Katoomba Leura Online

I saw a nice post on the architecture of the Leura Church of Latter Day Saints chapel. Worth a read if you have been curious about this striking building.

Church of Latter Day Saints Chapel in Leura

Garage Sale in Katoomba with all items from the house to be sold – perfect for first home starters!

 

Date: 8/8/09 @ 8am to 4pm (approx)

Address: 45 Minni HaHa Rd, Katoomba

Contact: Lisa  – 0423 520 365

 

Some items include

 

• Car – Mazda 121 Metro 2000 Man. with 117,000km
• Fridge
• Lounge Suite
• Washing Machine (5KG)
• Microwave
• Clothes Dryer
• Small round wooden dining table with 4 chairs
• Books & Magazines
• CDs, DVDs & records etc
• Linen
• Kitchen Items (pots, pans, tupperware, cutlery, crockery, glasses, mugs etc etc)
• BricaBrac (ornamants, crystal, vases, lamps, etc)
• Jewellery
• Pictures, canvas and photo frames

After sitting vacant for over a decade, the old Convent at Katoomba is set for an auction on the 23rd of July.

The building was built as a convent and used as a boarding school before being sold off. The site re-emerged as the Renaissance Centre for a short stint as a tourism/cultural centre before sitting empty since the 1990s.

Regular coverage in the media in 1998, 2001, 2002 and heritage listing in 2003 kept the site in the public eye. If you are curious to see inside and views from around the 4 acres of grounds, check out the listing

We, the undersigned residents, businesses and visitors of Katoomba, oppose the LED X/204/2009 on the corners of Great Western Highway and Albion and Cooper Streets in Katoomba, currently before the Blue Mountains City Council.

Any (not just Woolworths) petrol station built there would:

– generate large additional volume of traffic on the already busy highway as well as on the streets around the project

– create more traffic accidents in already dangerous and accident-prone bend of the highway, one of its few blind corners, as well as on Albion Street

– create far too great disturbance of residences surrounding the site

– would destroy both living and visual environment through its light- and aesthetic- pollution

– would endanger water catchment area north of Katoomba town, including the Minni-haha Falls, one of the tourist attractions in the area which is an inseparable part of the World Heritage Area, and the Grose River which is a tributary of Hawkesbury River, Sydney’s playground

– would endanger local pristine environment-dependent business such as organic farming and tourism

– because there already are enough service stations in the area, the Woolworths one would most probably destroy – not create – local work opportunities.

We are asking the BMCC to reject the development proposal.

(To sign this Petition, please visit http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/katoombaactiongroup/index.html )

The Gazette reports, in a story that I think buried the lede, that Woolworths has struck a deal to buy the old Colless site in the Mall.

Work on the development has apparently ceased while future plans are confirmed. It is believed Woolies want to open a gourmet supermarket under the  Thomas Dux Grocer branding, retaining the planned underground car parking but no longer going ahead with the previously approved residential apartments on upper stories.

If the Woolworths plan goes ahead, it appears to be much more in keeping witht he village character – an up market supermarket catering to the Double Bay of the mountains ;-)

In any case, a scaled back development has positives for retaining Leura’s streetscape feel.

The Blue Mountains Maternity Coalition is organising a rally tomorrow at the Anzac Memorial Hospital in Katoomba in response to rumours the maternity wing is to be closed permanently. If you care about birthing in the mountains, consider lending your support. Meet t the hospital 1:30pm 14/5/09.

Rally Poster

Recent reports show both Katoomba and Leura have high mortgage stress with around 1 in 16 mortgage holders in arrears, and a high number of defaults.

The UWS Urban Research Centre, responsible for the report,  is here.

In the 19 November 2008 edition, the Gazette reported that council had a number of investments with Grange Securities (part of Lehman Brothers) that had their value reduced.

The auditors at that time wrote down the value of the then $25m investment fund by $4.1m. The report also noted some direct investments in sub-prime mortgage CDOs, which it claimed would be repaid at maturity.

Recent reports in the SMH and Age newspapers show that BMCC losses could be much greater. A table from The Age shows that BMCC had $11.3m invested with Grange, and a 20 April 2009 report in the SMH states councils have been offered only 5.6c in the dollar repayment of their capital.

If this figure is accurate, BMCC faces losses of over $10m, or in excess of $800 per ratepayer.

In November, council suggested that these problem investments would come good, but current reports suggest that council may be forced to accept the 5.6c in the dollar payment, throwing the council budget into disarray for years to come.

