Laetitia took me to Easterfest this year. She's a regular goer, since before it changed its name, and has been wanting to take me along for years. This year I finally let her take me along.
We camped with friends from Mackay, in a borrowed tent. Well, when I say “we camped”, actually only Laetitia camped in the tent. I found on the first night that I was getting an allergic reaction to something in the tent, so I spent the nights in the car instead. But it was good to be in the midst of hundreds of tents, with many friends around. I especially enjoyed the discovery directly across from us of the tent of Benoir (I hope that spelling's right), one of the leaders on the year 9 camp I went to not long before Easter!
I also enjoyed running into so many friends walking around at Easterfest—old friends, new friends and students. With special thanks to Lily for the warm welcoming greeting within barely a minute of entering the gate!
But the point of Easterfest is the music, so I'd better say something about that, hey?
First let me start with what I didn't like: Too much noise without musicality, mostly from one tent in particular. But there were plenty of very good alternatives. I liked Sons of Korah, of course, and Newsboys on the main stage (even though there's only one Aussie left, and he's apparently not an original member either). Also enjoyed some of the other groups on the main stage (though not all of them). But I think my favourites were the “smaller” (lesser-known?) artists in venues like the YWAM Chai Circle, with its lovely relaxed atmosphere and intimate setting, and the jazz in the Hammered Silver tent. Bel Morrison and her band made some awesome music in the YWAM tent—and I'm not just saying that because she's my friend! They played really well together, with delicacy and musicality and, well, just actually listening to each other and playing as a group instead of trying to drown each other out like so many others.
I also enjoyed sessions by Jeff Crabtree and Steve Grace in the Vision Arena. Steve Grace in particular inspired me to think quite differently about how to be generous with some of my gifts.
So, overall, a positive experience, but I'm still not sure I want to go back next year. Cold, crowds, and uncomfortable nights are less than enticing.
Showing posts with label weather. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weather. Show all posts
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Thursday, October 1, 2009
We need to move
One day in February this year, I came home from school during the day to find Laetitia having to hold herself up against the wall for support, and I knew then that this would be our last year in Mackay. It was time to move to somewhere less humid.
Laetitia's heart has a leaky valve, and with the high humidity here in summer (tropical monsoonal wet), each year she has found it a little harder to breathe than the last.
If it weren't for the summer weather (and the high cost of accommodation), we'd much prefer to stay in Mackay. We really like the people here: we've made good new friends, we love our church family, we've found clubs and hobbies we enjoy. I've really grown in skills and character through the support of my colleagues at work.
But now, it seems it's time to go.
Laetitia's heart has a leaky valve, and with the high humidity here in summer (tropical monsoonal wet), each year she has found it a little harder to breathe than the last.
If it weren't for the summer weather (and the high cost of accommodation), we'd much prefer to stay in Mackay. We really like the people here: we've made good new friends, we love our church family, we've found clubs and hobbies we enjoy. I've really grown in skills and character through the support of my colleagues at work.
But now, it seems it's time to go.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
TC Hamish
Yes, I know it's been a while since I posted anything here. So perhaps the passing-by of a cyclone is a good stimulus to get me going again.
Cyclone Hamish looked for a bit like it might make a direct hit on the north or central Queensland coast, but then veered south-east just in time. A day spent cleaning up the yard, tying the bins to a tree, moving pot plants into the foyer; a nervous day on cyclone warning; gusty but not dangerous winds, squally but patchy rain; a storm surge on top of a 6m tide causing only minor flooding in low-lying parts of Mackay. And then a clearing sky and cooler air in the wake, as the cyclone moved off down the coast.
For a while there Hamish was at category 5, with 300km/h winds near the eye and a central air pressure around 925hPa. That's pretty serious stuff! I did some research and learnt quite a bit about tropical cyclones. Apparently they are normally surrounded by a layer of very high cirrus, the result of the net outflow of damp air from the middle of the cyclone at the very top of the troposphere. Last night (Tuesday night) I observed a beautiful side-effect of this. The full moon was surrounded by a lunar corona, a band of rainbow colours. As the high-level cloud drifted past, the ring distorted gently as different sections shifted in and out. It was so beautiful!
