poles for daily use (US$60 per pair) at 158 grams though we took our Gossamer Gear LT4s to Everest as they only weighed 100 grams, (but they are very long – 85 cm/33″ according to my tape measure).

I really like the look and feel of these Naturehike poles. The three sections seem very solid and the locking mechanism is wonderful. They come with a lightweight strap and one basket. It is a ‘standard’ (Leki) thread so you should be able to replace it anywhere if/when you break it. At 20″ they will clearly slip inside any pack your are using.

Available from Aliexpress here: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33057690090.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.34174c4ds7SbS8

See Also:

Extempore Hiking Poles

Ultralight Compact Hiking Pole

Fizan Compact Hiking Poles

Rutalocura Hiking Poles

24/12/2019: Marvelous Mitchell River Day 1: I canoed this lovely section of river from Angusvale Camping Ground to the Glenaladale Bridge over the last three days in my Alpacka packraft. The river heights were at the bottom end of this section’s canoeability (see note below) and the smoke from the huge bushfires the environmentalists are having in East Gippsland spoiled the visibility (of the photos) but all in all it was a wonderful trip.

I left my car (and trailer) at the Glenaladale Bridge (plenty of parking on the North bank) and rode my motorbike to Angusvale where I parked it under a shady tree with a note affixed on both saying, ‘Canoeing the River’. This was a precaution against campers calling the police over an abandoned motorcycle as happened to us when we canoed the section Waterford to Angusvale!

Setting out from the Angusvale Camp Ground.

I have included a lot of photos to give a clear indication of the conditions likely to be found along the river. They are in order. The canoe height shown throughout was approx .65 on the Glenaladale Gauge. People claim the conditions are ‘best’ at 1.3 metres which I misdoubt I would survive any more. I think .8 or thereabouts would be preferable. This is a common river height in the summer months – but not this year!

This section of the river is characterised by many long, slow deep sections

Such as these.

Pebble races.

A couple of km below Angusvale the inconspicuous 4WD Mitchell Track parts company with the river. From here on the river flows through a splendid wilderness. You can see that it is 9 1/2 hours walking the Mitchell River Walking Track to the Den of Nargun (cave). The track continues another 7-8 km (3-4 hours) to the end of Findlay Alexanders Rd (Glenaladale Bridge). If you are walking it you generally have to slip off the track (down a ridge here and there) to get water (in summer). More details later.

There are a number of complex rock gardens, some of them stretching hundreds of yards. Most you can just bump on down in your packraft at this river height, except or the two biggest: the Amphitheatre and Final Fling Rapids. There are quite a few (as the next photos show just below the sign (on the right bank) above

If you have been noticing the unusual trees along the river (in the photo above for example) they are Water Gums or ‘Kanooka’ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tristaniopsis_laurina) They are a very attractive tree producing a cool dense shade (along the Mitchell) and holding the banks together well. River management should be replacing willows with them (if the former are to be removed)

NB: Later in the season they have these attractive flowers too:

A shady lunch stop under similar shade.

And time for a ‘selfie’.

And then onwards.

Beginning to see some beautiful silt-stone cliffs which are a feature of this section of the Mitchell.

You will see many reminders that the river can be a trap for the unwary:

This one is a bit trickier.

After four hours I camped right under a spreading walnut tree on the right bank – what could be better?

A spiker creeps down to the river for his evening meal:

Some other creatures seen along the way:

What a deer magnet a walnut tree is. Every tree in this grove had the remains of a deer under it – like this one!

River Heights: Glenaladale Weir: Began Trip .65 ended .66; Waterford: 1.63-1.57; Crooked River: 1.31 – 1,26. These figures probably give you some idea about the comparability of the three gauges. Adventure Pro claimed the river was canoeable from .6 on the Glenaladale Gauge. This is probably about right – for packrafts anyway, but you would expect portages across many rapids. I know I just managed a few and portaged 2.3 at nearly 2″ more water than that. That being said this section of the river is characterised my very many long still deep so you might enjoy the experience even when river heights are low – as they are at the moment.sections where you might have to paddle against a headwind. It would be much more enjoyable with a couple more inches of water eg .8 on the Glenaladale Gauge.

Times:

Angusvale Camp Ground to Jorgensens 4 hours

Jorgensens to Amphithesatre Rapid 3 hours

Amphitheatre to Den of Nargen 2 hours

Den of Nargen to Glenaladale Weir 2 hours

Glenaladale Weir to Final Fling 2hours

Final Fling to Glenaladale Bridge 3/4 hour.

Portages approx 1/2 hour.

For More About the Wonnangatta/Mitchell River, see:

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/remote-wonnangatta-day-two/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/a-wonnangatta-spring/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/a-wonnangatta-spring-day-two/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/a-wonnagatta-spring-day-three/

Section 1: http://www.theultralighthiker.com/wonnangatta-kingwell-bridge-to-black-snake-creek/

Section 2: http://www.theultralighthiker.com/wonnangatta-black-snake-to-hut-creek/

Section 3: http://www.theultralighthiker.com/wonnangatta-hut-creek-to-waterford-bridge/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/canoe-wonnangatta/

For River Heights: http://www.theultralighthiker.com/canoeing-the-wonnangatta-catching-the-wave/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/pack-rafting-the-wonnangatta-mitchell/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/videos/dawn-surprise-rapid-wonnangatta-river-australia-day-2017/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/wonnangatta-waterford-to-angusvale-day-one/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/wonnangatta-waterford-to-angusvale-day-two/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/wonnangatta-waterford-to-angusvale-day-three/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/videos/canoe-wonnangatta-the-movie/

24/12/2019: I have stressed this again and again, Character is all: How Social Work Became the Pit of Despair It Is Today: https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2019/12/how_social_work_became_the_pit_of_despair_it_is_today.html

24/12/2019: We have a Prime Minister: ‘Speaking on 2GB, Mr Morrison said that action was “absolutely” needed to better address “how fuel loads are managed in national parks” and said a greater focus should be placed on the “rules that sit around clearing trees” close to properties. He warned that some people had been “quite difficult” in preventing progress in these areas but agreed it was necessary to change the existing rules’. http://catallaxyfiles.com/2019/12/23/culpable-monsters/

23/12/2019: If you didn’t know, you can thank John Maynard Keynes for the economic mess: https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2019/12/another-tilt-at-the-keynesian-windmill/

23/12/2019: The correct Prime Ministerial response to bushfires is virtue signaling: https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/12/lnp-prime-mininsters-bushfires-damned-if-they-do-damned-if-they-dont.html

23/12/2019: Deer Wars: Kim Hollows reprises his role as Executive Producer for the first time since creating Ata Whenua. This is a story of men and machines, of incredible daring and unprecedented ingenuity set in the dangerous and unpredictable New Zealand mountains. Over a 20 year period these helicopter pioneers turned a national ecological disaster into a major export industry – but at a cost. Over 80 men died in the pursuit of deer and many more seriously injured. This film celebrates this unique time when through innovation and sheer guts a few hundred Kiwis did the impossible and created the legend that became the deer wars. Please note that some scenes may offend. Rating: E (Exempt from classification) Duration: 30 mins https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUq4K478fYM&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR1TF6J6icQMIBJNPOUg_IPTOFk1SbhZDC2OKdpTkMf498Ncw-RVrK7_7BQ See Also: https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/11/24/shadowland-fiordland-video/

22/12/2019: How hot was it in the past? Try 1828 and 53.9C, or 1896 and 1.6 % of Bourke’s population (at least 40 people) dead from heat stroke: http://joannenova.com.au/2012/07/charles-sturts-time-so-hot-that-thermometers-exploded-was-australias-hottest-day-in-1828-53-9c/ & http://joannenova.com.au/2019/12/abc-climate-experts-do-damage-control-on-1896-heatwave-story-cant-say-why-but-they-know-it-was-cooler-faith/

21/12/2019: Prius battery experiments: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/hsv.general/12xuB36JW0w You can power your home with these beauties.

21/12/2019: Impeachment Proving a Cash Cow For the President: https://neveryetmelted.com/2019/12/07/impeachment-proving-a-cash-cow-for-the-president/ Meanwhile the news you didn’t get. A Democrat Rep switched to the Republicans and pledged ‘undying support’ for Pres Trump: https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/entry/jeff-van-drew-switches-parties-trump_n_5dfbd87ae4b0eb2264d6a68a?ri18n=true

21/12/2019: Australia’s hottest day on record say the BOM – so long as you ignore all the years prior to when it was last hotter, eg 1896: http://joannenova.com.au/2019/12/hottest-ever-day-in-australia-especially-if-you-ignore-history/ Temps have been measured in Australia since 1788 (Sydney Observatory) but the BOM ignores pre-1910 Temps (a warmer period) because it says the older screens (actually replaced around 1890) were unreliable. This is not so. People have understood well how to take a reliable temperature (in a white, elevated, shaded, well-ventilated box) since the late C17th and we have records (from elsewhere) going back that far (The Central England Temperature Record, for example – which incidentally do not show AGW ‘global warming’). The new instruments (incidentally installed around 1990 – when temperatures really ‘took off’; surprise surprise!) are unreliable and uncalibrated to the previous methodology. The box size is now about ¼ what it was and covered with a different paint. Instead of minimax mercury thermometers they now have ‘instantaneous’ automatic thermometers which measure temps for 1/20th of a second (or less) so that a maximum now might have been just a blast of hot air from a nearby jet engine taking off. All too likely as most of the stations have been moved to aerodromes and so do not satisfy any minimum requirements for non-interference from heat sources like air conditioners, tarmac etc. In the future we will have no idea of what the temperatures actually were since they were installed, as there has been no trial period of running both instruments to calibrate one record to the next.

20/12/2019: Sure it’s hot now. It’s summer after all, but just last week in Vic we still had the heaters on of a night. However faking the stats doesn’t make it hotter. Nor does a 1C difference in temps creating ‘mega-fires’. An absence of fuel reduction burns does though. Look at this graph of WA’s record (when they still used to do fuel reduction burtns there):

Also see: http://www.warwickhughes.com/agri16/ABS2002-mx.jpg & http://www.warwickhughes.com/blog/?p=6350 & http://joannenova.com.au/2019/12/hottest-ever-day-in-australia-especially-if-you-ignore-history/ & https://www.theaustralian.com.au/science/bureau-of-meteorology-cooling-the-past-to-declare-record-heat/news-story/9f40e780eaf267471b35fd851f24b3fe

20/12/2019: We must do everything we can to annihilate the deplorables: http://catallaxyfiles.com/2019/12/19/democrats-impeach-the-american-people/

17/12/2019: Well done John Locke: We need more non-delegation right here now; Just so sick of bullying bureaucrats: http://joannenova.com.au/2019/12/pushing-back-the-deep-state-us-supreme-court-may-be-able-to-stop-politicians-fobbing-off-big-decisions-to-the-epa/

17/12/2019: Citizenship ought not be a guaranteed right; neither should the franchise Anyone's citizenship should be cancelled if they continue to be non-citizens, wherever they were born. The issue of whether some other country would take them or whether they should be deported is a different matter, but in many cases the answer to the second question is, 'Yes,' emphatically, 'Yes!' In the past ostracism was a common and deserved penalty. I see no reason why it should not continue to be. Most criminals have surely richly earned the withdrawal of the benefits of citizenship whatever other penalty they may suffer. I mean they still have the franchise –as do lunatics and the mentally incompetent! As for 'refugees' and immigrants who have 95%+ Centrelink dependency (and no English language skills) after 5 years' residence, (they) have long since earned the big kick back to where they came from! Before you become a full citizen you should have to put in!

17/12/2019: Jo Nova is absolutely right: Most people don’t give a damn about ‘climate change. Indeed I suspect most have figured out long ago that it is a hoax; perhaps the biggest fraud in history, ‘Better survey’s show 80% of Australians don’t donate to environmental causes or vote for it. How committed are they? Answer, not even ten bucks a year. On flights, not even two bucks a trip. Survey after survey shows that when people rank issues, climate concerns are flat at the bottom of the barrel. Only 3% of US people think climate is most important issue. Climate change is not a battleground — it’s a fantasy land. The Great Barrier Reef is an icon that half of Australia never visits. When it comes to ranking issues, Climate change is about as scary as “litter”. Skeptics are an absolute majority and have been for years, repeatedly, consistently, and across the continents. Someone should tell these PhD’s about things called “polls”. A ten-second online search shows 56% of Canadians are skeptics. Likewise, 54% of Australians are skeptics (a CSIRO estimate). The OECD estimates Australian skeptics outnumber believers. A very well done British survey show skeptics are a “minority” of 62%. A third in the US are not just skeptical they think it’s a total hoax. (And that was years ago, before The Trump. It would be higher now).If a majority “agreed with the consensus” why is it that most Australians don’t want to pay even a tiny $10 a month for renewables to save the world? Nearly half of US adults don’t want to pay $1 a month. And The British don’t want to pay a cent.’ : http://joannenova.com.au/2019/12/guardian-prophets-six-weeks-ago-climate-crisis-affects-how-majority-will-vote-in-uk-election-poll/

16/12/2019: I do not believe that disenchantment with the results of a valid election are a sufficient reason for society to have to put up with people protesting in the streets; ‘Run the bastards over’ come to mind: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/12/15/what-the-boris-landslide-means-for-the-climate-debate/ ‘In the long run, democracy cannot survive unless there is open debate – a debate that the Left has striven for decades to suppress. One of the two principles of natural justice recognized in English law is audiatur et altera pars – let both sides be fully and fairly heard. On climate, that is not happening. It’s high time it did.’ Another interesting observation here: http://catallaxyfiles.com/2019/12/14/democracy-a-precarious-defender-against-national-self-destruction/

16/12/2019: ‘For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?’ Vale David Bellamy, a true hero: https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/12/12/rip-david-bellamy-cancelled-by-the-bbc-for-green-wrongthink/

16/12/2019: Delingpole is right: we must break the strangle-hold the Left has on so-called ‘education. ‘According to the opinion polls, some 72% of students voted Labor, and only 9% voted Conservative’: https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/12/15/if-boris-doesnt-tackle-red-academe-conservatism-is-toast/

15/12/2019: Our forests: No fire breaks, no fuel reduction, no logging, no grazing, no management…then add the worst drought (in 100 years?) and a veritable army of arsonists who have been let out of lunatic asylums (literally – and by the same socialists who gave you all this)! You will get firestorms: http://joannenova.com.au/2019/12/nsw-is-kindling-to-go-accumulated-fuel-is-an-environmental-time-bomb/

15/12/2019: Hiker Trapped For Days Under Fallen Boulder Survives By Cutting Off Own Ponytail: https://www.theonion.com/hiker-trapped-for-days-under-fallen-boulder-survives-by-1840394997?utm_content=Main&utm_campaign=SF&utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=SocialMarketing&fbclid=IwAR2HOKVr6PtZ0muMshvRv898VlpcZRFMV10p6IJdoRqJcrp67N4hi4NYq_k

15/12/2019: Greta not like Adolph? She really did say (she) would put world leaders against the wall. These kids are becoming more dangerous. As I grow older and older I fear what they will do more and more. We already have (voluntary) euthanasia in Victoria? How long before it is compulsory? https://www.weaselzippers.us/439616-greta-thunberg-tells-cheering-crowd-we-will-make-sure-we-put-world-leaders-against-the-wall-if-they-do-not-tackle-global-warming/

A friend’s comment on this: ‘She speaks as an authority when in reality she has zero knowledge of how the Earths climate works.

All climate change activists work with this basic model:
Earths Natural Climate + Human Effect = Observable Climate.

That means, if we knew exactly what the earth would do without the effects of human activity, any difference to what is actually observed could be assigned to human activity.

But the models for our weather are pathetically inaccurate.
There are at least 5 models to predict the daily weather. At any given time 3-4 are wrong. The models take simplistic assumptions about the effects of the sun, cosmic radiation, volcanoes and the fluctuations in our magnetic core. Not many people trust the weather forecast absolutely, yet climate change activists act like we have a perfect way to predict what the earth would be like on its own!

The measurements of what the earth is actually like are also rather in accurate. The ocean levels, the saline levels in our oceans, ozone levels. There are very large error levels in these actual measures. The error levels are higher than the accuracy of the prediction models!

So if you don’t have a good model of earth’s natural climate, you can’t measure actual climate how the hell do you assign all blame to humans? Further, you have zero ability to know exactly what activities are the problem!

We must stop pollution, we must be more conscious of the damage we do to animal habitat, our waterways and our oceans. But “Holding people against the wall” isn’t going to do anything except create wealth for the people promoting this crap’.

Another interesting observation here: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/12/14/st-greta-calls-for-execution-of-world-leaders-who-defy-her-commands/

15/12/2019: Ultralight Hiker EBC Videos: As you know we were recently in Nepal, hiking the Everest Base Camp Trail (see links below). Here are a just a few snippets of video which did not seem to have a home anywhere else, but which I though .you might enjoy. (I have lots more, but I’ll try not to bore you).

Della particularly loved the donkeys. Here is a donkey train passing by in the main street at Lukla:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbCPK43ZltQ&feature=emb_title

Another donkey train crossing a swing bridge near Phakding Nepal:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KU_FQkSeeQ&feature=emb_title

She also loved the yak trains. She just had to buy a cow bell as a souvenir. I will have to figure out how to make it ring like this at home at Jeeralang Junction. Here is one passing by near Benkar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MU-i3P5vI4U&feature=emb_title

Arriving in Namche. I was full of excitement from the climb (as you can see): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEK0Rlt7MNo&feature=emb_title

Most of the way you are following the Dudh Khosi River which is always too rough for fish to live in it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkNtshhEOp0&feature=emb_title

Lots of wildlife along the way, like these lovely plump birds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PTgx6mIu8c&feature=emb_title

A rickshaw ride at night through the back streets of Kathmandu: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viVDp2CDpJM&feature=emb_title

Here is what we were seeing. I have turned the sound off to spare you from Della’s noisy laughter and etc: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nigQDqyaJG4&feature=emb_title

At the end of the rickshaw ride we ended up at the Yak and Yeti restaurant which is in one of the royal palaces. It is one of the best places to eat in Kathmandu (apparently in the world) though quite pricey. In Thamel we usually ate at the Green Olive.

This wonderful man, Guillaume Maurel from Mauritius (whom we met during a long wait at Lukla Airport) took us there (by rickshaw). Many thanks for a delightful night

Here we are enjoying ourselves, none the worse for wear from our trek (or rickshaw ride).

PS: If you are thinking of walking the EBC you should go soon. When I was there in 2016 you would see 1-2 helicopters a day fly by. Now there are several in the sky pretty much from dawn to dusk flying by carrying building supplies. They are building heaps of multi-storey ‘hotels’ along the way which they clearly anticipate charging you like wounded buffaloes for (when you can stay in the existing guest houses – which are often nearly empty for a couple of dollars a night. Pretty much all the donkeys and yaks are carrying helicopter fuel so that when that when they have finished building these wonderful features may disappear. Also they are building (using just private donation) a road to Lukla which will be completed in a few months. This too will change the character of the Trek (but you will be able to get there by bus, perhaps this time next year – if you dare!.

For more about the EBC See:

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/12/01/ebc-gear-list/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/11/20/ebc-4-5-and-so-onwards-and-upwards/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/11/19/dos-and-donts-on-the-ebc-and-elsewhere/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/11/18/ebc-3-and-onward-to-xanadu/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/11/17/preventing-batteries-from-going-flat-at-high-altitudes/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/11/16/ebc-starting-out-kathmandu-to-lukla/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/11/15/9-days-trekking-the-ebc/

From my previous trip, see:

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/to-the-roof-of-the-world/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/i-followed-my-footsteps/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/i-saw-below-me-that-golden-valley/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/thatendlessskyway/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/the-diamond-desert-everest-base-camp-trek-8/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/everest-base-camp-three-passes-trek/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/cold-weather-face-masks/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/my-life-was-wide-and-wild-and-who-can-know-my-heart/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/12/26/the-diamond-desert-everest-base-camp-trek-8/

14/12/2019: The Fastest Hiker: I have been working on my page’s speed once again. This time I have really succeeded, so I hope you appreciate my efforts. It has taken days and days (again!)- but in the end, like many things it was simple, and the ‘experts’ were no help at all – quite the reverse!

Here are Google’s Page Speed Insights for desktop speed for this morning 10-12-2019:

Loading in .7 of a second is great!

And here is Google’s mobile speed test result:

2.3 seconds is also great for mobiles but as you can see, there is still room for improvement! Nonetheless these speeds mean the page is taking about a quarter of the time that it did this time last year when I thought I had sped it up a lot!

I can make the file size of the images on the home screen smaller – but I can’t figure out how. Also, though gzip (a compression tool) is loaded it does not seem to be outputting (according to W3 Total cache). It should compress the text part by nearly 80% if I can get it working) so I should be able to squeeze these page speed seconds a little shorter still! I am also not sure whether Lazy Load Images is working for mobiles.

Reducing the size of the page (and the images) helped. W3 Total Cache is one of the important answers. (Seems much better than WP Rocket to me). Getting rid of the sidebar (mobile users will appreciate that!) and turning off Google Ads (half the load time!) also. The Jetpack plugin has been holding me back for years – it clearly slows your site down. It was also costing me A$455 per year!

Some of the (all free)plugins I am now using: W3 Total Cache (most important), Short Pixel Optimiser (vital), All In One SEO Pack, Updraft Plus (for backup), WP Statistics and Google Site Kit (both for traffic information), Akismet (for spam) and Classic editor (because I refuse to learn how to use WordPress’s new Gutenberg format). I may add back in a couple more such as Google Language Translator if they don’t slow the site down. I should also add extra security. PS: Added Wordfence.

I hope you enjoy the new ‘look’ of the site – and come back lots of times. I have removed the side bar which spoiled the appearance of the page when you turn your phone/tablet on its side (Sorry!). I have also tidied up all the ‘suggested page’ links at the bottom – as you can see. After I have finished a few necessary farm jobs I will be completing some (I hope interesting) new posts. For example, I have been working on backpacks – I have the beginnings of over 100 new posts. So, Check back later.

Cheers, Steve & Della.

PS: I am happy to hear from any ‘tech heads’ out there with advice!

14/12/2019: Soon, time itself will end: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/dilemma-for-clock-face-as-smartphone-generation-loses-ability-to-tell-the-time-330j5sskf

14/12/2019: Poor Little Pumbaa the Poochie. Bad Mountain Lion: https://www.aol.com/article/lifestyle/2019/12/10/desperate-woman-punches-mountain-lion-as-it-attacks-later-eats-dog-she-could-hear-her-baby-dying/23878095/

14/12/2019: Just some of Time Magazine’s ‘People of the Year’:

Adolf Hitler 1938

Joseph Stalin 1939

Joseph Stalin (again) 1942

Ayatollah Khomeini 1979

Greta Thunberg 2019

13/12/2019: Well done Boris & Nigel. You bloody beauty!

11/12/2019: Non-Lethal Protection; Things We Can’t Have in Oz: https://byrna.com/

11/12/2019: How Good is Andrew Hastie? https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/12/provocative-essay-from-andrew-hastie-mp-on-countering-chinas-espionage-corruption-and-military-aggre.html & https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBnxa3uzKK4&feature=emb_title

11/12/2019: How refreshing is Naomi Seibt? Yet another alternative to Thunbeg. There really is hope for the young when you see how some have already risen above the dogmatism and propaganda they grew up with: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=253&v=v8dXpe1Pp6Q&feature=emb_title

10/12/2019: ‘OK, boomer’? Pay the bills, support a family, then we’ll talk: https://www.thecollegefix.com/ok-boomer-pay-the-bills-support-a-family-then-well-talk/

10/12/2019: A Better Thunberg Alternative: http://catallaxyfiles.com/2019/12/07/a-tale-of-two-girls/

10/12/2019: No Apocalyptic Climate Change – an honest appraisal: https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelshellenberger/2019/11/25/why-everything-they-say-about-climate-change-is-wrong/#68a9ba1712d6 & https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelshellenberger/2019/12/04/why-climate-alarmism-hurts-us-all/#e97f6f936d89

09/12/2019: This is child abuse: https://www.zerohedge.com/health/britains-first-transgender-couple-allow-their-5-year-old-child-begin-transition

09/12/2019: There have been bushfires before and there will be bushfires again: https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/12/a-brief-walk-through-the-history-of-bushfire-smoke-haze-over-sydney-.html

09/12/2019: Thousands of Koalas Dead – and millions of other animals. This is what happens when you ban logging (and other uses) on public land, have no firebreaks or fuel reduction policies and turn it all into unmanaged National Parks. We must reverse this madness as it is the worst possible ‘conservation’ strategy: https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/animals/fears-more-than-2000-koalas-killed-in-devastating-nsw-bushfires/news-story/4fa74ac66d0de1a37bb3b852af26f3e9

08/12/2019: World’s first Xmas card: http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/57200

08/12/2019: There is no climate emergency and we have already had pretty much all of any warming CO2 can give. Welcome to the next Ice Age: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/12/01/what-if-there-is-no-climate-emergency-2/ & https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/12/clintel-presentation-to-eu-there-is-no-climate-emergency.html

08/12/2019: For over twenty years Golden Rice has had the ability to save a million children from death and many more millions per year from blindness – yet it has been ‘blindly’ opposed by green groups everywhere even though its inventor gifted it to the world. You can add all those millions of dead to the 300+ million who died from malaria because of the unnecessary banning od DDT many years ago (it has since been unbanned). The Left (and the religious generally) remain the world’s greatest murderers. The (left-wing) Nazis were responsible for @ 60 million deaths; the communists well over 100 million; Moslems probably over 1 billion! When will the world learn to oppose such irrationality? Bangladesh looks like it might at last start to grow the Golden Rice: http://www.rationaloptimist.com/blog/gm-crops/ & https://quillette.com/2019/12/01/gm-crops-like-golden-rice-will-save-the-lives-of-hundreds-of-thousands-of-children/

04/12/2019: Le Petomane (the ‘fartomaniac’) entertained the crowned heads of Europe with his melodious farting. He could play a pretty fair tune on his derriere apparently. Strangely he has had few emulators. How long wil it be before someone wins Eurovision with the ability to accompany themselves with the other end of their alimentary canal? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_P%C3%A9tomane

04/12/2019: Unfortunately I suspect this is not far from the truth: London’s (Mayor) Khan bans fire extinguishers and narwhal tusks after they were used to stop terror attack: https://genesiustimes.com/londons-khan-bans-fire-extinguishers-and-narwhal-tusks-after-they-were-used-to-stop-terror-attack/ Here are some of Khan’s ‘real’ statements about the ‘event’: https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/11/sadiq-khans-statement-on-terror-attack-7-steps-to-distance-himself-from-using-the-word-terrorism.html This guy only gets to be Mayor because of a flood of unassimilable immigrants and a corrupted voting system. We need to pull back from the brink with these people. Sadiq Khan said

04/12/2019: It turns out the Russians funded much of the falsehood promoted by the anti-fracking movement – just as they funded so many other Left-wing hobby-horses in the past , like opposition to the Vietnam War, etc: http://www.rationaloptimist.com/blog/the-plot-against-fracking/ & https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/12/03/vladimir-putin-endorses-liawatha-sort-of/

03/12/2019: Remember this poem. We need these sentiments even more today:

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - The Village Blacksmith

UNDER a spreading chestnut tree

The village smithy stands;

The smith, a mighty man is he,

With large and sinewy hands;

And the muscles of his brawny arms

Are strong as iron bands.

His hair is crisp, and black, and long,

His face is like the tan;

His brow is wet with honest sweat,

He earns whate'er he can,

And looks the whole world in the face,

For he owes not any man.

Week in, week out, from morn till night,

You can hear his bellows blow;

You can hear him swing his heavy sledge

With measured beat and slow,

Like a sexton ringing the village bell,

When the evening sun is low.

And children coming home from school

Look in at the open door;

They love to see the flaming forge,

And hear the bellows roar,

And watch the burning sparks that fly

Like chaff from a threshing-floor.

He goes on Sunday to the church,

And sits among his boys;

He hears the parson pray and preach,

He hears his daughter's voice,

Singing in the village choir,

And it makes his heart rejoice.

It sounds to him like her mother's voice,

Singing in Paradise!

He needs must think of her once more,

How in the grave she lies;

And with his hard, rough hand he wipes

A tear out of his eyes.

Toiling,—rejoicing,—sorrowing,

Onward through life he goes;

Each morning sees some task begin,

Each evening sees it close;

Something attempted, something done,

Has earned a night's repose.

Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend,

For the lesson thou hast taught!

Thus at the flaming forge of life

Our fortunes must be wrought;

Thus on its sounding anvil shaped

Each burning deed and thought!’

NB: The 'Smithy' stood underneath the chestnut tree. The C18th American forest was full of these giant trees (such that Indians had to do very little work, such was their abundance). An accidentally imported disease wiped (almost) every last one out in the twinkling of an eye (C1904): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chestnut_blight

03/12/2019: Squanto. Good Heavens – what an astonishing story: http://ericmetaxas.com/media/articles/miracle-squantos-path-plymouth/

03/12/2019: Save us from those saving the world: ‘They don't care about the climate, of course. They are too busy saving the world. I have reached the age when I fear not death but people who want to save the world. My soul can survive death with the grace of God but I have seen the horror unleashed by those who would save the world’ https://donsurber.blogspot.com/2019/11/save-us-from-those-saving-world.html#more Like this little one who has now come out as a fully fledged Marxist (and whose yacht stunt produced more CO2 by far than her flying across the Atlantic ever would have – just think of the crew who flew across the Atlantic a couple of times because she was too precious to do so: https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/11/29/greta-thunberg-goes-full-marxist/ Harken to the little ‘watermelon’: "After all, the climate crisis is not just about the environment. It is a crisis of human rights, of justice, and of political will. Colonial, racist, and patriarchal systems of oppression have created and fueled it. We need to dismantle them all."

02/12/2019: When did routine bad weather become such big news? 2nd Dec and a max of 12C here at Jeeralang Junction! A bit of hot or cold weather though does not 'mean climate change'. That is invalid inductive reasoning of the kind long ago encompassed in elementary logic texts, eg 'This is a swan, therefore it is white'. The discovery of Australian swans sure put paid to that one! There is much other fallacious reasoning in the 'green movement'. Misuse of 'co-relation' for example. Many things 'co-relate' which does not mean there is any relationship between them. It is simply a statistical blip. Also a co-relation has to be pretty darn strong (more than this) to be ‘statistically significant’ anyway. And 'co-relation' certainly is not 'causation'. To suppose that something is a cause and another is a result, we would never find them appearing without each other - or in reverse order. As we do with CO2 and temperature for example. PS. I can also remember a July day here when it was 28C: https://www.lucianne.com/2019/11/30/when_did_routine_badbrweather_become_such_big_news_21662.html

02/12/2019: London Bridge: I like the way after bystanders disarmed the terrorist and pinned him to the ground, the police then shoot him dead. Which just goes to prove how much safer we are when we disarm the citizenry and give all the weapons to the police and the armed forces: https://www.sbs.com.au/news/london-bridge-attack-police-name-knifeman-as-convicted-terrorist-usman-khan PS: I do understand that he might have had a bomb. Armed citizens could also have shot him dead before he did any harm.

02/12/2019: EBC Gear List: A number of people wanted to know what we took on the EBC since we carried all our own gear and did not employ the services of a guide. I have answered some of their questions in the post Dos and Don’ts on the EBC but I realise people might like to see an actual gear list, and maybe some explanation as well.

I carried more than some people might and a lot less than most people do. When my pack was weighed at some point (checking in for the flight from Kathmandu to Lukla I guess) my pack weighed 6 point something kg – which sounds about right. Della’s was lighter than this, though she had more of some things (clothes) and less of others (communication equipment, safety, first aid, repairs etc).

Well, here goes (I have added links to some of the things mentioned):

NB: Surplus or unused in (brackets) Grams

Worn:

Columbia Silver Ridge Trousers 288

Icebreaker S/Sleeve wool shirt 223

Icebreaker wool knickers 58

Darn Tough Socks 73

Hankies (2) (Microfibre Towel cut into six pieces) 28

Keen Targhee 2 Hiking Shoes (pair) 890

Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini Phone (inc battery, cards, protectors) 124

Watch & Compass 63

Sony Camera (inc battery, wrist strap & card) CybershotDSC-TX200V 131

Camera Accessories: String Tripod & Stickpic (19)

Gossamer Gear LT4 Trekking Poles (2) 210

Kathmandu L/Sleeve Light Wool Top (as needed) 220

Gloves (as needed – rarely): MLD mitts 26 & Icebreaker Wool Liner 25 45

Hat/s: Columbia Sun 60, Icebreaker Jockey 77, and Icebreaker Beanie 38 175

Sub Total: 2547 (19)

Pack: G4 Free from Amazon (<US$20) 439 (100)

(with some mods and DIY shoulder pouches)

Waterproof Sea to Summit Liner 50 litre bag 85

Air Flow Sitlight Camp Seat (Pack frame and dry back) 108

Sleeping Bag Montbell Super Spiral #3 with added down 800

(in Sea to Summit Waterproof compression bag)

(Much repaired) Thermarest Neoair X-Lite Womens inflatable pad 351

Emergency Shelter (alternative 253 grams not in my budget) 340 (87)

DIY Pillow 53

Sub Total: 2176 (187)

Weather: Montbell raincoat 214

Rain Pants (Zpack) 100

Gaiters (MLD) 59

Montbell Down Coat 246

Montbell Down Vest 186

Down Socks 60

Jardine Bomber Hat 33

Compression Sack (Insulated Clothes) 65

Dry Bag (other) Clothes 43

Dry Change: 3 spare hankies (as above) 42

Icebreaker Longjohns (Pyjamas) 158

Kathmandu L/Sleeve Wool Top (as above) 220

Columbia Trousers (as above) 288

Icebreaker Shirt (as above) 223

Icebreaker Knickers (as above) 58

Darn Tough Socks (as above) 73

Microfibre Towel 83

Sub-Total: 2152 (0)

Drink: 600 ml empty soft drink bottle (water) 29

Sawyer Mini Water Filter 59 and Squeeze Bottle 22 (81)

Emergency Communicaion: (old) Iridium Sat Phone (inc battery) 378

Spare Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini (inc Battery) (124)

Delorme Inreach Poor Man’s Sat Phone 197

GoTenna (1 each) 53

2 Litre Sea to Summit Waterproof Bag for above 17

Sub-Total: 769 (124)

Electronics: (batteries carried in three Aloksaks which weighed) 21

Another stuff sack (17)

2 x Single 18650 Power Banks 144 (72)

Spare Electronics Bag (spare hearing aids, cables etc) 86 (84)

Surplus Charging Cable (26)

Unnecessary AAA Torch inc battery (26)

Unnecessary Spare AAA Battery (12)

Unnecessary rechargeable Torch (24)

2 x Rechargeable Torches (with head mod) 21

Spare Sat Phone battery (65)

Spare camera battery (camera not taken!) (28)

2 spare phone batteries (one used) 66 (33)

2 spare camera batteries (flat – altitude, unused) 26 (26)

Sub-Total: 562 (329)

Other:

Toilet Bag inc 17 gram trowel & all wipes needed for trip 267

(4 dry 2 wet) plus nano head net and insect repellent)

Chemicals Bag (Approx) 100

Repairs Bag 60

Spare Glasses and sunnies (inc container) 59

First Aid Bag 297

Chewing Gum Bag (inc hearing aid safety and glasses cleaner) 35 (17)

(Sore Throat) Lollies (unused! Available on track) (175)

2 Unnecessary Knives (1 used) 36 + 45 (81)

Knife Sharpener, Cig Lighter Micra Leatherman 70 (10)

Combination Padlock (39)

Sub-Total: 1183 (322)

Total: 9499 inc 2547 worn so: 6962 grams inc unnecessary (981); Needed: 5981

As you can see I ‘needed’ a 6 kg pack weight though it included things others might not carry (eg a sat phone plus a Sat Messenger (378 grams right there), a shelter (253 grams), glasses, a camera, etc.

If I had been going on from Dingboche to Base Camp (at this time of the year), I might have carried an extra pair of Longjohns/ Down Trous (Della took hers – she feels the cold more = not enough adopose!) and a woolen T-shirt. It gets colder (and nastier) up there, but you can put all your clothes on when necessary. You get quite a good enough view though from the top of the hill at Dingboche and along the way.

Della’s pack was substantially lighter (around 5 kg). Between us we had under 12 kg to walk the EBC.

As you can see, I accidentally had on board a pile of junk I usually carry (hunting etc) which I had forgotten (in the rush) to leave behind. Still, I am still young and fit enough (at 70) to carry this and more, and to walk 7 hours a day a few kilometres in the sky – and I am overjoyed to say, so is Della – who had a simply swell time. Cheers.

BTW: The (sub US$20) Amazon Packs carried this amount of gear perfectly, and were wonderfully comfortable. I have a few more mods I am going to carry out on them, and have ordered some more from Aliexpress too. Watch out for a future post: ‘Backpack Tricks‘!

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/11/25/camo-merino-wool-for-deer-hunting/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/10/21/guaranteed-for-life/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/05/03/keen-shoes/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2014/11/13/watch-bands-for-hikingbushwalking/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/08/09/4-gram-string-reverse-tripod/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/01/01/stick-pic/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/11/03/ultralight-compact-hiking-pole/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/07/03/down-socks/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/11/07/i-just-love-hats/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/06/29/the-poor-mans-satellite-phone/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/06/04/gotenna/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/03/24/budget-pack-mods/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2015/05/14/dry-bags-sea-to-summit-ultra-sil-nano/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/01/25/gossamer-gear-air-flow-sitlight-camp-seat/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/03/11/adding-down-to-a-sleeping-bag/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/08/23/a-tardis-folding-space/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/08/15/womens-are-great-in-bed/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2014/10/19/survival-shelter/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/06/12/thermoplastics-101/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/03/27/new-ultralight-survival-shelter/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/11/17/preventing-batteries-from-going-flat-at-high-altitudes/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/03/20/lightest-cheapest-powerbank/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/11/23/ultralight-charging-cable/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/04/29/ultralight-rain-gear/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/02/17/ultralight-mitts-and-gaiters/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/09/21/montbell/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/08/22/smallest-rechargeable-flashlight/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2015/11/20/ultralight-personal-hygiene/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/10/16/small-is-beautiful/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2015/06/12/cuben-tape/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/03/21/ultralight-glasses-case/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/06/12/ultralight-knife-sharpener/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2014/11/14/leatherman-micra-multitool/

For more about the EBC See:

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/11/20/ebc-4-5-and-so-onwards-and-upwards/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/11/19/dos-and-donts-on-the-ebc-and-elsewhere/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/11/18/ebc-3-and-onward-to-xanadu/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/11/17/preventing-batteries-from-going-flat-at-high-altitudes/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/11/16/ebc-starting-out-kathmandu-to-lukla/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/11/15/9-days-trekking-the-ebc/

For my previous trip, see:

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/to-the-roof-of-the-world/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/i-followed-my-footsteps/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/i-saw-below-me-that-golden-valley/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/thatendlessskyway/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/the-diamond-desert-everest-base-camp-trek-8/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/everest-base-camp-three-passes-trek/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/cold-weather-face-masks/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/my-life-was-wide-and-wild-and-who-can-know-my-heart/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/12/26/the-diamond-desert-everest-base-camp-trek-8/

01/12/2019: The Myth of Aboriginal Agriculture - Dark Emu Exposed: https://www.dark-emu-exposed.org/

01/12/2019: Is vaping bad for you? Only if you vape cannabis: http://catallaxyfiles.com/2019/11/29/truth-gets-in-the-way-of-another-good-story/

01/12/2019: The Same Thing Could Happen at Home - A Bike Ride Through the Garden of Good and Evil: In 2017, two Americans set off on a round-the-world bike trip. They believed people all over the world are inherently good at heart. They never made it home: https://www.outsideonline.com/2405861/tajikistan-bike-murders-jay-austin-lauren-geoghegan

30/11/2019: Clive Again: ‘I love a sunburnt country’ too. I remember the 1956 Maitland floods. From Bolwarra Heights we could look across the vast sea which had swallowed Maitland (Australia’s oldest city), East Maitland, Woodville and Largs and see just the odd rooftop of two-storey buildings peeping through it – the ground floor buildings were all underwater. There has never been a flood like it since along the East Coast. My older cousins can still remember the heat waves of the late 1930s, the tiny babies and the elderly dying from it; again which nothing since has come close to. Clive James sums up these reflections better than me, here: https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/doomed-planet/2019/11/well-versed-in-warmisms-folly/ ‘Pride comes from facing facts, and in Australia the facts are that the climate will starve you or wash you away, unless you build something. Banning certain categories of light-bulb will never be enough. Such measures imply the desirability of a return to some kind of benevolent natural state. There is a natural state all right, but any benevolence is our idea. The blue sky is pitiless.’ The good news today is that those who questioned the recent Brisbane floods in court have won: http://joannenova.com.au/2019/11/class-action-win-2011-floods-were-man-made-seemingly-managed-as-if-the-dams-would-never-fill/

30/11/2019: Colin Dowler Fought Off a Grizzly with a Small Pocketknife: https://neveryetmelted.com/2019/11/26/49489/

30/11/2019: The Gillard-Wilson Crimeline – in case you have been sleep-walking: https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/11/timeline-in-the-gillardawu-slush-fund-saga.html & just in case you thought Shorten was Scot-free, think again. Justice may be slow but it is coming: https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/11/statement-from-kathy-sherriff-shorten-rape-complainant-victoria-police-speaking-to-more-witnesses.html

29/11/2019: Clive at his best; seriously funny. His conclusion: ‘For as long as the climate change fad lasted, it always depended on poppycock; and it would surely be unwise to believe that mankind’s capacity to believe in fashionable nonsense can be cured by the disproportionately high cost of a temporary embarrassment. I’malmost sorry that I won’t be here for the ceremonial unveiling of the next threat. Almost certainly the opening feast will take place in Paris, with a happy sample of all the world’s young scientists facing the fragrant remains of their first ever plate of foie gras, while vowing that it will not be the last.’ https://www.thegwpf.org/content/uploads/2017/07/Clive-James.pdf

29/11/2019: Can Europe be saved – Hungary shows the way: https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/can-europe-be-saved-from-demographic-doom/

29/11/2019: Go Liz Storer, my new heroine: https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/advance-australias-new-boss-liz-storer-on-mobilising-the-centre-right-to-end-political-correctness/news-story/d6b2f8097b4ffba473cfaa79f0ae76e6

28/11/2019: We certainly will miss you Clive: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/blogs/andrew-bolt/clive-james-writes-his-obituary/news-story/3fff9b154470ee9fc24e718433c1aba9

28/11/2019: The Destruction of Our Forests by Labor and the Greens is Amongst Their Most Reprehensible Evils. Alas they have many more. Nonetheless we must oppose them with every ounce of our strength: https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/doomed-planet/2019/11/sacrificed-on-victorias-green-altar/

28/11/2019: Thanksgiving - It’s a Wonderful Time to Be Alive: https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/11/thanksgiving-wonderful-time-to-be-alive/

28/11/2019: Thinking of a 12 Gauge for Deer Hunting? The Maximum Practical Range of Slugs & Buckshot: https://www.shootingillustrated.com/articles/2019/2/15/the-maximum-practical-range-of-slugs-buckshot/

27/11/2019: The new Gulags or ‘Vocational Training centres’. Chilling stuff: https://www.icij.org/investigations/china-cables/exposed-chinas-operating-manuals-for-mass-internment-and-arrest-by-algorithm/

27/11/2019: Some folks who changed from being warmists to climate skeptics after looking at the evidence: http://www.warwickhughes.com/blog/?p=6372 & https://medium.com/@pullnews/what-i-learned-about-climate-change-the-science-is-not-settled-1e3ae4712ace and a list of 1350 sceptical studies for further reading: http://www.populartechnology.net/2009/10/peer-reviewed-papers-supporting.html

27/11/2019: Sondland; In case you missed it: ‘in the biggest testamentary turn-around in a congressional hearing since Frankie Five Angels changed his tune – Sondland clarified what he had meant. What he meant was Donald Trump had explicitly ruled out any quid pro quo but only wanted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to “do the right thing.” Sondland said he had merely presumed there was a link between the Bidens and aid. In a long and idiotic series of hoaxes, this cruel disappointment for Democrats was no different to any of the other letdowns but may as well be considered the fat songstress of the era. In the words of Harry Reid, this war is lost’. A triumph of ‘fake news’. http://catallaxyfiles.com/2019/11/22/last-sugar-rush-for-adams-ants/

25/11/2019: Willis at his brilliant best: The warmists’ models are nuts: ‘we are using these models, with mean errors from -15 W/m2 to +23 W/m2, in a quixotic attempt to diagnose and understand a global radiation imbalance which is claimed to be less than one single solitary watt per square metre (1 W/m2), and to diagnose and understand a claimed trend in TOA downwelling radiation of a third to half of a W/m2 per decade …’ https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/11/23/how-much-sun-could-a-sunshine-shine/

25/11/2019: ‘Land of the free: in shock decision, US allows citizens to choose whatever light globe they want. Incandescent-light-globes. In a rare move for consumers, US citizens will not be forced to buy LED soul-and-body-clock destroying globes next year as was planned. Instead they can frivolously continue to buy incandescent globes if they so choose. Despite the Democrats best efforts to stop droughts and bushfires with indoor lighting, no US citizen will be denied the chance to save their own money and enjoy a more natural spectrum of lighting in the privacy of their own home’. http://joannenova.com.au/2019/11/land-of-the-free-us-allows-citizens-to-choose-whatever-light-globe-they-want/ Such is the depth of our statism, it could never happen here.

24/11/2019: The G4 is Back: An updated version of this iconic pack is now available in 70D & 100D (as in the Gorilla) DWR coated Robic Nylon in three sizes from 578 grams & US$153 (Nov 2019), the G4-20 Ultralight 42 Backpack Quite a good price and weight. This would be very suitable for a lightweight hiking/hunting pack.

Features include: 'Extendable roll-top with dual closure options, Waterproof zippers, Removable molded cushy sitpad, Fixed hip belt with unique hip belt pocket design'.

The 'new' G4 is up approx 100 grams from the original which was mostly a much less durable 2 oz nylon) and down about 10 litres in size (from 60 to 50) NB There are approx 8 litres inside the extension collar – the spec. of 42 litres doesn’t include this (nor does it on any other of GG's packs).

It has a roll-top closure which you might modify if you don’t like them (I don't) – they do reduce the storage of the pack (compared with the simple draw string of the original) but their intention (along with the side compression) is to ensure that the contents exactly fill the volume of the pack so that you don’t need a frame. The contents of the pack are the frame. I would prefer to have 2-3 draw strings going down so that you could shrink the pack to achieve this 'frame effect' but without reducing its volume when full. This would also be (fractionally) lighter

This is a mod I will be adding to the Amazon packs we used on the EBC. They lack an extension collar altogether. I will be able to increase their volume (eg up from 42 to 50 litres) by adding this small rectangle of material. A few minutes work at most. At about 1-1.5 Ft2 it will only add 5-10 grams to the pack (eg 5 in silnylon or closer to 10 eg in 3.5 oz/yd2 Dyneema) but make them more suitable for multi-day trips. 8 litres of dry food is quite a lot.

If you like this type of wide hip belt, then you won’t be unhappy with it – but I would probably cut it off and add a 12 grams gross-grain strap and buckle as I did on the Amazon packs as I think that hip belts that are wide and start at the side really make load transfer more difficult and unnecessarily inhibit the natural movements of the wearer - however neat they may look..

You really only need to make the pack swing into the small of your back (with a waist belt). The pack weight actually sits on your bum, not on the strap. A too wide strap starting from the sides of the pack will never achieve this comfortably as it never does up around your torso properly - if you try to tighten it, it only cuts in. Bad design. But practically everyone does it! If you keep it make sure you don't quite fill the pack across this point of attachment so that the belt can better pull in and conform to your waist. And make sure it is at your waist and not lower.

The mods I would make to the new G4 would take probably 100 grams off the pack. Lids are just a waste of material as far as I am concerned. Then I would perhaps substitute an Air Flow Sit Light Pad from Gossamer Gear (as I did with the Amazon packs) for this 100 grams which will go a long way to ensuring you have a dry back. You really only need about a third of the weight of this pad though, so I might have attached the requisite pieces in the first place ensuring a dry back and reducing weight - so the pack could have weighed about 70 grams less than it now does. but including some dry padding along the back,

The straps and buckles on the lid (there are three where there only needs to be one - as on the original) are also about twice the weight they need to be. If there are going to be three, 1/2" wide is adequate (and if the pack had a draw string closure) the three straps could be used to attach another item to the top (a compression bag, a pack raft or a bear canister perhaps). I do not see that these three straps achieve anything other than the effort of carrying them, though perhaps like many things in 'pack design' they 'look nice'! (Just like the inappropriate and heavier than necessary hip belt folks are always attaching to packs nowadays.

I like the asymmetric sizing of the side pockets – one can carry your shelter, which is a good idea. I long ago modified all my packs for this purpose. Usually you only need to add a light strap less than 5 grams to achieve this. I run an ultralight carabiner through the draw string of the tent and this strap so you never lose your tent!

The waterproof zip compartment will probably attract a lot of people, but I would have put this compartment's entry inside the pack (because I just don’t trust zippers at all; when they go where are you?) – and if you really want waterproof, go for Sea to Summit Ultrasil liner bags or Aloksaks.

I would prefer a ring of small pockets heading downwards inside the pack from the extension collar join for quick access to small things on the trail if you can’t cope with having a drawstring ‘possibles’ bag at the top of your pack inside the liner bag (where nothing gets wet). Frankly this is a much better idea. You can build too many 'gimmicks' into a pack. Keeping it simple is best.

The shoulder straps on Gossamer Gear’s new (Robic) line of packs all seem to be about ¾” narrower than on the old G4s, Mariposas etc though they are softer and lined with a wicking material. In general though I think narrower is a backwards step even though they are now better shaped than they once were. The greater the 'bearing' surface area, the easier it will be to carry the pack. I would extend this bearing area rather than reduce it.

I would have made the straps wider even though the pack is only intended for relatively light loads (well under 15 kg). If the straps are wider and the pack only carries under 10 kg, then I think you can dispense with the chest and waist/hip straps altogether as they only impede walking anyway - and add weight.

I would have aimed for a pack under the weight of the old G4 (460 grams) rather than over it but made with the improved materials. Robic is about 50% stronger than an equivalent weight standard nylon. Reducing the pack to nearer 50 litres than 60 is not such a bad move either, but maybe a compromise would have been to have reduced the dimensions of the pack (which they have done) but gone for a slightly longer extension collar (say nearer 12 litres - or a 54 litre pack), but with the aim being sub 400 grams. I know this is possible because I own such a 52 litre 390 gram by 4.8 oz/yd2 Dyneema pack - and am about to make it a little lighter still in one direction and a little heavier (and bigger) in another. Always tinkering...

Incidentally they have eliminated the distinctive bulge at the bottom of the old G4 pack. I found this quite an attractive feature. It also possessed a certain utility. It was intended that you could allow your sleeping bag to spread out there and form a cushion or shock absorber for other contents in the pack - though some folks think you should load the heaviest items at the bottom. Strictly the most important loading decision you make with a frameless pack is putting everything soft towards the front of the pack so you don't have hard objects jabbing into your back.

I have a Medium Gorilla which is exactly 18” from bottom of the shoulder strap attachment points to the bottom of the hip belt) which I removed and replaced. 18” is just about right for me (though 17” would be better) but is much too long for Della who is better under 17".

The Specs for this pack say that the length of the Small is 19 ¼” to the extension collar seam (which I am assuming is about 2” above the shoulder strap attachment point - as on my Gorilla) making the pack approx 17 ¼” long. Gosssamer Gear needs to provide more precise detail on sizing to fit different hikers. I would probably want a 'Small' which (if the above is true) would be far be too long for Della (who is only 5' tall). As I say, more precise buying information necessary. I know there are lots of bigger people than us! The pack comes in three sizes but it would be good if one of these was for 'little' people and children.

I do not like the stretchy material in the back pocket (though it is a lot more robust than that used by most hiking pack manufacturers). I would prefer a solid material here. I know the intention is to dry socks in the pocket (which does not work well under compression anyway). You are much better to add a clothesline to the pack and peg your washing to that.

The stretchy material tears (especially) in blackberry patches and you then have to worry about losing the pocket’s contents (or attempting a trail repair). I own several packs with torn stretchy material pockets awaiting ‘repair'. The difficulty is that the material is almost always caught up in the seam so that a very elaborate unpicking and resewing is necessary. Might as well just about make a new pack.

I note that the Silverback uses some 70 and some 200 Denier Robic material (eg presumably in the bit closest to your back). It would clearly be a bit tougher pack than this one – or the Gorilla -if you are intending to carry heavier weights etc, but as I said at the start, this would make a very good lightweight hunting or hiking pack - and is reasonably priced. You have to compare it to the alternatives. Just about everyone else seems to have lost the plot as far as lightweight packs are concerned. They are mostly heading above a kilogram once more. If this continues everyone will be back to carrying 20+ kg again too.

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/08/20/a-gorilla-in-the-hand/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/08/30/a-gorilla-in-the-bush/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/11/27/pimping-a-gorilla/

PS: You can still make your own (original) G4:

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2015/06/14/diy-hiking-gear/

23/11/2019: Ultralight Charging Cable: Tired of lugging around that long (heavy) charging cable – which maybe weighs all of an ounce? Ouch! You can do better than that. For example:

Anker 2-Pack Powerline Micro USB (4 Inches) – Durable Charging Cable, with Aramid Fiber and 5000+ Bend Lifespan (Approx) 11.3 grams A$11.48 (x2) Nov 2019

USB (Male) to Micro USB adaptor (approx) 7 grams A$ 2.49 (Nov 2019) May not be suitably flexible for your purpose.

Urbo Keyring Charger with USB-A to Micro-USB Connector .16 oz = 4.56 grams A$14.99 (Nov 2019)

You just have to have 1-2 of these for Xmas.

23/11/2019: The Current Inter-Glacial: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocene Notice the trend line: downwards; the hottest period since the last Ice Age was 8,000 years ago. The world has been steadily cooling since then, returning to ‘normal’ ice age conditions. You can clearly see the Medieval Warm Period (when it was warm enough to grow crops and even trees in Greenland) and the Roman warm period and the Minoan Warm Period – all benign times. You can also clearly see the Little Ice Age (the coldest period since the last Ice Age – when Scandinavia for eg lost 2/3rds of it people) which ended about 200 years ago. Billions of people alive today would be dead if it returned! You can also see that we have been coming out of the Little Ice Age for some time now (no wonder if short-term temperature records are broken!). However, the trend line indicates that we will begin a cooling phase again soon ie within the next century or so – perhaps today? The day before yesterday afternoon it cooled here by 20C in only a hour – actually a welcome change. If this had continued overnight though we would be back in a real Ice Age right now. Climate Change indeed. Fortunately ‘one swallow does not make a summer’.

23/11/2019: Your ABC predicting the end of civilization (now) way back in 1973. A really lot of money wasted on Auntie’s propaganda since then: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=250&v=cCxPOqwCr1I&feature=emb_title

23/11/2019: Bertold Brecht: ‘The Solution: After the uprising of the 17th of June The Secretary of the Writers' Union Had leaflets distributed on the Stalinallee Stating that the people Had forfeited the confidence of the government And could only win it back By increased work quotas. Would it not in that case be simpler for the government To dissolve the people And elect another?’

22/11/2019: One of the ‘great escape’ stories: ‘Balloon’ is a German thriller that deals with the crossing of the inner German border of the families Strelzyk and Wetzel from the GDR to West Germany with a homemade hot-air balloon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95LBIwTOR7Q&feature=emb_title

22/11/2019: Sexual Assault - How to make <3% into > 51%: http://catallaxyfiles.com/2019/11/22/a-frauds-finale/

22/11/2019: A Real Invisibility Cloak: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZMyWEWHCTM&feature=emb_title & http://joannenova.com.au/2019/11/an-unpowered-invisibility-cloak/

21/11/2019: More Time Travelers: https://10daily.com.au/shows/theproject/a191120qakny/photo-from-1898-convinces-people-greta-thunberg-is-a-time-traveler-20191120 What is even more puzzling is what is the mystery creature lying on the ground just behind ‘Greta’ in 1898. Is this the first ever photograph a ‘Luck Dragon’ (from ‘The Neverending Story’?

21/11/2019: Amazingly the far-Left Saturday paper now also thinks Pell is innocent: https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/opinion/topic/2019/11/16/george-pells-appeal-the-high-court/15738228009096

21/11/2019: The Democrats (the Left generally?) have decided to spend more money than actually exists on their socialist policies. Check Pocahontas’ plans for health spending for eg: US$60K per year per family on health care alone: https://rosebyanyothernameblog.wordpress.com/2019/11/09/she-thinks-were-not-taxed-enough/

20/11/2019: Dos and Don’ts on the EBC (and Elsewhere): I intend this post to apply to lots of other hiking destinations, but at least it should improve your experience and expectations on this iconic walk. ‘You live and learn – or you don’t live long’ – as the man said (ie Lazarus Long, ‘Time Enough For Love’).

I have lived long, and intend to live even longer. In contrast, both times I undertook the EBC I witnessed dead bodies being unloaded from helicopters! I also saw many folks much younger than myself getting themselves into serious difficulties which might well have led to just the same outcomes if I had hung around being a fly on their walls. I have seen young folks dead many times before. Don’t let that be you!

Setting out from Lukla:

Should you carry your own gear &/or should you employ a guide? If you are into ‘virtue signalling’ – as about half the population seems to be nowadays, (Myself – as Red said – ‘I couldn’t give a damn!’) you will have lots of reasons why you should employ someone else. Delegate responsibility for your life to someone else if you don’t value it overmuch. Myself I value my own hide too highly to trust someone else with its responsibility.

Crows will be into your pack if you leave it unattended:

If you want that important piece of gear (without which you are just a frozen corpse) when you need it, best make sure it is in the pack on your own back, not perhaps many miles away on someone else’s, no matter how much more comfortable that may seem to be. Most people on the trail had off-loaded everything (looked like the kitchen sink too) onto someone else. Certainly all the (few) older people such as ourselves had. I have direct experience on both trips of numbers of folk who regretted it!

About that Pack: We both took the Amazon packs I wrote about back here with some further mods I will detail later. The packs each weighed around 350 grams (for 40 litres – quite enough!) Della’s cost A$10.90 from Amazon. She bought four so she would never run out! She likes purple! Fully loaded they weighed 6-7 kg at most.

Della loves that purple pack:

Aside: I have discovered that hip belts are in the wrong place (ie not at the waist – your narrowest part) and should not weigh more than 12 grams (including clip/buckle) and should be sewn on to the pack only at the middle (approx) six inches of your back – so they do up all around your waist. The belt will then cinch up comfortably all around your waist, your narrowest part, making it impossible for your pack to move down from the small of your back, and so its weight will be supported by your bum instead of your shoulders even though the waist belt (and shoulder straps) are quite loose as they should be – by comparison with whatever you are doing now. More about this later…

The Sit Light Air Pad attached as shown in the above post will give you a dry back too. I will minimise this pack design further – by trimming the pad. A tough (eg Dyneema and approx 50 litre) multi-day hiking pack ought not weigh more than 400 grams. If yours does, you are just wrong, wrong, wrong!

I have further decided that you ought not need a hip/waist belt or a chest belt at all if the pack is well-designed (which I suspect none are!) and not too heavy – shouldn’t be. These extra straps and other gee-gaws just restrict your body’s natural walking movement and rhythm and tire you out unnecessarily without adding one jot of comfort! As I said, more about this later….

The way ahead:

Shelter? I would always carry an emergency shelter/tent anywhere you might get caught outside in the rain/wind/snow, ie practically everywhere. Most places I go I usually carry one of my ultralight DIY tents or a hammock and fly (or sometimes both – my new tarp doubles). Even on day trips I will have a space blanket bag or poncho. Just something to save your life if you get caught out – yet I am proficient at constructing emergency shelters from found materials and lighting fires in the wet – are you?

Of course I would recommend that like most that you visit the EBC at the most (weather) opportune time (late Oct-Early Nov for example). Temperatures, wind and precipitation are then at their best. Even so (just like anywhere) disastrous ‘weather’ can strike – and don’t forget the awful earthquake of just a few years back (which flattened whole towns – Think Thame) where you may have been intending to stay!

People have put considerable thought into the design of these ultralight shelters (which are not dependent on soft ground (not much of it around on the EBC) to drive tent pegs into). This one (from Terra Nova, for example) weighs only 253 grams (for two). I took my old one which is 100 grams heavier (because we are not made of money), but you get the point.

In an emergency both of us could cram into this shelter, inflate our mats (good to ‘Comfort’ at -10-20C), climb into our -10-20C sleeping bags (plus all our down clothes) and ‘enjoy’ a safe night out in the most extreme conditions if necessary. You just don’t know when/whether such an emergency will occur. Be warned: the ground is often frozen, or nearly so!

I already mentioned earthquakes. Everywhere on the trail there is evidence of (immense) earlier landslides. (There are warning signs everywhere that) glacial lakes can burst and cause inundations which would sweep whole villages away. You might simply lose the trail, be beaten by darkness arriving earlier than you expected, be sick, twist your ankle and be unable to complete your day’s journey, and so on…Prepare for the worst and be grateful when it does not occur. Even after a lifetime of experience in the bush we can sometimes be caught out. But we are always prepared, and almost always enjoy ourselves whatever happens!

First view of Everest as you ascend the Namche Hill:

Sleeping? Should you take an insulated mat and sleeping bag? Again, if you want to live – and this survival equipment should be on your person at all times. Wherever you are, go nowhere without your pack (and its essentials). Many (inexperienced) folk meet with disaster because they put their pack down on a trail just to step off it a few metres eg to answer a ‘call of nature’, an interesting euphemism.

Separated from their pack and alone in the wilderness…not long before things can start to really unwind! Not everyone has the ability eg to lose one of their hearing aids yet be able to backtrack themselves through several hours of the trackless bush until they find it. Our mats weigh just under 400 grams each, and our (warmest) sleeping bags around 800 grams.

You need a mat anyway even when staying in tea/guest houses and ‘hotels. Particularly as you travel higher up the (provided) mattresses will ‘strike’ colder and colder. Probably this is because of condensation which has not had a chance to evaporate away (actually at this altitude water/ice does not evaporate; it ‘sublimes’ – there’s a new use of that word for you). If your body (heat) is trying to warm up (perhaps several kilos) of sub zero ice/water in your (quite likely uncomfortable) mattress, it will not matter if you have a minus 100C sleeping bag; you will be cold! An ultralight inflatable mat such as the Thermarest NeoAir X-Lite Women’s, or X-Therm or the superb Exped Synmat with its nearly 4″ thickness of comfort will ensure you have a warm, comfortable night’s sleep. The importance of this cannot be exaggerated too much!

Rain Gear? Yes, it might rain/snow etc, though it is unlikely at this time of year, but you never know. We carried both coats, pants, gaiters and waterproof shoes, though I (but not Della) usually do not bother with more than just a coat. Adipose is good insulation! If you get wet at this altitude (and night-time temperature/s) you are likely to be miserable (at best). Frostbite is not much fun either. We did not need them, but an extra layer is good insurance. We are looking at something like 300 grams (each) for the three waterproof clothing items (plus a bit for Keen Targhees instead of Voyageurs). Safety first.

Food and Water. You really don’t need to carry either. There is somewhere you can buy either every few hundred yards on average, though there are some longer sections where you might get a bit thirsty if you started out without a full water bottle – climbing the hill up to Tengboche for example on a warm day. ‘Safe’ bottled water is available from (approx) US$1-2 per litre. We also carried a Sawyer Mini filter and squeeze bottle in case we needed to drink from other sources, etc. This is just sensible insurance.

You will inevitably meet with (very ill) folks who think they can (safely) drink the water or that water purification tabs ( iodine etc) work. There is one born every minute. Disinfection takes time (more than an hour) and only removes a handful of the pathogens which your Sawyer with <1 micron filter) automatically removes. It can/should regularly be backflushed like this (2 grams) . Filter (60 grams) plus squeeze bottle (approx 20 grams). Worth it for safety. In an emergency supplies of potable water will dry up fast!

NB: Do not clean your teeth or wash you mouth out with the water. Also carry antiseptic wipes (or similar) and use them religiously. There are lots of invisible nasties you do not want to succumb to. Do not pat animals!

When you contract diarrhea from bad water/food you will need Imodium and probably Stemetil for vomiting. If it persists (Typhoid perhaps?) you will need Cipro (antibiotic). It has saved my life! (from Pneumonia) I gave some of my supplies to a young British backpacker at the bottom of the hill at Tengboche. He was leaking badly at both ends. His guide was completely unprepared (common) and insisted he continue (to gain altitude) when his symptoms (I was trying to alleviate) might well prove to be the beginning of altitude sickness as well – in which case he needed to descend (fast!) or maybe die! Be warned! I hope he survived.

You should also have a prescription for Amoxycillin for pneumonia. There is a pharmacy in Namche and also one at the French Bakery/Snow Lions in Dingboche where you can obtain these things. There is a small hospital in Pariche (near Dingboche). Your first aid kit should also contain blister pads – you will likely need them!

I suggest you do not eat meat after you leave Lukla. Even in Lukla not everyone has a (working) refrigerator. Animals cannot be slaughtered within the National Park so all meat is carried in on someone’s back (perhaps in the hot sun for days)! Eggs or beans are good alternative protein. Food poisoning is not much holiday fun really. Be warned!

You can buy Snickers/Mars/ Bounty bars pretty much everywhere (US$1-2). Most/all of the food on the trail is just absolutely awful. I would never pay for such food anywhere else. Expect to lose weight! There is very little variety, but even with the few ingredients they mysteriously seem to be able to grow/carry in Della or I could make many delicious meals. Instead expect every meal to lean towards inedibility. It is possible too that you may not like oily.

If you carry your own food in (or decide to eat elsewhere than where you are staying) your accommodation costs will be bumped up – and the quality of the food will not be very different. The Dal Bhat, Momos ‘Tuna Burgers’ and fried eggs on chips appear to be about the height of fine dining Nepali style. I could just about choke down two slices of ‘toast’ with ‘butter’ and honey for breakfast. If you are a ‘coffee snob’ forget it! They do sell sore throat lollies practically everywhere. You will likely need them. If you have a preference maybe bring your own. Butter Menthols are great (and Werthers caramels – you will lust after these before you return to Australia. You can buy them in Kathmandu airport!)

Do look forward to having ‘Black Forest Cake’ at Hermen’s Bakery (Northern outskirts of Phakding). It will not be anything like Black Forest Cake, but it will probably be the best thing you eat on the trip. You would not look at it elsewhere. (Tip: When you are back in Kathmandu, do try the Yak and Yeti restaurant – in an old palace. Expensive, but you may need to reward yourself Our thanks to Guillaume Maurel of Maurituius for a memorable night).

Lots of people (most?) get diarrhea or pneumonia (or both) above Dingboche. And of course Altitude Sickness. Lots of very expensive helicopter evacuations. There is also much less accommodation. You may (even/likely) end up sleeping on the (forzen) floor – where you really wish you had that minus 20C mat! One reason why Della and I decided before we left Australia that the Nagarshang Hill, Dingboche would be our destination. This is as high as Everest Base Camp but can be climbed on a pleasant sunny morning with tea and cake in the French Bakery Dingboche afterwards. (They also have rooms for rent with their own toilets!) Even in Dingboche all the water freezes overnight. Above that hardly anything thaws ot, so if you venture there be on the lookout (eg) or toiletry fiascos you had never imagined possible.

French Bakery Dingboche:

It has pretty much as good a view (of Everest, etc) as you are going to get elsewhere without venturing into the permanent sub-zero regions where there is not a single living thing to break the dismalness and monotony of the view. It will shorten your trip by 3-4 days too and enormously reduce the chances of your getting sick and/or dying.

View from the Hill, Dingboche: NB: Behind that grey hill on he left is just such a one of those glacial lakes perched up there held in pace only by scree and ready to let go and drown towns downstream like Phariche (below) immediately. Della os enjoying herself anyway. Steroids and being alive again, when last time I was there she was just so flat with he poor old heart (seemingly) all played out. She is good as new (almost) now – as you can see!

Altitude Sickness and Acclimatisation: Pay attention Everywhere we met (even fit young) people who had gone up the same day as us (or before) coming back down with Altitude Sickness, and looking very unhappy and worried. If you are going to enjoy the walk you must do everything you can too avoid this nemesis. You need to increase oxygen transfer in a much lower oxygen environment. Get a prescription from your doctor before you leave home for either Diamox or Dexamethasone (Steroid Della needed instead because of her heart condition – it seemed to work somewhat better).

Take the time to enjoy the donkeys:

And the yaks:

These guys were making heavy going of it:

I took half a tab of Diamox twice per day from when I was leaving Kathmandu to when I arrived back there. This was as a preventative. It is normally carried as a treatment for Altitude Sickness, but if you wait till you have symptoms it is too late for this trip: you will have to go down, fast!

You also need to take the time to acclimatise. If you don’t you will very likely get sick (and you can even die suddenly eg from an embolism! Be warned)! You will have come up from 1`400 metres at Kathmandu to 2900 metres at Lukla. That is quite enough stress for the body in one day. Stay the night in Lukla. Spend the day on some little acclimatisation walks around the town. For example, walk around the airport, or go down to the hydro plant in the valley below and back, climb up the hill above the town (past the army base and the school) into the wonderful rhododendron forests etc. Over 3,000 metres when you have ascendeded 500 metres you need a day to acclimatise. You can spend this day climbing higher so long as you sleep lower. You need an acclimatisatiion day at Namche and again at Dingboche.

Take a break in Namche:

If you skip these days you are risking your life. All the people we saw who were sick from the altitude had skipped one of these pieces of advice – or both. It has probably cost you at least A$1500 just to get yourself to Lukla (return) plus insurance. It is foolish to just waste that investment.

You get a odd view of Everest during your acclimatisation day at Namche:

Vaccines? Yes you should. Everything available eg Triple Antigen, Hepatitus, Typhoid, Cholera… and Rabies? Yes. It is 100% fatal. look at the photo of Della (above) to see just how easy it would be to contract it by such an innocuous thing as feeding the monkeys! Get the best advice from your country’s foreign affairs department about what might be required in Nepal and have yourself protected against them all. There are quite enough other dangers as well. (Untreated) eg cholera can rob you of your entire body weight in fluid in a single day! That must be something to see, but I will eschew it! Doesn’t sound like much fun, does it? And it is preventable.

Don’t feed the monkeys:

More About Guides/Outfitters: I already stressed why we would determine to carry our own (at least essential) gear. In fact we carried all our own gear – but this only came to 5-6 kg each for a ten day trip! This is more than we would normally carry, because it was colder. We would normally begin a 10 day (unsupported) hike where we camped out the entire way with pack weights including food of well less than 10 kg each.

I would normally wash my clothes and dry them on a line across the back of my pack (and then in front of the night fire) on such a trip but this is not possible on the EBC because it is too dusty. In half an hour your clothes will be coated in mud! You can have your dirty clothes washed and dried (eg) in Namche and Dingboche during your rest days. This way you only need one change of clothes to be quite clean enough.

I have often enough gone for ten days at a time in the past without washing my (wool) clothing without becoming offensively smelly. Of course I usually go where there is no-one else about. There are lots and lots of people on the EBC. You have to wait for them all the time eg to cross bridges or at narrow points in the trail, or just because the large groups are just bloody rude and want to take up the whole width of the trail. There is no credo of ‘age before beauty’ amongst them I assure you! The donkeys and yaks are more polite, believe me. Still they should not be challenged for passage on bridges, and you should always pass them on the uphill side in case they accidentally bump you off.

The ‘give way’ rule in action:

No doubt there are competent guides and outfitters, but you really don’t need to spend the money. Nor do you have to pre-book the accommodation. You can just pretty much walk into any guest hose unannounced and there will be a vacancy – at least as far as Dingboche anyway. It is incredible just how much building has been going on there in the last three years since I was there before. Then you were lucky to see two helicopters a day but now there are usually 2-3 helicopters in the sky above you from dawn to dusk. Mostly they are ferrying building supplies up the valley. They are too impatient (etc) to wait for porters to carry the supplies up, so why should you feel guilty if you chose to carry your own (survival) gear? You will have to eat the food etc that the porters have carried up from Phaplu anyway.

The outfitters can add A$5-6,000 to a couple of weeks’ trek. You do not need them. Nor do you need guides. You can download maps and save instructions on ‘Pocket’ etc. Besides most everyone is going the same place and you can always ask a local: ‘Namchi?’ That way.

Last time I rescued’ a woman (from Pangboche to Lukla) who had been deserted by her outfitters, guides and porters. She had become sick above Dingboche (where I first started noticing her and saying ‘Hello’) and she had just been left on the side of the track to fend for herself. Presumably the many wild(-ish) dogs would have cleaned her up quickly enough if she had succumbed. I hate to think. In Kathmandu there is a temple you can visit (This is a tourist attraction – we avoided) where they are openly burning 50-100 human beings all the time. Not to be missed! This is the Third World.

