The driveway to Rivendell 2003 with our grandson Max on his bike ( all green with thriving poplars.)
The same driveway of Rivendell, a few days ago. 1-1-2020
The whole world now knows how Australia is in the grip of dreadful fires and a seemingly never ending and heartbreaking drought. But, more importantly, the world now also knows that Australia is lagging in doing something to avoid those catastrophes in the future by tackling the reasons for those disasters, and that is climate change.
Australia emits more than twice as much pollution per person as do similar countries elsewhere. https://www.acf.org.au/analysis_shows_australia_lagging
I thought of showing you in pictures how the drought and fires have effected our environment.
Here our two grandsons riding their bikes through the causeway of the Wollondilly river that our farm had a 1km frontage to. Things were lush and green. (Dec.2004) Plenty of water!
Our Pizza oven at Rivendell.
Here a picture of some of the garden next to the our farm. (2003)
The Wollondilly river running alongside our farm (2010)
Old Australian cottage.
Here the old convict build cottage that was also part of Rivendell property and made into a B&B
The living room at Rivendell.
Fire and smoke. That little yellow spot is the sun during mid-day.
And yet, our Government is loath to tackle climate-change. Our prime mister is an ardent believer in burning coal and even took a lump of it into parliament.
Tags: Australian, Convict, Drought, Fires, Rivendell, Scott Morrison, Wollondilly
Oosterman Treats Blog 
January 3, 2020 at 1:52 am |
The people of Cobargo told him what they think of him.
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January 3, 2020 at 2:46 am |
Yes, I think our PM better stay away from the locals for a while. Better still, forever.
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January 3, 2020 at 2:24 am |
I really am confused. Are there two Bowrals? I’m not sure exactly where you are, and I want to be able to fuss over you if necessary, despite being a bit distant! I see that there’s a Leave Zone at Shoalhaven, south of Bowral and Wollongong. Is that your Bowral?
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January 3, 2020 at 2:40 am |
There is only one Bowral. This is were I live, and have so, together with Helvi, since 2010.
The fires are getting closer to Bowral and you are right, there are warnings out for the immediate areas around Bowral, Linda.
We are south of the Shoalhaven area but more inland and near Mittagong. Shoalhaven is a district but it is also called a city. Wollongong is a real city. I know it is confusing. Many cities in Australia are just districts and not cities. I don’t know why they call districts ‘cities’, and I have asked that often, without getting sensible answers. It is something ‘Anglo’.
However there is only one Bowral. A small city of 12000 inhabitants.
Hope this is clear. Thank you so much for your concern.
It really is a terrible situation, and yesterday our PM was booted out of an area that was total wiped out while he was swanning around in Hawaii. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ea5bOaPkZpc
Rivendell was a farm we lived at between 1996 and 2010. A glorious property now all neglected and drought wrecked.
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January 3, 2020 at 2:48 am
Thank you, thank you. It is a little confusing, but I can sort it out now. I have a website here that’s American, but dedicated to tracking wildfires around the world, and they link to the videos, warnings, reports and such from your area.
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January 3, 2020 at 6:11 am
Sorry, Gerard, I have to correct you, the Shoalhaven is South of you and is part of the Southcoast of NSW. Warnings are out for Mittagong near you.
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January 3, 2020 at 6:27 am
Yes, you are so right, Peter. Bowral is north of the ‘City of Shoalhaven’. But I still think it odd that they call Shoalhaven a city. A city in my book is a large town or a large population living in close proximity. I can find no city called Shoalhaven on the map.
Shoalhaven City has a population over 100000 but spread out over a huge area with many towns with different names.
I think that it is very confusing.
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January 3, 2020 at 2:24 am |
I suppose before long just about every country will go up in smoke or be drowned in water. So sad to see what 9-10 years difference made in how the drive way to your farm is parched with vegetation dried up.
I am afraid that we are in for it in every country. It isn’t just Australia that seems to be in trouble But the fires burning in your country is destroying millions and millions of wildlife. I have no words to describe the sadness that we here in the USA feel about the fires of your land.
Can our planet be saved? Frankly I do no think so. How can hurricanes, and floods and droughts be prevented? I believe it is too late. Politicians refuse to believe or simply do not care because to ignore the pollution, in their little minds, is more beneficial to them. They do not care about the humans of the future. It is about money, power, and greed and self gratification,
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January 3, 2020 at 3:01 am |
Yes, but I believe in the young and brave, Ivonne. You just wait and see.
Our 70 000 fire fighting army of volunteers could do worse than going on strike and refuse their services till this Government will heed and take climate change seriously. The fires should be extinguished as a priority, but next time around they could swing with a mighty weapon refusing to volunteer…
As for the young, they are seething with discontent and know they must win in order for them and their children to live.
