zenonie

Can anyone point me in the direction of finding Shelley? She is an aviation writer, has a blog about flying around Australia and is a pilot too. Writes for some of Australias flying magazines of which I dont' have any. I also don't have her last name. Thanks in advance. Zenonie:smile:

Hey little old Quilpie has a lot going for it, friendly locals for one thing, a big cattle transport hub (lotsa big trucks), opals ( the only opal altar in the world ), the Bulloo River and wonderful fishing, Station Stays in the immediate area and art galleries too.

A great airport where you can visit the site where Amy Johnson landed in Quilpie and view the display at the Amy Johnson Airport Terminal.

I should be plugging my place just down the road on the Dowling Track, not Quilpie! We all need visitors though, tourism helps keep the local economies ticking along. Cheers Zenonie

Well given that Quilpie is about 1300 km west of Brisbane, I'd say it's a fair call to call it western Queensland!

:biggrin: Zenonie

Since when have Toowoomba and Quilpie been in West Qld? lolI guess it is West of South East Qld... but it ain't West Qld for the rest of us Queenslanders.... lol

I was expecting to see a trip report to Mount Isa or Birdsville.... lol

Ir's drying out all right, we have had hardly any rain this year! I hope we get some late winter / spring rain. Cheers zenonie

Hey David, I can't make head or tail of how to work things out on that website. Can you tell me when to look and where in the sky for south west Qld? Thanks zenonie

Yes a good launch ... I didn't see the footage "live " but caught it later . The ISS should be visible from most parts of Australia with the docked STS during its final mission . Check it all out on http://www.heavens-above.com/I have a pass tonight at around 22.42pm and again tomorrow night at around 21.30 . so will will hope for clear skies !!

 

Dave C

And I saw it whizzing past about 6pm too! The ABC radio is great for letting you know about stuff like that. The only downside is ya gotta listen to it all the time! 4 planets were also alignend in the morning sky for about 5 days, we had great views of it here at Kilcowera. Cheers Zenonie

This is a very comprehensive report, the detail is extraordinary. Great images too. How was the cricket Zac? It seems Qantas is still the way to go. Cheers, Zenonie

Reasons why airplanes are easier to live with than women:

Airplanes usually kill you quickly - a woman takes her time.

Airplanes don't object to a pre-flight inspection.

Airplanes come with manuals to explain their operation.

Airplanes have strict weight and balance limitations.

Airplanes don't come with in-laws.

Airplanes don't care about how many other airplanes you've flown before.

Airplanes don't mind if you look at other airplanes.

Airplanes don't mind if you buy airplane magazines.

Airplanes don't comment on your piloting skills.

Airplanes don't whine unless something is really wrong.

However, when airplanes go quiet, just like women, it's usually not good

Crikey this bloke would give Mitchener or McCulloch a run for their money!!! Hi KD. Cheers Zenonie

No one by the looks of it. I have 4 blokes staying here on Thursday night on their way to B Lets hope the weather stays away just for a few days more. Cheers zenonie

That's a good one Kaye! Regards zenonie

What a great yarn and terrific pictures too!! Thanks for sharing it with us Coop. I live at Kilcowera Station in SW Qld, 100 k's south of Thargomindah and we also had floods all over our shire. Here at Kilcowera we had terrific rain and local flooding which has all gone now leaving our dams, lagoons and waterholes full. The big salt Lake Wyara has lots of water in it now and thousands of pelicans are back for a bumper breeding season.

We are hoping for a good year for tourists visiting us here at Kilcowera. As long as some roads stay open. We also get people flying in to see us and we have just bought a small bus to enable us to pick up visitors from Thargomindah or Hungerford if they fly in in a bigger plane than our airstrips can handle. Cheers zenonie

Kilcowera has been transformed from very dry, dusty and droughty to a bird and photographers paradise again.

After some rain in the last 2 months we received 97 mls on Christmas day! There are swamps and dams on the place that have not had significant water in them this decade but they are now full. The 2 creeks near the house and quarters have both run very big, one even had rapids in it that you can hear roaring in the quiet of the evening or morning. Frogs croaking all night and hopefully birds coming back in droves. This could be the start of a good breeding season for them.

Lots of Budgerigars and Major Mitchells feeding on the ground, I also saw a Chestnut Quail Thrush and a Black Honeyeater this morning near the house. We are doing lots of walking as we certainly can't drive anywhere yet. Cardenyabba Lagoon is also full, it's a beaut camping spot. Saw a dozen Spoonbills feeding on little crustaceans in a swamp at the end of one of our airstrips this morning.

