Here you can see a shag take wing on the Derwent. Yesterday we had an odd sort of a day. Lots of rain, started off cool but got increasingly humid as the day wore on. It was rather uncomfortable by late afternoon, with everyone sweaty and cranky. The icy poles didn't last too long after the were broken out. The above photo is mine, but I have a few others to share below that I can't claim credit for.
It's a big country, Australia. Sometimes events in different states serve to illustrate that very well. Over the last couple of days, two stories have featured heavily in the news. One concerns the intense bushfires that appear to have killed quite a few people across the state of Victoria. As this photo courtesy of the ABC demonstrates, it must have been pretty unpleasant out there.
The other story is happening in North Queensland. Heavy rains have caused some reasonably severe floods in a lot of areas. The photo below isn't of a fish farm, it's some cattle yards currently underwater. I hope that the cattle can out swim the crocodiles, otherwise things could get very ugly.
Hobart today promises 21 degrees Celsius and a pretty mild day all around. Luck of the draw I guess. We had a bushfire come as close as 200 or so metres to our house on the day that Henry was due to be born (closing our connecting to the Royal Hobart Hospital), and that was not pleasant at all, but those fires were not a patch on what Victoria is seeing right now. Thankfully Henry held off for another couple of weeks or so, and Jen and I weren't required to go the home birth route.
Here's another image that gives you an idea of the intensity of those fires. This one was taken from the western shore of the Derwent in the evening after the worst of it was already over. We live in Geilston Bay, at the extreme left of the shot there.
It's always interesting here in Australia.
Unless you're in Canberra of course.
Comments
And then the other extreme of our Queensland folk battling the monsoonal floods. It's just bizarre!
Aaahh...but that is Australia... and I wouldn't want to live anywhere else for quids!
Now, what happens in Canberra :-)? I know it's the capital, but...??
47 degrees is that normal? How can anybody live in that? I think I will take -40...with the help of central heating.
My son lived in Canberra for a year, he thought it was pretty boring. I thought it was just him?
Thanks for the update it is good to get a personal report.
best wishes for all of you down under
To put in perspective, from Hobart (where I am) to Cairns (the biggest city with floods at the moment), it is 2897 kilometres. That's further than Stockholm to London and back again!
I think that I'd take floods over fires, to be honest. Not that it is much of a choice.
hope the situation is going back soon to normal ...
You've still more chance of dying in a car crash than you have from any of these other things.
As for Canberra, I spoke a little about that place after my trip there in December. In Australia, it's a prerequisite that we bag Canberra whenever we can. In part, it is its history, and the fact that no-one really chose to set up sticks there. Canberra, you see, is an afterthought, a historical quirk rather than any legitimate choice for the national capital.
Plus it's really, really dull. Even worse than Adelaide, and that's saying something...
And yes, Canberra is very, very boring. Your son is telling the truth.
There were some big fires that hit Hobart very badly in the late 1960s (nearly 70 killed), and those suburbs that were worst hit are well populated now.
So many fires still burning out of control...
Two men missing believed drowned in flood waters in FNQ...
A little boy taken by a croc in Darwin...
Think I will turn the news off for a while!
But Australia at its best...we all come together as one to assist and weep together!
All the best to those caught up in the fires.
Sad to think that the wildfires were manmade.
Mother Nature at it's absolute worst.
Very powerful imagery.