Australia Day

Andrew Bould and Kay Mooney sent in photos of the day: some are here and the others are on our Events page.

Well done to Ian and his helpers for making such a fantastic show on the ferry.

Kay suggests that Australia Day is one to celebrate being unique - Australian - there's no one like us.  Maybe we should brush off our 'strine' and keep that difference to the fore, or maybe not.  I found Johns book "Lets talk Strine" by Afferbeck Lauder (have to speck louder?)  full of little gems like: Flesh in the Pen= momentary brilliance;  emachizit= how much is it; Egg Jelly=  In fact;  Londger Ray: womens underclothing, But Dismal Guernsey : dollars and cents? No, don't try to pronounce it, slur it and it comes out "decimal currency".  I think that kind of 'strine is dead and gone and not a bad thing, but you can still say "g'day" to a friend, or toss a snag on the barbie.

   

 

Alan Farrell 'wind assisting' the flag 

Library film screening Noah

 

Join us to watch the film Noah which is loosely based on the story of Noah’s Ark in the book of Genesis.

The film stars Russell Crowe as Noah, along with Jennifer Connelly, Ray Winstone, Emma Watson, Logan Lerman, and Anthony Hopkins.

Noah is rated PG for violence, disturbing images and brief suggestive content.

Tues. 10 February Paynesville Service Centre 2.30 pm – 5.00 pm

Thurs. 12 February Bairnsdale Library 2.00 pm – 4.30 pm

Bookings are essential.

Phone 5152 4225 or book in person at the library for this FREE event.

Koala mini fair

The Raymond Island Koala & Wildlife Shelter held its annual mini Fair on December the 28^th 2014.

The day was a huge success with $4100 raised in total. The money  will go to medical expenses and towards a new Fly Proof enclosure.

Many people attended tourists, visitors and locals. The day was warm and sunny just perfect.

A Special Thank you to everyone who came along and supported the work we do: Oz Carnies who provided the entertainment; Annika from Paint me Silly who provided face painting; Ride the Koalas for their wonderful donation and ongoing support of our Shelter; and our dedicated team of volunteers who worked tirelessly to organise and run this event.
Thanks also go to our sponsors for the day:

Major raffle - Bulls Cruises, Dahlsens, Gippsland Lakes Escapes

Day raffle - Ritchies IGA Paynesville, Peels Cruises, Aquamania, Boathouse Pizza & Grill, Bunnings

Sausage sizzle/stalls: Mens Shed Paynesville, Coles Bairnsdale, Ritchies IGA Paynesville, Waterview Bakery, Foodworks, Koala Hill Crafts, Aussie Blue Souvenirs, Bret Ward Real Estate,
LJ Hooker Real Estate, Bendigo Bank, United Service Station Paynesville, REGFM  Radio Station, ABC Radio.

Don't forget to read our Shelter Report: 19 July to 9 December at:
http://www.raymondisland.net/Reports.html.

Australia Day fundraisers

Raymond Islanders and visitors to the Island have again showed their generosity and community spirit over the Australia Day weekend.

Cathie Gaffney sent a thankyou to all who supported Happy Hour's Movie and Pizza Night. A wonderful selection of pizzas and a very funny movie was enjoyed by all.

$108.05 was raised from the night and this will be added to The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne Appeal.

Tom and Jane Ponting were also delighted to report that their garage sale on Sunday resulted in $200 to go to the Paynesville Ambulance service.

Web site make-over for 2015

Greetings for 2015!

For a small community web site, we pack some punch - we finished the year with 486 email subscribers and 33,204 visitors (peaking at up to 2,000 visitors per week).

You'll notice there's a fresh new look for the web site this year - it comes from your feedback during 2014 and from the responses to our online survey in December.

In the survey we asked 5 questions:
1. What do you like most about the Raymond Island Net web site? The general sense of our users' responses was that it keeps them 'in touch with what's going in and provides with a sense of connection'.

2. How often do you visit the Raymond Island Net web site? Most people check the website weekly.

3. Which sections do you visit? In popularity: 100% News 100%;  60% Ferry and Community; 50% Diary; and  40% Koalas, Services and Island.

4. Which interactive features would you like on the web site - and would you like to contribute to them? In popularity: 90% islander introductions, guest columnists;  70% buy sell and swap; 60% vox pops; 50% quizzes, postcards, and reviews.

5. Do you have any other comments, or feedback that would help to improve the site? Responses were evenly split between wanting the old site back because the new site feels impersonal and austere, and wanting the new site to be more consistent and simple in format. 

Other suggestions received during the year have been to:

* be able to print out news updates

* include more information about the surrounding communities in which we participate

In response to your input, you'll find lots of new features, including: a cleaner look with easier navigation; a weekly rain gauge with live weather on the home page; our first special Community profile on artist Joe Driscoll; a wonderful Gallery of beautiful photographs from our web site archive; and new sections on our 'Insider' page, including a 'buy sell and swap' exchange for Islanders and weekly postcards, reviews and quizzes.  

During the year I hope to see more contributions by guest 'roving' reporters and columnists and hope that the new look site provides more opportunities for subscribers to participate in making the site an even better community resource.

Regards,

Jane Ponting

(Webmaster)

Echidnas

Kay Mooney reports...

Although common and well known to Aussies, Echidnas are worth pointing out to visitors to R.I. who may know nothing of this cute islander. 

They are one of only five monotremes. Monotremes are egg-laying mammals with legs that extend outward and down.  They breed between June and September and the female lays one egg into a pouch on her body.  The egg will hatch after 10 days and the little "puggle" will stay there until the spines grow too long, around six months.  The female has no nipples but sweats milk from patches on her skin.  

Echidnas feed on ants termites grubs and worms using a extremely rapid 15 cm long tongue, hence the name Tachyglossidae (fast tongue) Watch them ram their beak into the earth, and if you listen they huff.  Are they "drilling" using air?  Does anyone know?  

They are of course protected by law, their predators are eagles dogs and cars. And don't try to pick them up!