Aussie Readers discussion

Melissa, Port Arthur was originally a timber town but was settled as a prison from 1833 to 1877. It was the harshest prison in AU and sadly sometimes, boys as young as nine were sent there; punsihments were often as many as 150 lashes:(. It certainly has no pretty history to match it's glorious surroundings and it was completely cutoff from the rest of Tassie.

Elaine, I loved Tassie, a beautiful place and I was there for nearly three months. It was also my first holiday sans parents so that might add to how happily I remember it - I was 16.

Feels like winter..Have the heater going before heading out..Brrrr~!

I want to go back to Port Arthur sometime...Went there many years ago and they've done some renos to the place so it would be interesting to see too.

Laura, it's not too warm here across the Bass either. What a change from this past week of sunshine and warmth. Might be a book and sofa day today!

B the BookAddict wrote: "Melissa, Port Arthur was originally a timber town but was settled as a prison from 1833 to 1877. It was the harshest prison in AU and sadly sometimes, boys as young as nine were sent there; punsihm..."

Doesn't sound like a pretty history but it would be a neat place to see. It kind of sounds like the American, Alcatraz which I have visited.

Fun Fact: Today marks the 51st Birthday of the Canadian flag

We just went to pick up scripts from our local chemist which is beside the doctor's surgery where we went earlier...police and people everywhere. Apparently there's been a bomb threat and the place was evacuated. The policeman told us they were waiting for the firies to arrive to get up on the roof of the building to check it out. As well as doctor and chemist, there's a video shop, a gym, a pathology office and a physio place. OMG! The morons who live in our society!

Brenda wrote: "We just went to pick up scripts from our local chemist which is beside the doctor's surgery where we went earlier...police and people everywhere. Apparently there's been a bomb threat and the place..."

Oh dear, Brenda. Stupid people who make bomb threats; when will people realize that that isn't a good idea.

Also ... firies :) is that what firemen are called in Australia?

Sorry Melissa:) Yes firemen/firefighters/etc lol!

I like the word firies :)

It's just an abbreviation - so many Aussies abbreviate their words - most of them anyway:)

I am sure many of you have noticed the news about the '8th' Harry Potter book coming out - and to pre-order it now.

If you haven't heard the link is here:
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ente...

But it isn't a book as in a novel - it is a book of the script of a play that has just opened in London.

I feel that many excited fans will just see the words new Harry Potter Book and order it without realising they are getting a play script because they won't read past the headlines!

Yes I saw that when they first talked about it through the week Sally - a bit of a rip off for fans IMO!

Brenda wrote: "We just went to pick up scripts from our local chemist which is beside the doctor's surgery where we went earlier...police and people everywhere. Apparently there's been a bomb threat and the place..."
It's starting to become too much of a thing lately, these hoaxes.

It sure is Dale - especially the terrorising of little kids in school!

Brenda wrote: "It sure is Dale - especially the terrorising of little kids in school!"
Yes, some sad people in our world.

Brenda wrote: "It sure is Dale - especially the terrorising of little kids in school!"

Poor kids; even an empty threat can be traumatizing.

I remember in school having the building swarmed with RCMP because some loser (putting it mildly) wrote on the bathroom stalls that they were going to shoot up the school.

I was terrified

That's the type of thing that can scar a child for life Melissa...

Brenda wrote: "That's the type of thing that can scar a child for life Melissa..."

Indeed ... fortunately everyone was fine. I don't know if they ever got the person

Hopefully the chaos in your area has settled, Brenda and all is well again.

Melissa wrote: "Hopefully the chaos in your area has settled, Brenda and all is well again."

I expect so Melissa - we haven't been out again:) Will collect the scripts tomorrow now:)

Urgh...Hoaxes...I hate those! Schools here got them..Actually one very close to where I live got it...Really it's terrible.

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OH sooooo tired....Two more days to go...lol I might need an early sleep tonight...Not sure any reading will happen...Maybe a movie?

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I've never read the HP series...I kinda feel like I should....Hmm.

Sally906 wrote: "I am sure many of you have noticed the news about the '8th' Harry Potter book coming out - and to pre-order it now.

If you haven't heard the link is here:
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ente......"

Not sure if I will read it. I loved the series so much that I feel like this one will be kind of a flop. We will see.

Laura wrote: "Urgh...Hoaxes...I hate those! Schools here got them..Actually one very close to where I live got it...Really it's terrible.

OH sooooo tired....Two more days to go...lol I might need an early s..."

Agreed; not only is it distressing for those involved it is a waste of time and resources. Frustrating really.

Michael wrote: "We had the odd ones when I was in primary school In Whyalla. We had one when the bomb squad actually found one and deactivated it. Why anyone would even think of something like bombing a place were..."

That is terrifying, Michael.

One year someone set a marine flair off in a stairwell on Halloween. Everyone was safe but it could have ended badly if a student had been in that stairwell at the time.