Cyclone Hamish looked for a bit like it might make a direct hit on the north or central Queensland coast, but then veered south-east just in time. A day spent cleaning up the yard, tying the bins to a tree, moving pot plants into the foyer; a nervous day on cyclone warning; gusty but not dangerous winds, squally but patchy rain; a storm surge on top of a 6m tide causing only minor flooding in low-lying parts of Mackay. And then a clearing sky and cooler air in the wake, as the cyclone moved off down the coast.
For a while there Hamish was at category 5, with 300km/h winds near the eye and a central air pressure around 925hPa. That's pretty serious stuff! I did some research and learnt quite a bit about tropical cyclones. Apparently they are normally surrounded by a layer of very high cirrus, the result of the net outflow of damp air from the middle of the cyclone at the very top of the troposphere. Last night (Tuesday night) I observed a beautiful side-effect of this. The full moon was surrounded by a lunar corona, a band of rainbow colours. As the high-level cloud drifted past, the ring distorted gently as different sections shifted in and out. It was so beautiful!
Saturday, January 10, 2009
CMS Summer School '09
CMS Summer School on Mt Tamborine was, as usual, excellent! Mike Raiter led us in some very challenging bible studies through Luke 9–19. We enjoyed fellowship with many old friends and made some new ones. The weather was fabulous, cool and mostly fine—way more pleasant than last year's pouring rain. The music was wonderful: congregational singing led by a few very talented musos, with a good variety of song styles. It is always uplifting to sing praises to God in a 500-strong choir!
This time around, QCCC refused to cater for us. So instead we self-catered in the Prezzy Palace (that's Camp Tamborine officially) kitchen.
And this year, we restrained ourselves somewhat in the bookshop. We only bought half a dozen books (some to be gifts) and four CDs.
Oh, and also: The old Chocolate Kingdom shop on Long St at the Gallery Walk has been sold. It's now selling the same chocolates at double or triple the price! But it turns out the other shop is still there (thanks Rachel!) and still selling Queensland's most delicious chocolates at the same old prices. You'll find it in the little shopping centre at the top of Henri Robert Drive (the Nerang road).
Next year, same place, Friday 1st to Thursday 7th January. See you there!
This time around, QCCC refused to cater for us. So instead we self-catered in the Prezzy Palace (that's Camp Tamborine officially) kitchen.
And this year, we restrained ourselves somewhat in the bookshop. We only bought half a dozen books (some to be gifts) and four CDs.
Oh, and also: The old Chocolate Kingdom shop on Long St at the Gallery Walk has been sold. It's now selling the same chocolates at double or triple the price! But it turns out the other shop is still there (thanks Rachel!) and still selling Queensland's most delicious chocolates at the same old prices. You'll find it in the little shopping centre at the top of Henri Robert Drive (the Nerang road).
Next year, same place, Friday 1st to Thursday 7th January. See you there!
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Whitsunday Cruise — Solway Lass
Last week Laetitia and I went on a sailing cruise around the Whitsunday Islands, to celebrate our tenth wedding anniversary. It was a fantastic experience!
On Sunday, before we left, we went and bought ourselves a new camera: an Olympus Stylus 1050 SW in “Pacific Blue”. (Other colours available: “Dolphin Grey”, “Midnight Black” and “Misty Rose”. Don't you just love those kinds of names?) We specifically wanted a camera that was (a) waterproof and (b) less hassle to worry about on a ship.
We left Mackay on Tuesday morning, just after Laetitia's parents left for Rocky. We drove to Airlie Beach, where we checked in for our cruise, then had time for lunch and a leisurely afternoon browsing the shops and reading by the beach.
