The Cockroach Loses

Anyone spending some time living in the tropics will know that cockroaches are inevitable, along with the odd mouse or rat.

No matter how hard one attempts elimination........they always seem to bounce back.

With cockroaches, about the best one can expect is to NOT see them once you turn out the lights at night, then revisit the kitchen after a few hours. If they are not obviously visible, then the numbers are low.

It has been said that cockroaches would survive a nuclear blast.......I do not think anyone is testing it out much at present, but they are pretty pesky, and are great survivors. I shall not regale readers with some of the more gruesome stories seen, involving the cockroach. There have been quite a few, as well as some involving rats.

But this time, the cockroach lost.........beaten by that other denizen of the garbage, the trusty ant!

This is no ordinary ant, but the local green ant. Often seen in large nests in acacia trees. This time the trusty green ants have ganged up to beat a cockroach, and are carrying one off to the nether regions for a great feast.

Green Ants 1.........Cockroaches 0

Unfortunately, there were still many cockroaches in the compost bin!

The Sunscreen Song

This "song" does the rounds every so often.........the version commonly heard is one by Baz Luhrman, but there is another common version done by an American, male......but I cannot remember the name.

I heard it a few evenings ago in the car.......it is worth noting the sentiments.
------------------
The Sunscreen Song

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ’99. If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience…

I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded. But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked….You’re not as fat as you imagine.

Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum.

The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing everyday that scares you.

Sing

Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself.

Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life…..the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don’t.

Get plenty of calcium.

Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone.

Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children, maybe you won’t, may be you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…what ever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s.

Enjoy your body, use it every way you can…..don’t be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own.

Dance..…even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.

Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for good.

Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few you should hold on.

Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out.

Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen…

Australia Day 2010 - Darwin Style

A typical Australia Day in Darwin...........hot and humid......you do not even have to guess, except to consider if it might be raining!

Not much of that of late. An intermonsoonal period is the met-speak. And I mean zilch, nada, nothing. HOWEVER........it will return, and usually trys to make up for the rain gap.

While I did not go this year, a huge turnout at the Darwin regular Australia Day 5km fun run. So many, that relocating the event needs serious consideration, apparently, in media reports today. That must be a good thing.......getting a lot of part time runners, walkers and all sorts of related locomotion methods along to such a community event is a good thing. It is usually a lot of fun!

Our cul de sac had it's regular Australia Day Cricket Match. A lot of fun with always a few extras - friends of friends etc along, followed by ..........of course........... a BBQ. A good opportunity to meet with neighbours over a fun cricket match, a few drinks and the bbq. Close off the street and make a cricket wicket in the middle of the keyhole area at the end of the street, and use modified indoor cricket rules - sort of - with a few allowances for some people!

When you live in a cul de sac with only seven houses, and quite a few long term residents, you do actually know the neighbours, and what are now their young adults and significant others too, and their kids.

So the rain did not fall, although the humidity and the strong monsoonal west wind made it a hot sweaty event.

Thunderheads

This last weekend has provided some sunshine, at least for much of each day, followed by late afternoon storms.


With storms, come thunderheads. The light was still strong when this photo was taken, so little of the texture and shadows seen in some thunderheads, when the light is much less. Impressive still, though.


When out in rural areas with more open skies, these storm heads are very impressive, even without the shadows. This one continued to rise for some time after this photo too........10- 15000 metres is quite common for the top of these monstrous cumulo-nimbus clouds in the tropics.





And yes, it did rain later!

A Bucket of Bolts

The home handy man usually keeps a few nuts and bolts around the house for the odd job or three. Some small, some a little larger, and often in a modest toolbox, easily carried and moved to the job. It makes it easy to get the right equipment as well as the correct bolt.


I am not sure that tool boxes of bolts and nuts are usually this large. They certainly need a fork lift or a small back hoe to move the pallet, so You need to come to the toolbox.



This is a LARGE box of bolts! But the bolts and nuts are not that large. I think they are for Armco railings on the renovated dam wall, nearby.

The Monsoon Does Cometh

Although Cyclone Laurence by passed Darwin, it sure has brought heavy flood rains to much of temperate Australia in its aftermath, as it moved across the continent, after a lot of rain [ around 400mm] in the Darwin area over 3-4 days.