I think I’ll take this one with a big grain of salt, but a local Yowie would help tourism ;-)

All News Web is reporting two Euro backpackers spotted a ‘bigfoot’ like creature near Leura recently. No other evidence besides the verbal testimony was reported.

The report speculates that the area has long been associated with Yowies in Aboriginal folklore.

With all the rain this week, its nice to keep an eye on the weather up in the mountains wherever you may be.

Earlier this year the BMCC released its upgraded weather station, after lots of reliability issues with the old station.

The new software looks great, and is easy to use. Check it out.

The SMH reports a study evaluating NSW areas for sensitivity to increasing unemployment.
Wentworth Falls and Leura were rated a low risk, while Katoomba and Blackheath were ranked medium low risk.
Full results are HERE, with local results for Katoomba, Leura, Wentworth Falls and Blackheath.

While Katoomba and Blackheath had unemployment rates slightly higher than the state and national average, the study suggests any increases will be proportionally smaller than high risk areas such a south west Sydney.

Interestingly, it showed residents of the upper mountains are significantly more likely to have post-school qualifications than NSW in general, which contributes to increased overall job security.

Australia’s largest off-road foot race, the Six Foot Track marathon returns this Saturday.

The course from the Explorers Tree to the Jenolan Caves is a 45km challenge over steeply varying terrain. Starting in 1984 with seven racers, this year 850 runners will compete to be first across the line in a race past some magnificent scenery.

More info, including guides for spectators.

This Saturday 7^th March at Wentworth Falls School of Arts

Tickets/Enquiries:  0408330388 or 04392928014

Door opens 5.15pm show starts 6pm

Tickets $25 aDULTS

$15 cONCESSION

$5 cHILDREN

aRTISTS INCLUDE:       eCOPELLA, tHE SPOOKY mENS CHORALE, hANDS, HEART AND fEET, lIQUER fLAMBE, tHE BIG FAT SQUID, iTS ALL ABOUT ME, dAN DRUFF, aERIAL ARTIST TANYA RICHARDS AND MORE……..

With the terrible bush fires in Victoria fresh in our minds, now is a good time to review plans to cope with the bush fire risk in the upper Blue Mountains.
The BMCC has developed a Local Disaster Plan that covers roles and responsibilities in the case of bushfire or other serious situations. It can be downloaded here:
http://www.bmcc.nsw.gov.au/sustainableliving/bushfireandemergencies
It rates the risk of fire throughout the mountains as ‘major’, the highest level.
This plan also notes the major avenue of communication to the public in the event of a disaster is via the media, with mobile PA systems on emergency vehicles and door to door as back-ups.
The second document of help when considering bushfire preparedness is the
http://www.bmcc.nsw.gov.au/download.cfm?f=4D3FC5B6-423B-CE58-AE4BCDEDE75D4247
This document, provided by the RFS, takes a simple approach to developing either a stay and defend, or evacuate early plan.

Katoomba local Ray Green has been awarded an OAM for services to the sport of Rowing and the Blue Mountains community.

Congratulations!

From: Governor General’s site

Mr Raymond Charles GREEN,  Katoomba NSW 2780
For service to rowing through a range of administrative and coaching roles and as a competitor, and to the community of the Blue Mountains.
Supporter of rowing, for over 50 years.
Patron Member, NSW Rowing Association, 2007; Team Manager, 1982; Board Member, 1964 and 1982.
Life Member, Sydney Rowing Club; Vice-Captain, 1964-1968; Committee Member; 1981-1982; Coach, 1963-1989; Member, since 1958.
Chair, SRC Union of Old Rowers, 2007.
Coach, Newington College Rowing, 1989-1995.
Foundation Member and Captain, Lake Wallace Rowing Club, Wallerawang, since 2006.
Foundation Member and Captain, Rowing Club Liverpool, NSW, 1974-1976.
Captain, Drummoyne Rowing Club, 1976.
Coach, University of New South Wales in Championship events, 1968-1971.
Manager, first Australian Lightweight Rowing Team to New Zealand, 1967; promoted lightweight rowing; leading role in sending a rowing ‘eight’ to the Mexico 1968 Olympic Games.
NSW State Champion Rower, 1964.
Volunteer, Blue Mountains Food Service, since 2005.
Volunteer/activist, Blue Mountains Conservation Group and Bush Regeneration Society.

