La Nina gets upgraded (again)

As forecast the rain has continued more or less constantly through the night.  I recall a trip to Cape Yorke in which there was quite a lot of rain and I decided that the term ‘La Nina’ was not really good since it only reversed the gender. Having in the interim improved my Spanish (from zero to trivial) I now suggest that the better term for what is going on here is La Vieja which also reverses age.  I will also note en passant that yesterday’s temperature range for Coffs Harbour was 13 min to 14 max!

I have just checked in to ABC News 24 TV.  The two places which have received the heaviest rainfall seem to be Yamba (in a straight line, 75kms North of here) and Evans Head (about 100kms).  They have both scored over 120mm of rain in the past 24 hours, with Evans Head coming in at 184mm.   When I get back to internet access I will put in some details. 

The news also covered the impact of the volcanic ash cloud from Chile: we may be getting a bit damp, but at least we haven’t spent 2 days waiting for a flight to happen.  I am astonished that an ash cloud is still an issue after it has blown from Chile across the Atlantic, Indian and (a fair chunk of the) Southern Oceans.  One news service implied that the people providing the advisory service are a private enterprise group – this immediately called to mind the episode in Sydney where a group marketing a water testing service ‘discovered’ a problem, later found to have been introduced by pterodactyl poop.  To misquote from ‘Field of Dreams’: if you monitor it you will find it.

I am beginning to rethink my plan of taking the back roads to Tomewin: the rivers around this way are rather more serious than the two in South Australia! (Possibly because they normally have more work to do in returning rain from whence it came.)

Today’s post could be called “Walking a Soggy Doggy”.  About 10am we decided the rain had calmed down enough to go for a stroll.  Frances had remembered to pack our waterproof trousers so they were donned and off we went around the roads towards Arawarra headland.  I thought this would be about a 6km trip.  I think I got the distance about right but our expectations about the lack of rain were well wrong: it pissed down.  (Sorry about the rude word but it was well past micturation level.)

The next image shows the drain imaged in yesterday's post.  Or at least it shows the torrent overflowing it!

However it was an interesting walk around the area.  There are an interesting mix of houses, from fibro shacks

to rather large architect-designed places. 

There are a number of nice gardens around (hint: lush gardens do not signal a drought zone) with lots of tropical/subtropical plants such as gingers. 

Some of the buildings have unusual designs painted on them.

An interesting observation was the number of tractors around (typically Fergsuson TE 20s – the world’s greatest agricultural device).  They seem to be used mainly for pulling boats down to the water.

Two good birds were added to various lists during the walk: Wonga Pigeon and Spangled Drongo.  The secenery was still great.

Although distinctly wet, the small dog seemed to enjoy herself greatly.  Even at the end her tail was still curled forwards and she was still keen to sniff things and mark her territory.  The latter possibly enabled her to pick the right turn off the main road and swing into ‘our’ drive. (Later evidence suggests this was coincidence.)

After the walk I went to the Mullaway Store to get a loaf of bread and enquired of the lady there what the rainfall had been thus far.  She said that someone had reported 190mm not counting this morning’s contribution. The weather forecast has got Evans Head up to about 240mm by Monday evening.  The rain is supposed to start moderating tomorrow!

Shortly after returning the sun shone briefly!  This made me think about going to take some snaps of the nice gardens etc.  Of course as I walked out the door it began to rain again!  This meant I stayed around the house and thus added Satin Bowebird (4 green birds and one beautiful blue bird)

and Common Myna (boo, hiss).  This has the trip list up to 49 and the Mullaway list to 36.

Mullaway’s ambience has taken a bit of a hit on the Monday as the neighbours appear to have returned (or at least their children have become evident through auditory channels).  That being said, when met they seemed quite reasonable kids.

Rain total today was 121.0mm: that is getting a bit serious.