We now have another Tropical Low about 120kms west of Darwin, although expected to move south, and away from us as it develops into a cyclone, maybe.

But is has brought a deep monsoonal trough across north Australia with strong northwest winds and regular heavy squally monsoonal showers and the ocassional storm. Almost 70mm of rain yesterday, and maybe 20mm plus today, and more predicted.

It is wet........

The met bureau is closely watching this low, but predictions are it will not effect Darwin apart from the heavy rain this coming week. See more on http://www.bom.gov.au/

Great Drumming at Military Tattoo

While the Edinburgh Military Tattoo is actually in the northern summer, it is replayed on TV in Australia around New Year.

Watched it tonight, a wet monsoonal squally evening........very suitable for staying inside and a bit of TV watching.

While they have been on the show in some previous years, the Swiss military band, Top Secret wowed them again.

Watch the you tube clip........they are fantastic! You do not need words.......just watch. And they are not full time musicians either!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJVdnMAGIt8

Gurrumul Wows Them in Paris - with Sting

I am a parochial fan of the aboriginal musician Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunipingu, commonly spoken of as Gurrumul. Fantastic melodious voice and he mostly sings in the local aboriginal language, including parts of this duet.

He is a very talented muso, and incidently, blind from birth.

Recently while performing as a single gig on the very highly rated French TV music show Taratata just prior to Christmas, he also featured in a great duet with Sting singing the Police classic song -" Every Move you Make". While Sting definitely seems to hog the limelight, there has been a fantastic response from the French audience, as well as locally in Darwin.

He wowed audiences AGAIN during this European tour.........

See it here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhPD5b4g5CE . Audio quality is not great hi fi, but adequate!

or watch it yourself:


There are many written reviews about the duet as well, and they will turn up in a Google search.

The End of the Drought?

As ex tropical cyclone Laurence moves east across temperate Australia, it is delivering flood rains to much of western and south western NSW, after already dumping heavy rains across the inland areas. Rainfalls of over 100mm, and up to 200mm, are being predicted for many areas of NSW and South west Queensland over today, Christmas Day and through to tomorrow. This is the best one day and two day falls in over ten years!

Many rivers and low areas are expected to flood. Some have already. BUT, hey......this might be drought breaking rain.

The national met bureau says it all.........monster rain clouds across eastern Australia.

What a Blow - Cyclone Laurence!

Cyclone Laurence is crossing the NW WA coast as I write this, with winds around 290km/hr, a Cat 5 cyclone.

Although the area is relatively uninhabited, poor old Sandfire Roadhouse is getting a big blast .......AGAIN. Not a nice Christmas present.

This is real "Cyclone Alley" in Australia.

For more read: http://www.bom.gov.au/cgi-bin/wrap_fwo.pl?IDW24100.txt

There is a link to the cyclone track here -http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDW60281.shtml

It is likely to bring refreshing rain and winds predicted above 100km/hr to Central Australia over the next few days, and might extend the rain into the dry western areas of NSW as well after that.

Can't Get Christmassy

I just can’t get Christmassy. It seems to happen regularly in this environment, around this time of year.

The tropics, especially in the Southern hemisphere are just not conducive to thinking Christmas.

It is stinking damn hot – humid, hot, very hot, hot and very hot, mostly without too much rain, just enough for the ground to be wet from a shower or storm so when the sun comes out after rain it is around 95 – 195% humidity. You sweat [ note SWEAT – even ladies do more than ”glow”] while standing still in this weather. It is very hot and tricky to get Christmas cooking done, let alone to ensure the products can be kept in good condition for Christmas.

Then there is the issue that school and the academic year finish in early December in Australia, and the long annual vacation starts. This is geared around the temperate cycle of southern Australia, where these sorts of decisions get made or were made in eons past, to be imposed on those hardy souls in the tropics. In the northern hemisphere education is not in vacation mode at this time.

Because of this, everyone wants things completed before they go away.

Around this point, and the fact that the weather is about to get very wet, and even more humid, every contractor and workman is urging forwards to finish work, so they can either go on holidays too, or to get it all done before very wet weather sets in during monsoonal periods, making outside work difficult, while still complaining about the hot weather.

It is also the time for cultivating and planting crops, pastures and hay fields. If that is not done in a timely manner, then they do not grow well, and poor outcomes result. Once again, it makes for a time constrained, stressful, critical period........and not too easy to feel Christmassy, or find the time to feel that way.

