HOW WE SEE IT! Saturday Snapshot

With Bryan Littlely and Shaun Hollis

Last updated:
Cartoon by SHAUN HOLLIS

Taking advice should be a breeze

I like to think I have reasonable smarts to take on board relevant and useful advice from experts, and discard that which is irrelevant to me.

I also think I know a bit about the weather, even in a ‘foreign’ place like Far North Queensland to this southerner.

And - as you will read deeper into this week’s column - I enjoy pointing out police flaws and generally don’t roll over and do what a cop tells me to do straight away. Asking questions and seeking an explanation is a response I think can be afforded to people who don’t break the law.

But when the Queensland Police’s district disaster coordinator stages a media conference to issue a warning of a potential cyclone and severe weather event impacting the region, using information provided by the Bureau of Meteorology, there is an expectation that the media outlet with the largest reach for that region shares that information.

Lessons learned from Jasper across the board are to be prepared for the worst even if you expect little cyclone carnage. Lessons learned within Newsport through Jasper are that our readership, and a national and even global audience, generally want to be kept informed of both the potential of cyclones and most certainly the impact.

Most, not all, it seems going by some of the comments flowing when we this week posted that police advice.

We can, and do, hold hope that Taliah, Vince and Zelia don’t ever crash our party. But I’d prefer to know if they’re cruising the coast having pre-drinks and looking for a place to wreck.

Weather advice, whether you want it or not

 

Convenient crash scene

An unfortunate incident for a Port motorist last Friday was a bit of a bingle in a both unfortunate and quite practical location.

It was unfortunate, for the driver, because it happened across the road from our media outlet office and the little mishap, which we’re glad didn’t appear to cause any injuries, was captured on camera.

It was practical, because it was a collision with a mechanic’s garage.

I’ve had a few prangs over the years and none of them even close to being considered to be in a convenient location.

A mate years ago, though, did… at least practical for the police to book him for drink driving when he crashed his car through the fence of the local Senior Sergeant of police.

A ‘practical’ prang in Port

 

Snakes put a squeeze on stories

It’s the Year of the Snake and the recent shocking news of a local shuttle bus driver being bitten by a snake while going to the public loos near the Port Douglas Surf Club not only paves a path to some less tasteful puns, it also inspires me to unleash another snake story from a python sized collection.

I have had regular run-ins with red bellied black snakes across the family farm for as long as I can remember…. And I am no fan. I’ve had a couple drop out of hay bale netting when feeding cows and horses, I trod on a huge one finishing off a fencing job and managed to set the fastest 20m sprint time for a 50-year-old and I ‘relocated’ one from behind the pot plant on the front porch a couple of springs ago.

But this story is not my own encounter with a snake, but that of an expert handler whose unfortunate demise in South Australia’s Barossa Valley I covered for a news story.

The Swiss national was employed at the local antivenene operation, Venom Supplies, to milk the snakes.

He’d had a busy week, by all accounts and had Friday night knock off drinks at the local pub and headed home with some of the Barossa’s finest (or a slab of beer).

Even for a seasoned snake handler, it seems getting your ol mate pet python up for play time when you’ve had your fair share of drink isn’t the best move.

The snake handler was located by his boss late the next morning asphyxiated and teeth marks in his skull.

The snake was “not discoverable” for much of that day. I’m told by police insiders the drawn guns of a few cops each time they went in the house was a bit of “overkill”.

Snake stories…It’s the year for it

 

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