We have been warned by Vic Police that there has been an increase in the number of offences of criminals breaking into car to steal fobs. They typically walk in behind a car, wait for some quiet time and walk around to each car.

They then hope that they can come back and get into apartments with the stolen fob

What can you do?

• Lock your car
• Don’t leave a fob in your car

I know that it is very convenient to leave a fob in your car – if you want to do this then please see Paul and he can program your ‘car’ fob to access car park and ground floor only. In that way, you are not compromising the building security.

The Committee has noticed that there are a number of residents getting into the spirit of Christmas and placing a wreath on their front doors.

We’ve decided to run a competition and the owner of the best wreath will win a suitably Christmassy prize.

Email a photo to buckgw@gmail.com – it can be your door or maybe even one of your neighbours if you think they’ve done something amazing

The prize may even be awarded at The Botanica Christmas brunch…but that has not been arranged and, so far, no-one has volunteered to arrange it…but I’m hopeful.

The Committee reserves all rights to make any appropriate decision …of course 🙂

See attached report from CYP

There is a special prize for anyone who can interpret this report, as it is likely to save us seeking an expert legal opinion

There are many older hot water systems in the building, when they fail, they often flood common areas and other apartments

If your system causes such damage, you are likely to be billed $1000

Or you can get it checked for free

A plumber from Webb Plumbing will be here on

Wednesday the 20th of November, from 7:30am until 3:00pm.

To book a free inspection please contact Webb Plumbing on either service@webbplumbing.com.au or 1300 238 993.

Some of you may be aware that I’ve gone back to Uni, it’s hard slog but some of it is fascinating. I hope you all enjoy my afternoon’s work on old maps.

Has some fascinating history – even showing our site as the Gatekeepers Lodge!! There are a few mentions of Mr Cockbill – his is the fountain that is usually in the local park.

I love the last one that shows that people had small parcels of land from Toorak rd through to Domain Rd…amazing.

The web site is pretty clunky but you can find it here

Well before 8am on Cup Day and we had someone pushing over the safety fence. The first bit went so well, he decided to pull the next section onto himself…smart dude

More than 2 weeks compressed into 15 minutes…you can skip ahead. See if you can spot the day when the replacement buses weren’t working or the night the lights went out or when the test tram ran on the new line

…and yes it has been NOISY

As far as I can tell the test of the tram track will happen at about 1pm…hopefully no squeal

Today’s entry is nothing about The Botanica, but please bear with me. My brother, John has spent a large amount of the last 12 months researching the Azaria Chamberlain story. I’d appreciate it if you give it a try, each episode runs for just over 30 minutes.

I know what you’re thinking…we’ve heard all of this before – we haven’t. I am amazed at some of the facts coming out.

It has been done as a podcast – for those not familiar with podcasts, they are a bit like talking books. They are available on apple, windows, android – everywhere.

Try the link here – if you’re on an apple device this has a link to iTunes near the bottom

If you then decide like podcasts then search for Howie Games (Mark Howard interviewing sports stars) and The Daily (New York Times daily updates). They are two of my regulars 🙂

Here is the noise and vibration report – there is a special prize for anyone who can make sense of it