At 7 o'clock it was time to board. The Solway Lass is a “tall ship”, a brigantine originally built in 1902 in Holland, to a German design and using German steel for the ribs and hull. The ship is set up as a pirate ship, complete with Jolly Roger. She's had various jobs during her lifetime, including cargo transport, being a Q-ship during the first world war, and even as an ice-breaker! She's named after the Solway Firth in Scotland, where she worked from 1924 until the second World War. Most recently she's been used as a tall ship for tourists in Sydney Harbour and now in the Whitsundays.
On Tuesday night we sailed to Nara Inlet, where we anchored for the night. Of course, we couldn't see much then, except for the lights from a few nearby boats. But I got up early the next morning and got some nice photos.
After breakfast we left Nara Inlet, travelling through Hook Island Passage and then south to Whitehaven Beach. The weather was fantastic (especially if you wanted to get sunburnt!) — bright and sunny, clear cool water.
I asked the skipper, Mark, about Hook Island Passage, because on their navigation assignment my year twelve maths students had avoided it due to how narrow and tricky it looked on their map. Mark laughed at that. Here's Solway Passage (yes, named after the same Solway Firth in Scotland), which my students preferred:
After lunch on Wednesday, Laetitia helped raise the sails (“Haul away, sailor! We want it up today, not tomorrow!”) and we sailed back northwards all the way around Pinnacle Point, to shelter in Luncheon Bay for the night. Dinner, breakfast and lunch were on a rotating, floating restaurant!
Thursday morning was snorkelling. The wind had really picked up, and the water was pretty cold. I decided to just enjoy the day and let Laetitia do the swimming and snorkelling! She didn't mind, she got to use the new camera underwater. Here's one of her photos (and only one; I'll let her show you the rest when she gets time to go through them):
(Laetitia also took her old film point-and-shoot camera on the cruise, because it's splashproof, though not actually waterproof. Of course, we're still waiting for the film from that camera to be processed…)
After lunch we set sail again, sailing north around Dolphin Point, at the tip of Hayman Island, to Blue Pearl Bay. The wind was so strong that we went even faster with less sails up than the previous day! Then in the evening we wended a path between islands, coral reefs and sand banks back to Hook Island, to spend the night at Stonehaven Anchorage.
Blue Pearl Bay was more snorkelling for the game; Laetitia and I instead went for a walk on the stony coral beach and up a dry creek bed. We enjoyed the shelter from the wind under the trees, and the company of quite a few butterflies.
After dropping anchor at Stonehaven we enjoyed a gorgeous sunset:
Friday was my birthday. After breakfast, I had a snooze in the bow net, which I found really peaceful.
Then there was the swinging competition. A knotted rope swung from the end of one of the yards, and the idea was to swing off into the sea in a spectacular (and hopefully not too painful) way. Following the pirate-ship theme, you were supposed to call out something clever and piratey as you went. I actually quite enjoyed it, although the current was surprisingly strong—it was quite a challenge to swim back to the ship! Laetitia took videos with our new camera of my two swings.
Finally, after lunch, we set sail again back to Airlie Beach. On the way, our cook, Kylie “the Legend”, presented me with a birthday cake: delicious fruit cupcakes, complete with cute pirate candles.
But this was not before two whales were spotted off the bow. I rushed out to the bowsprit to watch them pass. I even managed to get a (wobbly) video of them!
When we got back to Airlie Beach, we checked in at Airlie Waterfront Backpackers for the night. On Saturday morning we drove home.
Our crew really made the trip. They were:
From left: Inger, Chris, Kylie, Tess, Mark.
For more arty photos from the trip, see Flickr. For more people-oriented photos, check Facebook.
On Sunday, before we left, we went and bought ourselves a new camera: an Olympus Stylus 1050 SW in “Pacific Blue”. (Other colours available: “Dolphin Grey”, “Midnight Black” and “Misty Rose”. Don't you just love those kinds of names?) We specifically wanted a camera that was (a) waterproof and (b) less hassle to worry about on a ship.
We left Mackay on Tuesday morning, just after Laetitia's parents left for Rocky. We drove to Airlie Beach, where we checked in for our cruise, then had time for lunch and a leisurely afternoon browsing the shops and reading by the beach.
