GateWAy Blog

Meet Gnoblett and Gneville – two annoying little garden gnomes that ingratiated themselves into my garden and won’t leave. Their friend Gnorbert also lives there and is a particularly smug and intrusive little chap. So where is this leading? Down to the garden path to my new website which features  a wide range of entertaining and unexpected stories and audios to give you a good laugh! 

You can find out more about the Gnomes by visiting  www.annesimpson.com.au   and clicking on the In My Garden page where there is a free article called In the Beginning. Plenty of other free articles to sample as well! If you Register for the free newsletter aMusings you will receive another four free ebooks and audios! Enjoy…

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“It’s freezing in Albany today” I overheard someone on a phone call say… hmm, is this a case of what is freezing to one isnt to another? The top temperature in Albany today is forecast to be 17 degrees. Well, its cooler than it has been… is that freezing?

No wonder Albany gets a reputation as being cold when today is called freezing by the locals! It is a cool spell in comparison to what we have been having, I even had to get an extra blanket on last night. Comfortable could be another way to describe it. Give me a day like this one rather than a 45 degree day like Adelaide with extreme fire conditions any day.

Was it a freezing day to you?

More and more young people killed on roads around Australia, around the world. This is not OK. Are we serious about stopping drunk drivers or not? If we were serious then there would be no exceptions, no extraordinary license, no bleating about appeals. As soon as someone is caught drink driving, take away their license for life. No reprieve and ‘I’m sorry’ wont cut it. (more…)

I have always loved the idea of going on a real adventure; up the Faraway Tree, or anywhere else Enid Blyton had in mind for me. The Island of Adventure and six more books along the same lines, being a part of the Famous Five, member of the Secret Seven, I’d read them again and again as a child, going on adventures in the imagination and couldn’t wait for the real thing.

About the same time, James Bond become a hero too, real grown up adventures and by the time Harrison Ford began wielding his whip and delving into ancient tombs and curses, I was thoroughly hooked. Looking back that may have been part of the reason for travelling so young and for so long, as well as to avoid getting stuck in that ‘rut’ I heard so many people talk about. Ruts were not for me.

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Dozens of people have drowned along our coast. There are always renewed efforts to prevent these deaths whenever another tragedy happens, more signs, more warnings, more safety devices, but what can we do about the sheer stupidity of some people?

This week we took a friend along our coastline, and offered him the appropriate warnings. We got the usual response back. ‘It’s not that rough’ and, ‘If a wave comes I’ll see it and get out of the way.’ Yeah, right.

count the waves boys ...

But, he is an intelligent man and listened to our advice. At the Natural Bridge, scene of way too many tragic deaths over the years, we found this lot cavorting about like they were immortal. I think these 12 were from Scandinavia. They were so casual, around the edge of the water, sitting around, not a care in the world. After they’d gone a massive wave came through under the bridge, a wave they never saw because they were fortunately back in the car park. A few millions tons of water moving at 200km’s an hour.

If they had been there a few minutes longer, the world’s press would now be swarming all over the region, and reports would be all about the 12 young people killed off the Albany coastline and questions would be raised about who were responsible. (more…)

This study examines the effects on small and medium sized enterprises of the Australian Government’s proposals to introduce an emissions trading scheme, known as the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS). (more…)

The policy and regulatory landscape relating to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is changing significantly both locally and internationally. (more…)

The introduction of the Australian Government’s proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme is fast approaching and with it comes both a sense of uncertainty and opportunity.

South Coast and Great Southern land managers, local councils, business owners and residents will have the chance to better informed on the proposed scheme’s scientific base and on the legal, commercial and practical implications of the legislation.

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International Women’s Day on the 8th March 2009 has been chosen as the perfect date to launch the Working Women’s Web for Albany and the Great Southern region. (more…)

The Great Southern Show ‘n’ Shine has moved venues this year to the Railway’s Football grounds, Lockyer Ave. Normally held annually at Eyres Park, the move to the Railways grounds will mean more room, and (more…)