I think of the northern hemisphere and the tabloid depictions of Christmas – snow, inside warm houses, short days, cooking and general Christmas preparations and lovely glowing Christmassy lights. Work is slacking off a little, after the more frantic activities of the days of summer and fall when a lot of outside construction and agricultural work is done. Education and academia are well into a new academic year, and while there is a break around Christmas, it is not the 6 - 12 weeks seen in Australia. Sure, it is cold, but then that is part of the Christmas ethos, and also related to warm plum pudding and similar goodies.

It is hard to get Christmassy – too time poor and it is too hot, and people are too busy.

It is not about being like the Christmas grinch or the rest of the anti- Christmas forces. It is not about anti religious zeal or anything related to Christianity. One would like to be Christmassy, a bit more upbeat about the celebrations and all they mean. Please find me a bit of spare time.

So what is to be done?

Some wags have a Christmas in July celebration here in Darwin. But that is a bit hard, when NO ONE else does that.

Is the option to go north for Christmas an answer, succumb to the cold of the northern hemisphere? Will that recreate part of the Christmas spirit?

Update - on a Cyclone for Christmas

It by passed us, but as I write this on Wednesday evening Darwin time, it has developed significantly, moving west and south west in the Timor Sea close to the NW of WA, but generally staying offshore.


This morning it quickly ramped up from a category 2 [ late last night] to a category 3 and then by mid morning had moved to a Category 5 - the highest, and was skirting the coast. It crossed the NW Western Australia coast near Cockatoo island, an isolated area, an hour or two ago as a category 5 cyclone - with winds to 285km/hr, although now weakening slightly to a Category 4 system, and winds have fallen by 30 - 50km/hr, and continuing to fall as the cyclone moves across land. However, now the small township of Derby is in it's path. Tropical Cyclone Laurence is not done YET!





All we had was a rather damp weekend - with a mere 385mm of rain over the weekend. There were some local areas around Darwin with over 450mm over the weekend, and it was wet wet wet, with some wild winds to around 100km/hr. Today here was overcast with very high UV levels and ocassional sunshine [ I know about the UV - got a bit sunburnt while outside working - building a new oval], with monsoonal showers and a late storm.


The rain is vital to our area, even if it all falls over a short period. At least our local water dams are close to full from this wet event, so that is great.

A Cyclone as a Christmas Present?

Been there done that, as they say!

We have a cyclone brewing up NE of Darwin, and moving slowly west into the Timor Sea. The metereological models show the system continuing to move west, out into the Timor Sea, maybe even going a bit SW. It is still a tropical low, but development to a cyclone is expected over the next 24 hours

But the models are not perfect, and as all the major cyclones to effect Darwin including the devestating 1974 Christmas present of Cyclone Tracy have brewed in the Timor Sea, one is always a little cautious when one is developing in that area. Cyclones are notoriously fickle in their direction, although the tools for survelliance are much better in 2009 than in 1974.

It is predicted to be a damp weekend. Dampness = cloud cover = a bit lower temperatures, so that will be a possible relief.




A quite vigorous strom hit the Darwin area last evening, around 2100hrs, with some brilliant lightning shows. Winds to over 80km/hr, plenty of broken tree branches today, but that is modest compared to cyclonic winds.

It will be a weekend of careful watching.

England to Darwin - by AIR

Today is the 90th anniversary of the arrival in Darwin of the first plane to travel from England to Australia BY AIR.

The Vickers Vimy plane piloted by the Smith brothers [Ross and Keith] arrived here about 1530hrs on December 1o 1919, effectively creating the air route between Europe and Australia.

The outcome of this feat was the creation of the Queensland and Northern Territory Air Services, or more commonly known as QANTAS.

There will be a modest remembrance this afternoon, near the cairn at Fannie Bay, where they crossed the coast to then land on the airstrip, which is now Ross Smith Avenue, in Fannie Bay.

A previous post also discusses the road travels by the pioneers who had to build airstrips further south in the NT and Queensland for the participants in the air race. Yes, it was a race, with a prize equal in value to about A$2.5 million today, offered by the Australian government.

