Over exposed in Turkey

After several weeks backpacking in Turkey we found ourselves on the southern Aegean in the magnificent coastal community known as Patara. It is an area full of history; at one time the largest seaport of ancient civilization, visited by St Luke and St Paul, and also a major centre in Roman times.

Damaged by severe earthquakes in AD 141 and AD 240, its harbour silted up. The remains of the amphitheatre, a spectacular arch and an acropolis affording magnificent hilltop views of the 18 km local beach are still to be seen today. There was little English spoken in this region. And barely another traveller given that the spectacular beach was a 3 km walk, through protected land, from the village.

Belongil rock wall ‘fails first test’

Belongil’s Interim Beach Access Stabilisation (IBAS) works are being examined by Byron Shire Council officers this morning but critics of the $1 million spent on the project say the money might as well have been thrown out to sea.

Byron Cr Paul Spooner took a tour of the beach himself this morning and saw sand covering the rocks completely washed away, netting hanging in tatters over rocks, some of which seem to have become dislodged.

Gorilla exhibit to reopen

The Cincinnati Zoo plans to reopen its gorilla exhibit Tuesday with a higher, reinforced barrier installed after a young boy got into the exhibit and was dragged by a 400-pound gorilla, which was then shot and killed.

The exhibit’s reopening comes a day after Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said he would not bring charges against the boy’s mother, who was tending to another child when her 3-year-old “just scampered off” as children sometimes do.

Tweed estuary salmon fishing row is resolved

A temporary peace has been declared in a row over the netting of spring salmon on the estuary of the River Tweed. Michael Hindhaugh, who runs the River Tweed Wild Salmon Company, has bowed to pressure from the River Tweed Commission (RTC) and halted operations at the Gardo netting station at Berwick-upon-Tweed, where fewer than 30 fish have been caught by nets during May.

Mom wants more safety netting at Baseball Field

DAVENPORT, Iowa- The mother of a boy hit in the face with a line drive at a Quad City River Bandit’s baseball game says she hopes team management extends safety netting at the park.

“It’s been brought to my attention, that they do have the netting. So, I would just like to see it put up to prevent the same thing from happening”, aid Ashley Scheckel.

Zoo installs higher barrier

The Cincinnati Zoo said Thursday it will re-open its gorilla exhibit next week with a higher, reinforced barrier after a 3-year-old boy got into the enclosure, leading to the fatal shooting of a male gorilla.

Zoo spokeswoman Michelle Curley said the outer barrier will now be 42 inches high — a half foot taller than before — with solid wood beams on top and at the bottom, plus knotted rope netting at the bottom.

NERDs catch and stock fish

The past two weeks in NERDs have been very busy! First, we had to get everything prepared for the upcoming NERDs golf tournament. Then we started SLIN netting (Spring Littoral Index netting) for Lake Trout, on Cashel Lake near Gunter. We did this for five days.

Dip-netting still a useful method to gather bait

We are in the middle of an annual phenomenon known as the spring “hill” tides. The full and new moons of May and June features these exceptionally strong tides which leads to the flushing of blue crabs, pass (mackerel) crabs and large brown shrimp from the major estuaries of Tampa Bay, Sarasota Bay and Charlotte Harbor. The flush serves to propel these critters on their way to the open Gulf for the spawn.

Outdoor Grow Guide

Your plants have begun to feel their way around their new homes, and they’re most likely booming with new growth. Now, it’s time to tame all this wild growth into the highest yield possible. If you don’t train and manicure your plants, they will focus their energy on growing one primary cola (bud). Which isn’t a bad thing, but there are ways to train your plants so that one plant can have 10, 50, even 200 primary colas!