Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to All

Another abandoned building

and

In the spirit of Christmas, here is a yuletide abandonment, just prior to its demolition.

This very yummy chocolate house was created by a 'cottage industry' lady in the Dandenongs, and presented to me by one of our suppliers - thanks Dean & the crew.

- The cottage in pristine condition

Crossing the ditch

New Zealand is now 30cm closer to Australia, after the 7.8 magnitude earthquake which struck the Fiordland region of the South Island in July.

The cost to fly there, and the flight time remain the same!

Mt Cook, N.Z.

And thereby hangs a tale

While I'm not a big reader of short stories, I do admire authors who can encapsulate an entire narrative in the short succinct format. My favourite SS authors would be Agatha Christie, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Jeffrey Archer.

And thereby hangs a tale is Jeffrey Archer's sixth volume of short stories. It has his distinctive characterisation and suspense combined with the unexpected plot twists. Taking inspiration from his favourite short story writers - F. Scott Fitzgerald, Maupassant, H.H. Munro, W. Somerset Maugham and O. Henry - and from Willie Shakespeare too, as the phrase "and thereby hangs a tale" is from Shakespeare's As You Like It. This collection contains 15 stories, 10 of which are based on true incidents. Being Archer stories, they come with the twist at the end, some you can see coming, but others are classic ohh woww.

What’s the world’s best airline?

From the Lonely Planet blog comes What’s the world’s best airline?

A recent survey saw airlines achieving the top scores hailed from Asia and the Pacific. The gold, silver and bronze winners were Singapore Airlines, Air New Zealand and Emirates, respectively.

Qantas though, didn't rate a mention (obviously they're not trading on the Rainman repution any more). The survey used a 30-point scale that incorporated several subfactors into an airline’s overall rating – including the quality of its website and luggage policies.