At 7 o'clock it was time to board. The Solway Lass is a “tall ship”, a brigantine originally built in 1902 in Holland, to a German design and using German steel for the ribs and hull. The ship is set up as a pirate ship, complete with Jolly Roger. She's had various jobs during her lifetime, including cargo transport, being a Q-ship during the first world war, and even as an ice-breaker! She's named after the Solway Firth in Scotland, where she worked from 1924 until the second World War. Most recently she's been used as a tall ship for tourists in Sydney Harbour and now in the Whitsundays.On Tuesday night we sailed to Nara Inlet, where we anchored for the night. Of course, we couldn't see much then, except for the lights from a few nearby boats. But I got up early the next morning and got some nice photos.
After breakfast we left Nara Inlet, travelling through Hook Island Passage and then south to Whitehaven Beach. The weather was fantastic (especially if you wanted to get sunburnt!) — bright and sunny, clear cool water.
I asked the skipper, Mark, about Hook Island Passage, because on their navigation assignment my year twelve maths students had avoided it due to how narrow and tricky it looked on their map. Mark laughed at that. Here's Solway Passage (yes, named after the same Solway Firth in Scotland), which my students preferred:
After lunch on Wednesday, Laetitia helped raise the sails (“Haul away, sailor! We want it up today, not tomorrow!”) and we sailed back northwards all the way around Pinnacle Point, to shelter in Luncheon Bay for the night. Dinner, breakfast and lunch were on a rotating, floating restaurant!Thursday morning was snorkelling. The wind had really picked up, and the water was pretty cold. I decided to just enjoy the day and let Laetitia do the swimming and snorkelling! She didn't mind, she got to use the new camera underwater. Here's one of her photos (and only one; I'll let her show you the rest when she gets time to go through them):
(Laetitia also took her old film point-and-shoot camera on the cruise, because it's splashproof, though not actually waterproof. Of course, we're still waiting for the film from that camera to be processed…)
After lunch we set sail again, sailing north around Dolphin Point, at the tip of Hayman Island, to Blue Pearl Bay. The wind was so strong that we went even faster with less sails up than the previous day! Then in the evening we wended a path between islands, coral reefs and sand banks back to Hook Island, to spend the night at Stonehaven Anchorage.
Blue Pearl Bay was more snorkelling for the game; Laetitia and I instead went for a walk on the stony coral beach and up a dry creek bed. We enjoyed the shelter from the wind under the trees, and the company of quite a few butterflies.
After dropping anchor at Stonehaven we enjoyed a gorgeous sunset:
Friday was my birthday. After breakfast, I had a snooze in the bow net, which I found really peaceful.
Then there was the swinging competition. A knotted rope swung from the end of one of the yards, and the idea was to swing off into the sea in a spectacular (and hopefully not too painful) way. Following the pirate-ship theme, you were supposed to call out something clever and piratey as you went. I actually quite enjoyed it, although the current was surprisingly strong—it was quite a challenge to swim back to the ship! Laetitia took videos with our new camera of my two swings.
Finally, after lunch, we set sail again back to Airlie Beach. On the way, our cook, Kylie “the Legend”, presented me with a birthday cake: delicious fruit cupcakes, complete with cute pirate candles.
But this was not before two whales were spotted off the bow. I rushed out to the bowsprit to watch them pass. I even managed to get a (wobbly) video of them!
When we got back to Airlie Beach, we checked in at Airlie Waterfront Backpackers for the night. On Saturday morning we drove home.
Our crew really made the trip. They were:
- Captain: Mark. Fount of useful information, about the Whitsundays, sailing in general, and the history of the Solway Lass, which he's been sailing since its time in Sydney. Just laughed when we mutinied and tied him to the mainmast.
- Bosun: Millsy. “Ready on the main staysail?” (To which you reply, “Aye aye, bosun!”) He quickly put on more sail when Whitsunday Magic tried to race us.