After that Christmas rain we had 2 more good falls so the season is looking distinctly better than it was a month ago. Going to check the airstrip out this morning to see if it is usable yet - am busting to go for a fly and take some photos. Cheers zenonie :anbet2: more rain, more rain, pleeease!!

Thanks Darren and same to you. But do you know the best thing? We had 97 mls of rain on Christmas day and now have water everywhere, creeks running, lagoon chockers, dams full, swamps overflowing, oh it looks so beautiful!!!!!!!!!!! The best Christmas present ever as we have been in drought for 9 years.:fest30:

Thanks Kaye, I took myself for a fly this morning, always do on the birthday. Beautiful morning a bit of green about the place and some swamps have water in them. We have our fingers crossed that we may get a bit of this rain that's predicted for the 24th and 25th.......what a Christmas present that would be! After we have sold all our cattle....for a pittance.

You didn't come for a visit! Maybe next year? Hope that you are well and Happy Christmas to you and yours! Regards Toni

Thanks Glen, I did contact our local court house and got some info with which to hold a stick over persons head and I think I am getting paid. Just waiting for it to show up in my account :) cheers Zenonie

Hi every body, it's me from the driest and dustiest place in Oz. Kilcowera Station.

Got a question which I know someone will be able to help me with. If a business won't pay it's bill what is the next step to take? I have emailed 2/3 times sending the invoice, the person queried everything on it, I answered, she hasn't answered and I still haven't got my money. I realize I will have to tell this person I am going to take the matter further, but I don't know where that is?

Hope someone can point me in the right direction, Thanks Zenonie.

A very quiet easter here at Kilcowera. The weather bureau had predicted rain but we are still waiting. We are gearing up for our annual muster which starts on the 19th of this month. Super exciting news that the 2 daughters are coming home to help and bringing their boyfriends. So I'll have 7 musterers to boss around the place he,he,he :) Also got an ecotourism operator bringing a group of tourists here and some campers. So we will have a busy start to our mustering.

Greg is building a new wing or something on the cattle yard and I'm cleaning everything that is nailed down and baking biscuits and cakes and still watering grass and trees cause it will not rain.

So I had better go and do a bit rather than sit here, Happy Easter everyone!!! zenonie

Jack, your posts certainly bring back the memories of learning to fly and what a great feeling it was. I still reckon my first solo was the third best thing that has ever happened to me in my life. Number 1 and 2 are my kids. Keep up the good reporting and enjoy every moment! All the best zenonie.

Hi Mr Canada!

Gidday, I would love to go to Canada one day!!! All those mountains and snow and lakes and train trips!!! Crikey I'd better go and buy a Lotto ticket. Good luck with your ag flying. I fly a little Skyfox around the place for mustering... Cheers zenoni

I just completed my CPL and am enrolled to get my ag ticket. I live in Manitoba, Canada. Would love to come to australia some day!

Morning all, my blog is a goer and can be found at http://kilcowerastation.wordpress.com

Morning everyone! We had 20 mls of rain y'day, so nice, I don't have to water anything in my gardens for a couple of days now.

I am wanting to start a blog and have no idea how. It is mainly going to be to promote our tourist busines in the nicest poss way and to give us more of an online presence.

I will give an overview on life on the station from 1980 to now and then make regular entries about interesting things happening. I want to put lots of images on it too in the easiest way poss. I would like to link it to my website as well. How do I make it search engine friendly? Is the name of the blog really important? Should all the images be named and have keywords ( of what I am trying to promote ) in that name?

Any and all feedback will be carefully scrutinised! Thanks, zenonie

Thanks a lot for all your help. I'm going down to the SE corner of Qld early next year, so I will ring them and see if they do BFR"S for GA. I nearly went gliding at that club a few years ago but the bloke was not available the day I wanted to do it.

I really quite like the idea of doing it down there, beautiful part of Aus. Last BFR ,I did out of archerfield in a Piper warrier, talk about being a nervous wreck. Hadn't flown anything other than the skyfox for 9 years! Thanks to you all. zenonie

Hi Terry, the BFR is imminent. And yeah we are a long way from anywhere but easy to get to by road or air.....and there are plenty more remoter places than this.

I remember talking to a lady years ago who had to drive for 5 hours in the dark to bring her kids in to Thargomindah to catch a bus at 5am to take them to boarding school in Toowoomba, 1000 kms away. At least my drive to take my kids in was only and hour. cheers zenonie

Thanks Mattie Z