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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