CAN THEY DO IT?

Tomorrow as 12.30 (WST) will be the bounce down to begin the Grand Final match between the Fremantle F.C. and the Hawthorn F.C.  Hawthorn has been around for many years but Fremantle only for 19 years.

In the southernmost states of Australian Australian Rules football was always the dominant code of football. Soccer is played in all states of Australia and both rugby league and rugby union are played but more in Queensland and New South Wales, although there are teams in other states but they are in the minority.

The origins of Australian Rules football are obscure and still the subject of much debate.  The earliest accounts of "foot-ball" games in Australia date back to July, 1829 and the earliest accounts of clubs formed to play 'football' date to the late 1850s.  On the Victorian goldfields, men from across the world brought their own ideas of football rules, and their games were played by a variety of rules, sometimes agreed at the beginning of a game, others applied where there was contention during a match.  Though football became increasingly common between 1856 and 1858, written details are difficult to find as most of these matches were poorly documented.  It is believed that some form of football was played among indigenous Australians prior to European colonisation.

The AFL Commission, the game's current governing body, officially acknowledges the following with regard to the formation of Australian Football:

a) that 1858 was the commencement date of modern day 'football', and
b) that the game was invented in Melbourne

That is a very sketchy summary of what most of us call our 'national' game.  Originally each state had clubs which would play against each other and occasionally there would be interstate carnivals between the different states that actually played Aussie Rules football.

For most of the 20th century the South Australian National Football League, the Western Australian Football League and the Victorian Football League were considered as peers..  They continued playing each other at various challenge matches and nationwide club competitions.  These were also occasionally played in Queensland and Tasmania.

The modern day Australian Football League came into being in 1990 after the Victorian Football League's government body decided to market the competition, as an official national league and thus renamed itself.  Several of the Victorian clubs were in financial trouble and it was felt if a national league was formed it would help these clubs.  Now recognised as the governing body of Australian Football by majority international leagues, the AFL Commission has gained control over the game, framing its' laws in the process.  Western Australia's first national team West Coast Eagles actually joined the original VFL prior to 1990.  They since then have won 3 premierships and been in several grand finals.

The national event today has its teams based in five of the six Australian states.  It is enthusiastically watched by millions of spectators at home and away matches from March to early September.  After a series of preliminary finals matches, the AFL's Grand Final is played between the two finalists.  It is always played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground which has a capacity for over 100 thousand spectators.

Western Australia's second national team the Fremantle Dockers was formed 19 years ago in 1994 and had very limited success during the early years.  There was a succession of coaches and board members and not until a new coach was employed two years ago had the club moved forward to the extent that tomorrow it will take to the field in an attempt to win its very first premiership.  (The club had played in preliminary finals in previous years but without success).  It has been a long wait but we in Perth who support Fremantle can only wish them well. If they played as they did in their last two matches then I feel they should have a good chance of taking the flag.  Even if they lose, it has been wonderful to watch their progress during the past two seasons and we all know they will do their very best.....and this is what it's all about:    GO FREO!!!!!!

ONE OF THE THINGS THAT REALLY GETS MY GOAT!!

Today a bundle of pamphlets (junk mail) landed in our letter box.  I never mind them as it gives me something to do sorting out those I want to look at and those I don't and then checking out bits and pieces I may want to buy, but usually don't.

One of these pamphlets was for a men's store and I noticed on one page they were advertising clothing for LARGE men in sizes 3XL-7XL and the man modelling these clothes was a BIG man but a pleasant looking chap with a great smile:

Now, seeing these pics of the larger man modelling these clothes would give a large man wanting new clothes the idea of whether he would look OK in the goods offered.

In the mail yesterday I received my monthly catalogue from a well known ladies store that caters for sizes 14-26.  There are several garments I like the look of but the complaint I have is this; I am a larger lady but all the models in the catalogue are tall and slim and quite young:

For example ... I do like this dress and it looks really good on that young, slim model who is probably a size 14. My question is this:  what would that same dress look like on me?

If men can be catered for with pictures of large men wearing large men's clothing why on earth can't women's catalogues (store and otherwise) do the same.  How about some nice larger, middle-aged attractive women modelling larger size clothing?  Is this really asking too much?  Do they think women are that stupid they will see a garment on a slim model and think it will like that on them as well?   There must be some firms that have larger women modelling clothes (I have actually just found one) but they are few and far between.

