Going against the flow – big time
If you’re a Kyabramite you would think it’s reasonable to presume that the driver of this car wasn’t a local.
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It was snapped by Kyabram’s Graeme Campbell mid morning last Friday outside Rodney Chambers.
‘‘I was enjoying a coffee with some mates and we noticed this car pull up on the other side of the road and then back straight across the road to take up the parking spot facing the other way,’’ a bemused Graeme said.
Graeme said the woman driver came back within a few minutes and drove off, obviously oblivious to what she had done and what the Allan St parking rules were.
‘‘The funny thing was that at the same time another car pulled up on the other side of Allan St and tried to back in the opposite way also but the driver gave up and drove off,’’ Graeme said.
“It’s not something you would see every day in Allan St.”
Rodeo is still on — for now
Kyabram’s famous rodeo is still on despite the cancellation of the iconic Rodeo Round Up at Tamworth at the weekend, yet another victim of COVID-19.
Kyabram’s 76th rodeo is scheduled for its now traditional Friday evening timeslot (March 11) of the Labour Day weekend.
“That little bug stopped us last year but it won’t be stopping us this year,’’ Kyabram Show Society secretary Janelle McDonald said confidently this week.
COVID prevented last year’s rodeo going ahead, which was the first time in 76 years the iconic Kyabram event had not been staged.
Echuca is also planning to proceed with its rodeo on Friday, February 25, at Rotary Park.
Cooper in Weekly Times
Nine-year-old Kyabram boy Cooper Fisher had a memorable International Dairy Week at Tatura last week.
The many awards he scooped included junior leader and junior champion heifer.
And if that wasn’t enough he was the front page picture on the farmer’s bible, The Weekly Times.
No rain for eight days
Kyabram had recorded no rain in eight days up to Sunday.
And for the month of January the maximum temperature has dipped below 30°C on only three days — and they produced maximums of 27°C or more.
The hottest day for the month was January 1, when the mercury peaked at 38.1°C.
Monday, January 17, produced the warmest minimum temperature at an uncomfortable 21.1°C.
Rain has been recorded on only three days for the month, for a total of 21mm, with the bulk of that recorded on Tuesday, January 11, with 14mm.
Scorcher in WA
If you have been complaining about the heat of late spare a thought for those poor souls living and working in the Pilbara region of north-western Western Australia.
On January 13 the temperature soared to 50.7°C — that’s 123.3° Fahrenheit — at Onslow, now the highest temperature ever recorded in the state and the equal highest in Australia.
Other Pilbara towns that day, Mardie and Roebourne, sweltered through temperatures of 50.5°C.
Onslow’s 50.7°C actually took the Western Australian record from Mardie, which had held it since 1998 at 50.6°C.
The Onslow temperature has yet to be officially ratified but if and when it is it will share the Australian record with the South Australian outback town of Oodnadatta, which recorded 50.7°C in 1960.
But what some consider to be the hottest day ever recorded in Australia is a lot closer to home.
The mercury at Mildura soared to 50.8°C on January 6, 1906, but it has never been officially recognised.
Golden sheep
Could Mark Twain's 1892 novel The American Claimant, in which the phrase “There’s gold in them thar hills” be updated to “There’s gold in them thar sheep teeth”?
Yes you read right, sheep teeth.
Shepparton News columnist Marnie created plenty of recent interest in a story in her weekly Wednesday column of a sheep that ended up in a Murchison butchery having teeth encrusted in gold.
But it won’t start an immediate gold rush to find where the sheep was grazing as it happened 108 years ago, in 1914. On April 6 to be more precise.
While Marnie has a small portion of a clipping of the article telling of the unusual gold discovery she has not been able at this stage to get any more information.
But there are unconfirmed reports the discovery of the sheep with the golden teeth started frenzied investigations and searches to try to find where the sheep was grazing in anticipation of it having a lot of mates with a genuine golden smile.
Doctor stands for Nicholls
Former long-serving Seymour doctor Robert Peterson, who is standing as the United Australian Party candidate for the seat of Nicholls in the coming Federal Election, has an interesting history.
The approaching 70-year-old is one of the youngest footballers to reach AFL standard, making his debut for Northern Melbourne at 16 years and 45 days. He still remains the youngest North Melbourne debutant.
He played 79 games and kicked 109 goals for the Kangaroos, with his last game in their 1974 side that lost to Richmond.
He has stated his main mission for contesting the seat held by Damian Drum is to make Australians aware of his concerns about the Messenger RNA carried in the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
Soldier recognition close to home
A history enthusiast is pushing to have soldiers and soldier settlers acknowledged in their home districts rather than memorials in immediate larger towns.
Peter Sutton is behind the push and has proposed memorials at Bearii and Yarroweyah with a view to honouring the service they provided in their communities where they worked lived and farmed.
Although living in Melbourne, Mr Sutton grew up in Yarroweyah and still has family connections to Numurkah, Katamatite and Nathalia.
Golden catch extended
Anglers fishing Victorian streams will have another 12 months at least to try for a most lucrative catch.
The competition to catch a golden tagged fish worth up to $10,000 has been extended to the end of this year.
The competition launched by Victorian Boating and Fishing in 2020 to entice visitation to Gippsland following deadly bushfires was then extended to waterways across the state, including the Goulburn River.
More than 950 tagged fish, which include Murray cod, golden perch (yellowbelly) and rainbow and brown trout remain uncaught.
The majority of tagged fish carry a $2000 price tag but there are still a number of $10,000 fish yet to be landed.
Deni Fishing Classic
And while on the subject of trying to catch a fish that brings a handsome monetary reward the upcoming Deniliquin Fishing Classic has a decent lure for anglers.
If you can land the tagged Murray cod — named the ‘Cod Father’ in a competition — within designated times on the Saturday and Sunday of the classic you will walk away with a cool $20,000.
This drops to $1000 if the tagged is caught outside the official competition times.
No-one has landed the major prize since it was introduced in 2016 and if any of those tagged fish are caught now it’s pretty much an anticlimax as there is no prize money.
The Deniliquin Fishing Classic weekend starts on Friday night, February 18, and finishes on the Sunday at noon.
Man charged over golf club raid
A man has been charged over a robbery at the Mooroopna Golf Club premises on Thursday, January 6.
Steven Andrew Dates, 31, was refused bail when he appeared in Shepparton Magistrates’ Court last week.
Mooroopna Golf Club staff handed over $2600 to a man allegedly armed with a knife.
Mr Dates will face court again in April.
Square Dinkum
G’day
A tourist was on a guided tour of a creepy old medieval castle in the Transylvania region of Romania.
At the end of the tour, the resident guide asked the tourist if he had enjoyed the tour. The tourist admitted to being worried about seeing ghosts in some of the old cobweb-filled dungeons and darkened passageways.
‘‘You needn’t worry,’’ said the guide. ‘’In all the time I have lived here, I have never seen a ghost.’’
‘‘How long have you lived here?’’ asked the tourist.
The guide replied, ‘‘About 350 years.’’
Hooroo!