- Deckhand: Tess. Always smiling, whether hauling on a halyard, dangling precariously over a yard-arm, or ferrying people around in the tender.
- Deckhand & Barman: Chris. Made a mighty lemon, lime and bitters! And his weight and strength came in helpful when raising sails.
- Cook: Kylie. I cannot praise this young woman higher. Our special diets can sometimes be a challenge, but Kylie fed us fantastic meals every time. Whether climbing the rigging in boxers (!) or cooking up a feast in the galley, Kylie was a real legend.
- Volunteer: Inger. From Norway, previously a passenger, now helping out the crew in the kitchen and on deck.
From left: Inger, Chris, Kylie, Tess, Mark.
For more arty photos from the trip, see Flickr. For more people-oriented photos, check Facebook.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Year 8 Camp
Last week (not the week just gone, which I started feeling ill and ended with no voice, but the week before: Monday 4th to Wednesday 6th August to be precise) I went on our school's Year 8 Camp. It was at Rowallan Park, just on the North-West outskirts of Mackay. The weather was perfect - cool but not too cold at night, and beautiful sunny days.
I saw a few clever T-shirts. Some students seemed to bring far too much - and some of their tents were huge! Fortunately nobody was without a tent to sleep in. (Except us teachers, but we had dorms well away from where the students were.)
Games and activities filled most of the day time. There were an incredible number of injuries, the first (a twisted ankle) within about 10 minutes of the start of the first activity.
The students' Year 11 mentors dropped in on Tuesday, and set up an awesome obstacle course. Even the teachers enjoyed it! But it certainly involved a lot of mud!
And of course no camp is complete without a campfire!
Before the campfire, the students were given a ‘survivor’ activity in which they had to prepare their own meal. But first they had to hunt for some slips of paper with food items written on them, which they could exchange for pieces of food. I was in charge of dispensing the food. My favourite moment was when one group handed me two bits of paper labelled “onion”. I gave them a piece of onion. They complained, “But that's only one piece, not two.” So I took the piece back, chopped it in half, and gave it back to them again, saying, “There you go, now it's two!”
Our Year 8 students really need to learn to look after their own stuff, though. They kept leaving personal items lying around. They just have no idea what can happen if they're not careful…
(I would upload a whole lot more photos from camp—some lovely portraits of a few of my students, for example—but they all have students in them, whose images I may not post here. Sorry.)
I saw a few clever T-shirts. Some students seemed to bring far too much - and some of their tents were huge! Fortunately nobody was without a tent to sleep in. (Except us teachers, but we had dorms well away from where the students were.)
Games and activities filled most of the day time. There were an incredible number of injuries, the first (a twisted ankle) within about 10 minutes of the start of the first activity.
The students' Year 11 mentors dropped in on Tuesday, and set up an awesome obstacle course. Even the teachers enjoyed it! But it certainly involved a lot of mud!
And of course no camp is complete without a campfire!
Before the campfire, the students were given a ‘survivor’ activity in which they had to prepare their own meal. But first they had to hunt for some slips of paper with food items written on them, which they could exchange for pieces of food. I was in charge of dispensing the food. My favourite moment was when one group handed me two bits of paper labelled “onion”. I gave them a piece of onion. They complained, “But that's only one piece, not two.” So I took the piece back, chopped it in half, and gave it back to them again, saying, “There you go, now it's two!”
Our Year 8 students really need to learn to look after their own stuff, though. They kept leaving personal items lying around. They just have no idea what can happen if they're not careful…
(I would upload a whole lot more photos from camp—some lovely portraits of a few of my students, for example—but they all have students in them, whose images I may not post here. Sorry.)
Saturday, July 5, 2008
QAMTAC '08
Last weekend (actually Thursday-Saturday) was the annual conference of the Queensland Association of Maths Teachers. I flew down to Brisbane to attend, missing the athletics carnival on the last two days of term.