This has been something I've griped about for years and I wonder if other women feel the same way I do...the larger women that is.  Is this sexual discrimination at its worst?  Large men are OK in this world but large women are not!!  Pictures of large guys are no problem but large ladies?  Surely not...shock horror!!   Do you have a view on this subject?  

P.S.  I noticed today that in the Target catalogue they now cater for ladies' sizes up to 20 whereas previously it was up to size 18 and before that size 16 if I remember correctly.  It is a sure sign that people are definitely not as slim as they once were, me included.                                                      

THEY'RE HOME AGAIN

My daughter and her hubby have been in the USA for most of this month and arrived back in Australia last night.  They are spending a couple of days resting in Melbourne before flying home to Perth on Tuesday.

This may seem strange as we don't see each other all that often (they are very busy people) nor even speak on the 'phone more than perhaps once a week.  She and I do keep in touch via Facebook and also play scrabble via the internet as well.

She kept us informed via Facebook with photographs and stories of their doings over in the US so we knew where they were etc., and that they were OK but......it's just knowing they are back on Australian soil again that makes me so happy.

Does this just make me a silly old woman or is it normal for us to miss people more when they are away from their home country.  Don't get me wrong.  I am so glad they had such a wonderful time and all went well with them...it's just that the sound of her voice when she rang me this morning filled my heart with so much happiness.  Thank you for making that call and....

Welcome home both of you. xxx

Q IS FOR QUAIRADING, QUINDALUP and QUINDANNING plus 2 more

There are only 3 towns in Western Australia beginning with the letter Q so I decided to include them all.   I have not been to Quairading (my daughter-in-law's mum and dad and two sisters and their families live there) or Quindanning but have passed through Quindalup on our way to Margaret River.

QUAIRADING is located in the wheatbelt region.  The town was name for Quairading Spring, derived from a local Aboriginal word recorded in 1872 by surveyor Alexander Forest.  The first European settler in the area is believed to have been Stephen Parker, who settled in nearby York.  From 1859 to 1863, his son Edward Parker cleared land east of York towards Dangin, before Edward's son Jonah took over Dangin and the surrounding area.  Jonah subdivided his property and made Dangin a private townsite, surrounded by his land.  A Methodist,  Jonah banned alcohol in the town and these factors led to residents leaving Dangin.  (Surprise! surprise!) The Government made available new land in nearby Quairading, and gave settlers a 160 acre (0.250 sq mile: 0.647 sq km) block for free if they cleared their land and lived there for 7 years.  Many settlers took up the offer and moved into the area between 1903 and 1908.

The Greenhills Road Board, established in 1892, decided to build a railway from Greenhills (near York) to Quairading and gazette the townsite at the Quairading terminus.  The townsite was gazetted on 7 August, 1907 and the railway completed in 1908.  By 1909, the town had an hotel, general store, blacksmith, baker, carpenter and two banks, and by 1950, most of the land was cleared and being used for farming.  In 1932 the Wheat Pool of Western Australia announced that the town would have two grain elevators, each fitted with an engine, installed at the railway siding.

The Quairading Hotel:

In the 2006 census Quairading had 596 residents with 18.1% indigenous residents, compared with 2.3% indigenous persons Australia-wide.  The median age of residents was 49 years compared to the national average of 37.  Quairading has an airstrip located 300 metres (984 ft) east of the town on the York to Merredin Road. The town also has a library and a number of small parks including a memorial rose garden and a public swimming pool.  The Great Sports Ground is home to football (Aussie Rules), hockey, cricket and netball.

Nookaminnie Rock, a large granite rock, provides a view of the town and surrounding areas, and the townsite can also be viewed from Mount Stirling, 35 km (22 miles) northeast of Quairading.  This is the church and cemetery at the foot of Mount Stirling:

The area was rocked by an earthquake in April, 2009; the epicentre was located approximately 20km northwest of the town.  The earthquake measured 3.2 on the Richter Scale and happened at 4.50am local time but caused no damage.  These are photos of Quairading courtesy of the W.A. Government; the last photo showing Noongar (aboriginal) art:

QUINDALUP is a small town in the South West region of Western Australia.  It is situated along Caves Road between Busselton and Dunsborough on Geographe Bay.  At the 2006 census, the town had a population of 1,015.

The area was the site of one of the earliest timber industries in the State.  Several timber mills were constructed in the area and the products were exported utilising a jetty that had been constructed on the coast in the 1860s.  The first recorded use of the name was on a timber mill owned by Yelverton and McGibbon.  Land was reserved by the government in the 1870s and in 1899 local fishermen petitioned for a town to be declared along the beach front.  Lots were surveyed the same year and the town was gazetted in 1899.  The name in local Aboriginal language means place of the Quenda (which is a small native animal indigenous to the area).

