HOW WE SEE IT! - Saturday Snapshot

I’m not a fan of snakes… not since I trod on one as a toddler and reinforced with plenty of near misses as a farmer unwrapping bales of hay and doing pretty much any other task that involves uncovering nice nesting spots for red bellies and browns.

I confess, those revealed on the door step of my home, or slithering among my retired racehorses, don’t always survive the relocation process.

I’m not sure that the death adder which took a nip at Weipa teen Wylie Clarke north of Coen last Sunday survived the relocation process either…. But we’re glad Wylie did and now has some undeniable “cred” with his Cape York mates.

Top job by the Queensland Ambos and the Flying Doc. Our remote communities would be lost without these services and they need our ongoing recognition and support to keep up the good work.

Or snakebite victims may have to resort to what my ol’ mate Bruce (RIP) did years ago as a teen when bitten on the finger by a deadly brown snake. He put his finger over the end of the shotgun and pulled the trigger… “saved” his life. True story.

RECAP: WYLIE DICES WITH DEATH ADDER

The smell from the Mainstream Aquaculture fish farm over the past few weeks may not have been too pleasant, but Boris Musa’s apology to the people of Port Douglas and surrounds, in my opinion, wasn’t on the nose.

All too often, companies (and government leaders for that matter) dodge their mistakes quicker than a crafty barra avoids a hook-up.

But Boris owned it. Sorry would have maybe been enough -  there’s plenty in the community who have commented that sorry is too much - but Boris went beyond that and made it clear his team had made some mistakes, that he had not reacted fast enough to community concerns and that they’ll take real steps to do what they can to stop it from happening again.

Now to see if they’re selling the best Barra fertiliser to try to recoup some of those significant losses!

RECAP: BORIS HOOKS A TOP APOLOGY

It is a myth - right?

Just so I have this straight. Tens of thousands of dollars are being spent by Douglas Shire on “de-nuting” (reminds me I have to book dad’s dog in just as soon as I find homes for the 9 kelpie x border collie pups I’ve got) coconut palms to protect people…. themselves from lawsuits.

Just how many people have been injured or killed from falling coconuts in the Shire over time?

Next thing the cotton wool squad will be dropping the speed in high street to 30kph!!!!

Too soon?

RECAP: THE GOD’S MUST BE CRAZY

Good luck to those docking in Port this coming week on the hunt for Marlin.

I once nearly hooked up a Sailfish while on a Fijian holiday aboard a boat out the back of Cloud Break…. and it was at that point that I realised I was not onboard the family resort’s free fishing trip!

RECAP: ONE THAT SHOULD HAVE GOT AWAY

A tip of the hat to Wonga Beach RFS volunteer Dave Price for 50 years of service protecting people and property across a number of regional communities.

Volunteering is not always an easy thing to do, even though it is the right thing to do and the one thing that you can do for free that can make a huge difference in your community.

But volunteering to put yourself in the path of real danger time and again, expose yourself to heartache and grief over and over and still be there for your crew even when your health says you’ve got to stop firefighting… that takes real character.

Having enjoyed a chat with Dave and his firefighter wife, Michelle, I would have said those nice things about him regardless of whether or not I knew he was a crack shot on the clay target range too!

RECAP: VALUED VOLUNTEER