The conference was held at UQ, based mainly in the Hawken Engineering building. The conference theme was “My Way or the Highway: Reflections on the Distance Travelled in Mathematics Education”. As well as three interesting keynote speeches, there were four elective sessions each day with no less than seven offerings each session—a real smorgasbord of workshops and seminars!
Casio offered us all a free graphics calculator! Not wanting to be out-done, TI began giving away their new multi-line scientific calculator too.
But for me the highlight of the conference was definitely the dinner on Friday night. This was in the Burke & Wills rooms at the Mercure in town. Not only did the chef feed me very well, it was a great night of fun and friends (my cold notwithstanding; I picked up a cold somewhere between Mackay and Brisbane, and it was fairly chilly, so by Saturday I was feeling rather unwell). And the band, made up of conference delegates, were simply fantastic! They played and sang beautifully.
More photos on Flickr.
The conference was held at UQ, based mainly in the Hawken Engineering building. The conference theme was “My Way or the Highway: Reflections on the Distance Travelled in Mathematics Education”. As well as three interesting keynote speeches, there were four elective sessions each day with no less than seven offerings each session—a real smorgasbord of workshops and seminars!
Casio offered us all a free graphics calculator! Not wanting to be out-done, TI began giving away their new multi-line scientific calculator too.
But for me the highlight of the conference was definitely the dinner on Friday night. This was in the Burke & Wills rooms at the Mercure in town. Not only did the chef feed me very well, it was a great night of fun and friends (my cold notwithstanding; I picked up a cold somewhere between Mackay and Brisbane, and it was fairly chilly, so by Saturday I was feeling rather unwell). And the band, made up of conference delegates, were simply fantastic! They played and sang beautifully.
More photos on Flickr.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Lovely winter weather
Well, Laetitia may not agree, but personally I like the weather here in Mackay, especially in winter. This morning, in the first week of June, I dressed ready for work in shorts and a short-sleeved shirt. Shorts! In winter! It's a beautiful sunny morning, 22°C, heading for a maximum of around 27°C.
Certainly good weather for crocodiles.
Certainly good weather for crocodiles.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Another (beautiful) wedding
On Saturday we (Laetitia and I) were official photographers at the wedding of one of my fellow teachers. It was a morning wedding up at Eungella (at the top of the range an hour's drive west of Mackay). As part of our “fee” we got to stay the night up there, at Broken River Resort. (This saved us from an otherwise very early start on Saturday morning!)It was a lovely day. The bride had done a great job; everything was very well organised. It is always a pleasure to attend weddings of committed Christians, and these two are both from strongly Christian families. God provided the beautiful weather. But we still didn't see a platypus. (Apparently they're seen frequently in the river there.)
The ceremony and reception were both held in the park there at Broken River. A string trio played at the wedding, which was interesting for me: pieces I'm used to playing at weddings myself, only this time that wasn't my job. After the service, family photos at the edge of the clearing, then we went away with the wedding party for formal photos in three other locations nearby. Back to the park for the reception, which was a full-on picnic: blankets, umbrellas, fancy baskets full of food.
I took over 700 photos, Laetitia over 400; as I think I've said before, I've decided I like shooting weddings with a digital camera. You can see a few of my favourites on Flickr.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
New washing machine
Okay, so it's been a while. Sorry. I've been pretty busy at school.
Our new washing machine finally arrived yesterday. Our old one, a Simpson Riviera 429, has been playing up for about 18 months. It has a problem with agitating during the wash cycle. On a good day, it would do one load just fine, but get sullen and refuse to move at the start of the second. Occasionally it could be provoked into agitating if we tricked it by moving the dial into the deep rinse part of the cycle. But on a bad day, nothing worked, not even unplugging the thing and leaving it sit for half an hour, nor giving it a good talking to.
So two weeks ago we ordered a new washing machine, a Fisher & Paykel AquaSmart WL70T60CW1, from the Good Guys. Unfortunately, due to delivery issues, although we believe there are some -CW1s in Mackay, they're not at the Good Guys. So yesterday they gave us a call and offered us a WL70T60DW1 instead. This is almost exactly the same, but with the older LED panel instead of the new LCD one.