The town was located close to a shallow inlet, where the jetty was built, which was used to load timber sent up by a tramway, to boats that would ferry the timber to large boats anchored a few kilometres offshore.  This of course is where much of our forests disappeared to over the years.  They had no thoughts of conservation back in the early days, more's the pity.

The only parts of the original settlement that are 'slab cottage' group, known as Harwood's Cottage, which was constructed circa 1860 and associated with the original timber mill.  The cottage group is composed of a cottage, gaol, post office, telephone exchange and Customs House.  The buildings were mostly derelict until restorations planned in 1998, commenced in 2000 and the operation was opened for business in 2000 with accommodation opened in 2004.  (We have not been down that way some years now so will not have seen these restorations).  I found these pictures and the place looks rather special:

That last pic is a bit fuzzy but it's the best I could do.  A wee bit of history.

QUINDANNING is a small town located halfway between Boddington and Williams along the Pinjarra-Williams Road.  At the 2006 census Quindanning had a popularion of 163.  The town is named after Quindanning Pool, located along the Williams River.  The name is of Aboriginal origin, and was first recorded in 1835 when it was discovered by Alfred Hillman.  Low-level agricultural settlement occurred in the 1830s.  By 1900 a school and racecourse had been built and in 1907 a townsite was surveyed and gazetted around it.

Quindanning was one of the centres ministered by the Brotherhood of St Boniface, which was stationed in Williams from 1911 to 1929.  To honour their work, the Quindanning Anglican church was named after their patron when it was consecrated in 1956.  The church is constructed of stone carted from local properties by member of the church; the estimated cost of building at the time of its construction £4,600.00.

The Quindanning Hotel had origins in a mud-brick building, with a Wayside Licence issued on  3rd December, 1900.  The building was substantially renovated in 1921 to become a well-known "inland resort hotel' between 1925 and the late 1950s.  During the 1930s the hotel had a 9-hole golf course, horse riding, game hunting and swimming at Quindanning Pool.

At periods during the town's history, Quindanning has had a general store, post office, hairdresser and cafe.  Currently, the town has a hotel/tavern, church, community hall and a racecourse - the latter used annually for the Quindanning Picnic Race Day, held on Easter Sunday.

I am beginning to wish I'd visited this town as it sounds rather nice.  I have found pictures of the hotel and the lovely old church:

Hey!  Guess what?  Just when I thought the Q's were done and dusted I discovered TWO more W.A. towns beginning with "Q"; two I'd never heard of before.  I just had to include them:

QUALEUP is located in the great southern agricultural region, 291 km south-south-east of Perth and 35 km west of Kojonup.  It is located on the railway line from Boyup Broook to Kojonup, and was one of the original sidings when the line opened in 1912.  Land was set aside here in 1910 for a future townsite, and by 1921 there was enough interest in the area for the government to consider a scheme of subdivision.  Lots were surveyed in 1924, and the townsite of Qualeup gazetted in October 1924.  The name is derived from the nearby Lake Qualeup (an Aboriginal name) a lake first recorded by a surveyor in 1907.  On earlier plans the name was spelt Qualeupp.

QUIGUP townsite is located din the southwest forest region 289 km south of Perth and 7km wnw of Nannup.  Lots at Quigup were surgeyed in 1909, to provide for employees of Bartman & Son's new sawmill in the area, and it was proposed to name the town St John Brook after a nearby stream.  As this name had been used elsewhere in Australia it was not suitable, and the Greenbushes Road Board proposed the name Quigupp as an alternative.  The townsite was gazetted as Quigup in January, 1911. It is an Aboriginal name, the meaning of which is not known.

Remember that the usual meaning of towns in southwest Western Australia that end with 'up' mean place of water. The suffix originated in a dialect of Noongar, an Indigenous Australian language in which 'up' means 'place of'.  Places tended to be named after their distinctive features, whereby the place names could be used to create a 'mental map' allowing indigenous Australians to determine where water, food and other raw materials could be found.  These sites were often located near sources of fresh water, leading to the common misconception that 'up' and 'in' mean 'near water'.  The meanings and the pronunciations of many of these names have been lost over time.

My thanks to Wikipedia for the information about the first 3 towns and to persons unknown for some of the photographs.  I found the information about the last 2 towns on the Landgate.wa.gov website.