Guides are more like US$25 a day. No doubt there are good ones – but how to tell? I have seen them desert their customers. For example leaving a man who was clearly beginning to suffer from Altitude Sickness struggling up the hill into Tengboche in the dark. Then asking me as I arrived in Tengboche, ‘Have you seen him?’ ‘Not since you left,’ No doubt he will be along in a little while’…Or letting someone decide to walk to EBC and back in three days (next to impossible – and suicidal to boot) yet not being prepared with the necessary medicines, telephone numbers, a satellite phone or epirb. Or even adequate local knowledge. Wow!

If you go with a group you will see less wildlife. Musk deer (below) are in plague proportions in the forest along the way. Soon their predators (snow leopards and wolves) will be too. Then there will be another interesting risk associated with the EBC!

And miss lots of fascinating wild birds:

And Acccommodation: Most ‘guides’ obviously have some sort of ‘cumshaw’ deal with a hotel up front if they take you there (regardless of the cost to you)! It is just not possible for them to switch you to a closer hotel etc if you are not traveling quite so fast as they had planned. They will chivvy you along. Myself I like to just make my own way at my own pace, stopping when I am tired or when I want to. I am an old bushman and could easily have found my way to the EBC and back again by myself even if there were no road or buildings along the way – and I would prefer that sort of trip in any case. Mind you there are probably very few places you can go where the scenery is quite so stunning though!

We had no trouble walking into the first piece of accommodation we came to and securing a room for the night (usually at between US$0-2 at most) providing we ate in – we always did. Some of these guest houses were a bit ordinary but most now have solar showers (which was not the case three years ago) so you can get decently clean anytime you want to. One night coming back from Pangboche towards Tengboche we stayed (for free) at the first place we came to, the Evergreen Lodge Milinggo (Debuche). The company was pretty much all sherpas. This was the most enjoyable night of the whole trip (despite the pretty daunting toilet facilities!)

Entering Pangboche:

And of course if you chose to go with a guide or an outfitter you are going to have their company (and that of the rest of the awful company) all day every day for such a long time. If you are some sort of lonely misfit this might suit you, but it does not suit me. I have said many times in these pages, ‘No company is better than bad company’. Anyway, I have/had Della for company, (these last nearly fifty years) and there is no better than that!

Can you tell whether we are enjoying ourselves?

Buffs: Take something to breathe through (particularly of a night). Your throat and chest will appreciate it – and it may prevent a sore throat or chest infection. Pure Merino wool ‘Buffs’ are great. Take two. One to wash. Tip: Though you can’t hang your clothes on a line on the back of your pack, you can squeeze the wet item out as much as possible and every time you stop (lots for us) you can take it out from where you have shoved it (between your pack liner bag and your pack) and sit it in the sun while you have your break – maybe a Snickers bar? The oranges seem safe enough, but who knows what the apples have been washed in?

There is lots to see – Is Ama Dablam the most beautiful (if not the worst named of) of mountains?

This time of year there is lots of bright sunshine (too much probably – take lots of sunscreen). They will dry quite quickly in this was – or if they are not finished you can hang them over the back of a chair in front of the fire in the guest house where you stay to finish off. This works well with towels, handkerchiefs and undies, for example – even when it is only a dung fire (common).

Take a break every now and then and smell the flowers:

There are other devices you can use to heat up the air your are breathing it (and hydrate it). The Cold Avenger, for example. You will need to get used to them first though, I think. Most important you must never under any circumstances breathe out into your sleeping bag in order to warm it up. You will just fill it up with moisture which your body heat has then to evaporate away. You may freeze to death before you succeed!

Warm Clothes: No doubt you can underdo or overdo it in this department. I have mentioned the wonderful Montbell down garments many times before. They are our ultralight standby for warmth on the trail. I took a down vest and jacket. (Never needed the vest – but it could have been colder). Della also took her down pants. Used sometimes of a night or when she felt cold. (Not enough adipose). We both had (light) woolen shirts and Icebreaker or Kathmandu long underwear (top and bottoms). I took one bottom and two tops. Bottoms only worn (some) nights so could wash on rest days. Tops worn (sometimes) during day) and as pyjamas at night. Two pairs of Icebreaker woolen undies (one in the wash). Two pairs of medium wool socks (Darn Tough) and one pair of down socks (cold nights). I had my dyneema moccasins for a dry change. Shoes get a bot sweaty by the end of the day. Most toilet trips (nights) needed shoes on again. Water hazard! I used a Montbell sleeping bag to which we had added 9 ounces of down.

Bits and Pieces: There is mobile phone coverage pretty much all along the EBC now. You can buy a Nepalii telecom card with data for approx US$20 before you leave Kathmandu Or probably at Lukla and Namche where they sell most everything. Most guest houses etc have Wifi available for maybe US$1-2 a night. Free at Hermens Bakery Phakding where you can call your beloved on What’s App – or chat to her across the rable if you are as lucky as me!

Permits: You can buy the necessary permits on the way (providing you fly in to Lukla. One permit as you exit Lukla (Approx US$20) and one when you get to Monjo (Approx US$30). it will be checked lots of times. The Nepalis are keen as mustard on bureaucracy. It is all they seem to have mastered. Otherwise they are mostly like children playing at ‘real life’. Nothing is ever organised the way you expect it would be. But the army do have some pretty fancy guns and I suspect know how to use them – and they are everywhere. Don’t know when the open season on tourists is – not when we were there anyway!

To Avoid Batteries Going Flat at High Altitude, do this.https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/11/17/preventing-batteries-from-going-flat-at-high-altitudes/ Yet another use for Aloksaks!

Toilet Facts: You need to get yourself prepared for the toilets – or the lack of them. Be prepared to squat. They will (likely) freeze above Dingboche. Carry handy (12) packs of tissues instead of toilet paper (and antiseptic wipes for your APC – a very important precaution). You can buy them at every town. You can clean yourself up well after a toilet stop with only 1-2 tissues. Wipe and fold, wipe and fold. You can get 5-6 wipes from a single tissue. Saves a lot of paper, weight – and does not get wet and disintegrate in the rain, etc. Carry an ultralight trowel.

What’s For Sale? You could begin the trek in a pair of thongs and a T shirt and buy everything you need along the way. Lots of shopping in Lukla and Namche, and lots of other shops with nick-nacks and groceries along the way. You can buy cans of tuna and canned ‘Spam’ in every town – if you are craving protein.

Lots and lots to see:

So we continue our journey through life:

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/03/27/new-ultralight-survival-shelter/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/08/18/raincoat-shelter/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/07/31/if-you-could-only-carry-two-things-in-the-bush-what-would-they-be/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/09/24/10-by-10-tarp-update/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/03/24/budget-pack-mods/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/01/25/gossamer-gear-air-flow-sitlight-camp-seat/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/06/09/cold-season-pads/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2015/10/21/sawyer-water-filter/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/10/07/cold-weather-face-masks/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/09/07/are-you-beautiful-in-the-buff/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/08/10/the-pocket-poncho-tent/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/04/14/19-gram-dyneema-camp-shoes/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/09/21/montbell/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/03/11/adding-down-to-a-sleeping-bag/

20/11/2019: EBC 4 & 5: And So Onwards and Upwards: ‘Tengboche, Pangboche and finally Dingboche – the end of our ascent. 4,410 metres at Dingboche, but we climbed higher to look down the valley to Everest Base Camp, 2 more days ahead. These 2 days of cold and hardship were not on our agenda. A medley of pics following, some with explanatory notes.’ (Della Again)

‘Sherpa baby chewing on a 100 rupee note

Dung patties drying in the sun for cooking fires

Yaks becoming more prevalent

A welcome stretch of newly made road

Entering Pangboche

Between Pangboche and Dingboche

Just one more corner before Dingboche:

Our accommodation at Dingboche: The Snow Lions Lodge

View from our window in the morning

Such organised and tidy lives!

Gotta love a yak

Dining room, Dingboche

Mission accomplished!

A view up the valley towards Base Camp.

Some solid climbs!

Leaving Dinfboche’.

19/11/2019: EBC 3: And Onward to Xanadu: ‘I confess to having bored countless Eng Lit students of mine with my passion for Coleridge’s poem “Kubla Khan”. Little did I suspect that I would one day discover Coleridge’s Xanadu in the Sherpa capital of Namche Bazar. I saw so many parallels to the poem, but perhaps the most relevant is the fact that Coleridge was writing about an opium dream he had just awakened from, whilst I felt as if I had stepped into a waking dream’. (Della again)

‘Nestled on the sides of a hill, Namche is reached after a fairly tough climb. At over 3,400 feet, sensible trekkers spend an extra acclimatisation day there, climbing higher the next day and then returning to Namche to sleep, thus hoping to prevent altitude sickness. So we had plenty of time to enjoy this amazing town as well as wander over the nearby hillsides and villages.

Entering Namche Bazar after a day of solid climbing

One of those “stately pleasure dome”(s) that Coleridge rattles on about! It also looks like “Alph, the sacred river” has been put into service here!

View from our bedroom

More pleasure dome stuff

I love a busy bazaar

My “local” hairdresser in Namche. A shampoo and dry sure beats the discomfort of wet hair in a cold climate. Melanie Cardillo, they will never replace you, though!

‘Caverns measureless to man…Oh that deep romantic chasm”

19/11/2019: Section 100 of the Constitution deals specifically with Commonwealth power in relation to water, and states: ‘The Commonwealth shall not, by any law or regulation of trade or commerce, abridge the right of a State or of the residents therein to the reasonable use of the waters of rivers for conservation or irrigation’. The Constitution also forbids Government from (making laws which) confiscate private property without just compensation – yet this is just what ‘Native Vegetation’ laws have done for the last 20 years.

19/11/2019: 10 Years Since Climategate exposed the global warming fraud, yet this $1.5 trillion scam still continues: https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/doomed-planet/2019/11/ten-years-after-climategate/ & http://www.drroyspencer.com/2019/11/climate-extremism-in-the-age-of-disinformation/

19/11/2019: Report of the 1939 Black Friday fires Royal Commission. Not enough has changed since then: https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/11/dear-greta-the-climate-child-please-read-this-1939-royal-commission-report-into-the-real-cause-of-ca.html Still enormously too little fuel reduction and too few fire breaks. How dreadfully wildlife suffers from this Green dream/nightmare. Fuel reduction needs to be much closer to 100% per year instead of the (target) 5% per year which is currently never achieved.

18/11/2019: Everest – Days 1 & 2: Lukla to Namche Bazar with overnight stop at Benkar’. (Della)

‘Main street of Lukla

The road out of town

Other trekkers: The person in front is carrying a largish day pack whilst the hired porter behind is carrying the rest of his/her gear. This was normal procedure for almost all trekkers. We, in contrast, proudly carried our own packs with everything we would need for the 9 days apart from food.

Not such a large pack: all bedding, warm clothing, wet weather gear, change of clothes, toiletries, medication, communication, safety.

The first of many road trains: Donkeys, cows, yaks…these were constant and colourful traffic. These donkeys are carrying empty fuel drums back to Lukla to be refilled with aviation fuel and carried back to Base Camp again.

Such a sweetheart! You could always hear the bells as the animals approached, so that you had time to stand out of the way. I had to bring a yak bell home with me so that I can be transported to Nepal every time the wind blows in the garden.

A proud Sherpa woman selling her produce outside her home.

Despite the shortage of good, cultivable land, almost all houses devoted space to flowers.

Our first night in Benkar with the hospitable Neema Sherpa. We were her only guests.

Suspension bridges everywhere.

Approaching our lunch stop at Jorsalle’.

17/11/2019: Preventing Batteries From Going Flat at High Altitudes: This is my ‘Poor Man’s Satellite Phone‘ after two weeks at between 3.000-6,000 metres elevation during our recent EBC trek. As you can see still 94% charged. ‘Normally’ such battery devices would be pretty much flat after just one day (even without use) – as I found out on my first time on the EBC back in 2016.

That time I also had a 5 watt solar charger which was supposed to be charging Nicads or Nickel-Metal-Hydrides pretty much all day. The days were perfect sunshine all the time but the batteries just went slowly flatter as they lost charge to the air more quickly than the solar could replace it – something I had never experienced before.

Pretty much everyone who hikes this trail (or that elevation) finds the same phenomenon many blaming it (incorrectly) on the cold – but it was not cold. I wore just a simple light short sleeved wool jersey polo shirt pretty much all day every day and placed all my batteries in my sleeping bag of a night though it never got so cold of a night as I am used to winter camping in the Victorian mountains where my batteries never go unnaturally flat.

I reasoned that it must be the altitude, but Googling it found that no-one had a solution. Extraordinary! First I thought up lots of elaborate ways to place the phone in a space which would emulate sea level air pressure (no doubt dreaming of receiving millions for such a clever invention,,,) when I realised that Aloksak had already beaten me to it/them!

They make waterproof and airproof zip-lock bags – much superior quality to the supermarket variety (which will not suffice for this purpose – they leak). If you place your phone/battery in the Aloksak bag (they come in a variety of sizes/shapes) and inflate them slightly as you seal them, then place them (gently) in your pocket or pack so that they are under ever such slight pressure all the time the battery/phone just stops going flat. Simple as that – but you can send money if you so desire:

If this doesn’t work, try this:

https://www.paypal.me/theultralighthiker

Beware too much pressure or you will burst the bag at the seams. They can be repaired eg with cuben tape. I had two spare camera batteries (I have used many times) in another bag whose seam split. They went completely flat overnight. Fortunately I was able to charge the camera up from the two red power bank batteries in the photo below.

A Note on Charging on the EBC: Since I was there three years ago they have installed many micro hydro systems along the trail so that most of the small villages now have A/C power but it is often not enough to charge any larger battery than the single cell ones I took (in the photo below – 18650 batteries of approx 3.5 amp hours). Be warned.

Aloksak also make waterproof ‘gun bags’ which are very handy for canoeing/hunting trips: https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/11/17/aloksak/

Here in Australia I bought mine from Injinji but Amazon also have them.

A selection of bags below. The two at the bottom are the small and large phone size.

17/11/2019: 170 Years of Earth Surface Temperature Data Show No Evidence of Significant Warming: The results show the average rate of warming of the surface of earth for the past 170 years is less than 0.07 degrees C per decade. The rate of warming of the surface of the earth does not correlate with the rate of increase of CO2 in the atmosphere’ https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/11/14/170-years-of-earth-surface-temperature-data-show-no-evidence-of-significant-warming/

17/11/2019: EBC Starting out: Kathmandu to Lukla. Flying to Lukla is the adrenaline-filled beginning to the Everest Base Camp Trek. Reputedly the most dangerous airport in the world, Lukla Airport has a landing strip just 500 metres long, with a sheer cliff on one end and a brick wall on the other. We took videos of both our landing and takeoff to share. The flight only takes 30 minutes, but believe me, Nepali disorganization manages to make the waiting last almost all day. And seats at the airport? Why would you need those? When they finally decide that it is time to fly, you have less than 5 minutes between frenzied waves towards the plane and being launched into space! Who needs to bungy jump for thrills?’ (Della Continued)

Aside: The cover photo was taken at Phaplu Nepal. Tara dropped us off there to wait for 4-5 hours instead of flying straight to Lukla. Our return flight was delayed by the same amount. Even so it was much better than the 4-5 hour each way bus trip to Ramechhap (from Kathmandu) which most visitors are having to endure ‘at the moment’. In Nepal nothing happens according to schedule!

Lukla Landing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uzYeZiyNVc&feature=emb_title

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qKs7znCRL0&feature=emb_title

Lukla Take Off:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVdPoT5fSiQ&feature=emb_title

16/11/2019: Register with the Spectator now and get three free articles per week. If there is a single thing in this publication you disagree with, you probably need your head read:. The tribute to our greatest PM, Tony Abbott, Pauline Hanson’s critique of the BOM, Jacinta Price’s caution about the death of her cousin…All the news you missed elsewhere, eg ‘an armed man had lunged at two officers who had attended a residence with an arrest warrant to apprehend him for breaching his parole conditions, stabbing one of them on the shoulder. One officer fired two or three shots: https://www.spectator.com.au/

16/11/2019: Waterloo Teeth. The dentures made from the teeth of dead soldiers at Waterloo https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-33085031 & http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/57020

16/11/2019: Dr Jennifer Marohasy presents this short film which allows Australians to see for themselves that claims that the Great Barrier Reef is in crisis are not true: https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=HqFFqBuFVqU&feature=youtu.be

16/11/2019: 9 Days Trekking the EBC: Della: ‘And so we are back! 9 days trekking along the Everest Base Camp trail, Lukla to Dingboche. Our final climb above Dingboche was as high aa Everest Base Camp, but I never wanted to experience the cold and privation of the last 2 days of the trail, so we were happy to call Dingboche our goal. And it was beyond amazing: I never expected it to be the journey of a lifetime, but it was… The soaring beauty? The time, whilst walking, to contemplate my life…? I only know that I felt more energy and happiness than one small, imperfect heart can hold, and each day that heart swelled further with gratitude for all the people whose loving support put me there: my husband and lifelong guide, my family support-crew back home who kept our home base running amidst their already busy lives, my friends who cheer me from these Facebook pages daily, and my outstanding cardiologist who saved me just moments from death exactly a year ago and then solved (though not quite “cured”) my heart problem. So many people – giving so much: No wonder my heart soared. The cynic that usually inhabits my soul might suggest that all this emotion was a side-effect of the steroids that I was prescribed to help prevent altitude sickness.. Who knows?! Nepal was certainly a fitting place for such a spiritual experience, whatever the trigger, and my gratitude will be a golden nugget that I treasure for the rest of my life.

I will bore you all further with some more pics over the next few days, but feel free to flick on past if holiday snaps are not your thing!’

Lukla-Chheplung:

Everest View Namche:

Pangboche to Dingboche:

Nagarzhang Peak Dingboche:

15/11/2019: Global Tree Cover Has Expanded More Than 7 Percent Since 1982: https://reason.com/2018/09/04/global-tree-cover-has-expanded-more-than/?fbclid=IwAR2CZ1K4FpCZ0uS5ZpsC5w9zm0Zo_vxvP0aq1yuD2mDV21W-VP9HnJbQyR4

15/11/2019: So, the High Court will intervene because the Pell decision goes against one of its long-standing legal principles ie that one person’s unsupported evidence cannot override the collateral (ie real world) evidence – – in this case the impossibility of Pell (and his accuser) both (either?) being in two places at the one time! In this case the ‘difficulty’ is that the choir boys needed to be in the sacristy during a different five minutes than Pell could possibly have been there – and remember we are supposed to ignore the eyes-on eye-witness statements (from a number of witnesses) that Pell was out the front of the cathedral all the time that the offending was supposed to have been occurring. Boys being able to pass through locked doors (at least twice) and Pell running away from the front of the church to rape two choir boys he had no reason to think would be there and then running back without being seen to leave in the first place… The Pell case will go down in Australia’s jurisprudence history as our greatest travesty of justice: https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2019/09/where-the-pell-judgment-went-fatally-wrong

13/11/2019:

13/11/2019: 1932. The Invention of the Ford V8 engine: Will we ever see anything like this again? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RB3z1er9Sw&feature=emb_title

13/11/2019: Man In Critical Condition After Hearing Slightly Differing Viewpoint: https://babylonbee.com/news/man-in-critical-condition-after-hearing-slightly-differing-viewpoint

30/10/2019: Namaste from Kathmandu! We were unaware that Nepal would be in the middle of a religious holiday festival when we got here, but it sure adds a little extra colour and mayhem! Local sightseeing today, then flying out to Lukla at first light tomorrow to begin our 9 day trek along the Everest Base Camp trekking route.

28/10/2019: Face Painting one day, tree planting with Dad the next. Another 20+ trees down today! Now they just need to hurry up and grow!

28/10/2019: A Visionary Vegan: https://babylonbee.com/news/extreme-vegan-has-all-meat-removed-from-body

28/10/2019: A cheap way of removing CO2 from the air https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/10/26/mit-engineers-develop-a-new-way-to-remove-carbon-dioxide-from-air/ and an artificial leaf for turning it into synthetic gas: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/10/25/artificial-leaf-successfully-produces-clean-gas/

28/10/2019: If all the warmists at the BOM can give us is fraud, they should be sacked: http://joannenova.com.au/2019/10/the-australian-bureau-of-met-hides-50-years-of-very-hot-days/

26/10/2019: Never Get Lost – With Google Offline Maps: So long as you have a smart phone (with GPS and Compass – be sure it does before you buy it!) you don’t need a Garmin or any other GPS device, and you don’t need to pay for any maps. You can organise your phone so that you need never get lost.

However you do need to download the particular area you want to explore onto your phone as an offline map before you venture out into the wilderness. You should try this with your home area first so that you are sure you know how it works, then with a different area you are also familiar with. You need to be sure of yourself and your phone.

You need the Google Maps App from the Play Store installed on your phone and when you are downloading the map you need to be connected to the internet. . When you open the Maps App you will see three parallel lines on the top left hand corner. Click on them. A menu will open. Scroll down to ‘Offline Maps’ and select that. At the top of the page you will see ‘Select Your Own Map’. Tap on that. A map of the world will open. (probably it will already be centred on the area you re in now). You can navigate to any area of the world you want to download. Google will tell you how much space on your phone the download will take up. Obviously you need to have the available storage. Click ‘Download’ to transfer the map selected to your phone. It will stay on your phone for a year. You have to refresh or ‘Update’ it before it expires.

Now you can go offline. So you can turn off your Wifi or data and be in flight mode and still view the downloaded map. You just open the App, go to Offline Maps (as you did before) and select the appropriate map you want the phone to display. It will open. With ‘location’ selected, by pulling down the menu at the top of the phone, the phone’s GPS will locate your position on the offline map (by tapping on the round ‘location question mark’ icon below right. , so you should never be lost again. You can view the Map as ‘default, satellite, Terrain’ etc by selecting from the menu icon on the op right hand corner of the map. You can tell your phone to default its ‘Location’ service to the phone’s GPS (rather than towers etc if you are in a remote locale. This will save some battery usage.

I use this App all the time to navigate my way around the bush both in Victoria and in distant countries. It works brilliantly when you have the map open (in offline mode).

It will even speak and tell you how to get ‘Home’ or to any described point just like Google online maps which you probably use in your car.

Enjoy your journey.

PS: Be sure to close the App and turn off ‘Location’ and put your phone in ‘Flight Mode’ when you are not navigating as it will eat through your battery.

Please tell your friends.

TIP: You need to be sure that you have opened all the bits (they are technically called ’tiles) of the map you want before you download it then after you have downloaded it you need to check (offline) that it is all there in the detail you want and need before you head off into the wilds. It takes a bit of practice.

26/10/2019: The Welfare Industrial Complex - Where does the money go? We are spending upwards of A$100,000 eg per ‘aboriginal’ person. ‘President Nixon proposed that welfare programs be replaced by a guaranteed income in the form of a “negative income tax.” His idea was to eliminate the middlemen and women–social workers, among others–and simply give the money to poor people. For obvious reasons, Nixon’s idea went nowhere’. https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2019/10/the-welfare-industrial-complex.php

26/10/2019: 39 people found dead in freezer truck – and not one of them on my list! Obviously the folk who did this had been doing so on an industrial scale for a while. 35,000 pounds was paid by just one of the deceased for a ‘quick’ trip from Belgium to the UK. That’s nearly A$2 million per lorry load! What people won’t do for that sort of profit! Obviously too the truck driver knew what his load was or he would just have delivered the sealed container instead of stopping and opening it. You really have to admire Scott even more for having stopped the boats!

26/10/2019: Stopped: ‘You have to admire someone who takes his own pulse and pronounces himself dead. Now that’s cool’ http://bytesdaily.blogspot.com/2012/03/last-words-joseph-henry-green.html?m=1

25/10/2019: This has gone too far: https://hotair.com/archives/ed-morrissey/2019/10/22/texas-jury-father-cant-stop-chemical-castration-gender-change-seven-year-old-son/

25/10/2019: BOM up to more fraud, 1952 deleted: http://joannenova.com.au/2019/10/the-bureau-of-met-disappears-very-hot-days-graph-showing-the-most-hot-days-in-1952/

25/10/2019: ‘Maybe their (two) honours on the Victorian appeal court should have a look and either show that Keith is indeed mistaken or reconvene and reverse their verdict’ (Peter Smith). Keith Winschuttle’s timeline of the Pell case is a wonderful exercise in formal logic. It is indeed inconceivable that Pell rushed back from the entrance to the sacristy and then rushed back (4 minutes taken out of eight available) to molest the two boys (three minutes available) in a sacristy which multiple witnesses swear was ‘a hive of activity’ at that time (and without anyone else seeing him do so - and this despite witnesses who saw him remain out the front of the church all that time – but ignored by the courts): https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2019/10/pells-new-appeal-and-this-hiatus-this-gp/

24/10/2019: Cooking for Two: My wife, Della and I used to carry two complete cook sets but we have shrunk that down a bit. Mostly we carried two pots because it simplified heating water for a shower, but as Della almost always takes a sponge bath and as all the food we cook will fit in the one pot we decided to carry just the one. Della saves a significant (for her) weight of around half a pound (1/4 of a kilo) – and has more room in her pack.

Another reason we carried two cook sets were in case we became separated in some accident or disaster each would still be able to cook his/her own food. For the same reason we used to have two shelters, a fly and a poncho for example and two satellite communicators ( a phone and a messenger).

We think it is essential to have two utensils (spoons/sporks, two cups and two receptacles for eating out of. The first two were easy enough to just double up on but we have done some experimenting with the dish/plate. Quite a bit of shopping went in to getting one which came in at an acceptable weight.

These are the best three we have come up with. The aluminium one on the left is a plate which came in a cookset I bought back in the early 1960’s and which I rescued from one of my hunting camps recently (See: https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/07/30/the-seventieth-birthday-platypus/) It weighs 27 grams. I doubt you will find one. The second best was the one in the centre which weighs 25 grams purchased from a local supermarket. The one on the right is a beauty. It only weighs 15 grams and comes free with a box of eg Woolworths Brand Tuna and Rice – try ‘Green Curry’ which is delish! I had been using them for hiking dog bowls for a while but they are now Della or Steve bowls as well!

So the (Della) addition to my cook set now weighs 8 grams for the spoon/spork, 25 grams for the Wildo cup and 15 grams for the bowl. My pack weight is up 48 grams but hers is down around a quarter of a kilo.

I should mention that I have also started to carry an ultralight titanium pot lid (13 grams) to use as a stable base for my burner. It is much better (and safer) than a spilled meal, and handy for doing some food preparation on too if you need to. It is from Trail Designs, the Evernew Multi Dish 0.5oz/13 grams Diameter: 4 1/8″ / 10.5cm, alos useful as a pot lid for small pots which don’t have one such as Vargo’s wonderful mug I have talked about before. (US$11.66 October 2019)

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/05/22/the-egg-ring-ultralight-wood-burner-stove/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/06/03/ultralight-cutlery/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/10/20/ultralight-folding-coffee-cup/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/05/23/bathtime-on-the-trail-the-one-gram-platypus-shower/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/08/17/the-apc-and-the-sponge-bath/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2015/11/20/ultralight-personal-hygiene/

23/10/2019: 'Fleabag' is the funnest thing I have seen in years, probably since 'Fawlty Towers': https://iview.abc.net.au/show/fleabag

23/10/2019: Whatever it is I'm against it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHash5takWU

20/10/2019: Light from Heat: Although they are not (at present) ultralight, I really like the concepts behind these wonderful lamps. Lumir-k: Cooking oil fueled LED lamp: & Lumir-C Candle Powered Led lamp:

Lumir C:

Lumir K:

PS: You should be able to make this system work with a Peltier on a chimney as in: https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/05/29/tim-tinker/

20/10/2019: Ultralight Folding Coffee Cup: This cup has been officially classified as a work of art in its home country, Sweden – which it certainly is. It is a folding coffee cup which folds down to just 1″ (2.5cm) high but it weighs just 25 gram (which is well-nigh impossible to beat for hiking). It holds 237 mls just shy of a ‘regular’ cupful (250 mls) If this is a bit small for you it does have a ‘big brother’ (or sister) which holds nearly two cups full (591 mls = 46 grams). It costs less than A$5. Comes in a variety of colours. I liked this one = desert. Wildo also make many other useful hiking utensils. You should take a look at their range.

It would make a great companion piece to those showcased in my last two posts: https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/10/19/best-coffee-on-the-trail/ & https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/10/19/most-beautiful-ultralight-windscreen/

And of course you need something to boil the water in such as https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/01/26/cookset-woes/ or https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/09/18/ultralight-cookpot/

20/10/2019: Best Coffee on the Trail: While you are over at Tier Gear…This one has to be a bit lighter than the old coffee pot that John Wayne boiled over so many Western campfires. In Polypropylene Munieq’s Tetra Drip coffee filter weighs a mere 12 grams and it folds flat making it a very solid competitor to Vargo’s 36 gram titanium offering that I wrote about here: https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/09/29/the-ultralight-barista/ Of course this one also comes in titanium and stainless steel. It will make a very large cup (1 1/2 cups) of coffee or two small ones such as Wildo’s famous 24 gram folding cups. It uses a standard cone shaped filter paper.

Available in Polypropylene at Tier Gear for A$16.50 (October 2019)

Over at Munieq it also comes in Stainless Steel or Titanium (and in two sizes: 1 1/2 and 3/1/2 cups) Titanium is heavier (16 grams) a mere nothiong if you have a fetish for this remarkable metal!

20/10/2019: Most Beautiful Ultralight Windscreen: This brilliant 14 gram windscreen by Munieq of Japan (and available at Tier Gear Tasmania for A$39.95 (Oct 2019) has to take the prize. You can use one eg with an alcohol simmer stove such as Tinny’s that I wrote about here or you can join two together eg to use solid fuel.

‘Flame visible ultra light outdoor stove windscreen and pot stand from Munieq in Japan.

Micro meshed 0.2mm thin stainless steel sheet.

Assembles in a cylindrical shape

Alcohol stove or solid fuel compatible

Only 14g

Can be stacked in a mug or cup.

Multiple connect system – connect two for bigger pots or stoves

Single Diameter: 62mm x H:67mm for alcohol stove with diameter smaller than 55mm

Double Diameter:124 x H:67mm for alcohol stove or solid fuel’

It looks like it would also work well (and beautifully) with an ultralight esbit stove at 11.5 grams.

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2015/07/09/windscreens/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/09/22/ultralight-windscreen/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/06/27/clever-titanium-windscreen/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/09/21/ultralight-esbit-stove/

18/10/2019: Take that Erdogan: Trump says it as it is: https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/10/president-trumps-letter-to-turkeys-president-erdogan.html

18/10/2019: Well past time we took back the Bush from the pollies and the activists. Perhaps we should secede from Australia: https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2019/10/109925/

18/10/2019: Folks in London know how to deal with Extinction rebellion demagogues. Treating them as ‘speed bump’s seems spot on: http://joannenova.com.au/2019/10/furious-commuters-drag-extinction-rebellion-protestors-off-train/

17/10/2019: Floods in the midst of drought – how the bureaucrats are destroying Australia: https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/10/scandal-murray-river-water-overflows-as-nsw-farms-go-bone-dry.html

17/10/2019: Does Trieste have the solution to homelessness: https://nypost.com/2019/10/14/the-right-way-to-handle-homeless-mental-illness/

17/10/2019: We would have had faster internet without the NBN. Who knew? Hats off to socialism: https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/10/telstra-chairman-australia-would-have-been-much-better-off-without-the-ruddconroyturnbull-nbn.html

16/10/2019:

16/10/2019: Year Zero and The End of History: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/will-of-the-people-be-damned-as-the-virtuous-elite-browbeats-all/news-story/d62918e475b3c6aa2505d908d002807c?fbclid=IwAR1UxET2edgz9V_p_rqZ7X-v0djeLQoBm_qpi36JF4HN6b8lfkcdSSc3F5U

16/10/2019: We must oppose this new apartheid: https://www.spectator.com.au/2019/10/brown-study-144/

12/10/2019:

12/10/2019: Flocking to climb Ayer’s Rock for the last time (What a crock) – how many tourists will come when it closes: https://www.news.com.au/travel/australian-holidays/northern-territory/australians-flock-to-climb-uluru-ahead-of-climbing-ban-on-october-26/news-story/7102d5778e8c2b57c6ed5a12dc2acbef

12/10/2019:

11/10/2019: A Radio Controlled Paper Aeroplane: (from US$49 – Oct 2019) https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/393053146/powerup-40-smartphone-controlled-paper-airplane/?utm_content=TRS_82&utm_term=e2337218-6860-47a1-8369-e3ed1b20ecc0&utm_campaign=TRS&utm_source=TRS_82&utm_medium=FB

11/10/2019: 120 years of Chicken Little: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/07/29/a-brief-history-of-climate-panic-and-crisis-both-warming-and-cooling/

11/10/2019: ‘The Industrial Decalogue’ by William J. H. Boetcker from 1916: (BTW: I particularly like the tenth)

‘You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot help small men by tearing down big men.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
You cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich.
You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot establish security on borrowed money.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away men’s initiative and independence.
You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.’

10/10/2019: Proven reserves in the Marcellus shale gas deposits in the US have gone from 2 trillion (barrels) to 214 trillion in just 20 years. The US is now energy independent thanks to new (fracking) technology. Where is Australia in this energy revolution: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/10/08/usgs-marcellus-utica-recoverable-natural-gas-resource-doubled-since-2012/

09/10/2019: Extinction Rebellion = Dictatorship, eg: Instead of an elected government we should be ruled by a ‘Citizen’s Assembly’: https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/10/climate-clowns-extinction-rebellion-lists-their-demands-along-with-warning-of-their-latest-stunt.html

09/10/2019: ‘Everyone knows’ that the Arctic sea ice extent was much less c 1930, but satellite photography also shows it less than today in the 1970’s. Who knew? Of course, the Vikings used the North-West passage through the Arctic for five hundred years during the Medieval Warm Period (they always sailed East to and from Greenland) – the Passage is only accessible to icebreakers today! http://joannenova.com.au/2019/09/how-to-create-panic-by-cherry-picking-the-start-date-lessons-from-noaa-and-nasa/ No trend in sea ice data: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/09/30/water-behaving-badly/

06/10/2019: More perils of post-modernism: Anthropologists behaving badly: https://quillette.com/2019/10/05/the-dangerous-life-of-an-anthropologist/

06/10/2019: New hypersonic engine poised to cut London-Sydney flight times to just four hours by 2030s: https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/technology/new-hypersonic-engine-poised-to-cut-london-sydney-flight-times-to-just-four-hours-by-2030s/ar-AAHNcMR?li=BBoPRmx

06/10/2019: More good news: Half of people now survive advanced melanoma (compared with less then 5% 10 years ago): https://www.bbc.com/news/health-49853878

05/10/2019: Treasury (and the Reserve Bank) should be sacked. They haven’t a clue. Seems like all they want to do is bankrupt workers and savers: http://catallaxyfiles.com/2019/10/03/classical-inflation/

05/10/2019: What comes after transgender? Transabling – the deliberate creation of ‘disabled’ individuals who seek eg to be blinded or paralysed: https://spectator.org/what-comes-after-transgender/

05/10/2019: Cannibalism for climate change? Of course if you have already advocated murdering 2/3rds of humanity as Greens have, it is a simple step really: http://joannenova.com.au/2019/09/cannibal-for-the-planet-save-the-world-eat-human-flesh/ Mind you, Bernie Sanders thinks you should have an abortion for climate change. These people are nuts: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/09/05/now-this-is-legitimate-graph/?noredirect=on

As in so many things Jonathan Swift was a forerunner. Here’s his Modest Proposal to eat Irish babies.

‘I have reckoned upon a medium, that a child just born will weigh 12 pounds, and in a solar year, if tolerably nursed, encreaseth to 28 pounds.

I grant this food will be somewhat dear, and therefore very proper for landlords, who, as they have already devoured most of the parents, seem to have the best title to the children.

Infant’s flesh will be in season throughout the year, but more plentiful in March, and a little before and after; for we are told by a grave author, an eminent French physician, that fish being a prolifick dyet, there are more children born in Roman Catholick countries about nine months after Lent, the markets will be more glutted than usual, because the number of Popish infants, is at least three to one in this kingdom, and therefore it will have one other collateral advantage, by lessening the number of Papists among us.

I have already computed the charge of nursing a beggar’s child (in which list I reckon all cottagers, labourers, and four-fifths of the farmers) to be about two shillings per annum, rags included; and I believe no gentleman would repine to give ten shillings for the carcass of a good fat child, which, as I have said, will make four dishes of excellent nutritive meat, when he hath only some particular friend, or his own family to dine with him. Thus the squire will learn to be a good landlord, and grow popular among his tenants, the mother will have eight shillings neat profit, and be fit for work till she produces another child.

Those who are more thrifty (as I must confess the times require) may flea the carcass; the skin of which, artificially dressed, will make admirable gloves for ladies, and summer boots for fine gentlemen’.

03/10/2019: Canoeing the Macalister Again: Yesterday was the first decent day of Spring: 28C and with enough water (1.73 at Licola – ideal) for a decent trip down from Basin Flat to Cheyne’s Bridge. This is one of the few sections of river that you can canoe alone (as you can readily hitch a lift back to your canoe after dropping it off at Basin Flat. Aother is Hernes’s Spur to Eaglevale ont the Wonnagatta – but you will want a pack raft for that (See: https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/11/20/pack-rafting-the-remote-wonnangatta/)The wind was 21 km/hr from the North-West again ideal if you want a bit of an assist!

I made the trip in 3 3/4 hours allowing a quarter hour for lunch and three small portages (a small log jam and the two grade 3 rapids where I am loathe to come to grief alone at my age – though I have shot them a hundred times in the past. The first one just below Burgoyne’s Track still has a log stuck in it but is now canoeable. The second one has a (hidden) rock in the chute which has had me out a few times. Once I spilled my old Mauser 30:06 into the river there and it stuck between two rocks right in the middle of the rapid. It was some trick to recover it! You can try and imagine diving in this. (I was younger then!)

I was very pleased with my sub 4 hour time. I was not racing though. I used to complete the trip in under four hours when I was in my late 30’s so it is good to see that my upper body strength is still OK at 70. Now to get that knee fixed!

The riuver starts out sun-drenched, flat and wide. You just know you are going to enjoy this trip!

Could have avoided this log jam by taking the left fork. Many people have drowned side on to logs like this in shallow water. The canoe tips upriver, fills with a tonne of water and you are trapped in it (particularly if it is a kayak) with your nose two inches under the water! If in doubt, get out! I always have an open canoe, either (the current Old Town Pack Angler) Canadians or kayaks with holes which are open to below your knees (like the Perception Minnow). Inflatables may be safer. We have a couple of Alpacka pack rafts which we love.

A real Huck Finn day.

Lunch stop. There are dozens of delightful spots where you can camp for the night. The river abounds with of deer, trout and red-fin perch.

The only thing I needed to make the day perfect were Della (away crafting) and the dogs – need a second person to look after them through the car shuttle. There will be another day!

It is a great section of river for white water training purposes (for folks who already have some experience in canoes). It begins with wide slow flat water and the occasional pebble race, then gradually moves on to Grade 2. Some of these are tricky and require you to develop navigation skills. Then there are the two Grade 3 rapids (below Burgoyne’s) which can be shot again and again on a lovely fine day such as yesterday was.

Things to remember:

Stay in the centre of the current.

Lean in towards rocks (plastic boats – the reverse for inflatables).

Never get side on to the current (or logs).

Beware of overhangs, logs etc – stick to the slower edge of (such) bends.

If in doubt get out and check first.

Don’t be worried about portaging. Better to be a live mouse than a dead lion – better still to be a live lion! If you hurt yourself badly alone in the wilderness you will be sorry! Why you should not do silly things like take your shoes off in a river or cross on logs! And never jump! Softly, softly, catchee monkey.

I only took a few snaps. You can view more detailed pics and instructions eg here:

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/10/18/silver-river-endless-sky/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2014/11/02/canoeing-the-macalister/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2015/01/07/macalister-river/

02/10/2019: Mungo Man is lost to humanity again. (42,000 years old and 6 foot five inches!)What secrets might yet have been learned from him: ‘This skeleton rewrote history. It is one of the best preserved ancient skeletons ever found. Scientists knew the man’s age, about fifty, his height, 6’5″, and that he had arthritis in his right elbow from throwing a spear.

His teeth were worn to the pulp, and at a distinctive slant, perhaps from stripping reeds for twine. Mungo Man remains had been laid out in what appeared to be a ceremonial manner, his interlocking fingers placed over his groin, a fire nearby, and red ocher sprinkled over the corpse.

This is one of the oldest ceremonial burials ever found. Mungo Man is further significant in that his age pushes back the length of time humans have lived in Australia, and also pushes back the time period when modern humans left Africa’. https://www.pickeringpost.com/2019/10/01/12824/

02/10/2019: Goodbye Mr Chips; Whine:

02/10/2019: ‘Here are a bunch of charts that prove the world is better than ever’ https://www.aei.org/carpe-diem/here-are-a-bunch-of-charts-that-prove-the-world-is-better-than-ever/

01/10/2019: If you worry (too much) about getting your meat from the supermarket: https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/09/hunting-feral-hogs-confronting-nature-death/

01/10/2019: ‘Imagine being forced to pay for your own children to be brainwashed by an evil force that made you pay to give up your own freedoms and property. Now envision being forced at the point of a gun to make all of this violence, both actual and implied– including the destruction of your own nation and culture–come to pass. If you live in America, the U.K., Australia, Canada, or New Zealand, you don’t really have to imagine or envision this, because you’ve already done it for at least one generation’. https://www.pickeringpost.com/2019/09/30/finally-our-revolution-begins-trump-is-bringing-back-mr-chips/

01/10/2019:The Apocalypse Business: Doom is hard to sell. People just want to be happy. It is even harder when it doesn’t happen (as various evangelicals have found out). When your lived experience is that the world just keeps getting better and better, it’s hard work staying gloomy. You have to counter: Life expectancies rising. Incomes rising (everywhere). Air and water cleaner. More forest cover. Cures for all sorts of things. Better housing., transport, education etc. Meaningful employment. Cheap holidays. New toys. Loving families…See: https://humanprogress.org/ylin

30/09/2019: In today’s Australian, Tess Livingstone reports:

Two former teachers who were metres from George Pell in Melbourne’s St Patrick’s Cathedral at the time he has been found guilty of sexually assaulting two choir boys support his application for leave to appeal to the High Court.

Jean Cornish and Lil Sinozic, who worked in the cathedral in late 1996, said the application lodged last week correctly cast doubt on whether he had the opportunity to commit the offences for which he is serving three years and eight months in jail.

Ms Cornish, a former principal of Good Shepherd Catholic school, at Gladstone Park in Melbourne’s northwest, which had about 1000 students, and Ms Sinozic say they wish they had been called to give evidence…

…Victoria Police knew about Ms Cornish’s role. Under cross-examination from Robert Richter QC during the cardinal’s committal trial in March 2018, Monsignor Portelli gave evidence that the door of Ms Cornish’s office, which looked out on to the corridor of the sacristies, was “always open’’ on Sunday mornings. He said Ms Cornish would be “patrolling the corridor’’ for tourists and others who were not allowed in that part of the cathedral.

30/09/2019: I had altogether forgotten Greta’s role model, Samantha Smith. Poor kid: https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/doomed-planet/2019/09/poor-ignorant-exploited-scoldilocks/

30/09/2019: This is about the most intelligent essay on jurisprudence (or pretty much anything else) I have read in a long while. ‘It is obvious that where there is both a demand and a reward for expressions of remorse, there will be a supply. Where such expressions are rewarded, it is impossible to know whether or not they are sincere’ https://quadrant.org.au/magazine/2019/09/the-regrettable-emphasis-on-remorse/

29/09/2019: Ultralight Waterproof Fabric: I am after some light waterproof fabric to make one of my new 10 x 10 Tarps and new versions of my Pocket Poncho Tent and my Deer Hunter’s Tent. I would like to source the fabric out of China (where most of it is made anyway) and have been trying and trying (with Alibaba) so far with little success.

If I can purchase it cheaply enough (eg for less than US$2/metre) I will then see whether I can have some whipped up (eg by someone in Vietnam) into tents etc to sell on the website…In the meantime I will source some eg from the suppliers below, possibly using a shipping agent to save on freight.

I will make the silpoly version of the 10 x 10 Tarp out of some of the .93/yd2 (above) or the 1.06/yd2 4000PU (but I will certainly use this for a groundsheet – for its extra waterproofness). As I will need 9 metres to build the tarp the material for the tarp will weigh 284/326 grams. I expect the tie-outs and guys to add less than another 50 grams to this, so I should have a very light tarp (approx 330 grams).

The Tyvek model was made out of 1.85/yd2 Homewrap (ie 2.21oz/m2 or 63 gsm) so the Tyvek must have weighed 568 grams of this, therefore my tie-outs and guys only added 44 grams.

I like the ‘Dark Olive’ colour. I made my Pocket Poncho and Siligloo tents out of it (in a 1 oz/yd2 which Tier Gear and Dutchware used to sell under the name Xenon) and have found it to be very serviceable. Sambar deer also seem to completely ignore it and will walk right up to it even in the daylight – which is nice!

I will probably make a simple 7′ x 4′ (2.1 x 1.2 m) groundsheet for it (for Della and me) – as I say out of the 1.06/yd2 material. It should weigh 87 grams. 330 + 87 + approx 10 x 6 gram stakes = 447 grams for the complete tent/shelter! Not bad for the size and flexibility this has. It can also be used as a hammock tarp.

Because this fabric has polyester on one side (instead of silnylon) you can tape or glue to it, so that I will finally be able to make my inflatable bathtub groundsheet out of it, if I choose. I will try the simple ‘valve that the Graham pillows use for a start. If these do not work, the DIY Pack raft people have suitable valves. A 7′ x 4′ (internal) inflatable ground sheet should still weigh less than 100 grams!

I am going to make a slightly bigger Poncho Tent (one which will accommodate taller people – and in a pinch two; at least Dell and me!) I will use the .7 oz/yd2 fabric for this. As the original weighed 185 grams (complete), I expect the new one will weigh somewhere above .7 times this – somewhere between 130-150 grams perhaps. Quite a spectacular weight for a completely enclosed shelter, (nearly) big enough for two! Of course I have to add a space blanket or piece of polycro to that (<50 grams) for an ultralight groundsheet.

The Deer Hunter’s Tent should come in at under 400 grams in the .93 oz/yd2 fabric, including floor.It is a lovely little tent.I have really enjoyed the Tyvek model. Time to finish it off in a lighter material.

Below are some of the waterproof fabric products I am looking at:

1.4 oz/yd 47.46gsm 1 silpoly https://ripstopbytheroll.com/collections/waterproof-polyester-fabric/products/1-1-oz-silpoly-pu4000?variant=11054730177 58” 4000mm

1.3 oz/yd2 silnylon https://www.questoutfitters.com/Coated_2.htm#SILNYLON%201.1%20OZ%20RIPSTOP 62-65″ US$5.65/yd

72” wide 1.3 oz/yd2 44gsm silpoly https://ripstopbytheroll.com/collections/waterproof-xl-wide-fabrics/products/1-1-oz-silpoly-xl?variant=35045467469 US$8.50/yd 2500mm

1.24 oz/yd2 42gsm silnylonhttps://ripstopbytheroll.com/collections/waterproof-nylon-fabric/products/1-1-oz-silnylon?variant=11168938177 US$4.75 58” 2000mm

1.06 oz/yd2 36 gsm: https://www.extremtextil.de/en/ripstop-nylon-tentfabric-silicone-coated-20den-36g-sqm.html?number=70777.SAND E9.90/m 1.5 m wide 1400-5000mm

1.07 oz/yd2 36.28gsm https://ripstopbytheroll.com/collections/waterproof-polyester-fabric/products/membrane-silpoly-pu4000?variant=10662993601 US5.50/yd 58-59″ 4000mm

.93 oz/yd2 31.5gpm US$7.50/yd: https://ripstopbytheroll.com/collections/waterproof-polyester-fabric/products/membrane-silpoly?variant=21841469185 58-59” 2,000mm

.7 oz: http://rockywoods.com/7D-Ultralight-Coated-Ripstop-Nylon-Fabric 23gsm US$14.49/yd

.51oz/yd2 17.29gsm cuben https://ripstopbytheroll.com/products/0-51-oz-dyneema-composite-fabric-ct1e-08?variant=1030734849 US$32/yd 54” wide

See Also:

10 by 10 Tarp Update

The Pocket Poncho Tent

The Deer Hunter’s Tent:

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/11/22/ultralight-ground-sheet/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/02/25/inflatable-bathtub-groundsheet/

29/09/2019: Don’t the Left want to know whether Biden is a crook? https://www.scottadamssays.com/2019/09/27/everything-the-press-gets-wrong-about-the-ukraine-call/

29/09/2019: Declaring a ‘climate emergency’ is a ‘get out of gaol free’ card to break the law: http://joannenova.com.au/2019/09/the-unseen-danger-of-declaring-fake-climate-emergencies/

29/09/2019: Cut James Cook’s funding. Who knew a vice chancellor was paid a million bucks to spend two million bucks to suppress free speech? This is not what a university should be about. Dam Tehan should stop their funding until they stop wasting money - both on this legal nonsense and on paying VCs three times more than the Prime Minister: http://joannenova.com.au/2019/09/jcu-appeals-ridd-decision-james-cook-uni-vows-to-waste-more-funds-in-quest-to-stamp-out-opinions/

28/09/2019: Choose a good death: https://quillette.com/2019/07/28/choosing-a-good-death/

28/09/2019: If the world’s ending in 12 years, why even go to college? ‘All’s for the best in the best of all possible worlds’ (Liebnitz, Candide) .https://www.thecollegefix.com/if-the-worlds-ending-in-12-years-why-even-go-to-college/

28/09/2019: Feels a lot safer with her in charge?

27/09/2019: Do you remember Koestler’s ‘Darkness at Noon’? “The party cannot be wrong,” Rubashov says. “You and I can make mistakes—but not the party.” Anyone who disagrees with the Party’s dictates is on the wrong side of history, and so deserves to be eliminated’. The eco-fascists want the dictatorship of the proletariat, the secret police and the gulags and the mass murder back. They will not stop until they achieve it. Do not give an inch! https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/09/30/the-desperate-plight-behind-darkness-at-noon

27/09/2019: Two great posts over at Catallaxy: http://catallaxyfiles.com/2019/09/26/epistemic-humility/ ‘One of the reasons our politics are so ugly is that politicians and activists insist the impossible is not only possible, but easy. (eg:)

Fibre to the home for $20.

100% renewable energy.

Increased taxes to fund increased government spending will increase economic growth.

Perpetual economic growth requires the government sector growing faster than the private sector.

Government spending can fix everything and anything can be fixed with just a few more billion tax payer dollars.

Perpetual and large immigration can fix every social and economy ill’. & http://catallaxyfiles.com/2019/09/26/free-speech-as-an-economic-principle/

27/09/2019: Greta is the eco-terrorist's human shield. So true. We must not argue back or vilify someone who is clearly seriously deranged and ‘vulnerable’ or we will seem to be the villains. Therefore we must simply submit: http://joannenova.com.au/2019/09/eco-worriers-new-strategy-use-greta-as-a-human-shield-against-debate/ However, here is A Line-By-Line Response to Greta Thunberg’s UN Speech: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/09/24/a-line-by-line-response-to-greta-thunbergs-un-speech/ & https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/09/20/ok-climate-kids-go-on-strike-but-not-till-youve-done-this-quiz/

26/09/2019: No Climate Emergency - 500 eminent climate scientists present declaration to the UN:

- and the CV of just one of the 500: https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/09/this-is-the-cv-of-just-one-of-500-scientists-whove-today-told-the-un-there-is-no-climate-emergency.html

26/09/2019: The Reserve Bank (run by Keynesians) looks set to reduce interest rates again (to punish savers yet again - and reward spendthrifts). This is just the opposite of what classical economics suggests is the right decision. Has Keynesian ‘pump-priming’ ever worked? In all the countries where it has been tried (think Japan for the last 30 years for example) and at all times it has been an abject failure. It continues only because of the Marxists’ success at ‘marching through the institutions’ (https://www.conservapedia.com/Long_march_through_the_institutions) The government should abolish the Reserve Bank (and all its bureaucrats) and put us back on the gold standard (or Bitcoin, etc) anyway something whose value cannot be artificially manipulated, so that productive folk who save their money are not wholly destroyed.

26/09/2019: Inventions we use every day that were actually created for space exploration: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/07/08/space-race-inventions-we-use-every-day-were-created-for-space-exploration/39580591/?fbclid=IwAR17mR37fwKbs0y8huCSbG6QdFqet7xeMd_-1oId9rxvckKD5wgIerZdYqw

25/09/2019: Bayesian Reasoning for Intelligent People: https://wiki.santafe.edu/images/2/2e/Bayesian-Reasoning-for-Intelligent-People-DeDeo.pdf

25/09/2019: The next ‘climate emergency’ will be ‘global cooling’ – and a warming photosynthesis in C3 crops which sustain the world’s population would cease completely at just below ‘pre-industrial’ levels of CO2 (150ppm): https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/09/01/the-next-great-extinction-event-will-not-be-global-warming-it-will-be-global-cooling/

25/09/2019: Andrew Bolt nails the Grunberg ‘phenomenon’: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/blogs/andrew-bolt/child-abuse-shame-on-the-fearmongers-who-made-greta-thunberg-cry/news-story/194471d03b32b9c99cfedd40c173c666

24/09/2019: The Valley of the Deer: I guess every hunter dreams of some secluded valley where it feels like you are the first person to have ever trod – at least where the deer are as plentiful and tame as rabbits and there is no competition from other hunters. Where you can arrive at your camp after a couple of day’s hard slog getting in and notice at once that no-one else had been there. For years this was ‘my’ such valley deep in the Gippsland mountains. I guess it is a wonder I had it for so long undisturbed.

But, one should be very careful who you tell about such a magical spot. And perhaps even more careful of making a path in which is easier for you to follow without stooping with a pack on. I confess my bad back has made me guilty over the years of breaking a branch off here and there so that I can smoothly thread my way through the tall timber.

Other sharp eyes are ever looking out for such give-a ways, so that one day I arrived to find my usual pile of wood burned (I always leave a pile against a late arrival), rubbish strewn everywhere, bones left near camp. Toilet paper! Some people really annoy me. Can’t they carry a 12 gram trowel? For that matter don’t they have heels? I quietly vacated a spot where I had watched countless deer over the years.

My new spot is way down that very steep hill. Nearly a kilometre vertically in only about the same distance horizontally! There are very few ways through the tangle of precipices. I want to hunt the other side of the valley, and you can’t get to it from the other side – or from this side without a pack raft.

There I go again leaving signs to show me the cleft in the rocks where I can clamber down. At 70 I don’t think I will have many more years I can make it there and back again anyway really.

I have always chosen steep country (because others eschew it), but this country is steep by even my (young) standards, and a hard fall at my age could be very nasty indeed! Still, I think I would rather someone find my beached bones underneath some grass tree on a steep mountainside somewhere in the Victorian mountains than die in bed incontinent and incoherent.

Stupidly (I know) I have broken off the odd branch to ease my passage. This time I found my way down in half the time because of it, and annoyingly where I have been others are bound to follow. This (along the river) stood out to me like a beacon – because I did not carry a machete either time. It could have been canoeists. I will hope so. No other sign of hunters.

This time Della could not come and I did not get bluffed out (like last time – poor Della!)

At least no-one else had come along and shared our precarious camping spot (below) since I was there before. Does Spot remember? Of course he does.

I carried this little raft (now US$110 – Sept 2019) to get me across the river. Under a kg and this half kg paddle. I forgot my 282 gram life vest. I am still here so it clearly would have been a waste of effort carrying it! Photo below was taken in the farm dam, but you get the idea. They are not a great craft. But they do the job. Just. I will make one of my own of these folks light weight models: https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/01/02/new-diy-pack-raft/

There were a couple of swans at camp to greet me – the first I have ever seen on a white-water river. Migrating perhaps?

I set up camp for the night. My new tarp arrangement (610 grams) needed no pegs or a pole to erect. Spot and I were as snug as bugs in there,

and so cosy with that delicious warm fire out the front.

Right behind my camp was this beautiful brachychiton – with pittosporum understory. There are some beautiful sights in the Victorian bush. These Brachychitons are hundreds of kilometres from where they are supposed to grow. Don’t they know? Climate change perhaps? Get real. I have had a rare enough resident of the Northern territory travel all the way to my back fence to die. Australia is an island after all.

Next morning all we had to do was paddle across to where that creek joined the main river. Over there. Downstream of the confluence the creek had changed its course over the years creating a flat nearly a kilometre long and as much as 300 metres wide. Further up that very long remote creek are other magnificent flats – to be explored on a later trip. As I mentioned it is just about impossible to access from the other side of the river.

We are across the river and looking back (upstream) at our tent amongst the manuka opposite. I can just make it out – but I know where it is. You would never spot it from the river. I like to have my camp invisible from the river, as you never know what kinds of two-legged snakes will came along and maybe even steal your paddle (as happened to me once!) I had found a way down between the two cliffs centre. As you can see it is extremely steep, such that you can only just stand up on it.

The view downstream from the same spot. That ridge looks much better and leads to the other end of the flat (and another flat downstream). I will explore it on a future trip. I could not find where the ridge started at the top on this trip. You can get around that vast precipice near the top (I think), but there may be others!

This shot shows better just how far this flat extends along the river.

There is lots of grass to eat. If I was sheep farming there I would ‘carry’ about 3-4 ewes per acre – and this flat is at least a couple of hundred acres! A sambar deer eats 2-3 times what a mature ewe needs, but you get the point. There are lots of deer here. Hundreds!

It is a very beautiful creek – and has trout.

With its own small grassy flats

Well grazed pasture on the main flat here.

And here.

A high traffic area.

Along the back of the flat is a string of billabongs, each containing many wallows as in the foreground. I was able to see this from Google Earth – and the deer tracks going to and from them. Spot sees something at the far right end of the photo.

He knows not to go for these fellows. We have blue tongue lizards in the garden he was trained not to chase, and then moved on to not chasing red-bellied black snakes (as shown here). I have not trained him not to chase sambar deer – quite the reverse. Hence the shortage of photos of deer. He sees them off before I notice them usually – but we are here to both have fun! And I prefer eating lamb anyway. My sheep farmer prejudices showing there.

The billabongs are quite extensive – and beautiful.

Stretching downstream underneath that ridge. I naturally expected that the deer would be bedded along the ridge and not on the flat itself, but I was quite wrong about that. The deer here are quite undisturbed and have no reason not to be lazy. Spot and I may give them reason in the future to be a bit more wary!

Lots of ‘preaching trees’ along the flat. Lots of thrashing, rubs etc. Lots of stags hereabouts.

This is the bottom end of the flat looking across at another flat downriver. If I can get down the gentler ridge (right) to here this will make a better base and camp. It is also easier and closer to get across the river here. There is a good screen of bushes opposite behind which I can set up a camp.

That is the same precipice seen from the bottom of the flat. As you can see there is a way down the ridge behind it. There may be other unseen precipices as one ascends. One foot after another and I shall find out in the future.

And where are the deer, you ask. The flat positively reeked of deer. I have never smelled such a strong scent of many deer except where there is a plague of red deer in the leatherwood fringes of the snowgrass tops in Fiordland (where I go sometimes to hunt moose). And there were groups of deer sleeping all over the flat. Unfortunately the flat had suffered from a bushfire not so long ago and there was much regrowth that did not show on the Google Earth photo. Visibility was only a few yards.

A dozen times Spot put up groups of deer who leapt up, honked at him and crashed off – with him yapping in pursuit. No time to get a photo. Precious little time to even get off a shot – had I wanted to anyway. I will need to clear a few walking trails though the flat so that I can creep along without stooping under thick vegetation or making a noise if I want to shoot any. The grassy clearings here and there and wallows would be fine places for ambush hunting (if you did not have a dog with you!) but which I prefer not to do. Unsporting for the deer I feel. As I said earlier I prefer lamb anyway. And i really prefer to just see the deer nowadays. I would not enjoy hauling bits of them up those steep ridges anyway. Perhaps if i make a permanent camp down here – a drum with an Intex raft, paddle, shelter, cookset etc, so I don’t have to carry so much stuff in – and out. I might be able to canoe this river during the summer and drop one off.

The only other thing to report was that as I was driving down the precipitous 4WD track my rear brakes let go. I had spat out a brake pad as one of the pistons in the caliper had seized. You should never drive in such a manner that you cannot stop without brakes. I had a long drive back (over 50 km) without any other brakes than the hand brake (and engine) to somewhere my lovely Della could bring me a spare part to fix it. 50 years yet she never ceases to delight me!

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/03/05/the-lure-of-the-moose/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/09/24/10-by-10-tarp-update/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2011/12/15/faux-packraft-vs-alpacka-raft/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/09/04/the-intex-double-paddle/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/09/06/two-great-poly-tarp-configurations/

24/09/2019: The Bradfield Scheme – let’s just get on and build it: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/sep/24/nsw-secretly-exploring-long-dismissed-plan-to-turn-coastal-rivers-inland

24/09/2019: What is the ‘normal CO2 level for planet earth and how can we make it so (again)? Not the miserable 3-400 ppm we have today. Around 20,000 ppm is the answer. That level applied for more than a billion years when life was enormously more abundant than it is today (the dinosaur era for example). We now live on an earth where life has been close to disappearing altogether for the last few million years (during all those ice ages) due to a shortage of CO2. It got so low during the Little Ice Age (only a couple of centuries back) that C3 plants (think grain crops) were in danger of disappearing. More than a third of the populations of the Scandinavian countries (and elsewhere) perished from starvation – too cold and not enough CO2 for crops to thrive. Just adding the 50 or so ppm we (may) have added since WW2 (but most of it was natural caused probably by outgassing following the Medieval Warm Period) has increased the total covered by forest by twice the area of the USA or Australia in just the last 25 years according to NASA photography (https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/carbon-dioxide-fertilization-greening-earth) . All that forest area without mankind planting a single tree or declaring an acre of National Park. Can you imagine how many animals and other extra life is associated with it? People just do not understand the ‘carbon cycle’. Life is a relatively simple set of self-replicating instructions whose end is locking up all the CO2 and by so doing ending the very conditions which made its existence possible (like Sci-Fi nanobots or out-of-control von Neumann machines who gobble away at self-replication until they have consumed an entire world as in nightmare scenarios). So, for example plants, peat mosses and corals etc gobble away at what is available and ultimately make it completely unavailable. If you think coal and oil deposits have sequestered carbon in inaccessible ways, think how long it takes to recycle the carbon in the limestones created by corals! (Damn the Barrier Reef! We should blow it up!) And indeed, the process of weathering is largely dependent on the presence of carbonic acid in rainfalls, something which happens less and less as the CO2 level in the atmosphere shrinks. If it were not for (the natural) carbon recycling, (the very success of) life on earth would have doomed itself long ago – but carbon deposits do get uplifted over (geological) time and are ignited by lightning strikes, vulcanism etc. There are more CO2 emissions today from naturally burning coal seams for example than all the human emissions – and limestones do get broken down again (or we would have run out of soil long ago!) Perhaps though you can see the need for humans to ‘lend a hand’ and release as much carbon as they can to increase the potential for life on earth? You would think folks of a ‘green’ disposition would be clamoring to burn more coal, oil and gas and ‘do their bit’ by driving nothing but SUVs!

24/09/2019: 10 by 10 Tarp Update: I sewed the tie-outs onto the Tyvek tarp on Friday night and headed up the bush to give it a try-out on Saturday morning. Completed it weighed 610 grams. An acceptable weight for such a commodious and versatile shelter. In silnylon it would weigh under 350 grams.

To reiterate (just in case you have not read my earlier post yet) this is a 10 foot by 10 foot (actually 3 x 3 metre) piece of Tyvek Homewrap. I think it looks better with the printed side in. This is the simplest configuration (in the photos below) for 1-2 people pitched from the centre of one side to the centre of the other and with flaps folded in to make floor/doors.

I am using a piece of Polycro here as a ground sheet, but another (approx 5′ x 7′) piece of Tyvek (205 grams) would be even better (and more durable). A similar piece of silnylon would weigh 110 grams. Adding the weight of the guys and pegs will still give you an amazingly flexible shelter option that weighs under 500 grams!

You can also pitch the tarp as a simple floorless diagonal which will span 14 feet and have edge cover of 10′ either pegged out from from a pole or tree to the ground (as shown) or as hammock tarps between two trees. Or it can be pitched as a completely enclosed hammock shelter spanning 10′). If you are using it as an open shelter pitched much as above except from the corners instead of half way along the sides (as shown) it will accommodate several people. I would use a ridge pole with such a span. (You can get away without one to 10′).

Anyway plenty of room for me and Spot (who is hiding under my sleeping bag).

Spot has come along simply to smell the flowers.

Looks good down (a very steep kilometre vertically) by the river, doesn’t it?

You don’t need to bring pegs or a pole. The bush is full of sticks which can be used instead. A foot long forked stick like this will give the tent better purchase especially in sand than any bought peg anyway.

And it is a simple matter to tie the shelter to a tall stick.

It always looks even better with a fire out the front I think.

Especially at night.

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/11/22/ultralight-ground-sheet/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/09/07/60-diy-ultralight-hiker-ideas/

20/09/2019: A Magical Day: (Della) ‘yesterday revisiting Tongue Point and Fairy Cove at Wilson’s Promontory with friends. The beautiful spring weather, the good company and the 8 km walk were all very pleasant indeed, and we were warmly welcomed by the appearance of some winged luncheon guests at Fairy Cove (not actual fairies) as well as a killer whale surfacing just below the cliffs of Tongue Point’.

20/09/2019: Mom blames healthcare system after her son went blind from diet comprised of french fries and Pringles: https://www.aol.com/article/news/2019/09/18/harvey-dyer-teen-blind-junk-food-mom-blames-nhs-uk-kerry-james/23815464/

20/09/2019: So much stupider than the ‘great generation’. When Hitler invaded Poland in 1939, our parents understood that they would have to see the course of that war until Hitler and Nazism were utterly defeated, no matter the cost - and it was horrific. When Islamists destroyed the Twin Towers George W Bush understood that this was the beginning of a war which might last generations. Duh! Yet in the ensuing 17 years the West has admitted a huge cohort of Fifth Columnists and bent over backwards to ‘appease’ the enemy (Islam) instead of understanding that this war (The Fifth Crusade) would have to be pursued until Islam was totally annihilated – or we were! France for example is gone. Looks to me as if we are losing, and working very hard at doing so! Please try to understand this: Islam is totally evil – far worse indeed than Nazism and even communism. It will never give up its efforts to conquer, enslave and utterly destroy us. There can be no appeasement, no let up in our struggle with it. Instead we need to redouble our efforts!

20/09/2019: ‘Deconstruction’ is an ‘intellectual phenomenon which ‘informs’ almost all Leftist ‘thought’ in this country (and others). It is the ‘intellectual’ heir of Hegelianism and Marxism, and ultimately traces its roots to Plato’s ‘sophists’ (Those whose task was ‘to make the worst appear the better reason’ as Socrates puts it). It is in my view the greatest evil of the modern age: its every intent is to invert everything, to turn good into evil, evil into good & etc…to destroy every tradition, every established truth - and replace it with its own perverted creeds. Every ‘issue’ it battens upon becomes weirdly distorted. It attacks time-tested traditional views, describing them as the ‘orthodoxy’, shortening the phrase to the ‘doxy’, so as to conflate them with a common word for a cheap prostitute, and thereby further debase them. It does not take them on intellectually; it just seeks to bury those views as somehow ‘no longer fashionable’. For example: hunting has been seen as a good for the majority of time and for the vast majority of people alive today or who have ever lived. (You can substitute for the word, ‘hunting’ in the previous sentence other long recognised ‘goods’: ‘marriage’, ‘honesty’, ‘thrift’, ‘honour’, ‘truth’, ‘patriotism’…you get the point!) Today, the ‘deconstructionists’ in the guise of ‘Greens’, ‘Animal Liberationists’, ‘vegetarians’, ‘Whole Earthers’…want us to perceive hunting as generally evil, cruel, unnecessary, unwholesome, barbaric…It is a strange and monstrous inversion of values. Most people who have ever lived have valued hunting highly, not only the many wholesome skills involved but the ethos of providing for oneself and one’s family, independence, oneness with nature, the continuity of a tradition and a sense of belonging in a tradition of one’s forebears.

19/09/2019: Diesel Submarines – such a good idea: http://catallaxyfiles.com/2019/09/19/romantic-submarines/

17/09/2019: The Children of Donor H898: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/the-children-of-donor-h898/2019/09/14/dcc191d8-86da-11e9-a491-25df61c78dc4_story.html

17/09/2019: Brazil’s Record harvest. Up 6.3%: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/09/16/corn-cotton-output-push-brazil-harvest-to-record/

17/09/2019: Well Done Adelaide Valley Butchers: https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/09/butcher-digs-heels-in-on-non-halal-as-long-as-we-own-the-shop-the-sign-wont-ever-come-down.html

16/09/2019: Virtual kisses not right unless they are left: https://www.pickeringpost.com/2019/09/15/virtual-kisses-not-right-say-the-left/

16/09/2019: In other news Scientists advised against consuming hypersexual zombie cicadas infected with psychoactive fungus: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/09/14/scientists-advised-against-consuming-hypersexual-zombie-cicadas-infected-with-psychoactive-fungus/

16/09/2019: ‘We will fight, we will win. Put the foetus in the bin’ Poorly chosen campaign material. https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/09/we-will-fight-we-will-win-put-the-foetus-in-the-bin-pro-abortion-mob-in-sydney.html

15/09/2019: In the Dark All Cats Are Grey: http://www.drroyspencer.com/2019/09/on-the-different-shades-of-grey-block-illusion/ (Place finger on line where blocks join.)

14/09/2019: ‘The Queensland bush fires are being “exploited” and “preyed upon by the vultures” of the global warming movement…Back in 2011, the Greens blamed man-made warming not for causing fires in Queensland, but floods’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7C_2Z2DCS8

13/09/2019: Taking the ‘Ham’ out of ‘Hamburger’ is like taking the ‘sand’ out of ‘sandwich’ What is it folks do not understand about the word, ‘eponymous’ – the opposite of ‘anonymous’? All mice surely? : https://moonbattery.com/taking-the-ham-out-of-hamburger/

13/09/2019: No reason to go back and move your victims yourself then: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-12/dead-bodies-move-while-decomposing-significant-find-for-police/11492330?fbclid=IwAR1cAS30gOvq4R8hJeI2KvguPW4cBSnQ2wF9nEE1nMgNyFhUSj1qqLvMPuY

13/09/2019: If Labor had to sack Dastyari (they did) then the Libs need to sack Liu. Yes, Australian voters rightly expect their politicians to be loyal to Australia.

12/09/2019: Happy 89^th Clint: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=120&v=yc5AWImplfE

12/09/2019: What I Saw: Notes Made on September 11, 2001 from Brooklyn Heights: https://americandigest.org/wp/saw-notes-made-september-11-2001-brooklyn-heights/

12/09/2019: ‘In reality, there was a whopping 25 percent decrease in the area burned (globally) from 2003 to 2019, according to NASA. Between 2003 and 2015, the area burned in Africa declined by an area the size of Texas (700,000 square kilometers or 270,000 square miles.https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelshellenberger/2019/08/30/forget-the-hype-forest-fires-have-declined-25-since-2003-thanks-to-economic-growth/#1dae96fd163d

12/09/2019: ‘Skeptics think we should stop firestorms by reducing fuel loads, and clearing firebreaks. Unskeptical scientists on the other hand are talking about going vegan, swapping light globes, installing windmills and photovoltaic panels and of course…. planting more trees. Oh the dilemma? Should we stop fires with firebreaks or wave some solar panels?’ http://joannenova.com.au/2019/09/its-a-science-emergency-how-many-fires-can-australia-stop-with-solar-panels-and-windfarms/ & ‘Bushfires are normal events in this season in tropical and sub-tropical latitudes of the southern hemisphere – in Australia, Africa and South America. Even Captain Cook noted many fires in Eastern Australia in 1770, long before the era of “global warming” hysteria.’https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/09/viv-forbes-with-uncommon-common-sense-on-queensland-bushfires.html

11/09/2019: Not much chance of his reoffending – unlike in Australia where the Pit Bull would be banned but the rapist would be free to reoffend: https://www.news.com.au/world/south-america/man-castrated-by-pit-bull-terrier-after-mexico-city-gang-stripped-him-for-being-a-suspected-rapist/news-story/542009273624d5268b874e52c21d7d95

11/09/2019: People are always dragging out this old chestnut. Don’t I think We (?) should share with 'The Disadvantaged’, or ‘The Unfortunate’. There are all sorts of words which conceal an incipient theology. I might also call such folks ‘improvident’ but that would reveal just the same assumption ie that it is not their fault, but (they) are victims of some sort, as we would all be if we could not bear to ‘get off our arses’. They could not be eg ‘lazy’, ‘spendthrift’, bone idle’, ‘undeserving’…could they? This fellow said to me the other day, ‘Oh, I don’t mind sharing with such folk…’ I said to him, ‘Look mate, you share your money with whomever you like, – as we all do (or don’t!). Go right ahead! I would be interested to see your tax returns showing evidence of your impressive charity though. Just don’t try to legislate to make me do the same’. Unfortunately such folk do want to force us to do so. ‘Stand and deliver’ rings out from every street corner from these eternal ‘Robin Hoods’, but when they are stealing from the hard-working 50% to give to the indolent 50%, I rather resent it. Especially as the recipients have often (over time) received rather more without any effort on their behalf, for doing nothing - than I have from my earnings, but they have just frittered it all away…

11/09/2019: Climate change is just a religion. There is no science behind it at all. For example, ‘We do not know the quantitative average amounts of absorbed sunlight and emitted infrared energy across the Earth, either observationally or from first physical principles, to the accuracy necessary to blame most recent warming on humans rather than nature.’ http://www.drroyspencer.com/2019/09/the-faith-component-of-global-warming-predictions/ Pat Frank’s paper showing the complete failure of ‘climate science is even more damning, ‘In short, climate models cannot predict future global air temperatures; not for one year and not for 100 years. Climate model air temperature projections are physically meaningless. They say nothing at all about the impact of CO₂ emissions, if any, on global air temperatures…The unavoidable conclusion is that whatever impact CO₂ emissions may have on the climate cannot have been detected in the past and cannot be detected now.’https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/09/07/propagation-of-error-and-the-reliability-of-global-air-temperature-projections-mark-ii/

10/09/2019: John Finnis a more eminent jurist than any of the judges in the Pell case forensically dissects the judgement: The defence definitely proved that the crime could not have happened at the time and place or perpetrator claimed (which was not for the defence to prove). The prosecution failed to prove that there was no possibility of doubt that the offence took place. In consequence this case is a monstrous miscarriage of justice which I hope the High Court dismisses quickly: https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2019/09/where-the-pell-judgment-went-fatally-wrong/

10/09/2019: The Central England temperature record goes right back to 1660 – and is also affected by the Urban Heat Island Effect, but… https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2019/08/01/english-summer-failing-to-meet-alarmist-expectations-again/

10/09/2019: Tarantino’s new film sounds great, but the prospect of having to put up with a zoo on a plane does not. Let me say unequivocally, I do not want to share an airline seat with a horse or an aardvark: https://nypost.com/2019/09/04/wokerati-slams-of-once-upon-a-time-in-hollywood-is-worse-than-mccarthyism/

09/09/2019: 60 DIY Ultralight Hiker Ideas: It has been quite a while (over two years) since I first posted this. Time for an update. There are now over 100 ‘ideas’ to try out. Most will save you money or at least improve your outdoors experience; nearly all of them are my own ‘inventions’. Hope you find something useful to you.

