Hervey Bay Gossip

It’s hard to believe but it looks like there’s going to be a marathon run on Fraser Island - you can read more about it right here

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Computer Assist comes right to you to look after your computer needs in your own home.

When the Pasha Bulker ran aground on Nobby’s Beach it managed to do so right in front of a webcam. That means that you can log on and see it any time of the day or night and last night a lot of people were watching as they tried to refloat that massive freighter.

At night it looks rather eerie with the lights on the vessel that’s looming up out of the darkness. You’ll see the waves crashing over the side and the bow swinging from side to side. Here’s a rather poor screen grab taken in the early hours of this morning.

Here is the link to get to the webcam and there’s another refloat attempt on tonight so if you want to watch the drama unfold - slowly - you can do so from the comfort of your own home right here in Hervey Bay

The Queensland Premier announced a number of important changes that would take effect in Queensland from July 1.

Perhaps the most important change for people in Hervey Bay is that, from July 1, it will be compulsory for all Queensland houses to be fitted with smoke alarms.

From July 1 it will also be compulsory for all new houses in Queensland to meet water targets.

Despite the threat of a very cold day yesterday it actually turned out to be rather pleasant although it was overcast at times. This photo was shot down at Scarness at around 1pm yesterday.

Today the forecast is for little cloud but somewhat colder temperatures and as I write this at 6.30am it’s a chilly 5 degrees centigrade.

I guess we really shouldn’t complain though - one of our daughters sent us a message yesterday to tell us that it was snowing where she was on the central west tablelands in NSW.

One of the things about Hervey Bay that never ceases to amaze me is the number of small businesses tucked away in odd corners of this town.

Some of them do a roaring trade with trades people within Hervey Bay while others do very little business with local customers but certainly take their product to the world. boultons MultiMedia through CopyCat, and Mouth Gym is just one that we’ve come across.

… but where nobody really wants them.

The thought of big freshwater fish leaping into your boat might sound like heaven to any fishermen but the reality is something different and quite dangerous along these rivers in the United States.

You can see the video here

After the last few days of very cold temperatures and not much sun this morning saw a pleasant return to what the weather in Hervey Bay is usually like. The sun is shining, there’s plenty of blue sky and if you can find a spot that’s sheltered from the breeze the sun will soon warm you up.

Even this early in the morning there’s plenty of people out enjoying the beach and the fishing. We picked this image up from the webcam at our favourite Hervey Bay cafe just a few minutes ago.

More and more people around the world are turning to Google Maps to find the way to places they want to visit. But just how accurate is the information that you get from Google Maps?

Last week I wanted to give my daughter in Sydney some idea of where the Augustus subdivision was in Hervey Bay so played around with Google Maps and was able to email her a URL that displayed the area around Urraween and Eli Waters.

While I was looking at the map I discovered that Hervey Bay hospital was shown on the map as being on the western side of Maryborough Road. Follow this link and you’ll see it for yourself

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Hervey+Bay,+QLD,+Australia&ie=UTF8&ll=-25.290336,152.828064&spn=0.129754,0.233459&z=12&iwloc=addr&om=1

It’s the pink oblong that appears to left and slightly above the the Urraween place name.

Of course that’s not where the hospital is at all and someone else pointed that out to me today. They also asked me what could be done to have Google show the hospital in its correct location on the corner of Urraween Road and Nissen Road.

Unfortunately the answer to that question is, probably not much. It takes some digging to find any link that allows you to contact anyone at Google about errors on their map and when you do get to that link it really only seems to be interested in you if in the US, China and three other countries - none of which are Australia.

I’m told that the placement of the Hervey Bay hospital isn’t the only problem with the Hervey Bay map so perhaps it would be unwise to place too much trust in Google and their maps at this point in time.

But at least the problem isn’t quite as bad as one complaint to Google Maps that I came across. One woman in the United States was complaining that Google was showing her long driveway as a main link road and lots of people were ending up in her front yard.

Hmmm - you’ve gotta love technology … when they get it right.

It’s still unclear whether or not the jellyfish found in the waters off Fraser Island were the dangerous irukandji stingers and further tests are being conducted.

However, even if they do turn out to be irukandji, the Queensland irukandji task force feels there is no need to issue a warning for the waters of Hervey Bay simply because they are so rarely found in this area.