Hervey Bay Gossip

The Courier Mail is reporting today on a small survey of airline travellers that may have implications for Hervey Bay.

The results of the survey suggest that as many as 1 in 5 Australians are considering abandoning air travel because of it contributes to global warming. The report also suggests that the Australian travel industry is conerned that European travellers may turn their back on long-haul travel.

You can find the full story here

One of the great things about the Internet is that it brings people together from all walks of life and in some circumstances it gives us all a chance to have our say and be heard by those around us.

After many years of involvement with the Internet I’ve seen the good - and the bad - that this medium can do for people. When I started the Hervey Bay Gossip I still had some delusions about the benefits it could bring to Hervey Bay.

Sadly I now have to admit that they really were delusions and by leaving the comments open to just about anyone who wanted to make a genuine comment I was leaving myself - and others - open to unfair and unwarranted criticisms from a small minority of people who had their own axe to grind.

I did attempt to overcome the situation by turning off the comments on those posts that, from a business point of view, were necessary to make but which I knew would bring out those unfair and unwarranted criticisms. Unfortunately that hasn’t worked; instead it just meant that the minority moved to other posts to make those comments.

I have experimented with other options but unfortunately the software that powers the Gossip does not seem to be able to handle those options and so I’m now left with no alternative but to turn the comments off entirely. Frankly that saddens me that a very small minority could spoil it so easily.

I could beat the spammers (of which there are many that you never see) quite easily but no one has yet come up with a filter to handle this situation. If they ever do then the comments will be turned back on.

April 19 the circus comes to Hervey Bay. As usual it will be down at the Seafront Oval.

The best cafe in Hervey Bay just got a whole lot better.

Aquavue, right on the beach at Torquay, has introduced a new breakfast and lunch menu from this weekend. We could carry on and tell you how succulent and tasty the new meals are - and what a wonderful chef Scott is - but that would just sound like hype.

Instead head down to Aquavue and try it for yourself - you won’t be disappointed.

They’re open from 7am for breakfast and you can find them opposite the Torquay Post Office.

If you haven’t seen it yet this old barge is currently moored out in Hervey Bay.

It arrived just before Easter and it’s scheduled to disappear quite soon when it’s sunk out in the Bay as part of the artificial reef.

… you need to remember to have your flu shots.

Yes, it’s that time of year again - the time when we need to front up to the doctor and have our annual flu shot. It’s important to have a fresh vaccination each year because your level of immunity declines over the course of a year. Each year fresh strains of influenza appear and the vaccine is updated to cover those fresh strains.

People over the age of 65 and both adults and children with chronic diseases should be vaccinated every year.

The National Health and Medical Research Council recommends vaccination for:

·all people aged 65 years and older

·all Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people aged 50 years and older

·adults and children with heart, lung, kidney or liver disorders or diabetes

·children with congenital heart disease, cystic fibrosis, or severe asthma requiring frequent hospitalisation

·adults and children on therapy which lowers their immunity

·people with HIV

·residents of nursing homes and residential care facilities plus people in close contact with them including family members, healthcare providers and staff of nursing homes.

The Minister for Health advises that the influenza vaccine is free under the National Immunisation Program for:

·all people aged 65 years and older

·all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 50 years and older and

·Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 to 49 years who have an underlying chronic illness.

These people can receive the free vaccine by visiting their local GP or health clinic.

Anyone who is not eligible for the free vaccine will need to visit their local GP or health clinic to obtain a prescription to purchase it from their local pharmacy.

Anyone who is not eligible for the free vaccine will need to visit their local GP or health clinic to obtain a prescription to purchase it from their local pharmacy.

The Hervey Bay Family Bike Ride is on again this Sunday. You can register from 8am at the Hervey Bay Botanical Gardens in Elizabeth Street and the ride will commence at 9am.

There will be free bicycle safety checks and every rider who registers will go into the draw for some great prizes.

If you live here in Hervey Bay it’s easy to think of Wide Bay Water as only being involved in this very local area. However Wide Bay Water is stepping out onto the international stage.

Currently Wide Bay Water is involved in a tender worth $US44 million to reduce leakage in the water supply system that supplies Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.

You might be surprised at just how many Hervey Bay businesses - both big and small - are doing business at the international level.

If you’re travelling from Hervey Bay to Brisbane now you can see what the traffic looks like on the Bruce Highway thanks to a new traffic cam brought online by the Department of Main Roads.

The webcam is located on the Caloundra Road overpass and you can find it at:

http://www.131940.qld.gov.au/131940_nch/WebCams.shtml

Currently it’s the second link from the top.

Of course the cam is so far south of Hervey Bay that the traffic conditions can change a lot between the time you leave Hervey Bay and when you arrive at that point … but if you have a web-enabled mobile phone you can take a peek at traffic conditions when you’re much closer to where the webcam is located.

While most things aren’t growing around Hervey Bay at the moment there is one thing that seems to be shooting up all over town and that’s ‘Sold’ signs on houses from one end of the town to the other.

Even some houses and units that have been on the market for over 12 months have now been sold.

If you’re thinking of making a sea change to Hervey Bay but aren’t sure what your house might be worth it will definitely pay to get a property value report.