It was a very major achievement, and rarely thought about today, especially outside Darwin. Darwin has been, and still is a major entry point for the welcome and unwelcome visitors to Australia - right to the present with many refugee boats arriving here, or heading to here [ often intercepted before getting this far], vigorous and frequent Japanese bombings in WW2, Vietnamese refugee boats, the original England - Australia telegraph cable and others.

More detail - click on the link:http://www.airwaysmuseum.com/Vickers%20Vimy%20G-EAOU%20crew.htm

Some photos to come later.

Is it a taxi or not?

Seen recently.......and I am unsure of the real intent.

Even More Crocodiles for the Newspaper Front Page

The local newspaper in Darwin is renowned for having crocodile stories on the front page. Afterall, the local region is a very significant crocodile region with large areas of crocodile habitat and many large crocodiles.

Below is a superb new crocodile story.........will it make the NT News front page? Will Wicking produce a cartoon to match?

These are momentous decisions for the highly acclaimed editors at the newspaper.

However, it is an interesting thought......a world full of crocodiles. How would Swamp the cartoon character in the newspaper handle so many competitors?


New fossils reveal world full of crocodiles

New fossils unearthed in the Sahara desert reveal a once-swampy world divided up among a half-dozen species of unusual and perhaps intelligent crocodiles, researchers have found.

Researchers have given some of the new species snappy names - BoarCroc, RatCroc, DogCroc, DuckCroc and PancakeCroc - but say their findings help build an understanding of how crocodilians were and remain such a successful life form.

They lived during the Cretaceous period 145 million to 65 million years ago, when the continents were closer together and the world was warmer and wetter than it is now. Some walked upright with their legs under the body like a land mammal instead of sprawled out to the sides, bellies touching the ground. "We were surprised to find so many species from the same time in the same place," said paleontologist Hans Larsson of McGill University in Montreal. "Each of the crocs apparently had different diets, different behaviours. It appears they had divided up the ecosystem, each species taking advantage of it in its own way."

Mr Larsson and Paul Sereno from the University of Chicago, funded by National Geographic, studied the jaws, teeth and what few bones they had of the crocodiles. They also did CT scans to see inside the skulls.

Two of the species, DogCroc and DuckCroc, had brains that looked different from those of modern crocodiles.

"They may have had slightly more sophisticated brain function than living crocs because active hunting on land usually requires more brain power than merely waiting for prey to show up," Mr Larsson said.

RatCroc, a new species formally named Araripesuchus rattoides, was found in Morocco and would have used its buck-toothed lower jaw to grub for food.

PancakeCroc, known as Laganosuchus thaumastos, was six metres long with a big, flat head.

DuckCroc represents new fossils found in Niger from a previously known species called Anatosuchus minor. It would have eaten grubs and frogs with its broad snout.

The more ferocious BoarCroc was also six metres long but ran upright and had a jaw built for ramming, with three pairs of knife-like teeth.

"Their amphibious talents in the past may be the key to understanding how they flourished in, and ultimately survived, the dinosaur era," Mr Sereno said.


[sourced from ABC web site ex Reuters]

It Is NOT Frog Weather Now

Having a short sojourn in the city of churches.......of Australia [ every country has one don't they?], Adelaide.

It is stinking HOT..............a week of temperatures around 38 - 39C, with the big 40 predicted for tomorrow, with more to come next week.

And super low humidity. Definitely hiding time for sensible monsoon frogs. Should have stayed home, it has been ideal humid and stormy weather in Darwin this week. However, I am engaged in serious humanitarian deeds for a week or two in the city of Adelaide.

Here people hide during the day, as the temperature builds up, slowly to emerge after the sun descends into oblivion. Or, alternatively, hide in the air conditioned buildings during the day. The high temperatures are not so bad, being used to that, but everything you touch is RED HOT, as the sun is very fierce.

There is a major equestrian event here this weekend, and the horses will be under a bit of stress as they compete. I thought it was only mad dogs and Englishmen who went out into the midday sun, but it seems the horsey set do too.

Yellow Flowers - But Be Quick

I have been photographing a few local "significant" trees recently.

Yes, as I said, it is that time of year when many trees flower. So they can set seeds into the wet season, and hopefully germinate a few replacement seeds that will become new trees.

While there have been a few over the past few weeks, this past week has been the time for weeping rosewood trees to do their thing. They have a beautiful, pendulous crown and the shade under a weeping rosewood is very dense, for all of about 50 weeks each year.......not 52 though.

