• Andrew from Vancouver, Canada told the story of last week his city, hosting the Invictus Games where he was a volunteer and was very proud of the Australian team’s performance. He had been living there for 20 years with a Construction Consultancy business.

• Andrew reported that Prince Harry was on location, overseeing the event. This one being the 10th, the next one in 2 years will be in Birmingham. He also said that the construction industry in Vancouver has been hit by a 30-40% increase in costs, plenty of talk of getting young people into trades, “Vancouver has similiar problems to Sydney”. It costs way too much to build, but it will only get more expensive with the US tarrifs.
• Christine from Northern Tasmania, a first responder for medical support with the firefighters, talked about her experiences. She’s be in Tasmania for 20 years but moved to Latrobe, “it’s quiet, it’s beautiful and it’s blooming cold!”
• Rob Pollock rang from Maria, referring to the bombing of Darwin, he’d just done a charity row to PNG for Black Dog (Men’s Mental Health), Horn Island was the 2nd most bombed place in the war and he went past it. Horn Island being the most northernmost airport in Australia, hence it was heavily defended in WW2. On Thursday Island they had a rich heritage of Japanese pearl divers during the war so putting together a defence force to defend against the Japanese would have been fraught given the local Japanese cultural heritage.

It started at Seisia (on the tip of the Cape York Peninsula), they then rowed to Thursday Island then rowed through Islands in the Torres Strait, stopped at Mabuiag, then to Turn again Island, uninhabited but crocodiles everywhere. They called themselves the “Mussel Rowers” in a surf boat, a group of Surf Life Savers from all over NSW. It was a 4 day row to get there. Getting permission to go to PNG was tough as during Covid, PNG was shut off from Saibai Island, where the PNG people would go and sell their produce, but during Covid it was shut down, which caused a tough gig getting the visas, but with the help of a few influential people they got them. The local kids ran out to meet the boats and were delighted to get some free St George Illawara and Sydney Roosters merch. The previous year they took 150 pairs of second hand football boots as well as Roosters and St George Illawara gear, and footballs which will be dropped off by Border Force helicopter whilst they scan for the huge drug trade operating through there. He saw Dugongs and Turtles but no crocodiles in the water.

• Troy from South West Ross called in to talk about the meeting at Kempsey Racecourse about the rural and regional crime. Local police are great but not enough of them there he said, “we are all living in fear”, he said. “Hopefully we’ll get some intervention and rehabilitation programs out of it instead of the lynch mob.”

Insights into the meeting and the crime being experienced, can be found here.

• Anita rang in from the town of Tea Gardens in NSW and said “I grow peanuts”, her husband’s grandmother used to grow peanuts in Castle Hill over 60 years ago”. “I had some raw peanuts in the pantry, so i put them in some water and put them in the ground and low and behold they came up!”, she said. They have little yellow flowers. “I’d never seen anyone growing them in their gardens”. She said she lived on the hill and she has clay soil so she uses a raised bed, “the peanuts fix the nitrogen for my pumpkins.”

Find out more about how to grow peanuts in this video.

• Marcus and Robin rang in whilst on the road with his Mustang going from Melbourne to Warrnambool, he’d just got fined $325, a speeding fine doing whilst being clocked at 116km/hour in a 100 km/hour zone. They reported it looked exceptionally dry on their way to Mortlake yet not far away in Gippsland it is very green.

• John rang having just landed at Alotau in PNG, on the last P&O cruise, operating out of Australia, with approximately 2,800 aboard. The demographic has changed dramatically since Covid, he said, lots more younger people on cruise ships now. He had been involved in establishing a memorial to the Kiaps that died in PNG, a service will take place on the 50th anniversary of PNG Independence Day, on September 16 in Canberra. He called out to family members of soldiers that died in PNG during the war. He reminded us that PNG is only 4km from Saibai Island.

Find out more about the Kiapps Memorial here.

• Geoff, a consultant for Energy and Clean Water, from Darwin rang in, a big electrical monsoon the previous night, it was the latest monsoon Darwin had ever had. He’d done a 7 day trip through Java on 7 different trains. He was a train buff and went on his own, started at Banyuwangi on the East Coast, had a look at the Dutch railway history and visited temples and museums in each city, went on a train in Java that reached 327Km/hour, built by the Chinese (who won the contract ahead of the Japanese). Very few caucasians were on the trains, “apart from cuttings and tunnels you could see houses at every stage of the trip.”

