Monument to the eight hour day labour movement in Ballarat, Australia

We spent a couple of days in the historic gold mining town of Ballarat in Victoria, Australia. Picking is finished, Jen has returned to Taipei and I fly to Christchurch on monday........

All but over

The fruit picking season here is reaching it's damp conclusion. The leaves are falling - some trees are already fully denuded and the pruners have begun their work on them. Jen and I are the only pickers left on the farm, and we can finish what few bins of Sundowner apples are left in around four days. At least we could if it would stop raining, which it has been doing off and on for the past four days. These apples must be completely dry before they can be picked, otherwise they will bruise. The rain is wonderful for everyone here though, the ground has been dry and dusty far too long for any farmers liking, now winter grain crops can be planted and farmers can happily complain about all the weeds which will now germinate and need to be sprayed. Jen flies back to Taiwan at the end of the month, and I'll head to New Zealand for a few weeks before making the journey to Taiwan myself for another stint at the markets and Chinese language school........

Sunset on the orchard......

China's Goverment and it's people

It's important to differentiate between the chinese government and chinese people, who on the whole are much the same as everybody else save that the chinese "learn by rote" education system has made many of them ignorant and have strong opinions about things which they don't have all the "facts" about, much like americans. They are also loud and love money like americans... but on the whole once you get to know them are really nice, except the ones who think that because you are not a local that it is their duty to try to rip you off, and I'm not just talking about foreigners but also about people from other parts of china!Pollution, it's bad, really bad in China, but the chinese seem to have two main excuses for it 1, lets pollute, get rich and develop technology to fix it later, and 2, the industrialised world has been polluting for 200 years, china does it for 20 and ithe industrialised world gets all indignant while at the same time buying all the stuff that we need to pollute the air to make! I see their point. Human rights - they stink in China, but most Chinese don't know about it because the government censors the internet. They are pretty good at it, so why can't our governments do something about child pornography on the net???Anyway, simply, Chinese people mostly good but a little brainwashed into believing government propaganda, Chinese government mostly a dictatorship good at what it does, still honing it's skills...... Chinese people in Eastern cities subdued by luxury goods and the dream of fantastic wealth (more Bentleys, Rolls Royces, Swiss watches sold in east asia than the rest of world combined), Chinese people in western chinese cities subdued by poverty and propaganda.

The Willy Willy

Driving back to Shepparton from a trip to Dookie with Alex the German yesterday we saw this willy willy, or dust devil, that is to say a mini tornado, swirling across a burnt off paddock. About ten seconds after I took this photo it was gone.

Ruby Pinks

It's the real tail end of things now, this is a new planting of Ruby Pink apples and this is the first year that they've been harvested. At lunchtime there isn't alot of shade here!

The days takings

The old David Brown tractor and a load o' Granny Smiths

Some vitriolic comment

China is big news at the moment, especially with the Olympics looming and the associated contoversies regarding the torch relay and Tibet. My view is that China is actually trying to be very well behaved now, as they are hoping to make the Olympics a showcase for the Chinese nation and people. If people are upset with China now, wait until the Olympics are over, then the Chinese nation will be free to show it's true colours. They will not need to show "restraint" when dealing with meddlesome elements either within China or abroad. Chinese state controlled companies are also investing or trying to invest heavily in foreign enterprises, such as western banking institutions, automobile manufacturers, steel and mineral ore corporations ecetera. They have already manouvered themselves into an unassailable position of power in the world, but thus far have chosen not to flex any of this power, but I feel than once the Olympics are over that this may change.....

Late in the season

The season is slowing up now, the pears, plums and peaches are all picked and in long term cold storage or on their way to cans, supermarket shelves, or in shipping containers heading for distant shores. Most of the pickers have left, either on their own accord or sacked by a philistine of a supervisor. This leaves just the apples to pick, which require fewer workers, so we're now in a world of Granny Smiths, which will be followed by Pink Ladies, Sundowners and a few Lady Williams and Rosy Glows. After an unseasonable March heatwave, the weather has turned cool and autumnal. Jen and I will visit New Zealand for a week at the end of the month, then return to Shepparton to see the season out.

The happy worker

It's not good to have your mobile phone sitting in an empty bin, then filling said bin with pears! It wasn't me, making it much easier to see the funny side of it.

A few picking piccies, peaches and plums

I've just finished 31 days straight, no day off until today. The Williams pears are finished, plums and peaches are ongoing, and Packham pears are due to start tomorrow. The weather has been mercifully cool this year, and it's turned out to be a bumper season, branches are breaking under the weight of all the fruit........ I'll try to get some picking pictures uploaded next time I get into town.......

At the Chinese doctor