99. Two Great Poly Tarp Configurations

98. The Intex Double Paddle

97. A Hiking Bidet

96. Thermoplastics #101

95. A Wider Lighter DIY Sleeping Pad

94. Even More Free Stuff for Hiking

Seamless Tyvek Tipi

The Ultimate Camp Shoe

Extempore Hiking Poles

Embryo Wire

Stop Losing Your Pillow

More Free Stuff for Hiking

Free Stuff for Hiking

Best $5 Spent on Camping Ever

Fire Umbrella

DIY Dry Back Pack

How to Carry a Saw

Make Your Sleeping Pad Warmer

Whoopie Sling Guy Line Tensioner

Electric Drill Earth Auger

DIY Air Frame Pack

New Fancy Feast Stove

Budget Pack Mods

Self-Cleaning Pet Water Bowl

More Bird-Brained Things

Trees and Tree Guards

Ultralight Bathtub Floor

Convert a Car to a Camper for $50

Nightcore Tube Hat Clip

A Cure for Slippery Mats

The Siligloo

Simple Hammock Double Up

The Pocket Poncho Tent

Raincoat Shelter

Ultralight Hiking on a Budget

Ultralight Cups

Knee Pillow

Bathtub Groundsheet Chair

Ultralight Poncho Tent

Simple Hearing Aid Safety Clip

Fun With Sticky Tape – Mylar Poncho

A Ball of String and a Feed of Cray

Repurposing Camping Gear

More Fun With Sticky Tape – Mylar Vest

Fishing With Floss

Securing Hearing Aids

Four Gram Fishing Handlines

Hammock Side Insulation

An Open Shelter

4 Gram String Reverse Tripod

Linelock Tie Downs

Attaching Tie Downs to Your Pack

DIY Head Torches

Impregnable Gun Safe

Toughened Foam Flip Flop

The Ultralight Fisherman

Hand Line Fly Fishing

Cold Weather Booties

Pimping a Gorilla

Adding Down to a Sleeping Bag

Windscreens

How to Avoid Being Wet and Cold While Camping

World’s Lightest Tarp Clip

15 Gram Blue Foam Flip Flop

Tyvek Jack Russell Rain Coat – 13 Grams

Ultralight Trail Baker

Folding Staircase for Camper

11 Gram Rechargeable Head Torch

Enginesaver – Low Engine Water Alarm

Ultralight Glasses Case

Hole-less Poncho Shelter

The Ultralight Bush Chair

Pitching the Poncho – This May Save Your Life

Faux Packraft Vs Alpacka Raft

Fire Tent

Honey I Shrank the Tent

Tyvek Twin Fire Shelter

New Decagon-Octagon Igloo Tent

Home made Pack Raft

Poly Tent by the Ultralighthiker on the Cheap

DIY Hiking Desalinator

No Sew sandals

New Tyvek Forester Tent Design

Tray Top Camper

How to Light a Fire in the Wet

Catenary Curves

Bathtime on the Trail – the 1 Gram Platypus Shower

Ultralight Clothes Pegs

Tarp Bathtub Groundsheet

The Egg-Ring Ultralight Wood Burner Stove

Inflatable Bathtub Groundsheet

Tyvek Tent Designs

Tyvek Bivy

The Deer Hunter’s Tent

Tyvek Solo Fire Shelter

Ultralight Chair – Groundsheet

Mobile Phone Antenna

Trowel Peg

Some other people’s great DIYs:

Tim Tinker

Transparent Tent Instructions

DIY Side Burner Metho Stove

08/09/2019: The Rapid Raft: Cheap, light, quick, simple and tough – and almost self-inflating. What’s not to like? Here are the two most outstanding features.

Wonderful.

15″ x 5″ when deflated. 33″ x 72″ inflated. 3 lbs. Tubes 200 denier. Floor 400 denier. The nearest competition I guess is the Ultralight version of this one: https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/01/02/new-diy-pack-raft/or Klymit’s Pack Raft: https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/04/23/klymit-packraft/ It has to be a great option especially if there are rivers/lakes to cross on your route.

Winner Best New Gear Outdoor Retailer Summer 2019: Buy now from A$365 (Sept 2019)

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/uncharted-rapid-raft-world-s-lightest-pack-raft#/

08/09/2019: Real Hope for Conservatism: If you have been noting the recent events in Britain with bemusement, perhaps you should pay more attention. Events there are cataclysmic for the Left! For far too long they have been winning the ‘march through the institutions’ even though if we had been ‘allowed’ real referenda on any important issues the will of the people would have echoed resoundingly. What we have had in Britain is a die-hard political class essaying to thwart the will of the people, just as we have here. But no more! One way or another there will be a Brexit. The people of Britain will wrest control of their country (back- and Yes I do hate the explosion of superfluous prepositions too, but this one seems necessary somehow) from faceless socialist foreign bureaucrats and regain the chance to shape their own destinies (once more – there I go again!) We need that process here as well. For far too long conservatives have been of the ‘dog shit yoghurt’ type - as Delingpole has it, bending over forwards to ‘admire’ the ‘golden rivet’ instead of standing up resoundingly for what most of us actually believe in: far less government, the supremacy of private property, free markets, personal responsibility and self-reliance, the primacy of the family, the importance of social order, national sovereignty and the defence of the realm, a truly independent bureaucracy supervising what few public efforts we actually need, lower taxes, liberty, free speech…’ Whatever legal and constitutional theory has said throughout the ages – often in a desperate attempt to catch up with events – it is popular consent that has always conferred legitimacy, whether symbolically (as in the acclamation of monarchs at their coronation) or really, as in the landmark upheavals of our history…It has never been legitimate for parliament to overrule the popular will’. Read Delingpole’s articles. Do: https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/09/06/boris-has-drained-the-swamp-saved-the-conservatives/ & https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/09/04/delingpole-brexiteers-are-on-the-right-side-of-history/ Just some of the fantastical ideas Corbyn and his like have in store for us all: http://www.aei.org/publication/shock-and-awe-the-financial-times-meets-the-real-jeremy-corbyn/ Mind you, it looks like Boris will wint the election – and the UK will have Brexit as well: https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/leaders/joe-hildebrand-the-one-thing-everybody-missed-in-brexit-chaos/news-story/4e62a5b15189e4dbd4693eab4dc0f03e

08/09/2019: This is how crooked the Labor Party is: https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/09/lying-for-labors-pretty-profitable-nsw-boss-lady-kaila-in-line-for-305k-payout.html

08/09/2019: Hundreds of Professors of Climate Science say there is no climate emergency: https://www.newsmax.com/larrybell/eu-ipcc-carbon/2019/08/19/id/929031/ & Dr. Roy W. Spencer of the University of Alabama in Huntsville: ‘There is no climate crisis. Even if all the warming we’ve seen in any observational dataset is due to increasing CO2 (carbon dioxide), which I don’t believe it is, it’s probably too small for any person to feel in their lifetime.’ https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/09/07/there-is-no-climate-emergency/

07/09/2019: Harbingers of Spring at Jeeralang Junction: ‘Snapped late yesterday as the cold front approached!’

(Della)

In other developments the Ring-Tailed Possum I thought a victim to Brer Fox has moved his house from the plum tree (too wet) to a Macadamia behind it:

07/09/2019: Still only two swallows. They are now over a fortnight late, but I am heartened by this old post: 13/12/2016: Swallow Update: The missing birds have at last returned. They came in day before yesterday in a veritable swarm. They all wanted to check out the garage (where many of them were born) and I was standing in their way. They were swooping and diving only inches away from me as they passed by. They must have experienced a period of low food somewhere along their migratory path which delayed them until they were fat enough again to fly. Really glad to see them back though! Welcome home for the summer little guys!

07/09/2019: One fewer monster: Mugabe is gone, but how many went with him? Many thousands at least. I know our gentle old friend Andrew McEwen-Coplans was one of them. I would hope that Mugabe would burn in Hell!

07/09/2019: Australia shows no warming since 1876. These are the real BOM records: https://realclimatescience.com/2019/09/australia-shows-no-warming-since-1876/

06/09/2019: Two Great Poly Tarp Configurations: I know most people can’t sew (and probably don’t have much money either) so I suggest either of these two simple poly tarp ‘hacks’ for en excellent dry shelter (which you can also enjoy a fire out front with). They both also feature ‘stand-up’ room (at least if you are shorter than 6′) which I think is so much more comfortable than crawling around on your hands and knees on wet ground entering and exiting (eg to put another log on the fire).

Both can be closed in case rain decides to come from every direction at once. I recommend (if you can sew) sewing gross-grain tie-outs to them and cutting off any excess material. You don’t need the hems or useless grommets for example (and especially if they have rope in them as some do). If you can’t sew I suggest you buy some tarp clips. These ones are really good and light I find the smallest ones fine. You may even make a kayak with them.

The 8 by 8: This can be made from a 12 ‘by 12′ tarp. When I began this post I own that I intended to dig out a 12′ x 12’ model I used to use for years while waiting for hounds to wander back in from sambar deer hunting. It i s hidden in the shed somewhere. I rediscovered a couple of them I had made in my drums along the river where I went recently and spent a couple of delightful nights camped in them – I only regret I did not take any photos!

Well, I did find one:

While we were waiting for hounds, cooking our sausages etc (Brett Irving shows how) I would set it up like this (in the rain). When I went to bed, I would drop it down, fold the back flaps under to make a ground sheet and bring the front ‘wings’ across a bit so I stayed dry all night. Of course I could also keep the fire going so I stayed toasty warm. Half a dozen could shelter safely under it during our ‘cook-up’ at day’s end.

As it eventuated I was keen enough to try out a smaller model (& in Tyvek!) that I went ahead and made it instead of continuing my search through the labyrinth of the shed:

This diagram below is for the smaller one therefore and is in feet but I actually cut the tarp out of a 3 metre roll of Tyvek, so the intermediate points are actually 1.5 metres. If you are making the 8′ x 8′ above instead you will begin with approximately a 12′ x 12′ tarp. Halving the sides will give you a 8′ by 8′ diamond in the middle with 12′ diagonals and the flaps will be approx 6′ long. The size below is likely all you will need – unless you have lots of friends!

Once I used to carry just a 7′ by 7′ nylon tarp (and my raincoat). I had a few uneasy rainy nights when the wind wanted to shift a bit, but I never got wet. I even used it quite successfully as a hammock tarp many times – and again never got wet. You can get too excitable about size and ‘making sure’. Most nights it doesn’t rain anyway – and how often do you go camping when it is going to?

This 10 x 10 tarp can also be pitched as a hammock tarp (and with closed ends on both sides!) It will definitely keep you dry under the most extreme conditions. I may add a couple of extra pieces of Tyvek to the floor (with some Tyvek sticky tape) instead of the 6 x 4′ blue poly tarp you see in the pictures below – or I will use a piece of Polycro instead. I will post the dimensions of the floor pieces when I have cut them out.

And here it is:

There will be more tie-outs.

The front flaps can be configured in a variety of ways depending on conditions. I have only altered one side in the photos. I will take it down (tonight?) and sew all the tie-outs on as I am intending a (return) trip to a new spot in the very near future. I will be taking in a canoe drum – to leave it, a fire umbrella, ultralight saw, a cookset and a A$40 Intex raft and paddle in so I can hunt/explore the other side of the river. On the trip out, and on future trips I will be able to travel more lightly.

I also need to work out a way to fire-proof my drums (as I lost so many in the summer fires). My initial idea is to bury them standing up so that the top of their lids is level with the ground (in a grassy spot). The deer will keep the grass short in the warmer months. I will then peg out a 1 metre by one metre fire blanket over it. I will have a go at dyeing it. I know that the white fire blanket will attract attention, but I am hoping that folk who get to such remote places will be civilised enough to simply use the shelter etc if they need or wish and put it/them back in the drum. When there is a bushfire it should go out at the edge of the fire blanket and not be hot enough to melt the drum.

On this trip I will see if I can find a small cave in a rocky cliff to stow it. I may take a makeshift piton and some string to secure it there.

The front opening is an equilateral triangle 7′ on a side, meaning its height is approx 6′ . You can either tie to a piece of wood (as shown) or to a small tree (if available) – which obviates the need for front guys. You could pitch it lower (and so wider) but the flaps at the front would not join.

My grandson enjoyed it.

As well as his mother and our dogs, Spot and Honey.

PS: I usually have two guys at the front instead of the one shown so that I can peg out to the ground at the side front thus making room for a fire immediately in front of the shelter (say about 5′ away).

In Tyvek the tent in the photos above will weigh about 650 grams in the 1.85 oz/yd2 Tyvek Homewrap. A lightweight blue poly tarp I bought locally yesterday had a stated fabric weight of 90 Grams Per Square Meter ie 2.6544 Ounces Per Square Yard (or 43% more) The 12 x 12 model is 44% heavier than the 10 x 10 model, so you might want to reserve it (in poly) for car camping, as I used to. Nonetheless I think you should give one a try. If I made the one above out of 1 oz silnylon it would weigh under 450 grams (under a pound) including pegs and guy lines! Pretty good for a tent with a floor you can stand in which can double as a hammock tarp.

It will cost you very little, and I’m sure you will be mightily pleased with it particularly when you want to sit in front of a warm fire out of the wind, and especially on rainy days. One advantage of such a shelter is that your back does not get cold when you are sitting in front of the fire as the heat is reflected off the back walls. I usually find that I am sitting around when the temperatures are below freezing in just my shirtsleeves!

The Forester Tarp: I haven’t got time to finish the second section of this post just now so it will become a future post. I must finish the tent above and get a few other jobs done around the farm or else I will never get away up the bush. What I have in mind is to add ‘wings’ to the front and back of this basic Forester design (cut down a little in size as in the second link below) so that the front will close (as in the tent above) and the back will also close with overlapping flaps from either side – so that the whole tent can be cut from a single piece (Tyvek is not quite wide enough – I think). This design will make a roomier tent than either the 12 x 12 or the 10 x 10 models above with more stand up room.

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2015/05/11/col-townsend-whelens-forester-tent/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/02/12/new-tyvek-forestertent-design/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/07/01/the-dawn-of-ultralight/

Note on Tie-Outs: I would sew a piece of reinforcing material at the front tie-out (which takes all the weight of the fabric -and any flap) and also at the rear one (particularly on the Forester – for the same reason). Otherwise I have found that simply hemming the material then sewing the gross-grain ribbon for the tie outs along the hem for 2’3 inches then forming an approx 2″ loop, giving the material 180 degree twist (like a Mobius strip) – so it is easier to get the pegs through, then sewing along the hem for a for a further 2-3″ on the other side works well. As this one may also be used as a hammock tarp I might also reinforce the corners.

BTW: You can pitch either of these tarps as simple floorless diagonals where the smaller of the two will span 14 feet and have edge cover of 10′ either pegged out from from a pole or tree to the ground (as shown) or as hammock tarps between two trees. (Obviously if you were going to use it like this, you would need to carry a piece of Polycro as an ultralight groundsheet You can buy a piece 5′ x 9′ from Amazon.com.au for A$11.46).

So, something like this (or the photo of the blue tarp at the top):

Or you could pitch it like this. I will have to remember to sew on a tie out to help support the back wall in this configuration.

DIY Hiker: You can find over 100 of my other DIY hiker ideas here: https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/07/13/60-diy-ultralight-hiker-ideas/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/05/29/brawnys-tarptent/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/05/28/tyvek-solo-fire-shelter/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2014/05/27/an-open-shelter/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/03/03/fire-tent/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/11/22/ultralight-ground-sheet/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2015/06/25/pitching-the-poncho-warning-this-may-save-your-life/

https://www.shelter-systems.com/product-category/gripclips/

04/09/2019: Bastards like this should simply be shortened forthwith – or worse. At least there is in my mind no circumstance in which Guider should be released without divulging the location of his victim’s body: https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/09/conditions-under-which-child-killer-and-serial-paedophile-michael-anthony-guider-will-be-released-fr.html ‘Michael Anthony Guider is an Australian pedophile who was imprisoned on sixty charges of child sexual abuse in 1996. He received an additional sentence in 2002 for the manslaughter of 9 year-old Sydney girl Samantha Knight, who disappeared from the Sydney suburb of Bondi in 1986’(Wikipedia).

04/09/2019: Why the young are seduced by socialism: https://nypost.com/2019/08/16/heres-why-my-fellow-millennials-are-seduced-by-socialism/

04/09/2019: Just too many f----ing walruses (ie ‘falling’); yet another fake ‘climate emergency’; 25 years ago: http://joannenova.com.au/2019/09/66290/

03/09/2019: An Interesting piece of history: https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/09/australian-national-flag-day-commemorating-first-time-australian-flag-was-flown-3-september-1901.html

03/09/2019: Waving, not drowning. Sea level 6 cm lower in Sydney a hundred years ago:

https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/opinion-post/climate-science-meets-reality-at-the-waters-edge/

03/09/2019: Simply not genuine refugees: See what even the ABC has to say about them. If we let such people stay there will be no end of them, and thousands would drown (as happened before). Of course the world is full of pleasant people who would like to make Australia home. They will have to wait in line as we can only take a small fraction of them. Several million apply from India alone every year: https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/09/albanese-bats-for-boat-people-when-even-the-abc-reports-theyve-been-untruthful-and-their-case-is-hop.html

03/09/2019: ‘You begin to liquidate a people by taking away its memory. You destroy its books, its culture, its history. And then others write other books for it, give another culture to it, invent another history for it. Then the people slowly begins to forget what it is and what it was.’ Milan Kundera in The Book of Laughter and Forgetting’

02/09/2019: Don’t Americans own washing machines: https://wgntv.com/2019/08/16/45-of-americans-wear-underwear-for-2-days-or-longer-survey-finds/

02/09/2019: Should you have an MRI for that lower back pain: https://www.realclearscience.com/articles/2019/08/27/the_problem_with_mris_for_low_back_pain_111087.html

02/09/2019: Video tour of the real ‘Terror’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxyTZ3F7mkA & http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/56291 & https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/lhn-nhs/nu/epaveswrecks/culture/archeologie-archeology/explore/2019/ete-summer-2019 & https://www.canada.ca/en/parks-canada/news/2019/08/government-of-canada-releases-remarkable-images-of-the-wreck-of-hms-terror.html PS: Captain Crozier did not die with his other crewmen. Inuit saw him with three others within 20 miles of Hudson’s Bay. For a further 20 years he was seen around Great Bear Lake.

01/09/2019: Snow Day: The photo of me standing in the snow in front of the archway in the last post reminded me that back on 10th August 2005 we had this amazing dump of snow around here – South Gippsland and Southern Victoria in general. Much more snow and lower down than we ‘normally get – whatever that may mean.

Back in 1983 there was an even bigger dump. I remember it even snowed at Tarwin Lower where we were then living within 10 metres of sea level – our driveway here at Jeeralang Junction is exactly 200 metres above sea level, so that we are safe from the Poles melting.

There was substantial snow on the road all the way to Mirboo North back in 1983 where we then worked. It was so heavy it broke the tops of the old cypress trees on our farm here at Jeeeralang Junction and they have been falling down ever since. Of course we were not living here then (1991 on) so we didn’t see it but the dump in 2005 we did see. We kept the kids home from school (as it was very cold and might become even more dangerous) so I took quite a lot of photos of it, after I had been around the lambs on the flats first thing in the morning.

This was the view across the road from our driveway as I drove down.

The Maremma sheep guard dog, Brandy wasn’t fazed by all that white stuff. He grew up on our old Dobbins Hill farm on the top of the Jeeralangs several hundred metres higher up where it often snowed in winter.

Here is the old archway again with my oldest daughter Irralee posing in front of it.

The snow was still falling intermittently throughout the day – here along the front of the house.

Looking down towards the front gate through Della’s extensive gardens.

The snow falling in front of the hills opposite.

Irralee again in front of the other archway. She must have been the first of the children up that day. She seemed very happy to see the snow (or because it was my birthday!)

We used to have a lot of this model Subaru (1981-4) -around a dozen of them! Someone had built a snowman on the bonnet of this one.i used to fit five canoes on one set of those roof racks in summer!

Mid-morning but the snow was still falling heavily. We didn’t know whether Della would be able to get to or back from Mirboo North where she worked at the time – but she did!

Brandy decided discretion was the better part of valor and sheltered under the archway.

Della’s rose garden.

Rams on the hill looking forlorn.

And others just lying around in it.

These two look quite blizzarded in.

At various times during the day I took one family member or another up the road to look at our old Dobbins Hill farm where the snow lay much heavier. This is my son, Bryn at the front gate.

And again.

My daughter Merrin.

The snow was really coming down for her. Even when she was a small child she never needed to wrap up from the cold.

But her husband, Matt did.

After Della returned from work, she wanted to have a look there too.

And took a photo of me also standing at our old front gate. Some days the snow was thick enough up there to toboggan.

The road back down was looking a bit icy.

Looking down on the home farm from the top road.

And again.

It was snowing heavily as Della and I drove back down.

This old plum tree in the paddock looked quite magical.

There was lots of snow waiting for us in the driveway.

View of the bottom dam in the creek below the house.

And across the creek.

Heading down to the Hazelwood Flats farm the snow was much lighter though there had been more ice and snow when I first arrived there to check the lambs at daybreak. The warm water of the power station pondage just across the road helped melt it into icy puddles quite quickly.

But the surrounding hills had practically enough to ski on.

By the time Della and I got there to re-check the sheep in the afternoon the snow was pretty much all gone.

Just vast icy puddles.

And ewes standing around looking forlorn and bereft.

The worst part about such a cold day was all the stock losses. We actually lost no adult sheep (They were all in good condition – and we had plenty of hay I could put out as well) but one farmer in South Gippsland lost 300 Jersey cows. Another lost 3,000 sheep. My losses for the day were (approx) 200 newborn lambs which I found (mostly) lying dead in 6″ deep icy puddle of water when I was going around the lambs as I did first thing every morning at lambing on our property then on the Hazelwood Flats.

Of course there were others which were near expiring. I did everything I could for them,, but it was not to much effect. The best thing was putting out several dozen big round bales of hay which the sheep could tear at – in the process making warm dry beds for the surviving lambs. It was pretty distressing (on my birthday) I can tell you to be losing around a fifth of my annual income; somewhere above $30,000 (gross) worth!

Something like this: https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2015/11/27/anguish/

01/09/2019: EPAs need to be abolished or neutered: http://joannenova.com.au/2019/08/submission-due-for-the-west-australian-epa-on-monday/

01/09/2019: Climate Emergency Hoax Will Backfire: I am sick of the constant hype and having to forever fight a rear-guard action against the duplicitous climate warriors. Just as we have seen the Greenland ‘emergency’ turn around (and Greenland gaining ice again after a couple of hot days), and the fires in the Amazon being the smallest in 20 years, so we also see that sea level has just been steadily rising (by approx 1 mm per year) as the world slowly emerges from the coldest period in 10,000 years (the Little Ice Age). We need to stop throwing away good money on this bull, build some new power stations and get on with life: http://joannenova.com.au/2019/08/sea-level-scare-industry-urges-plans-to-panic-and-evacuate-over-1mm-rise/

01/09/2019: Stealing the enemy’s drones: https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-israel-iran-drones-syria-hezbollah-take-over-reuse-against-enemy-1.7762981

31/08/2019: The Arch: Which I built in a morning (for $27) over thirty years ago is no more. Back on 08/06/2014 I posted this about it: Invisible worlds: the archway: Straight outside our front door we have this archway: you’ve probably seen it before in family photos, as it makes an interesting backdrop. Around here we have often been too busy to notice things, but as we are slowing down we maybe have more time for noticing and less for doing…anyway, we were sitting in front of it the other night watching the pigeons fly…And hearing them too: since a have had my new Siemens waterproof hearing aids I can once again hear the wondrous ‘whoosh’ of pigeon flight…we noticed a fair sized flock of starlings circling as well. It was just on dusk. We were wondering what they were doing.

Well, Della put the pigeon food in the loft and opened the trap. The pigeons dropped into the loft like stones. A chill was creeping in, so we turned to go in the front door. Suddenly, literally in the blink of an eye I guess, 100 starlings fell out of the sky into that archway. They must have done this several thousand times since I built it many years ago, but we had never caught them doing so. They are quiet neighbours, obviously up at sunrise and off about their business, returning swiftly at dusk, and making no outward noise to advertise their presence. I am sure the potato vine has benefited enormously from their residence over the years though. So much in nature is virtually invisible to us even if it is right before our eyes.

The arch was very simple to construct, and we do need more of them, one leading down to the shed, for example – a job for another day…I marked it out, drove 3’ lengths of ¾ gal water pipe into the ground vertically to half their length, then slipped the required length of concrete reo inside them (to form a hoop), and lengths of 1 ½ inch poly water pipe over them, Surprisingly each arch is strong enough like this for a large person like me to swing on. Having made a row of them, we simply clad them with light gal weldmesh (attached with cable ties), planted the potato vine/s, and voila! You used to be able to walk up pavers through it from the ‘guest’ parking below to our front door, but over the years Della has so cluttered it with interesting decorations this may no longer be possible…

Della had this to say about its demise: Underneath the Arches: Some Garden Nostalgia.
‘After 28 years of being front and centre of our house, our old archway has been demolished, to be replaced by a new one. Steve built the original out of gal water pipe and concrete reo covered with poly pipe, and I enthusiastically planted it out with climbing roses each end and potato vine between.

The accompanying pictures, beginning with a 3-year-old Merrin cradling her kitten “Blackie”, document the aging of that archway. Within 2 years, when the 3 children are pictured on their first day of the school year, the sky has been all but obliterated, and from then on, despite my constant battle with shears and secateurs, the potato vine took over, smothering the roses and creating a dense, tunneled thicket that became home to dozens of starlings.

A couple of years ago, the weight of all that vine began crushing the structure, so that it was impossible to even crawl through it. Something had to be done, so we added it to the jobs planned for our recent excavation work.

This was the famous ‘Snow Day’ Aug 10th 2005:

Its removal was the work of less than 5 minutes: one large munch, a roll of the jaws and a lift up and out. And while the excavator was here, Steve arranged to have it dig in the supports for the replacement walkway which he later finished with some carpentry.

So: the sky has returned, I have 10 new climbing roses ready for planting, and I have learned an important lesson about avoiding potato vine! The old pavers will need replacing, but I will get the garden cleaned up and replanted first.

Meanwhile, Merrin and a 3-year-old Milo (complete with a puppy, this time) posed today for a photo of our archway for the next generation.

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2015/04/30/invisible-worlds/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/02/28/hidden-worlds-nocturnal-ants/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2015/11/15/boojums/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2015/07/26/water-babies/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/10/24/the-wildlife-seems-to-get-wilder-everyday/

30/08/2019: Madness: https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/08/sign-on-the-lavatories-outside-the-pms-office-the-loonies-are-running-the-show.html

30/08/2019: St Greta of Thunberg: ‘the “facts” she regurgitates on behalf of her controllers are lies, propaganda and fake news – and the cause she represents is downright evil. Strip away all the fluffy invocations of nature and the plight of future generations and the alleged crisis facing mother earth and what you find underneath is pure totalitarianism…She will say that children of her generation face a terrible future of heat, famine, disease and every other imaginable natural disaster. Basically, she will describe a life which is the exact opposite of the charmed life that she is living…Are we really to believe that the children of tomorrow are going to be looking back enviously at their early 20th century forebears and wishing: “If only I could be crippled with polio, like kids were in the good old days!”… Two years after the 1916 New York polio outbreak came the worst pandemic in history – the Spanish flu outbreak which killed as many as 40 million people, most of them young…In the U.S. most of the hottest days in the last 100 years occurred during the early part of the 20th century…The likelihood of hot weather has also been declining, with recent years among the coolest on record’ https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/08/29/st-greta-of-thunberg-her-gospel-is-propaganda-her-cause-is-evil/

30/08/2019: So you thought she should be President: https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/08/hillarys-personal-style-is-sohillary.html

29/08/2019: Breaking the Glass Ceiling in LA: https://www.news.com.au/world/female-shooter-in-los-angeles-leaves-multiple-people-wounded/news-story/43e2577d82ac0dd1fd8892a170c95a87

29/08/2019: We should ban even electric cars British MPs say: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-49425402 Well, Electric Cars Have ‘Higher CO2 Emissions’: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/08/27/australian-new-report-electric-cars-have-higher-co2-emissions/

29/08/2019: Why Everything They Say About The Amazon, Including That It's The 'Lungs Of The World,' Is Wrong: https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelshellenberger/2019/08/26/why-everything-they-say-about-the-amazon-including-that-its-the-lungs-of-the-world-is-wrong/#4d5b538e5bde

28/08/2019: Almost Everything You've Heard About The Amazon Fires Is Wrong: https://mailchi.mp/c0def01f6ae6/false-alarm-almost-everything-youve-heard-about-the-amazon-fires-is-wrong?e=6bd6cdb589

28/08/2019: Outrage Theatre: Scott Adams (Dilbert) has the best new expression, ‘outrage theater’

28/08/2019: PEWSLAG: The 7 Deadly Sins of Progressivism: http://americandigest.org/wp/pewslag-the-7-deadly-sins-of-progressivism/

27/08/2019: Lest we forget: the 77th anniversary of the Battle of Milne Bay; we should remember that it was Aussies who there first defeated Japanese troops in open battle: http://www.awm.gov.au/units/event_345.asp

27/08/2019: If only we could have superhuman strength: https://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/26974392/unlocking-mystery-superhuman-strength

27/08/2019: Time to spend less money on education (and kick a few backsides), ‘Two decades of research into educational production functions have produced startlingly consistent results: Variations in school expenditures are not systematically related to variations in student performance. Enormous differences in teacher quality exist, but differences in teacher skill are not strongly related to educational backgrounds, amount of teaching experience, or teaching in small classes. Further, more skilled teachers simply are not regularly paid more than less skilled teachers. These findings suggest that school decision making must move away from traditional “input directed” policies to ones providing performance incentives. The concentration on expenditure differences in, for example, school finance court cases or legislative deliberations, appears misguided given the evidence.’ http://catallaxyfiles.com/2019/08/23/well-gonski-me/

27/08/2019: You should read this balanced view from eminent atmospheric physicist dr Roy Spencer, ‘There are no human fingerprints of global warming. None. Climate change is simply assumed to be mostly human-caused’ http://www.drroyspencer.com/2019/08/how-the-media-help-to-destroy-rational-climate-debate/ As an addendum you should also note that Michael Mann has lost his defamation case against Dr Tim Ball for saying that Mann was (more or less) faking the evidence (for global warming): https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/08/22/breaking-dr-tim-ball-wins-michaelemann-lawsuit-mann-has-to-pay/

26/08/2019: Travel by jet is now more fuel efficient than travel by car: https://slate.com/business/2014/07/driving-vs-flying-which-is-more-harmful-to-the-environment.html

26/08/2019: 1946 film of Anangu Guides Tiger Tjalkalyirri and Mitjenkeri Mick climbing Ayers Rock: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLosLdIAi9I

26/08/2019: Maths. Why didn’t we learn this at school: ‘By unraveling the complex answers to these most elementary questions—What is a number? How do addition, subtraction, and other functions actually work? What are geometry and logic?—Berlinski reveals the intricacy behind their seemingly simple exteriors. Peppered with enlightening historical anecdotes and asides on some of history’s most fascinating mathematicians, One, Two, Three, revels in the beauty of numbers as Berlinski shows us how and why these often slippery concepts are as essential to the field of mathematics as to who we are’ https://www.amazon.com/One-Two-Three-Absolutely-Mathematics/dp/1400079101

25/08/2019: The ‘precautionary principle’ is a logical fallacy: https://www.skepticalraptor.com/skepticalraptorblog.php/logical-fallacies/precautionary-principle-logical-fallacies/

25/08/2019: Oh No! Blood test to predict how likely you are to die within 5 to 10 years: https://newatlas.com/mortality-death-prediction-blood-test/61156/

25/08/2019: Oh Dear, this would never do. Black Conservative Headmistress Hits School Results Jackpot; Left Throws Tantrum: ‘Children at an inner London state school in one of the roughest, most deprived, ethnically diverse parts of Britain have won spectacular results in their exams’ https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/08/24/britains-strictest-headmistress-rules-ok/

24/08/2019: A Chunk of Trinitite Reminds Us of the Sheer, Devastating Power of the Atomic Bomb: ‘I bought a piece once as a birthday gift for a friend, the actor Paul Newman. Paul had been a 20-year-old rear gunner on a two-man Navy torpedo bomber, training for the invasion of Japan, when the second and third atomic bombs after Trinity exploded over Japan and did their part to end a war that killed more than 60 million human beings. “I was one of those who said thank god for the atomic bomb,” Paul told me ruefully.’ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/chunk-trinitite-reminds-sheer-devastating-power-atomic-bomb-180972848/

24/08/2019: Of course it must go to the High Court, and be thrown out. Here is an important comment why: ‘The importance of this case should not be underestimated, since, if it is allowed to stand, will stand as precedence in future trials, effectively meaning that from now on anyone can accuse anyone of anything with no evidence to the affirmative, and in fact abundant evidence to the contrary, and expect a conviction so long as they can spin a good yarn. I find it difficult to understand how people declare that they “accept” the decision. Respect maybe, but the decision is simply unacceptable.
For that reason I find it essential that it go to the High Court to be taken down. And at the same time I wonder about the ramifications for “A”, since if the High Court does shoot it down, then “A” should be held in contempt for lying under oath.’ (rod.stuart) https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2019/08/the-pell-outrage-vibe-trumps-veracity/

24/08/2019: Typical Climate Lies: In fact Amazon fires have been shrinking (see graph): https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/08/23/amazon-fire-history-since-2003/

23/08/2019: Why did so many Neanderthals end up with swimmer’s ear? https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/08/neanderthals-suffered-from-a-veritable-epidemic-of-swimmers-ear/

23/08/2019: ‘Threats to pandas cause more emotion than threats to the extinction of the Christians in the Middle East,’ Amin Maalouf: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-08-21/extinction-christians-middle-east

23/08/2019: NASA Reports Fewer Fires Than Normal in Brazil: As of August 16, 2019, satellite observations indicated that total fire activity in the Amazon basin was slightly below average in comparison to the past 15 years. Though activity has been above average in Amazonas and to a lesser extent in Rondônia, it has been below average in Mato Grosso and Pará, according to the Global Fire Emissions Database: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/145464/fires-in-brazil

22/08/2019: So what happens to Vic and SA if Qld disconnects from the grid to provide its people with cheaper electricity: http://joannenova.com.au/2019/08/mp-suggests-queensland-cut-off-the-other-states-to-have-cheaper-electricity/

22/08/2019: If ‘aboriginal elders’ had no problem with Pauline climbing Ayer’s Rock, why can’t everyone else: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/blogs/andrew-bolt/hanson-allowed-to-climb-uluru-so-why-cant-we/news-story/e32ab2e79224e4f7913e8624465f8905

22/08/2019: So Judge Weinberg is not a ‘reasonable man’? That’s the nexus of this Pell decision. His split decision shows unequivocally that there was ‘reasonable’ doubt’ and that therefore Pell should not have been convicted. As I said much earlier on, Pell’s defence team wrongly focused on ‘the impossibility’ of Pell’s performing the act, rather than on the possibility of doubting that it occurred. Given that Weinberg had ‘doubt’ (as did the first jury) the other judges should have concluded that it was ‘reasonable’ to have such ‘doubt’ and exonerated him.

21/08/2019: Elon Musk’s space suits are cool: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/08/20/nasa-and-spacex-dragon-crew-extraction-rehearsal/

21/08/2019: The Dragonfly Knife: I know I posted about this remarkable knife some time back, but mine arrived today and it is the most astonishing knife I have ever owned. Only 10 grams but razor sharp and capable of butchering a deer. It is also absolutely beautiful: https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/08/20/the-dragonfly-ultralight-titanium-knife/

21/08/2019: George Pell to walk free today. You can only hope so. Watch live here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-21/george-pell-live-appeal-court-ruling-child-sex-abuse-convictions/11431738

20/08/2019: Gun ownership is not correlated with gun murders: (but they sure help protect you from the bad guys!) https://rosebyanyothernameblog.wordpress.com/2019/08/18/whats-behind-gun-murders/

19/08/2019: Unusual Locking Folder: Opinel make some pretty unique knives. I guess I came to the party a bit late on this one, but I have two of them in my hand right now and they are magnificent! First I bought the Opinel No 6: because a reader (Tim) recommended it (in this post), as follows: ‘Opinel #6 has a lock blade of about 72mm at 27g. Easy to sharpen, very nice to use with its full flat grind to zero. My favourite folding knife when weight matters.: https://www.opinel.com/en/tradition/stainless-steel/n6-stainless-steel‘ He suggested the stainless model but I found the carbon steel one cheap so I bought it: https://www.opinel.com/en/tradition/carbon-steel/n6-carbon It cost me only A$16.99 (delivered) on eBay. A very good buy.

Then a friend (Jock) happened to give me a No #8 stainless

for my recent birthday, so I have two to compare. Riches indeed. The No 6 is 27 grams and the No 8 has an 8.5 cm (3 1/3″) blade and weighs 59 grams.

The first thing I discovered was the unique blade lock. I had seen them in the shop and passed them over as I thought they didn’t have one. Instead they have what might be a superior one. At least there is no way this blade lock is going to fail and leave you with severed fingers – as can happen. You can see in the photos I took below how the ring-type lock they have works. They call it the ‘Virobloc safety ring’. You just need to rotate it to make the bade stay in the open or closed position. Just hook it around with your thumbnail (as shown) though as it wears a bit it will become easier to rotate.

You can see how it moves into place completely blocking the movement of the blade in either the open or closed position.

Now completely blocked.

This is the No 6 Carbon). It has a 7 cm (2 3/4″) blade.

My hands are still pretty scratched up from nearly a week of bush-bashing I see.

It is a very attractive little knife with its distinctive and comfortable beech handle. A rounded handle like this is great on the hand if you have big job to do (such as lots of whittling, pruning or butchering perhaps. For lots of butchering the larger no 8 might be better but this little fellow would get the job done.

As you can see (below) the No 8 fills the hand much better.

This would be an excellent knife for butchering a sambar deer – unless you don’t know how to sharpen a knife (maybe with one of these) in which case you might try the Olfa I mentioned here.

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/07/17/the-olfa-knife/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/06/12/ultralight-knife-sharpener/

19/08/2019: The Thunberg voyage is a farce: ‘The sailing team that's taking climate activist Greta Thunberg... to the United States aboard a high-tech racing yacht says it will fly two crew across the Atlantic to bring the boat back, but that the carbon emissions from their flights will be compensated for.’ But Thunberg could also have flown and carbon-offset. https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/08/18/doh-climate-messiah-greta-thunbergs-plastic-boat-trip-will-result-in-two-airline-flights/ & https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/08/16/delingpole-greta-thunberg-patron-saint-of-the-age-of-stupidity/

19/08/2019: An early test for Alzheimers: But do I want to know if nothing can be done? The latest copy of New Scientist puts the cause (99%) down to a gum disease organism – the same for heart disease and diabetes! https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24332420-900-have-we-found-the-true-cause-of-diabetes-stroke-and-alzheimers/ & https://news.sky.com/story/scientists-say-a-blood-test-can-detect-signs-of-alzheimers-20-years-before-onset-of-symptoms-11775417

18/08/2019: The APC and the Sponge Bath: A friend of mine coined the phrase ‘APC’ being a play on words for a major patent medicine of the 50s and 60s. Instead of the three chemicals which were its constituents (Aspirin, Phenacetin and Codeine – you just can’t get good pain relief cheaply any more!), her expression stood for ‘Armpits and Crotch’. A quick freshen up of those important areas would ‘do’ if you were in a hurry – or as so often in rural areas in time’s past, you were very short of water.

‘The Chase’ Paterson – our farm amid the forest. Most of the forest is still there. Our property was off Keppie’s Lane. The Keppies were our neighbours. Some of them still live roundabout. The house would have stood at the end of the lane which comes off it (behind ‘Glenlossie’) on the Google satellite map.

I know I grew up in a house on a farm near Paterson NSW with mostly a ‘ground floor’ which is what we said when there was no floor save the earth itself, and which had one 2,000 gallon much-repaired leaky galvanised iron water tank to serve a family of five – and frequent guests, some of whom arrived by horse and cart.

The old house is long gone now – soon even the memories will be gone…how many good times we had on that old verandah! There was always an old hound lying near the back door – this was ‘Napoleon Bone-apart’ on account of the way he lay.

Most of the walls were hessian bags to which newspapers had been ‘pasted’ with a mixture of flour and water. It gave us something to read at least! My mother had cut out a picture of a harbour scene from a magazine, framed it and hung it on my bedroom wall as a decoration. Naturally it still has pride of place on my bedroom wall today. Baths were an occasional luxury particularly in summer, but fortunately there was a pretty much permanent swimming hole in Tucker’s Creek nearby, shared with dogs, cows, goannas, black snakes and other assorted critters.

The swimming hole in Tucker’s Creek. My dog, ‘Rover’ centre. He would retrieve a thrown stone from the bottom of the stream. How I love/d that dog! Me and various Keppies fishing in Tucker’s Creek with mum’s sewing cotton, bent pins and worms in Tucker’s Creek. Mostly we caught gudgeons for the cat. The Tuckers were a pioneering family in the district who had left many ruins round about in ‘my day’. For example, there was an abandoned orchard in the forest nearby which we used to ‘raid’ around Xmas time. The old swimming hole was a great place to cool off on a hot day – and saved on baths. Me on the extreme left, about age 6.

Most nights our mother gave us a standing up ‘sponge bath’ in the kitchen. This involved just a face washer, a lick of Velvet Soap (which I still always use – I love the smell) and half a billy of warm water off the hob (there was always a fire burning in the range as that was pretty much all my mother had to cook with).

She started with the cleanest bits first and worked down to the really grubby feet – I never wore shoes until I was around 15 and starting shift work in a heavy metal refinery! Those compulsory ‘safety boots’ sure killed me then. The water was thrown on the fruit trees outside which flourished on its many nutrients, particularly a lime which furnished many refreshing summer drinks – It flourished wonderfully next to the outhouse!

The lime tree by the outhouse.

Kids in ‘my day’ pretty much all started full-time work at 15 (or earlier eg as farmhands with permission) having had various part-time work from around the age of 10 – cleaning shops, delivering papers, milking cows and such. Mostly they left home at the same time, boarding with some other family or renting a ‘bed-sit’.

We were considered adults at 15 – and expected to fend for ourselves in all things, though we weren’t allowed to vote till we were 21. We didn’t miss much! Very few ever got into any trouble such as drugs, alcohol, crime or juvenile delinquency. Too busy working maybe! And too little money!

Of course growing up on a farm you learned to work pretty early on – before you went to school at least. I know I was up at 5:00am every morning to help my mother with the (hand) milking. My dad would have headed off to work by then eg as a fettler on the railways, or as a timber-getter in the forestry industry nearby, etc.

The ‘new’ dairy circa 1953. I used to get the cows into the yard so mum could milk them.

It was my job to first get the cows in from the frosty paddocks – in my bare feet, to get the cows in to the bails (and let them out), to carry the buckets of milk to the milk cooler and tip it in, to see that the milk cans did not overflow, to pump up by hand the well water which supplied the corrugated milk cooler, to wind the handle of the separator to make the cream, to wash up at the end of the milking – and give the milky filter paper (which he loved) to my great blue-heeler pup, Rover.

Here I am at about age four-five with my wonderful pup, ‘Rover’. My uncle Leo gave him to me. You never forget your first dog – or cease to regret their passing.

Of course I also had pigs (with the skim milk) and chickens to feed, eggs to collect, kindling to split, and so on. Mostly before breakfast, and before I was even old enough to go to school. No doubt such ‘child labour’ is illegal in this weird world in which we now live, but it was very good for you and created a broad sense of self-discipline which is an indispensable component of good character.

Feeding the poddies was another child ‘slavery’ exercise. I loved the way they would suck on your fingers in the bucket – to get them started. Collecting (loose) lucerne hay with a pitchfork. That’s me aged about 7 standing on the stack. Note the Workplace safety regulations.

Growing up in the forest meant I learned to roam the bush at will as soon as I could walk. My mother just used to let me go and figured I would be home when I got hungry. I reckon I could lead you to some wondrous spots in those hills even today. A place where a giant sheltering Moreton Bay grew, another a maze of erosion gullies, yet another where a vast avalanche of car-sized stones had tumbled down the valley and been covered with rock-lilies, a remote bat-infested cave, etc.

Once a week (usually Saturday night, country dance night’ = ‘You Beautie’!) we would have a ‘proper’ bath, ie mum would heat enough water on the stove in a 4 gallon or 60 lb honey tin which is what my parents used instead of the ubiquitous kerosene tin (as they were also apiarists) to half fill a tin ‘hip bath’ on the kitchen floor.

She and dad would bathe first, then the order went: oldest to youngest. The water was pretty whiff by the time it got to the youngest (me). I always suffered from boils as a kid – as people do who don’t bathe enough or bathe in such contaminated water. ‘Everyone’ did in those days.

Or maybe it was our diet of mostly carbs, salt and sugar – which apparently contributed to everyone’s long life! At least, no generation which ever existed lived as long as the ‘Great Generation’ of my parents, so who knows? I think a steady diet of hard work and self-reliance helped a lot too.

I still have the mini craters here and there particularly on my legs where a horribly large boil was squeezed long ago. What an awful procedure that was! You don’t want to know, particularly if you are not over-fond of pus. I am still unable to eat raspberry flavored custard!

We did so love those dances at Martin’s Creek (where we also all went to Primary school). Saturday nights there were the highlight of the week. It may have seemed like an isolated sort of life to folks today. We had no electricity or TV. Our telephone was a ‘party’ line. We very seldom visited a town. I can only remember having two brief holidays in all my childhood, one at the seaside, one on a sheep station. We listened to programmes on the radio every night for an hour before we went to bed (early). Yet I think we had more friends and personal encounters (and continuity) than children have today – and those Saturday night ‘old time’ dances at the Martin’s Creek Hall were amongst the happiest memories of my life.

Whilst I am not advocating a return to the hygiene standards of long ago, both these two bathing methods are useful on the trail – as is the occasional swim, even in cold weather. When I am ‘up the bush’ as we say, I usually manage a swim in the river or a creek every couple of days even in a Southern Australian winter (or in Fiordland, NZ) where daytime high temperatures are around 12C. It’s usually pretty quick though!

I also wash my clothes regularly in a nearby stream and put them back straight on again to dry. There is no better ultralight clothes drier than the human body – and no quicker! They strike a bit cold at first, but some frenzied activity soon warms you up again.

At other times (or if it is too cold) an ‘APC’ at the end of the day is a good idea. Just one antibacterial wet tissue is all you need. Do it in that order, (armpits first- well, hands first actually) ending with your bum. I find that I can get by with 1-2 wet tissues and a similar number of (dry) ‘Kleenex’ per day, even with an APC at the end of the day. The 10-12 pack is best as you can keep them dry even in the rain. This could also be a good idea.

It is a (very) good idea to apply hand cream (or the like) between your thighs to prevent chafing. In the morning before you start out is best. Similarly it s a good idea to apply foot balm (or the like) to your feet every day before setting out as a blister prevention. If you wait until your skin starts to burn you are in for trouble and possibly risk a nasty infection. Likewise keeping those nether regions clean and sterile will prevent a lot of grief. See Foot Care.

I have encountered (eg) folk with multiple square inch sized infections between their legs which I had to lend them iodine to treat as it was all I had (painful but effective) – when they had nothing. This particular chap was stuck in the middle of a ten day hike unable to proceed or go back.

Fortunately I had plenty of food and a fishing line so was able to keep him going until he was on the road to recovery. It is a good idea to carry a small container of Betadine or similar for infections which may occur on the trail. It can also be used to purify water – but a Sawyer <10 micron micro filter is better.

My wife, Della usually prefers a sponge bath (from a billy) over an ultralight shower. Because she is so small she gets cold outdoors under the shower- and she is modest. You only need to heat about half a billy of water to wash yourself all over, but you will need another to wash (and rinse) your hair, if you do, and you will need to carry an ultralight wash cloth and (half) a towel (is enough).

I recommend you test the various ‘hiking’ towels available. Most are just no damned good. The cheapest ones are (often) the best. You need to see how much (and whether) they will wick up the water off you, whether you can wring them dry, and how long they take to dry out. I use half a towel (as I said before- adequate even all the way to Everest) and cut the other half into two pieces I use for wash cloth, hand kerchief etc.

It is surprising how little water you need to get yourself quite clean, and how wonderfully refreshed you feel afterwards – particularly if you have those nice freshly washed wet clothes to put on afterwards! I would recommend scouring the billy after your bath and boiling something in it eg a cup of coffee before you eat out of it again though (e coli are nasty).

The back of our old house which just segued into a shed, as you see. Note the ‘ground’ floor. That was me on the bike (sans shoes). The meat safe (our frig) is hanging from the upright. The car + motorbike and sidecar were our only transport. You were allowed two adults (or one adult and two children) on the motorbike plus one adult and one child in the sidecar – believe it or not. All us children rode in the back of that ute when we went anywhere eg to dances in Martins Creek on Saturday nights.

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/07/22/johnny-cakes/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/04/19/neat-feat/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/06/23/you-must-learn-to-shoot-your-own-dog/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/06/02/mattresses-i-have-known/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/08/02/a-friend-i-met-on-the-dusky-track-fiordland-nz/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2015/10/21/sawyer-water-filter/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/05/23/bathtime-on-the-trail-the-one-gram-platypus-shower/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2015/11/20/ultralight-personal-hygiene/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/05/10/the-ultralight-fisherman/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/08/03/a-hiking-bidet/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/10/31/i-followed-my-footsteps/

16/08/2019: The home ownership ‘scam’: http://coyoteblog.com/coyote_blog/2019/07/is-home-ownership-an-unalloyed-positive.html

16/08/2019: Green deaths per annum amount to millions worldwide: Malaria (where the unnecessary & illegitimate ban on DDT cost over a million lives pa for thirty+ years), support for biofuels (200,000+ pa from starvation as we burn food rather than allow the poor to eat it), opposition to food irradiation (100s of 1000s pa from food poisoning), opposition to nuclear power (deaths from radon, Carbon 14, coal mining etc), opposition to GM crops, diversion of money (from eg health, shelter, food) to global warming ‘mitigation’, opposition to Western farming methods (& especially in the Third World = mass starvation. They want a return to organic agriculture which would see a 28% increase in the land required for farming – too bad for all the critters who would be destroyed by that), support for national parks before people. They also claim they want the human population of the world reduced by around 2/3rds but do not explain how this massive act of murder is to be carried out…These folk are simply the most evil bastards ever (making Stalin, Hitler, Mao etc look like patsies), and it is not just people whom the greens murder in their millions. Animals and plants are destroyed by their policies in their billions: millions of hectares have been destroyed to make way for palm oil plantations and generally to grow ‘Biofuels’. Other millions of hectares are routinely destroyed by wildfires because of their insistence on a completely ‘hands off’ approach to forest management. At the same time vast numbers of creatures are destroyed by introduced vermin such as foxes, cats, pigs which they will not allow to be shot. Add millions of wildlife deaths pa from windfarms and from paving over land with solar collectors; & etc… Astonishing that 8% of voters say they will still vote for their policies. How can so many folk fail to be able to distinguish between good and evil?

16/08/2019: An electric bike that never needs recharging – what a neat idea: https://newatlas.com/nua-electrica-stealth-ebike/59481/

15/08/2019: This article has been deleted from Forbes – and just about everywhere. I think you can see why. Imagine a top astrophysicist doubting global warming – or even the current ‘climate emergency’: Global Warming? An Israeli Astrophysicist Provides Alternative View That Is Not Easy To Reject https://learn-about-global-warming.blogspot.com/2019/08/global-warming-israeli-astrophysicist_9.html

15/08/2019: How Humanity Won the War on Famine: https://humanprogress.org/article.php?p=1459

15/08/2019: From the News Junkie: ‘My Epstein theory: The Queen of England got to the jail Psychiatrist and with money and charm and got the guy to claim Epstein meant no harm to himself. Simple. Do you have a better theory? Just don't mention Hillary’.

14/08/2019: This is bad: Today’s Students and Professors ‘Know Hardly Anything about Anything at All’ https://www.intellectualtakeout.org/blog/prof-todays-students-and-professors-know-hardly-anything-about-anything-all

14/08/2019: The link between pot and mass shootings may be closer than we think: https://nypost.com/2019/08/07/the-link-between-pot-and-mass-shootings-may-be-closer-than-we-think/ & https://www.cbsnews.com/news/marijuana-the-unintended-consequences-of-more-potent-pot/?ftag=CNM-00-10aac3a

14/08/2019: Are wingsuit ‘pilots’ insane: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/2019/08/wingsuit-BASE-jumping-deaths-safety-regulations/

13/08/2019: Foot long frogs – the stuff of nightmares: https://www.popsci.com/goliath-frogs-build-nests/

13/08/2019: Robespierre’s Pronouns: http://peggynoonan.com/what-were-robespierres-pronouns/

13/08/2019: Why not just make them wear a Star of David armband: https://freebeacon.com/national-security/europe-poised-to-put-warning-labels-on-jewish-made-products/

11/08/2019: My 71st cherry (plum) blossom this morning outside our bedroom window in a sheltered part of Della's wonderful garden. The rain and snow seem to have passed; the lambing has quieted down a little, the remnants of the party are cleared away. Life is good here at Jeeralang Junction. Thanks to all of you for your kind birthday thoughts. 50 wonderful years with this astonishing woman, and greedily hoping for many more. The sun has just broken through the clouds over the hill to the North-East. Life is good.

11/08/2019: Well, I have done it, ‘all three score years and ten'. Thank you all for your kind wishes. I will reply tomorrow when things quieten down a bit around here - lambs, rain snow, jobs, jobs jobs, birthday...

Loveliest of Trees – A.E. Housman

Loveliest of trees, the cherry now

Is hung with bloom along the bough,

And stands about the woodland ride

Wearing white for Eastertide.

Now, of my three score years and ten,

Twenty will not come again,

And take from seventy springs a score,

It only leaves me fifty more.

And since to look at things in bloom

Fifty springs are little room,

About the woodlands I will go

To see the cherry hung with snow.

08/08/2019: The best policy today is to (a) abandon socialism and (b) to do everything possible to maximize the wealth of the current generations: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/seeing-the-invisible/maximise-the-current-generations-wealth-and-review-any-co2-issues-in-2050/

08/08/2019: Good News: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are doomed: https://reason.com/2019/08/03/impending-defeat-for-the-four-horsemen-of-the-apocalypse/

08/08/2019: David Whitlock has not showered or bathed for 15 years, yet he does not have body odour: https://althouse.blogspot.com/2019/08/david-whitlock-has-not-showered-or.html

05/08/2019: Lucky 13: This is my 1300th post here at the Ultralight Hiker! That’s probably about a million and a half words (more than a dozen novels worth!) and over 25,000 photos. Quite an achievement in four years since May 2015 when I began this blog.

It has been 200 posts since the 1100th post in May 2018 when I last wrote up a summary of our doings in the last 100 or so posts, so I thought I would showcase the highlights of the last couple of hundred posts here.

Unfortunately I/we have not been as active over the last year as we would have liked due to health issues: Della’s heart and my back and knees. We hope that these can be moved to the past and that we can get on with things a bit more from now on.

Back in May 2018 we had a couple of weeks in Scotland allowing Della to catch up a bit with her dad’s home which she had of course heard much about but never seen. We converted the hire car (a VW Golf) into a camper so that we could stop pretty much anywhere we liked. They are very liberal about camping and wandering there. You can see how we did it here: Car Camper Conversion $50

Some other of our Scotland posts: Beach Burial #2: The Cat, Car Camping Scotland, Great Scot…

I got a write-up on Stuff NZ about my long search for the elusive NZ moose which I still hope to gain photos of in the future. 2019? If I can get this back and knee up to the Dusky I will be back in late summer. I have a (new) strategy which I think might work. See New Evidence of Fiordland Moose.

I continued a series of reminiscences: Mattresses I have Known, You Must Learn to Shoot Your Own Dog, Pack Raft Saves the Day, Trapped by Flood Waters, Johnny Cakes…

Some more advice about Deer hunting: The Deer Hunter’s Apprentice #1, Poacher’s Moon, All Flesh is Grass, Follow Your Nose, Embryo Wire, The Seventieth Birthday Platypus…

Ultralight hiking advice: Beginning Hiking, How much weight in fuel? How Many Clothes Should I Take in My Pack? How Warm a Bag or Quilt Do I Need? More Fun in the Rain, Gully Walking, Free Stuff for Hiking, Neat Feat, Lightest Cheapest Powerbank, Ultralight Cutlery…

Lots of general advice, eg: The Compleat Survival Guide, The Spanish Windlass, Wire Tricks, Cobb and Co Hitch, Make Your Sleeping Pad Warmer, It’s Not My Fault, Nuts to ‘Leave No Trace’, Cure Back Pain, Kill Wasp Queens Now, The Happiness Trick…

Places to see: NZ’s South Coast Track: Westies Hut to Cromarty, Liptrap to the Five Mile, Alps Walk, Long and Lazy River, Wirilda Reflection, Halls Gap, Sand and Sea Training, The Ultimate Hunting Trip…

Jobs around the farm somehow still continued despite stays in hospital, etc. I built a new wood shed (Several Winter’s Fires), managed to still get a whole lot of new farm trees planted The Tree-Planting Team Today, and Electric Drill Earth Auger, built some more new fences (Wildlife Proof Fencing), a New Bird Feeder for Della, pulled an old shed down, installed new rain water tanks, built a new archway for Della – and of course we had the fires: Fire at Jeeralang

Lots of new DIY hiker ideas have been developed. A lightweight trick to keep your shoulders warm in a hammock (<5 grams), the No Cold Shoulder Spreader Hammock), an ultralight saw (28 grams) How to Carry a Saw, A Wider Lighter DIY Sleeping Pad, Seamless Tyvek Tipi, Extempore Hiking Poles, Stop Losing Your Pillow, A Hiking Bidet, Thermoplastics #101…

Finally a set of instructions for the fabulous Upper Yarra Track and a complete track description with by someone else: Upper Yarra Track Instructions, & Upper Yarra Walking Track, and a map: Upper Yarra Track Map.

Some fabulous recipes: Della’s Way Bread

And there have been lots of gear reviews. Some of the things I have most liked have been: a Clever Titanium Windscreen, The Pack Rifle, 3F Ultra Cheap Tents, Two Great Cheap Tents, The Ultralight Barista, Ultralight Glasses, Ultralight Bivy Bag, Tinny’s Gnomes, The Olfa Knife, The Dragonfly – Ultralight Titanium Knife, Down Socks. A couple of wonderful tent stoves: Winter Tent Stoves & Tim Tinker I think my favourite (for comfort and warmth) is the Exped Synmat HL Winter M.

200 posts in just over a year is not too bad for one person – well over a thousand words written on average every day! Not so bad for an old bloke who will be 70 this week.

And, of course we have three fabulous puppies for sale starting next week: Cuteness Alert

05/08/2019: Great quote: ‘If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen’. Samuel Adams

05/08/2019: And another: ‘Today, college has become our go-to yardstick for minimal competence. Take a look at almost any job listing for almost any desk job in any city, and you will see “college degree” listed as an essential requirement. The argument in favor of this arrangement is that if a candidate can demonstrate that he has completed such a degree, he can be assumed to be both relatively smart and capable of sticking with things to their end. Which, in some cases, is of course true. But it is telling that none of the other experiences that demonstrate capacity and tenacity tend to make an appearance in the listings. Know what else demonstrates an ability to stick things out? Military service. Running a small business. Working at a charity. Training as a plumber. Working on a farm. Learning to weld. Keeping another job for a long period of time...’ Charles C. W. Cooke https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2019/08/12/college-does-not-make-you-a-better-person/

05/08/2019: If Greenland keeps melting like this it will all be gone in 25,000 years – of course ignoring the fact that it will add ice every season except summer. For example, a squadron of WW2 planes which had to be abandoned there are now 140 feet down. Such a concern: https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/08/04/delingpole-greenland-ice-melt-shock-the-terrifying-truth/

04/08/2019: A Hiking Bidet: An idea whose time is right: A Portable Bidet As you can see these guys have raised a million bucks on an ‘ask’ of $36K. Not bad. Gives some idea of the demand for these things – yet they were not focusing primarily on hikers.

However their device weighs only .5lb (225 grams?) lasts 3 weeks between charges and recharges with USB. If you are like most ‘hikers’ I have seen evidence of (Yuck!) you would save a power of toilet paper – and the environment would thank you! They are on offer now for A$144 (Aug 2019).

I think a bidet is a great idea. Our current bathroom renovations will see me remove ours to make some room for wheelchair shower/toilet access (in preparation for knee operations etc – Ugh!) and replace it with a bidet seat (from Bunnings – this one is A$399 but they had a simpler one in store the other day which was around A$60 from memory )

Myself, I only ever use one Kleenex tissue (which you would need anyway to ‘pat dry’ as they say) and 1 antiseptic wet wipe which I also (first) do my armpits and crotch with, so for me there is no weight saving and the small amount of paper waste (biodegradable) goes in the same ‘cat-hole’ as my faeces where bacteria and earthworms will see it gone fairly soon – but I only hike in remote places where there are no other people. If you chose, all this could go in a bag which you carry out and dispose of ‘properly’.

You have probably seen my own ‘ultralight shower

‘ which I use a 2 litre Platypus bottle (which I carry anyway) to supply. This (1 gram + free) nozzle faces the wrong way for a bidet, but you could use it Besides I wouldn’t recommend squeezing a Platypus bottle too much.

However a Sawyer Water Filter bottle is made to be squeezed. You could use a normal pop-up type drink bottle lid which you drill a few small holes in (eg with the doll needle I recommended in the above article) to create a nozzle which comes out at 90 degrees. Cheap and effective – if you haven’t got the dough, are not into gadgets and prefer DIY. The cap weighs 4 grams and the 1 litre Sawyer squeeze bottle weighs 28 grams – but you are likely already carrying it. Works fine – as you can see. You can even twist the cap to turn it off! I would not suggest continuing to use this cap on your drinking bottle to save weight though!

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/05/23/bathtime-on-the-trail-the-one-gram-platypus-shower/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2015/11/20/ultralight-personal-hygiene/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2015/03/10/water-filter/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2015/10/21/sawyer-water-filter/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/05/28/trowel-peg/

04/08/2019: These guys are seriously clever - this may well be the way forward the world needs: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/08/03/promising-new-solar-powered-path-to-hydrogen-fuel-production/

04/08/2019: According to the satellites July 2019 was only the fourth warmest in 41 years. So what: http://www.drroyspencer.com/2019/08/july-2019-was-not-the-warmest-on-record/

04/08/2019: Extinction Rebellion: We do not even need a Patrick Moore to blow the whistle on these guys (as with the commies in Greenpeace). They have shot themselves in the foot by accidentally leaving their database public, meaning anyone can find out what evils they are all about. Down with democracy; up with 'sortition' apparently, amongst other nastiness. (Unusually I had to reach for the dictionary too!): https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/08/03/xr-unglued-cache-of-documents-exposes-green-menace-of-the-extinction-rebellion-xrgate/

03/08/2019: Being against ‘Piracy on the high seas’ has got to be a no-brainer, right? https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/07/an-insight-into-whats-wrong-with-the-world-why-we-pay-more-for-everything.html

03/08/2019: Excuse me people, but in the real world people do get their hands dirty. They get them so by doing the dirty jobs you are too ‘good’ to do. My granddad would have called it ‘good clean dirt’. I remember he also used to say, ‘You have to eat a peck of dirt before you die.’ (A ‘peck’ was approx 9 litres). Have people become so deluded that having meetings is actually work that they have completely forgotten what real work is, ie moving mass from one place to another. A day or two on the farm where it is normal to work 7 days a week in all weathers for very little reward might open their eyes somewhat, but then their food comes from supermarkets (like Coles). Sorry I forgot: https://7news.com.au/lifestyle/coles/coles-customer-calls-for-mandatory-showers-for-people-at-supermarkets-c-379235

03/08/2019: Another typical BOM temperature site. A thermometer in a bitumen carpark next to an incinerator ought to ring alarm bells. If you can’t figure why such sites might show the ‘world’ warming you have a problem. Unfortunately this is the quality of temperature sites from all over the world: http://joannenova.com.au/2019/08/maitland-sa-another-expert-thermometer-site-and-with-incinerator-forcing/

02/08/2019: This typifies the quality of ‘scientific’ data which is behind the ‘climate change’ farrago. The BOM is paid something like a billion dollars a year to ‘get it right’ – but they are hopeless. For example their three months’ climate forecasts are so bad I always use the reverse of what they ‘predict’ in my farm planning: http://joannenova.com.au/2019/07/murray-bridge-south-australia-where-thermometers-record-junk-every-second/

02/08/2019: An interesting scam. Well-off Chicago residents have been exploiting a legal loophole to obtain need-based college financial aid and scholarships by giving up legal guardianship of their children. I wonder how many are taking advantage of this in Australia. It would be so easy to pass on guardianship to the grandparents for example: http://coyoteblog.com/coyote_blog/2019/07/the-coming-college-adversity-score-scam.html

02/08/2019: The NSW ‘abortion bill’ is just a licence to commit infanticide. If you can get two doctors to agree you can legally kill a baby right up to the day it would be born. This is more than reprehensible in a world where we have the ‘morning after’ pill and other sensible legal interventions before or early in pregnancy – and thousands of disappointed infertile couples wanting to adopt a baby. Once the baby has a heartbeat its moral standing obviously begins to increase exponentially. Once it could survive outside the mother (from about 22 weeks with an artificial womb), it is clearly a person: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/blogs/andrew-bolt/seriously-killing-babies-just-days-from-birth/news-story/34415d0888f6a221cba5d6fc57cbcda3

1/08/2019: Medieval Porn. Interesting: http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/55928

01/08/2019: Meanwhile Krud and Turd’s’s baby becomes even more of a disaster (as I predicted): https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/telstra-ceo-warns-netflix-will-become-worthless-073616169.html

01/08/2019: If this is science’s answer to conspiracy theories (ban them) then science is not worth funding. There is not a single scrap of valid argument and not even a tiny piece of evidence in this scientist’s article. It is very easy to put forward the arguments and the evidence which proved Apolllo 11 went to the moon. Any competent scientist could do this in a single paragraph. (Think about the parabolic mirrors they left there which are used several times a day by most observatories on earth to check the rate of change of the moon’s distance, for example). Science must put forward the evidence or it is no better than so-called ‘conspiracy theories’. Censorship is not the answer: https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6297698/no-conspiracy-theorists-dont-deserve-equal-airtime/

31/07/2019: The Seventieth Birthday Platypus: I had hoped that this post would be titled ‘The Seventieth Birthday Stag’ but he did not emerge from his lair during my recent sojourn up the bush to check how my hunting camps had fared from the terrible bush fires of earlier this year.

I am still not fit enough for this sort of hiking after my spinal fusion but I spent four days at it nonetheless – much harder work than in times past and nonetheless only managing a daily total equal to about half my ‘normal’. They said it would be twelve months. I hope this is not a permanent situation – it informs me at least that I am going to have to bite the bullet on a new knee, soon. So many operations. I am tired of them. I hoped to make this one last until I could just have an artificial cartilage. They have begun testing in the States.

Each day just walking (not hunting) I saw at least two deer (some days four) I could have easily taken with my rifle, mainly smaller stuff, spikers or hinds. If I can chamber a round, draw a bead on the deer and count to 1,2 seconds I clearly could have pulled the trigger and made it a dead deer. These days I usually don’t shoot unless I have some particular reason. Of course I encounter more deer than I could have had a reliable shot at. That goes without saying.

I would have taken a decent stag (I guess) but one did not present itself to me during the daylight hours – though on two separate nights (the first and the last) one visited me at my tent. The first thing I knew was the overpowering smell of stag. When I switched the head-torch up to a suitable level of brightness there was a stag not twenty yards away (on each occasion). My loaded gun is always to hand on such camps (because of the risk from wild dogs particulraly with Spot along) but I have no temptation to shoot a magnificent animal at such a disadvantage. Fortunately they have never charged.

I think the wild dog numbers are down because of the fires. They would have had a field day cleaning up the corpses followed by very lean times indeed where many starved. The few dead deer i did find had not been touched even though they were days old – which is unusual.

Neither do I see any point in leaving 8-10 dead deer just lying around in the bush completely untouched – like some I found, even though they are still quite numerous. Apparently there are still plenty of young folks who would like to harvest them and enjoy lugging all the meat out, so I will leave the deer to such upcoming hunters.

You have to be quiet in the bush if you expect to observe its shier denizens. I have explained this again and again. Even with this terrible limp I clump along a lot quieter than many young people who might be quite mystified that I have the opportunity to shoot 2-3 deer a day without even looking for them at dawn and dusk, when I prefer to read a book and drink a cup of coffee – especially as that knee is damned sore! I would be able to shoot at least six a day if I actually hunted for them at the right times as well. When you get up on the ridges and gully tops actually looking for deer, you really ought to be seeing a few every dusk or you are doing several things wrong – at least where the signs (eg lots of droppings, tracks etc) indicate large numbers of deer.

Seeing lots of deer has nothing to do with ‘cheats’ like camo which I eschew. Only wool for me. Just ‘quiet foot steps’ and don’t stink! And pause. Look, look, look. I can smell a deer easily 200 paces away. It stands to reason that if you use deodorant, or wear synthetic clothing so that you smell just awful after five minutes’ exertion any deer will smell you a mile off too, and be gone.

Between two largish flats where I often camp I often pause and sit on this rock (below centre)

and just watch the river go by (below) – and sometimes a deer on the opposite bank too. On this occasion a platypus rose continually in exactly the same spot, something which they rarely do. There must have been something down there he was worrying at. Four times he popped up down below me and I snapped his photo, then he just drifted off down the stream and out of sight, which is what they normally do. He would be clearer save that he is mostly underwater.

I often see one when I am fetching water or washing up at my camp just upstream of here – or just as likely a deer which is hard to ‘bag’ with just a pot, cup and spoon. I think I have seen more deer washing up than in any other place! I should invest in a heavier calibre spoon. The old one has ‘taken’ heaps of deer though. I just point the spoon and pull the trigger. ‘Bang’ I say, and off the deer goes.

In this kind of bush-stalking sambar deer you don’t get very long to gaze at an individual deer, nor is it ever very far away. I guess you put it up 20-50 yards away. I have bumped into sleeping deer a few times. Once I actually went to step over one. It honks and is off. You have maybe a couple of seconds to decide to and to shoot it. A 12G shotgun would work well and pose less danger than a rifle. Perhaps lighter too. Buckshot would make certain of it, but it is not ‘approved’. Why do they think it is so named? A telescopic sight is not much use, and you would likely damage it pretty soon – at least the many knocks and drops my .308 usually takes over a couple of days would ruin any scope I know of. The iron sites are fairer to the deer and more reliable anyway. And you can see what you are shooting at.

