Yabbying II

 Max and I headed out on another unsuccessful yabbying expedition late this afternoon - in the sense that we did not manage to catch one. This time we went westwards over the Great Divide to Booroolong Creek at the headwaters of the Murray-Darling system. The drive was lovely in the sense that the scenery was great and the car was air-conditioned, both relaxing after a terribly hot day that felt like 36C (mid-90s F). It was also a sticky heat with storms brewing to our south. The pictures show the Creek where it is crossed by the road linking Armidale to Bundarra and a view downstream to the south-west with late afternoon sun filtering through.

The creek had lots of rocks and pot-holes which favour yabbies and the stream was flowing sufficiently well to disperse the surface algae that were a problem at Dumaresq Dam earlier in the week. Despite our not sighting a yabby, Max had a good time walking across the shallow waters dangling meat on the end of a piece of string in the hope of luring a bite. And the site was so picturesque and peaceful that I was glad we went to get away from the hustle of modern life. By the way, today was a public holiday to celebrate the POMS turning up at Sydney Cove 223 years ago.

The nation has come a fair way since then and yesterday we had one of our great modern sporting successes. The Europeans have their European Cup (or whatever it is now called) and the Asians have the Asian Cup, albeit for national teams (like the World Cup) and not the best national club sides. Australia is now recognised as an Asian side and last night they beat one of the best Asian sides - Uzbekistan - 6 - 0 to reach the final against Japan this coming weekend.

AS