The Lithgow Mercury is reporting the upgrade to the highway over Victoria Pass will bypass the Mt Vic township, a relief to those concerned that thier houses and businesses could be resumed for the expanded road. Still no answer on why we need a multi-million dollar road expansion rather than boosting rail transport, hoever.

Ratings agency Fitch reported yesterday that Katoomba experienced the fourth highest rate of mortgage delinquancy in its latest review of the state of loan solvency.

While still at historically low levels, the high ranking is a concern for mountains residents as it points to a potentially growing number of locals struggling to make ends meet.

A year or two ago, there were lots of people offering compact flourescent light bulbs for no charge in order to claim the RECS (Renewable Energy Certificates) for the carbon emission savings over the life of the bulbs. More recently, the price of the RECS fell, and many organisations stopped offering the replacement globes.

Green Alliance are again offering the service and can arrange appointments in the upper mountains now. We had Keith install a bunch in our new house, and they are very good. If you are unhappy with the harsh cold light that these bulbs cast, consider the “Warm White” version that produces a light identical to a traditional incandescent globe. They turn on almost instantly, and are rated at 15w, suitable to replace 75w or 60w globes. Of course, its good for the environment too!

Green Alliance can be contacted on 1300 787 749

Sacred Waters: The Story of the Blue Mountains Gully Traditional Owners has won a 2008 Premiers’ History award. The book was written by local resident Dianne Johnson in collaboration with the residents of the Gully and their descendants. It chronicles the experiences of local indigenous people following the flooding of traditional lands to form Warragamba Dam, and the impact of white Australia on traditional indigenous culture through a local view. The $15,000 award recognises outstanding achievement in the Community and Regional History category.

Mt Boyce recorded a 1°C minimum, snow fell across the upper mountains (and hail and sleet) and produce crops across the central tablelands (and in my garden) will be at risk of frost damage. Yeah, just spring in the mountains! OK, it was the coldest October day for a few years, and records for cold are usually set in the first few days of the month, not the 22nd. SMH reports that it has snowed in October only 5 times in the last 50 years.

The media is reporting the lack of an anaesthetist should a woman in advanced labour require surgery prompted Katoomba maternity staff to insist the woman be transferred to Nepean.

Apparently, her contractions were only a minute apart when the call to make the hour long transfer was made. The baby was born near Glenbrook, and fortunately both mother and baby are healthy.

It seems that the government has decided this is a reasonable outcome, as it still has not adequately staffed the Katoomba maternity ward, despite repeated earlier promises.

Sky News is reporting that Katoomba Maternity unit has been closed for a 36 hour period due to lackof anaesthetic cover. It remains a mystery to me that so many people want to live in the mountains, and many who do are forced to travel to the city for work, yet NSW Health cannot recruit medical staff to work at the Katoomba Hospital.

The media is reporting that the NSW state government will no longer fund over time pay for full time Fire fighters to cover staff shortages if retained (part-time) staff call in sick.

This will cause approximately 30 stations in NSW to close peridically, including Leura.

The potential savings from this move? $1.5million.

It doesn’t seem like a good cost/benefit trade off. A pretty paltry saving against a $800m budget to needlessly put people in danger, particularly in a bush fire prone area such as the Blue Mountians.

The primary vote results have been tabulated, and there is a pretty even spread. The Greens look to have lead the way, with the ALP and Independents Terri Hamilton and Janet Mays also polling well.

The close race means preferences will be very important in deciding who gets the nod for the three vacancies. See the latest results at the AEC website.

The upper mountains have been included in Googles impressive, if privacy invasive Street View service.

90%+ of Katoomba and Leura are covered, along with just about all of Wenty, Blackheath and Medlow Bath.

Take a look here.

As of Monday 21st July, 2008, the maternity ward at Blue Mountains District ANZAC Memorial Hospital will be closed for at least 3 months and, until further notice.

This action effects many women already booked into the hospital and also takes away the rights of pregnant women to choose their place of birth in the Blue Mountains region.

The closure of the maternity unit may also cause problems for labouring women as they are forced to travel much longer distances to receive adequate care & as a result, they may be faced with unnecessary intervention. In the case of an emergency, the extra distance may have a huge impact on the birthing mother & baby.

A rally has been organised for this coming Monday, 21st July at 11am outside Katoomba Hospital

Please show your support by attending the rally & by forwarding this information on to family, friends & any members of the community that you have contact with. Bring placards/banners & balloons.