They have been flowering this past week or so, and they are very eyecatching with a large dense crown thoroughly covered in bright golden flowers. But you need to be quick, as the flowers are really an "all or nothing" event, rapidly going from bright yellow flowers to almost no colour as the flowers are rapidly shed onto tthe ground. THEN........they lose most of the leaves, but for about 1-2 weeks, during which time they look awful. It is not uncommon for newcomers to think the tree has died, or maybe, succumbed to termites.

Then a verdant green replacement set of leaves arrives on the scene, for another year.



One photo is of a single tree, not far from our house two days ago - in full colour. It is magnificent. The others are of a group of trees on a major road - yesterday they were still resplendent in yellow, but today........look hard and see what is left of the flowers, as a pale yellow brown tinge.......with leaf fall to come. It happens that quickly.

Frog Night

Last night was Frog Night. It rained, about 25mm, the best fall so far this Wet Season and the first decent fall for a month. It rained steadily over about 45 minutes, then eased to a sprinkle.

And the green tree frogs started to bark, and bark.........so loud it was hard to hear inside the house.

Many do not believe how loud they can be and how many there are around, especially in our area. Most local gardens have good surface mulch and they seem to enjoy living in that, but last night they were out singing in their numbers.

Only the males make a loud bark........looking for a mate. That is one way I guess, you need to let them know you are around.

Tonight the noise is not so loud, but there are still quite a few lurking around in the garden.

The green tree frogs seem to have not suffered major reductions in numbers due to the arrival of the horrible Cane Toads, at least so far in urban areas.

While they are very loud after rain it is nice to know they are around. But ladies, take care when going to the toilet; at least turn on the light...........green tree frogs in the loo are common and the hands are clammy. [so I am told!] Definitely better than a redback spider on the toilet seat though.

More Mysterious Steps - in RED and Silver

The steps are spreading...........now more are appearing in both red and silver, as well as the original yellow.

It is intriguing.........who is the perpetrator??

DOGS!!!

Darwin is an interesting town..........not the least for the local dogs.

Current thinking over this post is being driven by the fact that now, at nearly midnight, after walking the dog over the past hour has introduced me to a new crazy lot of dogs, cosily esconsed behind their 2 metre fences.

Tonight we went out a different route, along the new cycle path that covers the new underground power cables. A beautiful smooth 3m wide concrete path, mostly well lit. But then it stopped and we crossed to the other side near houses.

Normally, the walking route, although going past a few houses with dogs, is relatively quiet. My dog, a large Rhodesian Ridgeback is like most Ridgebacks, very quiet........no bark much at all, and the usual dogs tend to bark once or twice and then stay quiet.

No, not tonight..........this lot are a crazy, noisy, fang showing, fence hitting mob of lunatic dogs. And included among the worst were two tiny dogs - about 15cm tall........but oh did they bark! And they were relatively innocous, compared to the rest, those fence smacking types.

I do wonder how this situation would be if a child was walking past at any time.

Sure, we have problems with itinerants, and house breaking, but this was a bit much. Why should these dogs be so aggressive, in comparison to the others?

Miss Kool herself [the Ridgeback] showed considerable self restraint, haughtiness and a deal of derision......those crazy, crazy barking dogs, stuck behind a fence and I am out walking. Up yours! I am sure she was thinking those thoughts or similar.

And not once did a voice sound from within the yard of the barking dog, lights still on in the house or not.

Ah ha.........the obvious cause.............full moon! Yes, RIGHT!

Future Directions of Media and the ABC

New media, old media, newspapers, media moguls, barons....................the comments abound about newspapers, news radio and TV and new media outlets, especially today.

Australia, like a few other countries, has a publicly supported [ie taxpayers monies] national broadcaster, the ABC. It is 77 years old and seems to be slowly reviving, not atrophying from old age..........it is about renewal. That is the buzz word.

But as for most organisations ,without internal renewal, or even a bit of external re- modelling, they do wither.

The article penned by Mark Scott, the Managing Director of the ABC in October 2009 is a very interesting take on the national broadcaster, and the media landscape of the future and along the way, taking a deft dig at those media organisations who want to charge for content. Read Murdoch!

If you are interested in media futures read it here:
http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/stories/s2714143.htm

I think it is, at worst, interesting. At best..........an exciting media future.