Get more insight into Banyuwangi here.

• Captain Rebecca Levitt rang in about Navy Week which starts on March 3rd, the Navy 124th birthday is on March 1. She was not disconcerted by the recent Chinese Navy drills. Navy Week is around Australia, celebrating the strengths of the Navy and it’s contribution to the National Interest. She is the Commanding Offier for HMS Kuttabul at Woolloomooloo in Sydney. They are opening up to the public on Saturday March 8, where the public can get on the ships and talk to Navy people.

More information about Navy Week events here.

• Lexie from Alexandria called in about a Bunnings BBQ on behalf of the Sydney Sirens Ice Hockey Club who play in a national league. They are the only women’s NSW team, the finals are coming up in Melbourne. The BBQ was to raise funds for the club’s travels, many ice rinks have closed in NSW so the club is rebuilding after Covid suspending the sport.

Find out more about the Sydney Sirens here

• Chrissie from Hobart rang in about her local Rotary Roadshow, which is celebebrated the 100 year anniversary in Tasmania last year. They will go to various community events in Launceston and across Tasmania. Chrissie’s club is Salamanca Sunrise. She related that Rotary perform 47 million volunteer hours across the world each year.

See how they are celebrating their centenary here.

• Allan was just leaving the King George Sound in Albany heading west to Freemantle on the boat, Southern Cross. He had visited the National Anzac Centre in Albany, which had a good interactive museum. Their trip can be followed on Social media #SouthernCross.

• Christa from Inverell, rang in about Navy Week, “in the 60s when i left school i lived right alongside HMAS Cerberus at Western Port Bay in Victoria, three german girls including me landed jobs at the port and I loved the role.” She got married on the Naval base, the church was packed with people from the base. Her late husband were sprinkled in the Bight off HMAS Brisbane on the way to the Gulf war.

• David rang in 15 years after calling in from the Qantas Flight Deck 128 from Hong Kong to Sydney. He left the job with A380s during Covid. He started flying sail planes as part of the Military Cadets in 1972, joined the Air Force in 1977, joined Qantas in 1985, always flying gliders and sail planes in his spare time. He had just left the 20m National Gliding Championships in Temora, heading back to Kingaroy. Kingaroy pilots did very well at the event, coming 2nd as a team, with a male and female pilots both winning their events. He is going to Boar in the Czech Republic representing Australia soon. He talked about Winglets at the end of each wing, becoming standard on all aircraft around 15 years ago. Macca asked what Gliders cost, he responded $6k to $500k+ and $30-50k would get you a reasonable performer but joining a gliding club is a far more economical option. He talked about the Morning Glory in Arabia, being the pinnacle of the Gliding world.

Watch this video to get an insight into the Morning Glory:

• Alistair emiled from a large dairy complex in Saudi Arabia, he was there carrying out annual maintenace on 4 bottling lines at Nada Dairies. He related that the staff there from less developed countries have to do a 2 year stint before being allowed to visit home. He said there are over 70,000 Fresians there under cover from the desert sun, it’s winter and about 25 degrees but it was 52 in summer.

Get an insight into NADA dairy here.

• John talked about his mother steaming envelopes to reuse the stamps and get free postage.

• Brendan called from Wagga Wagga, was running a young sheep judging competition, the winners going onto the Royal Sydney Easter Show (April 11-22, 2025). He was from Gurley, and is President of the Moree Show Society.

See more about this year’s Sydney Easter Show here:

• Daniel wrote in from a gas and oil site at the Cooper Basin in the Strzelecki Desert, a FIFO mechanic keeping the landcruisers going, he sees some beautiful flocks of budgies at times.

Learn more about the geology of the Cooper Basin in this video:

• Rob called in from Blackman’s Bay in Tasmania and recalled being on board when an earlier caller’s husband’s ashes were sprinkled in the Bight on the way to the Gulf War.

Listen to a fascinating coverage of the HMAS Brisbane here:

Listen to the podcast episode here.

Disclaimer: Brisbane Suburbs Online News has no affiliation with Ian McNamara or the “Australia All Over Show.” This weekly review is an attempt to share the wonderful stories that Ian broadcasts each week and add value to what is a smorgasbord of great insights.