Election Bulletin

We're in the middle of an election campaign so we shouldn't have been surprised to find some white power in an envelope sent to our office with a postal vote application form.

The police were called and the envelope put to one side. A short time later, Doug, from the local fire station (it's only 50m away) rang to say he wanted us all to leave the building with our hands in the air. I made the last bit up, but we did feel rather like a bunch of failed hostage takers when we stepped out into a blitz of flashing lights on fire and police vehicles and a maze of haz mat tapes, sealing us off from the rest of humanity. A woman stuck her head out of the legal aid centre next door to see what was going on, only to be promptly taped off as well, along with several parked cars.

Doug addressed us reassuringly from a safe distance, while we were photographed by the local paper and a fireman zipped himself into one of those all-enveloping suits, donned an oxygen mask and waddled off to retrieve the envelope. Early indications are that the substance was harmless.

No doubt there are more fun and games to come though Family First have undoubtedly had the best story of the campaign so far and they're welcome to it.

Rugby Roller-Coaster

It’s been a funny old World Cup for the Aussies. First they make it into the “easy” quarter-final with their old foe, England. Confidence abounds. Then they lose. Despair abounds.

The next day, they cheer up, when New Zealand lose their quarter-final and go out of the tournament. Frankly, this is almost as good as beating England.

Then they brace themselves to support the Springboks against England in the final, which requires a huge effort. The ‘Boks win and, as a bonus, an Australian plays a big part in the English defeat (he was, of course, right - no way was it a try). Short of winning, it couldn’t have worked out any better.

By the way, was I the only one to notice the churlish treatment of Thabo Mbeki by several English players, including Johnny Wilkinson, when the medals were handed out? Mbeki was standing at the end of the line-up with Sarkozy and Brown but they could barely bring themselves to even shake hands with him.

More Shark Stuff!

Go on, you know you love it, and it's summer here so more people are in the water. For the first tale of the season, I offer you this account of how a woman on a surf ski beat off a white pointer with her paddle.

I should add I spent a lot of time in the water last week and all I saw was a humpback whale breaching way off-shore.

Holiday Weather

Llyw's arrived on holiday. Unfortunately, the local sun and surf seem to have gone on holiday too.