Politicians in the Picture - Jane Aagaard

Politicians are well known, world wide, for “getting into the news”.


On Saturday, the Global Green Challenge cars headed off from Darwin to Adelaide. It was a fairly typical Darwin October day………hot – about 36C when they left, and humid – 60%. Not much cloud around, plenty of hot blasting sunshine, and with most sensible people watching, staying in whatever shade was around.

The Speaker of the Legislative Assembly [Jane Aagaard] was the starter, boldly stepping into the sun and waving the Northern Territory flag to get them on their way. She had the honour, as State Square, outside the Parliament Building where they started, is in her bailiwick.

I loved the hat………..and she must like the black top, and the gold chain, that is being worn, as she seems to wear them often.

Solar Car Race - Global Green Challenge Part 2

The solar car race is different to the "conventional" car event. In this race, the vehicles run all day - 0830 - 1800hrs, and essentially stop by the side of the road, to go on the next day.


Previous winners of the event have AVERAGED 100km/hr plus.........yes, that is correct, over 60mph.


The vehicles are built for speed, not comfort and most certainly do not have much in terms of driver comforts - most are closed for aerodynamic efficiency, and a lot of water is consumed by the drivers in the approx 40C temperatures out on the road.


Winners are expected to take about 3-4 days to reach Adelaide, about 3300 kms from Darwin.






See http://www.globalgreenchallenge.com.au/ for more details.

More current photos here - http://photos.globalgreenchallenge.com.au/


The photos are of two overseas entries - from MIT in the US and Cambridge University

Global Green Challenge 2009 Part 1

Global Green Challenge 2009 Darwin to Adelaide

This event began today at 1230 Darwin time.

Today the street legal vehicles departed. These are alternate energy vehicles, and range from a converted “postie bike” [a 110cc Honda] running on ethanol to a Tesla Roadster all electric plug in vehicle which is an advanced sports car.

The Tesla received a lot of attention……….and deserved. It is a beautiful vehicle. But it still has to complete the 3300kms to Adelaide, and like all the electric vehicles range will be an issue.

They are prepositioning generator trucks to compensate for no refuelling depots for the electric vehicles.

There are also some very efficient diesel cars including the new Mini-D, as well as a Suzuki Alto. Even a petrol Holden V8, and they hope to achieve better than 9L/100kms, by being light on the accelerator.

There are more photos at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/surfie999/4039230810/

And detailed information at www.globalgreenchallenge.com.au . There is also a blog run by the owner of the Tesla Roadster, which is a real story in itself. See
www.internode.on.net and go to the Internode blog which focuses on the Global Green Challenge blog [around 21 – 28 October 2009].

Tomorrow the solar powered vehicles leave. They come in all shapes and sizes………more then.

The Yellow Steps

The yellow steps are not enough in number to be John Buchan’s “The 39 Steps”, nor are they as elegant as the Arthur Stace script on Sydney Streets of “Eternity” in beautiful copperplate running lettering, but they are still mysterious, and on our streets.



By now, I have seen them in 5 or 6 locations around the foreshore at Rapid Creek in Darwin, mostly on the bike path in the area, as well as several on paved asphalt streets in the area.

It looks as if someone steps in a spot with a lot of paint then walks out for 6-10 steps at normal pace, leaving yellow footsteps behind.

The old adage of “take nothing but photographs, leave nothing but footsteps” seems true here. The locations are not overly close to houses, nor indicative of someone planning a bit of criminal activity.

Yes, we have a normal amount of graffiti activity around the Darwin city area on walls and even public items such as electricity junction boxes…………….but painted footsteps?? Have they been elevated from graffiti to folk lore – Eternity was!

The first time the steps were seen, I, like others I suppose, assumed paint had been spilt, and someone walked in it, barefoot. But when now at least 6-8 more have been seen………..we do have a story, surely. When did they first appear? How many locations are there? Who is the perpetrator?

Watch this space………..maybe.

Pride of India - More Great Flowering Trees

Pride of India – the name says it all. A fantastic flowering tree that gets to about 8 m [40 feet]. Botanical name - Lagerstroemia speciosa. Alternate common names – crepe myrtle or Persian lilac [there are others too] Here in Darwin they are flowering right now, mid October. There seem to be three common forms here in Darwin – pale pink, cerise [dark pinky /red] and lilac, and often they are inter mingled where they have been used as street trees. Unfortunately, they can be somewhat susceptible to termites, and there are a few sad specimens that seem to have been somewhat significantly damaged by termites, probably as a result of stress due to poor watering in the dry season, where not all street trees get well looked after by the adjacent householder.