As I am there to hunt deer and not to photograph them, I rarely get a photo opportunity. It takes a lot less time to load and point a gun than to turn on and point a camera. The deer would be gone just about every time. Now and then you are sitting down somewhere and a couple of deer will wander out of the treeline on the opposite side of the river to have a munch. It would be pointless shooting them there as it might be half a day or more up or down the river to a crossing point – if there is one at all. Somewhere like this where the platypus was. Some sweet clear grass (and forbs) over there. Deer love forbs.

You know, like this:

Again does and young stuff. If you want to hunt stags (reliably) you will have to go look for them. Or cheat. As most do. Lying up on game trails or wallows is the least of it. So often in forums I notice people ‘proudly’ posting photos of stags they have ‘shot’ where it is clear that the animal is on the edge of a track or road, or way out in the middle of a paddock.

Some are not so careful to conceal their malfeasance. A young bloke I used to take hunting recently posted such a photo. The animal was clearly lying dead in the middle of a paddock around mid-day. Yeah, sure. You could tell by the shadows or lack of them. If you lie in bed that late you will not catch a stag in the middle of a paddock. This young hunter had even forgotten to change (back) into his hunting boots. And his shoes were dry even though the grass was wet, so he had only just stepped out of his car to photograph an animal he had unfairly shot over the lights the night before and let spoil (by not gutting it quickly) so he could get a photo-shoot the next day! He was also far too neat for a man who had spent the day hunting. I was embarrassed for him actually.

If you want to take stags (reliably – some will just pop up as you walk along), you will have to go look for them, and to get to them you will have to walk through all the does and young stuff who camp lower down (their food demands are greater – all that growing to do) and so act as a signalling device for the mature stags. I notice too that stags are much less prone to honk. They will more often just watch you quietly walk on by. The survivors no doubt develop this ability. When you do spy one (out the corner of your eye) load your gun and make it ready to swing up quickly before you turn to look as he will bolt the second your eye rests on him. They will often be found alone or in groups of 2-5 animals quite high up (relatively) but often in very thick stuff which will act as a screen and a burglar alarm. It is easier in association with a mate to bolt them out with dogs of some sort, just like flushing foxes from patches of cover. There are pairs of old guys out there who have garages full of antlers taken in this way.

Four out of eight of my camps were just melted ruins like this with very little that could even be salvaged. Surprisingly I did salvage a single pot I have owned since 1970 and an aluminum plate I bought in 1963 and used when I was droving when I was still at school! I actually brought the plate home with me! A sentimental journey.

As I had positioned the camps about 1 1/2 hours walk from each other up the river and I lost three in a row, this means I have a gap of nearly 6 hours. I will probably re-establish (at least) the middle one of the three during a canoe trip over summer as that is too much of a gap for me to be comfortable with nowadays. Of course each camp could act as a base from which to do day hunts (out to the sides) or overnight fly camps likewise so that I would cover a lot of ground laterally as well as lengthwise. There are some very promising side ‘gullies’ joining this river. Some of them days’ long.

You have to learn where they begin to run again higher up, and where there is a suitable flat spot high up for a fly camp – or else take a hammock, which is a great idea actually. A hammock should weigh no more than approx 150 grams. Often there is water very near the top (one reason stags camp nearby!) Lower down the water often seems to go underground for sometimes kilometres before popping up again nearby the river junction. There must be a hydrological and geological reason for this. It would help you find gold if you made a study of it.

I will miss those huge Tyvek shelters, 16 feet on a side. They were just so protective and roomy. As you can see from the two photos below I had lain the black drums next to or under large logs where they would (likely) not be found (in dampish spots, and above flood level). I suspect they were not found, but it is also more than likely that the quality of person who makes the large effort to undertake multi-day backpack hunts is not likely to interfere with what might (after all) be another person’s safety or survival. It is the ‘golden rule’ much neglected nowadays. ‘Do unto others’…Most of the drums included a statement that I did not mind if others used the facilities provided they made an effort to replace anything they may have used. You can get an idea from the photo below what the shelters were like. I will probably make rather smaller ones in future as it is usually just me or perhaps two of us.

I think I will take in a few (approx) 1 metre square sheets of (green) flat iron, or a square of fire blanket material if it will take dye. Have to experiment. In future I will bury the drums (on their side) in an open, grassy spot just to ground level so they are easy to get to and just lift out. I will place the sheet over them and lay stones around it to keep it down – or peg them if I use blanket. This way a future fire (which will be traveling very slowly over well-chewed grass should stop at the edge of the sheet and leave my drums alone. They will be easier for others to discover but you have to trust the good offices of strangers sometimes too!

That’s me with my young American friend Steve Hutcheson from the Dusky Track relaxing in one way back in 2013.

I do love a campfire. Here is a photo taken on my second night out which happened to turn out quite nicely thanks to a clever feature of my new camera. A wondrous shower of sparks.

I even made a video of it which certainly showcases what serene beauty there is in such wonderful wilderness camps.

This is the view from the other side, looking in. Not such a serene beauty I know! But note the wool clothing – and that one is not tidy at the end of a day’s hunting!

I am sitting in is my little sub 200 gram ‘Poncho Tent‘ which I have probably tested enough times now. It is big enough for Spot and me but I am somewhat vertically challenged. Even so I could use just a little more length and width to be really comfortable and feel completely safe (dry) whilst still being able to be use it as a poncho. I will extend this one a bit even though that won’t look quite so neat as a completely fresh one would (but will save money) which doesn’t grow on any of the trees around here either!

I figure to add less than 50 grams. That will be just enough (I calculate) to fit two very good friends in (me and Dell at least) and yet still weigh (probably) less than 300 grams all up including tie-outs and pegs. Another 25-50 grams or so for an ultralight floor. This is using the one-ounce per square yard material I currently have. Dutchware used to call it Xenon Sil but he doesn’t seem to have it any more. I have discovered some material which claims to be .7 ounces per square yard and yet still is 2500mm waterproof. I will get a sample and try it out.

You have to be careful when laying out your ground sheet that none of it protrudes under the edge of the tent. A tiny pocket handkerchief of such material protruding will easily collect a glass of water when a shower comes by and redirect it right under your bum. A wet arse in the middle of the night is annoying. Polycro really is a great ground sheet material though it will need to be checked for holes (and replaced) oftener than something made of lead!

I am also thinking about making my Deer Hunter’s Tent just a tad larger, so after I have prototyped it in Tyvek I may use the new material to make it. In this new material (without a floor) it should weigh less than 300 grams all up too. The Poncho Tent is not quite wide enough to sit inside facing towards the fire and keep your legs dry when it is raining. (Roof too low). You have to sit side-on which is inconvenient. The Deer Hunter’s tent is wide enough for two people (and two dogs) to sit side by side facing the fire and (all) have dry legs in the rain. I do love the sound of the rain on a tent. Of course I would, as I grew up in one.

I also want to revisit the Forester Tent. I never really did finish the prototype. While I was away I spent a couple of nights in older versions of my Tyvek shelters. Their openings gave me an interesting idea to try out on the Forester. More about that later.

I have no idea whether I will finish all these projects or be able to offer them to others for purchase. I will be 70 in a few days – as you may have gathered from the title. Thank you for your good wishes on that occasion. Della really thinks we have ‘enough money’ and should just ‘smell the roses’ (which she likes – I loathe the wretched things!) or at least not begin a new financial venture, but time will tell. You certainly don’t need much money anyway to be deliriously happy all your life. A wonderful woman help though.

This is a spot I often used to camp in my big Tyvek shelters. It got pretty badly burned, as you can see. So much timber down. It makes walking so much slower and more difficult. The bird song (which had been coming back here and there after the 2006 (?) fires has ceased again. I also find this really tragic. The current land managers have no idea at all. They are driven by some wicked green agenda which has no basis in practical reality. The result is the episodic widespread destruction we see here.

Several different angles.

So much timber down everywhere make it so much more difficult to walk. This is what it used to look like. The tree my gun is leaning against is the same tree in all the poncho tent photos above.

People ask me what I carry. Here are the contents of my poncho tent after I took it down. It’s not a lot for a trip of what might turn out to 5-6 days’ hunting is it? The gun is leaning against the log I am sitting on while I roll up the poncho.

There is just so much destruction. This used to be such a pretty little valley:

One plus I guess is that you can now see (but not for long!) some of the C19th pack tracks which had completely disappeared into the bush. DOC or Parks Vic (whoever they are) could give some thought to keeping them open as hiking trails – but I doubt this will happen as they never get out of their cars or offices and into the bush, so they wouldn’t know or do anything if they did! These pack tracks are everywhere in the Victorian bush (wherever there were miners anyway), as so much stuff had to be transported on horseback or wheel barrow. Most places they are hard to notice. Of course there are innumerable overgrown old timber trails now too.

Here we were just having lunch, hoping that some Voyageurs, some canoeists would come along and give us a lift out. Worse luck we had a couple more days walking. Lichen is wonderful.

Many deer have survived the fire but most are not in great condition. I found a dead hind in fairly ordinary condition who had probably died of pregnancy toxemia and a poddy who had probably starved to death – this long after the fire. It stayed pretty dry for a long while after the fire (I know we were hand feeding our sheep from mid summer until very late autumn – in a better rainfall distriict) so that regrowth was a long while coming on. It is there now but is really what farmers like me call a ‘green drought’. The bush will be suffering the effects of this neglectful fire for a generation or more!

If you have been reading this blog for a while you might remember Tiny’s deer from many years ago.

It had disappeared into the forest floor. The fire had uncovered its bones. Gave me quite a sentimental journey I can tell you what with Tiny now dead these two years past after having shared the planet with me for 18 years. Tempus fugit my old son. Time to carpe that old diem. Cheers, Steve.

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2015/06/15/sambar-stalking-101/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/05/20/the-deer-hunters-apprentice-1/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/10/28/the-ultralight-deer-hunter/

30/07/2019: Without a trace: I wonder how many civilizations have just disappeared without a trace (perhaps like this face – rhyme intended)? People are just about automatic in their creation of and use of tools. Step on something unpleasant on the street and within seconds a tool has appeared out of nowhere to diminish or remove it. Untold zillions of such tools would have left little trace in the archaeological record - much like the ‘bend camps’ I wrote about here: Johnny Cakes. This particular artifact may prove to be more modern or more ancient than we could suspect, but would we even recognize intelligent dinosaur artifacts, let alone alien ones? As an example many people distinguish humans as tool makers and tool users yet completely ignore just what an elaborate tool the ubiquitous birds’ nest is…http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/55878

26/07/2019: The Truth About Climbing Ayers Rock: https://quadrant.org.au/writer/marc-hendrickx/

26/07/2019: If you build a giant trough you will get giant pigs – the ‘disabled’ now 25%+ of the population: https://twitter.com/a_centrism/status/1151371081162338309

26/07/2019: Effect without cause: the medieval Warm Period was global; it was warmer in the Viking era than it is today – without CO2, therefore CO2 is not the cause of the current ‘warming’ if there is any warming at all – and it is not entirely contrived, or down to the Urban Heat Island effect: http://joannenova.com.au/2019/07/erasing-2000-years-of-the-medieval-warm-period-little-ice-age-found-on-every-continent/

25/07/2019: Human history is full of surprises: These folk could be claiming castles in Portugal instead: https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2016/07/bird-people-groote-eylandt/ Notice the wide dispersal of the gene. This is not consistent with an aboriginal arrival 60,000 years ago – more like 600 years ago! Yet the ANU will not discuss ‘aboriginal’ arrival at all supposing them to have sprung from the earth of Australia – completely unrelated to any other human beings! What racist nonsense: https://quillette.com/2019/07/23/why-is-a-top-australian-university-encouraging-staff-to-support-indigenous-creationism/ ‘The result is world’s highest known incidence of MJD in indigenous people of Groote Eylandt and Yirrkala in the Northern Territory.’ You would think by now that we have the capacity to ‘map’ the movement of genes through a population and so can date quite precisely when particular genes are likely to have arrived in Australia. Of course we might then be talking about say 10% of present day ‘aboriginal’ genes having arrived on the continent before Dampier – if even that! In some cases at least it will be none. Clearly if say 1% have MJD then pretty close to 100% would have Portuguese genes, for example. If you get ‘land rights’ on account of 10% of your genes why can’t I claim my slice of France (12.5%) or Ireland (37.5%) or England (50%)? Why, some of my ancestors were documented as being ejected from their land in Cambridgeshire by the ‘enclosure movement’ in the early C19th. Whey can’t I claim my own slice of Ely? Because I am not, and never will be a victim! ‘I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul’. (Henley - Invictus)

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate,

I am the captain of my soul.

24/07/2019: Tinny’s Gnomes: While I was working on my post about Simmer Stoves I just could not resist ordering a couple of Tinny’s stoves. I have to admit to being a bit of a collector of these wonderful contraptions. It is true that there are Minibull stoves I don’t own, but time will probably take care of that!

It is very difficult to get clear photos of alcohol flames. I had to take over fifty snaps to get two that were this good – and I had to wait for night before I could do even this well. Both stoves have wonderful patterns both in full flame and simmer though, don’t you think?

The one on the left is the Gnomatic at 12 to 19 grams (with simmer lid) and US$15 and the one on the right is the Turbo Gnome at 12 to 20 grams (with simmer ring) and US$20. They arrived within a week. Freight to Australia was US$20. They are a great bargain.

Both have a rolled piece of carbon felt inside so they won’t spill even if you knock them over. They are easy to blow out when you want to stop cooking. You could reverse the bottom piece (as shown) on the Gnomatic to make a lid for it and hopefully contain some of the unburnt fuel.

You push the burner down on the Gnomatic and add the simmer ring to the Turbo to (instantly) achieve this result:

Of course you are going to have to add a pot stand or use something like a Caldera Cone to use them but they should give you many years of excellent trail food.

24/07/2019: Truly astonishing footage of the last stand of double Medal of Honour winner John Chapman. None but the Brave: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=531&v=3oKMjTqdTYo

24/07/2019: Gillard inches closer and closer to gaol: https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/07/public-funding-for-gillard-prosecution-based-on-sworn-evidence-of-wa-corporate-affairs-commissioner.html

24/07/2019: Zali Steggall votes against bill to exclude returning Jihadis. Manly voters must really miss Abbott: https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/07/zali-steggall-votes-against-bill-to-exclude-returning-jihadis.html

23/07/2019: Johnny Cakes (or ‘journey cakes‘ as they once were known) also fried scones and maybe ‘bannock’ (from the Latin, ‘panis’ or ‘bread) if you hailed from Scotland. You can see that their (European) origin is quite ancient. They were once a basic food item. Folks took little else into the bush (by way of food) except for the main ingredients to make them – flour and some salt. They supplemented them with things caught or killed (fish and game) – as in this post.

Other than that, a tarp, blanket and axe to make a shelter and a fire with. A billy and a frying pan. Given that these items might be distributed amongst a number of people (along with the gun and the fishing line) I shouldn’t be surprised if this did not constitute a more ultralight mode of travel than most people undertake today, given especially that people might have been ‘up the bush’ for a month or more at a time on journeys in the past.

Shearers, shepherds and drovers especially used to make them. In C19th Australia these were folk who were ‘on the road’ (and mostly where there were no roads) for months at a time. Because of our vast distances (and being afoot) they were often weeks between supplies, as in this chorus (which I’m sure you recognise):

‘With my ragged old swag on my shoulder
And a billy quart-pot in my hand,
I tell you we’ll astonish the new chums
To see how we travel the land.’

I have always loved the old Australian folk songs: Wild Rover No More, Old Bullock Dray, Banks of the Condamine, Wild Colonial Boy, Moreton Bay, Flash Jack from Gundagai and the like. One of these old songs, ‘The Springtime It Brings on the Shearing’ collected by Overton in his ‘Wallaby Track’ collection in 1865 has the wonderful line, ‘after the shearing is over And the wool season’s all at an end, It is then that you’ll see those flash shearers Making johnny-cakes round in the bend‘.

You could check out this version of the song by an old (late) mate of mine from the 1960s, Gary Shearston, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hc0YiR89vXw It is one of the best.

I like the holiday spirit of it. The sense that though the shearers are ‘flash’ (or ‘flush’ – with money) that their preferred abode is nonetheless just where you would have found that Australian icon the ‘Jolly Swagman’ of ‘Waltzin’ Matilda’ down ‘by a billabong’ or nearby the river’s bend (‘The river on its bars’ as ‘Clancy of the Overflow‘ expressed it).

‘the drover’s life has pleasures that the townsfolk never know.

And the bush hath friends to meet him, and their kindly voices greet him

In the murmur of the breezes and the river on its bars,

And he sees the vision splendid of the sunlit plains extended,

And at night the wond’rous glory of the everlasting stars.‘ – Aah!

Of course this is the best spot to camp. You are down out of the wind. Australia is awesomely flat. It rises (or falls) by only a few feet (on average) from one side of the vast continent to the other. For vast distances (hundreds, even thousands of miles) the gradient is less than an inch per mile! The wind blows almost constantly from the West more or less strongly. It is rarely less than 20 kph. In the summer the wind is a furnace’s breath. In the winter it has an icy chill. Spring and autumn are best.

Those Western rivers (of the Murray-Darling) which drain half the continent are very slow and meandering. There are a million such shady bends and many such billabongs where the river crosses the bend to make a new course. It is the easiest spot to get down to the water. There is often (usually) a sand bar, and of course the occasional floodwaters heap lots of handy firewood up nearby, but trees are always falling into the river or dropping their branches Australian trees are ‘self-pruning’, so beware. Don’t camp under a large tree.

The Western rivers of Vic, NSW and Qld (the Murray-Darling Basin) are still today a great way to see the real Australia. Mostly the river margins are public land and so can be traveled (by foot or canoe) with great freedom. Of course any scattered towns are strung out along the rivers like pearls. They still provide innumerable camping opportunities especially away from roads. River heights and recommendations here: http://www.waterwaysguide.org.au/AboutUs & https://www.adventurepro.com.au/paddleaustralia/ & https://paddle.org.au/recreation/where-to-paddle/

The rivers are alive with fresh fish, eels and crayfish of several different kinds – yabbies and ghost shrimp mainly, but also ‘Murray Crays’ – in any case some of the tastiest tucker you could wish for. And naturally countless wild ducks. When I was a kid the country was also alive with rabbits, sometimes almost literally. I have seen whole paddocks which seemed to be just a moving blur of their tawny fur. Not so many these days, but still worth your while to carry a gun to supplement the pot with. All good eating, and a pleasant accompaniment to your ‘cakes’.

Marie Jones c1945 Great Dividing Range securing a rabbit for the pot.

The ‘ghost shrimp’ require a hoop net covered with fine material. They are normally invisible against the bottom – even in clear streams (which the Western rivers are not – take a filter). Practically anything will attract them (even a bar of ‘Velvet’ soap)! You will be astonished at just how many there are – though they are small (2-3″ usually). Still it doesn’t take long to get a feed. Just bring them to the boil in your billy. They colour when they are ready < a minute will be enough). You can peel them if you like, but they are fine eaten whole if you don’t mind crunchy. Yabbies and crays will need peeling.

Many of the rivers are now alive with European carp which are not great eating from muddy water. Their (preferably rotting) flesh is great bait for crayfish of all sorts though. The yellow (and silver) perch – and of course the ‘Murray’ cod are great eating, as are freshwater eels. You will not go hungry along the Western rivers. Apart from wild ducks (which can be legally taken – licence conditions apply) the thousands of miles long fringe of bush along the rivers is home to an astonishing array of creatures: hundreds of different bird species (especially obvious are the brightly coloured parrots and finches), many kinds of reptiles (nothing that can eat you – but there are many poisonous snakes, so take care) and amphibians, lots of marsupials (the grey kangaroos as the most numerous), but there are many possums and smaller creatures too. As you ‘travel the land’ of this vast river basin you will always have several wild creatures in sight – and that is only in daylight. remember most of Australia’s animals are nocturnal or at least crepuscular.

The Murray alone is 2500 km long and the Darling 1500 km. There are over a dozen tributary rivers flowing into the Darling alone. Some of the Murray-Darling tributaries are huge themselves: the Lachlan and Murrumbidgee are each 1500 km long!

If you are traveling inland between Melbourne and Sydney or Brisbane it is well worth your while to go out of your way and detour from Cowra to Forbes along the magnificent Lachlan Valley Way which parallels the Lachlan River for nearly 100 km. Here you will see many billabongs and some splendid examples of the remnant forest I have been talking about. In many places you can simply drive off the road and across to the river, sometimes a kilometre away. There are many great camping spots.

My parents were itinerant beekeepers in Western NSW chasing the honey flow for months at a time along the remnant forests which skirt the Western rivers. We camped along those waterways all through the 1940s and 50s but they are little changed today. My mother often made ‘Johnny Cakes’ for us by the banks of a river on a trusty much-repaired Primus stove. Every night we slept under canvas on an army cot wrapped in our woolen blankets, lulled to sleep by the chorus of frogs, the chitter of possums and the splash of fish jumping in the river…and always, ‘the wond’rous glory of the everlasting stars’ – as Clancy phrased it. Under that clear, dry air there are more stars than you will see anywhere else on earth!

Lawrence Jones c1945 with 1926 Chev truck . Great Dividing Range. Note honey tins and hound Felix.

In the C19th (especially) the Western Rivers became ‘highways’ for itinerant workers (such as shearers, shepherds, drovers etc) and the river bends became way-stations. My great grandfather, George Harvey was a carter (as his father before him) bringing wool down from the great outback stations to the (then) important river port of Morpeth on the Hunter River upstream from Newcastle. They were camped one night outside Uralla New England NSW with such a load when the menfolk decided to go into town to the pub at night for a few drinks. My great grandmother Margaret and a baby (maybe my grandmother Rose) were camped under the bullock dray. During the night she heard men’s voices approaching and the baby decided to cry. She then heard a man’s voice say “Come away there is a woman’ and they faded into the night. This would have apparently been Starlight or Thunderbolt the bush rangers. One of them was well known for his delicacy towards women.

You can imagine some of the camps becoming quite permanent eg with bark huts popping up amongst the river red gums. Much construction was done with what would be considered rubbish today: earth, twigs, bark etc. Rabbit skins for example were a useful resource (likewise wool). Fencing wire (and netting) found a thousand uses from toasting forks to building fasteners (See: https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/09/08/the-spanish-windlass/). The netting was an important component of fish traps which ensured a ready supply of fresh fish. Unfortunately some platypus and turtles drowned – this does not happen if a sufficient part of the trap is left above water and checked regularly. Empty kerosene drums were flattened for all sorts of uses (think skillets and even building cladding and roofing). Used newspapers were ‘painted with flour and water to create (entertaining) dividing walls. Families often grew up in such huts. I know I spent my early years in a house with an ‘ground’ floor – as we used to call it when the earth was the floor. You can still see this today at Harry Smith’s Hut at Eaglevale on the Wonnangatta. There would be little archaeological evidence today of such important camps.

Johnny Cakes are just a version of damper except that they are fried rather than baked. If you don’t have a frying pan you can just wrap the dough around a stick and bake it over the coals turning and turning it until it is brown and crisp on the outside, yet still doughy on the inside – or you can filch a length of netting from a farmer’s old fence or a stray sheet of corrugated iron will also serve as a griddle. Or you can acquire a frypan! I prefer to use a bit of dripping or tallow (mutton fat) to fry them with as it has the highest melting point (40C) of all fats. It is also tasty. Oil is too hard to transport without the risk of leaks and having packs and clothes thoroughly messed up.

I used to have lots of recipes in my head for them, as I made them all the time, but I guess that’s over twenty years ago now, and I never wrote them down. My mate Woody reckoned the best mix was to just add flour to a can of beer until you had a stiff dough, and then fry that. Tasty I agree but seems like a waste of a cold tinny – and I usually don’t have one in my pack anyway. There is some sound advice there though. If you mix this way, slowly and carefully you will get to the point where the dough is no longer sticky and it all comes off the surface you are ‘working’ it on and your hands and fingers also become perfectly clean without washing. Then it is time to cook.

Recipes: The oldest plainest recipe was to use a 1 lb (500 gram) packet of self raising flour to 1 teaspoon of salt. Mix slowly with about 3/4 of a cup of water – but remember the earlier advice: add the water slowly until you have a very stiff dough which removes all the sticky from your hands and work surface. Make into cakes about 3-4″ wide and 1/2-3/4″ thick and ‘fry’ slowly on low heat. Turn when golden on one side.

I would add to that some powered milk (a table spoon?), a teaspoon of sugar, a couple of teaspoons (perhaps) of desiccated coconut and a couple of teaspoons of slivered almonds. Of course you can add anything you like to make them a bit tastier (sultanas or raisins for example). It can be a good idea also to work some ( a few teaspoons) of the dripping into the cake mixture before you fry them.

On many long journeys in the past I have made them up to go with my evening meal and held a few aside to eat with some condiment (jam, peanut butter, etc) for my lunch. I must be getting old (and I am trying to cut down on the carbs); I am finding such chores a bit wearisome these days. That being said, having written about the damned things I really have a hankering to make some now! Cheers.

‘Oh, the springtime it brings on the shearing,
And it’s then that you’ll see them in droves,
To the west country stations all steering,
A-seeking a job off the coves.

Chorus: With my ragged old swag on my shoulder
And a billy quart-pot in my hand,
I tell you we’ll astonish the new chums
To see how we travel the land.’

PS: Of course, as you know we have been sheep farmers for over thirty years, so we have more than a passing acquaintance with shearers and shearer’s songs – and food!

Talking of Johnny Cakes and billabongs reminds me of our national song:

Deconstructing Waltzing Matilda, Australia’s Favourite Song

Waltzing Matilda is an Australian icon. It is quite likely that more Australians know the words to this song than even their national anthem. There is probably no other song that is more easily recognised by a populace: young or old: native or a newly arrived immigrant.

The lyrics to Waltzing Matilda were (allegedly) written in 1895 by Banjo Paterson, an Australian bush poet, while holidaying on a huge cattle and sheep station (ranch) in the Australian Outback. He was inspired by a tune he heard being played by Christina Macpherson the daughter of the owner of the property.

Banjo and Christina worked together composing the song. Whether they also got it away is left to your imagination. She set the music for Waltzing Matilda. The song was an instant hit. The words were written to a tune played on a zither or autoharp by 31‑year‑old Christina, one of the family members at the station. 31? Old for such high jinks!

Macpherson had heard the tune ‘The Craigielee March’ played by a military band while attending the Warrnambool steeplechase horse racing in Victoria in April 1894, and played it back by ear at Dagworth. Paterson decided that the music would be a good piece to set lyrics to, and produced the original version during the rest of his stay at the station and in Winton.

As with so many icons of the Left, there is a degree of dishonesty at its heart. For example, the tune was stolen: The march was based on the Scottish Celtic folk tune ‘Thou Bonnie Wood of Craigielea’, written by Robert Tannahill and first published in 1806, with James Barr composing the music in 1818. In the early 1890s it was arranged as the ‘The Craigielee’ march music for brass band by Thomas Bulch.

This tune, in turn, was possibly based on the old melody of ‘Go to the Devil and Shake Yourself’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xO1DPWLumvw), composed by John Field (1782–1837) sometime before 1812. Banjo’s song was first recorded by John Collinson in 1926. You can listen to it here: http://aso.gov.au/titles/music/waltzing-matilda/clip1/ I think I prefer the original title, ‘Go to the Devil and Shake Yourself’!

Of course Paterson composed the song in what was to be the birthplace of Australia’s Left (Australian Labor Party = Barcaldine) just after the great ‘Shearer’s Strike’ of 1891 (itself a consequence more of the 1890’s (climate change) drought than anything else, and the founding of the unsuccessful ‘New Australia’ in Paraguay (by the disgruntled leftist insurgents 1892).

All these things are connected, and connected to the Australian leftist (ortho) doxy! One day their history will be written, but not be me! In 1890 Bourke was a centre of ‘culture’ (if you can call anything the left touches ‘culture’), had a grand opera house, was a centre of ‘civilisation’ and a magnet for the literati. It was no accident Paterson was there.

Today it is a hell hole (after a century of leftist social experimentation) with the highest crime rate of anywhere on the planet, for example. Interesting aside: In the Western Lands Lease country (West of the Darling) in the 1880s you could milk a cow on four acres. There were substantial towns all over the place and 100,000 folk lived there. The great drought of the 1890s (which never ended) caused all those people to move and all their settlements to be abandoned. Climate change!

The ‘New Australia’ movement wanted to secede and form their own socialist paradise there. It had to be abandoned as a result of the 1890s drought (that’s why they went to Paraguay https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Australia) and never recovered. No-one at all lives there today! I suspect a leftist future is no different from a leftist past!

The socialist ‘experiment in Paraguay (like all such elsewhere) did not work out either, and was eventually abandoned – the descendants of those settlers were accepted as Australians by the Whitlam Government in the 1970s when they returned to Australia. Caroline Jones made a doco (‘And Their Ghosts May Be Heard’) about it (which was excellent). You can buy it here: http://shop.nfsa.gov.au/and-their-ghosts-may-be-heard

First read the song Waltzing Matilda (below) again , then I will begin to ‘decontruct’ it for you:

Waltzing Matilda, Lyrics to Song

1Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong

2Under the shade of a coolibah tree

3And he sang as he watched and waited ’til his billy boiled

4Who’ll come a-waltzing, Matilda, with me?

5Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda

6Who’ll come a-waltzing, Matilda, with me

7And he sang as he watched and waited ’til his billy boiled

8Who’ll come a-waltzing, Matilda, with me?

9Along came a jumbuck to drink at the billabong

10Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with glee

11And he sang as he stowed that jumbuck in his tucker bag

12You’ll come a-waltzing, Matilda, with me.

13Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda

14Who’ll come a-waltzing, Matilda, with me

15And he sang as he watched and waited ’til his billy boiled

16Who’ll come a-waltzing, Matilda, with me?

17Up rode the squatter, mounted on his thoroughbred

18Down came the troopers, one, two, three

19Whose is that jumbuck you’ve got in your tucker bag?

20You’ll come a-waltzing, Matilda, with me.

21Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda

22Who’ll come a-waltzing, Matilda, with me

23And he sang as he watched and waited ’til his billy boiled

24Who’ll come a-waltzing, Matilda, with me?

25Up jumped the swagman, leapt into the billabong,

26You’ll never catch me alive, said he

27And his ghost may be heard as you pass by the billabong

28Who’ll come a-waltzing, Matilda, with me.

29Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda

30Who’ll come a-waltzing, Matilda, with me

31And he sang as he watched and waited ’til his billy boiled

32Who’ll come a-waltzing, Matilda, with me?

Just some key words: First ‘camped’ (Line 1) rather than ‘trespassed’. This innocuous word sets the scene for who is in the right and who in the wrong in this interchange of ideas and clash of social classes. The swagman is innocently ‘camping’ amid a benevolent nature which will provide him with all its largesse (food, drink peace) as his ‘right’. The tranquillity and ‘appropriateness’ of the scene is emphasized over and over again by the choice of words ‘waltzing’ and ‘singing’ for example (Lines 11,12,13,14,15,16!).

There is no indication that he is a ruffian who has no business being where he is. In reality the swagman is a shiftless idle derelict, illegally trespassing on someone else’s private property which the owner has paid good money for and spent considerable effort and work building up, eg creating mobs of (highly edible) sheep, which the swagman wantonly kills and steals.

The ‘class’ difference between the protagonists (and the role of the Government in reinforcing this class system) is emphasized by the choice of word to describe them their conveyances and possessions. The swagman is on foot (‘waltzing) whereas the owner (described disphemistically) as a ‘squatter’ (as if he had no right to the land -though he had actually paid for it!) is ‘mounted’ (to stress his ‘

High falutin’ nature, and not just on any common nag (it would in reality have been a ‘whaler’) but on a ‘thoroughbred’ (which would in fact have been little use for mustering sheep – it would break its legs!) His actions are backed up by the full force of the establishment and the law by the presence of not just one but by a whole bevy of gendarmes (three) so that at the outset the ‘poor’ swagman is outnumbered (four to one) by the onerous forces of capital and the law – O, the injustice of it all!

Of course the poem was written in response to the Great Shearer’s Strike (it became almost a civil war) and led to many gaolings and deaths, and the burning of many shearing sheds – and also to the founding of the ‘New Australia’ colony in Paraguay and incidentally to the founding of the Labor Party, not far from where it was written – by just such leftists as Paterson.

In those days Bourke was a centre of culture. Many people wanted to form a socialist republic West of the Darling where 100,000 people dwelt then (but no-one does today- after the drought of 1890 failed to go away – climate change!) Today Bourke has the highest crime rate in the world!

Let’s look at how that crime is dealt with: The ‘jumbuck’ (‘sheep’ = Line 9) is obviously innocently coming to the stream for its evening drink when the swagman ‘grabs’ him and ‘stows’ him. The violence of this encounter is glossed over and the swagman places the remains of the sheep in his food bag as if it were his own property.

There is no hint in the song though of ‘blood upon the wattle’. There is no indication even that the action was ‘unkind’. The sheep might almost later on extricate itself from the offending bag after having had a peaceful nap, and saunter on its way as if the whole episode had been a friendly jape! Performed after all, with ‘glee’.

I’m not sure however if the wether appreciated the jest! He is a bloody mess of meat after all, hacked to pieces. It is astonishing to what an extent the passivity of the crime is glossed over. The swagman just ‘watches and waits’; it is the squatter and his troopers who are the actors. They ‘ride up’ and ‘come down’, etc.

The squatter at least comes straight to the point, ‘Whose is that jumbuck’? He says. Every event in Australia’s history revolves around how you answer this question. We all are supposed to ‘know’ surely by now (the Labor Party and the Trade Unions have told us often enough) that the ‘bosses’ have (mis) appropriated all the world’s wealth for their own nefarious purposes, holding the rest of us in an impecunious subjugation which will not even end with our deaths.

‘You’ll never catch me alive’ sings the swagman and ‘jumps into the billabong.’ He almost certainly needed a good bath anyway having been an indigent derelict sleeping rough for some time and no doubt carefully boiling methylated spirits (or the ‘White Lady – I know you imagined ‘tea’ – such innocence) in that billy anyway, a foul habit which can often also lead to incontinence and madness – which it clearly has in this case!

It was clearly quite mad to drown yourself simply over the theft of some mutton anyway, a crime which would most likely only have met with a small fine in those days. If this event is supposed to have taken place before Samuel Mort invented refrigerated transport (c1883 and therefore likely – Now Elders incidentally), then you should know that meat was practically free up until then as the only usable products of the grazing industry were tallow (fat), hides and wool as anyone who has played the board game ‘Squatter’, an Australian version of ‘Monopoly’ ought to know.

Meat was simply a waste product. At one time for example they used to tip up to 4 million sheep carcasses into the Murray at Echuca annually (after rendering). The smell (and environmental consequences) are hard to imagine. One thing though; it did lead to the development of the largest Murray Cod in history (bigger than a man!), and indeed to an inland fisheries industry, now sadly defunct!

You will note that the cops (troopers) do nothing. Just like cops of every age, they are just in it for the take, eg their fat horses. They do nothing to prevent crime or to solve it.

I also like the morsel of moral advice that you should ‘pass by this billabong’. Its pollution by dead swagmen and sheep is bad enough. I think there is also the suggestion that ‘you’ should eschew a like fate. Whether this means you should desist from rustling, drinking meths, bathing, having anything to do with the police or etc is left to your own imagination – as it should be!

The constant refrain ‘Who’ll’? and its answering chorus, ‘You’ll’ is just too obvious to require explanation. If you have been sucked in by leftist gibberish, no doubt you are totally ignorant and might as well be off ‘waltzing matilda’ with the fairies or lying somewhere (dare I say ‘unlamented’?) on the bottom of some Billabong or other suitable receptacle for the disposal of dead bodies!

The swagman will have his revenge. We are doomed to be haunted by his ghost – just as we are haunted by the ghosts of Whitlam and Keating! Wait a moment! Keating is not dead. He just always looks dead. His is the undead hand of capitalism! Or socialism. Well, something like that.

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/08/07/humping-your-bluey/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/06/02/mattresses-i-have-known/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/09/08/the-spanish-windlass/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/07/01/out-of-the-frying-pan/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/06/23/the-pack-rifle/

23/07/2019: Bob Brown the ultimate nimby. What else would you expect from a party whose leader pays his au pair slave labour rates: https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/doomed-planet/2019/07/when-even-bob-brown-gets-it/ How many eagles (& bats) had to die before these greenies admitted that their ‘renewables’ were a disaster?

23/07/2019: Do we need to look forward to this: http://stuartschneiderman.blogspot.com/2019/07/dystopia-comes-to-sweden-swedes-shrug.html

23/07/2019: Buzz shows that he still has ‘the right stuff’ – Kapow: https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/07/buzz-aldrins-2nd-best-landing-conspiracy-theorist-pest-harassing-the-astronaut-gets-a-love-tap.html

22/07/2019: Autism – faulty wiring, not vaccines; 80% genetic: https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2019/07/17/Genetic-factors-are-primary-cause-of-autism-study-finds/9851563393479/

22/07/2019: The Govt should intervene in the Ridd case. This Uni (and others) are out of control and no longer support free speech. Their funding should be withdrawn until they come to their senses: http://joannenova.com.au/2019/07/peter-ridd-update-james-cook-university-wasted-630000-defending-bureaucrat-rulers-of-science-lost-plans-to-appeal/

22/07/2019: The real costs of ‘wind farms’: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/07/21/wind-farm-back-of-the-envelope-economic-analysis/

21/07/2019: The Age of Amnesia: ‘We live…in “an age of amnesia.” Across the world…we are discarding the knowledge and insights passed down over millennia and replacing it with politically correct bromides cooked up in the media and the academy’. More and more problems to become deeply concerned about: https://quillette.com/2019/07/15/age-of-amnesia/

21/07/2019: This little-known Australian inventor has probably saved your life: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-49012771

21/07/2019: Even shrinks can’t agree when you’re nuts: ‘'Although diagnostic labels create the illusion of an explanation they are scientifically meaningless and can create stigma and prejudice.'’ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-7230105/Psychiatric-diagnoses-useless-study-suggests.html

20/07/2019: The Olfa Knife: (Updated) This is just about the greatest knife ever! I’m just a little late to the party concerning this knife which has been around nearly as long as I have – at any rate since 1956. As you can see it has a 55 mm blade. That’s just under 2 ¼”. (55mm = 2.16”) You could easily skin and butcher a sambar deer with one of them, and they only cost a few bucks (with spare blades – and of course you can have as many spare blades as you want supposing you get very lucky on your hunting trip!

It is also very light. The (heavier) Grey one pictured weighs 50 grams, for example. The Black is 42 grams and its blade is about 1 1/4″. Costs from A$11.50 including delivery! Just what the serious ultralight deer hunter would need.

Available here:

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/SET-Craft-cutter-knife-OLFA-S-type-26B-L-34B-with-replacement-blades-XB26-XB34/112868006827?hash=item1a47751bab:m:m7WJg7P3NFcAQEVJlkOYd6Q

Mine arrived today (in about four days). I bought the whole set for about A$30 delivered. They will have many uses. The grey one is definitely suitable for butchery. It is an excellent cross between a folder and a fixed blade knife. The blade is quite thick and rigid – and comes razor sharp. It is sharpened on both sides and could easily be re-sharpened.

You can easily carry a couple of spare blades – you can see the weights on my scales. If you want to go ultralight you could definitely get by with the black one at 42 grams. They both have a hole in the end of the handle so you can carry them around your neck on a piece of string. Yes, I think you should get one to try out.

You can buy a fancier more expensive one from Titaner too, eg: https://titaner-store.com/products/heavy-duty-utility-knife

Nitecore have one too: https://www.nitecorestore.com/ntk10-titanium-utility-knife-p/acc-nite-knife-ntk10.htm

PS: I have lots of other posts about knives/cutlery. Try a search in the search box eg for ‘knife’: https://www.theultralighthiker.com/?s=knife

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/10/28/the-ultralight-deer-hunter/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2014/01/26/never-have-to-sharpen-your-knife-again/

20/07/2019: VD in the C18th. Fascinating: https://www.lrb.co.uk/v41/n14/clare-bucknell/colonel-cundums-domain

20/07/2019: Black is the color of my true love's... Amy is right. I noticed this myself yesterday in Melbourne. Where have all the pretty young women and handsome young men gone? https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2019/07/the-west-fades-to-black/ Could dark energy kill the universe: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24332391-600-welcome-to-the-5th-dimension-our-universes-radical-new-fate/

20/07/2019: Homelessness #101: A Scott Adams interview with Dr. Drew explains that housing is not the issue. It's about mental illness, personality disorders, addiction, and mental insufficiency and otherwise low-functioning people. That is a lot of people. It is a tragedy of false compassion. Thousands of people who need help, when help is available, resist it. It's a free country. Freedom often means messy: https://www.scottadamssays.com/2019/07/19/episode-602-scott-adams-dr-drew-talks-about-la-apocalypse-trumps-tweet-iran/

18/07/2019: Why It's Probably Better for the Planet to Throw Plastic in the Trash: https://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2019/07/15/why_its_probably_better_for_the_planet_to_throw_plastic_in_the_trash.html

18/07/2019: Terrifying. Just too easy. Personally I think such people should simply be shortened (swiftly – the same day): https://www.news.com.au/national/queensland/courts-law/sterling-free-pleads-guilty-to-taking-young-girl-from-brisbane-kmart/news-story/ebec5bb9266f1c1811965693520a8459 Like this: https://www.news.com.au/world/africa/isis-fanatics-who-beheaded-scandinavian-hikers-to-die-by-firing-squad-in-morocco/news-story/4f789ea801328a229ab73c274453a67e

18/07/2019: Top Terror Cop Says ‘Extinction Rebellion Are Dangerous Extremists. Jail Them!’ ‘The environmental movement — especially in its most dangerously weaponised form in groups like Extinction Rebellion — is anti-science, irrational, non-evidence-based, anti-prosperity, anti-growth, anti-human, anti-democratic. (And that’s before we even get on to the topic of all the damage it does to nature in the form of biofuel plantations, bat-chomping, bird-slicing eco-crucifixes, and such like’- organic agriculture for example) https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/07/18/delingpole-top-terror-cop-says-extinction-rebellion-are-dangerous-extremists-jail-them/

17/07/2019: Cuteness Alert: (Photos/Video Added) 3 weeks old, eyes open, 3 little bundles ready to start some supplementary feeding (to give Honey a bit of a break) and take over the house…for a little while! Thanks to our daughter for the super photo! One of the puppies is already spoken for with nearly a month to go before we can advertise them. If you want one, please let me know. Two girls and a boy: Milky, Dot and Little Spot. More photos to follow. Check back later…

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/02/23/a-tiny-life/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/04/30/does-spot-like-to-hunt-deer/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/03/01/honey/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/04/25/honey-sticks/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/02/13/spot-2/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2015/05/02/spot/

17/07/2019: Rocks ARE endangered: ‘A rock can take millions of years to form, but it only takes a second for someone to skip a smooth pebble into a lake, and then it is gone.” Dr. Kaiser said. “Perhaps these thoughtless rock-skippers don’t care if they leave our planet completely devoid of rocks, but what about our children? Don’t they deserve the chance to hold a rock and toss it up and down a few times?’ http://www.theonion.com/articles/geologists-we-may-be-slowly-running-out-of-rocks,17341/

17/07/2019: The Cure for Aboriginal Grievance Syndrome: ‘The foundation to eliminating the disadvantages plaguing contemporary Australian Aboriginals is the full and uncompromising acceptance that the continent was colonized… Relinquish the notion that it is the responsibility of present day non-Aboriginal Australians to remedy the adverse effects of British colonisation… Abandon the notion that Australian Aboriginals are entitled to exclusive and perpetual rights and privileges on account of their ancestors living here before white colonists’ arrival… Cease the glorification and incessant promotion of Aboriginal culture, much of it confected…’ No person living in Australia today should be entitled to any special benefit or recognition based on racehttps://quadrant.org.au/opinion/bennelong-papers/2019/07/the-cure-for-aboriginal-grievance-syndrome/

17/07/2019: If you find cause without effect or effect without a cause then you were wrong about the cause-effect relationship. A single instance is all it takes. Things have to be true 100% of the time but they only need to be falsified 1%! You can’t vote for the truth. 99% of people believing something has no relationship to its truth/falsity. Once pretty much everyone believed that the earth was flat and that the sun traveled around the earth. I defy you to offer convincing proof that they were wrong! The CO2 boondoggle is a case in point: there are many instances of warming without CO2 (think Medieval Warm Period for example) or CO2 increase followed by cooling (think world temperatures post WW2 for example) but you would only need a single example to falsify the hypothesis!

16/07/2019: A European War on (Everyone’s) Free Speech: ‘The result of such poorly defined laws is predictable. A recent poll found only 18 percent of Germans feel they can speak freely in public. More than 31 percent did not even feel free to express themselves in private among their friends. Just 17 percent of Germans felt free to express themselves on the internet, and 35 percent said free speech is confined to small private circles. That is called a chilling effect, and it should be feared’ https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/a-european-war-on-everyones-free-speech/

16/07/2019: What’s to Compensate: Slavery Made the US Less Prosperous, Not More So http://coyoteblog.com/coyote_blog/2019/07/slavery-made-the-us-less-prosperous-not-more-so.html

16/07/2019: Antifa is becoming more and more dangerous as the death of an Antifa activist today in Tacoma who attacked with guns and fire bombs shows: https://quillette.com/2019/07/03/how-antifas-apologists-fell-in-love-with-street-violence/ & https://www.lawenforcementtoday.com/ice-shoots-kills-man/

15/07/2019: I hope this is me -Things you can do in your 90s if you stay in shape: http://maggiesfarm.anotherdotcom.com/archives/33703-Life-in-America-Things-you-can-do-in-your-90s-if-you-stay-in-shape.html

15/07/2019: More of this and less #MeToo please: ‘Honest to God, shoot me now. I’ve worked with men all my life, often wildly outnumbered by them…And I can honestly never remember ever fretting or thinking about my purported safety…We all talk a lot about the erosion of freedoms on campus, the lack of free expression on social media. These are worthy subjects. But the most important rights we have are those we need when we’re charged with a crime and face the ultimate loss of freedom. Those are the right to a fair trial within a reasonable time; to be informed of the charges against you; not to be denied bail without reasonable cause, and the right to be presumed innocent.’ https://quillette.com/2019/07/14/how-due-process-fell-victim-to-good-intentions-a-veteran-court-reporter-looks-back/

15/07/2019: What did medieval peasants eat? I really want to know (and the abstract is enticing) but the detail is hidden behind an academic paywall, however I find the methodology intriguing (and see that in the future there will be all sorts of things to learn from methods we cannot even imagine today). However, ‘The findings demonstrated that stews (or pottages) of meat (beef and mutton) and vegetables such as cabbage and leek, were the mainstay of the medieval peasant diet. The research also showed that dairy products, likely the ‘green cheeses’ known to be eaten by the peasantry, also played an important role in their diet’: https://www.medievalists.net/2019/05/what-did-medieval-peasants-eat/

14/07/2019: Hundreds of blindfolded goats airdropped onto a mountain range: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/goats-helicopter-relocation-washington-olympic-national-park-a8998506.html

14/07/2019: Well said Barnaby: finally tells the truth about ‘climate change’ – the coming Ice Age will kill billions: https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/07/former_aussie_deputy_pm_becomes_backbencher_suddenly_tells_the_truth_about_global_warming.html

14/07/2019: Doubts about ‘aboriginal history’: Present day ‘aborigines’ were clearly not the ‘first Australians’. Note for example a line of deer in the ‘Bradhsaw Paintings’ or a prehistoric ship with a rudder, or the (recent C20th) existence of a ‘race’ of pygmies on Cape York. Confecting history to support political grievance and alter public policy is dangerous stuff: https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/history-wars/2002/06/the-extinction-of-the-australian-pygmies/ & http://www.convictcreations.com/aborigines/bradshaws.htm &http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/bradshaws/introduction.php & http://www.convictcreations.com/aborigines/floranadfauna.html & https://cairnsnews.org/2018/10/26/republish-dreamtime-a-cruel-delusion-of-british-anthropologists/?wref=tp&wref=tp

13/07/2019: Everything you ever needed to know about down jackets: I have Montbell down clothing. At the time of purchase it was about the lightest and most economical I could find – I am also more than happy with the build quality and its durability (considering its extreme lightness) over the years. I carry a ‘Superior Down’ jacket and a vest, weighing approx 200 + 150 grams. I can see that I could have done better than this (now) but they were on sale (A140 + A$105) at Larry Adler (in Oz) at the time and are otherwise very hard to obtain here, so they were a bit of a ‘steal’ really.

My strategy is to use them in a layering system when it is very cold and to supplement my Montbell Spiral Stretch Ultralight Down Hugger sleeping bag (appprox 600 grams) by wearing the jacket on my top and the vest on my lower body (plus down socks) when it is below freezing. This reduces the temperature rating of my sleeping bag from -1C down to more like -10C without having to carry any extra weight. I also prefer a full-zip in both garments (even though it adds to the weight as compared with a pullover) because it helps with the layering. When you want to reduce the warmth it is just so easy to unzip.

I think 6-7 oz (180-200 grams) is enough in Australia for a down jacket (as long as you also have a vest!) as the heavier garments will mostly be far too hot (unless you are always up in the snow). I mostly camp out in the winter months in the mountains of Southern Victoria (as I am also a deer hunter). I have found the above arrangements fine over many years. We also own Montbell Down trousers. which only weigh a couple of hundred grams – lighter than most thermals! Della wears hers all the time in camp when it is cold (she feels it more than I do), and it is a blessing to her. I confess I only take mine when it is going to be like Antarctica, eg walking up to Everest.

I would recommend a winter mat though. For many years I used the Thermarest Neoair Womens – 340 grams (which I found adequate but not toasty) on cold nights. I now have an Exped Synmat HL Winter M – 430 grams which I find even better and more comfortable. At the moment I am using the pillow I cut down here (<50 grams) which cost me less than $10. It is the most comfortable pillow I have ever used and stays put really well too. I usually sleep in my Deer Hunter’s Tent (which I will soon be making a new, lighter, bigger model of) and carry the Ultralight Deer Hunter‘s equipment. Of course I always have a fire out the front which keeps me nice and warm until well after I have gone to bed.

I found the spreadsheet belowon a Google search so I cannot recognise the author’s careful work (or attest to its accuracy) but it gives a very good ground for comparison.

Down jacket (Male size M < 11oz)	Hood	Zip	Price	Total weight (oz)	Fill weight (oz)	Fill %	Fill power (US)	Total Warmth	Warmth per oz	Warmth per $	Weighted ranking
Cumulus primelite pullover	No	Half	$155	6,35	3,00	47%	900	2700	425	45	1
Nunatak Shaka UL Sweater hooded	Yes	Half	$400	10,40	5,60	54%	900	5040	485	25	2
Goosefeet Gear jacket (custom)	Yes	Full	$400	7,58	3,50	46%	950	3325	439	19	3
Borah Gear Ultralight Jacket	No	Half	$170	5,15	2,30	45%	850	1955	380	34	4
Malachowski Zion Ultralight	Yes	Full	$260	9,17	4,23	46%	900	3809	415	31	5
Haglofs L.I.M Essens	No	Full	$210	5,64	2,47	44%	850	2099	372	28	6
Montbell Plasma 1000 Alpine Parka	Yes	Full	$440	8,40	3,40	40%	1000	3400	405	17	7
Crux New Halo Jacket	Yes	Full	$300	10,05	4,23	42%	950	4019	400	27	8
Crux Turbo Jacket	No	Full	$260	8,33	3,30	40%	950	3135	376	27	9
My Trail Co 850 HL Hooded	Yes	Full	$150	11,00	4,58	42%	850	3893	354	50	10
Rab Zero G	Yes	Full	$550	11,00	4,50	41%	1000	4500	409	16	11
My Trail Co 850 HL	No	Full	$100	9,00	3,35	37%	850	2848	316	60	12
Decathlon Trek 500	Yes	Full	$65	10,22	3,32	32%	850	2818	276	86	13
Cumulus Inverse	No	Full	$165	6,35	2,29	36%	900	2063	325	32	14
Montbell Plasma 1000	No	Full	$330	4,80	1,60	33%	1000	1600	333	15	15
Cumulus Acomay	No	Full	$180	11,10	4,23	38%	900	3809	343	40	16
Montbell Ex Light Anorak	Yes	Half	$270	6,20	2,30	37%	900	2070	334	20	17
Crux Turbo Top Pullover	No	Half	$245	7,27	2,47	34%	950	2346	323	23	18
Yeti Strato UltraLight	No	Full	$400	5,50	1,87	34%	950	1777	323	13	19
Western Mountaineering Flight Jacket	No	Full	$350	11,00	4,50	41%	850	3825	348	21	20
Stellar EQ Ultralight Jacket	No	Full	$270	9,63	3,10	32%	1000	3100	322	23	21
Stellar EQ Ultralight Hoody	Yes	Full	$300	10,83	3,39	31%	1000	3386	313	22	22
Mammut Broad Peak Light	No	Full	$250	7,34	2,47	34%	850	2099	286	20	23
Feathered Friends Eos	Yes	Full	$340	10,60	3,70	35%	900	3330	314	19	24
Mountain Hardwear Ghost Whisperer	No	Full	$325	7,40	2,65	36%	800	2120	286	15	25
Mountain Hardwear Ghost Whisperer Hoody	Yes	Full	$350	7,80	2,79	36%	800	2229	286	15	26
Stellar EQ Ultralight Sweater	No	Full	$230	5,89	1,52	26%	1000	1516	257	18	27
Haglofs Essens	No	Full	$230	9,38	3,17	34%	800	2539	271	23	28
Macpac Supanova Hooded	Yes	Full	$500	9,88	3,60	36%	800	2878	291	12	29
Yeti Purity	No	Full	$360	9,67	3,42	35%	800	2736	283	15	30
Western Mountaineering Quick Flash Jacket	No	Full	$365	8,00	2,50	31%	850	2125	266	13	31
Montane Starlight Pull-on	No	Half	$160	9,31	2,82	30%	800	2256	242	29	32
Western Mountaineering Flash XR Jacket	Yes	Full	$440	11,00	3,50	32%	850	2975	270	13	33
Patagonia Ultralight Jacket	Yes	Full	$300	9,50	2,99	31%	800	2392	252	16	34
Montbell Superior Down Parka	Yes	Full	$210	8,70	2,50	29%	800	2000	230	20	35
Western Mountaineering Flash Jacket	Yes	Full	$390	10,25	3,00	29%	850	2550	249	13	36
Outdoor Vitals StormLoft Ultralight	Yes	Full	$180	10,00	2,82	28%	800	2256	226	25	37
Montbell Superior Down Jacket	No	Full	$180	7,30	1,90	26%	800	1520	208	20	38
Macpac Uber Light	No	Full	$130	8,47	2,61	31%	650	1697	200	28	39
Outdoor Research Baja Pullover	Yes	Half	$190	9,95	2,72	27%	800	2173	218	23	40
REI Co-op 650 jacket	No	Full	$100	10,50	3,00	29%	650	1950	186	38	41
Montbell Superior Down Round Neck	Yes	Buttons	$150	5,50	1,20	22%	800	960	175	18	42
Outdoor Research Illuminate	No	Full	$220	10,51	2,65	25%	800	2116	201	19	43
Marmot Quasar Nova	No	Full	$275	10,70	2,75	26%	800	2200	206	15	44

The cumulus range certainly is worth considering. Notice they also make very light sleeping bags: http://sleepingbags-cumulus.eu/

13/07/2019: Moon Transiting the Earth: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/from-a-million-miles-away-nasa-camera-shows-moon-crossing-face-of-earth For more about living on the moon, read this: http://www.drroyspencer.com/2019/07/lunar-living-9-weird-aspects-of-living-on-the-moon/ or this, ‘The Moon is a Harsh Mistress’ by Robert Heinlein.

13/07/2019: Mom Arrested For Allegedly Driving With Children Sitting In Inflatable Pool On Top Of Vehicle. Why was this not a good idea – saves on ratchet straps: https://dailycaller.com/2019/07/10/mom-car-inflatable-pool-arrest/

13/07/2019: Take that Vegans: ‘25 times more sentient beings die to produce a kilo of protein from wheat than a kilo of protein from beef’ http://joannenova.com.au/2019/07/vegans-save-a-cow-kill-1000-mice-eat-less-red-meat-get-anemia/

12/07/2019: Della’s Way Bread or Biscotti: You may or may not have tried Hard Tack which is what unfortunates such as British sailors used to have to subsist upon. Italian sailors were better chefs so they came up with Biscotti. Della has tweaked their recipes for this wonderful food until it is just perfect. It is as good as the ‘Elvish Waybread’ that Frodo and Sam enjoyed for many days in ‘The Lord of the Rings’.

Della has two (almond flavoured) versions below (a hard and a soft one). The hard one would have slightly better ‘keeping’ qualities. Remember though that this food was intended to be consumed continuously on a voyage for years! You can ‘dunk’ them in a cup of tea, coffee or chocolate – which is what Della does. I prefer to eat them straight. They are delicious, filling (and quite fattening).

ALMOND BISCOTTI

1. HARD BISCOTTI

Ingredients:

3 cups unsalted whole almonds

¾ cup granulated sugar

¾ cup brown sugar

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 ½ cups plain flour

½ teaspoon salt

4 large eggs at room temp.

1 tablespoon almond essence

½ teaspoon vanilla essence

1 teaspoon lemon zest
Or-

2. SEMI-HARD BISCOTTI

3 cups unsalted whole almonds

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup brown sugar

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

2 ¼ cups plain flour

½ teaspoon salt

3 large eggs at room temp.

1 tablespoon almond essence

½ teaspoon vanilla essence

1 teaspoon lemon zest

½ cup olive oil (or vegetable oil)

Method: (for both recipes)

* Toast almonds in oven for 10 minutes at 165 degrees then cool

Biscotti after first baking Biscotti – cutting into biscuits Biscotti – finished

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/07/29/a-hiking-food-compendium/

12/07/2019: Tales of shipwreck survivors – is there any universal lesson to be learned: https://quillette.com/2019/07/09/so-this-is-the-real-tale-of-our-castaways-lessons-from-shipwrecked-micro-societies/

12/07/2019: Maybe Albo should not have taken this fight on – it surely just reinforces the view that the ALP is dominated by rogue unionists: https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/07/setkas-cfmeu-is-calling-the-shots-court-orders-albanese-must-dance-to-cfmeus-tune.html

12/07/2019: Hillary Clinton expresses shock and sadness for Jeffrey Epstein’s upcoming suicide: https://genesiustimes.com/hillary-clinton-expresses-shock-and-sadness-for-jeffrey-epsteins-upcoming-suicide/

11/07/2019: The Auto Re-invented: https://newatlas.com/ree-modular-mobility-platform/60486/

11/07/2019: Dalrymple must move in different circles to me, ‘There is a law of the conservation of blasphemy: If it is not against God, you can always blaspheme against secular pieties.’ He says. I find these days that I can say practically nothing without exciting shrillness everywhere. Still, having had to endure (sometimes) minutes of women’s soccer before the news I must say he is right (though I would prefer there were no sports at all): https://www.takimag.com/article/i-get-no-kick-from-womens-soccer/

11/07/2019: Latter-day hippies should read Willis’s post. The problem with ‘Renewable’ energy is Storage. To store the amount of energy needed by a city the size of New York (or Victoria, for that matter) for three days needs storage of energy equivalent to that released by two Hiroshima bombs. Clearly this is not a problem which is anywhere near solved yet: http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/06/29/getting-energy-from-the-energy-store/#more-89007 The post that provoked Willis IS interesting: http://judithcurry.com/2013/06/29/an-energy-model-for-the-future-from-the-12th-century/ Could we really build battery systems which were several cubic miles in size/? That’s a lot of lead or lithium!

10/07/2019: Keeping the Voyagers running – a wonderful tale: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/07/09/vger/

10/07/2019: British Justice is not well named: https://www.pickeringpost.com/2019/07/06/tommy-robinson-found-guilty-of-being-insensitive-to-muslim-child-rapists/

10/07/2019: No-one beats Topher at showing what a nonsense the Murray water thing is: https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/doomed-planet/2019/07/how-the-murray-went-up-the-creek/

09/07/2019: Vale Christopher Booker: https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/07/03/rip-christopher-booker-worlds-greatest-climate-sceptic/ If you want a reminder of his greatness, read this: https://www.thegwpf.org/content/uploads/2018/02/Groupthink.pdf

09/07/2019: Wrong Man’s Life Support Switched off – don’t you wish you could organise this sometimes? https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/health-problems/horrifying-mixup-sees-wrong-man-taken-off-life-support/news-story/5b8668cf5c06c448547b043e3f5fc4b1 Perhaps you would start with Jeffrey Epstein or Bill Clinton: https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/07/the-epstein-case-is-being-handled-by-the-us-attorneys-public-corruption-unit.html

08/07/2019: More Simmer Stoves

It is easy to make an ultralight alcohol stove which will boil water (instructions here and here) but a bit more difficult to make one which will simmer. Many of my recipes require that the food simmers for 10 minutes or so (usually to soften lentils etc). I guess you could use a cosy, but it is easier to just turn the heat down. 10 minutes at simmer is <5 ml of alcohol. You can make your own using simmer rings or similar devices to reduce the air intake or you can buy someone else’s. There are a number of models available which are cheap and effective – if you want to deprive yourself of the many pleasures of DIY!

There are Aaron at Brasslite’s wonderful offerings for example which I have written about before. I cannot recommend these too highly. You should buy one or a half dozen of these beauties while the going is good.

Personally I think if you are still using a canister stove you have rocks in your head. You may also have a number of bricks in your pack too – just to improve your fitness I guess. The empty canister weighs more than an alcohol stove, fuel bottle and enough fuel for several days. The lightest burner (usually around 80 grams – though they can be as light as 25) again represents enough weight of fuel in alcohol for at least a weekend. It just does not make any sense to me to lug these things around!

It is also just so easy to work out beforehand just what meals/cups of hot drinks etc you will be eating on say an 8-10 day hike (eg the Dusky Track) then work out just how much alcohol you will need and take that amount in a Platypus bottle. Less than 500 mls in this example. How many canisters would you take for the same trip – and what would be the total weight? When the jet on the gas stove blocks (as it will sometime), what will you eat the? That cold, uncooked pasta is going to get rather tiresome!

I always carry a Trail Designs Caldera Cone as a windscreen. They only weigh from about 20 grams depending on pot size. Along with a couple of tent pegs it can always be used to make a twig fire to boil the billy with – if you run out of fuel. You can buy a ‘floor’ for it if you worry about leaving miniscule scorch marks in the endless wilderness. Personally I think such ‘trace leaving‘ is largely beneficial – and should be encouraged! You can buy the ‘cone’ as a stand alone (for about US$35) – though it comes with the 12-10 (or Kojin) stove gratis and only costs US$9.95 for ‘simmer rings’ (for the 12-10)

Caldera Cone

Trail Designs 12-10 Stove

12-10 with simmer ring

PackaFeather used to make a couple of very neat alcohol simmer stoves. I own both from the days when they used to sell them. They still offer plans for them if you would like to make your own.

Zenstoves has instructions on building simmer rings for various alcohol stoves. They suggest eg something like this for your pepsi-can stove (hope they don’t mind my re-posting their illustration), but have many other interesting ideas. If you have not yet discovered this site you have a wonderful adventure ahead of you!

If you have not yet discovered the astonishing Minibulldesign you are in for a treat. His Youtube channel will explain a lot of his concepts, but as you will discover he has a number of different alcohol simmer stoves at a simply wonderful price ( like the Gnomatic from US$15) as well as some of the lightest pots on the market anywhere – and lots of fun! There is his Turbo Gnome Stove with Simmer Ring (for example) at US$20.

Gnomatic

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2015/03/09/diy-side-burner-metho-stove/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/03/04/new-fancy-feast-stove/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2013/11/05/alcohol-simmer-stoves/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/09/28/how-much-weight-in-fuel/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/09/22/ultralight-windscreen/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/05/15/corrugated-heat-diffuser-3-grams/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/06/21/adventures-in-stoving/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/05/11/soda-can-stove-mark-2/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/07/29/a-hiking-food-compendium/

08/07/2019: The Dragonfly – Ultralight Titanium Knife:

Things just keep getting better and better. I was impressed by the CRKT PDK knife but I am even more impressed by this 10.4 gram little beauty. I confess I may have a titanium fetish, and yes, I do think you could dress a sambar deer with one. I have used the CRKT on one quite successfully but you have to be careful not to break the plastic holder. I realise that I have used leverage on a knife too much. It is a cutting instrument.You should not twist it or try to bend it.

CRKT knife

If you are not good at sharpening knives these replacement blade knives (such as this one too) are right for you. However if you are like me and grew up before the rabbit plague was ended by myxomitosis back around 1956 then you probably also wore out several pocket knives skinning rabbits before you started school (as I did). If you can dress a rabbit in under a minute, the you can almost certainly envisage the perfect angle to sharpen a knife with a bit of spit and a handy river pebble.

Gerber LST 34 grams.

If you are not, you might try one of these lightweight knife sharpeners eg on your Gerber or Johnson River Knife.

Or else, get one of these Dragonflies! Apparently it does have a lock blade but I would not put too much force on a 1/3 oz knife. A handy tool for the pocket or for the Ultralight Deer Hunter, but I would always carry a fixed blade knife so I could split wood to light a fire.

‘The Dragonfly – a Titanium Folding Knife. Featuring an ergonomic design and a replaceable blade (#24) this knife is perfect for everyday tasks.

Attributes:

Normal price US$70 (https://titaner-store.com/products/the-dragonfly) but available right now (July 20129) on Drop for US$42: https://drop.com/buy/titaner-titanium-dragonfly-scalpel-knife#overview I have ordered one for my 70th birthday!

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2014/01/26/never-have-to-sharpen-your-knife-again/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/10/28/the-ultralight-deer-hunter/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2014/11/16/gerber-knives-light-cheap/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2015/05/26/carry-a-knife/

08/07/2019: Prof Blaimey calls out ‘climate change’ as a hoax: https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/radical-historian-blainey-challenges-climate-change-orthodoxy-20190705-p524e8.html

08/07/2019: Solar cells at 35% efficiency (instead of the 29% theoretical maximum) are on their way: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/07/07/experiments-show-dramatic-increase-in-solar-cell-output/

08/07/2019: Dorset sounds to me a lot like Queensland or rural Victoria – anywhere away from the ‘capital’ cities – if I am ever in the UK again I must visit it. I have long advocated that rural Australia ought to secede (from urban) and be able to make its own laws and control entry. We could do worse than having Qld seceding and putting Tony Abbott in charge of immigration. I would then move there tomorrow – despite the heat, somewhere perhaps where ‘people have the right to quote the Bible, the world’s biggest selling book of all time’ with impunity: https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/james-allan/2019/07/dorset-diversions-england-as-once-it-was/

07/07/2019: ‘There is a big difference between a free country and a country of free things. You can have one or the other, but you can’t have both.’ https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/274209/nation-free-people-or-free-things-daniel-greenfield

07/07/2019: At last this spoilt brat is being outed with bumper stickers in Germany:

Get yours here: https://www.amazon.de/geplotteter-Aufkleber-Autoaufkleber-Fahrverbot-Motorrad/dp/B07TD9Z95S

07/07/2019: To a Mouse, On Turning up in Her Nest with the Plough, November, 1785, Robert Burns(NB the last stanza)

Wee, sleeket, cowran, tim’rous beastie,
O, what a panic’s in thy breastie!
Thou need na start awa sae hasty,
Wi’ bickerin brattle!
I wad be laith to rin an’ chase thee
Wi’ murd’ring pattle!

I’m truly sorry Man’s dominion
Has broken Nature’s social union,
An’ justifies that ill opinion,
Which makes thee startle,
At me, thy poor, earth-born companion,
An’ fellow-mortal!

I doubt na, whyles, but thou may thieve;
What then? poor beastie, thou maun live!
A daimen-icker in a thrave
’S a sma’ request:
I’ll get a blessin wi’ the lave,
An’ never miss ’t!

Thy wee-bit housie, too, in ruin!
It’s silly wa’s the win’s are strewin!
An’ naething, now, to big a new ane,
O’ foggage green!
An’ bleak December’s winds ensuin,
Baith snell an’ keen!

Thou saw the fields laid bare an’ waste,
An’ weary Winter comin fast,
An’ cozie here, beneath the blast,
Thou thought to dwell,
Till crash! the cruel coulter past
Out thro’ thy cell.

That wee-bit heap o’ leaves an’ stibble
Has cost thee monie a weary nibble!
Now thou’s turn’d out, for a’ thy trouble,
But house or hald,
To thole the Winter’s sleety dribble,
An’ cranreuch cauld!

But Mousie, thou art no thy-lane,
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men
Gang aft agley,
An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promis’d joy!

Still, thou art blest, compar’d wi’ me!
The present only toucheth thee:
But Och! I backward cast my e’e,
On prospects drear!
An’ forward tho’ I canna see,
I guess an’ fear!

06/07/2019: The Great Greening of the Earth. (Two forest areas the size of Australia added in the last 30 years). The wonders of CO2: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/07/05/global-greening-is-happening-faster-than-climate-change-and-its-a-good-thing/ & https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/carbon-dioxide-fertilization-greening-earth

06/07/2019: Just another ‘love equality.’ Calls to Normalise Pedophilia on the Rise: https://www.christianheadlines.com/contributors/lori-arnold/normalize-pedophilia-are-on-the-rise.html Time to rethink our attitudes to other ‘normal’ behaviour: homosexuality, incest, bestiality...?

06/07/2019: The builders of Stonehenge were wiped out (to a man) by Yamnaya invaders (c3000BC), their women enslaved. This is the plan that Islam has for us all. It has happened before. It can happen again: https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1113150/stone-age-genocide-prehistoric-invaders-yamnaya-corded-ware-europe

05/07/2019: Time we cleared the streets of all of them. Let’s make people work for a living: https://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/news/fake-beggars-on-melbournes-streets-flown-in-from-china/news-story/4f64585e423225fbba991c357737213b

05/07/2019: Yesterday tax cuts. Today this. Only the second day of the new Parliament. Getting on with the job: https://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/news/national/farminvading-vegan-animal-activists-face-new-penalties/news-story/82fdbe041f486226a1a4f5a27c07ce2b?fbclid=IwAR3898RgSLgTUFdwD15wAxxhyGv9xc97j8qJWRGxBY4wbbt9pDWAxsyccLc

05/07/2019: About those ‘record’ temperatures in France – from one of the world’s pre-eminent climate scientists, Prof Roy Spencer (UAH): http://www.drroyspencer.com/2019/07/record-high-temperatures-in-france-3-facts-the-media-dont-tell-you/

05/07/2019: Down Socks: If it is going to be particularly cold (winter camping say) I always carry a pair of these. I have a pair of Goosefeet Gear’s which I have found more than satisfactory for well over ten years. Mine are Size: Medium and weigh 2.2 0z the pair. They cost US$65 (July 2019) but you can sometimes pick them up on Massdrop.

Zpacks also make them. Theirs are a mere 1.8 oz (same price). I have owned and used many of their products over the years. All have been excellent – just that I have never had the need for two pairs of down socks.

Of course I use my own 12 gram Dyneema moccasins for night-time footwear over the socks in case I need to go outside my tent on wet grass. I have a pair of Goosefeet’s Over booties, but do prefer my own – as they are not so steamy! Another alternative are these ultralight galoshes at 29 grams each – but only a couple of bucks!

Another alternative is these insulated over-booties by Montane which at least have the advantage that you can walk around in them – not so good in the sleeping bag afterwards though. I also own a pair of them. They are a bit heavier at 165 grams the pair.

04/07/2019: There is no threat to the Reef: http://joannenova.com.au/2019/07/coral-reef-totally-recovers-for-400th-time-and-researchers-surprised/

04/07/2019: Poncho Shelters: One of Sea to Summit’s ultra sil nano tarp ponchos which are 265 cm x 145 cm and weigh 230 grams (A$79.90 July 2019) as well as being excellent rain gear also provide all the shelter you need particularly if paired with an ultralight bivy bag of some sort. The US$16.99 Tyvek one I posted about here comes to mind. It is all the shelter you need. Some other suggestion s for bivies to go with ponchos: https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/05/30/ultralight-bivy-bag/

I have spent many nights camped under just such simple shelters in all kinds of weather – actually usually without any bivy bag at all – usually with just a scrap of Polycro or a mylar space blanket for an ultralight ground sheet.

Like this on a trip down the Thomson River for example:

Of course I have made my own 185 gram Pocket Poncho Tent which provides superior shelter to a simple poncho, but if you are not handy with a needle and scissors, Sea to Summit’s offering will do nicely. The ultra sil nano poncho above is 8’6″ long as you can see. If you pitch it like this instead of the way they recommend it is very unlikely indeed you will ever get wet. The one I am lying in below is only 7′ long. You can even pitch a 50 gram space blanket like this with the addition of a bit of dental floss which has many other uses (clothing repairs for example, if you carry a needle. I always do. – or a handy length of string.

Pocket Poncho Tent

You can spend too much money on gear, and carry far too much.

