and there's more

What does Santa Claus say when he's gardening?

Hoe hoe hoe.

This joke was brought to you by Charlie Cox.

ho ho

What did the mosquito say to the camel?
Did I do that?

This joke was brought to you by Patrick Miller.

What's the difference between a bird and a fly?
A fly can't bird but a bird can fly.
Ask me a riddle and I'll reply,
Cottlestone cottlestone cottlestone pie.

This riddle was brought to you by Tristan Miller.

PS How do apes cook their toast?
With a gorrilla!

Fluid plans

YIC's plans abroad are fairly fluid. Why worry about tomorrow? Tomorrow will look after itself. Today brings troubles enough of its own. They are also fluid in another sense: he is sampling Australian beers. Patrick and Tristan Miller collect bottle tops, so naturally YIC feels beholden to try out as many different beers as possible. Greater love hath no man...

A selection of beers tried to date are:
Little Creatures - a microbrewery/pub in Fremantle, their Bright Ale is particularly recommended.
Beez Neez - a refreshing wheat beer
James Squire - various ales available, YIC prefers the Golden Ale at 4.5% as a thirst quencher
Snowy Mountains Brewery - the Crackenback Pale Ale is a cracker

These "beers" are akin to UK lager, but have more taste than Euro-fizz. Also they are "real" - they are not pasteurised, treated with chemicals etc. If you prefer the latter option, then there is always the national staples of VB or Carlton Mid (both of which are generally suited for laying down and avoiding).

Lakeside picnic

YIC joined the Miller family for a lakeside picnic this evening. A delicious slow-cooked bean casserole washed down with red-bush tea was followed by a paddle round the lake in a canoe to see a darter (cormorant type bird) on its nest with 3 young.

Patrick, Peter, Natalie and Tristan in the canoe.

Swagging at Bimberi

Having conquered Mt Ainslie, the international expedition moved on to Mt Bimberi - an altogether sterner test. It entailed a 15 mile walk-in over Cotter Gap, before some bush-bashing from Murray's Gap. The reward was 360 degree views from ACT's highest peak.

Peter decreed that the expedition had to "swag" as in "Once a jolly swag-man etc". For those not in the know, swagging is camping without a tent. There is just one tiny flaw in the plan: sometimes it rains even in ACT. Sure enough, rainfall on the first night led to an emergency bivvy in the toilet-block (classy). Then a thunder-storm on the second night meant that YIC's emergency one-man tent became a two-man tent (cosy).

The wildlife en-route was very impressive. On the top of Mt Bimberi (1909 metres), lots of ravens were mobbing a "wedgie" = wedge-tailed eagle similar to a golden eagle. And the kookaburras were in full cry, laughing at the campsites. There was also mystery horse-dung on top of Mt Bimberi. Peter thinks this was deposited by the ACT Brumbies: not the rugby team, but the wild horses after which the team is named.


YIC on top of Mt Bimberi


Peter near Bimberi summit


Peter preparing to swag

Caption Competition

"The world's strongest man puts his skills to the test."

Any others?

From Timothy Duff - "I could do this one-handed if I had a pint of Deuchars in the other."

Halloween Joke

What does an Australian witch ride on?

A broomerang.