THE KARRI FOREST (especially for EC but to share too)

EC you commented on how you would love to see our karri forest and I've found some beautiful pictures I thought I'd share with you.  Most of these were taken in the Pemberton area although the karri forest is more widespread than that.  Many of the trees in old growth forest reach a height of 90 metres (295 feet) and can live to 300 years of age.  To stand quietly amongst them is a feeling just out of this world. There is, of course, quite a lot of regrowth karri forest as there has been a lot of logging over the years.

and amongst the giant trees there are beautiful wildflowers that will also take your breath away:

46 YEARS!! THAT'S A LONG TIME

The words on the card say:

Like a bee is to honey and strawberries are to cream
We were made for each other; we're a wonderful team!
                    Happy Anniversary

That's us!!  Yes, we have been married for 46 years today and are both going to strive to stay around long enough to celebrate our Golden Wedding Anniversary in 4 years time.  Wish us luck.  We are really hoping we can make it.  At 81 and 83 are we perhaps hoping for too much!!

Not doing anything special as the Chinese restaurant is closed today so can't have our favourite meal and anyway it's pretty cold, windy and wet outside.  We are going to enjoy roast beef and vegs (take away would you believe?) from a little place we discovered just a couple of weeks back.  May have a glass of red with the meal too.

Here's to us and another good 4 years, complete with the ups an downs of most marriages:

P is for PEMBERTON (1) an PORONGORUPS (2)

PEMBERTON is a town located in the South West region of Western Australia, named after after the early settler Pemberton Walcott.  The region was originally occupied by the Bibbulmun Australian Aborigines who knew the area as Wadnergarup, which in their native tongue meant "plenty of water".

Following an expedition to the area in 1861 by Edward Reverley Brockman, his brother-in-law Gerald de Courcy Lefroy and his uncle Pemberton Walcott: in 1862 Brockman established Warren House homestead and station on the banks of the Warren River; Walcott established a farm and flour mill at Karri Dale on the northern outskirts of the later townsite, and Lefroy established a farm and flour mill on Lefroy Brook.

In 1913, the newly-established, governed-owned State Saw Mills began construction on twin sawmills, at the location then known as Big Brook, for the purpose of helping supply half a million railway sleepers for the Trans-Australian Railway.  The mill site was in a valley to ensure the mills had a regular supply of water and because it was easier to roll logs down hill to the mills.  Big Brook became a thriving private mill town, with a hall, store, staff accommodation, mill workers' cottages and single men's huts, and two boarding houses.  A more distinctive name was soon sought. The name Walcott, after Pemberton Walcott, was first suggested but was rejected by the Post Office due to conflict with Post Walcott.  (incidentally my first husband and I lived in Walcott Street in North Perth).  William Locke Brockman, local farmer and son of early settler Edward Reveley Brockman, suggested Pemberton.  The mill town was well established but by 1921 there was community agitation for a government townsite to be declared.  Community pressure eventually resulted in lots being surveyed in 1925 and the Pemberton townsite was gazetted in 1925.  Pemberton in 1919:

During the 1920s the area was a focus of the Group Settlement Scheme and following the Second World War, the War Service Land Settlement Scheme, but only with moderate success.

During the 1980s, Pemberton began to grow as a tourist town and tourism,  particularly domestic, continues to play a key role today.  (My daughter, her eldest daughter and I spent a delightful 10 days in Pemberton several years ago.  We visited several touristy type places and really enjoyed our visit). This is the main street that runs through Pemberton.

and this is the Pemberton Hotel:

The nearby Gloucester National Park contains three climbable karri trees, each in excess of 60 metres tall.  The most famous is the Gloucester Tree, but there is also the Diamond Tree and the Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree, which is the tallest of the three and stands at about 71 metres.  Each of these trees has been fitted with metal rungs which allow visitors to climb these trees and reach the constructed lookout at the top.  Gloucester tree:

Another tourist attractions is the Pemberton Tramway Company and I remember we enjoyed a great ride out into the countryside.  There are also river cruises, hiking, canoeing and four wheel drive tours of the national parks surrounding the town.

Pemberton is surrounded by karri forest with five national parks within 20 minutes drive from town and has plenty of rivers, streams and  dams for recreation.  Some of the beautiful forest attractions surrounding Pemberton include:  Big Brook Dam; Beedelup Falls; The Yeagarup Dunes and Lae Jasper which is the largest natural fresh water lake in Western Australia and covers an area of about 450 hectares.  It is unique as it has no in or out tributaries and is 10 metres deep.  It is only accessibly by 4WD.  The Cascades are a series of low falls in the Lefroy Brook which are accessible from the historic Tram which departs Pemberton twice daily.  It is also accessible by a road that has now been sealed.