We decided it would do just fine. It was delivered yesterday around lunch time. Here it is connected up in our laundry:
It has a “low profile agitator”. It's designed to work like a front-loader: with a little bit of water in the bottom, rolling and flopping the clothes into the water, rather than immersing them deep in a full tub. (It has a “low efficiency mode” which does a deep wash and rinse, though—using more than double the amount of water.)
Now all we need is for the rain to stop long enough for the sheets and towels to dry…
Our new washing machine finally arrived yesterday. Our old one, a Simpson Riviera 429, has been playing up for about 18 months. It has a problem with agitating during the wash cycle. On a good day, it would do one load just fine, but get sullen and refuse to move at the start of the second. Occasionally it could be provoked into agitating if we tricked it by moving the dial into the deep rinse part of the cycle. But on a bad day, nothing worked, not even unplugging the thing and leaving it sit for half an hour, nor giving it a good talking to.
So two weeks ago we ordered a new washing machine, a Fisher & Paykel AquaSmart WL70T60CW1, from the Good Guys. Unfortunately, due to delivery issues, although we believe there are some -CW1s in Mackay, they're not at the Good Guys. So yesterday they gave us a call and offered us a WL70T60DW1 instead. This is almost exactly the same, but with the older LED panel instead of the new LCD one.
We decided it would do just fine. It was delivered yesterday around lunch time. Here it is connected up in our laundry:
It has a “low profile agitator”. It's designed to work like a front-loader: with a little bit of water in the bottom, rolling and flopping the clothes into the water, rather than immersing them deep in a full tub. (It has a “low efficiency mode” which does a deep wash and rinse, though—using more than double the amount of water.)
Now all we need is for the rain to stop long enough for the sheets and towels to dry…
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Satellite photo
I was browsing the Bureau of Meteorology website and found this lovely image from 5:30am Friday morning, right during the middle of our big dump of rain. Mackay is somewhere under that big mass of white over the north-central Queensland coast.
Notice you can already see trouble brewing off the north-west coast of WA.
Image acknowledgement: Satellite image originally processed by the Bureau of Meteorology from the geostationary satellite MTSAT-1R operated by the Japan Meteorological Agency.
Notice you can already see trouble brewing off the north-west coast of WA.
Image acknowledgement: Satellite image originally processed by the Bureau of Meteorology from the geostationary satellite MTSAT-1R operated by the Japan Meteorological Agency.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Mackay floods
Okay, I suppose it's time I made a blog entry about the flood, eh?
Friday morning about 3-4am it started bucketing down. We could barely get to sleep for the sound of the rain. The view at dawn was bleak and wet.
Apparently at 5:30am there was still no water in the classrooms at the school. By 8am it was over a metre deep. It peaked at around 9am. Looking through the small gap left in the window of my usual classroom and seeing the plastic furniture floating around was quite an experience!
The floodwater rose visibly while we watched. In the space of 15 minutes we watched it move up a road sign. Before an hour was up, the sign was completely submerged.
We went for a short walk. At the end of our street we saw some drivers taking their cars where no small car was ever meant to go: through flood waters across the street. There were waves breaking against the kerb of the traffic island!
At the Gooseponds we found a raging torrent. Seriously, the speed of the current was pretty scary; it's normally a placid little lake. Usually you can walk along a concrete path underneath the Maplethorpe Bridge, but not today.
We lost power at around 10am. We got a little of it back in the late afternoon, and I mean exactly what I wrote: enough for the radio to play, but not enough for it to light up its display; enough for precisely one of our inside lights, but not enough for the fridge, phone, microwave, toaster or anything else. Finally at around 8pm we got full power back.
More rain fell overnight, but not nearly as much as on Friday morning. Apparently Mackay received the equivalent of about a third of the usual annual rainfall in the space of 6 hours! When I went to the school this morning, the floodwater was still deep over the oval and rugby fields, but was no longer in the classrooms. I spent the afternoon at the school, helping with the clean-up. Sad sights abounded: ruined resources and waterlogged textbooks, filthy furniture, chipboard as soft as tissue paper… but by far the worst was these pianos:
Tomorrow, more cleaning up in the afternoon. Church in the morning—if we can get there.