Everyone needs to attend to make the biggest impact possible!

Thank You.

There have been some stirrings following the release of the IPART discussion paper for train fares. The recommendation is for the fare structure to be a ‘flag-fall’ charge then a per kilometre fee. Initial media reports suggested this could see Blue Mountains users paying up to 50% higher fares. The paper also calls into question the discounts available for weekly tickets.

In response, the government stressed this was a discussion paper only, but recently reports are appearing that link the IPART fare structure to a revived Tcard electronic ticketing system:

ZDNet, SMH, ABC

IPART are calling for submissions to ipart@ipart.nsw.gov.au, so if you have a view, it would be a good time to share it.

I’m passing this on to you who may be interested.  The meeting is
planned at 7pm, Thursday 26th of June, 1/110 Katoomba St, Katoomba

Dear Friends,

I have some passion around creating a truly sustainable Blue
Mountains food network and wish to hold a meeting where all
interested people can share their own vision of local food
sustainability and security and perhaps develop an action plan. I’d
love everyone who contributes to the food cycle to attend; growers,
buyers, sellers, consumers, compostors, etc. . .

Food security is the foundation of any healthy community and
ensuring we have local food to supply local demand gives us a much
better chance of surviving the effects of global warming and
declining economies. Already food prices are soaring and rice is
becoming scarce which puts a strain on other grains and will domino
down the line.

Can I suggest the 26th of June as a date for the meeting? Location
can be at The Studio, 1/110 Katoomba St. Katoomba, at 7pm. Please
email me back so I can have some indication of who can attend.

And please send this email on to other interested people and groups.

Thanks.
For the Earth
Gary Caganoff

http://www.bluemts.health-harmony.com.au/directory/gary-caganoff

In The Pink

Scrapbooking and Stamping Fun Night at Lawson

Friday 6th June 6pm – Midnight

Beginners and experienced scrapbookers and stampers welcome.  Get together with your friends and make new friends.  Six hours of stamping, scrapping and work beyond the page.

$50 lucky door prize

$10 entry fee – includes tea and coffee and biscuits and donation to the pink ribbon appeal.

For more info go to theflamingoes.wordpress.com

The Gazette is reporting a no confidence motion in the food co-op board. I don’t know the particulars of this fight, and it looks like it has a personal element, but just from the point of view of an ordinary member, it looks like a problem.

The last newsletter talked about raising prices and membership fees in order to fund a new location and a change management consultant. This sounds like such a bad business decision it could be on a TV show. It smacks of the last communication you have before the news comes that the organisation is now insolvent and the new managers are attempting to refocus on ‘core’ business.

I suspect if there was a little less “world’s best practice for co-operatives”, and a little more common sense, the co-op would continue to do well.

You might have seen the reports in the Gazette about opposition to a mobile phone tower in Faulconbridge. This is part of the network upgrade that is to deliver fast wireless data speeds to the Blue Mountains for users of the Vodafone and Optus networks.
These 3G (for 3rd generation) systems offer access to the internet ate speeds that often exceed the wireline ADSL service available on traditional phones.
Over the last few months a couple of friends have shared the roll-out plans for various networks in the upper mountains region.
Telstra:
The NextG network replaced the old CDMA service, and while there are issues for users who are on the fringe of coverage areas (the signal doesn’t travel as far), on the whole it will probably be a good move. The new network offers speeds up to about 7Mbps, although typical speeds are slower, but still several megabits. The other advantage is the NextG network is HSDPA, the standard just about everybody is using, so handsets and modems will be cheap in time.
This network is running now, and pretty well covers the upper mountains. I don’t believe there are any plans to further expand coverage in our area, so if you cannot get it now, you are probably out of luck.
Optus:
Optus and Vodafone launched a joint network upgrade for metropolitan areas last year, with them sharing the cost of upgrading the base stations to 3G. Interestingly, the information I have says the metro region includes base stations all the way to Leura. I also suspect they expect to cover Katoomba from the Leura station, so don’t read that as excluding Katoomba. Even Blackheath might get some coverage as the straight line distance will be within range.
I haven’t got a date on when the upgrade will go ahead, but the Optus coverage website says upgrades will be done by July 2008.
I don’t believe they will make this date, based on some scheduling information I have seen from Vodafone.
Vodafone:
As the other partner in the Optus expansion, Vodafone’s network will come on at the same time. Their project plan states all metro upgrades (the whole joint venture project) will be complete by May 2009. This is why I doubt the Optus date.
Significantly, delays like that in Faulconbridge could extend this deadline further, and I am unaware whether the Leura upgrade will require a new mast (and possible associated delays) or whether the existing sites will suffice.
The second part of the Vodafone story is their 3G upgrade for non-metro sites. This is a separate project on their own, aiming to cover 95% of the population (slightly more than they cover now) with 3G services.
This project is scheduled to complete by December 2008, and has Ericcsson supplying the kit. Interestingly, they intend to upgrade all nodes then switch them all on at the same time, rather than as the upgrades are completed.
Vodafone claims after this upgrade you will be able to access 3G services anywhere you can currently get a standard GSM signal from them.
At the time of writing, the Vodafone 3G signal extends just west of Lapstone, with slower GPRS available for most of the train ride to the Upper Mountains.
3:
3 launched the first 3G network, covering a fair bit of Sydney, but coverage peters out in the lower mountains. 3 have no current plans to extend this, so mountains residents will have to continue looking enviously at the cheap data bundles they offer. Note that 3 users can access data in the mountains, but it is via roaming onto Telstra GPRS at ruinous expense ($1.65 per MB) and pretty slow.
Unwired:
I’m including Unwired here even though their technology is different from the phone companies. They currently offer no service in the upper mountains and have no firm plans to extend here. They do expect to change their network architecture to WIMAX, which will, in theory, allow wider coverage, so a future expansion would cost less.
That said, they do recognise the need to expand coverage, so we’ll see what happens.