Karri forest near Pemberton:

Big Brook Dam:

Beedelup Falls:

The Cascades on Lefroy Brook and the viewing platform:

The viewing platform overlooking the cascades is a great vantage point during winter when the stream is swollen with flood waters after storms when thousands of young lampreys migrate downstream to the ocean.  At this stage lampreys have a pair of brilliant metallic blue-green stripes on their back.  They ride the torrents to the sea and then disappear into the depths, heading south.  Within a year or two they will be back to the stream to restart the cycle.

I am very grateful to Wikipedia for all the information about Pemberton and also the free photos I was able to obtain which I've included here.

CATS ALWAYS MAKE ME LAUGH

As I think you all know....I LOVE CATS....and I always enjoy funny pictures of them.  Here are a couple I found recently and I think they are really funny.  You may have seen them on an email or similar but I still think it worth sharing them just in case you've not seen them.

Well, I thought they were funny!!!

I ACTUALLY HAD A WIN

There is a junction near our home that we drive through quite often and we had noticed for some time that a bus shelter such as this one (without the graffiti) blocked our vision as it is built on the edge of the footpath and there is a curve in the road so oncoming traffic disappears in a 'blind spot'.  One is about to pull out when you are suddenly confronted by a car or two bearing down on you and some don't keep to the speed limit of 60km/hr.

As you can see the sides of this type of shelter are opaque and with it standing the other way around it just blocks the view completely for those few seconds which are extremely important.

I eventually was concerned enough about this (others had also confirmed they found it somewhat hazardous) so I emailed our Council setting out what I thought was a safety problem.  I did receive about 3 emails acknowledging my email (a couple of which said 'bus shelter repair' which worried me a little) and then I waited.  Two weeks later I received an email saying the matter was being looked into followed by a telephone call asking me if anyone had done anything about it.  I told the gentleman that so far I'd not had any positive feedback and he said he'd look into the matter for me.

I have finally received an email telling me that the transport authority cannot find anywhere else to place the shelter (I would agree with them on that) but they will now remove this shelter and replace it with one exactly the same as on the other side of the road (that particular one is on a straight piece of road with no side streets nearby and I now wonder if the wrong bus shelters were erected in the first place.  This is what the other one looks like:

This one has no sides and I somewhat fear the people catching the bus after the old shelter is removed may be a bit cross about having less protection from the rain.  One thing is for certain everyone should have a better view of approaching traffic which in my mind is more important.

It was certainly wonderful to know the Council took notice of my complaint, looked into it thoroughly, obviously decided there was a problem and are going to do something about it.  They have told me it will take 11 weeks for the new shelter to be constructed and I didn't feel it was my place to suggest that perhaps if they just swapped the two shelters over they could solve the problem.

NO MOD CONS BACK IN THOSE DAYS!!

This morning my other half and I were sitting chatting about when we were young and talk turned to how often we bathed.  Now in his case he and his folks lived in a three hundred year old stone cottage in the Midlands of the UK.  It had no electricity or running water so bathing was quite a problem. There was a soft water butt near the house from which water could be obtained and/or a well way down the yard.  To have a bath, first the tin bath had to be put in the kitchen:

Then water was collected in a couple of buckets and put in kettles on the wood fire to boil.  This was then tipped into the bath and some cold water added but as you can imagine in a cold climate hot water in a tin bath wouldn't stay hot for too long so a minimum of cold water was needed.  With 3 adults in the house would you be bathing every day or making do with a wash down?  How often would you have a bath of perhaps find a quick strip down wash would suffice? Things were different then and yet everyone was clean.  After his two years in the British Army in Germany MOH used some of the money he'd saved and had electricity installed in the cottage.  He bought a wireless on hire purchase as before that they'd only had a crystal set.  A while later he also had scheme water brought up to the house but I don't think it was into the house itself.

I have no recollection of bathing facilities in the farmhouse where I lived till I was nearly 6 and even after we moved to Perth and were living in share accommodation my memory is sketchy although I do remember having baths.  When I was 12 we were renting a really nice house with a spacious bathroom which had a bath with a chip heater where you heated the water that ran into the bath and as long as there was fuel in the chip heater you would have hot water.  My very clever half-brother Len came over one day and added a shower that also ran through the chip heater so were were able to have showers, albeit quick ones before the water ran cold.  I think that is the first time I had ever had a shower, when I was 12 although, come to think of it, I think there were showers in the guest house we stayed each year in Mandurah.  They'd have had to have showers as it would have taken too long for the guests to each have a bath (just thinking aloud about that).