04/07/2019: It just can't be done! Renewables - the dumbest idea ever: https://www.energycentral.com/c/gr/battery-storage—-infinitesimal-part-electrical-power

04/07/2019: 'In the market, there is always downward pressure on prices. Every entrepreneur tries to cut costs to attract customers. The state is always working to raise its prices as high as possible to get as much of what you own as possible'. https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-07-03/nothing-more-expensive-free-government-service

02/07/2019: Spotting Doublethink: ‘“To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle,” said Orwell. That is the duty that is upon all of us. Every single one of us, whether we are on the Left or the Right. It’s hard. But once we stop looking for truth, and once we agree, if only within our own hearts, to live within a lie because it is more comforting that living in truth (as Solzhenitsyn and Havel both said that we must do), then we open ourselves up to totalitarianism.’ https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/spotting-doublethink-george-packer-george-orwell-roger-scruton/

02/07/2019: Just one of the ways Greens plan to murder most of the world’s population: http://joannenova.com.au/2019/07/sacrificed-for-the-renewables-religion-electricity-doubles-cold-deaths-up-one-third/

02/07/2019: Who would notice? We have over a million of these guys, just about a million too many: https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/at-work/france-paid-30-public-servants-to-do-nothing-for-25-years/news-story/3db733ebea2e21708d82e22b414027d4

01/07/2019: Apparently coal is so evil that coal fired power stations should not be allowed to reduce their CO2 output – even if that reduces it more than renewables would! http://joannenova.com.au/2019/06/insanity-feel-the-angst-should-the-emissions-reductions-fund-pay-money-to-coal/ & https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/06/27/coal-subsidies-and-climate-emergencies-lions-and-tigers-and-bears/

01/07/2019: France’s fake heat records ignore the record summer cold elsewhere: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/06/29/frances-new-hottest-recorded-temperature-ever-is-in-question-guess-where-it-was-measured/ & http://joannenova.com.au/2019/06/clickbait-climate-records-hot-in-france-but-snowpacked-in-canada-and-colorado/

30/06/2019: Tyvek Sleeping Bag Cover or Ground Sheet. For those of you who can’t sew but don’t mind spending US$16.99, Flame’s Creed has this little beauty. It should keep your sleeping bag clean and dry (and only weighs 130 grams apparently). I bought a couple of their ultralight tents and found them to be very good value and quality. You really don’t need to break the bank to have some very good gear.

I know I have threatened to make my own and have come up with a few different designs – one of which, a sub 100 grams bathtub I actually used for a few years), but one of these cheap Chinese ones should see you well for quite some time until I do actually finalise the design for a bathtub floor/chair/lounger etc. Looks cosy doesn’t it? This would work very well with a poncho bivy shelter pitched like this.

Available from Aliexpress here.

Reader Daniel says, ‘Got one, surprisingly roomy and good quality‘.

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/08/31/3f-tents/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/ultralight-hiking-on-a-budget/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/budget-pack-mods/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/cosco-quilt/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/brawnys-tarptent/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/cheap-insulated-inflatable-pad/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/ultralight-ultracheap-backpack/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/60-diy-ultralight-hiker-ideas/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/emergency-cb-radios/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/klymit-ultralight-pillow/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/diy-dry-back-hiking-pack/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/how-many-clothes-should-i-take-in-my-pack/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/the-perfect-guy-line-for-a-hiking-tenttarp/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/tent-stakes-and-tricks/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/11/22/ultralight-ground-sheet/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/04/27/ultralight-bathtub-floor/

30/06/2019: Fewer than 100 people (in total) have been killed by nuclear power station ‘accidents’. Compare this to the millions killed by coal mining and the hundreds of millions (per year) of birds and bats killed by wind/solar power …which should be banned and which ‘transitioned’ to? https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/blogs/andrew-bolt/abc-proves-it-hates-the-truth-about-chernobyl/news-story/ac6a18cd26de44150b7a6513ccd89507

30/06/2019: Osteoarthritis? Change your gait. Worth a try: http://coyoteblog.com/coyote_blog/2019/06/update-osteoarthritis-and-changing-my-running-gait-to-toe-first-landing.html

30/06/2019: ‘Keep Europe for Europeans,’ Well said, Dalai Lama: https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/06/dalai-lama-says-keep-europe-for-europeans.html

29/06/2019: Jobs Around the Farm: (Della): So the last little while has been amazingly busy! (Sorry if I seem to be ignoring everyone here!) Having decided to finally have a blitz on ALL the major jobs that have needed doing chez nous, Steve and I started by demolishing the old fallen-down “buggy shed” on the property to make way for new shedding. Then, this week, starting Wednesday afternoon, we got really serious and contracted the amazing Hans to do some magic with his excavator. A day and a half later we have lots of dead trees knocked over, the old concrete water tank demolished and 2 new ones moved in, a fallen- down garden archway removed – and much more to come! Things are a little less than pretty around here ATM, but given time, peace and beauty will reign! (Well, that’s the plan!) BTW Do check out my little video of the sludge at the bottom of the old water tank…a lid-less tank, it has accumulated the ash from the Black Saturday fire as well as the recent Yinnar South one. No, we weren’t drinking this water, but we were sure as hell washing in it! Anyway, right smack bang in the middle of all this crazy activity, Honey and Spot’s puppies arrived! Will share more about puppy love later!

First tank in and plumbed.

A largish heap on Wednesday. It is bigger now.

Old tank being demolished. Just 3 or 4 grabs with that big claw!

There goes the floor:

2 new tanks in and old one out.

Sludge on the floor of the old tank. Ewwww!

https://www.facebook.com/della.jones.16/videos/2249562928445737/?t=

Before:

And after:

See: https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/06/26/who-wants-a-jack-russell/

The Buggy Shed:

The small tractor della loading wood – ‘helped’ by the dogs:

Going, going…

Gone:

Some timbers needed the tractor to lift.

Unfortunately had to take down the old cubby to install the new water tanks:

Made completely out of scrap for $0.00 back when the kids were little. Like all cubbies they never played in it. A hexagonal log cabin – I liked the idea.

Way it goes:

I thought of reusing the roof but it was too far gone, so it went on the fire too. Sigh!

29/06/2019: Something needs to be done about this discrimination: https://thefederalist.com/2019/06/24/psychologists-cant-figure-out-hardly-anyone-wants-to-date-a-trans-person/

29/06/2019: If you doubted that the Greens are ‘watermelons’ (green on the outside but red on the in) take a look at this new commie book from Melbourne Uni; these guys make Stalin and Mao look like pussycats: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/blogs/andrew-bolt/marxism-in-green-clothes-kept-alive-at-melbourne-uni/news-story/e558bffa0afaeee68dfa819d23fbd158

29/06/2019: The Mocker (in the Australian, ‘One the greatest contests of the millennium…is the Virtue Olympics. The defining event is the wokeathon, a superhuman event where athletes are tested in various disciplines, including self-righteousness, contrived anger, condescension, and ham acting’...https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/welcome-to-the-virtue-olympics-where-israel-folau-is-the-target/news-story/2db07c65bb334ebd5dae3fe9e7df4cd0

28/06/2019: Tiny Keychain Pen - The Tipen: ‘The most striking quality of the Tipen is its size. At 50mm long and weighing only 4.3 grams, the pen stays true to its name. Combined with its lanyard-compatible keyring attachment point, the Tipen offers so many ways to carry it so you’ll never be without a pen. The most obvious way to go is on your keys, but you can also wear it on a necklace, use it as a zipper pull for a jacket or bag, or even carry it loose in your coin pocket or travel wallet’. 5 grams in Titanium. 4 grams in Aluminium: from UK12 (June 2019). This pen is refillable and well-nigh indestructible: both water and fireproof!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1082442335/tipen-the-samlllest-edc-refill-pen-tool-ever?ref=3m79xm

I always carry one of these @ 1 gram: https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/06/14/ultralight-pen/

And a few leaves from one of these to write on:

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/06/06/waterproof-notepads/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/12/09/miniature-pens/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/12/03/ultralight-pen-2/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/07/01/tactical-pens/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/10/02/the-ultralight-persuader/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/01/02/victorinox-work-usb-multi-tools/

28/06/2019: The Federal Govt gave Rugby Australia $28 million. As they have proved themselves to be opposed to freedom of religion this money should be taken back – if it should ever have been given. Let’s see some action on this issue, Scott!

28/06/2019: ‘How unscientific many global warming claims have become. Both weather and climate are nonlinear dynamical systems, capable of producing changes without any ‘forcing’ from increasing CO2 or the Sun. Change is normal. What is abnormal is blaming every change in nature we don’t like on human activities. That’s what happened in medieval times, when witches were blamed for storms, droughts, etc’. Roy Spencer is a pre-eminent ‘climate scientist’ (jointly) in charge of the UAH satellite record: http://www.drroyspencer.com/2019/06/contrary-to-global-warming-predictions-great-lakes-water-levels-now-at-record-highs/

28/06/2019: Merkel shaking uncontrollably again – is she afraid of Donald Trump: https://www.news.com.au/world/europe/fears-for-worlds-most-powerful-woman-after-second-shaking-spell-this-month/news-story/52eb6661942808d14c5c7e9d4c70a1b6

27/06/2019: Who Wants a Jack Russell: The Jack Russell is the Swiss Army Knife of the canine world. Regular readers will know we have owned one or two of these wonderful mutts over the years. This post is to announce that our current pair, Spot and Honey are as of yesterday now the proud parents of two girls and a boy. These pups are likely to be top deer hunting dogs and will no doubt be snapped up very quickly. Let me know ASAP if you would like one and I will add you to the list.

Some recent photos:

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/04/30/does-spot-like-to-hunt-deer/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/03/01/honey/

27/06/2019: We can all live together in peace: https://www.pickeringpost.com/2019/06/26/interfaith-train-wreck-in-new-zealand/ & notice this too: https://www.weaselzippers.us/424310-new-un-plan-seeks-to-ban-criticism-of-islam/

27/06/2019: In the US property owners have had their right to just compensation restored by the (new) Supreme Court. In Oz a left-dominated High Court initiated by Rudd-Gillard etc has blocked such access – but things may change so that landowners who have lost hugely to ‘native vegetation’ or fracking bans etc may receive their financial rights: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/06/26/supreme-court-dishes-property-owners-a-fifth-amendment-victory/

27/06/2019: Beware a ‘climate emergency’. Beware ‘the end of the world is nigh.’ There is no semantic difference between these two sentences. They are both null. Meaningless. Spruiked by fantastical credos with zero grounding in ‘reality’. I will leave the second one for you to figure out. No doubt you enjoy poring through arcane theological texts as much as I do, but the first needs some critiquing: The hypothesis (Yes it is, without proof) of Anthropogenic Global Warming rests on a (supposed) correlation between the percentage of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the global temperature. What correlation there is (in fact so slight and statistically insignificant that it would not inform any public policy about anything else) shows that CO2 follows temperature and not the other way around. There is a slight rise in CO2 nine months after a warming, and a larger rise 800 years after! Yes CO2 lags temperature by 800 years. Changes in temperature are the cause of changes in CO2 – not the other way around: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/06/15/co2-global-warming-climate-and-energy-2/ And, the overwhelming percentage of CO2 (96%+) is natural and not anthropogenic, so that there is very little we can do about it anyway – but to move on: Both the percentage of CO2 and ‘world temperatures’ rest on ‘databases’ purporting to reveal each. Both are seriously faulty if not utterly fraudulent. For example the CO2 ‘record’ conjoins ‘ice core records’ (from Antarctica and the output of the Mauna Lau meteorological Station atop one of the world’s largest (CO2 belching) volcanoes on Hawaii. There is an 83 year time-shift in the records - to make them match up – as there is zero correlation between the (measured) quantity of CO2 in the air and in the snowfall of the last 83 years – so what exactly does the ice measure? This should be a warning enough that the ice core records are unreliable, but there is more: over 100,000 direct chemical assays of the CO2 percentage of the atmosphere (whose methodology is unquestioned) have been undertaken since it became possible to do so (about 1820). As you might have suspected they show CO2 varying to higher (and lower) levels than we ‘see’ today from Mauna Lau. It was much higher in the 1940s when I was born (over 500ppm!) than it is today. So, there is no reliable record of the percentage of CO2 in the atmosphere. Other methodologies (such as sediment analysis and particularly the measurement of the stomata in preserved leaves) also reveal higher levels of CO2 in the past than we see today. As to the record of ‘world temperature’. It is a complete construction. There is no ‘world temperature’ any more than there is a temperature of your garden. If you move around your half acre suburban block with a thermometer you will observe differences in temperature of as much as 5 degrees Celsius in different spots on any given day. Practically all the temperature records are land-based and further restricted to small areas of the world (where there are very large human populations – with their attendant ‘urban heat island’ effects). They are further corrupted by having not been maintained to internationally agreed standards so that the temperatures they record are mostly corrupted by other heat sources such as air conditioner outlets, their proximity to jet aircraft, buildings, foliage, swathes of tarmac and (uncalibrated) changes to the instruments themselves over the years. These highly dubious records are then subjected to various questionable ‘averaging’ methodologies eg where a single station’s (quite dubious) records can be made to represent areas of many thousand of square kilometers where no records at all exist. There simply is no record of the world’s temperature. The most reliable records we have are the weather balloon and satellite records – but they go no further back than about 1950 – which may just happen to be a generally warmer period - as compared with the well-established ‘Little Ice Age’ for example which preceded the modern warm period (prior ot about 1850). However they show no statistical ‘warming either, nor do the raw data from the land-based temperature stations. Of course you can produce any ‘trend’ you want by just choosing a particular period of ‘the records.’ For example, a period beginning in 1998 (the last ‘super El Nino’ year) will almost always be downwards, as will any period following ‘The Little Ice Age’ be upwards. Since the last Ice Age the trend will be generally upwards but from the Holocene (the warmest period in the current inter-glacial - about 8,000 years ago) the trend will be down. There has been no confirmed (measured) trend in temperature in the last century, nor has there been a (measured) trend in CO2. Again there is no (reliable) correlation between the two (except in the opposite direction – and ‘effect’ can hardly precede ‘cause’!). All that the ‘warmists’ have is a prediction (from Physics) that CO2 will absorb or reflect particular frequencies, and that this should (theoretically) produce a (slight ie < 1C degree) warming (particularly) high in the troposphere where (unfortunately) 28 million weather balloons have failed to find it over the last 70+ years (http://joannenova.com.au/2010/11/dessler-2010-how-to-call-vast-amounts-of-data-spurious/ )! In other words the (theoretical) warming produced by CO2 is ‘drowned out’ by the effects of other climate forcings (particularly eg by water vapour which is responsible for 99% of the ‘greenhouse effect’) or by the as yet poorly understood nature of the earth’s thermostatic behaviour. In short (and to sum up) there is no danger from an increase in CO2. There has been no dangerous effect on temperature from its presence – nor will there be. Instead (as it is essentially ‘plant food’) the increase in CO2 which may have occurred over the last 30 years or so (as measured at Mauna Lau) has resulted in vastly increased harvests world-wide (the lifting billions out of the most awful poverty) and by the growth of huge areas of forest. As this NASA data shows two areas the size of Australia of forest cover have been added (along with all the myriad creatures they support) as a result of the increase in CO2. What’s not to like? https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/carbon-dioxide-fertilization-greening-earth & https://wattsupwiththat.com/2018/10/04/the-most-amazing-greening-on-earth-thanks-to-increased-carbon-dioxide/

26/06/2019: The Complete ‘Must-Have’ Ultralight Hiking Accessory: Instaprivy. Only 7 pounds! No, I don’t think you will be taking this beauty hiking; for that you need this or this. But for your next 4WD ‘adventure’ it might be just the ‘bee’s knees’.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsWyb51T5HQ

https://www.instaprivy.com/

Pre-order on Indiegogo from US$75 (July 2019)

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/11/18/the-rolls-royce-of-back-country-trowels/

26/06/2019: Beware the hetero backlash: ‘Those so keen to pillory one man for his uncompromising beliefs should remember that the further a pendulum is pushed in one direction, the harder it returns in the other’ https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2019/06/diversity-is-fine-just-not-too-much-of-it/ It is not so long ago that the punishment (for homosexuality) was to be boiled in oil (Tudor period). Many people still consider homosexuality to be at very least ‘abnormal’ and ‘undesirable’ – if indeed they do not have stronger disapproval, yet it is (highly) illegal (in this nation of ‘free speech’) to say so in public. I suspect that this censorship of ‘normal’ people is perhaps the worst ‘excess’ of the pendulum (so far) – though this obviously goes much further: https://www.nowtheendbegins.com/california-middle-schools-teaching-10-year-olds-how-use-condoms-sodomy-question-their-gender-lgbtqp/ I suspect it will not be long before the majority of people are supporting Israel Folau’s approach – if they do not already, so that a true referendum on such issues would see a very different result to the recent ‘plebiscite’ which has inflicted so much (undesirable) change on so many people..

26/06/2019: Back to the Little Ice Age (if not worse): ‘What is happening in the Corn Belt is a mini version of the transition from the Medieval Warm Period to the Little Ice Age. The population of Europe exploded in benign conditions of the Medieval Warm Period from 1000 AD to 1300 AD, reaching population levels that weren’t matched again until the 19^th century. In fact parts of rural France have less population today than at the beginning of the 14^th century.

The breakover from the Medieval Warm Period to the Little Ice Age in Europe had sustained periods of bad weather characterised by severe winters and rainy and cold summers. The Great Famine of 1315 – 1317 started with bad weather in the spring of 1315. Crop failures lasted through 1316 until the summer of 1317. The population decline over the two years is thought to be about 10%, associated with “extreme levels of crime, disease, mass death, cannibalism and infanticide.” These conditions may be less in the Mormons amongst us who are instructed to keep one year’s worth of food in stock.

The Modern Warm Period ended in 2006. Current solar activity is back to levels of the Little Ice Age. To paraphrase Santayana, those who don’t remember history are condemned to being surprised and unprepared when it repeats itself.

A large and increasing number of nations are feeding their population growth with imported grain. That is going to be become more expensive to continue, with or without an early frost in the Corn Belt. Global warming hysteria has been a consequence of very benign conditions for the OECD countries where it is concentrated. That angst will be supplanted by more basic concerns’ https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/06/23/the-setup-is-like-1315/

26/06/2019: GoFundMe is happy to fund a mosque but not a Christian fighting for free speech - as the ‘march through the institutions’ continues. The Left are taking over ‘Big Media (think Facebook, Google etc) so that alternative ideas will be relegated to the pub – Oh, what’s that you say? We can no longer go to the pub to have free speech as the (Oh so Left Wing – the Nazis were you know) Gestapo waits on every corner claiming to be saving our lives as they steal them from us…I notice that Israel’s new funding page has raised more in 24 hours than GoFundMe raised in four days anyway. Go Israel! Strange isn’t it: here I am an atheist cheering on a Christian who warned me I would go to Hell! Politics certainly does make ‘strange bedfellows’! As at 8AM today, the Australian Christian League's Folau fund stands at a whopping $1.775M!!!

25/06/2019: Believe in free speech? You can donate to Israel Folau here now: https://www.acl.org.au/donate_izzy

25/06/2019: Why does this not surprise me much? https://www.weaselzippers.us/424007-study-shows-92-of-left-wing-activists-live-with-their-parents-one-in-three-is-unemployed/

25/06/2019: Life on Mars – or just Spring? https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/06/24/curiosity-detects-unusually-high-methane-levels/

25/06/2019: Sceptical Environmentalist Bjorn Lomborg: Energy Solution Hinges on Better Technology: ‘The reality is, today, solar and wind energy together deliver only about 1 per cent of global energy. The International Energy Agency estimates that even by 2040 these will cover a little more than 4 per cent of global energy.One of the world’s leading energy researchers, Czech-Canadian Vaclav Smil, has said: “The great hope for a quick and sweeping transition to renewable energy is wishful thinking.”Former US vice-president Al Gore’s chief scientific adviser, Jim Hansen, who put global warming on the agenda back in 1988, agreed, saying: “Suggesting that renewables will let us phase rapidly off fossil fuels in the United States, China, India, or the world as a whole is almost the equivalent of believing in the Easter Bunny and Tooth Fairy.”’ http://www.climatescience.org.nz/blog/energy-solution-to-climate-change-hinges-on-better-technology/Lomborg_wants_better_technology.pdf

24/06/2019: It would be great to see a list of Australian companies doing this: https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/apple-black-decker-and-steve-madden-among-us-companies-moving-production-out-of-china-heres-the-full-list

24/06/2019: Carbon Zero Unicorn Fantasy: ‘There are 11,161 days until 2050. Getting to net zero by 2050 requires replacing one megatonne of fossil fuel consumption every day starting now.” On a global basis, such a transition would require building the equivalent of one new 1.5-gigawatt nuclear plant every day for the next 30 years’ https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/06/23/terence-corcoran-why-the-global-fossil-fuel-phase-out-is-a-fantasy-akin-to-time-travel/

24/06/2019: Consequences of minimum wage legislation or falling unemployment? https://hotair.com/archives/2019/06/21/mcdonalds-testing-kitchen-robots-voice-recognition-drive-thru/

23/06/2019: The Pack Rifle: The only readily available sub 500 gram take down rifle available in Australia is this little beauty. It is available in .22LR only and single shot. However if you need a bunny or perhaps a duck for the pot, or some protection from wild dogs (which are becoming ever more dangerous) in the High Country etc, it may well be your choice.

‘Pack-Rifle is an incredibly light weight, take-down, utility rifle. The receiver, and most other parts, of the Pack-Rifle are machined from high strength aluminum, while most wear parts and fasteners are constructed of stainless steel. The barrel is a precision button rifled, Cro-Moly liner with a carbon fiber composite outer. Carbon fiber is also used for the butt stock tube of the rifle. This construction makes the Pack-Rifle not only the lightest rifle out there, but very weather resistant as well.

But the feather-weight of our Pack-Rifle is only part of the story. In addition to being light, the Pack-Rifle also takes down to a very small size. The same mechanism that allows the loading and extraction of spent shells also enables the rifle to take down into two pieces, in less that 2 seconds without tools! It reassembles just as fast.

Other features include, but are not limited to, storage in the handle and butt stock tube of the rifle.’

Specs:

Weight: Only 15.5oz (442 grams)!

Overall Length: 33″
Takedown Length: 17″

Caliber: .22LR

Sights: adjustable peep

Width: 7/8in.

Height: 4in.

Available eg: Magnum Sports Oz Gun Sales & etc from A$655 (June 2019)

There is one other alternative I am aware of which is RotaLocura’s offering which also comes in .22 Magnum using a Crickett Single Shot Rifle action and may also be available in a 7 shot repeater using Keystone’s Model 722. I am not sure of the repeater or the weights of it or of the Magnum model. The single shot model is just 15 oz (428 grams)in the most basic configuration. You will need export and import licences to get it over from the States.

I am working on one right now for my 70th birthday which is (unfortunately- or fortunately) coming up soon. Even in the single shot model, being a bolt action it would be much easier to reload than th epack rifle whose action looks rather cumbersome to me. If the repeater will not work I will go for the magnum model which though it will add a couple of more ounces (and make the ammo more expensive) will provide much superior stopping power. The muzzle velocity of the Magnum round is 50% up on the .22 long rifle, so much more suitable for mid range game such as small deer, wild goats, foxes, wallabies etc with a well-aimed shot.

Before John Howard’s draconian gun laws many other choices were available. I had a lovely .22 automatic Armalite AR-7 which used to go everywhere with me and which weighed just over a kilogram for example, but I may only use it around the farm nowadays.

I also own a .410 Rossi single-barrel shotgun which weighs just on 1.5 kg. Using solids this has considerable stopping power and of course you can also carry other rounds more suitable to different game you may encounter – but 1.5 kg is a lot more than .5 kg when you are my age!

Thought it is also illegal (what is not?) a shanghai can be an interesting lightweight alternative for birds and small game. This ‘pocket’ model is very compact and light (at 55 grams).

There is a choice of a number of other ‘survival’ or pack guns such as Chappa’s ‘Little Badger‘ (also available in Australia from A$330) but all of these are at a considerable weight disadvantage than the two I showcased at the beginning. The ‘Little Badger’ no doubt an excellent firearm, (also available in .22 Magnum) weighs in at 1.33 kg for example.

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2015/06/15/the-ultimate-survival-gun/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/08/02/packable-rifle/

23/06/2019: Ireland returns to the Stone Age as there are still plenty of stones: This is the kind of madness we dodged by not electing Shorten: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/06/21/climate-emergency-ireland-set-to-ban-private-cars-while-planning-mass-third-world-migration/

23/06/2019: So, no probs with the Great Barrier Reef then, but a serious problem for how science is done: http://joannenova.com.au/2019/06/peter-ridd-the-great-barrier-reef-has-about-the-same-amount-of-coral-as-in-1985/

23/06/2019: You thought you had a dangerous job: https://www.israelhayom.com/2019/06/15/a-jew-in-ss-uniform/

22/06/2019: Wearing a hair shirt is not in fashion but virtue signaling certainly is. Even those determinedly ‘green’ Germans don’t want to change their holiday plans because of climate change. You would think Lufthansa would stop flying to the Maldives or something: http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-06/18/c_138153926.htm

22/06/2019: The Nanny State is just nonsense: https://pjmedia.com/parenting/8-fun-and-or-dangerous-activities-enjoyed-by-past-generations-that-todays-kids-will-never-experience/ plus some thoughts about Benjamin Franklin’s upbringing: https://fee.org/articles/four-child-rearing-practices-ben-franklin-s-father-used-to-raise-a-great-man/

22/06/2019: Justin is even sicker than Ardern – if that is possible. This is the sort of nonsense we would have had with Shorten. Thank goodness for Scomo: http://vaticanenquirer.com/canada-prime-minister-justin-trudeau-converting-from-christianity-to-islam/?fbclid=IwAR1mGMGlughiH5N_b9-tI3nKqzBjcgmgHuUBTqBixZyJdc2oV4YBet94gkI

21/06/2019: If I can’t understand algebra, then nobody can study algebra…The sin of stupidity does not lie in low ability, for which no one is responsible, but in trying to hamstring the able and outlaw superiority. Which, as a country, we are busily doing: http://www.unz.com/freed/stuyvesant-high-versus-china-rail/

21/06/2019: What’s not to like about wind farms then? Not just bird and bat munchers which produce no net electricity for all their billions of investment: http://joannenova.com.au/2019/06/finally-world-first-study-on-nine-houses-shows-wind-towers-make-pulsing-noise-for-3-5-km/

21/06/2019: Extinction is not forever: If a large 90cm cat can ‘hide’ for centuries on a small island like Corsica, what other creatures might be out there? Hope for Tassie yet? I have seen a number of strange creatures in the Australian bush which are undocumented by science. https://www.news.com.au/travel/world-travel/europe/mysterious-catfox-believed-to-be-a-myth-is-finally-discovered-on-mediterranean-island/news-story/5a428be8b500d1a15ee06c2975cb127f

21/06/2019: Upper Yarra Track Map: Here is a map showing the whole of the (Extended) Upper Yarra Track from Lilydale all the way to Moe, approximately 250 km and 8-10 days: Australia’s oldest and best long distance hiking track. It could be a better map, but it is better than no map. I have used the 1:250,000 Australian Topo map available free from the Australian Government. You should be able to zoom in on it if you (Right Click) ‘View Image’, then Zoom (Control +) a few times. (Unfortunately a Plugin has shrunk the map. See the Pdf version below) In the Track Instructions you can find suggested maps (and Apps) you should buy for walking the track. I am working on a better map which will be posted on the Track Instructions page in the near future. For further information go to: http://finnsheep.com/THE%20UPPER%20YARRA%20WALKING%20TRACK.htm

Upper Yarra Track Map

NB. Below is a full-sized copy of it as a pdf. You should be able to open and zoom in on it, or copy it to your phone and view it with Pdf Maps/Avenza.

Upper Yarra Track.pdf

20/06/2019: The world the new tech oligarchs are creating is more frightening than ‘Brave New World’: https://quillette.com/2019/06/19/what-do-the-oligarchs-have-in-mind-for-us/

19/06/2019: A trillion down the Drain! So like Gillard. If all they can do is leave a mess and a huge debt people will get sick of choosing women politicians: https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/06/13/theresa-may-1-trillion-net-zero-carbon-suicide-note/ How much is a trillion pounds? If you started spending at a pound a second you would have to have started back in Neanderthal times to get to a trillion pounds today. Big Bucks!

19/06/2019: I think Robin Askin was right: ‘Run Over the Bastards’, he said: They can apply for a permit to protest at a particular place and time. After losing this issue at an election only a month ago they need to get out of the way of the majority who voted for Adani: http://joannenova.com.au/2019/06/adaniphobia-ministers-cry-anti-coal-protesters-glue-themselves-to-a-crosswalk/

19/06/2019: Good Grief – I thought the main problem with phone use was the lack of anything intelligent to say: https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/human-body/younger-generations-are-growing-horns-in-the-back-of-their-head/news-story/246c5dfb45d39c8200c9052b4a841c6e

18/06/2019: Ain't it the truth: The Good Intentions Paving Company - (With a big

cheer to Saul Bellow): https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2019/06/the-good-intentions-paving-company/

18/06/2019: Why I Don’t Believe in Science – what a great essay: https://judithcurry.com: /2019/03/26/why-i-dont-believe-in-science/

18/06/2019: A Wonderful Example Of Greens Loving a Forest: Old Growth Forest Cut Down for Wind Farm

17/06/2019: 36 years ago, ‘I have a right to be a woman.’ (And you didn't realise it was only a joke?) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFBOQzSk14c

17/06/2019: The Science is Settled: ‘Global warming alarmism, which falsely assumes that increasing atmospheric CO2 causes catastrophic global warming, is disproved – essentially, it assumes that the future is causing the past. In reality, atmospheric CO2 changes lag global temperature changes at all measured time scales…including ~9 months in the modern data record and much longer in the ice core record …Christy & McNider (2017) and Lewis & Curry (2018) proved that climate sensitivity to increasing CO2 is too low to cause dangerous warming – see Section #11. …Temperature drives atmospheric CO2 much more than CO2 drives temperature. Climate is NOT highly sensitive to increasing CO2. Increasing CO2 will NOT cause dangerous global warming…Scientists including Salby, Berry and Harde have hypothesized that the increase in atmospheric CO2 to more than 400 ppm is largely natural and not mostly human-made.’ https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/06/15/co2-global-warming-climate-and-energy-2/

17/06/2019: A Brave Man Speaking the Truth. Well said Israel Folau. I am not a Christian (or even a theist) but if I substitute the word ’evil’ for ‘devil’ I’m pretty much in total agreement with him. And it is just utterly evil that folks should be being persecuted for their (mainly mainstream) thoughts and beliefs. For example, I do not believe for a minute that a referendum allowing same sex marriage would succeed, but I also believe that we ought to have one, not the farrago we had instead where the choices and consequences were never put clearly to voters as would be the case in a referendum. If you had known that you would never be able to have an opinion (about practically anything) again, or that it would lead to an explosion in ‘gender dysphoria’, the legalisation of polygamy and bestiality or that your little girl was going to be taught same sex in kindergarten or have to share toilets with adult men (and a thousand other evils) I doubt you would have voted for same sex marriage either. I did not.: https://www.news.com.au/sport/sports-life/israel-folaus-fresh-attack-on-homosexuals-transgenders/news-story/a415b2eaca3d7da107e0fa5a3f420151

17/06/2019: Thermoplastics #101: I have been playing a bit with heat sealable materials. I decided to buy a sealing iron $A50 – a sound buy. Tried it out on one of the pillows I bought for my sleeping pad side insulation which I had been reluctant to touch as I was finding it so comfortable, but at 100 grams I didn’t think I wanted to carry it. I have shaved half its weight off (now less than 50 grams) and if anything it is even more comfortable. As you can see I have added grommets, some 1 mm dyneema cord and a micro clam cleat so I can attach it to the mat. If I were using two of them for side insulation I would leave the grommet attachment points on the side of the pillow instead of the ends as shown here.

Heat sealing iron for modelling

You really need to try a little bit of such experimentation yourself before you start cutting down an expensive mat. I have an Exped Winter mat which is just about the best mat I have ever used (and so warm too), but it is 6″ longer than I need it to be which apart from the surplus grams is a bit of a nuisance too, as I am most comfortable with my heels just hanging over the end and with the extra six inches this makes for a bit of wriggling downhill every time I get back into bed which at my age (as you will find out for yourselves soon enough) is more often than I would like. It will weigh 394 grams when I cut it down, have an R-rating of 5 and is 9 cm (3 1/2″) thick!

Original and modified pillow

A little more playing around with cutting down pillows for side insulation, and trying to make a cheap air frame for my pack and I will be ready to give the pad shortening a go. After I have succeeded at that there are a number of other projects I want to try. I will have a go at a DIY pack raft (which will save more than half the normal purchase price- currently AU $251.67 Jun 2019). I may even get around to making that inflatable bathtub groundsheet I have threatened. I need a quantity of more experimentation before I am good with lighter fabrics such as Graham Air pillows etc, but I will get there. BTW the DIY pack raft folks have all the materials you will need to get into heat sealable projects yourself. This repair tape looks particularly useful, as do the valves if you are making your own projects.

PS: You can just use a normal domestic iron (though it might be a little more difficult to control the temperature and to get into those smaller spaces). I have used ours though in the past to reseal split seams on various pads/pillows.

PPS: These pillows from Amazon weighed 43 grams each and cost A$2.88 for 2! They are supposed to be 43 cm x 31 cm (but in reality 34 cm x 22.5 cm), have a nice soft feel and should cut down to a bit over half of that, say about 25 grams each or 50 grams for the side insulation set-up. They have one of those push-in plastic valves (which don’t like). The valves on the orange ones above are great.

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/05/04/stop-losing-your-pillow/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/09/09/modifyingshortening-hiking-mats/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/01/02/new-diy-pack-raft/

https://www.diypackraft.com/shop/merchandise/adhesives-sealants-merchandise/outdoor-repair-tape/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/10/27/diy-air-frame-pack/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/07/04/how-many-of-these-needed-to-make-a-pack-raft/

16/06/2019: ‘The Rich Get Rich and the Poor Get Poorer’ #1:. It’s a song, stupid. It’s not Economics #101! You forgot the next line: ‘In the meantime, in between times, ain’t we got fun?’ The reason, you have that time to have fun is because you don’t have to worry about money. That’s all taken care of by Economics #101. Commerce is not a zero sum game where both sides of the equation balance out. There aren’t winners and losers as suggested in the first line. In fact everyone is a winner. Here’s how it works: Many people say eg that Jeff Bezos, the richest man who has ever lived go that way by exploiting the poor – in effect by stealing other people’s money. Nothing could be further from the truth! He got so rich because hundreds of millions of ‘poor’ people wanted to take advantage of him! He offered things for sale cheaper than people could buy those items anywhere else, and people who wanted the goods more than they wanted their money, or more than they wanted to give more of their money to someone else for the same thing took advantage of Jeff’s ‘making a loss’ and bought the goods from him. Then, of course, they had a little more money left over than they would have and were able to save some, or spend it on some other things, so that they were also richer. In the meantime folks who wanted to sell things on Amazon found a market that they would not have had and also sold more gods at a profit than they otherwise would have – and also got richer. The manufacturers who made the stuff also sold more things than they otherwise would have, and also got richer than they would have been. All these people had employees who had work because of the extra demand also were richer because they had more work. Everyone got a little richer – just that Jeff got a lot richer than everyone else because his was the largest turnover. During the last 30 years or so billions of people (literally) have been lifted out of grinding poverty and are headed for the middle class because of commerce just like this. There are no losers!

16/06/2019: Pre-Industrial CO2: http://www.warwickhughes.com/icecore/

http://www.mitosyfraudes.org/Calen8/CCR-Kauffman.html

16/06/2019: Ardern is wrong: ‘Calls to suppress Tarrant’s views from being known and discussed are mistaken. As Solzhenitsyn stated, it is “ideology—that is what gives evil-doing its long-sought justification and gives the evildoer the necessary steadfastness and determination”. The real struggle we face in the West is over moral worldviews which despise the value of human life. Put simply, it is the erosion of the ethic that we should treat others as we would ourselves want to be treated’ A very important read: https://quadrant.org.au/magazine/2019/05/the-eco-fascist-ideology-of-the-christchurch-killer/

15/06/2019: How many thousands of poor people are dying each year from mining the ‘rare earths’ necessary for the ‘renewables’ industry – and that’s not all: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/06/13/shutting-down-middle-and-blue-collar-america-president/

15/06/2019: China leads the Cold War today. The battle is neither won nor lost, but still to be fought: https://www.commentarymagazine.com/foreign-policy/asia/china/tienamen-unfinished-business-of-the-cold-war/

15/06/2019: ‘Democrats want voters to “say yes to climate change” but not to discuss the non-existent cost benefits. As I’ve said many times, the voters may “believe” the climate is changing but they don’t care enough to pay for it. Only 3% of Americans name “environment” as top issue. When it comes to funding, almost half, 42%, of US adults don’t even want to pay a paltry, pathetic, $12 a year to stop climate change. Globally, 63% don’t want their dollars spent on the environment…’ http://joannenova.com.au/2019/06/why-the-democrats-dont-want-a-debate-about-climate-change/

14/06/2019: The Wonder of Adani: Australians can feel enormously proud that this wonderful project is now (belatedly) going ahead. It will provide an additional 250 million poor Indians with electricity which is almost certainly the mot important step upwards in their lives and will probably be the single biggest project to alleviate world poverty ever undertaken in the history of the world. Those who have stood against it are clearly in favour of mass starvation and all the horrors of poverty and suffering in the Third World. They are not nice people no matter how they may try to explain to you that their ‘hearts are in the right place’!

14/06/2019: The Peterborough By-Election in the UK installed a Labour member in an electorate where 62% voted Conservative – the same as has happened to the whole country of New Zealand! The dangers of division: https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/06/07/delingpole-vote-conservative-get-labour/ By the same token the Conservatives are beginning to learn their lesson. Let’s hope they do here too: https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/06/10/conservatives-drift-rightwards-the-farage-effect/

14/06/2019: Artificial Wombs – pushing the boundaries. Scientists have pretty much demonstrated the technology of keeping foetuses alive reliably outside the mother from approx 22-24 weeks. (This was with sheep which are very similarly sized hence a ‘popular’ experimental animal). This boundary will be pushed back towards conception. At the same time embryos are being created and kept alive for longer and longer though there are rules about how long this is allowed to continue. So far they ave done so for at least two weeks. This means that already today only half (20/40 weeks) of ‘gestation’ needs to occur in the womb. Eventually these two technologies will meet and the need for women’s wombs for reproduction will cease entirely. Parturition too will cease. Working women will be able to simply order a baby for nine months hence without suffering any inconvenience (except to their wallets) themselves – and so (presumably) will men! By the same token women seeking an abortion will not have to cope with the implication that their baby will die. Instead it will simply be removed from their body then cultured on - to be offered months later to a long queue of infertile couples/singles eager to have a baby of their own. Currently the number of couples seeking babies exceeds the number of abortions. ‘Abortion’ clinics’ rules will have to be changed to allow them to sell such services to their clients at a profit. Whatever ‘moral’ concerns devolve around the issue of abortion will change utterly as no babies will be killed in the process. Of course, if the resultant babies are raised in crèches the need for parenthood will disappear completely too. ‘Oh, wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world …’: https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2019/03/artificial-wombs-are-getting-better-and-better/ & https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/05/04/human-embryos-kept-alive-in-lab-for-unprecedented-13-days-so-sci/

13/06/2019: When the adults are in charge: https://hotair.com/archives/2019/06/06/something-big-just-happened-mexicos-southern-border/

13/06/2019: Kiwis Say ‘No’ to Gun Ban. Good for them: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-06-10/kiwis-just-say-no-gun-ban

13/06/2019: The Sefka/Batty Effect: Let me first say that I do not like either of these people. I dislike Sefka because he is a commie thug. He now denies having said that Batty’s ‘Family Violence’ campaign was ‘unfair to men’ – which may just be the only ‘true/untrue’ thing he has said. I was listening to the stats coming out for ‘family murders’ in NSW the other day. From memory the victims (for last year) were 14 women, 15 men and 7 children – probably rather less than the numbers who choked to death on food. There has been ample evidence over the years that women are worse (statistically) perpetrators of ‘family violence’ than men – which does not make it right! It just makes our approach to it wrong, particularly the vilification of men, and the absence of refuges and support centres for male victims. That being said, I have zero sympathy for Batty who allowed her son unexpected unsupervised access to her estranged husband in defiance of a current intervention order she had taken out because he had threatened to kill the child with a knife. A less sympathetic person might somehow reason that she was (at least partially) responsible for the deaths of both those people – and did not have a lot to teach us about ‘family violence’, except perhaps ‘Don’t do as I did’!

12/06/2019: Wonderful Collectible Shopping Bags - I liked The Weird Adult Video Emporium: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=472790556811080

12/06/2019: Noctilucent Clouds – something to look forward to as a result of the solar minimum: http://www.drroyspencer.com/2019/06/electric-blue-night-clouds-are-invading-the-u-s/

12/06/2019: The Diversity Scam: https://quadrant.org.au/magazine/2019/06/how-diversity-narrows-the-mind/ See Also: http://coyoteblog.com/coyote_blog/2019/06/my-prediction-of-the-next-new-thing-rich-renting-accommodation-addresses-to-boost-kids-adversity-scores.html

11/06/2019: Lumir-k: Cooking oil fueled LED lamp: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/lumir-k-the-one-and-only-cooking-oil-led-lamp#/ & Lumir-C Candle Powered Led lamp: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/525554173/lumir-c-candle-powered-led-lamp

&https://drop.com/buy/biolite-campstove-bundle#overview

11/06/2019: Elon Musk is amazing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlink_(satellite_constellation)

11/06/2019: Understanding Inter-Glacials: The highest temperature and sea level occurred early in the Holocene and the lowest during the Little Ice Age. The Little Ice Age should be understood in the context of the world slowly returning to the next ice age, rather than as an indicator of AGW: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/06/06/the-holocene-sea-level-highstand/

09/06/2019: A Wider Lighter DIY Sleeping Pad: Unless you are tiny (like my wife Della) I’m sure that you have found that when you sleep on your back your arms fall off the sides of a ‘standard’ 20″ sleeping pad such as my wonderful Exped Winter mat shown. This is both uncomfortable and cold. Of course you could buy a (much) wider mat – but they are usually only 24-25″ so not much better, particularly if you are (likely) larger than me, and they can add hundreds of grams to your pack load too.

Though enjoying a good night’s sleep is just about the most important thing you can have in the wilderness (to which add, having a great time and getting home safe), a wider pad is not necessarily going to do it for you, particularly with all that extra weight. What you see here is a way of doing it without adding any weight at all – as the three pillows shown likely weigh less than the one pillow you are currently using!

The little $20 gadget which did this for me is a Kleva Seal Bag Sealer which I bought recently from K-Mart. It will seal up the Graham Air pillows I wrote about here, but I am still looking for something which will do a better job. I would like the sealed strip to be wider. You will want one of these though for your freezer bag cookery & etc. They are just great, and attach magnetically to the fridge.

I have added four small (sewing) grommets to the two side pillows. I will attach them to the sleeping mat like I did the Stop Losing Your Pillow. That will pull them in close and keep them in just the right position. Each of them weighs 19 grams at the moment but they are nearly 18″ long and need only be around 12″. Some cord and a couple of these clam cleats will only add a gram or two. So the wider mat will weigh an additional ounce at most. I think sewn loops of gross grain ribbon will work more robustly than the grommets which are a bit flimsy.

You will also notice the foreshortened pillow I wrote about before. It weighs 12 grams. You will have to be careful with these pillows, but I used one for over two years (until I replaced it as it was so shamefully grubby), so if you are careful you will get some miles out of them – and anyway they only cost about $2 each.

I was going to use the two pillows I wrote about here (which would make a much more robust set-up, but I have been sleeping on the floor in the loungeroom of late (on account of some insecticide poisoning – more about that later) and I have found them just too comfy to be cutting down right now. Besides they weigh around 100 grams each (which would make the set-up using two halves) that weight. I have ordered a couple of lighter ones from Amazon.

Of course you could place some insulation (eg Primaloft Gold, or etc) inside the pillow before you sealed it up to make for a winterised kit.

PS: You could also use the Kleva Seal to create a long, thin plastic tube with which you could make one of these, an Inflatable Bathtub Groundsheet. Another idea I am toying with is an inflatable space blanket quilt. Stay posted…

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/06/30/exped-synmat-hl-winter-m/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/08/25/diy-super-ultralight-pillow/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/05/15/cheap-comfy-hiking-pillow/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/05/04/stop-losing-your-pillow/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2014/12/14/the-perfect-guy-line-for-a-hiking-tenttarp/

https://klevarange.com.au/products/kleva-seal-bag-sealer-instantly-reseal-the-original-bag

10/06/2019: Jim Molan deserves a spot in the Senate: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/jim-molan-records-highest-senate-vote-in-federal-election/news-story/8ff877e60851725d22b02c5de7c939f4?fbclid=IwAR21ukZrMQO_bcOj9Tu8cocEB9YDXKzPFwTlFnzoMNYzn8B6x8xo2EXvvYI

10/06/2019: The Ever-Increasing Demand for a Designer Vagina: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-7119039/Women-spending-1-200-vaginal-rejuvenation-treatments-boost-sex-life.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ico=taboola_feed PS: Just love the facial expressions!

10/06/2019: 2.5 X: The Limit of Human Endurance: https://phys.org/news/2019-06-limit-human-science.html

09/06/2019: Upper Yarra Track Instructions: I have posted dozens of times about this wonderful trail which (in an extended version) can be walked all the way from Moe to Lilydale. Here is some indication of track times and distances and here is a detailed set of instructions. Below you can find some of my posts about it in the order you would encounter them if you began from Moe Railway Station.

You will see here Gerard White’s trip vivid report of a week spent (going the opposite direction) on the track recently. You will also notice that some posts suggest a ‘winter route’ where you can avoid the Baw Baw Plateau when it is snowed in. There is public transport to Moe, Warburton and Noojee. There are also a number of towns/resupply points along the way.

The route no longer goes past the tallest falls in Victoria the Yarra Falls on Falls Creek in the Upper yarra Catchment. There is a spot on the Forty Mile Break rd where you are only about a kilometre from the falls which intrepid visitors still sometimes illegally access. They are clearly well worth the visit.

Section One: Moe-Yallourn North Rail Trail

This lovely trail starts @ 200 metres East of Moe Railway Station. It passes through Moe’s wonderful Botanic Gardens nestled along Narracan Creek and follows a fringe of bush to the splendid Latrobe River where the awesome cooling towers of the Yallourn Power Station are a reminder of the unity of mature and artifice. (10 km – 2.5 hours)

Section Two: Yallourn North to Wirilda Park

This section is easy going along quiet country lanes with lovely vistas and ample shady spots if you need a roadside rest to enjoy the view. You look out Southwards over the verdant Latrobe Valley towards the beautiful Strzelecki Ranges, a tongue of forest which extends all the way down to Wilsons Promontory. (15 km – 3.5-4 hours)

Section Three: Wirilda to Moondarra

The track follows the true right bank (ie facing downstream) of the Tyers river until it crosses on an old pipeline. There are numerous spots where you could stop for a picnic, overnight or for a fish. The impressive cliffs below Peterson’s lookout are a feature. Birdlife, wildlife and wild flowers abound. There are a number of side tracks which can be explored. Keep your eye out for signs of the old pipelines one of which was made of wood! (15 km – 6 hours)

Section Four: Moondarra to Erica

When you come to the end of the Wirilda Walking Track, our walk continues on East along the W18 through beautiful serene forest. The first suitable campsite, a really beautiful spot with water is when the trail crosses Jacob’s Creek on the Old Traralgon ‘Road’. (20 km – 5.5 hours)

Sidetrip: Horseshoe Tunnel/Coopers Creek

Only a bit over a km from Platina Station on the walk from Erica to Walhalla you can take this lovely walk down to the historic Horseshoe Tunnel. The tunnel was created over a century ago to divert the river so the dry river bed could be sluiced for gold. The sidetrip takes about 1.5 hours (or several days if you decide to camp out!) This early section is fringed with wild cherries. Seats are provided at strategic intervals for the weary traveler.

Section Five: Erica to Walhalla

This is a delightful easy section following historic tramways linking two of the most beautiful small towns in the world. It perambulates gently through majestic mountain ash and tree fern gullies with splendid views of the awesome Thomson River. It offers numerous opportunities to sightsee, sidetrack or camp. ( 12 km – @ 4 hours.)

Side Trip: Poverty Point

From the Thomson River Bridge/s (‘Thomson Station’) you can walk a lovely 8 km circuit up along the West bank of the river then down along the East bank. If I were walking the entire UYT I would come down to Thomson Station as soon as it joined the Mormon Town Track and walk up the West bank as it is far more beautiful, and would otherwise be missed – as would the two excellent campsites to be found along it. ( 8 km – 2-3 hrs)

O’Shea’s Mill

Now (also) called East Tyers Campground I see. This is the first major stop after you leave Walhalla (12.5km away), some of them fairly steep. As you can see it is where the Alpine Walking Track crosses the East Tyers River. Campsites, Water, Toilet available. You could have dropped by Rawson on the way here for supplies. It is also where you would turn off for the Winter Route to avoid snow/cold dangers on the Baw Baw Plateau.

Winter Route:

East Tyers Walking Track

I spent six hours yesterday working on this excellent track which had been long neglected and overgrown. Apparently there were six other people on it too, though I never saw them – which indicates you can have a lovely solitary experience on the track. It connects O’Shea’s Mill to Caringal Scout camp and thus comprises an interesting addition to the Upper Yarra Track Winter route

A Beautiful World

We did a little afternoon excursion today to check on the existence of some old walking tracks around Erica. The first pic is of Steve Jones with Spot where the walking track disappears at Tyers Junction near the Caringal Scout Camp. It seems to be one of the ‘roads less traveled’ judging by the overgrowth of blackberries and abundance of fallen timber.

Caringal Scout Camp: Tyers Junction

You might reach here by walking down the rail trail from Collins Siding (10 km – 2-3 hours), where the cottages are on the main Erica-Moe Rd at the Caringal turnoff. The trail runs along behind the cottage on the West side starting to the North of them. Or, you might come down the East Tyers Walking Track (I will check whether this is still open). We came along Finns Track from O’Shea’s Mill via the South Face Rd, a pretty quiet forest path. All three routes are a similar distance (and time)

Western Tyers: Morgans Mill & Skinners Camp

From Caringal you can journey to Western Tyers via Morgans Mill Rd (open forest) or Buckle Spur, cool wet forest tree ferns and mountain ash. Probably 2-3 hours either way. There used to be a walking track along the river which followed the old railway line all the way to Growlers, but it has grown over (we checked). It was really beautiful. A job of clearing for someone, but maybe not me.

Western Tyers River – Great for Crays

Escaping the heat: The Western Tyers is the BEST place I know to spend a couple of hot days: nestled under the South face of Mt Baw Baw, enclosed by Antarctic Beech and majestic Mountain Ash, it is always a lovely spot on such a day. You can brave the icy water (if you dare) or just lounge around in the shade on a folding chair, betimes catching the odd spinyback crayfish or mountain trout – or a platypus if your fancy so takes you

The Western Tyers

Spent a couple of days at our old campsite on the Western Tyers (haven’t camped there for years). Still as beautiful as ever. We will be going back for a longer stay. So many beautiful places in Victoria. This tree has had thirty years to fall on us. Just have to give it another chance. Lots of trout and crays we haven’t eaten from this excellent stream

Western Tyers to Tanjil Bren

After you have camped the night, cooked and eaten your trout &/or crayfish, walk West along the Tyers. The Western Tyers Road follows the course of the old timber tramline which carried the forest’s products via Caringal to Collins Siding (Erica) and onwards to a wider market where they were used to construct houses and buildings elsewhere in Victoria – and sometimes much farther afield.

Kirchubel: If you go nowhere else in the world, at least go here

Just a few kms walk outside the small township of Tanjil Bren in Gippsland Victoria is the most beautiful place in the whole world! You go out along Saxtons Road beginning in the heart of Tanjil Bren.

Downey to Newlands

Last Monday we spent ‘beating around the bush’ near Downey (Tanjil Bren area). Downey is another one of those ‘lost’ towns of the Victorian mountains. Pretty much all that remains is this huge sawdust heap in the forest: how many woodland giants went to make it up I wonder? Mostly the trees milled here were fire killed mountain ash from the vast ‘Black Friday’ fires of 1939

Up Into the Singing Mountains

Our family celebrate Xmas tomorrow (due to work commitments), so what better day to continue our exploration of the ‘closed track’ which used to link Downey (North of Tanjil Bren) with Newlands Rd (Baw Baw Plateau)? We are hoping that this track will complete our ‘Winter Route’ of The Upper Yarra Track

NB: You can alternatively walk from Tanjil Bren to Toorongo along the Link Rd ( a couple of hours at most – water every couple of km). There is a camp at Toorongo Road intersection with toilets and water! Just before you reach Toorongo you can take the Mundic Road and head for Toorongo Falls and Noojee.

End of Winter Route

Section Seven: Mushroom Rocks Carpark to Phillack Saddle

This is a beautiful easy section comprising widely varying vegetation and topography, the spectacular ‘Mushroom Rocks’, the ruin of the Talbot Peak hut, Mt St Phillack, the highest point on the Baw Baws, and a delightful camp at Phillack Saddle. Side trips can be taken to Mt St Gwinear and Baw Baw Alpine Village.

It is about 20 minutes walk from the car park (toilets, water, scenic side-trip) to the Mushroom Rocks where there is scout hut accommodation if you have arranged it. It is another hour to Talbot Peak hut site (each way). From there it is about 2.5 hours to the St Gwinear turn-off and about another half hour to the Phillack Saddle and and the Baw Baw turn-off and a further 1-1.5 hours to the Baw Baw Village. Say about 5.5 hours from the car park to the Village each way.

Sidetrip: Baw Baw to Mt St Phillack

What a way to escape the heat! Others may flock to the beach. We give our hearts to the mountains. Mt Baw Baw was to be 8C cooler than home (with no power) and with a delightful cooling 30 kph breeze. When we left our car at the bottom of Candleheath Drive (Go down Frosti Lane next to the shop until you come to the sign for Mueller’s Track) it was a balmy 24C with a cool breeze blowing.

Section Eight: St Gwinear Track Junction to Whitelaw’s Hut

The route along the tops is a delightful mix of alpine heath and snow gums. Every couple of kms you will find a small stream (sometimes to the side of the track) with fresh water. For example there is water near the St Gwinear turnoff, just after Mt St Phillack, at Mustering Flat and in the valley next to the Mt Whitelaw Hut site.

Section Eight: Baw Baw to Newlands Rd

Della: Steve and I, with Tiny and Spot, spent the last 2 days walking over the Baw Baw Plateau from Baw Baw across to Newlands Road on the Upper Yarra Walking Track. It was a delightful walk and we selected good weather for it (which is needed!). One section on the first day was particularly hard-going, and only on the second day did we discover that we had taken an old, heavily overgrown route to Phillack saddle instead of the (apparently!) new route which now exists.

Section Eight: Phillack Saddle to Block 10 Road

What a lovely section of track! The high country has so much beauty, so many surprises. Phillack Saddle is a wonderful spot to camp on lawns tended by nature’s gardeners amid the alpine heath. There is beautiful clear water just off the saddle and a lovely stream (below) at Freemans Flat. It will be about 7.5 hours to our car at the Block 10 Road – if we make it!

Escaping the Heat

Who needs an air conditioner? Go up a thousand metres and you lose approx 8C. The Baw Baw Plateau this week has been beautiful with maximums in the low twenties whilst folks below in the Latrobe Valley or Melbourne sweltered in the high thirties. We are so lucky we have the Upper Yarra Track (http://www.finnsheep.com/THE%20UPPER%20YARRA%20WALKING%20TRACK.htm) to retreat to in these circumstances. We were camped on the top of Mt Horsefall during the worst of this ‘heat wave’ where there was also a lovely cool breeze.

Upper Yarra & Australian Alps Walking Tracks

There is secure water (and good camps) at O’Shea’s Mill, along the Baw Baw Plateau, from the Thompson River in Newlands Rd and at the Link Rd Recreation grounds on the corner of Toorongo Rd. You should have the maps and App I recommended in my post on 29/11. It will probably take you 3-4 days to get to the camp at the secure water on the Forty Mile Break Rd about 5km short of Mt Horsefall. The next day you would aim to get to the the Ada Tree. There is running water 1 km down the Lock North Track, at a dam 1 km before the 15M track & running water at the corner of Lashos Track;

Upper Yarra & Australian Alps Walking Tracks 2

If you simply followed Siseman’s instructions after @ 10km (from New Turkey Spur Rd) without water you would come to a DRY water point at the 21km post on Boundary Track and would not know that there is a (muddy) water hole a further 6km ahead, so would almost certainly, sensibly give up! Personally I prefer clear running water with grassy campsites nearby.

Section Eleven: Ada Tree to Big Pat’s Creek

As you can see the track is well made, delightful and easy to follow from the Ada Tree all the way to Warburton, with numerous signposts. If you have a couple of days to spare, this is a pleasant jaunt.

More Side Trips

Yarra Falls

A reader writes: ‘We decided to use the day searching for the lost ‘Yarra’ Falls. Quite a lot of bush bashing (nearly three hours in, one and a quarter out) brought us to the top of the first cascade, No #1 of SIX (!) which plummet hundreds of metres down the valley!) Perhaps Victoria’s greatest treasure!

Yarra Falls 2

A reader writes: ‘Spent another seven hours yesterday pushing ever closer to this ‘lost’ treasure. From the top fall, the prostrate scrub was unbelievably thick for the next kilometre or so. I was wondering whether I should give up. I guess I spent three hours hacking my way through it, then after about another kilometre of ‘hill-siding’ I was on a relatively clear ridge.

Yarra Falls 3

There are some amazing wilderness areas in Victoria. Some maybe only a half dozen living eyes have seen. Such as this. People have been forbidden to venture here since c1955. This is the junction of Falls Creek and the Yarra River forwarded to me by an anonymous reader. Falls Creek is seen entering from the left.

Yarra Falls Shelter House

A reader has located the ruins of this magical place and forwarded some wonderful photos: ‘It is on the South West side of the junction fairly high up, where the tree ferns diminish (beneath one of the highest on the edge of the spur). It is extremely difficult to find and you could walk within a few metres and pass it.’

PS: I realise that the above is still very incomplete, but I’m sure you will fill in more of it with your won explorations.

09/06/2019: Last survivor of Sobibor death camp uprising dies, aged 97. Semyon Rosenfeld took part in famous revolt, in which Jewish prisoners turned on their Nazi guards; later moved to Israel: https://www.timesofisrael.com/last-survivor-of-sobibor-death-camp-uprising-dies-aged-97/ See: ‘Escape from Sobibor’ (1987): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092978/

09/06/2019: Regime Change in China is coming: Fall Armyworm and African Swine Fever may usher out the communists: https://warontherocks.com/2019/06/the-perfect-storm-confronting-xi-jinping/ PS: To avert the worst excesses of this, Australia needs to divert as much of its trade as possible to India.

09/06/2019: Modern D-Day Warriors Storm Washington To Demand Free Stuff From Government: https://babylonbee.com/news/modern-d-day-warriors-storm-washington-dc-to-demand-free-stuff-from-government

08/06/2019: Oh Dear: Pfizer had clues its blockbuster drug could prevent Alzheimer's. Why didn’t it tell the world? https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/health-news/pfizer-had-clues-its-blockbuster-drug-could-prevent-alzheimers-why-didnt-it-tell-the-world/ar-AACoIHv?li=BBnb7Kz

08/06/2019: Stupidity is one of the few things which will always carry the death penalty: https://thehuntingnews.com/man-takes-selfie-with-bear-bear-kills-man-video/?no_cache=1&fbclid=IwAR2MZKGYOuF9zxCSrc-84WHKp3-wqsONj6AImMT9eVohX1p6BihNJ3FytGU

08/06/2019: Trump at his greatest: https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2019/06/trump-commemorates-d-day.php

07/06/2019: Helium Too Good to Miss: Outdoor Research’s Helium rain jacket (and pants) are available at the moment on (Mass)Drop, the jacket at US$99 and the pants at US$70! This is outstanding value for a highly praised set of rain gear. Whether they are the lightest/best is always arguable. I have Montbell’s offering which I am quite happy with (but at the time I bought them they cost me much, much more). If I were currently to be in the market for rain wear I would be snapping up this offering from Outdoor Research.

Specs

Specs

As you can see at Outdoor Research’s own page, this is nearly half price! The special does appear from time to time on Massdrop, so keep on checking if you miss this offer.

Massdrop: Helium Jacket

Massdrop Helium Pants

07/06/2019: ‘Falsehood flies, and the Truth comes limping after it; so that when Men come to be undeceiv’d, it is too late; the Jest is over, and the Tale has had its Effect’. Jonathan Swift (1710) Mark Twain's version: ‘A lie can go halfway around the world before the truth gets its pants on.’

07/06/2019: Omaha Beach: Battles are frequently won by the initiative and bravery of junior troops and hardened NCOs. Kokoda for example. In another example, there was a point at Gallipoli where the Anzacs had all but taken Chunuk Bair only to be repulsed by Kemal’s almost unarmed suicidal counter-charge. In much the same way a few brave men fought their way off Omaha Beach, escaping in a different way, as the monkey did! Governments are unwise to discourage patriotism, valour, independence of mind, a sense of adventure, the larrikin spirit, firearms ownership, hunting etc. The central idea of the ‘planned economy’ and organization from above is fallacious: http://coyoteblog.com/coyote_blog/2019/06/omaha-beach-not-just-bravery-but-intelligence-and-initiative-won-the-day.html People like Tom Rice (97): https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tom-rice-d-day-anniversary-97-year-old-paratrooper-jump-2019-06-05/ & https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbHPcg9zcDw

07/06/2019: Past time we did this too: ‘If the government was active, solar panel owners would be charged for using the grid as back up, and asked to pay back the subsidy. They could use a feed-in-tariff equal to wholesale coal rates (4c KWh) to pay down their debt. Perhaps one day they’ll compensate other users for voltage surges, damaged equipment, and higher electricity bills too.’ http://joannenova.com.au/2019/06/uk-withdraws-life-support-for-solar-industry-and-94-of-orders-disappear/ & https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/06/06/eia-data-shows-wind-solar-met-3-of-u-s-energy-after-50-billion-in-subsidizes/

06/06/2019: Activists have not been able to fiddle the rainfall data so much as they have corrupted the temperature data. Thus we clearly see that CO2 has not made rainfall worse: http://joannenova.com.au/2019/05/178-years-of-australian-rain-has-nothing-to-do-with-co2-worst-extremes-1849-1925-1950/

06/06/2019: Dream homes you can buy cheaply on Amazon: https://mymodernmet.com/prefabricated-tiny-homes-amazon/ – and elsewhere, eg outbackcabins.com.au

06/06/2019: How Left-Wing is Social Media: https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/06/twitter-takes-sides-chooses-brutal-chinese-communist-govt-over-freedom-dissidents-and-us-conservatives/

05/06/2019: Cardinal Pell's Appeal is being heard today. You can actually watch it here: https://quadrant.org.au/…/06/live-feed-of-george-pells-app…/ From what I have seen during my lunch hour, I think it is most unlikley that his conviction will be upheld. Wait and see.

05/06/2019: Euthanasia? And then there was this: https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/parenting/teens/noa-pothoven-of-arnhem-in-the-netherlands-is-legally-euthanised/news-story/10b49ca69733eaa11b66e1b1b8e215a1

05/06/2019: 10 out of 10 Antarctic stations show cooling over the past decades – now tell me how Antarctica can be cooling yet the rest of the world is preparing for a heat apocalypse: https://notrickszone.com/2019/05/31/10-of-10-coastal-antarctic-stations-show-no-warming-over-past-decades-failed-scientists-need-to-resign/ & https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/climate-change/climate-change-doomsday-report-predicts-end-of-human-civilisation/news-story/36765cb4eedc989f6ad860e6eee405cf

05/06/2019: The Coalition (plus Pauline) has won the Senate – and looks set to do so next time as well. For once we will have six years of Government able to actually do things – instead of being frustrated at every step by spoilers and crazies like the Greens: http://theconversation.com/coalition-likely-to-have-strong-senate-position-as-their-senate-vote-jumps-3-118040

04/06/2019: What a dangerous person Candace Owens is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=48&v=sCcXFVfJZ4w & https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2019/06/candace-owens-and-the-lefts-effort-to-ban-common-sense.php

04/06/2019: May 2019 UAH Global Temperature: Current month +.32C above the long-term average: The really stand-out thing about the satellite record is that (except for the effects of the 1998 super El Nino which is still being felt) how enormously stable the global temperature is. It fluctuates by less than half a degree Celsius, and shows no effect from changing levels of CO2. Who can then doubt that the earth has a thermostat – even if we don’t know clearly how the thermostat works? http://www.drroyspencer.com/2019/06/uah-global-temperature-update-for-may-2019-0-32-deg-c/

04/06/2019: Why are the Greens opposed to nuclear power? If they really wanted reliable electricity without CO2 they would be right behind it. There are over 450 nuclear power stations operating elsewhere right now: http://joannenova.com.au/2019/06/there-are-450-nuclear-power-plants-in-the-world-and-australia-has-none-of-them/

04/06/2019: Ultralight Cutlery: How much can you say? I remember buying my first set of these (I guess) when I set about hitch-hiking to Cairns and back with a back-pack when I was about 13-14 years old. I had this, a home-made nylon sleeping bag cover, a billy and not much else. During the several cyclones I encountered on the way I found myself sleeping on school and church porches, covering myself with door mats to try and keep warm even though it was the middle of summer!

I was involved in a fatal car accident, the driver who I was with being killed outright (failure to give way to the right!) even though I did not receive a scratch, though I was mighty scared trapped in the car with him bleeding all over me and the smell of petrol everywhere. I camped on the side of the road near Armidale that night in pretty miserable conditions, waiting for my wet clothes that I had washed in a stream to dry. Of course I never told my mother as she might have forbidden further such adventures!

It was one of these type of sets (below) , and I was immensely proud of it. It no doubt resides yet in one of the many canoe drums I have secreted in the Victorian mountains against occasional deer hunting trips – hopefully not one of those which might have been destroyed by last summer’s wildfires. I still haven’t been out to check yet. Soon.

You can still buy them, or much fancier (and no doubt lighter sets) eg this titanium one from Esbit at 1.3 oz, (40 grams) which is not too bad for three pieces of cutlery actually eg from Bogong for A$39.95.

By the time Della and I traveled to NZ to live for a year in 1974 (my first time on a plane actually) I was impressed by the lightweight cutlery Qantas issued on their 747s – and ‘souveneered’ a couple of their light-weight tea spoons. A bit too small for a big appetite actually – though perhaps I should have reserved them myself for such rationing!

We journeyed all over NZ’s South Island on my Honda CB250 road bike with all our camping gear, sleeping under the stars in all sorts of improbable places. Our long love affair with NZ had begun. See eg: https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/01/17/south-coast-track-fiordland-nz-waitutu-to-westies/

I have tried out a variety of lightweight cutlery since: lexan, titanium etc. At the moment (and for a few years now) we are both using Sea to Summit’s Alpha Light line of spoons/sporks. These weigh a mere 9 grams each and are made of an aircraft alloy. They cost about A$8.50 from a variety of stores. So far I have not managed to break one – which I have done with every type of plastic cutlery (which is a nuisance in the wilds) or to lose one – which Della did to me somewhere in the wilds of the Franklin River Tasmania. She will not live this down. Then again it maybe taught me to do my own washing up! Since then I have carried a spare eating utensil. The lightest I have found is a takeaway Chinese soup spoon which weighs less than 2 grams.

Of course some people feel they need to have a longer spoon which weighs 12 grams – wholly unacceptable! – so that they can get at the last of the spag in the bottom of the pot without burning their fingers! I favour a spoon over a spork (even though the spork is better for eating fish!) because a spork tends to dribble into your beard when you are eating muesli/porridge in the morning making a smelly mess right under your nose unless you are down to the river right away for ablutions. I certainly will not stretch to carrying both utensils!

I can get away with just a single spoon for a journey lasting weeks. However, I always carry a fixed blade knife as well which is handy for cutting salami, spreading peanut butter, filleting fish and etc. Its most important use is for splitting wood to get at the dry ‘heart’ or shaving it to create excelsior when you need to light a fire in the wet. The Kabar Johnson River Piggyback is just about perfect. It weighs just about an ounce.

Some other lightweight cutlery ideas:

The KA-BAR Tactical Spork is a great idea if you need to fight off grizzly bears, rapists, etc. I don’t. So far. Though it weighs .1lb it might still be a good idea. it includes a knife:

The Light My Fire Titanium Spork at 20 grams solves the dilemma of whether to take a spoon or a spork – and if you love titanium, it is a must:

If you would rather eschew metal altogether – perhaps to avoid check-in luggage you might choose Gossamer Gear’s Bamboo Spoon. They even have a long-handled version. There are all sorts of compelling reasons why you should choose one. Read Korrin’s write-up!

If you really love Gerber gear which I do. I love their pocket knives and their machetes for example then you should try their Compleat:

If you really want something different (and to drive yourself mad eating with them), you could choose some Kizer Titanium Chopsticks – a must have for the well-heeled titanium set:

Happy Tramping!

03/06/2019: This man, Norman Borlaug is responsible for saving the lives of over a billion people. If the climate becomes colder as was predicted in the 1970's (& some current predictions, see eg: http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/05/25/the-cia-documents-the-global-cooling-research-of-the-1970s/#more-64229 ) we will need SEVERAL of his kind to prevent catastrophe. Remember this, the Little Ice Age killed something like 1/3rd of Europe's population. Much more agricultural research is needed, particularly in the field of adaptation to a shortened growing season (and genetic engineering of plants to flourish in colder conditions): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Borlaug

03/06/2019: Trump goes nuclear: ‘decides to finally pull the ripcord and open the Obama administration’s bag of dirty tricks. Based on what we already know, it is highly likely those revelations will prove the White House, FBI and CIA engineered the greatest scandal in American political history by unjustified spying on Trump and by trying to tip the election to Hillary Clinton.’ Watch out Hil! https://nypost.com/2019/05/26/donald-trump-makes-good-on-a-promise-but-dems-cry-coverup/

03/06/2019: Human beings produce only 3-4% of the world’s CO2. Cyanobacteria and phytoplankton for example ace us completely. (Naturally) burning coal deposits also exceed all human production. Still, we need to produce much more. If the world’s supply should fall under 250ppm photosynthesis and so life on earth would cease. The increase in CO2 over the last 20-40 years has produced an increase in forest cover world-wide which exceeds the area of two Australia’s. We should keep it up. Of course most of this increase is due to the warming which occurred 800 years ago – as the ice core data shows, CO2 lags temperature by 800 years. The Medieval Warm Period produced the latest spike in CO2 by warming the deep ocean back when. This effect takes a long while to show up! http://joannenova.com.au/2019/06/new-finding-phytoplankton-are-much-bigger-players-in-co2-levels-than-realized/ PS: Scientists have been conducting chemical assays of the percentage of CO2 in the atmosphere since c1820. It has varied from about 280ppm to over 700ppm. During WW2 (100,000+ individual measurements!) it was generally over 500ppm, much more than it is today - why my 1950s High School Chemistry text had it higher than it is today.

02/06/2019: The House of Terror: Everyone who thinks they might vote for Albanese, Corbyn, Sanders, etc should have to spend a little time here: https://www.timetravelturtle.com/house-of-terror-budapest-hungary/ & https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2019/05/id-love-to-meet-bernie-in-budapest/

02/06/2019: Why You Should (Perhaps Not) Invest in Tesla: http://coyoteblog.com/coyote_blog/2019/05/people-who-express-opinions-outside-of-their-domain-seldom-have-really-looked-into-it-much.html

02/06/2019: Recent Tornadoes are Due to Unusually Cold Weather: http://www.drroyspencer.com/2019/05/recent-tornadoes-are-due-to-unusually-cold-weather/ - from a real climate scientist!

01/06/2019: The Upper Yarra Walking Track: My friend Gerard White walked the Upper Yarra Track last week – from Waburton to Walhalla. With his kind permission here is his account of the trip:

Day 1: Big Pats Creek to New Federal Mill (21km) (4 people)

Last week (Sunday) I set off from Warburton headed for Walhalla on the Upper Yarra Track. I’d read some negatives about the amount of road walking involved but was keen to see it for myself and the close proximity to home meant I didn’t need to travel far to start. My usual walking partner had work commitments so it was solo for me this time, something I wasn’t that used to. I allowed 7 days to cover the 130k so we agreed to meet in Walhalla lunchtime the following Sunday. Many of the tracks had closed 1st May so I expected it to be pretty quiet. The weather forecast predicted snow falls on Baw Baw the following weekend so I thought that would add another dimension to the walk. Originally it was to be a bike ride but restrictions on vehicles after closures unfortunately included bikes.

It was also my first outing with some new lighter gear; Granite Gear pack, Zpacks Duplex, EE Quilt, NeoAir, 15g diy fuel stove (made from a couple of beer cans) and diy CF poles which was strong enough to use as a walking pole (I used one and carried the other). I was happy to have dropped 4 kg off my base weight.

