Cyclone Carlos day 2.

Hi there,

An update on tropical cyclone Carlos.
Things seems to get better, and hopefully Carlos won't come back.
In fact I even believe that he has already been downgraded to Ex-Cyclone by the BOM, and Darwin airport is reopen.

Still we had a lot of wind in Darwin last night, and here are a few photos first two from our back yard, then from the same park as yesterday, just to show you what the local playground looks like now.

Fallen pawpaw tree.

Bananas on the clothesline.

The playground.

The swings.

Broken down.

Remember the big tree from yesterday?

Last night the trees were falling in the opposite direction than on the previous day.

So even if so far our home has not suffered any damage, unlike around 30 home that got flooded along Rapid Creek (a suburb of Darwin) every things is wet or damp at the best, and every body start to show some signs of cabin fever...

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.

Visit of the BOM

Hi there,

A few days ago, I was lucky enough to be able to attend with some works colleagues a visit of the Bureau of Meteorology also known as BOM .
In fact as a very keen fisherman, I have the link saved on my personal computer, so I can alway check the forecast before ridding my push bike to go fishing in the early hours of the morning.
No point to start pedaling in the dark, if it is going to rain hard and long in the next hour.

I had checked their web site so many time, and now I was going to be able to see where the information came from, and how it was collated.
So you can guess my excitement when the proposition to visit their local office was offered to me.

This year is a La Nina year which might bring lot of heavy rain and maybe even a cyclone... Lets hope not...
But I can only guess that this is one of the reason that we had the luck to get invited to see the place.

So as we arrived we were given a tour of the offices, and were told that a balloon was going to be released and we were going to see that.
The place where the balloon is launched, made me think of a Dalek factory...

Daleks could be made in there...

Then one of my work mate had the honour of launching the balloon...

This may seems a bit of an anti climax to some of you, but really, how many of you have ever released a balloon knowing it was going to go more than a few kilometres straight up in the blue sky. 

And expand as it rise, to be as big as a building before blowing up and falling back to the ground.

And be tracked by a radar, and send back information from up there?

...

I would have loved to do it, but I also wanted to get a few snaps of it happening...

So no surprise there, I choose the snaps.

So here is just a little pic of it.

It shows the ballon, the reflective material under the ballon so the radar can track it, hanging to a piece of string, the little box that transmit information back to the guys in the BOM, and a moon crescent, in a blue sky.

And this is what I liked about it, the moon crescent is mirrored on the side of the balloon, by the morning light.

It is like if it was a text book image to explain why at time, we only see a moon crescent and not a full moon, like in a book for dummies.

Maybe it is just me, but it worked for me.

Balloon and moon crescent.

After that we saw many other things, and I am sure that all the people on the tour had a great morning, as it was very interesting.

Sorry for such a small amount of images, and the fact that they are just quick snaps, but my back was still a bit too sore for lugging around a full camera bag so I had just one camera and one single short and light lenses with me.

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.

How cruel is that?

Hi there,

So two days ago, I was quietly plodding along at work, when this message from my mate Sheeby came in:

Hey mate,

I was at East Point cliffs all morning...there are a lot of fish around!

I had the worst luck today.

First I hooked up on to a GT and then it spat it just after. Another had a go at the lure (a stick bait) but missed and flew a couple of meters into the air.

Next there were good macks around the rocks. Some were easily a meter long. I had a live gar out and it kept getting bitten in half just before the hook! A guy and his son fishing beside me were having the same problem but they eventually hooked and landed a 1m spanish mackeral.
I had a big queenfish chasing my gar around but it wouldnt take it! Agggggh!

Once the tide dropped right down ( about 3 foot deep over the flats) there were big fish cruising around. I had a live bait out which got smashed by a small mack when I was on the phone and I missed it. I put a bit of dead gar on and casted near a dark shadow swimming past. The shadow turned and ate it and I was on. It was a BIG barra and it charged out over the flats, stipping a good 50m off the saltist...The 60lb LEADER snapped!!!! 

I think anyone within 500m would have heard me swearing.
The mackeral must've bit the line and weakened it and I hadnt noticed.

Ended up with two huge longtom. 

I have a score to settle tomorrow.

Oh How is work 

I just replied: "Work is great thank you!"

Now how mean and cruel is that to send me this kind of message while I am trying to get some work done...

Ok, he is the guy who gave me a just caught Mackerel last weekend... Still... I then spend the day thinking about fishing.

The following day, I got a call at work from another mate, to go fishing in the evening , with a third bloke.

So we went to a river that I had never fished before...

Well, let me tell you that the place had Big Crocs written all over it, and around 10 billions of hungry mozzies... Very hard for me to relax and enjoyed the moment, thinking about what might be lurking under the muddy waters.

And between the three of us we didn't raised a single scale...

We said that it was because of the storm we went trough on our way to the river, it had cooled down the water temperature and shut down the fishes...

View from the car on our way to the river...

Good fishermen always have a valid excuse...

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.

Build up.

Hi there,

It seems that the build up is starting in earnest.
Today the forecast says it will be 34. celsius or 93.2 on the Fahrenheit scale.
With maybe a shower in the afternoon...
Humidity should be high and UV alert at 11 (extreme).

Another nice and sticky day in paradise...

Sunrise at East Point.

Rainbow at East Point in the morning.

East Point is where I saw the big croc swimming not so long ago.
Used to be my favourite fishing spot, but I have not gone back since then...


But hey, it could be worse.
Have a good day,
Me.