Conclusion:
If you have money to burn, or a critical need for mobile broadband, then Telstra NextG is your only current option. Optus and Vodafone offer some cheap data plans, but the best Optus offers require you to bundle your home phone (and they do not extend their best deals for fixed lines to the mountains) and neither service operates at broadband speeds in the Upper Mountains yet.
The interesting thing will be to see whether the Optus/Vodafone upgrades scheduled for the upper mountains happen before or after the Australia wide Vodafone upgrade. It would be pretty annoying if rural areas get a 3G competitor to Telstra before the mountains.

This post is primarily aimed at people outside the mountains. I know when we were considering moving here the prospect of commuting to the city was rather daunting, and I didn’t know anybody who was doing it at the time.

First off, the journey is long. From Leura it is 100km, and about 2 hours. Heading to the city the main commuter trains are the 6:01am (the Fish), the 6:18am (the Chips) and the 6:44am (no fancy name). On the return leg trains leave Central at 5:09 (The Fish), 5:24 (The Chips) and 5:39 (The Heron, an explanation for these names is here).

The trip is a little like what I imagined from British TV shows, everyone having their own special seats, standing in the same place on the platform every day, but also quite different. There is little talk, and rarely do groups of friends play cards or similar.

Mainly, people quietly read or tap away on a laptop. It is quiet enough to sleep, and certainly the mountain half of the journey (as opposed to the Penrith-City half) usually happens without people having cell phone conversations.

In my experience, commuting five days is close to unsustainable. The lack of sleep compounds to destroy weekends, and leaves you grumpy. Perhaps if you are one of those souls who only require 5 or 6 hours of sleep you could keep it up.

Otherwise, the grind of working all day, travelling 2+ hours, arriving home at 7:30pm and only having 2 1/2hours before you need to be asleep in order to snatch the 7 1/2hours minimum sleep you can survive on before you get up again at 5:30am is pretty dispiriting.

A lot of people catch up on sleep, but I found it damaged my back to twist sideways with my head on the window to snooze. The extra shut-eye wasn’t worth the ongoing dull ache of sciatic pain.

The other big drawback is the impact on your social life and community. My kids school P&C meeting is at 6pm – meaning I must miss it, and I am not home early enough to even mind the kids while my spouse attends. Even if functions are on later, it is a tall order to get off the train and head straight to a Rotary meeting or similar.

On the plus side, heading down the mountain you will always get a seat, and almost always on the return journey. Beware though, if you board the return trip at Parramatta, the train is pretty full of passengers travelling to Penrith and Emu Plains, so you might have to stand for half an hour.

The service is fairly reliable, it is unusual to be more than 10mins late either way, less than once a month I estimate, and disruptions and delays occur more frequently on the way home – presumably as there has been a whole day of operations for issues to reverberate through, while the early morning leads to a pretty clear run.