By the way, you might also like to read Laetitia's blog about the flood, and there are more flood photos up on Flickr.
Friday morning about 3-4am it started bucketing down. We could barely get to sleep for the sound of the rain. The view at dawn was bleak and wet.
Apparently at 5:30am there was still no water in the classrooms at the school. By 8am it was over a metre deep. It peaked at around 9am. Looking through the small gap left in the window of my usual classroom and seeing the plastic furniture floating around was quite an experience!
The floodwater rose visibly while we watched. In the space of 15 minutes we watched it move up a road sign. Before an hour was up, the sign was completely submerged.
We went for a short walk. At the end of our street we saw some drivers taking their cars where no small car was ever meant to go: through flood waters across the street. There were waves breaking against the kerb of the traffic island!
At the Gooseponds we found a raging torrent. Seriously, the speed of the current was pretty scary; it's normally a placid little lake. Usually you can walk along a concrete path underneath the Maplethorpe Bridge, but not today.
We lost power at around 10am. We got a little of it back in the late afternoon, and I mean exactly what I wrote: enough for the radio to play, but not enough for it to light up its display; enough for precisely one of our inside lights, but not enough for the fridge, phone, microwave, toaster or anything else. Finally at around 8pm we got full power back.
More rain fell overnight, but not nearly as much as on Friday morning. Apparently Mackay received the equivalent of about a third of the usual annual rainfall in the space of 6 hours! When I went to the school this morning, the floodwater was still deep over the oval and rugby fields, but was no longer in the classrooms. I spent the afternoon at the school, helping with the clean-up. Sad sights abounded: ruined resources and waterlogged textbooks, filthy furniture, chipboard as soft as tissue paper… but by far the worst was these pianos:
Tomorrow, more cleaning up in the afternoon. Church in the morning—if we can get there.
By the way, you might also like to read Laetitia's blog about the flood, and there are more flood photos up on Flickr.
Friday, February 8, 2008
Year 12 camp
End of week two! Hoorah!
Last night I went out to the Year 12 camp—just visiting for the evening. The students have been there since Tuesday. They say it's been hot and sunny every day, pouring rain every night, and 100% muggy without a break. Certainly that's what I experienced: muggy and hot when I arrived, then soon after sundown a big storm blew in. The lightning was still flashing off the coast hours later while we were driving home.
My students were happy to see me there. As well as playing cricket and card games (and tricks), they insisted (but actually I didn't mind, it was quite fun!) I try the big swing. This was basically a rope contraption with a small seat. You sit on the seat, they winch you up to about 4-5m above the ground, then you pull a short rope and suddenly you're free-falling into a swooping swing. It was exciting! I was pleased I could enjoy it; I haven't been able to enjoy such things much since I had vertigo in 2001.
Last night I went out to the Year 12 camp—just visiting for the evening. The students have been there since Tuesday. They say it's been hot and sunny every day, pouring rain every night, and 100% muggy without a break. Certainly that's what I experienced: muggy and hot when I arrived, then soon after sundown a big storm blew in. The lightning was still flashing off the coast hours later while we were driving home.
My students were happy to see me there. As well as playing cricket and card games (and tricks), they insisted (but actually I didn't mind, it was quite fun!) I try the big swing. This was basically a rope contraption with a small seat. You sit on the seat, they winch you up to about 4-5m above the ground, then you pull a short rope and suddenly you're free-falling into a swooping swing. It was exciting! I was pleased I could enjoy it; I haven't been able to enjoy such things much since I had vertigo in 2001.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Hot and sticky in Brisbane? Try Mackay!
To all our friends in Brisbane who are wanting it to rain because it is muggy, I invite you to read Laetitia's blog post about the humidity here in Mackay.
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