Baths usually had 'feet' back then and could be quite fancy.  These days of course they are built in or, like us, no bath but a shower recess with glass walls and glass door.

I do remember that back in the 1950s it was possible to buy a shower head that had an element in it which heated the water as it flowed through but can't remember how we regulated the heat.  Prior to that (when I was married to my first husband) I had to fill the copper (remember them?), light the fire underneath and ladle the water over to the bath.  It was quicker to bath my little ones in the large kitchen sink and much warmer too as we had a wood fire in the kitchen.

I also remember life prior to washing machines when we had to light the copper and pop sheets, towels etc in and bring them to the boil.  We then had to use a copper stick to get them out of the copper into the nearest laundry trough and then run the things through a wringer attached to the centre piece of the troughs into the second trough to rinse out the soap.  Then it was through the wringer again before hanging the washing out on the line.

We used a wash board to rub the dirtier clothes up and down to get the stains out.  Does anyone remember using a wash board?

It's often good to ponder on how things used to be and although I don't have a posh house or posh things inside I can now have a hot shower whenever I need it (thanks to our solar heater) and pop my washing in the automatic washing machine which beeps at me and amuses me.  Our laundry still goes on the line outside (or under the pergola if the weather is bad) as I don't have nor have I ever had a dryer.  I like the sun when possible, or at least the fresh air, to blow through the clothes.  I am fortunate in having a good man who hangs out most of the washing and brings it in again so I can fold it and put it away.  As I'm a little unsteady on my feet these days standing on an uneven lawn is not good.

P is for.....PORONGORUPS and PEMBERTON (Part 1)

I have chosen to show two places beginning with P as I have holidayed in both and cannot separate them in my mind as they are both different and both beautiful.

PORONGURUP is the name of a small mountain range in the Shire of Plantagenet in Western Australia and of a small village on the northern slopes of the range.  At the 2006 census, it had a population of 370.  The name is derived from the Aboriginal place name, and consequently arrived with no spelling as such.  A common alternate spelling is Porongorup (which I usually use) and while some maps still show this spelling, state government signs around the town use "Porongurup"

This is Karribank where we enjoyed several wonderful holidays.  Sometimes just the two of us, as on our honeymoon, but also at times when family would join us here.  Our daughter, her husband and daughters would really enjoy ourselves picnicking in the ranges and we did quite a bit of climbing (oh to be fit like that now) and our son and his wife also came down to Karribank on one occasion so some great family holidays.  They served a good breakfast and great dinner at night and I believe the establishment is still flourishing under different owners.  (The people that owned and ran it years ago (Fred and Pat) were two very special people and we always felt so special when we stayed there).

Across the road from Karribank are these tearooms where we two often enjoyed a quite cuppa:

The main industry in the region is dairying, but there are some vegetable crops grown as well.  Tourism based on the Porongurup Range's giant karri forests is limited by the difficulty of access because the nearest public transport is in Albany or Mount Barker.  As with other parts of the Lower Great Southern region of W.A., silviculture, specifically plantations of Tasmanian blue gums (Eucalyptus globulus), is becoming a notable, and sometimes controversial, industry in Porongurup.

Viticulture is a relatively young but flourishing industry with eleven local wineries listed in 2007 (I am sure several more have been established since then).  A very popular wine festival is held at a different winery in March each year.

In July and August, 2006 eight Noisy Scrub-birds were released in the Porongurup Range by the Department of Environment and Conservation (I once worked for them when they were the Forests Department and my daughter Karen still works for them to this day) as part of a trans-location programme for the conservation of this endangered species.  I was worried about those birds because of the following event but it seems two of the birds did survive this fire and more may be released in this area in future.

In February, 2007 about 2,500 hectares of the Porongurup National Park were burnt in a bushfire, resulting in the loss of habitat for many species including the ringtail possum, quenda, and some invertebrates.  However, there has been widespread regeneration and good recovery of flora species that can germinate from the seed bank in the soil.  Despite its small size this range is home to 10 species of plants found nowhere else in the world.  (This image provided by 'earthobsevatory.nasa.gov".  The area of the national park is outlined in red.)

My first husband had a cousin who lived on farm in the Porongorups with her husband and 4 children for many years.  Unfortunately we never got to visit them as he and I didn't go to this part of the state, whereas my other half and I have visited the area as often as we could over the years but not recently.