Get a grip!

The city is slippery, more slippery than ever today when freezing rain fell on ice that's been there for a week already. And this afternoon it rained, so what we now have is water covered ice to walk on. Any salt and grit poured on earlier has simply sunk below the surface, making it useless.

The only thing that keeps me upright is an ingenious device I bought at Lee Valley Tools a couple of years ago––what the locals call cleats: "anti-skid safety soles," with replaceable studs, that fit over my boots and can easily be fastened with velcro straps. The Lee Valley Tools people call them Icer's. Never mind the erroneous apostrophe and the fact that they make indoor surfaces feel like ice as well. Out of doors in these conditions, they work!

Enough about the winter. I think it's time I wrote another blogpost about the Sydney beaches.