The Mercury newspaper reports...





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I have always thought that the fences around our poppy fields were rather small, and that this might encourage people to raid them, but to learn that our native animals are becoming what could be considered drug addicts, perhaps it is time we looked a little more closely at the way in which we discourage creatures from entering those fields.

As a 15 year old I had been forced out fo school due to family poverty and a general lack of appreciation for education by my mother who wanted me to go to work in factories and such like, believing that was all our kind of people could ever hope for. Personally I wanted nothing more than to learn about everything, to answer the great questions of life, and to seek greater forms of knowledge.

Being forced to leave school the very day I turned 15 I felt that the dreams I had held since a very young age, to go to university, to learn, to explore, to understand... those were shattered. Dreams can be strange things though, and it was through a dream that I came to locate a person who would become a great teacher and mentor to me. Someone who would help me discover knowledge of things I had never dreamed existed.

Barry Salkilld was a very learned man, holding numerous university degrees, across a diverse range of fields. He helped me to explore philosophy, mathematics, physics, chemistry, astronomy, and he introduced me to the great religious and holy books of the world. Through his guidance I studied the classics and classical languages such as Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.

Barry gave me one excellent piece of advice, in those early days,... he suggested that I should listen intently to all ideas, but that I should never accept or reject anything on face value. All things should be placed upon a mental washing line, as it were, held in storage until they could be proven as fact, or disproven and rejected. Such advice allowed me to develop an approach to life and earning that would allow me to experience a great many things, and to gain a degree of wisdom perhaps.

Because of the education I received under his direction I was eventually able to excel at university, and to follow pathways that would never have been open to a factory worker. I have held many positions of power, trust, and respect throughout numerous situations, and have enjoyed a richness and diversity of life that simply would never have existed had I not had the benefit of a great teacher and mentor such as Barry.

My friendship with Barry continued, and our last contact was as recent as last year. I had always valued his knowledge and capacity for logic and reason. These were gifts that he shared openly with me, and for which I will always be grateful.

In the early hours of this morning I learned that Barry had passed away a few months ago. There is currently a deep hole within me that is filled with sadness, but also a joy at knowing that I have enjoyed those gifts that seemed far more valuable than the largest and most rare diamonds imaginable.

Thank you Mr Barry Salkilld, I can only hope that your passing has been the same as the remainder of your life, an adventure that has taken you to greater heights of knowledge and learning. There are so very few people in this world who have the capacities that you had, and that you shared with me.

Rest well my dear friend, mentor, teacher, and in oh so many ways, my father.

I'm from Ireland so obviously I know nothing about mortgages in Australia. How are they worked out? Just wondering what I might be able to afford in Tassie.

Any help appreciated. Cheers.

It's time for us to move. Our lease is coming up for renewal shortly, and a change of scenery would be nice. Zeehan would be great, but, are thinking maybe somewhere different mught also be good.

We are looking for a 2-3 br house or shack (no units), and most preferably one that will allow us to have a strictly controlled kitten (I do not believe a cat should be allowed outdoors without being on a leash), as we would like at some point to get a Burmese. (Do not have one right now).

The house MUST be within 6 km of an ADSL enabled telephone exchange.

Any area of Tasmania would be considered, though we have no desire to live in a city and definitely prefer rural townships.

Both are more than happy to help out in a farming situation in return for cheap rent in a shearers cottage or such like, and both are very practical people who can handle most types of work.

Minimum 12 months lease required.

Please contact me via private message, or reply post here if you have something that may be good for us.

NO AGENTS PLEASE!

Hi All,
Just got to tas for a few days and was able to take a few shots of cradle mountain and ross that i was happy with . Hope you like.
Cheers Neil

Recently I completed a photography course offered by RMIT via the Open Universities system. Our final assignment for the course was to complete a photo essay, detailing a particular subject, using between 12-16 photo's. Worth 30% of the overall grade for the course, the tutors indicated they would be extra critical on the assesment side for this one.

Arrived home last night to discover that I managed to get a perfect score of 30/30 for this essay, and a glowing report from the tutor.

As the subject of my essay was one of my favourite locations around Tasmania (Trial Harbour), I thought I would share it with you.

 Trial_Harbour_Photo_Essay.pdf ( 3.89mb ) Number of downloads: 14