Tuesday, 15 Jul, 2008 Current Events

A woman from Australia, who became very famous as the oldest blogger in the world, passed away at the age of 108. In her blog she left one last post where she wrote about her poor health but at the same time she also mentioned about her singing a happy song every day.

Her name was Olive Riley. She was living in Woy Woy, a coastal town 50 miles north of Sydney. Olive started blogging in February 2007. She enjoyed sharing stories about her life during the two world wars and the way she raised 3 children by herself.

Though her body was physically week, her mid was sharp and she managed to win the love of an international audience with her blog, entitled "The Life of Riley" , where she posted YouTube videos where she talked and sang.

Riley was born in 1899 and in October it would have been her 109th birthday. She was 12 years older than another blogger from Spain, Maria Amelia.

"She enjoyed the notoriety - it kept her mind fresh. She had people communicating with her from as far away as Russia and America on a continual basis, not just once in a while." said Darren Stone, her great-grandson from Brisbane.

Since February 2007 the Australian woman had over 70 entries on her blog. The blog was set with the help of one of her friends, who also helped Riley in entering posts on her blog. She described a lot of great moments of her life, including the washing days when she was a little girl and the days when she had to search for firewood in order to heat the large copper tub.

"That was my job - and it was real hard work for a small kid," recalled Riley.

Mrs Riley was there when the Sydney Harbor Bridge opened in 1932.

On June 24, 2008 she wrote her last post where she told about moving into a nursing home. He commented on her poor health, saying: "I still feel weak and can't shake off that bad cough." Then she added that she sang a happy song with a guest in her home, just like she did every day. Then Mrs Riley mentioned that she had "read a whole swag of email messages and comments from my internet friends today, and I was so pleased to hear from you. Thank you, one and all.'"

On Saturday Mrs Riley passed away in the nursing home.

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