Shaggy Dog Comments...

Gung Hei Fat Choy! Or Happy New Year. Lest you think Shaggy is three weeks late, today is actually Chinese New Year and the Year of the Monkey (pictured below is the Chinese symbol for the monkey). If you were born in 1932, '44, '56, '68, '80 or '92 - or from today, then you're a Monkey. They're considered fun, loving, creative, generous and clever people who are always cheerful and energetic.

A Monkey person is sociable and can forgive, but never forgets. They have a lively love life, are good at making people comfortable and don't care what others think of them. Monkeys are virtually unsinkable and are great strategists who never miss a trick! They are the ultimate diplomats and slip in and out of difficulties with ease. Famous monkeys include: Will Smith, Julius Caesar, Lord Byron, Elizabeth Taylor, Leonardo da Vinci and Jennifer Anniston.

If you're a monkey seeking a mate, you're most compatible with a rat, followed by another monkey, a dragon, a tiger and pig.

Fans of the 70s punk icons, the Sex Pistols, may like to head for the backblocks of Murwillumbah next week to catch up with former wild child Johnny Rotten. Now going by the name his mum gave him, John Lydon is one of the C-grade celebrities starring in the English reality game show I'm a Celebrity. Get Me Out of Here!

It's being filmed in the Tweed hinterland (aka 'the jungle' to Pommy audiences), and a 'celebrity' cast that includes topless tabloid pinup Jordan, a former Olympic runner, '80s pop pinup Peter Andre, an aristocrat jailed for insurance fraud, soccer legend George Best's estranged wife, and a retired BBC royal reporter, will spend 10 days grappling with the wildlife and being forced to eat bugs for dinner. Viewers get to vote them off one by one. The winner gets nothing, although rumours emerged of strife among the cast because the pneumatic Jordan (who's promised to get her gear off) was being paid more than the rest of them. Last year, the show was the hottest thing on TV in England. But as Johnny Rotten said during the Pistols' last show "Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?"

While Shaggy had a blessed break from the news over the holiday break, one item did catch our eye - the story of an Indian gem merchant who decided to hide a bag of 1700 small diamonds in a haystack. The only problem was his cow is rather fond of hay, and probably just thought the diamonds were a bit of additional roughage when it ate them. The gem merchant was last seen playing an intriguing game of cow lotto, sifting through its dung, from which he's so far pulled 300 diamonds.

If, like many Aussies, you headed for the cinema over Christmas, you're not alone. The headcounters from the Australian Bureau of Statistics confirm that around 70% of people over 18 went to the movies at least once in 2002. Almost a quarter went more than 10 times. Some 88% of adults (12.8m people), went to a cultural venue. Visiting the library (42%) was the equally second most popular activity, along with a visit to botanic gardens. A quarter of adults went to a pop concert, an art gallery or a museum.

If you're dreaming of a white Christmas but don't have a passport, you might like to consider the Cradle Mountain world heritage area in Tasmania.

It snowed there on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, as Shaggy found out while walking the 80km Overland Track in early January.

While crossing the 1200m Pelion Gap, below Mt Ossa, Tassie's highest mountain, Shaggy's hiking group got hit by a blizzard, hurling down the full box and dice of sleet, hail, snow and rain.

After camping out in near-zero temps, we awoke the next day to this marvellous vista (top), which lasted for a while in the morning before the snow and rain set in again.

Rather than having to fold up a wet tent and carry it another 10km in the rain, Shaggy heartily recommends a stay at the Cradle Mountain Lodge, where, after a hard day's walk, you can get a massage and spa at the recently opened Waldheim Alpine Spa (pictured bottom), and enjoy the alpine air from the comfort of the hot tub.

Sure it's not as much fun as walking in a blizzard, but the pub's only 30 steps away, rather than a 30km hike.

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