Chilly Beauty

 Brisbane, golf ponds and full moon.

This past week we knew winter had definitely arrived. Over night minimums dropped to 5 and 6 centigrade and the windchill factor, on our sunny 17 - 21 maximums, was icy as a result of the strong westerlie winds blowing.

Janice and I were the only Gaiter Girls available to walk on Tuesday. We drove to the Apollo Ferry Terminal to take the ferry across to Brett's Wharf on Kingsford Smith Drive Hamilton, our starting point for our riverside walk back to the city. 

Hamilton is one of the older suburbs of Brisbane and has many lovely old prostigious homes. Janice hadn't done this walk previously. A wonderful old white Queenslander caught her eye, high on the hill. We agreed that it would be worth our taking a closer look and so changed direction. We never found the beauty, but spent a lovely couple of hours admiring many of the magnificent homes and their city views.

A rare deciduous tree.

The Gateway Bridge - opened in 1986 to cross the river and bi-pass the city. Its 4 lanes replaced a ferry crossing. In 2010 it was duplicated. It looks insignificant from this distance, but close up, as in a 2018 photo, it is massive and impressive.

The following morning, there was just one pelican feeding on the misty golf ponds.

I was fully expecting this to be a short post. 

On Wednesday afternoon, the Hungry Hikers took a short, cold and windy walk along Bulimba Creek, before retiring to Leanne's nearby unit to cheer her up after her recent back operation. Thankfully she didn't require a lot of cheering up, as from the moment she woke from her operation, she knew it had been successful. No more debilitating sciatic pain whatsoever.

Time to conclude this post? 

It would have been, but Sunday evening saw the full moon rising over the golf course and for once, the sky was clear of clouds.

I was watching it rise with our neighbours, but the shimmering light on the ponds, soon had me rushing down to the water's edge.

The sky to the west, as I walked back.

Time to conclude now?

It would have been, but I was awake at 4am on Monday morning, and couldn't get back to sleep. I checked the moon's setting time and decided to head down to the ponds just after 5.30. My liitle camera doesn't do a great job in poor light, but this is the scene that greeted me. 

The photos in order from 5.40 to 6am. The first and second are from my camera. The third from my Iphone. A much truer image. You should be able to pick the rest, although as the time passed and the sky lightened, both were very similar.

6.06 onwards.

A lone pelican flew in,

And the moon began to play games.

Finding breakfast.

6.45 the moon has sunk below the tree line. I reluctantly made my way back to the house, with the golden glow of sunrise on my back.

Beating the chill.

5C when I set out. Only 13C at 10 am, so I was still wearing most of this clothing as our unheated home felt colder than the outside. Warmer days ahead and the sky continues to be cloudless.

Just the best start to my day!

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