Friday 27 March 2015
The Fly-in
Today was a unique and one-only opportunity for light aircraft to fly into the new Wellcamp airport. The local aero club took full advantage of the chance and about 30 light planes arrived and parked on the apron. Landing was not a great problem, for most of the planes only needed about 300 meters of the 3 kilometer runway that stretched far into the distance.
Craig was the pilot, and Sam was the co-pilot and they arrived to share a coffee and ice cream with the family. The terminal was not exactly crowded.
Saturday 14 March 2015
The Big Slide
It is not often a city will close the main street for a giant water slide.
But this was the situation on Saturday in Toowoomba. It is a twin water slide 325meters long, running almost 2 blocks down the gentle slope of Margaret Street.
It was well supported by thousands of customers both young and old. The entry fee included a large yellow plastic tube on which the people splashed their way down the full length.
It was well supported by thousands of customers both young and old. The entry fee included a large yellow plastic tube on which the people splashed their way down the full length.
Monday 9 March 2015
A Day of Good and Bad
Yesterday was 9th March - Its significance may not be immediately apparent, and the date might have passed without any special note except for a couple of events in recent history.
1. It marks the fact that we have now been in Toowoomba for 4 years exactly - the best move we have made, but where has the time gone?
2. It also marks the day of the heaviest bombing raid of World War II. On that day 70 years ago, the US launched 860 B29-Superfortresses on Tokyo and they delivered more than 6000 tonnes of incendiaries and explosives over the city, causing unimaginable damage to the city.
I am currently reading "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand, which gives an excellent graphical account of one American serviceman who endured the dreadful conditions of a POW in Japan for 2 and a half years. It is a coincident that yesterday I just happened to be reading the section which described this massive bomb attack on Tokyo. It should have signalled the immediate surrender of Japan because their air force had been substantially decimated, ships sunk, and most of their outlying islands had been captured as the allies advanced on the mainland. Yet the Japanese continued to pursue their insane policy of "fighting to the last man", and they endured another 5 months of intense destruction until the atomic bombs hit Hiroshima and Nagasaki, when they finally surrendered.
1. It marks the fact that we have now been in Toowoomba for 4 years exactly - the best move we have made, but where has the time gone?
2. It also marks the day of the heaviest bombing raid of World War II. On that day 70 years ago, the US launched 860 B29-Superfortresses on Tokyo and they delivered more than 6000 tonnes of incendiaries and explosives over the city, causing unimaginable damage to the city.
I am currently reading "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand, which gives an excellent graphical account of one American serviceman who endured the dreadful conditions of a POW in Japan for 2 and a half years. It is a coincident that yesterday I just happened to be reading the section which described this massive bomb attack on Tokyo. It should have signalled the immediate surrender of Japan because their air force had been substantially decimated, ships sunk, and most of their outlying islands had been captured as the allies advanced on the mainland. Yet the Japanese continued to pursue their insane policy of "fighting to the last man", and they endured another 5 months of intense destruction until the atomic bombs hit Hiroshima and Nagasaki, when they finally surrendered.
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