Cracking up
INCENSED to hear a reporter on our ABC telling us she “rode an elevator” — no, not an elephant or a horse, apparently she straddled a lift, I was surprised to find in an otherwise excellent article, on the dangers of leaving dogs in cars, talking about cracking a window. To crack a window to an Australian used to mean put a crack in the glass. Why do we have to adopt inaccurate Americanisms? I can cope with closet instead of wardrobe, and sidewalk instead of footpath, but I cannot ‘walk a ways’ with the takeover of our language to its detriment. And yes, I know you would probably ride on an elephant rather than try to just ride it.
Renewable, sort of
I TOO was sucked in by the report that Flinders Island is now being run almost entirely by renewable energy. But it turns out that “now” refers at, say 11.35 on a sunny Wednesday morning as a nice breeze wafted across the island. For most of the time, just as in South Australia, a brace of smoking diesel generators will be taking up the slack. South Australia, which owns the biggest battery in the world, has enough battery storage to power the en-
Scenery spoiled
HAVING enjoyed a wonderful bus trip to Derwent Bridge this week to see “The Wall in the Wilderness” we were appalled at some of the scenery just before Tarraleah. The roadside in some parts had no tree margin to mask the devastation of areas that had been logged and not cleared properly. What a sight for tourists in this beautiful wilderness area, such a shame. However the Wall in the Wilderness is an experience in itself, a must-see stop for Tasmanians as well as tourists.
Cost caveat
RENE Hidding’s column laid out what a future Hodgman government would propose for Sorell and Southern Beaches (Talking Point, December 14). One flaw is that they have already done nothing for four years. He is proposing more studies on projects that envisage enormous sums of money being spent. Huge costings provides a get-out clause. Have Metro out here and getting near empty cars off the road would be much cheaper alternative.