r/WesternAustralia

Through the Haze. By Noongar, blind artist.

Hey everyone I'm Mel, I'm a legally blind Noongar woman from WA. Through the Haze is my latest painting. Telling a story where landscapes are never completely clear.

Through the Haze is about learning to see differently. About finding beauty in what remains.

Available Now.

To learn about my story and to view my work go to

https://beyondsightart.myshopify.com/

All artworks are original 1 of 1.

Shipping Aus wide included. 🤎

Hi all, unfortunately I have a potential dispute with a local mechanic and I’m hoping to get some advice on what’s going on.

My car is a 2003 Honda CR-V, which I bought about a year ago. Last week it wouldn’t start, so I took it to one of the local mechanics. I live in a small town, so my options are limited.

When the car was returned, the mechanic’s report said the intake pipe was broken and a vacuum valve was disconnected. They claimed to have repaired the intake pipe and reconnected the vacuum pipe. I was also verbally told the car was capable of long-distance driving.
Two days later, I had to drive for around 3 hours to run an errand. After about 2.5 hours, the car broke down on the highway. Luckily, I was able to coast it into a safe spot.

A RAC roadside mechanic then inspected it and found that the intake pipe was not working properly, along with some missing screws deeper inside the engine bay near the intake manifold. They made some temporary repairs that allowed me to drive home safely, but unfortunately did not provide a written report.

We then emailed the mechanic asking for an explanation. I understand that it’s an old car and that new issues can arise after a service, but I’m struggling to understand how the same issue could reappear so soon after the repair.

The mechanic replied that the intake pipe had been repaired using clamps fitted to the ends of the pipe. They suggested there may also be an additional pressure-related issue that caused the pipe to come loose, which might require complete replacement of the intake pipe. They said they don’t normally keep this pipe in stock.

They also maintain that the car should have been able to operate normally when it left their workshop.
I’m pretty ignorant about cars, so I’m hoping to get some advice from people who know more than I do. Does the mechanic’s explanation sound reasonable? Could a repair like this realistically fail after only a couple of days and a few hours of driving? And what would you recommend I do next?

Pics show a piece that was broken from the intake pipe (provided by the town mechanic, which they claimed to have found during their initial inspection) and the blue tape applied by the roadside assistance mechanic. Also the town mechanic’s email reply to our request for explanation re the sudden breakdown.

It's definitely worth stepping outside for a moment and checking out the conjunction of the moon and Venus tonight!

A Moon-planetary conjunction is an optical illusion where the Moon and the planet(s) look very close together in the night sky even though they are millions of kilometres away from each other.

They happen every month with the ones for Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn being quite prominent due to the brightness of the planet as well.

The closeness does vary due to where the moon is in its elliptical orbit around the earth and where the planets are in their elliptical orbit around the sun. You can have in rare occasions, the Moon passes in front of a planet. This is called an Occultation.

keep seeing good furniture left on the verge — tables, couches, cupboards, drawers, you name it.

But what if you didn’t even have to drive past it to find it?

There’s an Aussie app called SnagMate where locals can post free stuff they spot, and people nearby can get notified.

So instead of randomly finding a decent couch on the side of the road… imagine your phone telling you: “Oi, free couch 2km away.” 😂

No ads. No scrolling through endless marketplace listings. Just locals helping locals snag free stuff.

Anyone in WA already using something like this? 👀

In 2005, Australia held the world’s biggest morning tea and entered the Guinness World Records. Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea is held every year, generally on a Thursday in May or June. It has become an important symbol of Australia’s multicultural society and one of the tea-related events of which Australians are most proud.

By 2023, Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea had attracted more than 500,000 fundraising hosts, and its fundraising had reached a significant scale. The event continues to be held every year. In 2026, Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea had 20,473 registered hosts and raised more than A$16.6 million.

Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea is a nationwide fundraising event initiated by Cancer Council Australia. Its format is actually very simple. People choose a morning and host a morning tea at home, at work, at school, in a community centre, park or club, or even online. They invite friends, neighbours, colleagues and members of the community to enjoy tea, coffee, cakes and other refreshments together while raising funds for cancer research, prevention, and support services for people affected by cancer and their families. Cancer Council describes it as one of its most popular fundraising events and one of the largest and most successful events of its kind in Australia.

On Thursday, 26 May 2005, a date that would enter the Guinness World Records, more than 280,000 people across Australia stopped what they were doing for a worthy cause and a good cup of tea. From factories, shops, offices and schools, people came together to take part in Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea. The organisers proudly stated that although they would have to wait to find out whether their Guinness World Records attempt had succeeded, the effort itself was already world-class.

Guinness World Records subsequently confirmed the official figures: 280,246 participants at 6,062 locations across Australia took part in the simultaneous tea party. The event was officially recognised as the Largest Tea Party (Multiple Venues).

Unlike tea events centred mainly on auctions, singing and dancing, or tea ceremony performances, this event was not only about promoting tea culture and encouraging a healthy lifestyle. More importantly, it raised funds for Cancer Council, one of Australia’s leading cancer charities, supporting cancer prevention and control, cancer research, and services for people affected by cancer. The event was becoming bigger than the Boston Tea Party in its own unique way. The 2005 Biggest Morning Tea raised more than A$7 million.