The old fuddy duddies think about ‘economy’ without understanding there will be no economy if they insist on encouraging this planet to die.
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January 3, 2020 at 4:04 am
I do hope you are right that the young will maybe save the planet.
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January 3, 2020 at 5:30 am |
Indeed the capitalist dystem encourages greed and concentrations of wealth into the hands of a few. The political donations you alluded to here, come from.the banks, coal and minerals sector – they seem to dictate public policy!
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January 4, 2020 at 3:47 am
Oh yes, you are correct about the donations It is all so corrupt. Politicians are owned by the donors and I doubt the one single one cares about the environment or health benefits, or women’s rights, etc. I believe that many of the so called politicians are in for the benefits and simple make it a career. They claim to love their country and serving the good people of what ever district they represent. Frankly, American people have been had. Probably true of politicians in many countries.
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January 4, 2020 at 4:10 am
I think it is true of many politicians around the world. Many have made it a career choice, as you say, rather than being a person who has worked in public life or public arenas over the years and then decide to enter politics to make a difference to the community or to give back something. In some ways, the capaitalist mantra and system encourages greed and ruthlessness, rather than altruism. I guess I sound like a socialist but in many ways there is much less focus on getting to the top and pushing other aside. We definitely need many more women entering politics to equal up the balance. Do you see this happening in your community?
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January 4, 2020 at 7:37 am
Yes, there are more women runiing for office but the positions are for mosltuy for DAs, school boards, and sometimes for mayor. I don’t think anyu woman is running to replace a republican congressman but I could be wrong. I was hoping that his position could be regained by a democrat but that is likely no going to happen. Texas as liberal state and then all of a sudden some super weat;hy oil men ( I think it was) made inroads by lying bullying, and buying their way in order to support folks like the Bushes who came to Texas from the north east years ago and became rich in the oil industry. Out in west Texas the oil boom is once again in full swing as the companies tear up the land and contribute to a climate of wealth and extreme poverty. It is both ends of the spectrum and it makes no sense at all.
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January 4, 2020 at 11:38 am
My goodness. Such perversion of the original concept of democracy. And as we discussed, it is happening here within Australia with the evangelical right. Does each party have to publicly list political donors?
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January 6, 2020 at 2:57 am
Yes, the parties and the politicians are “supposed to” report all donations. But somewhere, I read that money had been funneled to the Trump campaign by individuals or companies ( don’t remember which) and that money (Russian) had never been reported. It was done in a way so that it was hidden money. I don’t know how it was discovered and I have no idea if Trump’s campaign “refunded” the money or even if anything was done to admonish Trump’s team. I feel that politics has got out of hand- there is so much lying and manipulating the system that one has to devote themselves to studying and reading about what is going on a daily basis. There is much lobbying, both national and state and I think that lobbying should be banned. But that is likely not going to happen. I am a firm liberal or Democrat which is more for equality, human rights, equal opportunity for all races, and in general liberals are more for the underdog. But to hear a Republican talk, liberals are the scourge of the earth. Liberals care about the environment and Trump and his party have dismantled just about everything good that was enacted during the Obama years. Now it seems, we are in deep trouble and Trump still has poor folks rooting for him and acting like he is a God. I really fear for the USA and now things are looking very dire in Iraq with Trump’s latest move. The religious right is adding to turmoil and racism as most of those folks come from the South where whites would like to have supreme control as it was back before civil/ equal rights were granted to persons of color.
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January 6, 2020 at 4:38 am
It is worrying. But as Sally inferred, sometimes crises are great motivaters for change. We also have the poor uneducated class rooting for the right wing elements – they are reacting to fearmongering and don’t lie the complete picture, hearing only one side of the argument. I too wish lobbying was banned.
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January 3, 2020 at 3:03 am |
There is so much more that can be done. Why not? He prefers to put his farm in God to bring rain and burn cheap coal choking the smoke ridden atmosphere. Did you see Bush boys post? Personal and worrying. https://bushboy.blog/2019/12/16/the-day-durranbah-burned/
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January 3, 2020 at 5:56 am |
Yes, a very good post too, Forestwood. I think these terrible fires might herald a beginning in taking climate change seriously. Forget about making the rich richer.
It is the climate, stupid Slomo. That’s all that matters now.
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January 3, 2020 at 5:01 am |
Excuse my language, Gez and friends, but when that Cobargo man said “No votes for you here, mate. You’re fuckin’ history”, I was totally with him.
I for one do not want some muppet praying for rain as a PM. Nobody is ever going to forget him bringing that lump of coal into parliament. It was the seeds of Smoko’s downfall and that cannot come soon enough.
It’s disappointing to consider that if the Labor party had not disregarded the rank and file’s preference for Albo over Shorten, we would never have seen the disastrous last election result. And there would never have been a dropkick like Smoko elected as our PM. He ran on a spill which cut the best candidate (Julie Bishop) out of the running and forced the Liberals into an “anyone but Dutton” choice.