I think I have been more than 20mins delayed on the way to the city only twice in 5 years.

In any case, you will certainly have the chance to catch up on your reading.

A good program looking at the life and philosophy of the mountains commuter is at the ABC http://www.abc.net.au/rn/encounter/stories/2007/2059911.htm

The Leura garden festival, Fleuralia, will run Saturday 4th October 2008 to Sunday 12th October 2008 inclusive.
Gardens are open 9.30am to 4.30pm daily, and multi-visit tickets are available.

The first weekend will also see the Leura street fair.  This sees the block of the Mall just south of the station closed off for a selection of stalls and other tat. In the past there were rides for kids and a range of entertainment, but these days it is mostly about the generic “craft” stalls that trudge from Glebe to Paddington to wherever markets each week.

Details on the gardens open to visitors at:

http://www.leuragardensfestival.com.au/

Getting the kids out of the house for a play, and a chance for some adult conversation, is what play group is all about. The two below welcome new members.

Monday Playgroup, run by St Aidan’s Anglican Church, Megalong Street, Leura 10am-12pm, $2 per week per family.

Thursday, Playgroup Association Playgroup, Leura Baptist Church Hall, cnr GWH & Leura Mall, 10am to 12pm, $2 per family per week plus yearly registration fee to Playgroups NSW of $32 (which covers insurance). You can have 2 free visits before you have to sign up.

You can just show up to either group, no need to contact anyone first. Neither group meets during School holidays.

The East Timor Sisters Garage sales moved to Blackheath this year from the old site in Leura Mall. It’s a great fund raiser, that has delivered tens of thousands of dollars to projects in East Timor.

EAST TIMOR GARAGE SALE collecting now for 9-3, 19th April sale. Donations can be delivered to 66 Wentworth St, Blackheath. (deliver to rear of house via Prince George St). More info? Call 4787-6310. All funds raised support projects in East Timor.

Katoomba’s Winter Magic Festival falls on the solstice this year, the 21st of June. More information at the official site: http://www.wintermagic.com.au/

In my day job I work for a phone company (AAPT) and sometimes need to analyse call plans for customers.

If you live in the upper mountains, you might have wondered which phone plan is right for you. As a general rule, anybody but Telstra used to be the right choice for your home phone supplier, but in the last few years it has become a little trickier.

For customers living as far west as Katoomba, Telstra offer a plan that has a feature called the Wide Area Call option. This lets customers have a 25c local call as far away as 50km over the charging zone, which happens to take in all of metro Sydney if you live east of Medlow Bath (Medlow/Blackheath/Mt Vic residents might like to contact Telstra to see whether it covers them too). To get this deal you must choose line rental plan “Homeline Plus” and elect the Wide Area Call option. There is another option with capped STD rates called “Regional Call” that is not such a good deal.

For mountains folk with family in Sydney who make few other STD or international calls and don’t call many mobiles, this deal is probably the best among the traditional telcos, however, be aware it has high flagfall (39c) for all timed calls and quite high fixed to mobile charges. This means if most of your bill is calls to mobiles, the saving from cheaper calls to Sydney are unlikely to off-set these high charges.

For everyone else, you probably want a deal that offers low prices on all call types. I personally use the AAPT Anytime Plus, an old fashioned sort of tariff where you just pay for what you use, which suits me as we don’t make many calls (and I get a discount from work).

The main game, though, are the capped plans, although they are a bit of a misnomer as they are not really capped. These plans charge you a fixed fee, like $49 per month, for a large value of included calls, and in some cases, unlimited calls. Even Telstra is offering this sort of deal (although theirs is $89.95).

Soul, GoTalk, AAPT and a bunch of little operators offer capped or bundled plans. All are reasonably close in price if you are an average sort of user (that is, you make a mix of calls, not a disproportional number to international or one number or something). If your phone bill at the moment is over $80 including line rental, it is pretty likely one of these plans will be cheaper. Note Optus plans aren’t available in the upper mountains as they can only be accessed where their network is.

Finally, if you make *very* few calls, say you use Skype or some other VoIP service, or make all your calls from a mobile, the cheapest line rental if you need to have a fixed line installed is Telstra’s HomeLine Budget.

All this is based on people who don’t use broadband Internet and don’t make many calls to mobiles. If you have ADSL and a couple of mobiles in your house, you can probably save a few more dollars by bundling them all together. I’ll do a post a bit later about that.