The event also broke the previous world record held by the United Kingdom. Before Australia established the new record, the United Kingdom had held the relevant record. According to Cancer Council Australia material published in 2006, the British record set in 2004 involved 11,760 people. Australia’s 2005 event, with more than 280,000 participants, surpassed it by a very large margin. Cancer Council even humorously linked the achievement to the famous cricket rivalry between Australia and England: although England had regained the Ashes, Australia had taken the world record for the biggest morning tea. After the 2005 achievement, Cancer Council for a time referred to the event as the World’s Biggest Morning Tea.

The event itself began in 1994. In 2018, Cancer Council celebrated the 25th anniversary of Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea, confirming that the first event had been held in 1994. It grew from a very simple idea — people sitting down together over a cup of tea and doing something to help people affected by cancer — into one of Australia’s largest nationwide community fundraising events.

As a major fundraiser for Cancer Council, Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea has raised substantial funds for cancer research and related services in Australia, giving the event considerable social significance. At the same time, for many Australians, hosting or attending a morning tea has become an important annual tradition. As its name suggests, Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea has truly become the world’s biggest morning tea of its kind.

One of the reasons Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea has grown to such a scale is that it connects tea with health and has attracted widespread attention and participation across Australian society. It is a charitable event with a meaningful social purpose. It promotes healthy living, while tea itself has long been associated with a healthy lifestyle. The two therefore complement each other naturally.

It uses tea as a medium without being restricted by tea itself, connecting tea with community service and charitable causes and addressing important social issues in the name of a shared cup of tea. This model of organising tea-related community activities and integrating them with public welfare offers valuable lessons for tea organisations in other countries.

Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea is therefore much more than simply a gathering to drink tea. Funds raised support Cancer Council’s work in cancer research, cancer prevention, health education, support for people affected by cancer, family support and related services. Cancer Council has stated that close to A$250 million has been invested in Australian cancer research over the past five years. Its information also shows that cancer survival in Australia has increased from approximately 49% in the 1980s to around 71% today.

The symbolic journey of that simple cup of tea can therefore be expressed as:

Tea → Community → Charity → Health

It is important to note that the Australian concept of “morning tea” is not exactly the same as the Chinese, particularly Cantonese, tradition of yum cha or morning tea. Cantonese morning tea is a distinctive food and tea culture, usually enjoyed from the morning until around midday. Tea is accompanied by dim sum, dishes and other foods, traditionally in a teahouse or restaurant, and the occasion has a strong social function.

Australian morning tea is closer to a simple mid-morning tea break or social gathering. Traditionally, it takes place at around 10:00 to 11:00 am and usually involves a cup of tea or coffee accompanied by simple refreshments such as cakes, scones, biscuits and sandwiches.

The format of Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea is both simple and flexible. It does not require everyone to gather in one stadium or large venue. On the contrary, one of its defining features is its decentralised nature. An ordinary Australian household can host an event simply by setting a table, preparing tea, coffee, cakes, scones and biscuits, and inviting ten friends, with each person donating A$10, A$20 or more.

Workplaces can also host their own morning teas. At around 10:00 am, employees might take a half-hour break, bring homemade cakes and other food, enjoy tea together and raise money at the same time.

Schools, Rotary clubs, community organisations, aged-care facilities, local governments and businesses across Australia also take part. Cancer Council provides registered hosts with resources such as posters, decorations, recipes, games and other materials through its host kits. In essence, Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea brings together thousands of small tea gatherings to create one enormous nationwide tea event.

Another important distinction should be made. Australia’s Guinness World Record was for the world’s largest tea party held across multiple venues simultaneously, rather than at a single location. The Guinness World Record for the Largest Tea Party at a single venue was set in India. On 24 February 2008, 32,681 people attended a tea party organised by Dainik Bhaskar at Nehru Stadium in Indore, India.

The success of Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea also reflects an important aspect of Australian culture. Australians have had a strong attachment to tea since the early colonial period. During the era of colonial settlement and exploration, tea became an essential part of everyday life and an important provision for people travelling and working in remote areas. Tea contains a range of naturally occurring compounds, including polyphenols, and became deeply embedded in Australian daily life. For more than half a century in the past, Australia ranked among the world’s leading countries in per-capita tea consumption, as discussed in detail in my previous article.

Another expression that remains popular in Australia today is “a cuppa.” Australians often say, “Have a cuppa,” meaning to sit down, have a cup of tea or coffee and have a chat. The emphasis is not necessarily on the tea itself, but on sitting down together, sharing a drink, talking and connecting with other people.

Cancer Council transformed this familiar Australian social custom into a form of community fundraising — “a cuppa for a cause”: sharing a cup for a meaningful purpose. This is one of the reasons Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea has developed from a simple fundraising activity into a nationwide community tradition.

From its beginnings as a small community initiative to the Guinness World Record involving more than 280,000 people in 2005, and then to a nationwide fundraising tradition that has raised more than A$200 million over three decades, Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea has travelled an extraordinary journey. More than 500,000 hosts have taken part over the years.

After more than thirty years, Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea stands as one of the most remarkable tea-related community events in Australian history — and one of the tea culture traditions of which Australia can be truly proud.

Challenging but not impossible to shoot a rodeo on the xhalf.

Hey I'm Mel 35yo Blind Noongar artist in Perth.

Wild Earth is my latest painting, solely using my hands to create texture through feeling and intuition.

To read about Wild Earth and learn about my story go to my store

https://beyondsightart.myshopify.com/

Looking for recent recommendations for decent dog friendly cabins in Western Australia 🇦🇺
Photo is of our spoilt little fur baby 🥹🐶❤️
Have looked at Airbnb’s but most of them have pretty bad reviews and the hosts are invasive.
Would like a secluded cabin somewhere quiet if possible.