Limca

February 4, 2009
by Rodney Olsen
3 Comments

Limca_logo.jpgThere it was … taunting me … tempting me. An ice cold bottle of Limca was in our fridge. I had no idea how it got there but I knew exactly where it was going.

Limca is a lemon lime drink from India. I drank plenty of it both in 2003 and 2005 when I visited India and I’ve always wished that it was available here in Australia.

A while after getting home today I opened the fridge to see the object of my desire staring back at me. There it was, 300 ml of pure taste sensation. I could only guess that Pauline had found it somewhere in her travels.

Once Pauline arrived home I quizzed her on how she found Limca here in Perth. Apparently there’s an Indian food shop not far from the new school the kids are attending. That means it’s not far from where we’ll eventually move when we sell our house and buy another.

The bottle cost $2.50 but it was worth every cent. I gave Pauline, Emily and James a small taste before downing the rest of the bottle.

I don’t think I can afford to drink Limca every day but you can be sure that I’ll be visiting that shop somewhat regularly when we finally move house.



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A slice of history

February 3, 2009
by Rodney Olsen
4 Comments

On the 26th of January 1988, while most Australians were gearing up to celebrate the country’s bicentennial year, a new FM radio station started full time broadcasting in Perth. Australia Day 2009 marked the 21st anniversary of 98.5 Sonshine FM and the official opening of the brand new studios in Como.

An opening ceremony was held at South Perth Church of Christ (adjacent to the new facilities) bringing together community leaders and listeners of the radio station.

Around 500 supporters attended the ceremony, featuring a message from Western Australian Premier, Hon. Colin Barnett, before touring 98.5 Sonshine FM’s new home. Perth media personality Graham Mabury officially opened the complex, reprising the role he undertook 21 years ago when Sonshine FM began on-air.

The new building houses state of the art digital broadcasting equipment as well as the Sonshine FM CareLine, a confidential help line that provides a listening ear to the community.

The video in this post, put together by Sonshine FM’s Ash Wright, gives a short history of the radio station. It runs about 19 minutes and don’t worry about seeing a black screen for the opening seconds of the video … it’s meant to start that way. (Look out for a somewhat younger Rodney Olsen at about the 10:30 mark.)



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Chopper Squad

February 2, 2009
by Rodney Olsen
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Carson.jpgI could see the columns of smoke stretching into the sky as I cycled home. Every time I changed direction the fire seemed to be in a different place. I tried working out where it was but soon after I got home Pauline told me that it was fairly close.

There was a fire burning strongly, aided by today’s scorching hot weather, just a couple of kilometres away. The fire services were working flat out to bring everything under control and the helicopter water bombers were in full force going backwards and forwards to the scene of the fire. At one point, before I got home, the helicopter went directly above our home as it made its way to a small lake about a kilometre from our house.

Just as we were finishing dinner, the largest of the choppers headed over our house again. We figured it need more water from the lake but it seemed to land at the local park and stay there. I wondered if it may be refueling. We jumped in the car and headed off for a look.

When we got to the park we saw the giant Carson Helicopter and two smaller choppers parked on the grass, getting refueled from tanker trucks. The Carson is a massive Sikorsky S61 Helicopter which can carry around 3700 litres of water each run. The Carson website says,

Carson’s S-61 FIRE KING is the “perfect” firefighting machine capable of rapidly and accurately delivering a thousand gallons of water per drop. That, coupled with the ability to transport personnel and cargo internally at great speeds and range directly to the fire line, makes the FIRE KING the most versatile fire suppression tool available to Firefighting Agencies today.

We wandered around the edge of the park, not wanting to get in the way. Eventually we saw someone wander across to the Carson. They were invited to jump on board for a look around. We headed straight for the helicopter and were also invited for a tour. The children received a sticker and a pin as souvenirs.

After checking out all three aircraft we sat about 25 metres away from the carson, waiting for the pilots to get the order to head off.

Eventually the order came and we watched the choppers take to the sky. It was an amazing thrill to be on the grass so close to the big helicopter as it lifted off. The wind coming from the blades of the chopper were as strong as the engine was loud. It was awesome.

All three took off and headed away. We started walking back to the car watching the three helicopters become specks ni the sky before disappearing completely. What a great way to end the day.



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