I never liked my school. I was almost switched to French immersion as a result of the increasingly distressing incidences.

No-one even dared post a bomb threat at my school in mid 1970s; that's just how scary the nuns were and how far their reputation had spread, lol:)

I went to Warners bay High near Newcastle NSW - and in the mid 70s there was a bomb threat when the Higher School Certificate was happening.

We didn't get evacuated because the stupid boy (yes we all knew who it ended up being) used the phone box across the road from the Principal's office - so he, and the school secretary, watched him make the call - and as the school bell went off while he was telling them in a disguised (he thought) voice and they could hear it over the phone.

LOL - they told him to come back to school and come to the P's office.

Sally, lol:) What an idiot!

I shouldn't have made light of the fact that our school never went thru anything like that; we were lucky.

Just thought I'd mention in here about our Sydney get together for those who might be interested and haven't seen the thread:) https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

It's not too late to express your interest - the confirmation date is 1st March:) Come along if you can - we have a lot of fun!

In today's episode of Melissa's random store of Australian knowledge. I was reminded of the Kookaburra song ... we used to sing it at girl guides campouts. Now it is stuck in my head, lol.

Melissa, is that #kookaburra sits on the old gum tree...# I think we all must have learned that one here at guides, primary school or at home.

Melissa, I've never been to Canada but my reading and knowledge of it so far suggests that Australia is more like Canada than it is like US. But that's my opinion. It might be formed because of the vast amounts of uninhabited countryside which both our nations are made up of. We are also not as 'fast-track' as the US is, in my opinion.

B the BookAddict wrote: "Melissa, I've never been to Canada but my reading and knowledge of it so far suggests that Australia is more like Canada than it is like US. But that's my opinion. It might be formed because of the..."

I agree with that; I believe Canada is very similar to both Australia and New Zealand. I occasionally joke that we should just move our country right next to you two :p

Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird has passed away at the age of 89. RIP Harper Lee, you'll long be remembered.

It is sad news, isn't it, Brenda, however she had a good long life. Cynically, I wonder if that lawyer of hers will now magically find a new novel by Lee amongst her things.

Very sad. She was only really known for her first (and only for a long time) book. She seemed to have a reclusive life as well...

Wiki refers to Lee's sister Alice"being gatekeeper, advisor, protector" for most of Lee's adult life.

Apart from helping Truman Capote research for In Cold Blood (his 1966 novel) there is little information about what she did in what are referred to as 'The Middle Years' being 1960 to 2005.

A very private person it would seem. I guess now that she's passed, her latest will get more publicity. I still have to read it!

Brenda wrote: "A very private person it would seem. I guess now that she's passed, her latest will get more publicity. I still have to read it!"

Sad news Brenda. I wonder whether she enjoyed or hated the publicity and controversy over Go Set a Watchman.

She could well have hated it Carolyn..or perhaps she didn't really care...

I wondered whether it caused her much stress in her last years but perhaps she didn't really care too much about it or what people thought.

I think she was pretty ill towards the end - she may not have been aware of what was going on in the media about her latest book... but she's certainly left a legacy with To Kill a Mockingbird

I heard it was her sister who was instrumental in its release once Harper Lee was too ill to know what was going on...

Brenda wrote: "Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird has passed away at the age of 89. RIP Harper Lee, you'll long be remembered."
And revered for her amazing To Kill a Mocking Bird. What a legacy!

Michael wrote: "From what i heard Brenda, she was almost completely deaf and blind and lived in a nursing home at the time of her death. I think there was a reason Go Set a Watchman languished in a safe-deposit bo..."

You're right Michael and Brenda she will be remembered for Mockingbird much more than for anything else. Certainly an amazingly powerful book that has stood the test of time.

Brenda wrote: "Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird has passed away at the age of 89. RIP Harper Lee, you'll long be remembered."

Yes, I only just heard this news on the radio much earlier on in the day..Sad news.

Shocking news out of Fiji..cat 5 cyclone with winds up to and over 300 kms/hr. The worst in the country's history...

The celebrated Italian intellectual Umberto Eco, who shot to fame with his 1980 novel The Name of the Rose, has been remembered as a master of Italian culture following his death at the age of 84.

Eco died on Friday night after suffering from cancer, prompting tributes to pour in for the esteemed writer.

We have a gorgeous day of 26C ahead of us today, already beautiful blue sky here. I plan on spending a couple of hours in the garden, it's time to trim and thin out my irises, and a large bed of roses need trimming. Lunch at my sister's place will make this an enjoyable day.

Enjoy Bette, and thanks for the news about the author. I've never read him but my son has, and enjoyed his work. RIP

I just printed out our cruise tickets! Woohoo! Makes it closer - 44 days before we board!

Vale Umberto Eco.
The Name of the Rose is a great book.