This is January - Week 4

 21st to 28th January

And what a week it has been with unexpected discoveries, extreme heat, a little cold, and continued good times with friends!

A niece had mentioned to me recently that she had been given a small box of letters and photos, that had belonged to her Dad, and my brother who had passed away in October last year. On Sunday morning I collected this box with the intent of scanning and editing them all for her. On my return home I was soon lost in a world of forgotten memories and family history. The letters are precious and have kept well, but the handwriting in some, quite illegible. The oldest was written in 1900 and was my Great, Great Grandfather writing to his son. Another is my Father writing to my Mum in their courting days. I have made little progress with scanning the photos but they will be my chore in the comimg week.

Can you spot me on the trailer and as a baby, in 'Blastus'?

Monday dawned hot from the start. The forecast was for extreme heat of 36C, plus humidity. We were having a friend for lunch. My husband suggested we eat out and not have a hot house from the cooking.  A fantastic idea. From there I went to my medical centre for a skin check and Covid booster. It is a busy centre so I filled in a couple of more hours in air conditioning. I always know there will be a wait so take my laptop and edit and sort photos. By the time I reached home, 4'ish a cool change had unexpectedly blown in. Bliss!

Tuesday is Gaiter Girl day and we had chosen to take a walk on Mt Tamborine and then support one of the local businesses still suffering from the Christmas disaster.

 We arrived at 7am and couldn't believe the drop in temperature. Mary immedialtely reached for her coat. I might add that it was 22 C, but for us, along with a breeze, that is cold. The first trail was, not unexpectedly, closed and will be for some time. 

The valley is so green.

We drove to the very popular Curtis Falls Circuit of just 5 kilometres. We had the trail to ourselves humanwise, but the cicadas were were out in full volume for the entire walk. 

Except for the cicada noise, we enjoyed a blissful couple of hours slowly walking and soaking up the intense beauty of this rainforest. Lilly Pilly fruit, fungi, tiny birds, bats, the cascading Curtis Falls and its stream tumbling over boulders, all beneath the canopy of soaring palms and magnificent trees. AND it was so pleasantly cool. The first day of January where we weren't sweating form our excercise.

A member of the ginger family.

To complete the circuit, we had to cross here, but we deemed it wiser to return to the starting point to then walk and enjoy the opposite bank.

Wednesday is Hungry Hiker Day. The temperature rose to a pleasant 28C. We planned an afternoon walk at The Spit. [GG's walked there last week.] Unfortunately the traffic delayed us and it was already 5 pm when we set off, beneath skies totally opposite to last week. The beach was busy with people strolling and enjoying the peaceful atmosphere of waves gently rolling in. [My photos haven't cpatured the numbers walking.]

The beach was soon in shadow as the sun sank in the west. Its dying rays however, emphasising the frothy, white beauty, of the waves gently rolling in.

Someone mentioned that there was a possiblity of a near full moon rising. Google then informed us that it should have been already up. We scanned the horizon for several minutes in hope, and then disappointment, until Leanne shouted, "There it is!" 

The horizon was hazy so it still took a little while to spot. As we completed the last few kilometres however, we were thrilled to watch it grow against the soft pink and blue colours of twilight.

Can you spot it?

Back at the car at 7pm, we thought we would only have a short drive to the nearest BBQ. The sky was colouring in the west, and it would have been wonderful to have been sitting on the bank of the Broadwater, watching it set. Alas, this beautiful parkland had not one BBQ! The photo below was taken from the moving car.

Jayne navigated us to a park overlooking Main Beach. Joc took the image below, as Leanne and I cooked the Lamb Kebabs.

My image as we left at 9 pm. It had been an extremely pleasant summer's afternoon and evening.

Thursday the temperature was a little highter, but the humidity bearable. I was kept busy with various chores and my regular task of taking carless friends to do their grocery shopping.

In north Queensland, Cyclone Kirrily crossed the coast at Townsville at 10 pm. Thankfully, as a category 3 event, she rapidly down graded and headed west. The prediction had been that she would become a major rain event and head south like the destructive Debbie in 2017. I was relieved to hear from my brother that they were safe and with power, unlike 50 000 others. Trees had been downed, but overall the damage far less than anticipated.

Friday - Australia Day and the heat was back! I read that there were a 150 000 people enjoying the Gold Coast beaches. I imagine there were many sunburnt bodies at the end of the day!

 

Spotted on my sweaty morning walk, yesterday.

Our family celebrating.

Friends joined us at 11 for lunch. The plan was to initially relax under the pergola, and then move inside to eat. We soon realised that this was going to be another 'extreme heat' day. Consequently the dining room table was moved to the lounge to make the most of our one air conditioner. 

A good decision. A thoroughly enjoyable meal and afternoon was spent together.

The night was warm but bearable. I looked out at 5 to see a golden sky, so decided to get going on my walk. So, so lovely, before the crippling heat of the day.

The Corellas were already having breakfast.

Further on, I found a group taking their morning excercise. They love to play on ropes and flagpoles.

The mowers were busy on Mt Warren Oval to get the job finished, that was started several days ago. The oval is now again water logged.

Yes, Saturday proved a scorcher! At 10 am, it was already 33C under our pergola and reached 38C, feeling like 40 plus with humidity. The pool was often visited and we didn't move far from the air conditioning.