To avoid the 6k road walk from Warby I started at Big Pats on the ‘Walk into History’ towards Ada Tree, a section I’d done before in cold wet muddy conditions, stopping at Starlings Gap for lunch. On reaching Federal Crossroads I dropped my pack and strolled down to Ada Mill No.2 site (a nice camp) to take some photos teh continued on. About 1k later I realised my diy CF tent pole wasn’t in my hand and I’d left it leaning against a tree back at the crossroads. I dropped the pack and raced back to get it, all the way telling myself I wouldn’t do that again. After collecting water from Little Ada River (filtered) I eventually reached New Federal Mill around 5pm. It certainly gets dark early this time of year. Had my usual dinner of dehy rice, veg and tuna and settled into bed.

Start of the ‘Walk into History’ track

Big Pats Creek

Tree ferns

Typical track conditions

Starling Gap

Fallen tree

Boiler

Little Ada River log bridge

Eucalypt

New Federal Mill camp

Day 2: New Federal Mill to Boundary Road (21km) (2 people)

Today’s walking would take me past Ada Tree onto New Turkey Spur Track, Lashos Link Track, McCarthy Spur Track then north on Boundary Road along the eastern edge of the catchment towards Road 20. Info on water sources was sketchy so the forecast for rain was welcome. There was supposedly a dam on Boundary Rd I was hoping to reach. After completing the Ada Tree river walk and reaching the carpark it was time for some of the road walking. With no cars, beautiful forest each side, wind and birds the gravel road walking wasn’t as bad as I thought. Rain started pelting down as I reached Lashos. The shower only lasted 30 minutes but it was enough to fill the road runoffs with water. I arrived at the dam around 4pm and camped on a rather unattractive clearing by the road. The dam was full but brown and murky. I filtered the water.

Little Ada River Walk

Day 3: Boundary Road to Mt Horsfall (20km) (3 cars)

Up and at it early I was heading north on Boundary Road towards Road 20 (Whitelaw Track) by 5.30am with a full moon and headlamp (not that were any obstacles). Again tall forests each side of the road and the rising sun made it quite relaxing. I reached Road 20 by 8am then headed east along the southern edge of the catchment within the Yarra Ranges NP. Road 20 was surprisingly unroad like as it meandered between the trees along a 30m firebreak. Most of the water from the rain had disappeared and with plans to camp on Horsfall a detour down North Loch Rd 2k was needed for water, which I collected from a gully then took a track north through a logged area back to Road 20. Shortly after Road 20 becomes Forty Mile Break. I arrived at Horsfall at 3.30pm settled in and enjoyed the views to the north to Lake Mountain and south toward Mt Toorongo. Mt Horsfall is 1134m and has a large clearing on the summit. Just as the sun was setting three 4wd came past lights on heading west down Road 20. I gave them a wave and thought to myself aren’t these roads closed? I had phone reception so called the missus. I also have a Spot which I set off each night.

Early morning on Boundary Rd

Road 8 into the catchment

Track marker

Road 20

Shortcut from North Loch Rd to Road 20

Forty Mile Break

Forty Mile Break near Mt Horsfall

Sunset on Mt Horsfall

Camp

Day 4: Mt Horsfall to Newlands Rd (22km) (1 person + 2 trucks)

Todays route would take me along Forty Mile Break to Toorongo Rd, Block 10 Rd and Newlands Rd near the base of Baw Baws NW end where the Thomson River runs. I headed off early along FMB aiming to reach Toorongo Picnic Ground by lunch. One of the 4wd passed me as I was packing up heading east. There were a couple of ‘Fire Suppression Streams’ marked on the map a few km further on 500m south of the road which were likely water sources. Walking along FMB I could hear a chainsaw in the distance. It was the chap that passed me on Horsfall who worked for PV. We had a quick chat and told him my plans. What a great office he has! The stream at the water point was flowing well and the water was crystal clear. I didn’t treat it. FMB turns SE at Road 12. At this point you’re only 800m from the Yarra Falls to the north but I wasn’t taking the risk and going in there. After reaching Toorongo Rd I made my way to the picnic ground. The place was in a state of total disrepair; not even a table and chairs. A couple of logging trucks passed by as I ate lunch, you can hear them coming for miles. The 6k along Toorongo Rd was a bit of a drag so I was glad to reach Block 10 Rd, climbed the gate and head east towards the Thomson River to Newlands Rd (marked as Neuylands on the Rooftop). I’d read there was a nice dam 1k north of Newlands Rd so that’s where I was headed for the night. The tracks around here don’t appear to have had much traffic for a while. I found myself a spot on the track up from the dam and settled in for the night. I was kind of wishing I had a fishing line, trout for dinner would be nice.

Forty Mile Break

Track to ‘Fire Suppression Stream’ off FMB

Forty Mile Break near Toorongo Rd

Toorongo Picnic area (a bit of a mess)

Block 10 Rd

Newlands Rd

Track to dam north of Newlands Rd

Camp near the dam

Day 5: Newlands Rd to Whitelaw Hut (15km) (0 people)

Today would involve the climb up to Baw Baw from Newlands to meet the AAWT NW of Mt Whitelaw. I’d looked down this track from the AAWT a couple of years ago and thought OMG and any info I could find suggested it was totally overgrown and hard to follow. Sounds like fun! I made my way back to Newlands Rd from the dam and continued SE toward Frangipani Saddle for lunch, crossing the Thomson River 4 times. The track leading up to the AAWT has a sign leading into the scrub about 400m before Frangipani Saddle which would be a great place to camp. Well fed on salami/cheese flatbread I headed back to the turnoff, took a few deep breaths, checked the time and headed east up into the scrub. It’s only 3km to the AAWT from here but I expected it to take just as many hours. You could see the remnants of a road and the gap in the trees above but there were plenty of fallen trees and bushes to push through. A couple of times I lost the way, in particular where the route dog-legged but I was able to pinpoint my position on the map and get back on track. Eventually I reached the last Thomson river crossing only 700m from the AAWT. The river is only 30cm wide at this point and was flowing well. I bit more of a bush bash and I could see the blue sign at the track junction with the AAWT. I’d made it. What a relief to be out of that hell hole and back in familiar territory. It had taken me 3 hours to cover the 3k. It was only 5km to Whitelaw so I could take my time arriving by 4pm. I’d expected other walkers to arrive at Whitelaw but nobody did…good. The wind increased and it got pretty cold so I quickly cooked dinner in the chimney and retired to the tent.

Dam north of Newlands Rd

One of four Thomson River crossings on Newlands Rd

Another dam

Approaching Frangipani Saddle on Newlands Rd – route to Whitelaw on the left

Frangipani Saddle

Sign post pointing the way

Overgrown track up to the AAWT

Crossing the Thomson

I recognise that sign – at the AAWT

Camp at Whitelaw Hut

Day 6: Whitelaw Hut to Talbots Hut (15km) (0 people)

Today was an easy day…all I had to do was get to Talbots. I slept in and left Whitelaws 9am along the AAWT to Phillack Saddle for lunch. Again I had phone reception. It was still pretty windy and the forecast was for gale force and damaging winds in West Gippsland tonight …woohoo…but where’s the snow? I arrived at Talbots about 3pm, nestled myself between the rocks and battened down the hatches. At about 6pm it started to pour and the wind was howling through the trees but I was as snug as a bug in a rug. My only concern was a tree falling on me as I slept crushing me in an agonising death but obviously that didn’t happen because you’re reading this. The Duplex performed great (as did my CF poles and other new gear) and I didn’t have any dramas with condensation.

Baw Baw Turnoff

Phillack Saddle, very windy

Baw Baw

Mt St Phillack

Snow poles near St Gwinear

Day 7: Talbots Hut to O’Sheas Mill (15km) (6 people)

Another easy day with only 1200m descent to the Tyers River. That’s easier than going up…right? Left Talbots around 9am, mucked around at Mushroom Rocks looking for THE Mushroom Rock but I couldn’t remember where it was. Arrived at Erica carpark by 11.30am, a real toilet…what a luxury. Sat at the table, had some lunch when a van pulls up with 5 people, one of who’s face I recognise. Fellow BW member JohnStrider who runs a group called the Hiking Society. They were headed to Mushroom Rocks and Talbots for the night. From here to Walhalla was a section of the AAWT I hadn’t done. Down Mt Erica Rd to the turnoff onto Firebreak Track to the Tyers River. There’s a nice waterfall near the campground which also has a toilet and table/chairs and fireplace. Shortly after dinner it started to rain heavily so it was into the tent and radio on for ‘Dreamtime at the G’…go the Tigers. . What a life. It rained steadily most of the night but again the Duplex was excellent.

Mushroom Rocks

Mt Erica Carpark

AAWT turnoff from Mt Erica Rd

Firebreak Track

Huge eucalypt

Firebreak Track

Waterfall at O’Sheas

O’Sheas campground

Day 8: O’Sheas Mill to Walhalla (14km) (10 people)

I’d agreed to meet my missus (Bridgette my walking companion) in Walhalla at the rotunda between 11-12 so got moving pretty early, crossing Thomson Valley Rd and down the Fingerboard Spur towards Poverty Point Bridge. It’s a nice walk along the valley high above the Thomson River. For some reason I thought the track was down on the river but that wasn’t the case. The rock table and chairs along the way was interesting and crossing Poverty Point Bridge offers some nice views up and down the valley. Only a few km to go now I could hear cars below me on Walhalla Rd then the town comes into view. Past Long Tunnel Mine and down the stairs to the rotunda and there’s the missus…I’m right on time. Let’s grab a hot pie and sauce.

Wasn’t a bad walk and best done when the roads have closed. I just wish it had of snowed two days earlier.

Gate on the AAWT near O’Sheas

Fingerboard Spur Track on Thomson Valley Rd

Fingerboard Spur Track

High above the Thomson River

Rotunda and end of journey

It is without a doubt Victoria’s (if not Australia’s) premier hiking track. Many more people should be doing ti. From now (31 May 2019 until spring) you should follow the ‘Winter Route’ along the Tyers river -as there will be too much snow along the Baw Baw Plateau.He did tell me by private communication that my posts about the track had been a big help.

Here are my main pages about it:

http://www.finnsheep.com/THE%20UPPER%20YARRA%20WALKING%20TRACK.htm

http://www.finnsheep.com/Track%20Instructions.htm

I have heaps of posts about this fabulous trtack as you will find if you do a search in the facility in the upper right hand corner of one of my pages, eg: https://www.theultralighthiker.com/?s=upper+yarra+track

01/06/2019: Must have: https://www.healthyfoodhouse.com/nostril-hair-extensions-is-the-new-beauty-trend-apparently/?fbclid=IwAR10KoDS8jawd9oCCmn0hT8J7WfRM3R_nH65QlaZXLuCakYEEWPeExLoaD4

01/06/2019: Time for a rethink - 247 grams (8.6 oz)! Most places it would be legal to kill such a baby: https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/05/the_miracle_of_life_from_the_worlds_smallest_baby.html

01/06/2019: D-Day in colour: https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2019/05/30/rare_color_footage_brings_d-day_memories_alive_75_years_on_114465.html

31/05/2019: Ultralight Bivy Bag: How much is your life worth? Is it worth laying out $80 and carrying 273 grams for example? This is the Outdoor Research Helium Emergency Bivy, a trimmed down version of their regular Helium Bivy (510 grams). If you carry a raincoat you could make a raincoat shelter for your head, and you could hold he bivy open with a willowy stick and a couple of lengths of foam insulation which has many other uses.

Most people who die on the trail are day walkers. The next biggest group are track walkers. Bushwackers being more experienced suffer much less. It is worth developing the experience, but also always being prepared for the worst.

Helium Emergency Bivy

Helium (Standard) Bivy

A couple of other survival shelters to think about: This one at 350 grams and this one at 253 grams. Adventure Medical Kits have a number of cheap ultralight bivys as well which are well worth a look. For example their Escape Bivy (which breathes) and has some insulative ability as well – perhaps as much anyway as a summer weight sleeping bag (and Only US$60). They also have a lighter model (5.5 oz – 157 grams) for US$40. It is also a good way of adding some warmth to your sleeping bag and mat on colder nights. It is well worth having a detailed look at their site.

These survival sleeping bags are a great investment too. You never have to worry about getting them wet. I always have one in my hunting day pack.

You can easily make your own bivy for a couple of bucks if you have a roll of Tyvek lying around – as you should. Many other things can be made from it, such as this.

Mind you you can get a whole tent for 500 grams. One such as this for example if you are well-heeled, or one such as this if you are not. You would have to admit this little floorless mid weighing 410 grams which cost me US$43,50 or A$59.98 delivered is hard to beat

Here is another interesting DIY concept.

Mind you if you carry nothing else, carry one of these: If you could only carry two things in the bush, what would they be? AMC have their own

model

thermal poncho for US$8.

The Helium Emergency Bivy is on Massdrop now for US$80 & Regular Price: US$129

See Also:

The Compleat Survival Guide

Hatchet

The Ultralight Deerhunter

31/05/2019: Conservatives Must ‘Get Rid of the Green Crap’: ‘The Greens are not caring, nurturing saviours of the planet. They are Watermelons, green on the outside red on the inside. If they genuinely cared about nature they certainly wouldn’t push such environmentally damaging schemes as industrial wind turbines or biofuels. For the Greens, environmental issues are merely a convenient, fashionable, and cuddly mask to disguise their aggressively anti-capitalist, anti-growth, anti-human, redistributive, big-government-heavy agenda…The logic of the Green Party, on the other hand, is always: “It’s never enough”. Once you shut down all nuclear power plants coal-fired power plants become the next target. Like a doomsday sect, the imminent end of the world is being propagated. And despite the set phrase that “fear is not a good guide in politics” (which is the standard mantra in the immigration debate), scare-mongering about the end of the world is now their dominant sensation. It’s just like the “social justice” mantra which the Greens also propagate now: no matter what’s been done, it’s never enough and it always has to be much more and more radical.’ https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/05/28/britains-conservatives-are-committing-green-suicide/

31/05/2019: I missed the day. Hope you didn’t, ‘the expense of spirit in a waste of shame’ (Shakespeare): https://quillette.com/2019/05/27/party-for-one/

31/05/2019: Lake Baikal: 20% of the world’s freshwater frozen into astonishing shapes: https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2019/05/lake-baikal-ice-formations-photos/590374/

30/05/2019: Even More Free Stuff for Hiking: Yet another sixteen ‘free’ ultralight hiking ideas. Enjoy.

A Cure for Slippery Mats: I have just spent a couple of weeks sleeping on my new Big Agnes AXL Air 300 gram mat in Scotland. It is indubitably the most comfortable mat I have ever slept on, but it does suffer from being a tad slippery. I will be taking some of my own advice below.

A Taut String Will Act as a Tripod or a Gun Rest A 4 Gram String Tripod: A taut string will act as a tripod! You can tie an approx 6’ (1.8m) length of string to a small bolt the size which fits in the tripod socket of your camera then screw it in to the camera. If you stand on the string with one foot and pull the string taut so that your eye is level with the viewfinder/screen you will be able to hold the camera almost perfectly still

2016-08-27 10.07.27 comp

Fire Umbrella: How to prevent the rain from putting out your fire? I have been toying with this idea for some time. This week I decided to try out an ‘ultralight’ method. I constructed this 1 metre x 1 metre square of tyvek for that purpose, sewing gross grain ribbon tie outs on each of four corners. This ‘fire canopy’ weighed less than 2 ounces (60 grams) including the 1mm (pink!) dyneema suspension ‘rope’. This is not much weight to carry for the benefit of a warm fire out the front of your tyvek tent or shelter.

World’s Lightest Tarp Clip: You can buy these approx 1” polystyrene balls from Spotlight for @ $2.40 for 20. They weigh about .2 gram each. You can carry a few of these in your repair/fishing kit (along with some string, eg 1-2mm Dyneema) for use at need, eg when you need some additional tie-downs for your tent/tarp or when you have torn one out.

Ultralight Clothes Pegs for Hiking How to dry your clothes when hiking? My first resort has always been my own body’s heat. For many years I would wash my clothes at the end of the day, hang them overnight to get them dry as best as I could – sometimes in front of a warm fire this works excellently – all my home-made tents for example can have a fire out the front to warm them – and include an inbuilt clothes line

The Ultralight Trail Baker: You can make a baking stand (‘The Flashbaker’) – for cook pot baking – out of aluminium flashing which weighs 8 grams. You just need to cut a circle a little smaller than your pot and leave three approx 1 ½” ‘legs’ on the outside of the disc which you fold down to support whatever you are cooking. (OK, this one has four legs!) This works well with a thick dough. I have often made ‘damper’ in my cook pot with such an arrangement. My original flashing ‘baker’ (below) weighs 13.5 grams.

Attaching Tie Downs to Your Pack: First you need to get some ½” gross grain ribbon from your local sewing supplies store – such as Spotlight here in Oz. Then you will need some of the Linelocks like you see I have sewn the gross grain to: You can buy these little guys right here in Oz

2016-08-27 20.13.45 comp

Linelok Pack Tie Downs: 7 grams: For those who don’t sew – or who don’t need to sew: You can use these wonderful little Clam Cleat Lineloks and some eg 2mm Spectra/Dyneema to lash your excess gear to your pack. I always use these lineloks on my tents and tarps:

2016-09-11-09-26-04-comp

Supercat Hiking Stove: This is a very useful hiking stove you can make with a paper punch from Officeworks and some empty cat food cans. Its inception was a genius idea from Jim Woods. Be sure you only use the punch on aluminium cans. I have found that there are two sizes of aluminium can and that one fits snugly inside the other

Super_Cat_1

More Fun With Sticky Tape: Ultralight Mylar Vest: 23 grams that may save your life.

2015-07-27 15.19.11 comp

Whoopie Sling Guy Line Tensioners I am surprised you can’t buy whoopie sling guy lines. I am even more surprised that high-end tents don’t come with them as standard. They have to be the lightest and most elegant option. You will have to make your own. I would say that the 1.75mm ‘Zing It’ would be an ideal size for the novice to work with. They are an elegant solution,

Adjustable Hammock Ridgeline A Great Idea: It adds 6 grams to my hammock set-up but improves comfort much more than that by allowing a flatter ‘hang’ – and it allows for somewhere to hang your gear. It works on the same principle as the Whoopie Sling. Genius. I bought mine from this guy for A$16.95

The Spanish Windlass My father, Lawrence used to use this trick sometimes to pull stumps out of the ground. He would wrap a rope around a crowbar (as shown) then wind the rope up with a stout branch. This windlass applied enormous force and was enough to pull quite large stumps out of a line of fence, for example. Of course you might need to shorten the rope a few times as it gets hard to turn after you have several loops around the bar.

Side Insulation: Gossamer Gear’s Sitlight Pads are just great for this if you cut them in half lengthwise. They can be still used in your pack’s pad sleeve but when it comes time to make your bed, either on the ground or in your hammock, these little fellows will keep your elbows and shoulders toasty warm.

Tick Eliminator These little pests are becoming more common in Australia. Of course in the States they carry the dreaded Lyme Disease. Carrying a safe means of removing them and/or treating tick bites on self/companion animals is becoming more urgent than ever. Paralysis ticks have even spread to Southern Victoria. a couple of them (undetected for too long) were what ultimately took out our darling old pet Tiny back in February at the fine old age of 18. A number of products are on the market, and there is much wise advice out there too…

Impregnable Gun Safe: The gendarmes decreed that we had to upgrade our firearm storage though they had (as far as we could tell) safely and happily lived in the same cabinet for over thirty years! We had to buy a safe. Fortunately gun safes have become much less expensive over the years. We carefully chose one from eBay for $300

gun safe

You will find a heap of other DIY ideas here:

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/07/13/60-diy-ultralight-hiker-ideas/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/07/29/a-hiking-food-compendium/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2015/06/14/diy-hiking-gear/

30/05/2019: Praxiteles. It is awesome that we yet have some of this immaculate sculptor’s greatest works, such as his Aphrodite of Cnidus, of which his model said, "...have no fear; for you have wrought a very beautiful work of art, such as nobody, in fact, has ever seen before among all things fashioned by men's hands: you have set up a statue of your own mistress in the sacred precinct....And do not begrudge me this honour. For it is Praxiteles that people praise when they have gazed at me..." (Alciphron, Letters of the Courtesans: Phrynê to Praxiteles), as well as his Hermes & Dionysus… See: ‘Treasures of Ancient Greece’

30/05/2019: Environmentalism: Evidence Suggests it Was Always and Only About Achieving World Government: ‘The trouble is that none of it is true. The World is in good shape, and people are living longer and healthier lives in every nation’: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/05/27/environmentalism-evidence-shows-it-was-always-and-only-about-achieving-world-government/

30/05/2019:

29/05/2019: Tim Tinker: I am tossing around some ideas concerning DIY tent stoves – as you know, so I was delighted to stumble upon this amazing website: https://timtinker.com/ by a fellow Gippsland Senior – we are good for something still after all. As you will see Tim camps in the snow all the time, so his ideas clearly work. Perhaps time to think about some high country snow hunting/hiking trips?

It had not occurred to me that anyone could beat Titanium Goat’s Cylinder Stove (741 grams – but which takes minutes to assemble, and seems rather delicate to me) or that a one-piece (no moving parts) tent stove could be made which would weigh approx 500 grams (including chimney). but there you are. You will have to read through a number of very informative posts, but it will be worth it, believe me.

The stove uses about 400 grams of wood per hour and produces approx 1,000 watts – quite enough to warm a two person tent to a delightful temperature – even in snow!

Tim Tinker tent Stove – actual size Tim Tinker Stove Contents – inc chimney! Tim Tinker Stove set-up It is a continuous feed stove, not a slow combustion stove. you would not leave it burning overnight. Tim Tinker Stove Air Control – what an ingenious idea for adjusting the air intake! Tim Tinker Stove – glass ‘window’ in chimney base gives light as well as heat!

Tim has this really ingenious method of rolling an unrolling the chimney:

There is a glitch. When you get to Youtube select the chimney video.

Tim has innumerable other good ideas on his website, including food, clothing, DIY tools, candles…it is quite encyclopaedic. look forward to a long read.

Certainly his stove has prompted me to think more about simply cutting down the helium cylinder to make a stove. That will be a fine idea for a relatively fixed camp as I am contemplating, but I now realise that it would be ‘possible’ to make a transportable slow combustion stove which sets up really easily and which could reliably heat a small tent as well as providing all the cooking I would need – and which need only weigh in the vicinity of 5-600 grams.

I am envisaging pretty much a one-piece stove perhaps around 4″ x 6″ x 12″ inside which you can store the chimney (and other things) and which you would carry in a small bag on top of your pack (attached perhaps like this, or this). I will need to learn a few sheet metal skills including spot welding stainless steel/titanium. there are lots of instructions though on Tim’s excellent website. As I have said before: watch this space.

Some ideas:

1. I think the chimney damper can be a slider.

2. The fuel feed can be either a length of pipe with an air-hole in the top, the air inlet adjusted with a cup or can (as in the 3rd photo above – but it would be harder to add wood), or

3. I would have a rotating or sliding air intake on the front and use a small titanium plate like this 13 gram one on the top which I could remove to add wood, or cook.

4. I will weld three (approx 2″ lengths) of tubing to the bottom rear and front of the stove (at 45 degrees), then use wooden legs to lift it off the ground (so I could dry wood under it, another excellent idea from Tim) – I would have a small bolt half way down the length of this tubing so that the wood does not touch the stove and smoulder – or I could just have three pieces of Easton aluminium tubing – and shorter pipes to slot them into…

Lots to do!

PS: Tim kindly gave me permission to re-post his excellent photographs.

29/05/2019: The polar ice melt myth: ‘ice currently covers 6 million square miles, or one tenth the Land area on Earth, about the area of South America… total catastrophe can only occur if we can melt the Antarctic and Greenland. But the Antarctic is the coldest place on Earth. At www.coolantarctica.com calculations show the temperature would have to rise 54 degrees Fahrenheit to start the warming of that Ice Cap: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/05/28/the-polar-ice-melt-myth/

29/05/2019: ‘One Man’s Religion is Another Man’s Belly Laugh’ (Lazarus Long – Robert Heinlein, ‘Time Enough for Love’). Enjoy Will Franken @ Comedy Unleashed - Climate Change and Greta Thunberg: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=golAjKMDuVk

29/05/2019: Cialis and Viagra reverse heart disease? Good news if you are a sheep: https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/331534/

28/05/2019: Old people with money who can’t run fast are rich pickings for pillagers and plunderers. Am I the only one worried about Morrison’s announced ‘review’ of retirement income? Isn’t that just why millions voted for him? If Tony could do it, ie steal from pensioners (and Morrison has done it before too under Turnbull) then anything is possible. We wait and see: https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2019/05/gouging-seniors-one-treasurer-at-a-time/ & https://www.yourlifechoices.com.au/retirement/retirement-income/govt-to-review-retirement-income?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=volume%2019%20issue%20137%20daily%20enews%20tuesday%2028%20may&utm_content=volume%2019%20issue%20137%20daily%20enews%20tuesday%2028%20may+version+a+cid_95e1ad1d7184b121d863eeca0e6ad36a&utm_source=campaign%20monitor&utm_term=government%20set%20to%20review%20retirement%20income%20system

28/05/2019: The rate of species extinction has been in decline since c1800. This decline is all the more pronounced if it is graphed against the number of species identified. Of course it also needs to be compared to the rate of species creation. It seems more than likely that earth is adding species each year rather than losing them: https://inconvenientfacts.xyz/blog/f/mass-extinction-lie-exposed-life-is-thriving

28/05/2019: The wonders of 5G: Sex robots powered by high-speed internet including 5G will make them “indistinguishable” from humans, an expert has claimed: https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world-news/781127/sex-robots-5g-upgrade-harmony-latest-news-technology Meanwhile folks have been testing Telstra’s new 5G network (and are getting speeds 6 times the NBN!) Optus will be offering 5G for A$70 unlimited. Goodbye NBN: https://www.news.com.au/technology/gadgets/telstra-are-first-with-their-beta-5g-network/news-story/f593cd8b743ac0ba26967c4efbe13318

27/05/2019: Seamless Tyvek Tipi: How big a tipi can you make in a single piece out of a 3 metre (10’) wide roll of Tyvek? I began this project as I want to take one in and leave it in a canoe drum along with a small wood heater to warm it on winter nights at ‘our’ new ‘hidden valley’ hunting spot. It turns out to be around 9-10’ wide and 6’ high (though I have not yet finished it). Plenty of room for 2-3 people, the stove, a couple of dogs and lots of gear.

Two possible stoves from the scrap metal, one steel the other aluminium I guess. I will have a play with these and see what I can make. I realise we also have an old stainless steel cook pot might be adapted.

I will have twice as many tie-downs as shown (every 2′) sewn in and the material catenary cut. I will secure them to pegs with line locks so that there is no vertical force. It will certainly not blow down or leak. The floor will come up the side walls 4-5″ for a ‘bathtub effect. I will sew some 6″ x6″ vinyl windows in on four ‘sides’ to let in a bit of light and so you can look out a bit. I will have to also sew in a fireproof fibreglass ‘boot’ for the chimney.

I have some waterproof zips left over from another project but the way I have cut this in one piece leaves quite a large overlap which I will utilise just in case the zips give out – or I can’t be bothered doing them up. Some of this excess material will make a rainproof hood for an openable vent at the lee-side top. I will probably also sew on a small verandah above the doorway (which I will prop up with a couple of small bush poles) as it is nice not to have rain come in when you open the door. I want to be warm and dry in this shelter at all times.

I still have to ascertain the true centre which I won’t know exactly until I have finished the bottom and the tie outs. I will need a piece of Dyneema reinforcing in the roof (for the pole – likewise in the floor) I will have a long cord hanging from the top centre with many knotted loops. I will wind it round and round the pole to make a clothes line which will dry things nicely as it will only be inches from the chimney. The tipi including floor will weigh about 40 oz in Tyvek (22 in silnylon) – 1200 grams (or 660)

I guess the first trip I will take in a canoe drum, cook set, the tipi and a cheap raft. The following trip I will take in a second drum, the stove and other items- unless someone else volunteers to come along with me on the first trip. After a while I should have lightened my load in considerably, and as I will have eaten all my food there will be space in my pack for a little venison on the way out. I wonder whether I will be able to dry venison over the stove?

The two dogs assure me that they are coming. I still have to make them some new beds – even though I bought the material a couple of years ago. This project will spur me on to doing that as I will be able to leave their old beds in the canoe drums – likewise a cook set, saw, hatchet, fishing lines etc. Eventually I will probably leave some old warm clothes, a sleeping bag, raincoat…I want to carry in as little each time as possible. I might even be able to resupply the site with winter food on summer canoe trips – though I have not yet canoed this river. I don’t even know for sure it is canoeable, at my age at least.

About that stove: There are any number of youtubes about making propane/helium bottles etc into stoves. As usual most of them miss several points eg the ability to cook on top, no air leaks (so that you can have slow combustion). The door needs to be substantially airtight which means two (hinged) flat pieces of metal tightening against each other when you close the door, and an air feed slider – a disc would work well. It needs a flat top with the fire immediately under so that you can pace 1-2 small pots there, or cook directly on it.

Maximum surface area is achieved by lying the helium bottle (2.3 kg as compared with 4 kg+ for the propane bottle – both are steel) on its side. You would then cut a slice off the top so that you could weld a flat top on. It can hang over the edges and front so that you can simmer.

Right at the back corner you would cut a <3″ hole and weld a >3″ collar so that you can sit a 3″ chimney inside it. The collar will have slots on either side for sitting the damper in (a must if you are to have slow combustion and fuel efficiency).

Another slice off the front of the stove big enough to weld a flat disc with a square hole in the middle for the square hinged door, which will have holes drilled in it so that a round slider (with matching holes)can be rotated in it to control air flow. Hope that helps.

I will post some more photos when I am finished the project…

27/05/2019: When a dero beats another dero to death it is all men’s fault. (Ambiguity intended)

27/05/2019: If Scott Morrison is ‘Scomo’ then Anthony Albanese is ‘Anal’. Seems about right. Imagine choosing a man as your leader who would lie about his own father (whom he used to take his own family on holiday’s with) in order to avoid a by-election for non-citizenship. If you will lie about that you will lie about anything. Why can’t the Labor party find a leader who is not a complete scumbag?

27/05/2019: This is environmental pollution:

Climbers had to queue for hours to reach the summit of Mount Everest on Wednesday https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/mount-everest-climbers-dead-traffic-jam-overcrowding-seamus-lawless-a8929761.html & https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/incidents/mount-everest-tragedy-disturbing-story-behind-this-photo/news-story/77b580504abe2bfea1c1dd8f6ddd30f6

27/05/2019: Success is good for ego but failure is good for the soul: http://maggiesfarm.anotherdotcom.com/archives/30646-Flunked-again-Success-is-good-for-ego-but-failure-is-good-for-the-soul-re-posted.html

26/05/2019: Climate protesters stage a ‘die in’ in Melbourne. Why could they not do this for real? Where is Robin Askin when you need him? You don’t remember him? How young you are. During LBJ’s visit he ordered his chauffeur to drive over the top of Vietnam protesters. Unfortunately he did not comply. Now the country is being run by the bastards. – as Robin called them! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Askin

26/05/2019: Mass Species Extinction Is Fake News, Says Greenpeace Co-Founder Patrick Moore: ‘he says there is no evidence to support these doomsday predictions whatsoever…the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IBPES) was merely a “front for a radical political, social, and economic transformation of our entire civilization…As with the manufactured “climate crisis” they are using the specter of mass extinction as a fear tactic to scare the public into compliance. The IBPES itself is an existential threat to sensible policy on biodiversity conservation… The IBPES claims there are 8 million species. Yet only 1.8 million species have been identified and named. Thus the IBPES believes there are 6.2 million unidentified and unnamed species. Therefore one million of the unknown species could go extinct overnight and we would not notice it because we would not know they had existed. This is highly unprofessional. Scientists should not, in fact cannot, predict estimates of endangered species or species extinction based on millions of undocumented species’ There are three main ways in which humans have caused species to go extinct, Moore explained:

Moore is quite right, though he arguably missed a trick. The two biggest human threats to wildlife in the last century have been a) Communists and b) Environmentalists. wind farms…kill roughly twice as many bats as birds. This breaks down as approximately 110–330 birds per turbine per year and 200–670 bats per year…In Australia, the Tasmanian wedge-tailed eagle is threatened with global extinction by wind farms’ https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/05/23/greenpeace-co-founder-patrick-moore-species-extinction-is-fake-news/

26/05/2019: The Ultimate Camp Shoe: Just like practically everyone I guess I had an ad from the ‘hellosunny’ shop (see below) for Waterproof Shoe Covers. I had spent a lot of time on this idea before coming up with my own 13 gram DIY version (https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/04/14/19-gram-dyneema-camp-shoes/) which have proven very serviceable and durable on many trips now.

I guess that not everyone can sew (which is one reason why I am always coming up with new ‘no-sew’ ideas (watch this space eg for inflatable quilts), but a search turned up a multiplicity of such shoe covers on dhgate many of which might be very good for camp shoes when you only want to keep your socks dry when answering a ‘call of nature’ in the middle of the night.

They range form just a few cents each, so you should take a look: https://au.dhgate.com/waterproof-plastic-shoe-cover-australia.html & https://hellosunnyshop.com/products/covers?fbclid=IwAR2PbVL929OHMCsjvySi0_gkEtcdyzzTLmfFf__rgA819LOb_7b52DqbTug

Some borrowed pics to whet your appetite:

hellos sunny waterproof shoe cover

26/05/2019: About those knees: And about that ‘seeming to need a new knee’… pain is frequently a ‘great deceiver’ (not that it has quite the good looks of the ultimate artificer). Though you know in your heart of hearts that your pain has no useful purpose (in that nothing you are doing is causing it or can do will alleviate it) nonetheless you keep pandering to it like a pampered child as if if you did not, you would break. Certainly that is how backs and knees are.

Della has a new doctor whom she consulted recently about her own troublesome knee. Like my own orthopedic surgeon (good to find an honest one!) who advised me to wait on further developments in knees as I would not be happy with anything he could do right now, Della’s new doctor (an ex-student actually – like Androcles’ lion good turns are frequently returned) pretty much said the same thing to her.

Hopefully something better than a new knee will be along in a little while. This may be eg a perfection of stem cell treatments (which are currently fraudulent) or maybe something like this artificial cartilage which just stays in place once implanted in a much less invasive operation than a knee replacement. You don’t need a new suspension. You just need new shock absorbers. Worth a trip to Europe or Israel perhaps to find out?

Anyway Della’s doc advised that the only thing which seems to ‘help’ is persisting with squats until you can do 200 in a row. This is pretty ouchy stuff to begin with, but for a start try this: you can do about 150 ‘half’ squats while you clean your teeth at each end of the day. Then sometime during the day (morning is best) just grin and bear it and do 200 full proper squats. You can work your way up (numerically) over a few days. It will not be fun. However your knee will not break, though you may think it will. Surprisingly after a couple of days of this it will start to feel much better, and you might consider a major hiking enterprise – as we did (above). I am now hoping (after this) for the Dusky Track again early next year – and perhaps taking Della on the Everest Base Camp Trek in November – or perhaps a return visit to Bartle Frere in August. We shall see. Plans, plans…

New Surface Meniscus Implant

25/05/2019: Theresa May, Julia Gillard, Julie Bishop… All gone thank goodness. Was there ever better proof that women should not be given the vote? But then we have Macron, Trudeau etc. Men are too irrational to be given the vote! Wonder how long it will take Boris to sort out this Brexit mess. I would give him about two weeks!

25/05/2019: I just signed the petition ‘Wind farms for Warringah’. Generally I think this is a great idea. People should get just what they vote for (instead of inflicting their awful ideas on the rest of us). So for example, folks in ‘green’ electorates should receive no fossil fuel, nuclear of hydro power which they are opposed to: https://www.change.org/p/zali-steggall-wind-farms-for-warringah?recruiter=964225686&recruited_by_id=adcb5500-7db4-11e9-8032-01c91921bd05&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_abi&utm_term=psf_combo_share_message&share_bandit_exp=abi-15628293-en-AU&share_bandit_var=v3

25/05/2019: C19th Century fracking proponent Henry Lawson’s story, ‘The Loaded Dog’ (about a dog who chases his master with a lighted stick of gelignite intended to frack a water well (Yes it has been around that long – and safely) surely suggests a way forward for jihadis who as Moslems hate dogs anyway (‘Anyone who hates dogs and kids can’t be all bad’ – as W.C. Fields suggested). Instead of dropping their bombs on the footpath (from energy efficient bicycles – as happened in France today (nice to know the terrorists are green - as if…) they could tie their bombs to dogs who will always try to get closer to people who shout at them. What fun it would be! https://www.alldownunder.com/australian-authors/henry-lawson/loaded-dog.htm Well it was a fishing expedition – must have been another story they were using jelly for fracking. Old gold miners etc were always playing around with explosives.

25/05/2019: Keith Payne VC - 50 years today since the action for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross: https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/05/50-years-ago-today-since-keith-payne-vcs-heroism-under-fire-for-the-award-of-the-victoria-cross.html

25/05/2019: Extempore Hiking Poles: You can use Pipe Insulation to make extempore hiking poles or tent poles when you are in the bush.The piece shown weighs 5 grams. It certainly saves you carrying hiking poles when you don't need them. When you do you can cut them to length with this 28 gram DIY ultralight saw. If you break one in rough going it is the work of a minute to make another one.

It comes with an internal diameter of 12/19/25mm- ie 1/2", 3/4", 1' etc. 19 is quite enough for a very stout stick, say 1". It does stretch substantially. Of course it is not going to last a 3,000 km trek, but it does make a comfy handle so that you can make a couple of sticks to get you out of a tight spot (or carry a heavy load of venison out etc) without tearing your hands to pieces. A couple of sticks reduces the effort of walking out of some steep gorge by over 50%.

The foam tube can also be used to protect your tent from damage by your extempore tent poles by bending it over like this:

Available Bunnings eg: https://www.bunnings.com.au/k-flex-9-x-19mm-x-1m-elastomeric-pipe-insulation-suits-3-4-pipe_p4920089 1 metre A$4.40 (May 2019)

24/05/2019: Winter Tent Stoves: A blast of Antarctic air is coming through Victoria in the next week so that it might be time to consider how to warm your tent. This great company Titanium Goat have extremely lightweight titanium stove (heaters), stove pipes, stove accessories, and a tent boot you can sew into an existing tent to vent your stove pipe without burning/melting the tent. They do ship to Australia.

cylinder stove

Their lightest and smallest cook-on-top stove weighs a mere 12 ounces (342 grams) for the original 12″ cylinder stove or 13 ounces for the original small wifi stove which transfers heat a little better to your cook pot – but may take longer to assemble. The stove pipe adds approx 1.5 oz per foot to the weight, so for example a 7′ stove pipe will add approx 10 oz to a carried weight (small cylinder) of 1lb 10 oz or 741 grams. The tent boot (or jack) will add approx 3.6 oz (103 grams) and US$40. You might also think about adding a spark arrester (.8 oz – 24grams and US$10)

So at total weight of 29.6 oz or 844 grams – but you may not need any other stove to cook on (so subtract that from your pack weight). Figure also that you will have a shirtsleeves warmth in your winter camping tent, and use much less wood than an open fire (just a small armful for a night’s warmth which it will be easy enough top carry in from further afield) – and that is is easy to have a fire and be toasty warm in the snow or rain! Note, they also have larger models for different purposes. You may be rushing out to buy one or more of these.

Cylinder: 12oz, Stove body and parts, 4oz pipe wrap, bag, platform, 10oz for 7′ Ti pipe, 1lbs 10oz total weight with 7′ Ti pipe. Capacity: ~485 cubic inches 7.5″ X 12″ Price: US$240 with 7ft titanium pipe)

Wifi: 13 oz. Construction: Titanium body, aluminum legs. Pipe: Titanium, 1.5oz per ft, 2-3/8 in diameter. Weight: 13 ounces with out pipe. Size: 11 in long, 5 in wide, 8 in tall. Overall Height: 12 inches. Packed Size: 13 in long, 8 in wide, 2.5 in tall. Damper: Yes, real stoves have dampers. Price: US$240 with 4 ft pipe.

wifi stove

Note: They also make Tipi style tents (with or without stove boots already fitted) to complete your set-up. Probably the most suitable of these for two-three hunters/hikers would be the Vertex 6.5 (ie feet in height) which will set you back US$ 525 (May 2019): ‘Weight: 4lbs 2oz Total weight, Tent and stuff sack 2lbs 6oz, Stakes 6oz, Aluminum pole 1lbs 6oz Length: 144″ (12′) Width: 132″ (11′) Height: 78″ (6.5′) Square footage: 102 sq/ft Stakes: 12 aluminum stakes Pole: Adjustable aluminum pole
Currently 2-3 weeks delivery … Grey, Tan, Forest Green.’

Versa 6.5

You could save quite a bit of weight (600 grams) by cutting your own pole using one of these.

I intend to make my own tipi style tent in Tyvek (coming soon). It will be approx 9′ wide, and should weigh about 25 oz (750 grams) (without floor, stakes, pole of stove boot). Adding a Tyvek floor will add approximately 13 oz (390 grams). My winter tent and stove will therefore weigh 844 grams (stove plus boot) plus 1140 tent plus floor), a total of 1984 grams. Not so bad for winter warmth and shelter for 2-3 people. The load can obviously shared out.

I may also have a go at making my own stove eg out of a used Helium cylinder. I have made a number of tipis in the past using poly tarps. One is (from memory) 12′ wide, and one 16′ wide. I heated them with a kerosene heater. They were magnificent when the frost and snow lay all about. We used to use the larger one to display stud sheep in at winter shows. We always attracted a crowd! I will feature them in a future post.

NB: Images ‘borrowed’ from Titanium Goat. Hope they don’t mind.

Links:

http://www.titaniumgoat.com/cstove.html

http://www.titaniumgoat.com/stove-WiFi.html

http://www.titaniumgoat.com/pipe-parts.html

http://www.titaniumgoat.com/tents.html

http://www.titaniumgoat.com/vertex6_5.html

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/09/16/fire-umbrella/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/03/02/tyvek/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/05/28/tyvek-solo-fire-shelter/

23/05/2019: The Ultimate Hunting Trip: (or, A Further Use for Toilet Trowels) Disaster will sometimes happen upon you in the wilderness. The important thing is to survive it – as less experienced folk frequently don’t! For months I have been ‘stir crazy’ what with slow recovery from my back operation and (seeming to) need a new knee, but I have been itching to try out a ‘new’ piece of country I figured was likely ‘less traveled’ (Robert Frost). I was feeling I should reward myself for finalising the stud sheep sale to Saudi Arabia, so instead of continuing with the drudgery of ‘catching up’ on farm chores we thought we would take a look at this ‘New Eden’.

I had noticed on Google earth a piece of country which was likely overlooked by others as it is well-nigh inaccessible except by Herculean effort. One way in would involve (to begin) a 20 km trek along a closed track (likely completely overgrown – as ‘Management Only’ tracks invariable are, as no management is ever done – public ‘servants’ never work). The other involves a lengthy amount of 4WDing, then a several hours ‘hike’ down a precipitous slope including finding one’s way down some pretty scary cliffs, then a pack raft paddle across what might turn out to be a suicidal section of river. Sound like a sensible recuperation strategy to you?

If we succeeded we would have access to a couple of lovely fertile flats (more than a square kilometre in total) which was bound to be brimming with Bambis which had never seen a man (or woman). It might just also be that ‘hidden valley’ of our very own we all dream about which we can enjoy alone in peace and tranquility. And Della (suicidally) agreed to come along with me. What a wife! (I have known that for nigh on fifty years).

So, off we went. God knows how much weight I had in that pack – as I brought along my rifle and my (double) pack raft, two life jackets – and the two dogs’ gear! Over 18 kg it turns out. Ultralight indeed! In retrospect it would have been more sensible to have traveled light as a ‘reckie’ and brought along more gear at a later time if the reckie proved successful. I can tell you that pack nearly killed me struggling back up that precipitous hill on Day Two. Mind you there were a lot of very big dingoes along the river there, so that although I did not raise the rifle in anger, it might have come in handy had we not ‘camped’ where we did! Unfortunately we never got to use the pack raft so it was completely wasted n this trip. If it had been a $30 one I would have left it there in the fork of a tree.

I guess it is almost inevitable that one never gets away when planned, nor that the journey takes the same duration as you thought it would, nor that the going proves as easy as it might. I expected to be beginning the walk down to the river about 10:30am (instead of 2:00pm). Still I never anticipated that it would need more than four hours to walk that short a distance – but so it proved to be. Darkness was falling yet we were perched on a 45 degree slope only about 30 metres (vertically) above the river. The light was just too poor to see whether we could find a safe way down to a perfect little sandy flat below! You lose depth perception in low light first. We would just have to camp where we were.

Getting ‘bluffed out’ is an inevitability of wilderness travel. Just get used to the idea you will betimes have to spend an uncomfortable night perched on top (or bottom) of a precipice and be prepared for it. Descending a cliff in near dark (or in haste) is just foolishness – the kind of thing which gets the young killed. This is one important difference between being old or young. We were standing on a horizontal deer path less than a foot wide – say about 25cm. We could sit there all night and see if we could get some sleep, but then I did have the handy toilet trowel!

With (quite) a bit of effort that 25 cm game trail could be (and was) widened to 2′ (60 cm) wide and long enough (say 12 feet – or 3.6 metres) so that we could both stretch out. Della was (rightly) worried about rolling out in the night – though we never seem to fall out of bed. I placed some dead tree branches and excavated rocks along the edges where this seemed likely. It was not forecast to rain, so that we would only have the dew to contend with (which might dampen our sleeping bags but would not much effect their insulative ability), but if it did, we could spread the tent and tent floor over ourselves to prevent a total drenching. If you do this when it s not raining you will just get a lot of condensation from the interaction of your body’s warmth and the dewpoint that will over time saturate your bag. The reason why swags are cursed cold things really – and were never used by ‘swagmen’.

The most major problem was that (by now) we had less than 1 litre of water (amongst the four of us!) If we did not eat any of our dehydrated food we would be ‘fine’. Digestion particularly of carbohydrates and protein needs a lot of water. If you are short on water, best not to eat. Strangely some of us had brought along two apples and two bananas, and the dogs had two small (wet) 100 gram cans of dog food. We saved one of the bananas for breakfast. We were pretty cautious of that litre of water as we did not know whether there was a way down or whether we would have to make it last on the four hour walk back to the car the next day, so we still had over half a litre come morning. We also had some chewing gum which is a great source of ‘dehydrated water’ – as I have mentioned many times.

It was not the most comfortable of nights we have spent; neither was it the most uncomfortable! We were warm and dry and our new (winter) mats were very comfy actually even in such an unlikely place. We both got quite a number of hours of sleep by sunrise and were significant;y refreshed. In the morning I thought I should try to ‘slip’ down the cliff with just a daypack containing (mostly) empty Platypus water bottles. Where we were even the deer had not (quite) managed to get up and down, though they had been trying. We had also been trying without success to spot a deer path that went down the cliffs for the last hour or so of daylight. They will make it into a deer ‘highway’ now.

I was very cautious descending that precipice, breaking new ground through thick vegetation, zig-zagging as I went, never descending anything I would not (easily) be able to ascend. I guess I took about an hour to descend that thirty yards. By the time I had been down it and up again I had a path I could get Della safely down (and up). I also had three litres of water- more than enough for a sumptuous breakfast for all! We just about made ourselves drunk on it! In any case that was about the best cup of morning coffee I have ever had.

After dining we both went down for a longer (but not a long) look. It is a very beautiful part of the world – as the photos show, and I will be back! By the time we were back at our packs (on the deer path) though it was already 12:00 mid-day and so (past) time we needed to be heading back (as we had a dinner engagement we had to meet – we were late), and so could not stay a third day (unfortunately). It took us another (hellish) four hours to crawl our way back to the car, followed by another four hours driving home – so all in all a tiring day. We were both ready for a good night’s sleep!

At least I now know that I have one way down to the river- perhaps the only (safe) route for many miles (though on a future expedition I will try for another – on the way out). There is a ‘ridge’ downriver which is less steep (and there is a flat on ‘our side’ at the base of it should suit camping), but all along the river there are vertical precipices (and the satellite pictures did not show this) . Once down the river is easy and safe to cross via pack raft (there is a very long pool – more than a kilometre) between major drops. There are numerous ‘beaches’ on both sides, and this will make for a safe crossing even when the water height is much greater. The relevant gauge height this time (I am not going to tell you where we were) was .65-.7 metres which is quite low for this river, though it is ‘canoeable from about .5 to 2 metres apparently – if you are suicidal). I only add that here as a mnemonic for my own records.

I have never been to a spot where the reek of deer is so strong. Everywhere it was like a fresh wallow smell. Or where there is so much deer sign – and the deer are almost totally undisturbed except by the occasional pack rafter perhaps. Two very large stags spent quite a portion of the night fighting with each other just below us. They do make noises. They were watched by at least two of the largest dingoes (judging by their prints) I have ever seen. I am glad they did not know of a path up the cliffs to us – though they undoubtedly smelled us and knew we were there.

‘Next’ time I will tie a canoe drum to my pack on the way in containing a tent, cook-set, cheap packraft /paddle and other things which I will not have to carry out again. After a couple of trips I will have reduced my carry-in pack weight (and the carry out weight), by 5-8 kg, and I will have established a perfect camp site on ‘this’ side of the river, so that I need never be trapped by floodwaters that I was unaware of overnight. I should also find a lighter gun! I will also (hopefully) also have a better route. There is so much rock there I might even find a dry rock cave to stow the drum in (the one in the photo would flood) so that they will never be harmed by wildfire, else I can perhaps place them on a rock shelf and build a dry rock wall around them. They could be pitoned to a cleft in the rock so that they could not be rolled away by wombats, etc.

Setting out. The dogs are keen.

Setting out – the view down.

The first bluff. As a warning, there was only one way down here too. a narrow one to the left of this obelisk. I heaped a few stones on top of it as a cairn/marker after Della took the photo.

A yellow breasted robin has fallen victim to a wild cat. in Western Australia they have a bait for these terrible pests – the cats I mean.

First view of the river about two-thirds of the way down. Still looks a long way.

But I am optimistic.

However, we became ‘bluffed out’ and had to sleep like this on an (enlarged) deer pad.

Spot’s compulsory photo bomb.

Then he wants to sleep in my bag.

I climbed down to the river behind this dead black wattle. Looks pretty forbidding, doesn’t it?

But there is a great camp site right here.

And what a front door! View opposite.

Upstream.

And downstream – you can just start to see the beginning of the large flat opposite.

After breakfast Della is all packed up and ready to come take a look too. A pretty narrow sleeping ledge would you say?

Panoramic view at the bottom of the cliff.

The flat downriver will be explored on a future trip.

So many forbidding cliffs. Glad I didn’t have to climb down this one (opposite).

Just upstream there was a cave.

Which Honey was keen to explore. You could camp here (at low water) and leave the tent at home.

Not yet sick of climbing up and down. I am trying to get a better view upriver.

And this is the view upriver.

As is this.

And this.

It’s quite a nice rapid isn’t it. At my age (and with the level of remoteness) though I think I would be portaging it. It would be difficult to get a helicopter into a narrow gorge like this.

The sides are quite precipitous. I would not have been able to get down this, though there is another fine camp here.

Just a couple more glimpses upstream,

And then we are heading home. I love the way the light changes. About those knees: And about that ‘seeming to need a new knee’… pain is frequently a ‘great deceiver’ (not that it has quite the good looks of the ultimate artificer). Though you know in your heart of hearts that your pain has no useful purpose (in that nothing you are doing is causing it or can do will alleviate it) nonetheless you keep pandering to it like a pampered child as if if you did not, you would break. Certainly that is how backs and knees are.

Anyway Della’s doc advised that the only thing which seems to ‘help’ is persisting with squats until you can do 200 in a row. This is pretty ouchy stuff to begin with, but for a start try this: you can do about 150 ‘half’ squats while you clean your teeth at each end of the day. Then sometime during the day (morning is best) just grin and bear it and do 200 full proper squats. You can work your way up (numerically) over a few days. It will not be fun. However your knee will not break, though you may think it will. Surprisingly after a couple of days of this it will start to feel much better, and you might consider a major hiking enterprise – as we did (above). I am now hoping for the Dusky Track again early next year – and perhaps taking Della on the Everest Base Camp Trek in November – or perhaps a return visit to Bartle Frere in August. We shall see. Plans, plans…

New Surface Meniscus Implant

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/01/10/hatchet/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/05/28/trowel-peg/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/11/18/the-rolls-royce-of-back-country-trowels/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2015/11/20/ultralight-personal-hygiene/

23/05/2019: ‘While we recognize that the subject did not actually steal any horses, he is obviously guilty of trying to resist being hanged for it.’ Anon.

23/05/2019: Springheel Jack: What I feel like some mornings: https://magicalesat.com/products/power-leg-kneepad

23/05/2019: ‘Climate’ Costs: ‘If only they had read skeptical blogs, they’d have known that people can tick the believer box free of charge, but when it costs, climate action always ranks at the bottom, and no one wants to pay for it themselves, not even $10 a month. If people don’t even pay for carbon flight offsets or donate to environmental causes, they certainly won’t consciously vote to lose jobs and spend billions. Ultimately, even in 2019, more than half of all Australians don’t buy the UN climate scare. It was only 2017 when 60% of Australians said they were OK with dumping Paris if they could cut their electricity bills.’ http://joannenova.com.au/2019/05/how-to-lose-the-unloseable-election-be-anti-coal-how-the-climate-vote-evaporated/

20/05/2019: A Sea of Green: Lovely to see our share portfolio soar this morning as a result of the Lib election win. Nearly all the losses Julia caused (back in May 2013) have been wiped out. Looking forward to years and years of delightful (franked) dividend cheques. We live again. Choosing Tania (wife of a heroin dealer) or Anthony (lied about his own father to stay in Parl) - as they will - assures at least 6 more years of Liberal Government. I predict Scott will pick up seats in (particularly) Vic & NSW next election taking him to over 90 seats. If so it will take at least two elections to wind that back, so hopefully at least 9 more years of Scott as PM and lovely, lovely peace and prosperity – and 4WDing!

20/05/2019: A By-Election in Warringah –This seems quite likely to me in that a legal test of Steggall’s tactics would almost certainly find against her. Bring it on! Barnaby Joyce was certainly right on election night to point out that the millions of dollars (almost certainly illegally) focused on Warringah just as certainly lost the ALP a lot of seats elsewhere. Nothing was going to undo their arrogance towards Qld though. They should have ensured that the awful Bob Brown never ventured out of Tas. Interestingly, while he was absent the Libs ‘stole’ two seats there!

20/05/2019: How Shorten Blew It – I would probably have them in a slightly different order, but a weepy Bill (completely ignoring his senior engineering dad) at #1 is probably about right: https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2019/05/eleven-reasons-why-bill-shorten-blew-it/

20/05/2019: Wow! Space Mining Could Ruin Our Solar System If We Don't Establish Protected Places Now, Researchers Warn : ‘On a timescale of less than a millennium we could have super-exploitation of the entire solar system out to its most distant edges. Then, we are done. The study makes a case for designating 85% of our solar system a protected "wilderness" akin to Earth's national parks, leaving just one-eighth of eligible planets, moons and asteroids free to be mined or developed by human interests.’ https://www.space.com/scientists-propose-solar-system-national-park.html I admit I do not want to look up at a giant Coca Cola sign in the night (or day) sky, but this is pretty extreme!

20/05/2019: Let’s have a Royal Commission into the global warming fraud which is costing us billions: A tree ring proxy study this week has shown that there has been no warming for over 400 years (https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/05/16/no-hockey-sticks-studies-reveal-long-term-lack-of-warming-and-a-recent-cooling-trend/ ). Over at Prof Roy Spencer’s Blog (curator of the satellite records) is the evidence that if you subtract the El Nino events there has been no warming since WW2 (http://www.drroyspencer.com/2019/05/half-of-21st-century-warming-due-to-el-nino/ ); 28 million weather balloons have failed to find the tropospheric hot spot which would have to be there if the CO2 theory was correct. It is only there that water vapor is not the main (99+%) greenhouse gas. If CO2 does not warm there, it warms nothing: (http://joannenova.com.au/2010/11/dessler-2010-how-to-call-vast-amounts-of-data-spurious/ ). Clearly it is not!

19/05/2019: Yippee! Thank Goodness for Qld! And well done Scott! We are not going to be bankrupted by Shorten’s franking tax after all and can get on with enjoying our retirement. Hopefully no-one else in Australia will be silly enough to try to steal retirees’ savings ever again. I think it is likely that Scott will become another Menzies – he will stay around as PM for as long as he wants to. I expect he is already this morning planning how his 1922 election will snap up all those quite marginal Labor seats left – far more than the coalition has. The poisonous Left of the Liberal Party have mostly gone now (with Turnbull) and I have no doubt the Libs will win back Warringah at the next election (just as they now hold Bennelong & Wentworth again). The election has surely definitively proved that Australians will not vote for the global warming fraud. Just to put that to bed once and for all: A tree ring proxy study this week has shown that there has been no warming for over 400 years (https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/05/16/no-hockey-sticks-studies-reveal-long-term-lack-of-warming-and-a-recent-cooling-trend/ ). Over at Prof Roy Spencer’s Blog is the evidence that if you subtract the El Nino events there has been no warming since WW2 (http://www.drroyspencer.com/2019/05/half-of-21st-century-warming-due-to-el-nino/ ); 28 million weather balloons have failed to find the tropospheric hot spot which would have to be there if the CO2 theory was correct: (http://joannenova.com.au/2010/11/dessler-2010-how-to-call-vast-amounts-of-data-spurious/ ). Clearly it is not! The whole ‘climate change’ industry is just one gigantic fraud. There should be a Royal Commission!

19/05/2019: Aliens Cause Global Warming: http://www.drroyspencer.com/2019/01/aliens-cause-global-warming/

19/05/2019: The Post Free Speech World: https://www.steynonline.com/9369/the-post-free-speech-world

19/05/2019: Embryo Wire: The Americans call this ‘O.B. Wire’ (for ‘obstetrics’). Vets use it to cut up a stuck calf inside its mother! I have used this stuff to de-horn hundreds of goats over the years (It is not possible to breed poll goats as the poll gene is linked to hermaphroditism).

You can quickly tie a length of it to a couple of sticks. It then makes quick work of horn and bone. If you hanker to be an Ultralight Deer Hunter you might carry a length of it in your pack (as I do). There is no lighter way to retrieve a set of antlers!

I am currently using it to lift some ceramic floor tiles without breaking them (for a bathroom renovation we are ‘working’ on – in between demolishing the 1924 buggy shed, a general farm tidy up, sorting and loading stud sheep for export, a heap more fox-proof fencing, & etc. We am making a walk in shower recess (as against our geriatric ‘progression’) where I will re-use them. This beats re-tiling the whole bathroom, and saves money besides.

PS: This approx 1 metre length weighs only 5 grams! Pretty good for an ultralight saw. It’s still looking pretty good since I have hacked off various antlers with it over the years plus a square foot bathroom tile yesterday!

You can purchase it here:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/OB-Saw-Wire-40-17mm-Stainless-Steel-Rust-Restistant-Dehorn-Large-Horns-/153043302730 or https://www.outbackvetsupply.com/product.jhtm?id=687&cid=182

I just bought two rolls from the eBay store for US$12.52 each (40′ rolls).

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/10/28/the-ultralight-deer-hunter/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/10/14/ultralight-saws/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/09/09/how-to-carry-a-saw/

18/05/2019: The Left will do anything to win; don’t let them: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/blogs/andrew-bolt/lib-stabbed-vandalism-how-the-left-hate-in-warringah/news-story/23dad63bcecef6e333d2ec5762f1882d

18/05/2019: Sad but True: How to Make Turkeys Vote for Christmas: https://www.pickeringpost.com/2019/05/18/leftists-will-destroy-our-prosperity-and-our-nation/

18/05/2019: Poems for election day:

‘I’ll save the whale,

I’ll save the trees,

My plastic bag will save the seas;

I’ll save the carbon from the air,

And save the cuddly polar bear –

Which, by the way, will save the reef;

(And it will work, I swear!)

But may involve a little grief -

The cupboard, will, be bare;

If I become the climate chief,

Australia, needs, a prayer…’

http://joannenova.com.au/2019/05/labor-green-election-anthems-by-speedy/

18/05/2019: You be the judge. If you can live with voting for a rapist as Prime Minister, go right ahead: ‘Bill Shorten knew I was 16, he handed out the spliffs & alcohol and he raped me… Bill Shorten pushed me into a bathroom, and I tried to fight him off’ https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/05/bill-shorten-knew-i-was-16-he-handed-out-the-spliffs-alcohol-and-he-raped-me.html & https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/05/bill-shorten-pushed-me-into-a-bathroom-and-i-tried-to-fight-him-off.html & https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/05/kathy-sherriff-on-the-record-in-her-own-words-about-the-night-bill-shorten-raped-her.html

18/05/2019: We will never run out of resources - as Julian Simon explained in The Ultimate Resource way back in 1981: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/05/15/why-resources-arent-natural-and-will-never-run-out/ & https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Resource-Julian-Lincoln-Simon/dp/0691003815

17/05/2019: A new tree ring temperature reconstruction, using proxy temperature measurements from locations in central Asia, has revealed that there has been no warming in the past 432 years. https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/05/16/no-hockey-sticks-studies-reveal-long-term-lack-of-warming-and-a-recent-cooling-trend/ There were quite a few times in the last 432 years that it was significantly warmer than it is today!

17/05/2019: Sure Bob Hawke was a great Prime Minister, and would have made a great Liberal Prime Minister too - as Tony Abbott pointed out (to bizarre criticism), but inflation was at nearly 20% under his leadership and we personally paid over 20% on our home mortgage – as did most Australians. Under him the economy of Tasmania (for example – with his Green timber and water schemes) was completely destroyed – and has not recovered since; it remains an economic basket case – as the whole country would become under Labor now. The Hawke/Keating Government left power leaving a debt of nearly 20% of GDP to be paid off by the incoming Howard Government. This was the largest percentage debt in Australia’s history (worse even than Rudd/Gillard) and much worse than was inherited after fighting the Second World War. Economically they were the worst of times for us. You just could not get ahead – as we were able to do under Howard, but not since! It was during Hawke's Prime Ministership we stopped being members of the Labor Party, and stopped voting for them! Meanwhile, despite all their heart on a sleeve bullshit now, the Labor Party sacked him! Why guys, if he was your great leader? Shorten was one of the union bullies who had had enough of his ‘consensus’ approach and wanted the fate of the country back in the hands of the ‘faceless men’. Shorten is not a Hawke (despite the fact that he seems to think this morning that he is a Whitlam!) He can certainly ruin the economy in the same way. He is a thug, who raped Kathy Sherriff (and may well still go to gaol for it), lied to the Trade Union Royal Commission, was involved in the Australian Workplace Reform Association fraud, sold out his union members with any number of corrupt deals (as the TURC found – Cleanevent, etc), and was involved in standover tactics and even the bashings of prominent union members (such as Bob Kernohan, for example). He is wholly unfit to hold high office.

17/05/2019: If you take out the (natural) El Nino warming, warming per century (satellite record) becomes 1/10^th a degree Celsius – less than the error limit, so effectively no warming at all from CO2! http://www.drroyspencer.com/2019/05/half-of-21st-century-warming-due-to-el-nino/ A new temperature reconstruction, using proxy temperature measurements from locations in central Asia, has revealed that there has been no warming in the past 432 years. https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/05/16/no-hockey-sticks-studies-reveal-long-term-lack-of-warming-and-a-recent-cooling-trend/

17/05/2019: Shorten the rapist: ‘Earlier yesterday morning Kathy Sherriff made this statement:

I have received further contact from Victoria Police this morning and I am satisfied they are taking this matter seriously and appropriate action will be taken in relation to the new information I have presented to them.

Screen Shot 2019-05-16 at 9.30.01 am One of these men made a joke about rape.

He lost his preselection as a result.

The other is credibly accused of rape of a child, by a named witness who has assembled a substantial body of evidence and witnesses and has the support of the former head of the National Crime Authority who is calling for the case to be brought to court.

He has the complete support of the Labor Party, the union movement, GetUp and much of The Left.

And he might be the next prime minister of Australia’: https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/05/victoria-police-contacted-shorten-rape-complainant-today-she-is-satisfied-police-are-taking-her-comp.html

17/05/2019: Franking Credits Survey (Wilson Asset Management): ‘Thank you to the almost 4,000 individuals who completed our second survey about the proposed removal of franking credit refunds. The results were very interesting.

Financial loss
The people who will bear the brunt of the policy are primarily low and middle income earners with 70% of those surveyed indicating that they earn $90,000 or less per annum. Under the proposed policy, each year 13% of respondents will lose up to $5,000, 23% will lose between $5,001 and $10,000 and 19% will lose between $10,001 and $15,000.

Behavioural change
If the retirement tax is introduced, 50% of respondents said they will reduce their investment in Australian shares and invest more in global equities, 29% will invest more in unproductive asset classes, like real estate, and 20% will spend their assets to qualify for the Age Pension.

Electoral impact
The regressive nature of the policy was reflected in the survey, with 77% of Labor supporters planning to change their vote and 47% of all respondents stating their children or grandchildren will also change their vote.’

17/05/2019: Thermarest Lite Seat: I recently bought one of these for Della for canoeing (weight saving is still relevant if you might have to portage). Her glutes are a bit underwhelming so she gets a very sore behind after a few hours paddling. She was using Klymit’s Ultralight Pillow (which is an excellent sleeping pillow) but it was not quite up to such shenanigans and came apart. Several attempts to repair it with cuben tape and Tenacious Tape both failed. – the only time this has ever happened to me. There was a spot on the material which just kept bursting through again and again – quite possibly a manufacturing fault with the material. This seat should prove better for her next summer when we recommence serious canoeing again. (I hope)

Available here: https://www.thermarest.com/seating/lite-seat US$24.95 May 2019 Dimensions 13” x16” x 1.5” (33 x 41 x 3.8 cm) 110 grams It is a very comfy self-inflating seat (a cut down version of the Prolite mat) and would provide relief on the trail as well if you do not mind carrying the weight. Of course if you were using it for a (short) pack frame and also utilizing it to extend a ¾ sleeping mat then it would count as no weight at all. It would work well with this budget pack for example – or particularly with the short version of the Crown.

PS: I particularly like the bungee roll up:

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/08/25/diy-super-ultralight-pillow/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/04/14/ul-pillows/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/08/23/klymit-ultralight-pillow/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/04/14/ul-pillows/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/06/10/a-soft-pillow-and-a-warm-bed-under-the-stars/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/04/04/breathing-trick-that-puts-you-to-sleep-in-seconds/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/02/24/knee-pillow/

17/05/2019: Can your family afford $160 per week to squander on Labor’s renewables plan? Economists Fisher and McGibbin both put the cost of Labor’s renewables policy at $472 billion over 10 years (or $47 billion a year). That cost shared amongst 24 million Australians is $2000 per year each or around $40 per week. For the average (2 + 2 nuclear) family, that cost is $160 per week each and every week for the next ten years. I know our family cannot afford it. You have to realize that they also plan to put up taxes by 387 billion over the same time period (a further $1600 per person oer year) or $32 per week each. For your standard family add that$128 per week to the other $160 per week tol get $288 per week. They will have to be handing you money hand over fist for you to afford that – but you and I both know that it will all just go to their mates! https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/doomed-planet/2019/05/labors-plan-for-an-impoverished-energy-future/

17/05/2019: Labor’s Death Duties (Inheritance tax of 40%) – of course they say they won’t bring it on (just like Julia’s carbon tax) but they never tire of spending other people’s money – and they will bankrupt us. They claim when they steal from mum and dad self-funded retirees they are taking from ‘the big end of town’. Nonsense. The ‘big end’ can just leave town – or leave the country altogether (and they will). Della and I are here for the long haul, and it will be much harder and tougher without 42% of our income – if you vote for Shorten. We were also sort of hoping to be able to pass on our modest (owner built) home and savings to our kids, but if Labor takes 42% + 40% they won’t be left with much. All this after a life of hard work, scrimping and making do!

17/05/2019: Shorten rape case hotting up: What does it say about your values if you would elect a rapist as Prime Minister. This issue should decide the election, not whether folk believe gays will go to Hell. After all, a conviction was achiveed against Pell on the evidence of a sole witness: https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/05/2gbs-ben-fordham-interviews-peter-faris-qc-about-the-shorten-rape-allegations.html & https://www.pickeringpost.com/2019/05/15/bill-shorten-rape-allegations-re-emerge/ & https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/05/video-bill-thompson-puts-rape-allegations-to-bill-shorten.html

16/05/2019: A Crowning Achievement: I just saw the Granite Gear, the Crown X60 (ie 60 litre) pack on Massdrop for US$120 which has to be very good value for such a robust award winning hiking pack. As I already have $50 credit from folks whom I have recommended who have joined, it is hard to pass up. Perhaps for my (70^th) birthday (in August) of father’s day (in September)? The regular price is US$199.95. I do like the two brown colour options: Highland Peat./ Black and Fatigue/Dried Sage.

Fully kitted out it weighs 1140 grams – or 657 grams stripped. You might make your own simple waist belt as I did for the Gossamer Gear Gorilla which would take this up to less than 690 grams, a very acceptable weight for a pack which will last you many years and many thousands of miles.

‘We kept a lot of what you loved about the Crown2 around in the Crown X60. For mile-after-mile comfort, there’s the removable Vapor Current Mark 2 frame and molded foam back panel with mesh ventilation channels. For additional hydration options, there’s a hydration port and an internal bladder sleeve. And for all-weather reliability, there’s the roll-top main compartment, DWR/Barrier repellent treatment, and DWR-treated zippers. The side and front compression straps keep the pack weight close to your body to minimize shifting and bouncing. Along with a large stretch mesh pocket, there are straps across the front where you can put something like a tent.’

For your $120 you also get the Granite Gear Vapor Airbeam Frame (145 grams) which can be used to extend a ¾ length pad such as a Neoair (230 grams), so effectively no extra weight at all. You get a pack lid (108 grams) which attaches to the hip belt (174 grams, including pockets) to create a day pack.

This is one of the few packs which comes in a torso length option (15-19”configuration suitable for vertically challenged folks such as Della (5’) and I. Unfortunately this length is not offered in the Massdrop model, but 18-21” is which might suit folks around 5’6”.

I personally like a rear pocket but I’m sure we can manage to add one (as Della did here). I will try to post a pattern in the future for folk who would like to do this, or add three pockets to this beaut pack.

It is made from the virtually bullet-proof 210d high-tenacity Robic ripstop nylon and 100d Robic high-tenacity nylon, the same as the Gorilla.

‘Specs

Regular Pack

Long Pack

Links:

Massdrop Offer

Granite Gear Site

15/05/2019: Cheap Comfy Hiking Pillow: I was after a couple of cheap light weight pillows for another project (more about that later), so I sourced two of these on eBay for less than A$20 delivered (the pair). These pillows are approximately 18” x 12’ x 4” (45 x 30 x 10 cm) and weigh 100 grams.They have a delightful soft, warm surface, and clearly contain some kind of insulation material. I slept on one last night and found it to be the warmest, most comfortable hiking pillow I have ever tried!

The inflation valve is also more convenient than any I have seen on more expensive brands – it is so easy to adjust the pressure (with the touch of a button). The pillow was robust enough for me to sit on (though this may not be recommended) – Della split a Klymit ultralight pillow recently which she was using as a canoe seat – so that it has been replaced by a Thermarest Ultralight Camp Seat for that purpose.

As is usual with these inflatable things it is obviously made from some sort of heat sealable fabric. I was planning to cut them down for another purpose (which I will), but I am sure you could cut yours down to make it a slightly smaller pillow. I think you could get it to about 2/3 the weight without compromising its comfort or warmth. Even so, many people would be prepared to carry this pillow (which is about double the size and weight of my ‘normal’ ultralight hiking pillow (this one), just because of that.

You should never compromise about a good night’s sleep. After you have had one you will hike further and happier the next day than if you were tossing and turning on the hard ground all nght, for example.

Links:

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Ultralight-Portable-Air-Inflatable-Pillow-For-Hiking-Camping-Travel-AZ/113675329058?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&var=413798983665&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649 This one from Amazon looks the same: https://www.amazon.com.au/Trekology-Ultralight-Inflating-Camping-Pillows/dp/B073XH2YND/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=hiking+pillow&qid=1557879557&s=gateway&sr=8-1

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/04/14/ul-pillows/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/08/23/klymit-ultralight-pillow/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/04/14/ul-pillows/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/06/10/a-soft-pillow-and-a-warm-bed-under-the-stars/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/04/04/breathing-trick-that-puts-you-to-sleep-in-seconds/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/02/24/knee-pillow/

15/05/2019: New evidence today in Shorten rape case. Do you really want a rapist as Prime Minister? https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/05/joint-statement-from-peter-faris-qc-and-alleged-bill-shorten-rape-victim-.html & https://www.pickeringpost.com/2014/09/14/i-was-raped-by-bill-shorten-kathy/ & https://www.pickeringpost.com/2014/09/15/i-was-raped-by-bill-shorten-cont/ & https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/02/bill-thompson-on-bill-shorten-rape-allegations-outside-insiders-today.html & https://www.yourlifechoices.com.au/the_meeting_place/post/bill-shorten-by-larry-pickering?page=1

15/05/2019: 2 Tonnes of Gear off to the International Space Station: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/05/12/liftoff-of-spacexs-crs-17-dragon-cargo-craft/

15/05/2019: When politicians don’t do what the public wants: Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party is polling more than the Tories and Labor combined after only six weeks: http://joannenova.com.au/2019/05/brexit-partys-sudden-rise-rattles-the-establishment-duopoly/ Of course the other sleeper in the room for Farage is that he is also a climate sceptic: ‘I believe that if we decide in this country to tax ourselves to the hilt, to put hundreds of thousands of people out of work in manufacturing industries, given that we produce less than 2 per cent of global CO2, that isn’t terribly intelligent.’ Don’t be too surprised if C;live Palmer actually wins on Saturday!