They say that the tree benefits from year round watering, but the most magnificent flowering specimens tend to often be relatively less irrigated. There is a trade off between large well grown trees and plenty of flowers – so a balance is needed to get both.

This year the trees seem very prominent with excellent flowering.

Bangalore in India has some excellent specimens, and they are commonly grown as ornamentals in SE Asia – Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, India, Singapore and tropical Australia, even as far south as Sydney. There was one at my parents house in Sydney, but it never grew to be the giant tree seen in the tropics, more like a large woody shrub. Still flowered beautifully though, and deciduous!

At this time of the year, when it is hot, very dry and dusty and the weather is plain just stinking hot, the presence of some of these great flowering trees in full bloom do help to lift your mood.

As does a good mango - yes, it is mango season too!!

Ignominy

What a way to go.............the Holden Commodore, long the lust car of the masses in Australia. A boy's first car, maybe the first kiss car for a lady. Most certainly a car used to do a bit of speeding or hooning in many parts of Australia. And a Holden Commodore last weekend also won the Bathurst 1000, an iconic car race in Australia.

To be injured and broken, sitting quietly on a suburban nature strip...............and to be subjected to the indignity of some local council parking inspector slapping a yellow "take notice" sign: to be moved or else! It obviously was not moved, and then followed up by a formal fine notice [ in the plastic sleeve].

And the final indignity..............being dumped upon by the yellow flowering fluff of a local melaleuca tree.

It is still there............some considerable time later.

The event has been watched with interest, as it is travelled past almost every time we leave our suburb by car.

Those MAGNIFICENT Poinciana Trees - Again

I know I have had a post about poinciana trees before - even about this time of the year. Afterall, this is the time of the year they flower.

And flower they do............magnificent canopy of orange - red or red flowers that literally cover the tree. Leaves are gone, mostly, just a few remaining black seed pods from last year and red flowers, and red flowers and red flowers.

They occur in many areas around Darwin and the intensity of the flowering is virtually in inverse proportion to the amount of water received during the dry season. Lack of care seems to help with the leaf drop and massive flowering...........almost the "last hurrah", a galant effort to procreate before the storm season commences.

This magnificent specimen is in full colour, although they do grow much bigger, and is in Robinson Road, Millner.

It is spectacular.

Yes........I know that trees in flower have had quite a few posts of late. But.....'tis the season!

And they do look great!

You have to be positive at this time of the year. Hot days - 35 - 37C and very, very strong sun, that seems to burn and burrow through bare skin in minutes, so getting out and doing much between 1100 and 1500hrs is very foolish. The old colonial adage of " Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun" is very true. You tend to be lethargic and seeking shade and a good overhead fan, or even better.........into the air conditioning. The weather is very sapping of energy if you are working outside.

The photos were taken around the middle of the day, but from a short venture out of an air conditioned vehicle, to take them without too much shadow.

These trees absolutely flourish in these conditions.

Fabulous Yellow Median Strip Flowering Trees in Darwin

Around September / October each year the median strips are alive with colour............lots of yellow, nothing else.

They are planted along several areas in the northern suburbs of Darwin. The median strips are otherwise, pretty bare. No fancy irrigated grass, no exotic herbaceous plants, no palms! And for about 10 months of the year the trees are very ordinary looking.

The species is a tough tree that could be planted, in difficult conditions, that is not going to fall over in most heavy storms or cyclones. The species actually grows reasonably well in awful, hard lateritic shallow soils. And does not require much irrigation. Would seem to be a fair choice for a major thoroughfare street tree.

When green and not flowering, it looks straggly, daggy and not all that well shaped. But when it flowers it is absolutely fantastic. To see the mass of flowers emerging from a tree in the most awful growing site is something special. It is not a final, spectacular, last gasp at procreation either........they flower every year. Remember Tabebuia argentea - a great tree for tough conditions.

Trower Road, near Casuarina Shopping Centre.........and all the way along Trower Road to the end, near Brinkin is planted with them, and just coming into flower now.