We were invited to an outdoor event with friends last night. Great company, but with the temperature still at 30C at 9 pm, it took the gloss off the evening. 2am saw storms roll through bringing heavy rain, but more importantly, a pleasant day. I've happily sat under the pergola writing this, this morning. Another 120 ml have fallen. The ponds are full. More is expected to follow in the week ahead. This was to be the summer of drought. Thankfully it has not been so.

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This is January, Part Two

15 to 21 January

Its been a week of heat, humidity and 5 inches of rain. 

Over the past month it has been lovely to hear green frogs croaking of an evening. This little fellow however,  [10 cm] has become annoying, as his croak is so loud we can't hear our TV. 

Edited and unedited images. Strangely, not particularly green. 

With the rain and humidity the grass grows between blinks of an eyelid.  Council workers cannot keep up and in most cases the parks are too wet to access. Thankfully my morning walk is still lovely using the footpaths, as I don't like walking through long, wet, snakey grass.

Entrance to my river walk - not today.

I've taken to walking back up this hill for distance and heart rate. Walking at 5.30 or 6 am I'm still awash with sweat. So very fortunate to have a pool to jump into on my return. Of course that too has suffered. Chemicals are added to balance the chlorine. Then another inch or two falls and it is out of whack again.

Early in the week as I began my climb, I spotted this Nightflowering Cactus, [on a fence, bottom R of the image above] a member of the Dragon Fruit family. As per its name, it had flowered overnight and had I been much later, I would not have had the joy of its beauty. Photo bottom R, was yesterday and later in the morning.

Walking downhill from the summit, I spotted the spectacular red of a Flame Tree.

On Tuesday the Gaiter Girls chose to walk from Main Beach to The Spit, return - 13km. Rachel has joined a Wildlife Care group. Some turtles are now laying their eggs along this stretch of beach and she is on a roster to check one morning a week for any sign of their visiting. These are the signs we were looking for.

We arrived at 7am and amazingly there was hardly a soul on the beach the entire walk. The tide was out, and with a flat stretch of sand to walk on, it was a wonderful morning, especially with a constantly changing, ominous, dramatic sky. Thankfully the rain chose to fall as we left.

It has been awhile since I walked the entire beach. We usually take the sandune path, so I was surprised when Rachel told me that this little group have been making beach walkers happy, for quite sometime.

The magnificent sky.

Almost back

Coffee view from Rachel's apartment.

The rain arriving.

Heat and rain were forecast for Wednesday. The Hungry Hikers gathered at Roma Street Station at 

6.30 am. There was a slight hiccup in the planning department. A thought B was organising and B thought C was, if you get my drift. I quickly did some googling of the local area and came up with a plan.

A walk through the ever beautiful Roma Street Gardens was the first step, en route to the suburb of Spring Hill.

Immediately a group photo was in order.

Too boring said someone! Let's try .........

The best posers!

An older suburb, Spring Hill has some hidden treasures, number one being the 1886 Public Pool, still in use today and already open at 7am and in use by a number of lap swimmers. We had to exclude them from our photos. I almost forgot to add the coincidence, that Margot, who lived at Dalby [200 km away] as teenager, had been selected to represent her school in a swimming event at this pool, in the 1960's. 

Murals, along with old buildings and new, now caught our eye.

A reflection of a mural, well edited to bring it to life. It was high on a wall in a narrow alley. The occupants of the offices behind these windows, would have a fine view.

We were disappointed that the Two Donkey's Cafe was clcosed.

St John's Cathedral.

This newly completed tower block is of a very controversial design. We have called it The Lego Block.

A 2 kilometre walk along the river bank to the Casino breakfast special, followed. Note the progress of our third footbridge across the river.

Now its 10 am and Goma, Gallery of Modern Art is open. We step inside to enjoy the air conditioning and view their new exhibition - 'Fairy Tales', but it isn't as simplistic as that.

The exhibition explores enchantment, thresholds, and transformations, while articulating concerns that have always been inherent in fairy tales such as power imbalances, justice, ageing, gender and otherness, and resilience in the face of adversity. - the words of the Curator. Not really for young children but there were many there.

It was presented in chapters, the first being "Into the Woods". An impressive twisted forest installation made from found tree branches, plywood and salvaged timber by Brazillian sculptor Henrigue Oliveira.

In addition to the artworks there were images, props, and wardrobe from the world of literatue, film and TV.

It had been a marvellous morning with no rain. Once home however, I discovered that 28 ml had fallen here in my absence.

Saturday saw me setting off early to drive to the Sunshine Coast, north of Brisbane, to attend a memorial service for a lovely neighbour who lived on the farm next to ours at Mooloolah. 

Across the road from the farm in the 60's, there was a vast melaleuca swamp and I loved to ride my horse there. In 1976  the little stream was dammed for water supply for the coastal town of Caloundra. Thankfully, walking trails were created so I can still enjoy here when I visit. 6 km were walked and a coffee enjoyed before I retired to the bathroom with washer and towel to make myself presentable for the memorial. I had only known Joy for 10 years but she was a remarkable Mum and friend to many.

Looking through the new housing, to my Dad's flat acres.

Today a new week commences, with Queensland school children returning to the classroom for a new year of learning. The celsius is expected to top 38 C with the humidity making it feel like 41C. So glad I am not still in the classroom.

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