Smoko got in on no policies and the not unreasonable fears of a bunch of Queenslanders and retirees forLabor’s announced policies that while perhaps justified, were poorly timed and poorly explained. It was the dumbest Labor campaign in history – appealing to nobody outside we Inner West basket weavers.
I gather that Australia is actually in the first recession in over thirty years and we have years to go with this bunch of clearly incompetent out of touch arsehole of a PM and his government. God Help Australia.
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January 3, 2020 at 5:50 am |
Yes, Trouserzoff. Slomo, a man bereft of ideas and policies, except slogans. You could see the triumphant glint in his eyes bringing that lump of coal into parliament.
He thought it would propel him to the highest political echelons possible. He was drunk with power, roaming around the corridors of the parliament waiting for an invite from Trump to share his so profound protection of the ‘economy’ at all cost. He was seeing himself at his golf course or even at the Trump Tower, munching on claws feet and sucking on ox-tails.!
And now, sunk deep in gloom and despair for Smoko. Nothing but a ride down to an ignominious end. And all because of his inability to see that his act of going to Hawaii could possible be seen as grossly insensitive, while the country he was supposed to govern during this terrible crisis was burning.
May he wave his arms around and speak in tongues at the Pentecostal, but nothing will safe his Prime ministership now.
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January 3, 2020 at 6:27 am |
The legacy of Labor’s decision to keep Shorten lives on in the Happy clapping Scomo. Labor wanted to show intelligent policy and stability but they got the electorate wrong. A lot of Aussies aren’t that educated to see through scaremongering. The bushfire victims are paying for that lack of political insight now.
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January 3, 2020 at 6:48 am
If ever there is a hope for change to the Australian deeply ingrained conservatism and fear of change, it will come about in changing the dual education with one good public system. Superbly well trained, well paid and dedicated teaching force with a similar professional standing as doctors and lawyers.
The private school system bring about an army of mainly conservative students well versed in the same ideology and mindset of their parent who went through the same system of privilege and moneyed ‘birthrights’.
This whole idea of parents having ‘choice’ implies that some school are bad, and of course there should not be ‘bad’ schools. All schools should be good schools and kids go to schools were they live like they do in most countries with better education standards.
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January 3, 2020 at 7:31 am
You may have a point there, Gerard. There isn’t a level playing field in education. Although the younger generation is less able to afford private schooling for their children as time goes on. Children are spoilt by their parents in many ways, not just in education – but also in their attitudes. I noticed this with my daughter’s peers. If the parents voted for the Coalition – the kids when voting for the first time, followed their parents lead, and said, Oh I am voting liberal… for jobs! Oh the irony!!!!!
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January 3, 2020 at 5:05 am |
I think the sign for the name of the farm, that I made you shows on the gate.
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January 3, 2020 at 5:30 am |
I think you might be wrong there, Dorothy. That large metal sign was on the gate when we bought the farm.!
It looks a bit battered now.
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January 3, 2020 at 7:57 am |
So sad to see the drastic changes caused by drought and the fires. 😦 So sad to hear about the fires continuing. Scary. 😦 Many of us care.
(((HUGS)))
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January 4, 2020 at 4:15 am |
Thank, Carolyn. Bowral is now on an ‘alert’ level as fires are approaching. People have to make plans and know what they should do and act in time.
Even so, a nice hug is timely and very welcome
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January 3, 2020 at 9:01 pm |
Hoping you safe on this dreadful day.
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January 4, 2020 at 4:16 am |
Thank you, Peggy
Hope the air in Canberra will be normal or at least breathable on your and poor John’s return.
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January 4, 2020 at 7:45 am |
I have read these comments with interest, Gerard, and seem to be alone in actually liking Bill Shorten. I though he had good ideas, and as a recipient of an extremely modest benefit via franking credits, was quite prepared to forego them in favour of a change in government. ( I’ve always voted Labor anyway) The mistake was in not ‘grandfathering’ the change. Also, he was undone by the murdochracy rags.
I hope you get through this night ok. I don’t think I will sleep at all, even though we’ve been lucky enough (so far) to not be in danger. Wait until later when thunderstorms are forecast. I have seen at first hand what a lightning strike can do.
In the meantime, here is something you might enjoy, if you haven’t seen it before, and if you have time to watch it. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5c_UO5PCklY&feature=youtu.be
All best, Jane
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January 5, 2020 at 4:45 am |
It’s all utterly heartbreaking. The world is on fire. If not literally, politically.
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January 5, 2020 at 9:44 pm |
And as if fires are not enough. Trump tries his best to start another war in Iran. His face looks rather red lately. I wonder if his ticker is about to give up! One lives in hope.
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