Hello from Deniliquin
March 7th, 2011 at 12:58am
Hello from Deniliquin. Unlike my previous trips to Deni, this time I am not here for work (although if the opportunity arises, I’m not likely to pass it up) but rather I am on leave from work and have come over to here for some relaxation.
I was last here in September of 2009, back when the drought was still in full swing. It was quite extraordinary to drive here and see all sorts of creeks and wetlands which actually have water in them…I’ve never see water in many of the places which now have water…that’s not to say that they’ve never had water, of course they have, otherwise they wouldn’t have been named as creeks and wetlands, it’s just that for me, having only been here in drought, the change is quite remarkable.
The water does have its downsides…the various bugs and critters have been able to breed and, among other things, there are grasshoppers everywhere. I’ve chased about a dozen of them out of my hotel room tonight and I still have a couple left, but I’m willing to let them be for now as they are much less jumpy and chirpy and annoying than the others were. That said, I have located the Mortein and may need to use it by tomorrow.
Other than the novelty of the bugs, the weather does make this feel like a holiday. Normally the weather in Canberra and Deni is fairly similar, just with slightly warmer temperatures at times in Deni. Right now it’s almost ten degrees warmer in Deni than it is in Canberra and the expected temperatures are quite different for today as well: 31 for Deni and 25 for Canberra. That may only be six degrees, but it’s two notches of difference on the Samuel Comfort Index™.
I have some plans while I’m over here (I keep trying to type “down here” before I realise that Deni is virtually due west of Canberra, and I’m always having a go at 2UE’s John Kerr for referring to trips from Canberra to Sydney as “going down to Sydney”…I think it’s working as he said “going up to Sydney” last night) but not many, and really I’ll just see where the mood takes me.
On my previous trips, I often posted statistics about the trip, however I didn’t keep accurate stats this time. What I do know though is that I left home and 8:15am and got to the hotel at 2:15pm, with stops in Gundagai and Jerilderie for morning tea and lunch respectively. I probably spent a tad under five hours on the road in total. For much of the trip I was listening to the private webstream of my hobby radio station at home which was playing the third hour of John Laws‘ show from each day of the week as well as Rush Limbaugh‘s Week In Review. I had workable 3G mobile coverage for most of the trip, although it was a bit patchy between towns from Urana to Conargo. I also listened to Casey Hendrickson’s podcast, The Burning Truth and a little bit of music…and of course I listened to a bit of both 2QN and Classic Rock.
Anyhoo, I should probably see about getting some sleep while the sun is napping, although it could be difficult considering that I had a sleep when I got here.
Samuel
Entry Filed under: Samuel News
2 Comments
1. nbrettoner | March 31st, 2011 at 12:35 am
I note no further comment re the remaining two errant grasshoppers?.
Did they perchance become an additional additive of protien (MBS….more bad spelling?) with the breakfast cereal?.
2. Samuel | April 18th, 2011 at 3:00 am
I managed to get rid of most of them that night, but was dealing with the occasional grasshopper later in the week. They had a bit of a resurgence mid-week when it rained, but they were never as bad as that first night. Some of them did fall foul of the bug spray.
I am glad to say though that I did not eat any of them…and if memory serves, I had bacon and eggs for breakfast the morning after I wrote this blog post, so no bug cereal for me!
By the way, I’ll reply to your email today.