15/05/2019: Labor’s energy plan simply will not work: ‘Labor would head us down a path where costs would increase still further. Our current system is cannibalising the dispatchable generators, and Labor would have us double down on this. It is also discouraging investment in new ultra-supercritical coal-fired plant that can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25 per cent over the existing black coal fleet and 40 per cent over the brown coal generators in Victoria. There is an enormous risk in all this: what happens in 2030, when many of the renewables generators will have repaid their capital but no investor will have any appetite for investment in thermal? Indeed, many of the early renewables will be ageing by then; what price will be needed to induce investment with no renewable energy target?’ https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/doomed-planet/2019/05/labors-plan-for-an-impoverished-energy-future/

14/05/2019: The Labor Party and free speech:

Screen Shot 2019-05-13 at 8.10.35 am

14/05/2019: You always wanted a transparent tent – now US$119.99 from oometry.world

Bubble Tent - Transparent Bubble Tent Lets You Fall Asleep Under The Stars

14/05/2019: Extraordinary: Two-thirds of U.S. Millennials Can’t Identify Auschwitz: https://www.histecho.com/holocaust-study-two-thirds-of-millennials-dont-know-what-auschwitz-is/

13/05/2019: A Home-made Flamethrower: Boys will be boys…Don’t do this at home: https://imgur.com/LZGM7AB

13/05/2019: UN IPCC Scientist Blows Whistle on Lies About Climate, Sea Level: https://www.thenewamerican.com/tech/environment/item/31472-un-ipcc-scientist-blows-whistle-on-un-climate-lies?fbclid=IwAR1ihdYCuiEjwiekaru79U0AjbRIXZasdYdDKVAgoiHe_pcNWIXwWJ7k-E4#

13/05/2019: How to punish a pedophile sex offender: https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2019/05/how-to-punish-a-pedophile-sex-offender.php

12/05/2019: According to the Chairman 9/10 cross-bench senators currently support the retention of the current franking system (Thank Goodness - there is hope for us yet!). It will be very difficult for an incoming Shorten Government to keep its spending promises if none of its taxing proposals is passed. Remember how Labor opposed Tony's 1 cent per litre levy on petrol? If you are considering voting Labor because you think to gain from their spending promises, think again! All you will get is more Labor debt - and more pain for the most vulnerable - what you always get from socialism!

12/05/2019: They say we have outlived our time, Maggie: https://www.steynonline.com/9362/the-uncowardly-lioness

12/05/2019: Astonishing: Bird that went extinct 136,000 years ago comes ‘back from the dead’ after evolving again: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/bird-extinct-back-from-dead-madagascar-white-throated-rail-a8908211.html:

12/05/2019: 2012: Believe it or not: Peter Costello: "Over his first four budgets, Mr Swan has averaged deficits of a little over $43 billion per year. He tells us that his next four budgets, if he were to deliver them, would average surpluses of $4 billion per year" Labor has not delivered a surplus since 1989 - they know nothing other than coming after your money!

11/05/2019: Topher explains how the Green bastards have stolen the water from the farmers and tipped it into the sea: https://www.facebook.com/TopherField/videos/327497544604368/

11/05/2019: The main risk factor for species loss is not climate; it is poverty: ‘Humpback whales were down to a few thousand in the 1960s and listed as “endangered”. In 1996 as the population grew, they were downgraded to “vulnerable”. In 2008 as they became numerous, they were downgraded again to “least concern”. Today there are 80,000 of them, they are back to pre-exploitation densities in many parts of the world, and groups of up to 200 are sometimes seen feeding together, a success unimaginable when I was young.’ http://www.rationaloptimist.com/blog/the-biodiversity-crisis/ & https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/05/07/un-species-extinction-report-is-enviro-loon-hysteria/

11/05/2019: But Stay Away from Chipmunks: Mongolian Couple Died of Plague After Eating Raw Marmot: https://www.livescience.com/65438-mongolian-couple-plague-raw-marmot.html?utm_source=notification

10/05/2019: A Must-Read – Mankind’s Incredible Journey. Well said, Howell: https://www.pickeringpost.com/2019/05/08/serfdom-or-sharia-over-my-dead-body/

10/05/2019: If you sell out the workers… Watch Video: https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/05/workers-who-have-seen-through-bull-shittin-bill-shorten.html

10/05/2019: Electricity prices are way up! Not enough brown coal – we need another Hazelwood. Come on Scott: http://joannenova.com.au/2019/05/more-renewables-more-record-prices/

09/05/2019: The Labor party is coming for your fishing. Why not make it illegal for Labor and Greens people to own guns? https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/05/labor-plans-to-ban-fishing-in-huge-new-marine-parks.html

09/05/2019: Mark Latham’s maiden speech – folk like him deserve your support and your vote, not lying scum like Shorten: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/mark-latham-unleashes-in-maiden-speech-how-did-our-nation-come-to-this/news-story/a432539f6513a9a119bba178acae408f?fbclid=IwAR2gnVxtqvNrHCo1s2kk6VTDZsE1OewPTYxcsNSn11wBGQ99Izfh_rDxNJ4

09/05/2019: Species Extinction? Nuts to that. You can do anything with a computer programme but it doesn’t equate to getting out into the field: http://joannenova.com.au/2019/05/a-million-species-face-extinction-time-to-burn-fossil-fuels-to-save-them/ & http://joannenova.com.au/2019/05/adapting-to-climate-change-its-in-our-genes-extinction-threat-is-over-rated/

08/05/2019: 97-Year-Old Veteran Still Hard At Work: https://www.weaselzippers.us/419871-97-year-old-veteran-still-hard-at-work/

08/05/2019: The very special genius who took 6 eggs and cannabis to assault the PM: https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/05/the-very-special-genius-who-took-6-eggs-and-cannabis-to-assault-the-pm.html

08/05/2019: The Cost of Doing Nothing - Zilch: https://judithcurry.com/2019/05/06/climates-uncertainty-principle/

07/05/2019: Labor Vision:

Screen Shot 2019-05-06 at 15.42.58

07/05/2019: That Great Barrier Reef which is supposed to have been dying since 1890 (if you believe some) is fit and healthy (if you go for a walk and take a look). PS. Healthy coral is brown in colour: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/05/06/bramston-reef-corals-the-other-side-of-the-mud-flat/

07/05/2019: Victims of Communism Day. Why May 1 should be a day to honor the victims of the ideology that took more innocent lives than any other. 100 million: https://reason.com/2019/05/01/victims-of-communism-day-2019/

06/05/2019: Stop Losing Your Pillow: Does your pillow creep away from you during the night – or do you sometimes lose it altogether in the dark? I know I do. Here is a method of preventing that for a weight penalty of 1-2 grams. Well worth it. i think it is self-explanatory. I have just tied a piece of 1 mm dyneema to the tabs on either side of their excellent Exped pillow (which I strongly recommend), and included a micro cord lock to cinch it up and secure it. The same method will work with other inflatable pillow such as Klymit’s. They are all made with a heat-sealable material so that a hot iron will create a tab on each side (if there isn’t one) to which you can affix a (very small) grommet – available from Spotlight or haberdashery shops generally. You could do the same sort of thing with the Graham Air for an even more ultralight alternative.

PS: Some people use a spare garment (eg a t-shirt) to do this, placing both the end of their mat and the pillow in it.

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/04/14/ul-pillows/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/08/23/klymit-ultralight-pillow/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/04/14/ul-pillows/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/06/10/a-soft-pillow-and-a-warm-bed-under-the-stars/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/04/04/breathing-trick-that-puts-you-to-sleep-in-seconds/

06/05/2019: Newspoll today has the election narrowing (to 1%) with the trajectory being a Coalition win. As Paul Collits points out we have never elected an unpopular Labor leader to be PM. I would point out that we have never elected a rapist, thief, and thug either: If you have any doubt Shorten is a rapist, watch this news item: https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/national/shorten-rape-accuser-cops-failed-me/video/0faa4e1a8b9c8928e158caad98065409?fbclid=IwAR0Tlq-iDmNV9DvdoBXyo163SIxT1K8CtXKrSIuRNCc7mPtdgO8lA0rCTRA Full article here: https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2019/05/we-already-know-the-election-winner/

06/05/2019: NPR Admits Plastic Bag Bans Pointless, Paper & Cloth Totes Worse For Environment: https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/04/npr-admits-plastic-bag-bans-pointless-paper-cloth-totes-worse-for-environment/

06/05/2019: Tough trip getting to church: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=178&v=IJCy64adY3Y

05/05/2019: Perhaps? Give ‘em Hell, Scott: https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2019/05/the-comfort-of-history-as-may-18-draws-near/

05/05/2019: Benjamin Franklin: ‘Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech.’

05/05/2019: US unemployment is at a 50 year low. Thanks Donald. Australia must not return to the failed politics of the Left: https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/05/us-unemployment-rate-falls-to-3-6-a-39-year-low-263000-new-jobs-in-april-trump-economy-is-on-fire/

05/05/2019: Seriously worrying: Survey: Most Austrians don’t know 6 million Jews were killed in Holocaust George Santayana. ‘Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. To covet truth is a very distinguished passion’. https://worldisraelnews.com/study-most-austrians-dont-know-6-million-jews-were-killed-in-holocaust/?utm_source=MadMimi&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Israel+Honors+6+Million%3B+US+Congregations+Buying+%91Active+Assailant%92+Insurance%3B+Poles+Try+to+Stop+Holoca

05/05/2019: Waterproof Carbon Fibre Playing Cards: Maybe not ultralight, but certainly ultra-cool – and you can cut a banana with them!

https://drop.com/buy/xc-carbon-carbon-fiber-playing-cards#overview

91 grams. US $60 (May 2019)

‘No more frayed edges, stains, or fading: if cared for correctly, carbon fiber playing cards can last a lifetime. Made from 100 percent carbon fiber, these thin and durable cards have a twill pattern and a matte surface. In case things get a little rowdy during gameplay (it happens), they’re waterproof as well. Spades and clubs have crisp white faces; hearts and diamonds are styled in striking red.’

From XC Carbon who have a heap of other neat carbon fibre goodies – eg tubing just in case you wanted to make your own hiking poles, pack frame (or something)

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/08/02/packable-rifle/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/11/03/ultralight-compact-hiking-pole/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/11/02/the-ultralight-comb/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/09/17/ultralight-chair-the-litesmith-qwikback-2/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2014/08/08/lightest-carbon-fibre-canadian-canoe/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/11/09/ultralight-cigar-case/

04/05/2019: Democrats should fund slavery reparations. Warren Myers points out some inconveneient truths – that it was the Democrats who supported slavery and sought to continue it even into the 1970s! Of course the same is true of the Left generally. For example, the Labor Party seems to have forgotten that it was responsible for the ‘White Australia Policy’ and the even worse attacks on and massacres of eg Chinese people on the gold fields (Remember Lambing Flat?) and in the shearing sheds during the 1891 strike, and so on. You can see this right at its (the Labor Party’s inception in Banjo Paterson’s poem ‘Traveling Down the Castlereagh’:

‘I asked a cove for shearin' once along the Marthaguy
"We shear non-union here," says he. "I call it scab," says I
I looked along the shearin' floor before I turned to go
There were eight or ten dashed Chinamen men a-shearin' in a row

It was shift, boys, shift, for there wasn't the slightest doubt
It was time to make a shift with the leprosy about
So I saddled up my horses, and I whistled to my dog
And I left his scabby station at the old jig-jog’… http://coyoteblog.com/coyote_blog/2019/05/a-modest-proposal-for-us-slavery-reparations.html

04/05/2019: Away with the Fairies: “Greta Thunberg is able to see what other people cannot see,” writes Malena Ernman…“She can see carbon dioxide with the naked eye. She sees how it flows out of chimneys and changes the atmosphere in a landfill.” Of course, with a ~ 410 parts per million concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere, we know that is a physical impossibility. Carbon Dioxide is a colorless and odorless gas: It also does not reflect or absorb any light within the light spectrum that humans can see. Even if Greta had some special ability to see into the near infrared, the absorption spectrum of CO2 is far removed from the human range of color sensitivity. But the UK has caved to such idiots and is the first country to declare a ‘National Climate emergency’ May must go! http://joannenova.com.au/2019/05/uk-declares-climate-chastity-vow-its-a-groupthink-emergency/ Meanwhile the NOAA (finally) admits that most of the warming is due to the Urban Heat Island Effect (and the rest of it is down to changes in thermometers): https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/05/03/big-news-verified-by-noaa-poor-weather-station-siting-leads-to-artificial-long-term-warming/ This group of child climate protesters outside Greg Hunt’s office yesterday is sickening. Children ought not to be taught that the earth is dying or that everything is getting worse (when clearly the truth is the exact opposite):

Screen Shot 2019-05-03 at 11.21.09 am

04/05/2019: The bully boys of the Left strike again. The truth (that Labor’s climate policies will cost $26.4-54.2 billion per year (roughly twice the Defence Budget is inconvenient. So, let’s physically attack the eminent economist who calculated it. This has echoes of Peter Baldwin and Bob Kernohan whom Shorten’s bully boys beat up. Shorten is a corrupt thug. http://joannenova.com.au/2019/05/global-bullies-strike-again-economist-dr-fishers-house-egged-by-climate-activist/

03/05/2019: The cost of Shorten’s mad climate plan alone: $264-542 Billion dollars over ten years, roughly twice the whole defence budget per year leaving us possibly unable to defend ourselves and with nothing much to defend at the end of it. Add in Labor’s $370 billion of extra taxes…These people just can’t do simple arithmetic – they are wholly unfit to run the country, and I expect that the public will so judge them on May 18^th! Of course nothing about this on the ABC’s 7:00am News this morning!

03/05/2019: Free speech vs ‘correct’ speech: Jessica Whelan candidate for Lyons is the latest ‘victim’ of this (Al Jazeera?) campaign by the Left for comments about Moslems which are the shared beliefs of over 50% of Australians according to polling I have seen. This follows eg one Nation Steve Dickson’s outing for being sexist when partying drunk. I figure you could just as easily have filmed average women being sexist with men at male strip shows. These career-killing take-downs must be resisted. I encourage everyone who can to vote for the victims of this ‘newspeak’. Put Whelan and Dickson first if you can to preserve free speech in Australia. I feel that you should be able to say anything you believe. So easy to become an ‘unperson’ as Milo has for example: https://www.news.com.au/technology/online/social/facebook-bans-milo-yiannopoulous-louis-farrakhan-and-alex-jones-and-for-hate-speech/news-story/8e3714e19bd91ca3f4e3f00247513d3d

03/05/2019: You Just Can’t Invent This Stuff: Meanwhile, Driving A Tesla Results In More CO2 Than A Mercedes Diesel Car, Study Finds: https://www.dailycaller.com/2019/04/24/tesla-carbon-dioxide-mercedes/

02/05/2019: More Free Stuff for Hiking: My first sixteen posts about free stuff for hiking proved popular, so here are another sixteen:

Home Made Pack Raft I bought a $40 raft (Intex) from Clark Rubber and reinforced it with a layer of poly tarp which can be attached to it with polyethylene tape (from greenhouse suppliers), ‘Gaffer’ or ‘Duct’ tape. You could also use tarp clips if you prefer. This makes it well-nigh indestructible. The tarps come in three weights: 100grams/square metre, 150 and 200 equating roughly to 4,5 & 7 oz per square yard).

Faux and real packraft, top view after use.

Car-Camper Conversion: $50 We have recently been on a car camping holiday in Scotland where we wanted to stay away from people as much as possible on such a crowded island, and save on accommodation costs by sleeping in the rental car wherever we could find a pleasant spot. The car we hired turned out to be a VW Golf which you might think would be a tad small for this purpose, but when the front seats are all the way forward and flipped over there is over 6′ of room. All that was needed was to create a platform to fill up the well in front of the rear seats once they were folded down into the stowage position.

Catenary Curves: They are the solution to tarp/tent problems. I have known about them for so long and done nothing. Well, yesterday I was having a problem getting my new project, a Tyvek octagon/decagon shelter to sit properly. I created the curve you see on the piece of plywood by hanging a piece of rope between two screws then, using the pattern produced as a template I cut the curves out. Instantly the tent wanted to stand upright nice and taut. It will be much better when it is properly sewn with tie-outs and etc.

2016-04-20 08.32.05 comp

New Fancy Feast Stove ‘Zelph’ is clearly a genius (like Jim Woods who made the original of the Super Cat Stove – if you have not made one yet, do so today!). He has taken the ‘Super Cat’ to a whole new level – and I’m definitely impressed. I hit upon his website yesterday, saw that he doesn’t ship to Australia (You would have to use Shipito – recommended!) and decided I could not wait, so made one myself with what was available to me.

A Hands Free Umbrella: A reader recommends this excellent DIY solution to attaching your umbrella to your pack here:https://ramblinghemlock.blogspot.com.au/2014/03/umbrella-rigging.html

Simple Hammock Double Up You can hang two hammocks side by side from the one pair of trees using just one tarp with this simple expedient. You need one (or two) spacer bars (3/4″ thick branches or parts of your hiking poles will do) and some of these 25 mm (1 inch) poly plumbing fittings from eg Bunnings at A$1.67 (Jan 2018) each. If you have some 1″ poly pipe you can just cut four approx 2″ lengths and drill eg 3/8′ holes in them (as I have done) for the hammock suspension – they will weigh 6 grams each. Double bunking for 24 grams; how good is that?

Ultralight Ground Sheet: If you are sensible and don’t use a tent, but instead sleep under a nice airy tarp, you may nonetheless want to protect your bottom and other expensive equipment with a ground sheet. As I have mentioned before a mylar space blanket (at about 50 grams) is good enough for this and does double duty by keeping you warm in an emergency – also good for your day pack when you go for a stroll away from your camp to check out that waterfall, rare orchid or monstrous stag, etc.

Col Townsend Whelen’s Forester Tent ‘If you need to cut weight or cost, the Forester tent is a good solution. It’s one of the best tents ever devised for a chronic woods loafer, particularly for one who yearns to live close to nature and who objects to spending any of his or her outdoor hours confined in a closed canvas or nylon cell.

The Forester tent is the cheapest of all wilderness tents, either to make yourself or to buy. It’s the easiest and quickest to construct and pitch, too. And considering its scant weight and bulk, it’s the most comfortable in which to live and do your few camp chores. Also, with the exception of the Whelen lean-to tent, it’s the easiest to warm with a campfire out front.

Whelen Forester Tent

DIY Super Ultralight Pillow Make your own 10 gram hiking pillow: These approx 17 grams (small) & 27 gram (large) Graham Medical Flexair Pillows are excellent for hiking and backpacking. The two sizes measure 14.5″x10.5″ & 19″x12.5″ They cost pennies: US $35.16 for the small & $43.41 for the large per box of 50! 70 cents each. Seriously!

Budget Pack Mods Recently I bought a couple of cheap approx 40 litre packs from Amazon for less than US20 each. I thought these would be a good recommendation to someone who wanted to begin hiking on a small budget. The first thing you need after all is something to comfortably and reliably carry your stuff in. I bought this one for US$ 17.99 and this one for US$19.99. Straight out of the bag the packs weighed 335 grams and 382 grams on my scales.

How to Carry a Saw A 31 gram 6″ hiking/hunting saw sounds pretty good doesn’t it? Complete with handle and sheath it cost me less then $A9. The Diablo saw blades are A$17.47 per pair in the Tools section of Bunnings. I will try to find an even better blade next time. Holding it in the vice I carefully cut just enough of the teeth off with the angle grinder so I could hold it comfortably. A pruning saw cuts on the ‘pull’ stroke so it should be fairly safe to use.

More about DIY PFDs: 114 grams You can make a lighter non compliant PFD which you fill with other inflatable items, eg Platypus bottles (I carry a 1 and 2 litre bottle, pillows (I carry the Exped Ultralight), wine bladders (who doesn’t have a few of them lying around?) and etc.

diy-thing-4

Tyvek Jack Russell (Rain) Coat: 13 grams! My little chaps can get quite wet and cold if we are in the bush for long days in the winter so I thought I would treat them to some waterproofing. Surprisingly, my first effort worked very well – you can see Spot modelling it here. He was quite happy wearing it for all of our 5km walk (run for him!) this afternoon and didn’t want me to take it off when we came home

Raincoat Shelter: How to make your raincoat into a shelter. I hope you realise how this is important as every year people die because they keep on wearing their raincoat instead of sheltering under it. I know when you are out in the cold pouring rain probably the last thing you are going to think is, ‘Must take my raincoat off’. It is counter-intuitive. However, read on…

Ultralight Cups It’s surprising how much weight you can save in small ways. For example, my improved Fancy Feast Stove created a simmer stove which weighs under 15 grams. This shaved 30 grams off my stove weight. Using small aluminum containers to store the various ointments etc you carry has cut nearly 100 grams from my pack weight. A lighter cup such as the one shown cut 21 grams. Somewhere during this process, I culled through my pack and discarded a total of around a quarter of a kilogram (1/2 a pound) of quite unnecessary weight.

Ultralight Toothpaste: ‘Tactical skills weblog Imminent Threat Solutions shares a simple method for making toothpaste dots by squeezing small, chocolate-chip sized “dots” of toothpaste onto aluminum foil, allowing those dots to harden for a week or so, and then transferring to a small waterproof bag. To use, all you need to do is pop a toothpaste dot in your mouth, chew for a few seconds, and start brushing.’

You will find a heap of other DIY ideas here:

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/07/13/60-diy-ultralight-hiker-ideas/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/07/29/a-hiking-food-compendium/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2015/06/14/diy-hiking-gear/

02/05/2019: Brendan Edmonds is right: society is moving into a great silence where no-one is brave enough to say anything. It began with the left ‘marching through the institutions’. Now they control practically all of them and are more censorious than ‘Big Brother’: https://www.pickeringpost.com/2019/05/01/the-century-of-silence/

02/05/2019: Shorten's Labor is like a supermarket that refuses to mark the prices - just give us your credit card details and trust us to charge you what we want: https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/05/shorten-how-much-will-our-new-taxes-cost-you-work-it-out-yourself.html

02/05/2019: Taqiyya: The Enemy Amongst Us – Well Said, Mark Steyn: https://www.steynonline.com/9317/taqiyya-for-easter & https://www.steynonline.com/9319/dont-mention-the-jihad

01/05/2019: Vote for One Nation to show you oppose Arab interference in our political system to further their Islamisation of Australia. An astonishing list of foreign organizations are registered to influence our votes. Al Jazeera and the Qatar Government are not among them! https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/04/registrant-activity-type-foreign-principal-foreign-principal-country-start-date-api-management-pty-ltd.html At very least, give this guy a hammering:

01/05/2019: Uncivil War has begun in Venezuela. The Ruskies are there. Trump has slapped an embargo on Cuba for sending troops. Ah, socialism…This is all very ominous: https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/05/god-help-the-people-as-the-lefts-socialist-paradise-venezuela-descends-into-hell.html

30/04/2019: Free Stuff for Hiking: You really don't need to spend up big to have great stuff for hiking, hunting etc as I posted recently here: https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/01/30/best-5-spent-on-camping-gear-ever/. For example, for years I carried a $50 .303 Lee-Enfield which has still harvested more deer than the newer guns Della bought for me for special occasions (50th Birthday, 40th wedding anniversary etc). Many of the things I use pretty much cost me nothing at all. I just cobbled them together out of bits and pieces I had lying around. Certainly you can save a lot of money if you are careful, as I pointed out here: https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/03/03/ultralight-hiking-on-a-budget/ Some things were pretty much free, like the following dozen:

The Ultralight Fisherman: Today is using a 1 oz (30 gram – including a selection of flies and leaders) hand line made from a 100 ml plastic ‘spice’ bottle which easily and accurately casts 30 – 40 metres – as you can see! A pill bottle of roughly the same size though slightly heavier, would work just as well. I tried an empty Nurofen bottle, for example. Another half an ounce or so would add a couple of lures, hooks, split shot, etc suitable for bait fishing as well. (This particular bottle is 14 gram 100 ml about 43mm wide and 80mm long and has the advantage you can see through it).

A Ball of String and a Feed of Cray: Once you have your feed of trout you will have some heads, tails, fins etc left over. Now you have your cray bait for the next course! All you need to catch them is a bit of string. I have wound 50lb line on my ultralight hand line http://www.theultralighthiker.com/the-ultralight-fisherman/ (because it was what I had lying around) – it would cast a lot further still with lighter line. Certainly though, a few 3-4 metre lengths of this is all you need to catch a feed of crays. You might need to mark the location of your lines with some tiny pieces of fluoro tape as this Dyneema line will be very hard to see.

Collecting Water:This is a great tip from JJMathes: ‘Have you ever needed to fill your water container only to find there wasn’t enough clearance for you to get the opening of your container under the flow? When water levels are low the flow doesn’t always shoot out far enough to catch the water, it rolls around the contour of the rock making it nearly impossible to fill a bottle or bladder. Altering the flow is an easy fix by using the windscreen from your cook kit to form a spout; or anything flat that won’t absorb water will work, even a broad leaf.’ http://gossamergear.com/wp/ever-have-trouble-collecting-water

jm_waterspout

Ultralight Glasses Case: 12 grams If you have got to my age (or had other bad luck) you no doubt need glasses. I now wear progressive frameless titanium glasses (14 grams) all the time, but I also need a spare pair in case I lose or break them. The quite lightweight case they came in from Zenni weighs 47 grams (blue below). I knew I could do better. Like this:

Straws Into Containers Making drinking straws into mini containers: Now that is a genius idea: http://briangreen.net/2011/07/diy-single-use-antibiotic-packs.html ‘Place the straw over the opening of the ointment tube and carefully squeeze in a small amount of the ointment that is approximately one quarter of an inch in length. You’ll notice that transparent straws work best for this. Use you fingers to squeeze the end of the straw so that it pushes the ointment further up inside the plastic straw. This will provide a clean area for sealing the end of the straw without having the ointment ooze out while you are holding it with your pliers.

A Further Use for Drinking Straws: Emergency fire starter storage: http://www.instructables.com/id/Fire-Tube-Drinking-Straw-Hack/ This is a top idea. It is also easy to do. All you need is some drinking straws, a pair of needle nosed pliers and a lighter.

Just add some matches, sandpaper and some cotton wool soaked in Vaseline

Hiking Yoghurt You can make your own yoghurt on the trail. I have tried this and it works fine with the ‘Easiyo’ sachets you buy from supermarkets and some powdered milk.This is from a CDT thru-hiker: ‘Yoghurt can be made on the trail in a zip lock or a more durable plastic jar. It’s very simple to make:

easiyo

Bathtime on the Trail: The One Gram Platypus Shower: An ordinary water bottle cap will fit any Platypus bottle https://www.platy.com/bottles-storage (by the wonderful Cascade Designs who also make the absolutely best Sleeping Pad: https://www.thermarest.com/mattresses/womens-neoair-xlite). You can make holes with a large needle (doll needle pictured – much safer). With nine holes as pictured one litre lasts 6 ½ minutes.

2016-05-23 14.33.31 comp

DIY Simple Hearing Aid Safety Clip This is the simplest and cheapest way to make sure you don’t lose your hearing aids on a hiking or canoeing trip (such as this). Works with any BTE (Behind the ear) type hearing aid. Bulldog clip, (dyneema) string, two simple slip knots. Attach clip to back of shirt collar. Cost: cents. Cheers.

No Sew Sandals 80 grams: I made this pair as an experiment as I know there are lots of folk who don’t sew. This pair can be made with a pair of scissors, some blue hiking mat foam, a car inner tube, some Velcro and some contact adhesive (eg Selley’s Gel Grip) Should take you less than half an hour. They weigh 80 grams each in US size 9.5 , but could be trimmed a little. They would make excellent hut booties or for river crossings – or you could walk a long way in them if your shoes gave out.

2016-10-23-21-06-18-comp

DIY Crampons I bought a pair of Yaktrax Pros for my Everest Base Camp walk. You need some extra traction when you are going to be crossing glaciers like the Khumbu where a fall can be decidedly fatal. I have since seen even lighter ones such as Vargos but I need such things so little I doubt I will be replacing mine. If i had thought about DIY I could have saved myself a few bucks as the series of suggestions below illustrate. A few 1/4″ nuts and some cable ties or even just a used bike tube and a bit of spare time and you are good to go! People are so ingenious.

Sawyer Water Filter A 2 gram back flush for Sawyer Squeeze Water Filter: : http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=78861 and it works! PS: If you have a later model of the Sawyer (I have the Mini which filters down to 1 micron so excludes viruses and all bacteria), you can source a different water bottle cap to do the same thing. See picture below:

2016-10-21-11-23-04-comp

19 Gram Dyneema Camp Shoes (Correction: 17; well 12!) I just finished making this pair of US Size 9 ultralight camp shoes for my Dusky track walk which I start on Monday. They are made from 3.6oz/yd2 Dyneema fabric. Together with a pair of down socks from https://goosefeetgear.com/products/down-socks/ (approx 50 grams per pair), I should have nice dry, warm feet at the end of what is usually a fairly wet slog each day.

The Ultralight Bush Chair

Reader Jenny wrote to tell me about these wonderful chairs she makes when hiking. She thinks she could get the pack weight of her chair down to 50 grams. She writes, ‘The material is just a rectangle of fabric, with big seams top and bottom (bottom for the cross piece of wood to thread through; and top for the cord to thread through and tie off at the top of the tripod).

bush chair comp 1

The Egg-Ring Ultralight Wood Burner Stove: This Egg-Ring Stove is a development of the traditional ‘three-stone fire’ using three tent pegs (21 grams) and an egg-ring (8 grams). NB: My latest model = 12.5 grams! The aluminium (easy drill) egg-rings cost $8 for 3 on eBay and stop the pegs from falling in/out. You need to drill three equidistant holes around the edge. Presumably you already carry tent pegs. These are the Vargo’s Shepherd’s Hook Titanium Pegs

2016-05-22 14.42.22 comp

Bush Shower: Mechanical Advantage This is an excellent idea: it would work well with a solar shower or camp shower too such as this one sold by Sea to Summit which weighs about 100 grams (if you ditch the stuff sack). I find two 1300 ml billies of cold water (add FIRST!) + 2 of boiling water gives a perfect shower in the woods: https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/08/17/ultralight-camp-shower/

You will find a heap of other DIY ideas here:

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/07/13/60-diy-ultralight-hiker-ideas/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/07/29/a-hiking-food-compendium/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2015/06/14/diy-hiking-gear/

30/04/2019: How Rain Cools the Planet – almost exactly the same amount of cooling as the (calculated) warming from CO2, ie 1/10^th of a watt per square metre. Surprise: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/04/29/the-cooling-rains/

30/04/2019: It is hard to imagine. My uncle was at Tobruk, like this old chap. Della's father was with the British forces somewhere nearby: https://www.news.com.au/national/the-most-brutal-environment-rat-of-tobruk-dennis-davis-on-surviving-war-heartbreak-and-finding-love-again/news-story/99b53f7f4bcbb5b9a8912e9df96cb72a

30/04/2019: So is this: Aliens are Breeding with Humans Because of Climate Change: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/04/27/oxford-professor-aliens-breeding-with-humans-because-of-climate-change/

29/04/2019: Google can do a pretty good job of a picture. I should run more of my pics by them. Google even knew where we were from the photo (Pearsondale). i had never heard of it but when I checked with Maps, it was right! Della has just sent me this version: It really makes the unedited version look pretty flat. You can read more about the canoe trip (and what I was trying to photograph) here: https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/04/18/long-and-lazy-river/

Image may contain: tree, sky, cloud, outdoor, nature and water

29/04/2019: Good on him for coming forward. It was obvious to any experienced shooter that Monis could have been taken out without anyone else having to lose their life. I said so at the time. Instead we have had a ridiculous inquiry which achieved nothing. Police command should be sacked: https://www.facebook.com/9News/videos/2370862499814064/

29/04/2019: What kind of idiots protest against global warming by driving 400 cars thousands of kilometers between Tasmania and the Adani coal mine? The Greens are so principled – where are their bicycles?

29/04/2019: Forget about retiring under Labor. Under their franking policy you will need 42% more money ie you will have to work for at least 10 more years! This is how it has worked (since Paul Keating was PM): You can roll over your super anytime into a Self-Managed Super Fund (we did). If you invest in Australian shares most dividends (paid twice a year) are fully franked. This means that the company has already paid your share of their owed company tax. As you are a retiree your superannuation tax rate is zero so that you are entitled to the return of the tax paid on your behalf (just as you are entitled to a tax return on your wages income if your employer has paid more tax than you owe). The franking credit is +42% of the dividend. The average (eg of the ASX 100) is about 5-6% return per annum. You get franking credit of +42% of that as a tax return so an additional 2-3% on top of that. If you have $500,000 of super saved that is 2-3% is $10-15,000 you will be missing out on, so that you will be left with perhaps $25,000 instead of as much as $45,000. Shorten also says that you will not be able to use the loss of the franking credits to reduce your income in qualifying for the Old Age Pension – you will just have to wear it. Some time along the track in 10-30 years time, you are going to be very sorry if Shorten is allowed to implement this superannuation change. Della and I rely entirely on our Self-managed Super Fund (and our wits). We would have qualified for a part-pension but we did not apply for it as we do not want to be a burden on our fellow Australians. Now we will be unable to anyway. We will just have to live with over $20,000 less each year. Think about this, and see if you like it – then vote accordingly!

29/04/2019: Leader’s debate: Monday's debate is being hosted by The West Australian newspaper and the Seven Network and will air on the lower-rating 7TWO channel rather than the network's main channel. It will air at 7pm AEST. The second debate in Brisbane on Friday, May 3, is a "people's forum" hosted by Sky News, airing at 6.30pm.

29/04/2019: The surface area of a sphere is 4pir2 which makes the surface area of the earth about 510 million square kilometres. Divided by 6 billion people gives about 8.5 hectares or 21 acres per person – but 70% of the earth is water, so only 30% of that or 6.3 acres, but only about one-third of the land is good for anything so less than 2 acres per person. An acre is about 60 metres by 60 metres. 2 acres is about 90 metres by 90 metres. We feel very fortunate indeed to own 25 lovely acres here at Jeeralang Junction!

28/04/2019: 5 million more people over the last 15 years: Nearly ¾ of that under Labor. 1 in 5 people living here now is a new arrival during that period. Far too many are sponging off taxpayers. They have driven up house prices to levels that Australians cannot afford to buy a home. Our roads, schools and hospitals are overcrowded near to bursting. Huge chunks of these folk have no loyalty to Australia, or are openly opposed and hostile to everything we stand for. We must turn the tap off on immigration now, before we lose our country. A return to Labor will also, always spell a return to mass immigration (of unsuitable people). Of course, as folks have oft observed, ‘Liberals want immigrants to work but not vote, and Labor want immigrants to vote but not work.’

27/04/2019: A new anti-oxidant for heart health: https://newatlas.com/antioxidant-blood-vessel/54338/

27/04/2019: Origin of common idioms: http://www.bachelorsdegree.org/2011/01/30/30-common-english-idioms-and-the-history-behind-them/

27/04/2019: Sri Lankan death toll reduced from 350 to 253 as (being Christians) 106 people come back to life – enough to make you a believer: https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/sri-lanka-warns-of-imminent-terror-attacks-as-death-toll-is-revised-down-by-100-20190426-p51hdb.html - after the Los Vegas shooting only one came back to life, but clearly this started something. Next time maybe everyone will resurrect!

27/04/2019: Wirilda Reflection: We knocked off early on Anzac Day to have a stroll along the Wirilda Track from the W3 ‘road’ downstream. (I am still recovering, slowly). You can put a canoe in here and with some difficulty paddle down to the old Morwell pumping station at Wirilda Park.

The river used to be clearer (and may be again) but if you do not mind a bit of bottom scraping and the odd portage it is a very enjoyable 3-4 hours pretty much anytime – as there is a constant water release for environmental purposes.

The river is ‘canoeable’ from at least Growler’s Track on the Western Tyers from where it would take nearly a week to get to the pumping station – by which time you might even have grown sick of eating fresh trout, blackfish and spinyback crays!

After you descend to the river you have to cross on some of the old water supply pipelines – the oldest ones were made of wood, and can still be seen here and there. There used to be a number of weirs on the river to supply the Latrobe Valley with water before they constructed the Moondarra Reservoir. If you carry a pruning saw such as this, you can ‘improve’ the experience for others. There are some tea trees hanging a little closely over the river in places (and some pebble races could use a few stones moving). You can get through however, and there are many lovely still pools and campsites with beautiful river reflections -such as this:

There was no-one else about, even on a public holiday, and a beautiful day!

There are many little drops like this.

And splendid limpid pools.

In which the surrounding bush was mirrored.

The surface only rarely disturbed by water boatmen or trout.

Della's Snaps (she is a better photographer than I):

The dogs certainly enjoyed themselves.

You can use the Wirilda Track as an introduction to the Upper Yarra Track – if you need to walk it entirely utilising foot or public transport. There are many posts about this, eg beginning here: https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2015/11/17/upper-yarra-track-update-section-one-moe-yallourn-rail-trail/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2015/11/23/upper-yarra-track-update-section-three-wirilda-to-moondarra/

25/04/2019: China rolls out the new Concorde: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-04-19/chinese-state-media-reveals-mysterious-hypersonic-aircraft & https://www.popsci.com/supersonic-plane-next-generation

25/04/2019: Extinction Rebellion protesters in London are nuts:

My mother in law lived through the Blitz in that great city without even once thinking that absurd thought. These folk need to be starved of air (time) at least. And they are led by this stange creature a 16 year old with Asberger’s, selective mutism and obsessive-compulsive disorder: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/04/22/the-cult-of-greta-thunberg/ Hers is a seriously dysfunctional family: https://quillette.com/2019/04/23/self-harm-versus-the-greater-good-greta-thunberg-and-child-activism/ The world gone mad!

25/04/2019: This just about the intellectual standard of the Greens: https://www.betootaadvocate.com/uncategorized/greens-call-to-slash-drought-aid-immediately-after-hearing-they-got-a-bit-of-rain-in-dubbo/

24/04/2019: Lukla Airport: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=176&v=_Grx5ZiT8qk Hope to get back there for a toddle around again later on in the year with Della – if we can both get our health in order first.

24/04/2019:

24/04/2019: Fifty years of ‘global warming’ – what went wrong: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-04-23/fifty-years-apocalyptic-global-warming-predictions-and-why-people-believe-them

24/04/2019: Lightest Hiking Garment: I am a big fan of Montbell gear. Their new Ex Light Wind Vest comes in at a mere 37 grams. Pair this with these 28 gram shorts for an extremely light dry change (65 grams) eg when you are doing the washing. I usually wear a vest of some sort most days as I like to have my arms free for manual work on the farm so this vest will suit me to cut the wind chill on those shoulder season days.

'This vest is made from our ultra-light, ultra-thin material that offers excellent breathability. Water repellant and small enough to fit in the palm of the hand when packed down, this vest is perfect for trekking and running. Its slimmer silhouette prevents movement in the wind. Packs easily into integrated stow pocket.'

23/04/2019: Suspicious fires: France has 42,258 churches, and they are coming increasingly under attack. Last year, 875 were vandalised, according to police, as were 59 cemeteries. After centuries of protection and safety, Christians and their churches are now easy targets for terrorists aiming to reverse the Islamic defeats of the 15th and 16th centuries. In this modern secular world, it is not only Saint-Sulpice and Notre Dame — Europe itself is burning.' https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2019/04/the-desecration-of-frances-christian-symbols-and-heritage/ - and now we have Colombo…717 killed in the last 30 days: https://www.thereligionofpeace.com/attacks/attacks.aspx?Yr=Last30

23/04/2019: Israel Folau – imagine being castigated for merely repeating St Paul! Where is the faux outrage from drunks and atheists baying for him to be taken down? https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/opinion-post/free-will-free-speech-and-israel-folau/

23/04/2019: Ridd has won – and the reef is not in any danger; climate doomsters beware: https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/doomed-planet/2019/04/the-ridd-case-much-more-than-just-one-mans-victory/

22/04/2019: We tend to ignore the threats that equality poses to freedom: https://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-arts-and-culture/283245/alexis-de-tocqueville-america

22/04/2019:

22/04/2019: Places with too many elephants and too many lions: https://www.takimag.com/article/the-elephant-in-the-room/

21/04/2019: Hunt 22: World’s Smallest, Lightest Torch - 6 Grams: 'At barely 1" in length...you wouldn't expect this torch to be able to do much. You'd be wrong. This multi-purpose flashlight is made with a titanium body and UV LED rated for a lifetime of use and guaranteed to be iceproof, smashproof, waterproof, and fireproof. UK25 (Apr 2019) on Kickstarter.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1025589920/hunt22-worlds-coolest-uv-flashlight?ref=project_link

21/04/2019: Earliest snowfall in WA in 20,000 years. Climate change: http://joannenova.com.au/2019/04/earliest-recorded-snow-event-in-western-australian-history/

21/04/2019: The ‘Real’ Crown of Thorns. Thank ‘God’ it was saved from the fire! Carbon dating could so easily tell whether the plant which it grew from lived around 33 A.D. About as likely I would say as the ‘Shroud of Turin’s being real. (There have always been plenty of scammers out to make a quick quid!) It has been carbon dated to the Middle Ages – but just suppose ‘The Crown’ did? It no doubt yet contains traces of the sweat, blood, skin cells of its wearer. If it really was Jesus’ last ‘party’ hat, could we not use this DNA to clone Jesus? If we did so (multiple times) everyone who could afford such a bonny little bub could have their own private God – wouldn’t that be nice! Anyone with say somewhere between $100,00-$1,000,000. Of course we would have to test the whole 600 genuine ‘Crowns of Thorns’ in reliquaries around he world. There might also be some doubt about which one was the ‘real Jesus’ too – expect wars to start over that! It’s astonishing isn’t it: there are over a million ‘Gods’ worshiped somewhere around the world (most of them in India) most of whose believers no doubt claiming theirs is ‘the one and only true God’. They can’t all be right, but they most certainly can all be wrong! https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/the-real-story-of-jesus-christs-crown-of-thorns/news-story/ec56fd4a5016c533aabcc08e8bcdd72d

21/04/2019: Meanwhile, Good News: ISIS has finally been defeated in Syria (though many Syrian Christians, Yazidis etc collaterally perished). Hopefully the push-back against radical Islam continues and is accompanied by a Moslem Reformation and Enlightenment which so ‘improved’ the Christian religion back when (though nothing would so improve all religions as eliminating them forever). At least they stopped burning folks like me at the stake: https://www.foxnews.com/world/isis-has-officially-crumbled-and-last-stronghold-liberated-fox-news-has-learned I notice also that the Christchurch Al Noor mosque had been producing its own crop of terrorists (two of whom were involved in the Charlie Hedbo outrage) and was deeply involved in promoting radical Islam. Just saying:

https://www.facebook.com/myiannopoulos/photos/a.599546946849871/1390479324423292/?type=3&theater It is extremely difficult to find anything good in extremist beliefs of whatever kind.

21/04/2019: Telstra’s Go Repeaters: Your mobile connectivity problems solved. We have had two different Telstra repeaters over the years: a mobile CDMA version and a 3G home version. Where we live the mobile service does not work at all without an external antenna (See this post which is a bit out of date now these new 4G antennae are available).

This used to be a real nuisance until we installed one of Telstra's 3G phone repeaters ($880 then) in the house (connected to an external omni-directional antenna). Then our phones suddenly had full 'bars' both in the house and within about 20 metres of it.

Now they have upgraded the service to 4G LTE/X which means we could access 64 meg internet speeds if we had one of their new Go Antennae and an external antenna - which would be great. I am just waiting to see whether they roll out the 5G network here this year (unlikely - but who knows?) before I invest (quite a lot ) of money on an upgrade. 5G will provide terabytes of speed per minute, so one would not want to miss out on that! It will clearly kill the NBN! Telstra has already rolled it out in lots of places: https://www.telstra.com.au/coverage-networks/5G

The mobile (CDMA) repeater was also great. I used to use it all the time when I was deer hunting for example - before I needed to acquire a satellite phone for my trips to Fiordland and etc. When I was completely out of the mobile coverage area, and even at the bottom of a deep valley, the phone would work every time. It was an immense boost to the normal coverage. If you beef up your mobile external antenna (and particularly the coaxial cable which normally 'steals' most of your dBs) you will be astonished. And of course now you can receive 4G Internet coverage too.

These Go Repeaters aren't cheap but if your communication needs are important to you, you should investigate them.

You need: https://exchange.telstra.com.au/new-telstra-go-repeaters-bring-mobile-coverage-to-more-places/ plus https://www.telcoantennas.com.au/antennas/home-office/outdoor/

Telstra Go Repeater Mobile Above Fixed Below

20/04/2019: Neat Feat

Sore feet will sure slow you down. You need to take good care of them.

Before I started using this stuff I had cracked heels which were often very painful and would bleed. After a couple of weeks' use I had heels (feet) like a baby's. I use it every day now and have never had any problems with my feet again - including blisters.

Hill-siding (and ill-fitting shoes) are the worst cause of blisters. Liner socks help enormously if you are going over a lot of very steep country. Blister pads should be applied the instant you feel a 'hot spot' starting up.

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/05/03/keen-shoes/

20/04/2019: More good news on metformin – Time we all got scripts for this stuff: https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2019/04/17/Diabetes-drug-Metformin-may-fight-heart-disease-study-says/7211555502837/

20/04/2019: We Live in an Age of Emotional Incontinence (Dalrymple): https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=349&v=AbqQD-Xx2vw

20/04/2019: A Slow Boat to China – Imagine: you can still travel by freighter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaK7-Rmnyn8

19/04/2019: Safe Pain Relief: My spinal surgeon recommended I try this (for my back and knee pain): P.E.A. (Palmitoylethanolamide). It is a naturally occurring fatty acid which works as a pain killer and anti-inflammatory. The daily dose she recommended was 1200 milligrams, easing to 600 after it had taken effect (a couple of weeks). You can view some case studies here.

I expected it would take approx three weeks to get any relief but I had very significant relief after a bit over a a week. The only other effect I had was a slightly dry mouth which has eased now that I have dropped back to 600. My knee pain (bone on bone arthritis) which had been very painful all the time has eased to no pain at all most of the time. Usually I can walk for five km now with no pain at all – this is after only two weeks! I have just been able to complete a two day canoe trip I was prevented from doing up till now.

I bought it from these people (100 x 300 mg caps for A$60 delivered – two days). If you have some chronic persistent pain (and hate opiates as much as I do – they also do me little good) you might give some a try!

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/10/03/cure-back-pain/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/11/29/spinal-fusion/

19/04/2019: How much water do you need to drink? http://maggiesfarm.anotherdotcom.com/archives/33182-How-much-water-do-you-need-to-drink.html

19/04/2019: Earthquakes of the C20th – the earth is ringing like a bell. You can sure see why the Pacific Rim is called the ‘Ring of Fire’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=44&v=jhmF-IwP6uM

19/04/2019: Climate Change is a Cult: It simply cannot be happening without the predicted tropospheric ‘hot spot’ yet 28 million weather balloons fail to find it. Here’s why you should see it as a cult – and maybe start de-programming yourself: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/04/18/is-the-climate-change-movement-a-cult/ & http://joannenova.com.au/2010/11/dessler-2010-how-to-call-vast-amounts-of-data-spurious/

18/04/2019: Long and Lazy River

Crooks Lane Bridge, Latrobe River

The Lower Latrobe is a delight particularly like now when most of Gippsland’s rivers are too low for a canoe trip. From Thom’s Bridge (Morwell) to Lake Wellington (Sale) is approximately 165 km (by river) or about 8 days paddling at our normal speed (4 km per hour) and five hours per day. Of course it is all flat water.

It can be completed in sections: Thoms’s Bridge to the Tyers-Traralgon Rd (Sandbanks Reserve) 20 km; Sandbanks to the Traralgon Heyfield Rd 20 km; Traralgon Heyfield Rd to Rosedale 45 km; Rosedale to Longford 60 km; Longford to Lake Wellington 20 km. The Rosedale to Longford section can be shortened by a day by putting in at Crooks Lane bridge off Settlement Rd, Kilmany South which is what we did on this occasion.

This section is arguable the most scenic: the river is bounded by a strip of magnificent riverine gums on both sides, though there are some quite large sections of forest too. Bird life is particularly varied and plentiful. There are vast numbers of perfect camping spots along the river.

We canoed this section in two five hour days with an overnight stop. It would have been better to have done it over three days and to have spent more time exploring and fishing but we had to be back. The Vicmaps Rosedale South and Sale South 1:25,000 are useful along along with the PDF Maps App to establish your exact location.

The river banks are often quite steep until the river splits (take the right fork). From then on they are almost always vertical and there are only 1-2 spots you can exit the river at all in that 2 1/2 hour section! The best of these is on the left where the river used to rejoin about half an hour below the junction. Don’t pass it up. The last good flat camp is on the right at the junction.

For our trip the river height at Rosedale was .95 metres. The river was in a very low ‘flood’. It had risen from .75. The Catchment Management Authority had been letting water out of Blue Rock Dam for environmental flows. I would say the river would be canoeable at .75 metres but would be very much slower and require more careful negotiation of the many snags of fallen trees along the route. It might be a good idea to carry a buck saw in the boat with you as you might not be able to get out on the bank to portage if it became necessary. ( I had one of these but didn’t need it except to make tent poles.) The banks are heavy clay and slippery.

All the photos are in approximately the order that you will see things on the river:

There are many magnificent riverine gums.

It is extremely rare to have a glimpse of ‘civilisation’

Mostly you just cruise along between parallel strips of gum trees.

This is the most silent peaceful river I have ever canoed – except for bird song.

Very serene.

And relaxing. The temperature was the mid 20s C.

So many magnificent specimens of timber.

Just gliding along.

Time for lunch on this sandbar about an hour after starting out.

Lunch view.

Then we are off again. The dogs are anxious about Della negotiating a tricky bit.

But she makes it easily. She is a veteran of many such canoe trips.

I think you could to a photo study on historic pump houses.

What a beauty this one is.

And this. Must be ancient – you can see where earlier people have cut a canoe from the bark.

In its top a magnificent wedged tailed eagle.

There are plenty of grassy flats along either bank.

And sandbars to climb out on.

Lots of things to attract your attention along the river.

You need to be careful of the snags though so that you don’t end up like this cow.

What a beauty!

Our camp site for the night about half way on the right. There was a section of forest about a km above this on the left where I should have stopped.

Honey photo bombing the view out the front door of the siligloo.

Time for a morning coffee.

Off Spot and I go again.

Lots of bird life. We were seldom unable to hear or see one of these noisy sulphur crested cockatoos.

So many beautiful serene straights.

But you do have to watch out for the snags.

The vegetation changes. A bit over half way you start to get rushes and paper bark trees.

The banks become steeper.

What a spread.

Lots of thought has gone onto the construction of these pump houses. This one does double duty for picnics.

The reed beds thicken. You start to see (and hear) marsh warblers and lots of wrens.

Most of the anabranches and billabongs are blocked off like this so that you don’t have to worry if you are going the wrong way (as the map might indicate you could)

A fine strand of tea trees – people really did use an infusion from these as a substitute for tea.

This is the junction – the only place you might think you are going the wrong way. Follow the current. It goes to the right.

The junction would make a fine last camp site. It is nearly the last place you can get out of your boat. There is another closed off anabranch about half an hour further on your left. I suggest you have a spell there as you will be in your boat for 2/12-3 hours without a break after the junction.

A fine flight of black ducks.

And a many trees full of straw necked ibis. These dead trees on the left bank must have been flooded by the river changing course. There does no seem to be any stock on this long ‘island’, but there are animals: kangaroos and deer.

See how many dead trees there are behind the reed beds.

I just can’t help but admire the beauty of these river giants.

A tragedy here I suspect – an unsuccessful attempt to drain the flooded lost land.

A sea eagle watches me going past.

And Della snaps me practically leaning over backwards to take a photo of him.

Sometimes the snags nearly block the river. From the junction down you cannot portage, so you may need to saw your way through sometimes. We were able to easily slip past every such tangle. You my need to be able to climb out of your boat onto a log, lift it over then climb back in. Pack rafters will have to watch out they do not puncture their boats on sharp branches.

A lost giant of the river.

How many critters call this beauty home?

The river flattens out and the banks become lower, but still perpendicular. You are not getting out of your boat along here.

Spot would like a run too.

This $2,000 Hereford has slipped off the bank and been unable to get back into the paddock. If he could not, how much chance would you have? Be careful not to fall out.

Longford Bridge is just around the corner now – and journey’s end for us. We will do this trip again though, spending a bit more time exploring and fishing next time. I would go again over easter but we are working in our daughter’s shop – the Yinnar General Store. Drop in for a chat!

The water release information can be found here: https://www.wgcma.vic.gov.au/our-region/waterways/current-environmental-water-releases

You will notice (at 18/4/2019) that the releases will continue all over Easter and until the end of the following weekend. Now is definitely the time to canoe this river!

The River Heights information can be found here: http://www.bom.gov.au/cgi-bin/wrap_fwo.pl?IDV60154.html I have nominated the height at Rosedale (eg 1.0 metres). The equivalent height at Kilmany South is approx 2.2 metres.

Other great Gippsland rivers: eg the Thomson and the Wonnangatta.

PS: As you will see from this post my recovery from the back operation is proceeding slowly but I am getting there. Of course there is a back-log of jobs around the farm to catch up on, but every now and then it is great to get out and about having fun. Expect more adventures in the near future though.

PPS: There is nearly a week’s canoeing upstream of Thom’s Bridge on the Latrobe putting in at the Toorongo Bridge at Noojee. The first two days are through beautiful serene forest. With the release of water from Blue Rock the Tanjil should be canoeable from there to the Latrobe River confluence.

18/04/2019: Notre Dame: What a waste of money to protect just another scam. The ‘original’ Crown of Thorns? Pull the other leg. Anyway, in a generation it will be a mosque the way things are going – like the Hagia Sophia in ‘Constantinople’ (Istanbul). Thank God for atheism!

18/04/2019: ‘If a politician found he had cannibals among his constituents, he would promise them missionaries for dinner’. H.L. Mencken

18/04/2019: Finally, the World Bank accepts that the poor need electicity: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/04/14/sanity-and-humanity-return-to-the-world-bank/

18/04/2019: ‘White supremacy is insane and immoral, and it may be a significant threat. But it doesn’t account for anywhere near the preponderance of global extremist violence: https://www.city-journal.org/global-extremeist-violence

15/04/2019: Some places the animals are winning: http://www.realclearlife.com/daily-brief/poacher-trampled-death-elephant-eaten-pride-lions/

15/04/2019: Questioning Global Warming: https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2019/04/questioning_global_warming.html

15/04/2019: Censorship (especially from the Left) is on the rise. It has already become difficult to say practically anything critical of the Leftist orthodoxy for fear of being banned by Facebook, Google etc (or worse). Given the literally hundred million corpses the Left created in the C20th, this phenomenon is deeply worrying: https://www.spiked-online.com/2019/03/18/this-media-bashing-has-got-to-stop

14/04/2019: World Faces ‘Uphill Battle’ With Average IQ Of Just 82! https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-04-10/world-faces-uphill-battle-average-iq-just-82

14/04/2019: Moose have been moving south into Massachusetts and Connecticut. I blame global cooling. https://www.ct.gov/deep///////cwp/view.asp?q=326138&deepNav_GID=1655

14/04/2019: Defenestration explained:

13/04/2019: One picture is worth a million words: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/04/12/inconvenient-stumps/

You should also read Dr Roy Spencer’s latest post here: http://www.drroyspencer.com/2019/04/a-simple-model-of-the-atmospheric-co2-budget/ Roy is one of the world’s leading atmospheric physicists jointly responsible for the UAH satellite record: ‘the natural equilibrium level of CO2 in the atmosphere implied by the model is about 295 ppm, rather than 265 or 270 ppm as is often assumed, and (2) if CO2 emissions were stabilized and kept constant at 2018 levels, the atmospheric CO2 concentration would eventually stabilize at close to 500 ppm, even with continued emissions.’

13/04/2019: Why we shoud get the beggars off the streets: ‘the “broken windows” theory that visible disorder in public spaces causes a decline in social capital and a rise in criminal behavior…the constant exposure to the deception involved in begging, such as pretending disabilities or other personal difficulties, is detrimental to social trust and reciprocity…the risk that the daily sight of people kneeling and sleeping in the streets will cause a mental separation of certain populations from the rest of society in the minds of ordinary citizens and teach our children that the dignity of the poor simply matters less….’ https://quillette.com/2019/04/10/europes-new-beggars/

13/04/2019: Gillette have just lost the plot; not satisfied with their ‘toxic masculinity’ fiasco, they are now celebrating morbid obesity. (PS: I must say that their ad makes me keen to continue with my weight reduction programme. I am now aiming for sub 11 stone - <70 kg): https://www.dailywire.com/news/45597/see-it-gillette-follows-toxic-masculinity-ad-fat-amanda-prestigiacomo

11/04/2019: The beginning or the end:

The first photograph of a black hole and its fiery halo, released by Event Horizon Telescope astronomers (EHT), which is the "most direct proof of their existence." Picture: AFP

10/04/2019: Charming: Medieval Diseases Making a Comeback Due to Faeces on Streets: https://summit.news/2019/04/06/medieval-diseases-making-a-comeback-due-to-feces-on-streets/

10/04/2019: The view from L1 – this could be your descendants’ front window. Notice the huge weather systems continually peeling off Antarctica, the largest on earth and clearly responsible for most of the weather we get here in Oz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=86&v=CFrP6QfbC2g

10/04/2019: What a worm Turnbull is: https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/04/lucy-turnbulls-greater-sydney-commission-led-panel-to-approve-huang-xiangmo-shopping-centre-developm.html

09/04/2019: Breast Ironing – is there any limit to the awful things which are done to women in some cultures: https://www.bbc.com/news/education-47695169

09/04/2019: Population growth by region last 12,000 years – there are some big ups and downs: https://twitter.com/RARohde/status/1108391436272234498 You will notice that the worst droughts in India (for example) which killed millions were a long time ago: http://joannenova.com.au/2019/04/worst-and-deadliest-droughts-in-india-were-before-1924/

09/04/2019: Top Gear on Electric cars: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kIS4J0XUO0

07/04/2019:

07/04/2019: Everyone is prejudiced except me: https://quillette.com/2019/03/19/the-mismeasurements-of-stephen-jay-gould/

07/04/2019: The true cost of unreal energy: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/04/06/south-australias-latest-green-energy-scam-the-floundering-tower-of-power/

06/04/2019: A History of the Colour Blue: https://www.claremont.org/crb/basicpage/the-colors-of-our-dreams/

05/04/2019: Money in the Streets (Venezuela 2019). Our future too under Shorten’s socialist policies.

Image result for venezuela money in the street

04/04/2019: NIMBYs Argue New Housing Supply Doesn't Make Cities Affordable. They're Wrong. Tokyo is a shining example of how free market housing regulations can keep even big, growing cities affordable.http://reason.com/blog/2019/04/02/nimbys-argue-new-housing-supply-doesnt-m

04/04/2019: Are ten rounds enough (five in Australia): ‘Unless a law-abiding individual has a firearm for his or her own defense, the police typically arrive after it is too late. With rigor mortis setting in, they mark and bag the evidence, interview bystanders, and draw a chalk outline on the ground. But the victim, nevertheless, is dead, or raped, or robbed, or traumatized’ https://d3uwh8jpzww49g.cloudfront.net/sharedmedia/1510684/2064261_2019-03-29-order-granting-plaintiffs_-msj.pdf

02/04/2019: How good are Shorten’s electric cars plans? They are a lemon. Where will that extra electricity come from, and would it (unnecessarily) reduce CO2 anyway; probably not. This proposal is just another (disastrous) Labor ‘thought-bubble’ not unlike Shorten’s franking credits fiasco (which will cost us 42% of our income - and will cruel your retirement plans too!) and Rudd’s disastrous NBN, now supplanted by 4G (faster, and soon 5G - 50 times faster). You just can’t risk these people: http://joannenova.com.au/2019/04/labor-cars-plan-means-higher-emissions-more-pollution-more-coal-use-threatens-grid/

01/04/2019: Should Tarrant’s ‘manifesto’ be banned? ‘Ideology — that is what gives evil-doing its long-sought justification and gives the evildoer the necessary steadfastness and determination. That is the social theory which helps to make his acts seem good instead of bad in his own and others’ eyes, so that he won’t hear reproaches and curses, but will receive praise and honors… The greatest threat is that the option of violence might become increasingly attractive to people who have turned their backs on love-thy-neighbour morality, despising it as weakness, and who also feel deeply challenged and uprooted, both emotionally and morally, by our rapidly changing world, not only by rapid demographic shifts, but also by cultural loss, environmental degradation and all of the other ills’ https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/opinion-post/the-anti-humanist-ideology-of-the-christchurch-killer/

01/04/2019: Shorten’s pie in the sky CO2/energy policy needs to be overwhelmingly rejected. It is impossible at best but will also lead swiftly to economic ruin and totalitarianism. Releasing it on April Fool’s Day was pure genius! https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/03/30/bjorn-lomborg-no-renewables-are-not-taking-over-the-world/

30/03/2019: Still some sanity in the world anyway: US Senate votes on AOC's Green New Deal - 57 against 0 for. Not one Dem voted for it.

30/03/2019: Why I hate travel: viewing the Mona Lisa:

Image result for viewing mona lisa

30/03/2019: Sad really: https://pjmedia.com/parenting/8-fun-and-or-dangerous-activities-enjoyed-by-past-generations-that-todays-kids-will-never-experience/

29/03/2019: Solid-state, ion-drive airplane silently flies with no fuel or moving parts: https://newatlas.com/mit-ion-flight-solid-state-aircraft/57326/

29/03/2019: More good news: https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2019/03/26/Exercise-linked-to-45-percent-drop-in-death-risk/5141553603920/

29/03/2019: Yes Pauline, Morrison is a fool. He will lose 8-10 seats in Qld which he certainly will not win back in Vic – so we will have a Labor govt with all the harm that wil do. This decision taken on the basis of highly questionable video from an Islamist puppet news agency of Qatar. I doubt if they had followed around people from any other party they would have been unable to acquire material as ‘damning’. Indeed what strikes me is how little they found. I would have expected to see people express much more extreme opinions in ‘private’. This method of ‘journalism’ ought properly to be banned, and the people involved in it charged with serious offences (including executives at the ABC who decided to air it).

26/03/2019: What if more had stood up to the Nazis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosenstrasse_protest In this context the women’s movement against the hijab in Iran, Saudi Arabia etc (where some have been executed) is done no favour by Ardern misappropriating it for her own leftist purposes. Eg ‘I am an Iranian woman who fights for my basic rights under the Islamic regime tyranny and you are all partners of this atrocious crime still. We are the ones who pay the price for all the stupidity of this world. https://twitter.com/hashtag/headscarfforharmony?src=hash’ http://stuartschneiderman.blogspot.com/2019/03/new-zealand-nation-of-sheep.html

26/03/2019: Just one more thought about the socialist ‘choice’ (before you vote) ‘All those people…who currently fall for the socialism soup…need to realize that if their dream came to pass, they, not the rich – not the bankers and politicians – will be ones suffering the most from the high taxes, high unemployment, and slow growth that go hand in hand with the level of public spending they want.’ https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-03-23/france-socialist-future-we-should-dread

25/03/2019: Bizarre behaviour – if you want a vegan pet, get a sheep: https://www.sciencealert.com/a-surprising-number-of-people-want-to-feed-their-cats-and-dogs-a-vegan-diet

25/03/2019: 4” of rain at Mt Hotham overnight. Hopefully that puts the fires along the Wonnangatta out (though not before several of my camps there were burned out): http://www.weatherzone.com.au/station.jsp?lt=site&lc=83085&dt=09%2F01%2F2017

25/03/2019: Pie in the Sky: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/03/22/the-stark-reality-of-co2-emissions-reduction-in-one-graph/

23/03/2019: The beginning of the end of the climate myth: Dr William Happer, ‘CO2 will be good for the Earth,” He added it was “pretty clear that we’re not going to see dangerous climate change” as a result of human CO2 emissions’ https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/03/21/massive-coalition-backs-trumps-climate-science-committee/ & https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2019/03/ten_years_after_climategate_the_global_warming_fraud_is_on_life_support.html & http://joannenova.com.au/2019/03/climate-skeptics-anti-eu-party-surges-from-nowhere-to-power-in-dutch-elections/

23/03/2019: The great Roger Scruton: 'Culture Counts': https://www.amazon.com/Culture-Counts-Feeling-Besieged-Encounters/dp/1594031940#reader_1594031940

23/03/2019: Mueller has finally cleared Trump (of the Russian ‘collusion’) proving that he (Trump) was right all along about ‘Fake News.’

22/03/2019: A WW2 plane in Greenland was found under 100 metres of ice; so much for global warming: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/03/21/a-sea-level-rise-conundrum-greenlands-cycles/

22/03/2019: Incompetent leaders are not just an Australian phenomenon, but there is a common thread linked to the supposedly dated notion of patriotism: https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2019/03/letter-from-london-cometh-the-hour/

21/03/2019: About those lonely polar bears: https://www.weaselzippers.us/414368-polar-bears-may-have-quadrupled-despite-claims-of-scaremongers-like-al-gore/

21/03/2019: An Extreme Grandpa’s Life at 90: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEySick9_Rw

21/03/2019: Herodotus was right about so many things: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/mar/17/nile-shipwreck-herodotus-archaeologists-thonis-heraclion

20/03/2019: If we all could all resolve our political disagreements as well as Ralph and Sam: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kerUbfOQTW0

20/03/2019: An a------e which comes and goes – I’ve known people like that: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2195656-animal-with-an-anus-that-comes-and-goes-could-reveal-how-ours-evolved/

19/03/2019: Well said Joanne Tran: http://www.warwickhughes.com/agri16/jotran16mar19.jpg16/03/2019: A Guide to Wokeness – a few good belly laughs here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Woke-Social-Justice-Titania-McGrath/dp/1472130847#reader_B07ML46LQ4

15/03/2019: The first Children’s Crusade was (mainly) a plot to sell 100,000 children into (Islamic) slavery (which succeeded!) This latest children’s global warming crusade (which ignores the reality that the world has been cooling for a very long while – and that CO2 has nothing at all to do with it) are just making themselves dupes to the new communism (Just when we thought that the fall of the Berlin Wall had spelled its doom!) My hat’s off to the enormous majority of students who will not be taking part (despite all their school lives having being preached at by commie greenies): https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/doomed-planet/2019/03/a-carefully-miseducated-generation-of-climate-warriors/ & https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children%27s_Crusade

15/03/2019: Agenda 21 and the Green New Deal. These evil folks have been hammering away at this for quite some time despite that the need to reduce the world’s (sustainable) population to 1 billion or less would involve murdering hundreds of thousands of people each day: https://americanpolicy.org/2019/02/25/green-new-deal-reveals-the-naked-truth-of-agenda-21/?utm_source=American+Policy+Center&utm_campaign=a98787f18d-APC11DNC3_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_79a5ca421e-a98787f18d-258263909&mc_cid=a98787f18d&mc_eid=cf466a8b6f

14/03/2019: Don’t do it – in fact don’t do anything: A study in the Journal of Food Research determined that blowing out candles over that sweet icing surface resulted in 1,400% more bacteria compared to icing spared the puff: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/08/03/blowing-out-birthday-candles-increases-bacteria-cake-1-400/536178001/

14/03/2019: Venezuela’s grid is where ours is heading: http://joannenova.com.au/2019/03/venezuelas-melt-down-blackout-day-six-and-the-grid-struggles-to-reboot/

13/03/2019: More on the BOM fraud: Why are we paying these people when they can’t even get tomorrow’s forecast right: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/03/05/the-trick-how-more-cooling-generates-global-warming/

& https://www.spectator.com.au/2019/03/the-hottest-summer-on-record-except-for-the-ones-that-weve-changed/?fbclid=IwAR0KWRKdpCWN8E0OmzJkH9CwcscWFebe-LCo3zg19HT-9kfsILrmGNMnQmk

13/03/2019: $1! What a joke: these scum needed to be locked up: https://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/news/victoria/activist-fined-1-for-breaking-biosecurity-laws-in-gippy-goat-theft/news-story/884e086c9309f3097c7bdcab273c1fed?login=1&fbclid=IwAR09PGPzR4a5ZYf2w1A06164J4_bN0squeb0MmpWozXiiuJiC7SnB9pVBWM

11/03/2019: Why you can’t spend your way out of a recession: https://quadrant.org.au/magazine/2019/03/the-dangerous-persistence-of-keynesian-economics/

11/03/2019: And, on a related point, why a minimum wage is a bad idea: https://rosebyanyothernameblog.wordpress.com/2019/02/27/well-below-the-minimum/

11/03/2019: Stopovers in Malaysia and the Emirates might become a thing of the past: https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/03/mahathirs-malaysia-sets-up-online-unit-to-monitor-criticism-of-islam.html

10/03/2019: Asteroid mining is on the way: https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2019/03/new-video-shows-the-critical-moment-hayabusa2-fired-a-bullet-into-ryugu-asteroid/

07/03/2019: Home Invaders Beware: Length: 2.75 inches. Weight : 602 grains. Speed: 1200 Feet Per Second. Muzzle Energy: 1,925 Foot-Pounds. The 100% Copper Projectile 12 gauge TSR (Tango Shotgun Round) Nylon is the most accurate, hardest hitting, shot gun round in the world. With over 3 inches of expansion, the TSR Plastic is equivalent to the power of a 308 Rifle round with the size of a small mortar.http://www.oathammo.com/tango-shotgun-round-plastic PS: Certainly no longer any need to worry you might just wound them!

07/03/2019: Theodore Roosevelt Favorite Conservation Quotes: https://gearjunkie.com/conservation-quotes-president-theodore-roosevelt

07/03/2019: So, the 'step changes' I have often commented on are almost exclusively El Nino events (ie natural) and as you can easily see are also what is responsible for all the warming in the satellite record: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/01/20/does-the-climate-science-industry-purposely-ignore-a-simple-aspect-of-strong-el-nino-events-that-causes-long-term-global-warming/ The latest satellite record has the world warming .13C per decade (ever since the super El Nino of 1998), the effects of which have still not abated. If not for those El Ninos the temperature of the earth would have been down since c1850 as the Cape Otway records show: This is the Bureau of Met's records for our oldest continuous remote station in Victoria, Cape Otway. You can click on the 'Highlight' box to chose the warmest 5% (95th Percentile). You will see that all the really warm weather was in the C19th If you run your eye down the ‘Annual’ averages (last column), you will also see that in the C19th the temperature was at least 2 degrees warmer than it is today: http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/ncc/cdio/weatherData/av?p_nccObsCode=36&p_display_type=dataFile&p_startYear&p_stn_num=090015 Rainfall data : http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/ncc/cdio/weatherData/av?p_nccObsCode=139&p_display_type=dataFile&p_startYear=&p_c=&p_stn_num=090015 Again, if you select “lowest’ you will see that all the driest years were in the C19th

06/03/2019: Way past time to charge Shorten with this rape: https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/03/pell-verdict-changes-everything-for-shorten-rape-complainant.html

06/03/2019: Fuel reduction. This is how it works. Burn the fuel., get fewer bushfires. Nothing to do with climate change. Graph from WA: http://joannenova.com.au/2019/03/too-much-fuel-causes-extreme-bush-fires-not-climate-change/

05/03/2019: 510 Gram 2 Person Double Walled Framed Tent: Not so long ago people thought this was impossible. I have been complaining for years that hiking manufacturers could not get their heads around making their products seriously light, so I have been making my own (such as this and this). Now, Big Agnes have made one for those of you who cannot do so for themselves, and they have even done it better than me! The Fly Creek Hv-2 Carbon. What a brilliant little tent! Of course you will have to have US$849.95 (March 2019). If you only have $10, you should try this instead.

There has been a lot of serious thought gone into this tent. There is even room for my Jack Russell, Spot Of course you will have to be very careful with it but Dyneema is very strong. So long as you do not physically destroy it, it won't let you down.

I have been using an 8' x 8' Dyneema tarp for years as a shelter. It weighed 150 grams (I have since added 'wings to it) - I use a piece of Polycro or a space blanket as a ground sheet. I have slept under it, either on the ground or in a hammock many, many times. I am careful and I have not punched a hole in it (yet!) If I had, cuben tape is just about the best repair tape I have found. I have even repaired my sleeping mat after a certain puppy chewed it just about to pieces (when it was brand new). It had many small puncture marks in it, which a single piece of tape has prevented each from leaking for over 6 years now! Here is my tarp. You can even sleep two in hammocks under it.

Big Agnes recommends a footprint to protect the floor. I suggest a piece of Polycro would be the lightest alternative for this purpose, adding not much more than an ounce to your carry weight. You should get a couple of weeks out of a piece before you have to replace it. besides it's pretty cheap. I would probably not light a fire out the front of a $900 tent. If you are going to do that, get some Tyvek and make your own.

I have owned a number of Big Agnes products for over 20 years. You probably already know my favourite is their Cyclone Chair which I have raved about often enough. Get one yourself. It is the absolute best piece of outdoor gear. If you don't carry one, you are a mug! I expected to wear my 160 something gram chair out (and even bought a couple of spares for when I did) but both Della's and mine are still going as good as new for perhaps (is it?) twenty years. So are the first Insulated Air Core mats we bought from them all those years ago. Probably no-one has yet made a better mat. They now have a 6' uninsulated mat which weighs 270 grams It also happens to be the most comfortable mat I have ever slept on!The point I am making is that these people make very good equipment. I imagine this tent will be up to their usual high standard, but I doubt I will ever be buying another tent. I must already have ten I made myself to wear out already! Della would murder me. But I am tempted!

Specs + Sizing

https://www.bigagnes.com/Fly-Creek-HV-2-Carbon

05/03/2019: Eight reasons Labor’s franking credits change isn’t fair: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/opinion/robert-gottliebsen/eight-reasons-labors-franking-credits-change-isnt-fair/news-story/1cb8d3b2a34a04458502fa22007c8cdc?fbclid=IwAR2o8a_IXvF9BT3A5Bs7WFSvor8ebMOfrzC_KtGsQ_4-kgZBVpm7IxPDme8

05/03/2019: The real reason behind 60 Elected MPs not seeking re-election! (Aussie Stock Forum) ‘Sixty elected members of the federal parliament have now reported they have made the decision not to run in the upcoming next election! It's a very high number compared to previous elections. Some of them tell us that it's for family reasons, others for their desire to serve their fellow citizens in other fields and many other great stories to make us cry for them. Besides all the tear-jerking that politicians have been giving about retiring here is something else to consider.

In 2015 a change in the pension for MP's ensures that the age of full retirement for an MP having served at least 6 years, will no longer be 55 years but 65 years. Thus any MP not yet 65 and who wants to benefit from the present pension scheme need only not run in the next election and thus will draw for 10 years longer a government pension of over $100,000/year. For an elected MP approaching 55 and who is not running, that means about $1 million that he/she would not receive should he/she run and win again. One should also add the severance premium (between $80,000 and $125,000) upon his/her departure. You can now understand better all these sudden "family emergencies", appreciate the newfound desire to advance his/her career in a government job or a committee of some sort and have two or three salaries (and possibly two or three pensions). https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/03/the-australians-analysis-of-bishop-pyne-swan-macklins-life-of-riley-funded-by-taxpayers.html

Anyone who entered Parliament prior to 2004 is on a defined benefits scheme of 60% of their final 3-year average salary. If a sitting Lib minister runs and ends up spending 3 years in opposition or on the back bench it could cost someone like Christopher Pine $2.4 million dollars in pension over the next 30 years. No wonder they are bailing for plum jobs in Embassies or on the AAT

05/03/2019: Fire at Jeeralang: Just one of the reasons posts are light at the moment is all the fire activity around. There is a big fire (less than) 2 km to the South of us. It has so far burned out nearly 2,000 hectares! Such things seem to only ever occur when the wind decides it will blow from such an unlikely direction (as South) too, so it has sometimes been heading our way! When we were threatened by fire for two weeks back in 2009 (It got to 200 metres from our east fence that time!) the wind wanted to blow from the east (which it practically never does).

A few weeks ago there was a big fire over near Rosedale to the East of us which also had us worried for a while. There is a lot of forest between that (Holey Plains) fire and us. The season started well enough, but it has dried out badly since January. We have missed several promising rain bands. Usually (?) it is wetter than this around here - and some water in the rivers for canoeing!

Fire along the nearby Jumbuk Rd ridge (or to the South of it) 02/03/2019 (Taken from Jeeralang Junction). Those flames must be enormous.

Fire near Jumbuk Rd 03/03/2019 (choppers working furiously to stop it!) It looks from the fire map as if it got across the road (mainly into grassland) at one point at least but from what I can see appears to be extinguished on this side. I can't imagine on that steep country anything but aircraft would have been able to stop it.

Mind you, a friend of mine (Neville Somerfield) used to live in 1939 in Jumbuk Road just where the fire seems to have crossed it this time. Somehow, his father and the other nearby farmers managed to stop the fire with horse drawn ploughs and wet bags from engulfing their steep hill farms. (Many elsewhere did not succeed, and lots of folks were horribly burned). There was nowhere near as much wilderness of native vegetation and waste land back then though.

Of course, everyone had hessian bags in the past. They were a excellent fire suppression devices. I have often used this method to smudge out a grass fire. You can still buy them from McRoberts feed and grain in Morwell (I have) though curiously practically nothing comes in them any more. Imagine trying to put out a fire with one of the new poly bags!

The fire is now in part of the Morwell National Park (more or less just over the hill behind us). It is steep, heavily forested, difficult country. I know they have taken heaps of dozers and other earth-moving equipment past here though. I'm hoping they can keep it out of the Billys Creek section. So far, so good I think. I have just been for a drive around on our side of the Jumbuk Rd. All seems OK.

The weather is quite calm today (with slight rain forecast tomorrow) so it may be stopped before it reaches us, or on the road at the top of our property - otherwise it will be at the edge of Della's garden! It is cooler weather today (32C) with 30 tomorrow and 20s the rest of the week and no alarming winds forecast that I can see - so there is hope. About an hour ago (10:00 am 04/03/2019) they downgraded the risk from 'Emergency' to 'Watch and Act', so clearly the risk has moderated somewhat this morning.

Of course there has been no fuel reduction or firebreaks etc since they created the park, previously state forest and much better maintained then. The long grass in it used to be grazed down by sheep for one thing. Hundreds of koalas etc will be burned to death if the fire can't be stopped. This idea (National Parks) is the worst conservation imaginable.

This young koala was at our mailbox just the other day. They are certainly cute little guys.

The sheep have the paddocks fairly well eaten down. There is still some dry grass on the hill paddocks, but it is thin. We have pushed all the sheep into one mob in a two acre paddock along the creek where it is either green/bare earth, and we are feeding them big round bales of silage inside weldmesh circles. They should survive there. If the fire does come here it will have to first creep across the dry grass of the paddocks (downhill) to the house which is surrounded with reasonably well-watered green grass and plants.

We have three fire pumps, (one mounted on one of the Landies with a 1,000 litre cube of water). We have two generators which will keep the house and pumps running if/when the power goes out. We have lots of 3/4" hoses all around which we can pick up to hose down approaching flames. We have sprinklers on the roof and under the verandahs. Of course there are only two of us (not counting dogs who are going 'stir crazy'), and we are not as fit as we might like to be at present - but we will cope! It was a bit more tense last night. We were sitting for hours outside on the verandah with the sprinklers going all around us watching the ash fall like snow all about!

As a last resort, we can jump in the dam which is surrounded by bare earth or green grass, so we expect to live. (Everyone always expects to live: The Spanish have a saying, 'Everything has been going well up to now, said the peacock at the oven door'!) Of course we would also like to save the house and sheep which we have spent a large chunk of our lives creating.

Other people are also busily making their preparations all around us. There are all sorts of strange loads going by. Police have a road block at the Jeeralang Junction turn-off keeping all but locals (or those with a legitimate business) out. It is sad to think that there are low-life who will jump to take advantage of other people's misfortunes. For far too long there have been too many people just 'voting for a living'. Now almost half the population - it is no longer the Australia in which we grew up, and alas for that!

Local people have been posting some amazing photos of the fire. You can view some of them at a Facebook website my daughter, Merrin set up here. For example this video here:

https://www.facebook.com/TyersFireBrigade/videos/155325458721356/

(I had the link wrong earlier. Sorry.)

Della: '03/03/2019: The fire just behind us last night. Not looking good for today. The emergency map has us well inside the red zone now. The wind, when it picks up, is expected to blow away from us, so we might be lucky. Staying to defend at this stage, but the car is packed with a few things. Houses reportedly lost nearby: My heart goes out to those people. Emergency workers, volunteers and our amazing community are second to none in co-ordinating this emergency. This morning feels like the calm before the storm!

04/03/2019: All quiet and calm here, 5.00 a.m. Hardly a breath of wind in our valley. We have both slept reasonably well under the circumstances (with an ear to emergency updates). So far, so good. Thanks to everyone for kind messages and support'.

We will keep you posted. The firefighters (especially CFA) are as usual doing heroic work. I used to be a member for years (until I used up about 7 of my nine lives!) but I feel it is a younger man's task today. With this back and knee, and being all too likely to collapse with exhaustion from extreme heat and over-exertion it is wiser to not make myself a problem for others.

PS: Thanks for all the kind good wishes and statements of support.

PPS: I had hoped to be doing a post about a day trip on the Thomson River, or a 2-3 day trip on the Lower Latrobe but...The Deep Creek fire has caused the authorities to clear a number of tracks which they had previously closed or allowed to grow over. So, for example when the road blocks are lifted you will be able to drive down the Mitchell Creek Track (off the Cowwarr-Rawson Rd) , walk down the ridge with your pack raft and have a 3-4 hour paddle (through the best of the rapids) down to Cowwarr Weir or you might be able to put in above the Gorge from either the Marble Quarry or T9 Track. Of course the Thomson Dam fire has 'stolen' a lot of water from the river, so you will really have to pay attention to the Coopers Creek gauge height (minimum about .2 metre).

There is more water in the Lower Latrobe. It is a flat muddy river downstream from Morwell (so take your Sawyer Mini water filter). The best section(s) are from Rosedale down (2-3 days), but you can also put in at Crooks Lane (off Settlement Rd - look for St Albans Church on the corner). This will give you 1 very long day (or two short ones) on the river down to Longford mostly passing through forested country with abundant birdlife, etc. There will be a post about these trips when the fire risk abates - and the son is safely married! (Busy, busy!)

PPPS: We drove around the Deep Creek fire last week. Much of the area burned had been burned as recently as 2013 which shows how low their 5% 'target' fuel reduction is! Interestingly logged areas (even those which had been logged up to 10 years ago) did not burn! There is a lesson there! Before (and after) European settlement people used to burn as often as you could - so at least once a year, more often twice, just not allowing a fuel load to build up, and also creating an environment which supported abundant wild life (for hunting and eating!)

When we had the hill farm, Dobbins Hill (Jeeralang) I was always burning off. I used to be praised for this by the fire brigades who were nonetheless always being called by troublesome neighbours who refused to care for their surrounding land. When the 2009 fires swept through the property would not burn and so created a fire-break which saved many nearby lives! I can't imagine what good folk think all this unburnt fuel is doing. Creatures can eat/shelter in fresh growth, but dry dead stuff is no good for anything.

Someone I know has from time to time (naughtily) been making their way in to look at the Yarra Falls in the Upper Yarra Catchment. This area has not been burned since 1939. The debris on the forest floor, particularly on the ridges is 45-60cm deep. It makes walking very difficult as you sink into it 15-30cm and as there are branches/rocks etc underlying it, you are forever stumbling. If there is this level of fuel to the East of Melbourne the situation will be dire indeed if ever there are vast dry thunderstorm events sweeping into Melbourne from the North-East. It would be hard to stop such an unimaginable fire before it reached the Yarra.

Note: Wind Direction: On the Vic Emergency App or website if you want to know which way the wind is coming from you can click on 'Filters' and when you refresh the map it will show you. I usually use Ozforecast . If you click on the day it will reveal the wind speed and direction for every hour of the day.

28/02/2019: Belief in Impossible Things. Usually it is religos who have this delusion, but in Pell’s case it is his enemies. For him to have committed this crime several people had to be two places at the same time and be able to move unnoticed through a succession of locked doors – and worse. Pell’s conviction will be overturned on appeal in that no rational person could find him guilty on the evidence. Here are some of the key points: https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/02/why-the-case-against-cardinal-george-pell-doesnt-stand-up/ & https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/blogs/andrew-bolt/pell-case-more-doubters-come-forward/news-story/4f594f60d59dbb90c230143e93a2683c & https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2019/02/catholics-sex-and-cardinal-pell/ PS: It is a surprise to me that here I am an atheist (not even a Christian) defending Australia’s most senior catholic!

27/02/2019: 'Beautiful' dinosaur tail found preserved in amber: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-38224564?SThisFB&fbclid=IwAR2JP-EYy1NKWQqt2-Sk9sYCADUhFLTsiECUIHrz43rP5avqddtsT4BDcNU

27/02/2019: Justice? Not for Pell. There is no way he could/would have committed the crime he has just been convicted of - in effect in front of a crowd of witnesses who never saw him do it, and on the say so of just one of the alleged victims (the other having denied it happened before he died). It s just scary that courts can get things so wrong. Perhaps he will win on appeal/retrial, but things look crook for him. This craven desire to destroy tall poppies is just an awful side of the national character: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/blogs/andrew-bolt/on-george-pells-conviction-how-can-this-stand/news-story/4b94f2ce77a8ec5c313d91c9d5073ffd & https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/02/new-york-post-opinion-piece-on-the-pell-conviction-under-appeal.html

25/02/2019:

No photo description available.

25/02/2019: Twenty Most Popular Ultralight Hiking Posts: Just to whet your appetite as to what this blog contains I have gathered together some of my most popular posts over the last three years into one spot – and here they are. Each of them has been read by tens of thousand of people. Hope you enjoy them too:https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/02/21/twenty-most-popular-ultralight-hiking-posts/

22/02/2019: With 2 shots from her pistol, and prayer, 79-year-old woman holds off burglar. We need the right to carry firearms for self-defence: https://www.wbir.com/article/news/with-2-shots-from-her-pistol-and-prayer-79-year-old-woman-holds-off-burglar/85-f8b56d62-5af5-4f1c-b57a-017cde2cfabb

22/02/2019: ‘In my study of communist societies, I came to the conclusion that the purpose of communist propaganda was not to persuade or convince, not to inform, but to humiliate; and therefore, the less it corresponded to reality the better. When people are forced to remain silent when they are being told the most obvious lies, or even worse when they are forced to repeat the lies themselves, they lose once and for all their sense of probity. To assent to obvious lies is...in some small way to become evil oneself. One's standing to resist anything is thus eroded, and even destroyed. A society of emasculated liars is easy to control. I think if you examine political correctness, it has the same effect and is intended to.’ Theodore Dalrymple

22/02/2019: Labor plans to spend money like water, as usual: http://joannenova.com.au/2019/02/australian-virtue-signaling-peak-we-can-have-a-labor-govt-or-an-extra-half-trillion-dollars/

20/02/2019: The Saddest Story Ever Told: As a deer hunter and farmer I am bereft at this awful story. Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) has been slowly spreading through deer populations across the USA. As yet there are no reported cases in Australia I am aware of, but old sheep farmers such as ourselves will be aware of its similarity to the Scrapie Epidemic during the 1930s which necessitated over one-third of Australia's sheep being slaughtered to eliminate it. Ever since the Australian Quarantine Service (AQIS) has had to maintain the strictest protocols to keep it out from countries where it is endemic (such as eg in Europe).

Elk infected with CWD[/caption]

Our Finnsheep for example had to endure 7 years in completely closed quarantine on Wardang Island SA followed by a further 7 years at Hay NSW. The disease can 'hide' for generations only to pop up again. AQIS has now developed a testing regime involving genetically engineered mice so that all the testing/quarantine can be carried out in the laboratory within about 15 months. It is now much cheaper to import sheep breeds - if you are so interested. I know there are a number of breeds I would have liked to have access to (eg Icelandic) but I doubt I will be starting any other agricultural enterprises at my age!

CWD (like Scrapie) is a prion disease similar to 'Mad Cow' Disease and Creutzfeldt-Jakob in humans. It is 100% fatal, and unless checked would lead to species extinction. No vaccine is even possible. For twenty years we spent over $10,000 pa testing for Johnes disease, a similar wasting disease (but caused by a bacterium) in order to ensure that the sheep we sold were 100% free of it. Money we will never recoup in sales, but such costs are just part of the immense public service farmers do to protect the public and provide them with cheap, safe food and other agricultural products. Now, fortunately we are able to administer a simple $2 per head vaccine on a once-in-a-lifetiime basis. Only yesterday we had clients here from the the Gulf Emirates buying sheep which we could guarantee are disease free and representing the world's best Finnsheep genetics.

You can see from the photo that the poor animals suffer horribly. There are sound reasons why we have strict immigration and quarantine laws. It is not hard to imagine that a similar disease might have put paid to the Neanderthals or the Denisovans, our giant 'cousin' species which are (mysteriously) no more. Both were fairly obviously smarter and stronger than we are, so strictly speaking you would expect it would be them who are common and us who are extinct. Such diseases can be grim reapers.

Hunters in the US and Canada have a serious problem. It would be well-nigh impossible to eradicate the disease from the wild populations now that it has spread over tens of States. Meat testing is available to prevent its spread to hunters but obviously much greater care with carcass handling will be necessary to ensure you are not infected.

Here in Australia we managed to eliminate Srapie and Foot and Mouth Disease and to prevent the introduction of so many other 'nasties' - Lyme Disease for example.I note however that a small child recently died horribly from Rabies contracted from a bat bite. Nonetheless, as you can see such terrible things can spontaneously arise, so we need to be ever vigilant. If you see animals behaving strangely in the bush and suspect that they might be infected with something unusual, you need to report it.

There is a sheep breed known as Booroola Merinos which are also hyper-fertile like Finnsheep except their fertility is carried on a singe gene so that in the normal course of events only half their progeny will have it. By enormously careful breeding the SA Dept of Ag managed to create a line of them which had two copies of the gene so that all their progeny would carry it. Some sheep have a gene which confers an immunity to Scrapie. You can imagine engineering sheep to have two copies of this gene and so eliminating the disease in sheep (in Europe for example).

In wild elk with CWD it would be more difficult but you would expect the animals which had such an immunity to have superior survival characteristics – which is no doubt why the animal in the photo above carries an ear tag ie so that scientists can learn about the disease, even though it seems awfully cruel to keep it alive. Scientists have engineered sterile mosquitoes in much the same way in order to eliminate malaria. Perhaps this dread disease (above) can be controlled before it causes shocking ecological damage.

Many of us dream of one day drawing a block for the wapiti (elk) ballot on NZ's South Island. It would be so much nicer to see the elk in this condition. I'm sure you will agree:

See: https://www.popsci.com/chronic-wasting-disease-humans-hunting#page-2

20/02/2019: Bring it on: Memory Loss Can Be Reversed: https://thenewdaily.com.au/life/wellbeing/2019/02/16/memory-loss-can-be-reversed/?fbclid=IwAR1XylUAgn7La8gxNrv_fLtC2Xd1wn2WWVuWlBWvrk88LjTSQJTBL6SIfGk

20/02/2019: The myth of the ‘noble savage’. Here’s an excerpt from Dr David Deming’s excellent essay (link below) to start with: “The modern environmental movement and many of our public policies are based implicitly on the myth of the Noble Savage. The fountainhead of modern environmentalism is Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring. The first sentence in Silent Spring invoked the Noble Savage by claiming, “there was once a town in the heart of America where all life seemed to live in harmony with its surroundings.” But the town Carson described did not exist, and her polemic, Silent Spring, introduced us to environmental alarmism based on junk science. As the years passed, Rachel Carson was elevated to sainthood and the template laid for endless spasms of hysterical fear-mongering, from the population bomb, to nuclear winter, the Alar scare, and global warming. Human beings have not, can not, and never will live in harmony with nature. Our prosperity and health depend on technology driven by energy. We exercise our intelligence to command nature, and were admonished by Francis Bacon to exercise our dominion with “sound reason and true religion.” When we are told that our primary energy source, oil, is “making us sick,” or that we are “addicted” to oil, these are only the latest examples of otherwise rational persons descending into gibberish after swooning to the lure of the Noble Savage. This ignorant exultation of the primitive can only lead us back to the Stone Age,” (http://lewrockwell.com/orig9/deming8.1.1.html)

20/02/2019: So, Shorten is backpedalling on his Medevac Bill now. Apparently it’s OK to supply these folks with medical treatment on Christmas Island (Australia) but not on Manus Island (New Guinea) where they have had one medical professional for every 7 illegal refugees – there is no Australian country town which has that level of medical servicing within a country mile. Why every day country Australians die from the want of medical services because they have been squandered on useless bastards who won’t wait their turn trying to push in to Australia ahead of genuine refugees who have been waiting patiently in queues in awful hell-holes for years. Obviously under Labor we will see the boats back, thousands drowning and further inequities - not to mention the dreadful economic consequences of his taxation policies. Just think of the amount of risky trading we will have to do in an attempt to recoup the 42% of our income (from franking) he intends to steal especially as we will have to pay at least 30% of any gains on capital gains tax even though our marginal tax rate is zero, as we don’t earn enough money to pay tax any more! Where’s the justice in the Labor Party? I can’t believe I ever used to vote for the bastards! We will be impoverished and kept poor to pay for some bludger to lord it over us.

19/02/2019: OMG: Social Justice Warriors in the knitting world: https://quillette.com/2019/02/17/a-witch-hunt-on-instagram/

19/02/2019: A vast system of weirs all up the East Coast diverting flows to the West would not only ‘save’ the Murray-Darling but usher in vast economic benefits: https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/doomed-planet/2019/02/the-bradfield-scheme-reborn/

19/02/2019: Faking matters of principle: https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/430335-why-trump-will-win-the-wall-fight

18/02/2019: As if Labor’s ‘border fiasco’ wasn’t enough. As Terry McCann points out they also plan to destroy the economy (as usual). ‘Just how massively destructive for the economy is what Labor proposes, via what is both an unprecedented very widespread tax grab and a major instantaneous whack to the economy. The three big ones are the franking credits clawback, the attack on negative gearing and the doubling of capital gains tax. But as they say in the ads, there’s more, much more.

Each of the “big three” individually represents a major assault on the capital formation process; apart from — and especially what is proposed for negative gearing — very poor and, indeed, embarrassingly stupid policy.

But it’s the combination that makes it all so destructively potent. They add to a near $300 billion assault on the economy. Labor also proposes — at least — three other significant tax hits... [It plans to] make permanent the at least 49 per cent top personal tax rate, by bringing back but this time permanently Joe Hockey’s deficit levy...

Labor also plans...a big new tax on family trusts. The third tax hit is what it won’t do — it won’t cut the corporate tax rate from 30 per cent for larger companies.’ Just the franking credits and capital gains changes will pretty much sink the stock market.

Obviously folks like us who are set to lose 42%+ of their income (probably forcing us onto the Aged Pension which we are in principle against) and who clearly can’t make up the difference by increased share trading - as we will be hit with a huge heist from Capital Gains tax - means we will have to take our money elsewhere (probably the New York stock exchange mostly – so that all our tax will be paid into the US Treasury!)

There are hundreds of billions of dollars in super funds which will migrate just as ours will – and to no gain. As I say our drop in income will mean we qualify for the Aged Pension which when you tally up all the benefits will end up costing the government more than it gains from all these swingeing taxes – and they will have clobbered the economy to boot

17/02/2019: Tens of thousands of Europeans have been murdered in South Africa since Mandela. We must grant all the survivors refugee status at once. They will work, fit in and be a benefit to our country: https://www.scribd.com/doc/284112299/650-PAGE-list-of-names-of-murdered-white-people-in-South-Africa?fbclid=IwAR0knrh4ec4PFtR3R_bZT51aK3TKpiIIVA0MUvehHQ7VP8EeoiinNUeza6g

16/02/2019: Fuel Reduction Follies: A couple of weeks ago we naerly lost the Baw Baw National Park (but for some heavy rain and heroic efforts by Firies) and Walhalla. OK, there has been no fuel reduction in the Baw Baws or Thomson catchments since before they built the dam (1983?). Just suicidally foolish if you want to preserve anything in the bush. To get an idea how much needs to be burned every year the Deep Creek fire which very nearly took out Walhalla (from the East – beware that fact Melbourne!) had been burned in the ‘Seaton Fire’ only a decade ago. Royal Commissions usually recommend a 5% per year target – clearly not nearly enough. The DOC never manages above 2% (usually only around 1% - both tantamount to doing nothing, anyway less than 1/10th of what is needed). A case in point is the huge build-up of fuel in the Dandenongs and the Yarra Catchment (much of which remains untouched since 1939 – my own explorations there indicate debris depths pf 30-50cm): https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/doomed-planet/2019/02/bushfire-management-wisdom-versus-folly/

16/02/2019: Bearly sane: https://old.reddit.com/r/SweatyPalms/comments/annyz1/saw_this_at_rbeamazed_but_the_vibe_is_more_of_a/

16/02/2019: A truly ultralight tool kit: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/cia-issued-rectal-tool-kit & https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/international-spy-museum https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=98cl0z2YPzs

15/02/2019: Landing in Nuuk, Greenland: https://twitter.com/RayRedacted/status/1089387557941661696 PS: I thought Lukla was fairly exciting!

15/02/2019: Really letting their hair down: https://www.messynessychic.com/2019/01/30/a-bewitching-compendium-of-victorians-letting-their-hair-down/

15/02/2019: ‘Aspirational’ – the new word for ‘bullsh-t’.

14/02/2019: The Only Member Who Believed in Freedom Leaves the House He will be sorely missed: ‘I declared that I would never vote for a reduction in liberty or an increase in taxes. I am pleased to say I have stuck to that promise. I am a libertarian. I support John Stuart Mill’s view that “the only purpose for which power can be rightfully ever exercised over any member of a civilized community against his will, is to prevent harm to others.” I believe governments should seek to limit themselves to what John Locke advised so wisely more than three hundred years ago – the protection of life, liberty and private property…there were those arguing it was necessary. But, as William Pitt the Younger observed: “Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants, and the creed of slaves.” https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/02/senator-david-leyonhjelms-valedictory-speech-we-will-miss-him.html

14/02/2019: Well Done Judge Fagan: https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/01/australian-supreme-court-judge-says-islam-and-the-quran-are-to-blame-for-terrorism.html

14/02/2019: How many times must the crooked BOM ‘adjust’ our temperature records to ‘prove’ their wacky warmist ‘theories’ – at least 20 times: http://joannenova.com.au/2019/02/australias-new-hottest-day-just-discovered-not-albany-or-oodnadatta-but-carnarvon-51-degrees-in-1953/ & https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/02/11/another-bureau-rewrite-warms-australias-climate-history/

13/02/2019: Sand and Sea Training: I am starting to recover a bit from my back op so time for a wedding anniversary toddle around Sandy Point/Shallow Inlet South Gippsland Vic. As usual Spot leads the way through the Tea Tree tunnel to the inlet.

Where we are greeted by this wonderful view. Wilsons Prom in the distance.

You can see it a little more clearly here.

You can see why it is called ‘Sandy Point. (I do love these unimaginative, evocative names (Stony Creek, Deep Creek, Murderer’s Hill etc)

It might be the Sahara Desert.

Those beautiful patterns in the dunes.

Just the odd succulent finding some nutrients somehow.

The inlet is such a deep azure.

As you can see I had to sit down frequently, but I am getting there.

You can walk all the way around the inlet. There are even a couple of small freshwater creeks as well as water at Sandy Point township (supermarket, liquor take away etc), and the Shallow Inlet Caravan Park. There is not much between there and the Darby River or Fairy Cove however. Lots of birds to see though.

Afterwards we had a delightful meal at McCartins Hotel, Leongatha. Some people can eat an enormous chocolate mousse like this without putting on weight.

This is my first 5 km ‘outing’. I had planned to be on the Dusky Track by February’s end, hoping to hear a moose roar echo around the fiords one more time in my life, but I just won’t be fit enough this year. Perhaps next. They do sound something like a Koala Bear such as this little fellow who was at our mail box this morning when I went to bring it in. There are lots of koalas to be seen in the sugar gums all along the South Gippsland Coast too.

We have lots of blue gums in our road for guys like this to eat. View from our mail box.

See Also:

The Great Gippsland Circuit

Here are some sections of it beginning at the Phillip Island end:

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/george-bass-coastal-walk-2/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/a-walk-on-the-wild-side/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/venus-bay-no-4-beach-gippsland-victoria/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/andersons-inlet/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/liptrap-to-the-five-mile/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/the-five-mile/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/liptrap/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/11/05/liptrap-to-the-five-mile/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/waratah-bay/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/02/12/sand-and-sea-training/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/killer-bees/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/the-isthmus/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/on-the-tip-of-the-tongue-2/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/to-the-lighthouse/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/glamping-wilsons-prom/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/nooramunga/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/there-is-simply-nothing-like-an-old-port-walking-trail/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/sale-common/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/blond-bay-lake-tyers/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/blond-bay-roseneath-reserve-hollands-landing/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/beautiful-east-gippsland/

12/02/2019: Change men and you can change the world: ‘Thirteen years in the making, the American Psychological Association (APA) released the newly drafted “Guidelines for Psychological Practice for Boys and Men.” Backed by 40 years of science, the APA claims, the guidelines boldly pronounce that “traditional masculinity” is the cause and consequence of men’s mental health concerns. Masculine stoicism, the APA tells us, prevents men from seeking treatment when in need, while beliefs rooted in “masculine ideology” perpetuate men’s worst behaviors—including sexual harassment and rape. Masculine ideology, itself a byproduct of the “patriarchy,” benefits men and simultaneously victimizes them, the guidelines explain. Thus, the APA committee advises therapists that men need to become allies to feminism. “Change men,” an author of the report stated, “and we can change the world.”’ https://quillette.com/2019/02/04/psychologists-respond-to-the-apas-guidance-for-treating-men-and-boys/

12/02/2019: And in other crazy news this week: AOC and the new socialist lunacy. Let’s all quickly catch up with Venezuela: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/02/07/green-new-deal-this-isnt-just-radical-socialism-this-is-madness/

12/02/2019: Shorten’s ‘Tampa’ moment as he seeks ‘middle ground’ on his own immigration (‘sickie) bill: https://www.sbs.com.au/news/labor-s-middle-ground-on-asylum-transfer Then there is the problem with retiree super (the dividend franking fiasco), death duties, negative gearing, climate madness, union thuggery, the green, etc, etc. Don’t write Morrison off yet.

11/02/2019: The smartest and the dumbest people in the world are all men (blue):

Image result for IQ distribution curves of males and females 11/02/2019: In 1932 on Feb 1^st in Collarenabri it was 120F (48.8C) and had been over 100F (37.7C) since Christmas – this was before global warming. Think how much worse it is now: http://joannenova.com.au/2019/02/climate-change-is-real-because-we-are-snowflake-couch-potatoes-addicted-to-netflicks-and-airconditioners/ & https://www.accuweather.com/en/au/collarenebri/12926/february-weather/12926 I went there once (in the summer of 1962) and thought it interestingly hot, but not very different from elsewhere in Western NSW where I had lived most of my life till then: http://www.drroyspencer.com/2019/02/australias-record-hot-january-mostly-weather-not-climate-change/

11/02/2019: Some folks espouse banning guns to prevent incidents like this, but this poor kid was beheaded with a glass bottle (yet green folks want to ban plastic bottles!): https://www.news.com.au/world/middle-east/boy-beheaded-by-taxi-driver-in-front-of-screaming-mum/news-story/5263b2e6aecf084ad094d547e4df6804

10/02/2019: The wonderful world of fractals: https://fractalfoundation.org/OFC/OFC-1-1.html

10/02/2019: Though I am an atheist and a gentile I confess to a virtual love affair with Jews - and the state of Israel. I doubt the world owes any other group so much, yet antisemitism is on the increase. Here in Australia it is quite obvious in the Labor Party and the Greens. Jewish schools and synagogues have had to employ security guards for many years now. All this is at best very sad and at worst very wicked: https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2019/02/labour-and-the-banality-of-anti-semitism/

10/02/2019: Electronic Health Records: So what happens when they crash or are hacked: https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2019/02/electronic_health_records_give_way_to_disasters_and_dangerous_intrusions.html

9/02/2019: The Toothpaste Test: We call ourselves ‘homo sapiens’ yet I for one have less intelligence than the famous blue tit/milk bottle model when it comes to figuring out how (not to ) squeeze the last drop out of a toothpaste tube. Something I have been doing (wrong) for 70 years! Toothpaste is a liquid (stupid). Try standing it on its cap end and you will find (all) the toothpaste finds its way effortlessly out of the tube!

9/02/2019: Antarctic warming, ice core warming – only if you cheat: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/02/07/pages2k-2017-antarctic-proxies/ & http://www.drroyspencer.com/2019/02/australias-record-hot-january-mostly-weather-not-climate-change/

9/02/2019: Australia Closed for Business: NSW Land & ‘Environment’ Court rejects new coal mine: http://joannenova.com.au/2019/02/legally-its-the-wrong-time-coal-mine-rejected-by-judge-who-hopes-to-change-weather/

8/02/2019: DIY Crampons: I bought a pair of Yaktrax Pros for my Everest Base Camp walk. You need some extra traction when you are going to be crossing glaciers like the Khumbu where a fall can be decidedly fatal. I have since seen even lighter ones such as Vargos but I need such things so little I doubt I will be replacing mine. If i had thought about DIY I could have saved myself a few bucks as the series of suggestions below illustrate. A few 1/4″ nuts and some cable ties or even just a used bike tube and a bit of spare time and you are good to go! People are so ingenious.

https://www.instructables.com/id/Better-No-Cost-Crampons/

https://www.instructables.com/id/No-Cost-Crampons/

https://www.instructables.com/id/Emergency-Crampons-for-Ice-and-Snow/

https://www.instructables.com/id/Assured-Foot-Ice-Cleat-Walkers/

8/02/2019: Labor's new refugee 'sickie' Bill will 'bring back the boats' (and the thousands of drownings). These folk are seriously unfit to be a Government: https://www.sbs.com.au/news/dutton-says-labor-warned-about-security-fears-over-asylum-seeker-medical-transfers

8/02/2019: ‘The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings. The inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.’ Winston Churchill

8/02/2019: How good is the BOM? Ten days out they still thought Townsville was going to have one of the driest seasons on record – yet they pretend to know what the ‘climate’ will be like in 2100: http://www.warwickhughes.com/blog/?p=6082 Anyway it was only weather: http://www.drroyspencer.com/2019/02/australias-record-hot-january-mostly-weather-not-climate-change/

7/02/2019: Townsville floods against just like in 1881, 1892, 1946 and 1953...(before 'global warming'). Meanwhile they seem to have forgotten not to build houses on flood plains or of if they do to build 'Queenslander' houses like this:

Image may contain: house, tree, sky and outdoor

Comment: ‘I know there is going to be controversy for years about the Ross river dam and how it was allowed to get to 260%. Maybe it's time to look at constructing some long talked about inland pipes that could take this water to the Murray Darling and the Lake Eyre basins. I'd like to see a project like that up and running rather than the myriad of useless government projects you continually hear about.’

7/02/2019: Socialism! Don't let's do this to Australia. Last year our coal exports were worth $66 billion: https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/02/venezuelas_path_from_4th_to_82nd_wealthiest_nation.html

6/02/2019: To Build a Fire: Jack London was one of my favourite writers when I was a kid He wrote lots of stories especially about the Klondike gold rush at the turn of the C20th. If you have never read White Fang or Call of the Wild for example it is about time you did. They are just about the best animal stories ever written. What a pity London died prematurely at 40 of a common ailment – kidney stones otherwise literature would be replete with many more of his great yarns. This 1908 short story gives a breathtaking example of his virtuosity and of the hardships faced in the Canadian wilderness, but also underlines in very heavy ink the importance of being able to light a fire in all weathers – else don’t be out in them! Read on: https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/02/04/to-build-a-fire/

6/02/2019: Trust me they said: https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/02/john-andersons-terrific-column-today-about-those-who-steal-our-trust.html PS: Bizarrely (?) bank shares flew up yesterday!

6/02/2019: The much-hyped changes in life expectancy are not all that they are made out to be. I admit I had looked at all of my ancestors and had not been able to see it. I think the pollies just want us to work longer to pay for the increasing percentage of folks who don't or won't: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2625386/

1/02/2019: A Complete Cure for cancer Next Year – that would be nice: https://www.jpost.com/HEALTH-SCIENCE/A-cure-for-cancer-Israeli-scientists-say-they-think-they-found-one-578939

01/02/2019: Whose side should I be on here: In Birmingham, England, Muslim Moms Protesting a School's Pro-Homosexuality Indoctrination: http://ace.mu.nu/archives/379450.php

01/02/2019: Prediction: This will be popular with the emerald warriors: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/01/31/is-chinas-plan-to-use-a-nuclear-bomb-detonator-to-release-shale-gas-in-earthquake-prone-sichuan-crazy-or-brilliant/

01/02/2019: Who knew? Superman is Jewish. Take that anti-semites: https://bigthink.com/culture-religion/supermans-jewish-history

31/01/2019: Best $5 Spent on Camping Gear Ever: What is the most useful piece of gear you can buy for $5? Over the years I have posted about lots of things I carry which cost less than $5 – and some which cost nothing at all! You will notice many such items in my gear list on this post: A Gorilla in the Hand but here are my first twenty which just came to mind in no particular order:

What the folks at Reddit thought

Some other interesting suggestions

Other Ultralight Hiker Budget Ideas:

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/03/03/ultralight-hiking-on-a-budget/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/03/24/budget-pack-mods/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/11/04/beginning-hiking/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/08/31/3f-tents/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/09/10/make-your-sleeping-pad-warmer/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/07/13/60-diy-ultralight-hiker-ideas/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2014/12/14/the-perfect-guy-line-for-a-hiking-tenttarp/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/05/10/the-ultralight-fisherman/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/10/08/self-threading-needles/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2015/05/26/how-to-light-a-fire-in-the-wet/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2015/03/30/photon-torch/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/09/27/11-gram-rechargeable-head-torch/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/10/06/minnow-gripper/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2015/03/15/best-tarp-clips-link/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/10/07/willow-kayak/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2015/08/26/worlds-lightest-tarp-clip/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2013/05/08/supercat-hiking-stove/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2015/07/24/soda-can-stove/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2015/03/09/diy-side-burner-metho-stove/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/03/04/new-fancy-feast-stove/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2014/11/13/watch-bands-for-hikingbushwalking/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/05/19/ultralight-ultra-sharp-knives-3-grams/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/08/25/diy-super-ultralight-pillow/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/03/02/tyvek/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/2015/08/30/tyvek-jack-russell-rain-coat-13-grams/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/09/16/fire-umbrella/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/06/02/whoopie-slings-what-a-great-idea/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/09/21/whoopie-sling-guy-line-tensioners/

https://www.tiergear.com.au/11/products/adjustable-hammock-ridgeline

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/09/21/whoopie-sling-guy-line-tensioners/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/10/23/toughened-foam-flip-flop/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/10/23/no-sew-sandals/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/09/22/fifteen-gram-blue-foam-flip-flop/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2015/02/24/spare-shoes-great-for-river-crossings/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2015/07/09/windscreens/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/09/22/ultralight-windscreen/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/06/27/clever-titanium-windscreen/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/08/26/the-ultralight-bush-chair/

https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/04/21/dragons-breath/

30/01/2019: If you read no other article about climate, you should read this one: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/01/29/mathematical-modeling-illusions/

30/01/2019: Poor Alexander. Perhaps buried alive: https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/human-body/alexander-the-great-may-be-the-most-famous-case-of-a-false-diagnosis-of-death-ever-recorded-claim-researchers/news-story/fc2b74c6a813decd30644426b1c61fd5

30/01/2019: Newspolll has the Libs 47:53 this far out from the 2019 election a position from which John Howard won several elections! Among th advantages Morrisson has are that he is a suberb salesman against which Shorten keeps peddling his union thug persona which might be attractive to a small audience but not to the wider public I suspect. If Morrison would pick up some obvious vote winners like the blackouts in Vic and SA in the last week, immigration problems, etc he is in with a chance. You have to hope so anyway as the alternative is too awful to contemplate – bad enough when the Shorten crew were just gubernatorial: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/blogs/andrew-bolt/hope-liberals-go-from-wipeout-to-bad-defeat/news-story/99595950171daf850272fc0c9c39b77d

29/01/2019: 'Look at Venezuela and understand that you can vote yourself into socialism but you have to shoot your way out of it' - John Hayward'

Image may contain: one or more people and text

29/01/2019: This is deeply worrying, particularly, 'the Chinese People's Liberation Army had built three military facilities on Australian Antarctic territory': https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/blogs/andrew-bolt/advertising-chinas-thuggish-socialism/news-story/700cfd28f3c616e81e6984f8fdbda5a8

29/01/2019: Benjamin Franklin's weather notebooks 1810-16. Just one of many reliable sources ignored by AGW proponents: 'The average May to September temperature (yellow line) in 1816 was about the same that of 2015. ' https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/01/28/president-jefferson-meets-mount-tambora/

28/01/2019: 'The individual risk of dying from climate-related disasters has declined by 98.9%'since 1920: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/01/27/inverse-hockey-stick-climate-related-death-risk-for-an-individuals-down-99-since-1920/ & https://www.facebook.com/bjornlomborg/?__tn__=k*F&tn-str=k*F

27/01/2019: Three days and you could buy a HELE plant with the money wasted. That’s a power plant that could last 70 years, and provide electricity at under $50/MW. We could retrofit Hazelwood for that: http://joannenova.com.au/2019/01/nearly-a-billion-dollars-for-electricity-for-just-one-day-500-per-family/

27/01/2019: A truly astonishing arrest. Imagine someone in the Government notifying the press, then sending in a team of guys armed with machine guns at 5:00 am to arrest someone over something which is likely to prove innocuous at worst. The political process in the US is hopelessly corrupted: https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2019/01/roger-stones-arrest-whats-scandalous-and-what-isnt.php & https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2019/01/more-mueller-madness-18.php

27/01/2019: This is the bit of the Anne Frank story you miss (not to mention the dreadful atrocities in Indonesia): https://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/netherlands-hypocrisy-jews/

26/01/2019: How to really prevent bushfires: https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/doomed-planet/2019/01/a-note-on-climate-change-and-bushfires/

26/01/2019: And so true of Labor and the Greens too: Taki: ...’the roar of racist rage from the great and good directed at an innocent Kentucky boy is all about implementing the Democrats’ grand strategy, which is to assemble a coalition of the margins of American society: immigrants, welfare mothers, tech billionaires, transgenders, hedge-fund guys, black church ladies, gays, Jews, the unmarried, movie stars, felons, and so forth and so on. In contrast, the more similar you are to a Minuteman of 1776, the more likely you are to vote Republican. The GOP appeals to Core Americans, the Democrats to Fringe Americans. Mass immigration offers the Democrats good reason to hope to overwhelm their foes in the long run’...

26/01/2019: Pigs to a Trough – do they really care about the fate of the earth? You would think these folk would have arrived by bicycle to demonstate their green credentials: https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/01/22/1500-private-jets-descend-on-davos-carrying-globalist-elite-for-climate-talks/

25/01/2019: Facecrime: https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/01/impressive-statement-from-nick-sandmann-the-covington-schoolboy-.html "The smallest thing could give you away. A nervous tic, an unconscious look of anxiety, a habit of muttering to yourself – anything that carried with it the suggestion of abnormality, of having something to hide. In any case, to wear an improper expression on your face (to look incredulous when a victory was announced, for example) was itself a punishable offence. There was even a word for it in Newspeak: facecrime, it was called."~George Orwell, 1984

25/01/2019: Nowhere near as hot as 1896: http://joannenova.com.au/2019/01/forgotten-history-50-degrees-everywhere-right-across-australia-in-the-1800s/

25/01/2019: The real stolen generation: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/blogs/andrew-bolt/judge-saves-aboriginal-girl-from-culture/news-story/60bcd101583f87e3a7fe64f1c02b4bc2

21/01/2019: Try as you will you cannot find anywhere Watson dispassionately explain and defend his views. All you can find is the 'fake news' where the outrage brigade are having a field day. However many studies have shown that Ashkenazi Jews are approx 25% more intelligent than other Europeans. CrispR technology could theoretically give all our children this advantage in life – or the superior athletic ability of West Africans, and so on. If you were breeding anything else (animals, wheat, etc) you would be right onto this. Watson (and Dyson) are probably the to greatest living scientists, yet both are reported more for their 'unacceptable' though almost certainly true views: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/13/james-watson-scientist-honors-stripped-reprehensible-race-comments

21/01/2019: I’m sure fears of Brexit will be just like fear of the Millennium Bug and other such bogey men: http://www.rationaloptimist.com/blog/no-deal-brexit/

21/01/2019: How is this not child cruelty: https://www.dailywire.com/news/42237/britains-first-transgender-family-now-amanda-prestigiacomo

19/01/2019: SAS – these guys are so good: https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/01/british-sas-hero-was-out-shopping-when-he-tooled-up-to-neutralise-islamic-terror-in-kenya.html

19/01/2019: Gaslighting - it's a real thing. The things people do to each other: http://www.abuseandrelationships.org/Content/The_Con/gaslighting.html

19/01/2019: Trump is just great: https://donsurber.blogspot.com/2019/01/fact-check-trumps-is-best-start-in-50.html

18/01/2019: The situation in France is getting serious; another French Revolution may be imminent: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6593807/Shocking-video-shows-fireman-Yellow-Vest-protestor-shot-head-French-police.html?fbclid=IwAR3sl_v8gXURwC-iLdH0D_SXAO-WjfGuZqsZshqWpgxY1ViwrelRMGxGtis

18/01/2019: Try as you will you cannot find anywhere Watson dispassionately explain and defend his views. All you can find is the 'fake news' where the outrage brigade are having a field day. However many studies have shown for example that Ashkenazi Jews are approx 25% more intelligent than other Europeans. CrispR technology could theoretically give all our children this advantage in life – or the obvious superior athletic ability of West Africans, and so on. If you were breeding anything else (animals, wheat, etc) you would be right onto this. Watson (and Dyson) are probably the two greatest living scientists, yet both are reported more for their 'unacceptable' (though almost certainly true) views: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/13/james-watson-scientist-honors-stripped-reprehensible-race-comments

18/01/2019: The fake news are after Clive big time (see below) but Clive’s new party is the only conservative alternative running in every seat. Unless something else emerges from the woodwork very soon I may have to vote for him even though I loathe him personally. Australian politics has surely hit rock bottom. One thing is certain, we cannot have Shorten government: https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/leaders/clive-palmer-has-no-hope-in-hell-at-the-election-so-why-is-he-spamming-australia/news-story/a7d3fb6ec123c28643b98c204ecf31e4

17/01/2019: Newspeak. Coming to you soon. I believe everyone should be able to say whatever they like. Of course they will still be subject to the normal ostracisms of good manners, but not legal sanctions. People who might be offended need to just 'man up' and accept that free speech is too important a 'right' to give up without a fight. Bill Whatcott is a genuine hero: https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2019/01/free_speech_is_dead_in_canada_the_persecution_of_christian_activist_bill_whatcott.html

17/01/2019: Indeed:

No photo description available. 17/01/2019: This is a real thing, but it is unbelievable: https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/01/report-here-kel-glare-ao-apms-damning-findings-on-ethical-breaches-in-victoria-police.html

16/01/2019: Country Shopping: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/blogs/tim-blair/australia-is-out-of-the-question-for-now/news-story/b4259d0ee3f6bc4e66ae2c321e4723a9

16/01/2019: I’m glad now I gave up shaving over 50 years ago: https://www.sbs.com.au/news/men-s-rights-activists-call-for-boycott-of-gillette-after-metoo-ad-campaign

16/01/2019: Surely we’ve seen this nonsense fail in the police forces where it is important enough, but in the military where the survival of the entire nation is at risk, it is an experiment too far: https://www.wsj.com/articles/women-dont-belong-in-combat-units-11547411638 & https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/wtf/cairns-police-officers-create-stir-with-huge-height-difference/news-story/a6d1f668436c687777433e44f8d56f65

15/01/2019: Australia 21, Indonesia 15 - doesn't that mean we're winning: https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/01/dont-kid-yourself-about-australias-military-independence-nor-our-aid-to-indonesia.html

15/01/2019: Sleeping giants of Oz: https://twitter.com/slpng_giants_oz/status/1084573226678636544

15/01/2019: Suffer the Children: https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/zegs-take/2019/01/suffer-the-children/

15/01/2019: Clive James, 'A more illustrative starting point for the theme of the permanently imminent climatic apocalypse might be taken as August 3, 1971, when The Sydney Morning Herald announced that the Great Barrier Reef would be dead in six months.

After six months the reef had not died, but it has been going to die almost as soon as that ever since, making it a strangely durable emblem for all those who have wedded themselves to the notion of climate catastrophe.' https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/blogs/tim-blair/eternal-life-and-death-of-our-rare-roast-reef/news-story/4631e7f45c1602afaa46bbe2b6f4e365 (For 'Barrier Reef' substitute 'Murray-Darling', 'Great Australian Bight' Planet Earth' and etc).

14/01/2019: Well, it is certainly summer-time: 38 degrees on the verandah, and the garden offering its bounty of stone fruit. Our newish apricot tree offered its first picking this morning, while a batch of apricots from Bryn's tree is simmering on the stove to be mixed with whipped cream, mascarpone and a dash of grand marnier to become a fairly enticing apricot fool. The huge basket of golden queen peaches will need to be preserved too. They are delicious fresh, but our stunted tree overdid itself this year, so it would be ungrateful to waste them! I will work on those tomorrow!

Image may contain: fruit, food and indoor

14/01/2019: ‘How to Grow Old’ by Bertrand Russell (1872-1970). Great advice from the modern world’s greatest philosopher, a three time Nobel prize winner: https://sites.google.com/site/gobenyan/essay

14/01/2019: Once 'the land of a million elephants' Down 90% in thirty years. Now only 1,000. Gone by 2030. So long Laos's elephants. You'd think the emerald folk would be all over this, but of course it's being done by their own commie mates, so there is silence: https://thediplomat.com/2019/01/can-the-land-of-a-million-elephants-survive-the-belt-and-road/

14/01/2019: The Darling: 30km/1472km = .02 ie 2% There is still a lot of river left: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darling_River

13/01/2019: Some amazing insights into the Arthurian legend: https://quadrant.org.au/magazine/2018/09/decoding-king-arthur-grail/

13/01/2019: Destroying speed cameras could be the way ahead: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/blogs/tim-blair/those-french-yellow-vests-mean-business/news-story/ca17148a808cdaade88192a6dba21f57

13/01/2019: Oh No, in 2018 Climate change caused “disastrous” loss of 0.1% of World GDP:

http://joannenova.com.au/2018/12/in-2018-climate-change-caused-disastrous-loss-of-0-1-of-world-gdp/

12/01/2019: A $2,000 climate friendly cat door: http://joannenova.com.au/2019/01/saving-the-planet-one-2000-cat-door-at-a-time/

12/01/2019: The Great Wall: https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2019/01/the_great_wall_of_america_will_break_the_democrats.html

12/01/2019: Apparently being a man has become a mental illness, but suppose you found a man who was 'Strong mentally and physically, smart and savvy, athletic, brave and adventurous, high life-competence and adaptability, emotionally-reserved but open to friendship, and sexy and tender at times.' Should you send him to have his head shrunk? https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2019/01/traditional-masculinity-american-psychological-association/580006/

11/01/2019: What a great 'whodunit': https://www.popsci.com.au/science/nature/did-a-gigantic-bird-really-eat-a-neanderthal-child,514746

09/01/2019: Border Security. If you had a problem like this you would think you would be in favour of border security. The Democrats were before Trump was elected. Well, before he decided to run as a Republian they wanted him to run for President as a Democrat. This sort of party politics is a very bad thing and is destroying many countries (including our own). The notion of 'Cui Bono' (who will bear the cost?) is a very good one. Willis makes some very good points here which are relevant to Australia. Trump's speech is also excellent. Yet still the Democrats seemingly would rather their country was overrun than concede that he has a point. What an imbroglio! https://rosebyanyothernameblog.wordpress.com/2019/01/08/cui-bono/ & https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=609&v=AJPj3Xw1DO0

The cost of this crime has to far exceed the cost of the so-called ‘Wall’!

09/01/2019: Interesting things in the reconstruction of the Greenland Ice Core Data. CO2 to temperature correlation does not hold. See the last 7,000 years where CO2 is going up and Greenland temperature is going down (which is counter-intuitive) – but do note CO2 has been rising (naturally) for 7,000 years! The other thing is the amplitude of the 1998 warming. Clearly it could not have been caused by CO2 (apart from being too fast), but it seems to be over, so we can breathe a sigh of relief: the temperatures will just keep on going down as they have for the last 8,000 years – surely that’s a good thing? https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/01/08/greenland-is-way-cool/

You should go to the Vinther data here: http://www.iceandclimate.nbi.ku.dk/data/Temperature_Reconstruction.pdf. The current ‘warming’ period clearly started approx 180 years ago, ie around 1820. You will note though that statistical ‘smoothing’ pretty much removes it completely. Notice how much warmer it was in the (historical) past without any of the dire happenings predicted by the climate alarmists, eg 2000 years ago .66C warmer, 2800 years ago 1.0C warmer, and so on…

09/01/2019: I may adopt Godfrey Elfwick’s New Year’s Resolutions. (NB Godfrey is a Black-identifying genderqueer Muslim atheist: https://spectator.us/new-years-resolutions-white-cis-men/

09/01/2019: Trump’s Government Shut down is a brilliant idea. If only we could have it too! There has been too much Government for years and years. Let’s just see how much of it we can get along without. Please start by naming your ten least favourite Government nasties.

08/01/2019: The Left are always so free with other people's money. This lass is seriously dangerous. 70%! That would really make it worthwhile going out to work. Can't she see that the goose would soon stop laying the golden eggs? Perhaps not quite 'lipstick on a pig', but close: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/01/05/ocasio-cortez-demands-70-tax-to-pay-for-her-climate-change-policies/ On the other hand: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/05/opinion/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-tax-policy-dance.html & https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/01/10/delingpole-the-green-new-deal-is-lipstick-on-a-pig/

07/01/2019: Dry Change 5.7 oz: The Massdrop Veil range has to constitute just about the lightest and cheapest dry change you can carry when hiking. I have had the similar thing in Montbell (a few grams lighter) and dearer for many years. I have used them a lot (of course mostly in camp) and they are still as good as new. I have never found that they grow at all clammy in the temperatures I generally am out in (ie autumn and winter Victoria, Australia).

So long as you don’t require warmth in your dry change they are fine. I usually carry some Montbell down garments and some down socks, as well as an insulated beanie for when it it going to be really cold. When it is going to be particularly cold I carry some wool thermals instead of the ‘wind’ gear

https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-veil-wind-pants US$59.99 85 grams

Specs

https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-veil-wind-shell US$59.99 77 grams

Specs

Total = 162 grams 5.7 oz & $119.98.

NB. Some people wear these ‘wind’ garments as their everyday hiking garments. This would work out fine on the trail, and they would likely last as long as you would expect – but they would certainly not be suitable for bush-bashing.

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/08/16/how-many-clothes-should-i-take-in-my-pack/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/01/23/ultralight-clothes-pegs-for-hiking/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/08/17/hiking-washing-machine/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/10/01/ultralight-shorts-28-grams/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/09/17/vapor-barrier/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/09/21/montbell/

http://www.theultralighthiker.com/2013/12/29/hiking-pants/

07/01/2019: Rubisco. You may not have heard of it but it is the enzyme responsible for photosynthesis and thus practically all life on earth. Unfortunately it is woefully inefficient (ergo there is no God) but photosynthesis can be engineered to be more efficient using different enzyme pathways. These scientists have improved plant productivity by 40%. That is seriously big news: http://science.sciencemag.org/content/363/6422/eaat9077

07/01/2019: Nazis: I did not attend yesterday's protests. Antifa and other left-wing extremists who bring their violence to such events have made such attendance too dangerous at my age. I do however support the main motivation behind the rally ie the poor state of our migration policies which have dumped a heap of unassimilable folk amongst us who are best represented by the recent spate of African gang violence and jihadism. Senator Anning says that the only Nazi salutes he saw were from the leftist demonstrators who came to disrupt what otherwise would have been a quiet peaceful gathering: https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/01/senator-fraser-annings-statement-about-the-rally-in-melbourne.html

06/01/2019: Tiamo's Restaurant, Lygon Street: Steve and I started going there round about the late 1970's, and it quickly became our regular dinner stop whenever we visited Melbourne. Its noisy and friendly atmosphere happily welcomed our children over the decades so that no Melbourne shopping trip was complete without a bowl of pasta there. When Merrin and I dropped in after our hot but satisfying shop yesterday, Merrin was feeling nostalgic and thought that we should take a pic just in case the unthinkable happened - eg. a change of decor, or, (heaven forbid!) food!! The offerings from their unbelievably tiny kitchen vary hardly at all, and Merrin's ravioli bolognese still tastes exactly as it did in her childhood. And then there is the noise - the glorious babble that I would hate anywhere else, but is the hallmark of Tiamo's.

https://www.facebook.com/della.jones.16/videos/1982542091814490/?t=0

06/01/2019: Surely it constitutes child abuse to raise children whilst attempting to terrify them with such bugaboos and fetishes as the utterly discredited 'climate change' activists wallow in: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/blogs/tim-blair/lets-all-run-around-screaming-for-no-reason-at-all/news-story/cae529cabfbc6ac7fe26a9e96d3193ec

04/01/2019: The Biggest Lie of 2018 (as usual told by the usual suspects, Greenpeace et al): https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2018/12/31/delingpole-greenpeaces-ocean-plastic-pollution-scare-the-biggest-lie-of-2018/

04/01/2019: When political correctness promotes evil (as when did it not): https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/blogs/tim-blair/spot-the-difference/news-story/41a000c04fe1bf2fb0f444202a6235be

04/01/2019: Labor was once about redistributing (some of the wealth) from the rich to the poor. It is now about redistributing the costs to the poor: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/blogs/tim-blair/poor-subsidising-the-solarloving-rich/news-story/3884c995eb7344f5f007c2b160866878

03/01/2019: Victorinox @work USB Multi-Tools:The Midnight Manager would be an excellent everyday carry tool. I would consider replacing my favorite older Victorinox Signature Lite (24 grams) knife (on Fruugo for A$54 – Jan 2019) with this because of the USB . Actually I already replaced it as my everyday carry with this Leathermaan Micra (51 grams) mainly because the latter has a solider pair of scissors I need to cut my big toe nails (both of which have thickened up when they grew back from having dropped heavy objects on them). If you haven’t (yet) got this peculiar problem, have a look at this collection of Victorinox USB multi tools.

‘The Victorinox @work collection is for the rugged outdoorsman who embraces modern technologies. Each item in the series features a host of versatile stainless steel tools and a removable 16GB USB 3.0/3.1 stick with a read speed of 115 MB/s and a write speed of 25 MB/s. The Jetsetter@work has six tools including scissors, a bottle opener, a Phillips screwdriver, and a wire stripper. It comes with silver Alox scales. For more functionality, go for the Midnight Manager@work. Featuring a whopping 10 functions, it also includes an LED light.

Small Pocket Knife with Removable USB Stick

Tools

Dimensions

Height	18 mm
Net weight	34 g

Height	12 mm
Net weight	24 g

Details

scale material	ABS / Cellidor
Size	58 mm
Blade lockable	No
One hand blade	No

02/01/2019: What a wonderful approach to thieving bastards. Do play the video: https://www.businessinsider.com.au/nasa-engineer-mark-rober-makes-glitter-bomb-parcel-thieves-2018-12

02/01/2019: 2018. What a year! For example, ‘Philosophy professor George Yancy saddened readers of the New York Times with a lengthy and tearful apology for his own heterosexuality. Apparently, being aroused by women, while not quite rape in itself, is nonetheless, as it were, rape-adjacent and constitutes “a violent, pathetic and problematic masculinity.’: https://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2018/12/the-year-reheated.html

02/01/2019: Socialism in action: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/blogs/tim-blair/deliberate-outcomes-and-inevitable-outcomes/news-story/3bf5e39fcecbaa1aaea4d2820ccc2b96 Just give us more bureaucrats and we will fix everything: https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2018/12/the-cure-for-socialism-better-bureaucrats.php

01/01/2019: More Fun in the Rain: Ponchos, Umbrellas or Raincoats? That is the question. What’s the best way to stay dry in the rain and enjoy yourself in the outdoors while doing so? I have been soaking wet, all over, every ‘warm’ layer down to my skin, more times than I can count. Mostly of course it was when I was hunting sambar deer with hounds in the Gippsland mountains, a pastime I loved passionately and pursued enthusiastically for over thirty years. I regret nothing.

This was my second ‘Harpoon’ whom I had to give away to fox hunters when foxhounds were (stupidly) banned by the ‘government’ of Victoria in 2005. The Government alleged that these hounds would attack deer or other game, but my beloved hounds never laid a glove on anyone or any thing. He had gotten a bit fat from his enforced retirement here. On a single hunt he could run himself from this condition to looking more like a greyhound in shape – and might have covered 70-150 kilometres in a day. (On the flat he could do 40kph for a sustained period). I had often covered 30 myself chasing after him – I could take some short-cuts; he had perforce to follow wherever the deer led!

This is he in the dog pens on the day he left me forever, a very sad day for me as three generations of Joneses had hunted with hounds in Oz (four, counting my kids) – but no more! – strangely I do not have a (decent) photo of a single hound in the forest in all that time, or more than a handful of blurry photos of my actual hunting.

It was all much more about ‘doing’ than anything else – and pictures were very expensive. I mostly have to rely on memory alone to conjure up images of those faraway days. He would be long ago dust now, but what a magnificent hound he was – and so too the first Harpoon. I hope he has descendants somewhere, and that they still get to hunt something.

A Flourbag Stag 1990 – another wet day by the look of the raincoat, the waterproof hat and the sodden woolen trous. I often used to hunt it by myself back then sometimes taking a deer bailed in the Thomson at sunset, perhaps below Bruntons. After the 2008 fire there was a huge pile of the poor beasts boiled alive in a hole just below the Flourbag Bridge not quite being able to make the refuge of the deeper water of the river in time before the awful flames consumed them. Poor forest management is such a dreadful thing.

This chap I put up just by myself. He was on the other side of this overgrown track which I was running along towards the hunt. He foolishly decided to cross it just as I came around the corner. The old SMLE or Mauser (I forget which) spoke, and stopped him in his tracks. There are lots of folks think you have to own some expensive gun, but there is no better gun than these old WW1 weapons that you can have for a song (just A$100 or so) – and they are indestructible! They were the only ones I owned until my wonderful wife gifted me a new gun for my 50th birthday in 1999! A Browning Lightning.

A Deep Creek Stag 1990. You can see I wore heavy wool clothes back then. I recall I had to wear yet another layer in the 80’s and warmer socks too – it was much, much colder back then, though it was warmer still than it is today earlier on than that. Weather is changeable.

A Ross Creek Stag also 1990 – I must have afforded a roll of film for the camera that year. Times were often that tight! This stag was so large bodied that it needed the two of us to roll him over to gut him – even on that steep slope. He probably weighed well over half a tonne!

Frankly I loved wet day hunting. Everything seems slowed and quieted by the prevailing dampness. Usually there was no-one else about. Most folks think they will dissolve. Once you find a deer, it is easy to follow his tracks in the moist earth. Though the echoing voices of the hounds are somewhat muffled too, the sound is controlled by the rain; everything seems to move more slowly yet you can keep up better as you don’t overheat so much. There has never been rain wear made which will not soak you to the skin while pushing as hard as you can go through wet bush in a deluge.

Remember too that I always did this in winter in the mountains where the temperature was never much above freezing. Moving along a ridge or walking up a creek where the vegetation was thinner would enable your body heat to dry you out somewhat, then you would be ploughing through the thick stuff again trying to get to a bail-up or to cut off a deer eg heading for a saddle, and you would soon be soaked with ice-cold water again.

Maybe you can imagine me thundering around this rock pile, slipping and sliding.

And then splashing on upstream hoping to get to a bail-up, or forcing my way through that thick wet stuff to the side of the creek?

Of course I would often also fall over in a creek when I was hurrying up or down it, my feet slipping on wet rocks (some boots are better/worse for this, mostly worse) and over I would go, often completely under the water.

Yet I was young(er) and fat enough I never felt cold till the end of the day when I stopped. And of course I always wore wool which insulates you well even when it is wet. Then I was back at my truck and had a dry change of clothes and (soon) a warm fire (you really must learn to light a fire in the wet) and a cook-up of sausages and onions on bread (with sauce of course) and potatoes roasted in the coals smothered in fresh butter. What a delicious repast.

A couple of stubbies of beer never hurt either! In recent years I swapped to overproof rum – when hiking at least, as my toddy at day’s end. Now I am completely tea total, which at least lightens your pack substantially on a multi-day hike – in my case by more than a kilo! The penalties one has to pay to be ‘the ultralight hiker’!

And of course I always had a shelter such as the one below to keep me dry while I ate my evening meal and maybe waited for a few last hounds to come in – or often enough I would sleep in the shelter and hunt again the next day – rain or shine. I do so miss those days, but I am enormously glad I had them. I am greedy for such pleasures – thirty years or more was not enough! I have had another dozen years hunting without the hounds now – and they have brought me many pleasures.

Here is one of my old mates Brett Irving enjoying a couple of cans of VB as he shelters from the rain before a cheery fire on the Tambo years ago (c2000). A couple of blokes can easily sleep dry and cosy under such a simple shelter – you might drop the height a bit for sleeping to create more horizontal room. This height is for standing or sitting. This tarp probably cost me less than $A10 and was used for decades and is most likely still hiding in a corner of my shed even now! Well I know exactly where actually.

Brett had to go home to his wife but I had a couple more wet days of it to myself which was grand! The river flooded and neither deer nor hounds could cross, yet I was out all day every day sloshing through it, and loving it. I don’t remember whether I took a deer or not, but it doesn’t matter.Being out in the wet bush enjoying yourself while all the world is at work (and thankfully somewhere else) is just delightful!

Actually I recall I did take a deer, a small doe on the third day, small enough to carry out whole, rigged like a backpack (I was younger then). They have mysteriously closed most of this splendid area to hunting now (hounds anyway). I don’t know who is supposed to manage the very numerous deer there in this case. On one of the days walking up a side gully I put up a mob of over ten of them. There would be more than that now!

Oh, here are two of my favourite old hounds: Poono (Triclour) and Belle her mother a Bloodhound-Foxhound cross – no better bitch was ever whelped. In Jacob’s Creek in 1996.

There was a time (as you can see) when Della and I (at least) wore ponchos. Here we were in 2008 just after the fires walking along the Moroka (to have a good look at the fishing in the Gorge, apparently) These ponchos don’t look the height of sartorial elegance do they, but this was a sub-zero day even though it was February? It was so hot at home we were looking for somewhere cool to go, but not that cool.

The thermometer on Stephen’s truck read -6C when we started hiking. I own I was all for heading home (Della gets cold) but Stephen was all for forging on, so we did. We walked all day in the rain and camped that night somewhere by the Moroka. It was cold enough to freeze the water in your drinking bottle if you left it outside! Some of us did.

All day I had been being chyacked for collecting small bits of dry kindling along the way into a shopping bag I happened to have in the back pocket of my pack. Sometimes I would find a handful of dry leaves or twigs inside a hollow log, or some small dry twigs under an overhang, or s strip of the dry inner bark of a stringybark on the lea side of the tree – and so on. By day’s end I had the beginnings of a fire – and Stephen did not. The Cleavers, needless to say had to warm themselves by our fire!

Mind you Stephen did catch a fish – something he was brilliant at. Here is one of my last photographs of him doing the same on the Tyers River in 2009. I can’t believe it is eight years since I last talked to him. Carpe that old diem little ones. Tempus Fugit.

The home made ponchos kept Della and I perfectly dry whilst the Cleavers’ much more expensive (bought & guaranteed) rain coats had them wet to the skin by the end of the day – and cold. You do get more air flow in a poncho, particularly one that your pack thrusts up like this to make you look more like a pregnant camel! Nonetheless their roof-like structure has plenty of air under it so that you don’ t drown in that dreadful humidity we ran into that day, and this other day (below) on the South Coast Track, Fiordland New Zealand.

Della is still smiling through it as is her wont: she is a trooper.

But mind you we were all much more comfortable back in the lovely shelter of the Moroka Hut.

I walked to the Wilsons Prom Lighthouse with the Cleavers in 2006. They had even worse raincoats then…

I had this small ultralight home made poncho. They both laughed at it when I put it on as it began to shower as we were coming down onto Little Waterloo Beach – as good a beach as anything they have anywhere in Qld, or anywhere in the world for that matter. By the time we had walked back up to the Telegraph Track (maybe two km) such an icy rain had fallen that they were both soaked to the skin and were starting to suffer from hypothermia. The top half of my body was perfectly warm and dry in my ‘ridiculous’ poncho (though my hands were very cold). We retired to the tea trees at the intersection and I brewed a cuppa for us all and rifled through my back pack for dry clothes and emergency ponchos for them for the walk out. Though I am ‘the ultralight hiker’ I always have just a little too much gear ‘just in case’. It never pays to be ‘dead right’.

This is my new ‘pocket poncho tent’. It too looks bloody awful compared to a tailored fit of a $500 raincoat which will nonetheless not keep you dry in those awful humid conditions. This poncho weighs 185 grams and doubles as a tent. I am going (soon) to make a slightly ‘stretched’ model of this which will sleep us both. The second person’s poncho will make a more than adequate tent floor – so that two can be perfectly cosy in the most terrific rain!

Here we were on the South Coast Track Fiordland New Zealand 2016 on the last day (or eight) coming out from the Port Craig Schoolhouse. The day turned very wet, humid and cold. Della is still smiling bravely here as she admires this swollen stream but by the time we reached the relative shelter of this bach’s woodshed for a lunch stop she was pretty wet and cold. Lunch and a cuppa cheered her, but she put all her layers on for the afternoon’s walk out to our car – and a hot meal and a bottle of champagne (for her) at the Hotel in Tuatapere.

It was so humid in the woodshed that my waterproof camera fogged up so completely I was lucky to be able to snap a photo of her finishing a last apple – yes, an apple at the end of an eight day hike. You will have to read about it here: http://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/04/25/south-coast-track-fiordland-nz-dellas-version/

The benefits of an umbrella are seriously overlooked. I have written many posts about them. My lightest is 86 grams. For anyone hiking tracks or in large open areas they area good option for avoiding getting soaked in a raincoat when humidity really strikes. You can even rig them no hands if you want, as below: http://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/12/14/a-hands-free-umbrella/

There are folks who claim that the humidity will not soak you if he raincoat is tight enough. Now often I put on a bit more weight in training than I would necessarily want to, so last year’s raincoat is pretty well skin tight before I have run off a bit of that condition. I can assure you it is not true. The wicking action does not overcome the humidity but an air space such as an umbrella or a poncho affords certainly does.

01/01/2019: Farewell Richard Overton. We shall not see your like again: https://www.foxnews.com/us/nations-oldest-military-veteran-dead-at-112

01/01/2019: If there weren’t men in the world there would not be all these bastard diseases named after them with names that I can neither remember nor spell! Is this a problem?

01/01/2019: ‘The benefit that we get from emitting that additional tonne of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere is an increase in goods and services of $4,380 … which dwarfs the assumed social cost of carbon of $40. When we do an actual cost/benefit analysis, the result is almost all benefit’: https://rosebyanyothernameblog.wordpress.com/2018/12/15/the-social-benefit-of-carbon/

Trail Weight	1lb 2oz / 510g
Packed Weight	1lb 7oz / 652g
Fast Fly Weight	15oz / 425g
Packed Size	5" x 18.5" / 13 x 47cm
Floor Area	28sq ft / 2.6 m²
Vestibule Area	7sq ft / 0.65 m²
Footprint Weight	4oz / 113g
Number of Seasons	3
Number of Doors	1
Intended Use	Fast & Light

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4ntrDS5GNE&feature=emb_title

20/09/2019: Mom blames healthcare system after her son went blind from diet comprised of french fries and Pringles: https://www.aol.com/article/news/2019/09/18/harvey-dyer-teen-blind-junk-food-mom-blames-nhs-uk-kerry-james/23815464/

19/09/2019: Diesel Submarines – such a good idea: http://catallaxyfiles.com/2019/09/19/romantic-submarines/

17/09/2019: The Children of Donor H898: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/the-children-of-donor-h898/2019/09/14/dcc191d8-86da-11e9-a491-25df61c78dc4_story.html

17/09/2019: Brazil’s Record harvest. Up 6.3%: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/09/16/corn-cotton-output-push-brazil-harvest-to-record/

17/09/2019: Well Done Adelaide Valley Butchers: https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/09/butcher-digs-heels-in-on-non-halal-as-long-as-we-own-the-shop-the-sign-wont-ever-come-down.html

16/09/2019: Virtual kisses not right unless they are left: https://www.pickeringpost.com/2019/09/15/virtual-kisses-not-right-say-the-left/

16/09/2019: In other news Scientists advised against consuming hypersexual zombie cicadas infected with psychoactive fungus: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/09/14/scientists-advised-against-consuming-hypersexual-zombie-cicadas-infected-with-psychoactive-fungus/

08/07/2019: More Simmer Stoves

Upper Yarra Track.pdf

05/05/2019: Waterproof Carbon Fibre Playing Cards: Maybe not ultralight, but certainly ultra-cool – and you can cut a banana with them!

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